Mother's Day
A friend and I agreed this week that motherhood is a life sentence.
That is not to say that it is a disagreeable thing, it is just to affirm that you never stop being a mother, your children are always your children.
You never stop caring about them or worrying about them, or for that matter, laughing with them and crying with them.
I hope all Collie mothers feel blessed and appreciated this Mother's Day.
A phone call, a visit, a hug, a hand-made card, a flower, a bunch of flowers, it doesn't take much to made a mother feel special.
I enjoy reading the catalogues at this time of the year, to see what the advertisers think a mother deserves - from the sublime to the ridiculous, someone will think it is a good thing for a mum.
Perhaps they are right, as mothers come in all shapes and sizes, in a wide range of ages, and with a kaleidoscope of tastes and preferences.
You know your mum - just think about her and work out what you believe she deserves.
Maybe it will be an outing, a meal you have cooked yourself, tickets to a show, a plant for the garden which will be a lasting gift, or family photographs.
The main thing is to remember your mum.
Markets
The Goods Shed Markets will be on again this Sunday, and could be just the place to find something special for mum.
A cup of tea or coffee in the restored railway carriage may be just the thing, or some fresh fruit or vegetables.
The markets run from 8am to 12 noon.
Museum
If you want to recall some of the hard work your mother did raising you, you might like to take her along to the Coalfields Museum to walk down memory land, looking at the artefacts used in the kitchen and laundry before the days of electrical goods.
The Museum is open from 9am to 3pm, Thursdays to Mondays.
Biggest Morning Tea
Mark Thursday, May 23 on your calendars and diaries for this year's Biggest Morning Tea.
You can raise your cups for cancer at the Energy West Hall in Lefroy Street from 10am.
Donations of savouries and cakes would be very much appreciated by the hard working people of the Collie Cancer Support Group.
Let's make it another huge success this year.
Collie Railway Station Group
On Mother's Day the Collie Railway Station will be giving mothers a special breakfast deal on her special day.
Each mum with receive $2 off any Mother's Day breakfast between 8:30 - 11:30am, when eating breakfast with her family.
Children can eat breakfast for $6.
Large range of coal figurines and fine china are also available.
National portraits
The 2019 National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition has opened at the Collie Art Gallery, and runs until June 9.
Collie is the first stop on the NPPP tour after its opening in Canberra.
Ladies' night markets
Treat yourself, your mother, your sister-in-law or your friends to a ladies' night markets at the Collie Italian Club on Friday, May 10.
Entry is free.
You can support local home-based businesses, have a bite to eat, a glass of wine and shop till you drop.
Noggerup Pop-up sale
Got something to sell, but don't fancy having a garage sale with people traipsing around your house and garden?
The Noggerup Hall Committee is holding a Pop-up sale on Saturday, May 25.
Buyers will be welcome from 10am to 4pm.
Sellers can set up from 9am, the cost is $10 per stall.
Contact Jodie Bennett on 0429 330 660 to book a stall.
There is heaps of space both indoors and outside if you have large items.
Tea and coffee will be available for a gold coin donation.
No alcohol, cigarettes, pornography, pets or livestock, but anything else you have to sell is fine.
Generation gap
I have seen many things attributed to the Generation Gap, but one brought home to me this week was handwriting.
Not for the first time, I had a younger person have trouble deciphering something I had written - not because my writing is particularly bad, just because it was what we used to know as "running-on writing".
It was seen as one of the rites of passage at school when you progressed from printing to running-on writing.
Not any more.
It just isn't taught nowadays. It makes you wonder what will happen to future historians trying to do research in old diaries and hand-written letters.
Some children have trouble even managing the printing style at all, as they are more accustomed to typing on keyboards, ipads and phones.
How many people out there remember having to use pen and ink to complete a page of "copybook" writing every day?
Send it in
Items for not-for-profit organisations are welcomed for this column.
You can email information to me at nrg@highway1.com.au by 5pm on Mondays, or drop off notes in my mailbox at 87 Jones Street.
Please include a contact name and phone number in case I need to check information.