I’ve got an almost two year old daughter. All I care about really (now that she’s here) is her well being. It turns your world on its head.
I really hope things come good, it’s every parents nightmare that kind of thing 
. Hope you are okay, it’s an awful situation.
What a moving post - I can only try to imagine what you’ve been through.
Bloody hell very best wishes and congrats!! Enjoy the unspeakable joy of now 
Congratulations Bricky. 
Whilst i dont have much experience in the matter, be warned she may not end up a football supporter.
Or worse take an interest in Carlton or Collingwood.
But we are all hoping she takes after her old man 
How’s everyone doing today?
I guess no news, is good news.
Okay (ish).
A few challenges have resurfaced due to some (very) adverse work conditions. I really get frustrated that I fall back into some not healthy patterns during times of stress. But, at least I have recognised the behaviour this time and I am taking active steps to address this.
Slowly , slowly…
Thanks for asking Souly, very much appreciated.
When my partner has a tough day at work i make sure a hot bath is ready for when she gets home.
Hint hint mr hoffy.
My friends child is in acute care . Refusing all food. Gastrotube not working. The child is 13 and weighs 28kg.
My friend is very close to a nervous breakdown. The stress levels are intolerable. Her husband and family have been terrific support but there is only so much you can do or say to give any sort of comfort.
I don’t have the language to describe how terrible this is. And I think there is no language because watching your child slowly die is so traumatic we shouldn’t be experiencing it.
I have a great support network thankfully.
Thanks for having a place to put thoughts - however muddled- into a safe place.
That’s horrible to hear @Heffsgirl, brings a tear to your eye knowing what some kids are going through, you’re a good friend indeed.
That is horrific, I’m so sorry your family is going through this and hope things get better. I can’t imagine how awful it would be if I was dealing with that with my daughter, it would be bloody gut wrenching.
I am so sad for those of you going through bad and painful times.
I found that it never gets to ok again, it just all becomes somewhat bearable.
Take care to those who are going through tough times.
Hi folks! Hope you’ve all been well.
Well, four months have come and gone pretty fast. I’m probably healing a bit more, slowly. Another session with my psychologist helped. First one after dad was hard but this one gave me that outside perspective I needed. I was perhaps being too robotic, expecting to tick off goals, a checklist if you will. I got down when I regressed. I got down when things in life weren’t going my way. Felt like anything and everything was going wrong. The perspective I needed was to simply see beyond. There were road bumps, but they pass, like they always had before, like they will again now.
Using a metaphor before moments were like a leaf flowing down a river. To some extent I wasn’t waiting for the leaf, but chasing after it. I needed to be patient and simply wait for it. I also needed to remember that the leaf will pass by. I don’t need to try to force it along. I had to be kinder to myself, more patient and let the moment come and go. Recognise the moment and don’t fight it, live with it. Remember time will flow.
Besides that mum is getting better too. Is harder to have a whole empty house. She finds night times the hardest and although there isn’t much I can do I remind her if she needs to talk to me she can, or any of her neighbours are happy to listen.
As for the workshop, it’s been relocated to my home. Dad still has his stuff at mums, but I really wanted it home. I didn’t in the end want to be like dad, just be inspired so to speak. I finished this project with his photo. I built the frame, it was the first thing I cut using his tools. I assembled it try trying out what pocket holes were like. Was too good to throw away. I then glued around the frame some small projects dad made. Honestly i’m still not sure what the two on the left hand side in the middle are for. Will pop up one day in a youtube video or something.
The photo is not long after his diagnosis. The first Christmas with cancer. I was surprised he allowed me to take photos like this while he was working. Dad wasn’t really a photo person and certainly not patient to ‘pose’. Glad he let me in the end.
Three month as well till a long needed holiday. Will be nice to put the feet up and step away. Will be home for Christmas and hopefully 2025 we’ll see each other for a BBQ.
As always keep well blitzers.
Forgot to mention, one of dad’s neighbours is a Nanscawen. Wonder if there is a relation to ours AFLW player 
My Dad apparently was a Bookmaker who got into strife with the law, and Mum made him do a Trade, so in the late 1950s became a Motor Trimmer ( they make car seats etc). So all I remember was my Dad having a huge sewing machine and other such stuff in the garage and he repaired car seats and all sorts of upholstery.
When he died, I inherited everything in the garage and had no idea what much of it was. I sold lots of stuff, including the sewing machine and lots of leather materials, but kept many of the odd tools he had…
I thought I would throw them away, but they are in my workshop and remind me of the good times as a kid when I helped him make his stuff. It is comforting to use his tools and remember.
Reckon you make find the same.
This is very true. I still have / use old timber-handled hammers, files , folding rules etc simply because they were Pa’s. Copious numbers of sockets and the like of his are a bit different - they’re still perfectly good tools that will last decades in their own right - and I’ve kept some of his old blacksmith stuff too.
The proverbial will hit the fan if / when Dad passes before I do , because then there’ll be three generations of tools that we’ve all accumulated and I’ve no idea what / where I’ll do with them 
Any chance they could find a good home at the Vintage Tool Shop in Northcote?
Maybe. We donated a fair few things to a blacksmith in Maldon when my grandpa died and then years later discovered the blacksmith up there had closed. You can’t control these things but I still have some regret - despite clearly having little (none!!?) use for the old silvering irons etc.
Hopefully Maldon passed them on to another blacksmith somewhere.
