MANNERS AND OTHER MATTERS

It has been six months since I posted to this blog.  For a number of reasons.  Those of you who are regular bloggers probably never get "blog block"; it occurred when my imperative to write, to share life's matters and my thoughts on life's manners seemed so much less important than living the life which has been mine for the last six months. But the "block" has lifted, and after so many very special events, most of which  involved modern and traditional manners in one way or another, this post is a chronicle of the "block" time. It all started in September last year. My son turned 30, the same age I was when he was born.  So many memories resurfaced as we  shared stories of the growing up and maturing of "my baby". Rather than having a large party, his choice was a lunch for family and close friends...a world apart from the fast paced life he had lived for the previous ten years. He is a considerate, worldly and well mannered man ...

'My little prince' and me...July 2015 I have had a night of reflection following an extraordinary one and a half hours in which I shared 32 year old Super 8mm film reels with my daughter. There is no soundtrack;  the only audible comments are those we made while watching them together so many years later.  She is now a mother of a 17 month old son, and awaiting the arrival of another child in December. The reels, filmed mainly by her father, commenced with minutes of her, before she could walk, staggering for a few steps before falling onto her bottom, only to straddle forward for another few steps. They concluded with her, at about 5 years of age, riding a small tricycle with a back tray in which she carried her younger brother. In between they documented the life which was hers for those 4 or so years.  Our family traversing Europe while I was pregnant with her brother, returning to Australia and showing, even at such an early age, her enduring s...

Some of the contestants and the author at Crown Perth, Western Australia...wearing beautiful  Linney's Pearls It was a wonderful surprise to recently have my company, The Percy Institute of International Protocol , invited to enter a partnership with The 2015 Miss World Australia  pageant which is being held in Perth, Western Australia in August this year.  My role is to coach and mentor the contestants  on the various aspects of modern manners which will enable them to enhance the experience of representing not only their State but also perhaps their country. In my coaching role... A few weeks ago I first met the young ladies who come from a diverse range of backgrounds. They were looking forward to enjoying the experience and personal development which entry in the pageant promised, some of them more confidently than others. I spoke with them about grooming and personal presentation, deportment, modern manners, and dining etiquette...

Beautiful Bordeaux I am really angry today... After having my son brutally bashed two years ago in Bordeaux on the last evening of our mother/son road trip in France by people who only wanted his money and didn't get his passport,  but in doing so crushed three vertebrae at the bottom of his spine the night we were due to fly home to Australia... ...to today in Australia where I too have been the victim of thieves...or a thief.  But unlike the situation in France, when my son was the victim of probably illegal migrants who needed money I was the victim, in an affluent suburb, in a regular supermarket, of someone who just took my wallet from my handbag....my credit card was "hacked" within the 30 minutes in which I realised I had been robbed. Our world has been traumatised in last few days by terrorist attacks in three nations on three continents...our values have been assaulted by the horror of these circumstances. Additionally, at the same time, one country ha...

Speaking at the first of a series of workshops... My company, The Percy Institute of International Protocol, has been invited to partner with the  Miss World Australia 2015 Pageant .  My contribution will be a series of workshops on modern manners, the art of communication and dining etiquette.  This evening I met the entrants and conducted the first workshop. I have never really followed beauty pageants.  Many years ago, when Australia was a much smaller and more insular nation, the Miss Australia Pageant, which concentrated on fundraising, was well known and each year we young women watched the crowning ceremony and then promptly forgot all about it. It was a surprise for me to be invited to be part of this year's pageant.  As with the Miss Australia contest, this one also concentrates on the fundraising aspect of the event and this year the proceeds are going to Variety Australia ...a truly worthwhile cause.  The theme of the conte...

l'Institut de Français, Villefranche sur Mer (photo the author) I have been asked many times what is it about France which makes me enjoy it and so want to learn the language and spend time there? Of course the reasons for my interest are varied and have changed over the years.  But I think the enduring fascination actually began with my mother. Josephine loved cooking and collected French cookbooks, from which she would choose recipes, try to find the ingredients, not always easy in the '60s in Australia, and play French records, particularly Françoise Hardy, while she hummed away in the kitchen over her new creations. This song is one which I remember being able to sing all the words,  without having any clue what they meant!  A perfect way to learn French as a child... Françoise Hardy ... "Tous les garcons..." Those early influences certainly inspired me to learn the language and my first lesson was at boarding school, when I was 11, with a tiny...

The autumn tonings are showing in my trees and the wisteria vines... My two favourite seasons here in Western Australia are autumn and spring, and somehow they affect me the same way...positively...despite that metaphorically autumn is aligned with the coming of the end of…life, relationships, and more;  while spring signifies new life, new beginnings. For me autumn is a time of gentle beauty;   and reflection.   Because the climate here is not overly distinctive between the seasons,  as it is in the east of Australia, having mild temperatures in autumn and spring,   mild to hot summers and mild to cold winters, with never a snow flurry, the leaves on the trees are often the first indicator that the season is about to change. The autumn sky is a vibrant blue but the pool water is too chilly for me to swim... I planted, in front of my house, five deciduous trees 25 years ago and every year when their first leaves begin to either fall or tur...