Back in My Big Backyard

I returned to Australia in September, and I'm enjoying the small-country-town-life in Daylesford again, along with lots of attention from Miss Jelly Bean.

Today was a day for household chores at Tasma House and Gardens with Adrian.  Housework is not something I enjoy doing, but I appreciate the ability to do it.  It has been just over one year since I had a tumour removed and dealt with the fears that go along with such a surgery.  I am thankful that everything went well and that I am healthy enough to travel and to do the kind of work that I need to be doing, as I return to Daylesford.

Fortunately, I have also been able to do things that I really enjoy doing.  I have had a few lovely visits with family and friends, and I have had a couple of good sessions making music with a few of the friends in my mountain dulcimer world.

I've taken some selfies to show these situations.

Of course, I have been feeding the beautiful birds in my big backyard and photographing them with my iPhone and sharing those photos via Instagram.  It's heartwarming to get visits from the familiar flock.  I especially enjoy seeing Limpy doing well and returning for my handouts of wild bird food and leftover sourdough bread bits.

My small-country-town-life in Daylesford is, aesthetically, much different from my downtown-city-life in Clarksdale, Mississippi.  Here in Australia I am blessed with beautiful garden surrounds, where I am always in awe of the cockatoos and other wildlife.

I know beautiful birds and gardens are found all over the U.S.A, but I, personally, don't experience everyday interaction with them when I'm in America.  These things aren't right outside my door in Clarksdale.

The home I will return to in November is beautiful because of its uniqueness and because of its place in a Mississippi Delta community that I now love and appreciate.  As of September 19, 2014 (the day I left the U.S.A.), this is what my home in Clarksdale looked like:

Next on the agenda in Clarksdale (November through January) is creating a theatre at The Holy Moly.  Adrian and I are well on our way to completing that task.  Just before we left Clarksdale, we checked out the new look and sound of the old masonic meeting room.  Here's what we found:

Next on the agenda in Daylesford:

more visiting with family & friends, more playing with my poodle, more walks at the Daylesford lake, more scones from the Peppermill Cafe, more group-accommodation bed-making, more bird feeding in my big backyard, and a bit more music making…..all that and more…..God-willing.

Back in My Big Backyard

I returned to Australia in September, and I'm enjoying the small-country-town-life in Daylesford again, along with lots of attention from Miss Jelly Bean.

Today was a day for household chores at Tasma House and Gardens with Adrian.  Housework is not something I enjoy doing, but I appreciate the ability to do it.  It has been just over one year since I had a tumour removed and dealt with the fears that go along with such a surgery.  I am thankful that everything went well and that I am healthy enough to travel and to do the kind of work that I need to be doing, as I return to Daylesford.

Fortunately, I have also been able to do things that I really enjoy doing.  I have had a few lovely visits with family and friends, and I have had a couple of good sessions making music with a few of the friends in my mountain dulcimer world.

I've taken some selfies to show these situations.

Of course, I have been feeding the beautiful birds in my big backyard and photographing them with my iPhone and sharing those photos via Instagram.  It's heartwarming to get visits from the familiar flock.  I especially enjoy seeing Limpy doing well and returning for my handouts of wild bird food and leftover sourdough bread bits.

My small-country-town-life in Daylesford is, aesthetically, much different from my downtown-city-life in Clarksdale, Mississippi.  Here in Australia I am blessed with beautiful garden surrounds, where I am always in awe of the cockatoos and other wildlife.

I know beautiful birds and gardens are found all over the U.S.A, but I, personally, don't experience everyday interaction with them when I'm in America.  These things aren't right outside my door in Clarksdale.

The home I will return to in November is beautiful because of its uniqueness and because of its place in a Mississippi Delta community that I now love and appreciate.  As of September 19, 2014 (the day I left the U.S.A.), this is what my home in Clarksdale looked like:

Next on the agenda in Clarksdale (November through January) is creating a theatre at The Holy Moly.  Adrian and I are well on our way to completing that task.  Just before we left Clarksdale, we checked out the new look and sound of the old masonic meeting room.  Here's what we found:

Next on the agenda in Daylesford:

more visiting with family & friends, more playing with my poodle, more walks at the Daylesford lake, more scones from the Peppermill Cafe, more group-accommodation bed-making, more bird feeding in my big backyard, and a bit more music making…..all that and more…..God-willing.

My Husband Is Now a Permanent Resident of the U.S.A.

