Sarah Hope | Public figure
Sarah Hope
Reviews
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25.01.2022 A friend posted this poetry on Facebook and I just loved it so much, it has stayed with me all week. Being middle aged, it makes complete sense to me. There are many beginnings still to come. #inspiringpoetry #poetryforthesoul
25.01.2022 Love this. Not sure if it’s origins - but posted by friend, Thea. Iso has taught me many things. One of them? This little bit of wisdom, which speaks a whole lot of truth. #innerstrength #corevalues #selfcare
23.01.2022 Some of you might have been wondering where the promised sequel to Canvas is, or at least how it’s progressing. All I can say, is based on the gaps between my real babies, my second book baby will be about another year away. I was never one of those Mummies who could churn out babies close togetherI needed time to recover and so it has been after Canvas. My brain was completely fried. It was a huge book both for you and me . A number of you may have been following me on @_...hopeandco_ watching me establish my art studio and business. This in itself has been huge over the Covid 19 pandemic...however, I’m on track now to start writing soon and the aim is to be able to build up enough stock for me to take a few weeks solid writing at least to begin with and see where it leads. I can say this much: the sequel will be based partly here in Western Victoria and partly in the UK and there will be a whole new story thread based in southern England including The Isle of Wight as well as North Yorkshire. There’s a new female heroine Alice discovers who I’m hoping you’ll love. It might seem strange - but while I’m potting, I’m plotting!! Watch this space. SHx #australianwriters #books #australianauthor #writersofinstagram #novelist See more
22.01.2022 Challenge accepted. Thank you @ztostevin and @lizziealsop_art for nominating me.
21.01.2022 Welcome 2021 and Happy New Year. I’m moving quietly into it...hence my lazy new year greeting on this day, January 7. Well 2020 was a curve ball for the human race, wasn’t it? There is something apocalyptic in the numbers alone, and it delivered with unerring force and catastrophic effect. Personally, I arrive into 2021 unscathed and with enormous positives to draw from. But the year finished at a frenetic pace for me and after Christmas I felt exhausted. I’ve closed the at...elier for a few weeks and while it was hard to drag myself away, it was so necessary to recharge. So for 2021? No resolutions but just a constant shuffle of how I do things. Do things more efficiently, better, build on what has already been built. 2020 ended up being a foundation year for me; making me pause, making me settle even though it broke my heart at first to stay still. On reflection, I recognise I am generally obsessed with work; driven. But In 2020, all my creative energies were channelled into a deep funnel to fill some voids I think; to cope with lockdowns in Victoria which extended over 8 months, to fill gaps left by people I love, who I couldn’t see. Couldn’t embrace. Perhaps I overthink things, but I do believe 2020 was sent to us, and some lessonssome losses, some griefwere much greater and deeper for some than others. But there were some positive lessons for us all, and I think there was nothing material even vaguely attached to any of it: we were reminded and thus remembered how important the people on our lives are, no matter what our circumstances. How each and every person we love deserves to feel and know that. Not just told thatshown that. So this image I discovered of the Perivolas Hotel in Greece via @promenadehomes encapsulates how I am setting my mindset for 2021: looking through a beautiful portal to something better, something sweeter for the human race. I see the ancient foundation of stone, the sea and the sun. A place I want to travel to. A place where I can soak and let my skin drink the elements in. Live freely again. A world of no borders again.
