Heavenly Beverley : Happy New 2017

Dear World,

this is an open letter containing joy and hope. A bit like Pollyanna playing the "Glad Game". My wish for 2017 is for the good to dominate the bad, love to dominate hate and peace to dominate war. I understand this is a big ask, but if we all try in our own ways to be positive, tolerant and forgiving, anything is possible.

Take the newspapers for example. The "West Australian", not the greatest paper in terms of either journalistic ability or spelling and grammar, reached a new low on New Year's Eve. This particular edition was full of misery - of murder, of the road toll (from last March's long weekend) and of the effects on families of the dead and the missing. I understand that news is not all beer and skittles, but there are enlightened people and events and organisations trying to make a difference all over the world. There are good news stories out there and if our papers paid equal attention to them, we may just create a new world demeanour. Hard copy newspapers are suffering from diminishing readership. How about trying something new, like presenting stories of wider interest and more balanced material? And I am sure that I am not the only person who longs for any improvement in journalistic endeavours.

Enough ranting at the press. Today is a great day - the first of the new year. Here in our little Residence, the Beverley Hillbillies have begun another phase of preparation to build Station Cottage. Bright and early (ish) our Avon Trader proprietor to the Stars, arrived with his trusty forklift and with Michael's directions, moved palettes of bricks from the back of our second block to create a Berlin Wall behind the Forbes Building. This is our cunning plan to maroon the Beagle. Some additional fencing at one end and a gate at the other end should keep the Beagle under house arrest without having to tie her up. Without Peter and his nifty machine, this task would not have been possible. Thanks, Pete.

The block is almost ready for tree removal. This job needs to occur before site works can proceed. And we do have one additional palette of bricks that we will have to construct due to a failure on the original palette's part to cope with a weight issue.

So we have a new house on the horizon. That's one tick to start 2017. Another new direction is my sudden willingness to truly become an Old Fart and take up lawn bowls. Last night I played for the second time at twilight bowls. My action is laughable, my speed inconsistent and I seem to have a knack for my bowls to either end up in the gutter or metres away from the jack. Needless to say, our team was annihilated.

But I do have enthusiasm coming out of my ears and I plan to begin Serious Practice on Tuesday evening with the Ladies Captain, Glenys. Wish her luck. Glenys is going to need an extraordinary dollop of patience and tact whilst attempting to guide me to Any Improvement.

Another task we have set ourselves during January is finally sanding and sealing the floor in Shop 4 (the main Gallery). This will entail emptying the space and sealing up as many escape routes for dust into Shop 3 as possible. The job needs to be done and this is the perfect opportunity to make the floor respectable for a very long time.

We also need to return some paintings, swap paintings, introduce new artists and their works, revamp the Gallery and the Giftshop and relaunch the East End Gallery at the end of the month. This is a task that will not be inconsequential and Michael is quite anxious about the extent of the operation. I hope that we can accomplish all that we want to do without Michael discombobulating.

My greatest gift for the New Year thus far is a new wardrobe. My darling friend, Jan - artist, musician, horticulturist and an all-around great person has impeccable taste in clothes and has passed onto me an array of divine outfits that are making me feel bright and colourful and fashionable. Yippee. An added bonus is that I will not have to actually buy any clothes for several years to come. A huge thank-you to Jan for her wonderful generosity.

We have just welcomed Jan and partner Greg into the Residence (along with canine companion Macca). On a walk, they decided on an impromptu visit. What a lovely first day of 2017 we are enjoying.

Writing this post has given me a real buzz to begin the year. I do hope, dear World, that your 2017 contains some instances of your own "Glad Games".