good friends

Jim and his best friend Sven. I think the hardest thing to come to terms with when leaving are friends. I know we can skype, write letters and call. But for my children, they connect through playing, not talking.

The children's friends, my friends, people whom we have shared most of our lives with.

For a while (too long) I couldn't tell my friends or children that we were leaving, I didn't want to see that look of shock on their faces, I felt in some way that I was rejecting our friends, moving on.

Why to people live where they live? is it because of the climate?, community? family? work?
There are a hundred and one reasons to stay in Ballarat.



Good friends had a farewell for us, it's was a beautiful warm Autumn day.

If I'm honest, i would rather leave without goodbyes, it's the flight or fight reflex, I choose flight every time:).  But I've learn't that for the people left behind, goodbyes are necessary.
Teary, hard and confronting though.....

The first step taken

So, my children were happy, loving being home, loving being back out at the school, with their friends. I was happy back in my home, enjoying the quiet,

But Dan, Dan wasn't, the seed was sown back in September, of another life, a life that he/we only had dreamed of, and once you step on that different path, it's hard to step off.

Dan went to work for his father age the age of 15, only 3 years older than my Jim, He did his apprenticeship, as a printer, like his Dad, and took over the family business 'Kings the printer"when his father retired, 16 years later.

When I was engaged to Dan I knew our life would be in Ballarat, He loved his work and it was his family's business. Of all the places I dreamed to live, Ballarat was never one of them. But I was in love, and so it never matters then.

We built a home on family land, whilst dreaming of having children, and made some dear friends, and so life continues, in this place I never though I would ever live, getting on with life.

And I was happy.

For Dan, the pace of print had changed, and he decided to step out and look up, after 33years, all his working life in one place. It's time for Dan to find his own way, without the security of the family business, and so we put our beloved house up for sale and I started to pack for Thora.

Part three

If I keep posting at this random rate, you guys will be "in the loop" by Christmas:)

Well, whilst I was thinking about what to do, do I stay in Castlemaine and commit to buying a property, or do I make a huge move to Thora?

A friend of a friend wanted to know if I was interested in selling my home in Guildford, which means I had to really think hard. It's so hard selling houses this depressed market, was this a sign?. In the end, Dan and I both decided that it's not ideal living in two houses, back and forth, and if we committed to Castlemaine, well this house we were in was more of a weekender, not really big enough for permanent living for a family of six. So we said yes, and it was so easy.... no open days, no big clean up, know real estate carry on, just sold.

So we packed up everything and headed back to Ballarat for the 6 week holidays, to get some perspective. I'll admit, that packing up and setting up houses is exhausting. I wondered how I could do it all again in a month. Just crazy.

And then I enjoyed the rest of my holiday's to see what unfolds.

The time away from Castlemaine, made me see that wasn't our future. I so love the engaging community there, but I could see clearly that the school, wasn't suited to my children, And the scrubby thirsty ground makes me shudder. Joseph was doing so much better, happy, engaged, singing again. I couldn't send him back. Castlemaine was out, I was enjoying being back home, and wanted to stay.

So I enrolled the children back in the Ballarat Steiner school. The children were grinning from ear to ear to be back at their school, I do feel at home there, part of the walls.


I loved seeing everyone again, the new teachers brought such a new 'Steiner' energy with them.

It was so wonderful to see Flynn so happy to be at school, His teacher Stuart is wonderful, more Grandfatherly, with a wonderful knowledge that the children will unfold in their own time. Joseph had Gareth, which is just what he needed, Gareth swung Joseph over his shoulder on the first day, Joseph needed fun in his day, and Gareth is always smiling and telling jokes. Jim had Svantje, a young teacher, she has just come back from teaching five years in Ireland. She was perfect for Jim. Svantje 'got' Jim, saw his gifts. Jim was singing again and playing the recorder everywhere! He was bursting with life. This had always being Jim, but over the last two years it had stopped. Jim was happy enough to go to school, so I thought that maybe he had outgrow this phase and was in the pre teen phase. Jim couldn't express himself at the Castlemaine school, and Svantje was able to bring these qualities out again, I had my boy back.

p.s . there is a part four.....