16.01.2022 Hello from the abyss!!!! Oh my gosh it has been a busy week and it’s not getting any lighter on the old bones! Working long days. Having had a general anaesthetic a couple of weeks ago I feel almost back to normal but I have to laugh: probably not so funny...I have left the stove on twice (I never do that sort of thing) and there are parcels in the mailand I can’t remember what I’ve bought until I open them. That part is quite funny. Luckily Pete has the attitude: happy wife..., happy life. So far, very efficient shipping has delivered to me: two Brazilian cowhide floor rugs, which are fabulous, a stunning navy wool jumper from England (very fast considering how long presents are taking to be delivered in the opposite direction!), two lovely checked cushion covers for the snug and some new lipsticks. I think that’s it. My only excuse is, in the post-operative waft, I have exercised little restraint, or guilt when purchasing a collection of goodies online from my iPad while CONVALESCING. Telling this story to Pete’s family at lunch last Sunday, drew some laughs around the table but a complete look of horror from my mother-in-law, who must have thought I was descending into some kind of degenerate spending addiction. ‘Don’t worry!’ I reassured her. ‘Everything is FINE. I haven’t ordered ANYTHING else...!’ And Pete, God Bless, said: the cowhides are really good. And they were ON SALE. (DUH!!) So I was sure that was it, wasn’t I? Yes until I got into the studio on Monday and there was a post office parcel slip waiting for me....!? Pete’s patience might wear thin if it goes on for much longer....but I will go in tomorrow morning and see what the damage is. My friend Belle, says in the first couple of days after the operation in my little prescription drug phase, I was hilarious. When prompted about the Americans use of freaking instead of you know what. I text messaged: FFS, the Americans are too f....g polite. (Add potty mouthed to my list of anaesthesia side effects)...Thank goodness the fuzz is wearing off. Sharp as a tack, I am! Well, almost.......#postoprecovery #vagueasaviolet See more
15.01.2022 If we going to be in isolation, we may as well make it splendid. Even if the splendid part is in our heads. I don’t know about anyone else, but after the announcement we were going back into stage 3 restrictions where I live in Victoria and Stage 4 in Melbourne - I went into a swift decline. I have felt so positive and kept my head down working in my studio, felt strong and focussed on supporting others around me - But suddenly yesterday I panicked - is it ever going to end?... So sometimes the only way I heal anxiety is to use images to spark my imagination, make me motivated - remind me there will be the other side of this. A long time ago, when I was a single mother of three small children and living on the smell of an oily rag - even though I couldn’t afford it - I bought a couple of house magazines a month: to keep me sane, to keep my dreams alive, to feel normal. No matter what, I sacrificed other things, but never the mags. They were my lifeline. The images reminded me that life didn’t need to be dark. The sun shone in gardens filled with flowers, I could almost smell the freshly baked cakes in warm kitchens and wake up in one of the light-filled bedrooms with floaty curtains lifting gently in a puff of summer breeze.... So when I saw this beautiful image by @christinagreve I drifted into it and stayed there for a bit. It’s beautiful. Serene. I thought, oh my goodness, I still do it. Still use pictures to soothe my soul. And there it is. Filling my mind with positive affirmations. Good things. Dreams. Possibilities. And all of a sudden my glass is half full again. The old adage of a picture is worth a thousand words could never be truer right now. It’s also worth a thousand positive thoughts. @christinagreve. #powerofpositivity #positivethinking #wevegotthis #staystrong #lockdown See more
14.01.2022 Love this via @samantha.meurant. Very timely, Sam!! Speaks to me today. #wordsofwisdom #patienceisavirtue #headdownbumup #dreambigger
13.01.2022 The Grampians mountain range is at my doorstep. It’s magnificent and is the setting for my first novel. I love this image but the girl perched on the ledge? I hear myself muttering; ‘I could never do that.’ A fear of heights has dogged me since childhood. I love flyingnot those sorts of heightsbut the kind when you’re in the open air, one wrong move and... I’m transported to our local ‘Baths’ in suburban Melbourne. A hot, stinking Saturday. I’m 12. Sunburn and one-piece ba...thers sticking to me like washi tape. I’m on the 10m diving platform watching boys doing crazy somersaults and peeking over the edge, clinging to white-painted steel railings. The Dandenongs in the shimmery distance. ‘Go ‘awn. Just bloody go!’ A voice says behind me. There’s a skinny kid with buck teeth, shivering. Dripping board shorts dangling on his hips. How can you have goose bumps in this heat? ‘Well, are ya?’ He sneers, ‘ You gunna go or what?’ I can’t. I’m not brave enough. I’m stricken with panic, clutch the railings tighter and edge back. ‘Noyou go.’ His lip curls: ‘Yer Wuss.’ And then he hurls himself off, clutching his legs to his chest. I retreat, hot shame burning my cheeks. Forty years later, I ask myself: what is brave? And who are we to judge? Brave for one is climbing an escarpment, or brave for another is facing opening a wallet and discovering not a coin left in it. Brave is standing up for another human being. Brave for some, is just getting through the day. Whatever your adversity, whatever your limitsit’s okay. I thought my husband would think my fear of heights silly. To show I could overcome it, early on in the piece, I gave him an air balloon ride over Melbourne for his birthday. He said: ‘Nup. Get a refund.’ Why? ‘Because I hate heights.’ I burst out laughing. WHAT? So I booked a jet boat on Corio Bay instead. Best birthday present ever. Adrenalin rush, zero heights involved. Someone asked me, I can’t remember when would you ever go parachuting? Are you effing joking? The plane would have to be going down and a gun pointed at my head. Land or sea is fine. Thank you very much. Brave for me is something else. See more