Yay! After many, many, jumps through numerous hoops, Adrian has been awarded permanent residency in the U.S.A.  We are very thankful for this.

Visitors from Memphis!

Adrian and I were excited to have these visitors in our little ice cream shop in Clarksdale, Mississippi, last night!

My girl took a Polaroid pic of Adrian and me.  Here's my photo of that photo:

I'm in Business! (Small business, that is.)

As my Mississippi Delta house (The Holy Moly) becomes a home, I'm starting a new home-based business -- an ice cream shop/espresso coffee & snack bar -- at the corner of Third & Issaquena in downtown Clarksdale.

My husband and I are launching this small business slowly (as there are only two of us running it), while we continue with the revitalisation of our old masonic temple building.  

Along with the ice cream/coffee shop, which we call The Holy Moly Drug Store, we are converting the masonic temple meeting room into a theatre.  We hope to host entertainment/events which we create by combining live music, story telling, and film.  Hopefully, those events will begin and end in The Holy Moly Drug Store.

Along with all that, my husband and I are working on my "Petition for Alien Relative" and his "Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status," with the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services.  We are hoping that a green card will be awarded soon and that we will have no worries about being allowed to be where we want to be, when we want to be either in the U.S.A. or in Australia.  We have family, friends, and lives in both places.  

I'm feeling exhausted from jumping through many hoops  -- dealing with sales tax filings and banking, health department regulations, city permits, immigration applications -- and from counting blessings when what I really want to do is scream or give up on trying to accomplish the latest requirements for this complicated life we have chosen.  

I'm tired.  I'm frustrated.  I'm bored, artistically and musically.  

I'm thankful for opportunities.  I'm thankful for progress from processes that make sense.  I'm thankful for people who encourage and provide support.  I'm thankful for the art and music that is so close to home, whether I'm on this continent or that one.  

I'm thankful for friends & family and for the silliest things that happen in this world.  Yesterday I received a "butt text," which of course did not make sense, but…..the real text exchange that followed from the butt-texter brightened my evening, as I was reminded that I have been blessed with many, many, friends, with whom I may keep in touch simply with a few keystrokes or pressed buttons, on a variety of devices…..even via today's inadvertent butt-texting.

A device is nice for planning gatherings, capturing events with photography, and for sharing the memories.  However, as I think about the work and projects to come related to The Holy Moly, I focus on the real-life interactions that I need and want.  

I pray that what is yet-to-be at The Holy Moly is good and inspires more good.  

I'm in Business! (Small business, that is.)

As my Mississippi Delta house (The Holy Moly) becomes a home, I'm starting a new home-based business -- an ice cream shop/espresso coffee & snack bar -- at the corner of Third & Issaquena in downtown Clarksdale.  

My husband and I are launching this small business slowly (as there are only two of us running it), while we continue with the revitalisation of our old masonic temple building.  

Along with the ice cream/coffee shop, which we call The Holy Moly Drug Store, we are converting the masonic temple meeting room into a theatre.  We hope to host entertainment/events which we create by combining live music, story telling, and film.  Hopefully, those events will begin and end in The Holy Moly Drug Store.

Along with all that, my husband and I are working on my "Petition for Alien Relative" and his "Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status," with the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services.  We are hoping that a green card will be awarded soon and that we will have no worries about being allowed to be where we want to be, when we want to be either in the U.S.A. or in Australia.  We have family, friends, and lives in both places.  

I'm feeling exhausted from jumping through many hoops  -- dealing with sales tax filings and banking, health department regulations, city permits, immigration applications -- and from counting blessings when what I really want to do is scream or give up on trying to accomplish the latest requirements for this complicated life we have chosen.  

I'm tired.  I'm frustrated.  I'm bored, artistically and musically.  

I'm thankful for opportunities.  I'm thankful for progress from processes that make sense.  I'm thankful for people who encourage and provide support.  I'm thankful for the art and music that is so close to home, whether I'm on this continent or that one.  

I'm thankful for friends & family and for the silliest things that happen in this world.  Yesterday I received a "butt text," which of course did not make sense, but…..the real text exchange that followed from the butt-texter brightened my evening, as I was reminded that I have been blessed with many, many, friends, with whom I may keep in touch simply with a few keystrokes or pressed buttons, on a variety of devices…..even via today's inadvertent butt-texting.

A device is nice for planning gatherings, capturing events with photography, and for sharing the memories.  However, as I think about the work and projects to come related to The Holy Moly, I focus on the real-life interactions that I need and want.  

