Isabella and The Staircase Gallery.

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Isabella and The Staircase Gallery.

Isabella was a fan of photography. She had purchased some pieces from a couple of local artists and had strategically placed them in her staircase gallery. For hours, Isabella would perch on the stairs admiring the images. Sometimes, she would take her journal and write about how the images made her feel, about the ‘story’ behind the images, their composition, the light, the dark, the shadows. Once, Isabella decided to do her journal-ling after a few too many wines. Unfortunately staircases and inebriation do not mix. Isabella again learned this valuable lesson when her right Achilles heal was sliced open by the sharp edge of every step in her staircase gallery.

Isabella and The Lunch at Varias.

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Isabella and The Lunch at Varias.

Isabella had arranged to meet a friend for lunch at a local restaurant on the Granite Belt. The friend, always a delightful, joyful and creative spirit, ordered the pork. Isabella ordered the fish. When the meals arrived, Isabella realised that her dish was a cheeky interpretation of the ol’ surf and turf. She was delighted with her steamed barramundi, beef broth, bok choi & prawn wonton. She wished however, that there were two more wontons to fill her tummy to the brim. Both Isabella and the friend were well pleased with the service and whilst they could have consumed award-winning wines from the restaurant’s winery, they decided that work came before pleasure. Instead, Isabella purchased a case of their Banca Ridge Petit Verdot for later – when all her work was completed.

Isabella and The Grape Vine.

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Isabella and The Grape Vine.

Isabella knew that the freezing winter meant more red wine than any other beverage would be consumed in her household. It was the warming nature of shiraz, merlot, petit verdot or cab sav that allowed Isabella to do anything at all during this season. As human anti-freeze, these red wines made for many colourful [sometimes naked] dancing in front of the open fire. Each glass brought with it another opportunity to defrost. Each bottle brought the courage required to collect more wood from the diminishing pile of aged ironbark located outside. Each case brought the cardboard required to start the next day’s logs. Nothing was wasted and everything had its role. God bless red wine in winter.

Isabella and The Documentary Legend.

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Isabella and The Documentary Legend.

Isabella loved David Attenborough. Well, perhaps ‘loved’ isn’t the correct word but a more fanatical fan, Isabella had not yet met. So it came as no surprise when Isabella ignored everything when Sir David was on television. Isabella watched Sir David with such passion. Whether about plants, animals, mammals, prehistoric fossils, reptiles, evolution, earth, ice, wind and fire – all were so hypnotically narrated by this legend of all legends. Isabella concentrated so heavily on every word and every image, that Isabella didn’t realise that this photo was even taken. The cogs in her brain continually turning, absorbing every bit of information that this crooner of all documentary notables had to say. Thanks Sir David Attenborough for everything… To Sir, with Love.

Isabella and the Drive Thru.

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Isabella and the Drive Thru.

Isabella rarely went to the drive thru. It wasn’t because she was uptight about junk food but more to do with Isabella struggling to navigate her car through the narrow, ill-constructed passageways. The “give your order when you’re ready” speaker was always prone to static and feedback. So much so that Isabella found herself yelling her order at the little box with little success, only to have to reorder at the window. She had lost a hub cap, a lot of rubber, a mud guard and a significant amount of paint shuffling through the drive thru maze. Further, Isabella had been asked to ‘park’ nearly every time, only to be seen by someone who should never know about her supersized secret fetish. The ‘park of shame’ was only made worse by the ginormous frozen coke and bulbous, greasy paper bag being delivered laboriously by a 12 year old staffer. All in all, Isabella found the whole process irritating and a little humiliating. Like any rat in a maze however, Isabella was always rewarded with food. The reward far outweighed the punishment and hence classical conditioning was proven correct again. Damn those behavioural psychologists. Damn them [mouth filled with chips].

Isabella and The Hard Decision.

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Isabella and The Hard Decision.

Isabella was in a bit of a quandary. Growing up, Isabella had the wonderful luxury of having a father who loved to cook a hot breakfast every morning. Now, living in a share house, there was little chance of finding a clean frying pan, let alone waking to warmed plate with a poached egg and a fresh-baked slice of homemade sour dough. For Isabella, the hard decision at breakfast was whether to have Vegemite or honey on whatever bread was left in the house. Today however, there was no bread, no butter and no milk thanks to her house mate’s late night munchies. An issue that had been raised before, Isabella wasn’t angry at the housemate. She saw it as an invitation to be taken out for breakfast. This lead Isabella to the hardest decision of all – ordering the big breakfast with hash browns or the eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. Bread, butter and milk were purchased once Isabella’s tummy was filled. Tomorrow, Vegemite and honey were back on the menu. There might even be a cup of tea as well.

Isabella and The Winter Blues, Greens and Purples.

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Isabella and The Winter Blues, Greens and Purples.

All the leaves were brown. The sky was a beautiful shade of wintery blue. Isabella went for her walk on this winter day. There was something quite magnificent about winter on the Granite Belt. The nights were freezing (literally) and the days, if clear, were dreamy warm. Isabella still had a lot of laundry to do but instead of approaching the dreaded chore, she hid in a protected area of the garden. The hub was Isabella’s secret garden with a micro-climate of its very own. Flowers blossomed at the wrong time, eggs hatched, the offspring flourished, and the water ran warm – all in this sub-zero season. It was all just so lovely that even the Mamas and the Papas did not need to dream of California. Isabella was safe and warm. And that was all that mattered. The laundry could wait another day….. or two…. or more.

Isabella and The Meditation Rock.

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Isabella and The Meditation Rock.

Isabella was feeling a little stressed. There were animals to feed, lawns to mow, seeds to sow, washing to hang out on the line. The weekend was fast approaching and she had only a small amount of time to get herself organised. She was about to attend her first Gay family wedding and was deciding whether to go in Drag or as a Cowboy as per on the invitation. All week she had been practicing with the eyelashes and after having a number of allergic reactions, decided that she needed to rule out the extensions. Out Isabella went into the bush to sit at her Meditation Rock. Ohm…….. Ohm……….. Ohm………… Twenty minutes later, Isabella had a solution. She was going just as she was – gay or straight, drag or cowboy – love was love. She was just too delighted that her cousin had found love with such a lovely man. Mazel Tov.

Isabella and The Silent Friends.

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Isabella and The Silent Friends.

Isabella believed that so much is said in the midst of silence. For this reason, Isabella took time everyday to just sit with her friends and not say a word. Meditative in nature, Isabella used this time to reflect on her day, to take in her surroundings and to just breathe. Twenty minutes was all Isabella and her friends needed to get the mind in sync with the body. Whoever phrased ‘silence is golden’ knew what they were talking about.

Isabella and The Reflection in The Mirror.

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Isabella and The Reflection in The Mirror.

Isabella looked in the mirror and did not completely recognise the face looking back at her. She knew that time had passed. She knew that hairstyles had changed. She knew that the red lipstick had been replaced with a far more nourishing tinted lip balm. It wasn’t that Isabella did not like what she saw in the reflection. In fact, Isabella thought this ‘stranger’ had very kind eyes. The ‘stranger’ seemed at peace with the world. The ‘stranger’ was truly happy and it actually showed. Isabella realised that getting older meant more than losing skin elasticity. Getting older was also bringing Isabella contentment. It was bringing a state of mind that radiated satisfaction in a life well lived. A life to be proud of and celebrated. Now, where is the sparkling wine?