I pray that what is yet-to-be at The Holy Moly is good and inspires more good.  

The City of Clarksdale

Last Friday, at a reception for Australian visitors at the Juke Joint Festival, Adrian Kosky and I were honoured by the City of Clarksdale, Mississippi.  We received a key to the city, as thanks for our involvement.  

We were surprised to receive this award.

It is a lovely thing.......to feel appreciated.

I Got Married Last Monday!

It seems like I have been avoiding my blog, I know; but I have not felt like I had anything new enough to blog about......until now!

I got married last Monday to my best friend and de facto partner, Adrian Kosky.  

We made the mutual decision to get married on Monday afternoon.  By Monday evening around 7:00, we were a married couple finishing our meal at the Atzimba Mexican Restaurant in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

The Wedding Venue: Atzimba Mexican Restaurant

Randall Andrews performed the marriage ceremony.

We admired the fancy Mississippi Marriage License.

I have a cute little Wal-Mart wedding ring,
because the local jewellery store was closed Monday.

Our friend, Robin Colonas, happened to be at Atzimba's
and snapped this wedding pic with her iPhone.

The wedding feast was our favourite mexican meal: chicken chimichanga.

We went to the Shack Up Inn on our wedding night
 to hear an Australian band, Money for Rope.

Our first breakfast as a married couple: donuts from Delta Donut

Part two of our first breakfast as a married couple: egg & cheese biscuits
at the famous cross roads of highways 49 & 61 in Clarksdale, Mississippi 

We have been a de facto couple in Australia for five years, although in the U.S.A. we were not considered a married (or legal) couple.  So, the new bit that we are really enjoying is the decision to use the words "husband" and "wife."

Other "new" things that I have experienced within the past six months are related to my health.  I have had a tumour removed and am, thankfully, recovered from the surgery.  Also, I have been learning to live with diabetes. 

Now that these things have been blogged out.....I feel a bit better, and I'm grateful that my unusual life can continue, as usual.  

Happily de factoed up in Hepburn Springs, Victoria, Australia, September 2013,
the day before my surgery. Photo by Susan Gordon-Brown

Post-surgery "iPhone selfie"
with my Table Hill band mates, Phil McNamara and my de facto partner --Adrian Kosky,
at the Radio Springs Hotel, Lyonville, Victoria, Australia, February 2014

I Got Married Last Monday!

It seems like I have been avoiding my blog, I know; but I have not felt like I had anything new enough to blog about......until now!

I got married last Monday to my best friend and de facto partner, Adrian Kosky.  

We made the mutual decision to get married on Monday afternoon.  By Monday evening around 7:00, we were a married couple finishing our meal at the Atzimba Mexican Restaurant in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

The Wedding Venue: Atzimba Mexican Restaurant

Randall Andrews performed the marriage ceremony.

We admired the fancy Mississippi Marriage License.

I have a cute little Wal-Mart wedding ring,
because the local jewellery store was closed Monday.

Our friend, Robin Colonas, happened to be at Atzimba's
and snapped this wedding pic with her iPhone.

The wedding feast was our favourite mexican meal: chicken chimichanga.

We went to the Shack Up Inn on our wedding night
 to hear an Australian band, Money for Rope.

Our first breakfast as a married couple: donuts from Delta Donut

Part two of our first breakfast as a married couple: egg & cheese biscuits
at the famous cross roads of highways 49 & 61 in Clarksdale, Mississippi 

We have been a de facto couple in Australia for five years, although in the U.S.A. we were not considered a married (or legal) couple.  So, the new bit that we are really enjoying is the decision to use the words "husband" and "wife."

Other "new" things that I have experienced within the past six months are related to my health.  I have had a tumour removed and am, thankfully, recovered from the surgery.  Also, I have been learning to live with diabetes. 

Now that these things have been blogged out.....I feel a bit better, and I'm grateful that my unusual life can continue, as usual.  

Happily de factoed up in Hepburn Springs, Victoria, Australia, September 2013,
the day before my surgery. Photo by Susan Gordon-Brown

Post-surgery "iPhone selfie"
with my Table Hill band mates, Phil McNamara and my de facto partner --Adrian Kosky,
at the Radio Springs Hotel, Lyonville, Victoria, Australia, February 2014

Legal Name Change

I am postponing the process for legally changing my name, because of other responsibilities that Adrian and I are handling.  When the time is right, I will change my name to Carla Kosky.