13.01.2022 [S P R I N G] It couldn’t come fast enough. The winter of discontent in Victoria has passed and we’ll look back on it with mystifying disbelief. I’m not sure where we live anymore: I thought we were one nationbut we’re now divided; pie-shaped pieces of a flattened, failed banana cake. Victoria, the scattered crumbs thrown to the dogs. Banana, you ask? Yes, banana! No better than old, dead bananas. No explanation required. The beauty of flowers are a ...welcome distraction this week. I took this image this morning not long before the heavens opened. We southerners need timely reminders the seasons are changing with soothing familiarity and regularity. That there is hope despite the gloom and doom. There are arguments for both sides regarding punitive lockdowns, but it’s a bloody disaster, is it not? Everyone can agree on that. Anyone, anywhere else in the country wouldn’t trade their place for a Melbournian for love or money. I said to my husband last night, ‘So where do you want to move to? Let’s blindfold ourselves and play darts.’ I was joking but was I? Right this minute, I’m drooling about going to a bar, dancing on tables (if I didn’t do my knee in the process. Sometimes I forget I’m 51), a normal Christmas, about cheek kissing when we say hello, lying cast on the beach and travelling. I’m craving a road trip, a plane trip, a familiar place re-visited, or a new place discovered. All liberties I’ve taken for granted. For Victorians, the transitionif we are in fact allowed oneas we move into the months ahead, will be like an episode of ‘Lost’: we‘ll shield our eyes from the bright light as we emerge from the broken plane. Tentatively at first, not knowing where we are. And then, gaining confidence, some part of each of us will be like John Locke, and his famous line: ‘Don’t tell me what I can’t do!!’ The little rebel in me loves it. I could get arrested for saying that in public right now. So I leave you with one thought this evening, a quote from Pythagoras: ‘Leave the roads; take the trail’ Make of it what you need towhat you will. The physical is all but curtailed for Victorians, but the metaphor is clear. Be unafraid. SHx
13.01.2022 Wednesday Inspiration in challenging times. The doors will have to be metaphoric ones for a while longer. Source: Pinterest
12.01.2022 [Gateways] But what is the significance of this one? When I wrote my novel ‘Canvas’ I drew on the memory of a photo I’d seen while researching. I delved into as much history of the Western District as I could. Many hours of reading. I was particularly invested in Margaret Kiddle’s, Men of Yesterdayan extraordinary, detailed history of the Western District of Victoria. As I read, I undertook to find a suitable ‘home’ for the pastoral estate, ‘Dunedin’, which was central to my... novel. I had a vision in my mind and I can remember distinctly the moment I saw the photo of ‘Mount Noorat’ - and felt it was IT. The magnificent house was built on a vast estate, on the side of an extinct volcano - by Scotsman and pastoral pioneer, Niel Black. One of the most eminent Squatters in colonial Australian history, legend has it at aged 73, he boasted of having had breakfast at 5am in Melbourne and was dining at 8 o’clock at Mt Noorat in the evening. This involved a distance of some 145 miles (234 kms) achieved by buggy and horse (it is thought)and according to Margaret Kiddle, he probably changed horses along the way and had a coachman accompanying him. But nonetheless, it makes a great story. (And actually, I imagined him far more gallant, not with horse and buggy and a coachman - but astride a whopping stallion charging up the side of the mount to the homestead. I guess I have an overactive imagination!) I was absolutely devastated to discover the homestead had been demolished decades ago. It seems inexplicable, but in a different time, these vast houses became unmanageable without staff and often uninhabitable. I felt in some weird way, I needed to honour it. These images are of its surviving entrance. Georgie and I drove past it today and I felt compelled to stop. Never have I felt such a desire to drive uninvited up the drive to discover where the house once sat. Georgie said, ‘Mum you can’t!!’ So we drove on and tried to see what we could from the road. It lives on in my reimagined ‘Dunedin’; a faded image on the back cover of ‘Canvas’. I just wish I could get hold of some more images and a floor plan. I’ve only ever found a scant few...
09.01.2022 [SUNDAY] Feeling emotional today as our daughter, Chloe, is moving to Qld. We’ve had six unexpected months with her due to Covid. It feels strange. The hoops she’s had to jump through to get permission to leave is bizarre, given we’re in a regional area without a case since April. I could harp on about the rotten state of Denmark and the sick state of Australian politics, and that a pandemic shouldn’t be about left, right or centre. But it would drive both you and I mad today.... And there’s enough of that going around. I will say, I’m at the point of many: enough is enough. We’ve done our duty, we’ve flattened, almost zeroed the curve, just let us get on with living rather than in this dystopian horror movie. On a lighter note, because it’s Sunday after all: the other night, I agreed with a guy’s comment on a state pollie’s FB page. Couldn’t help myself. Amidst all the seriousness, his profile pic was of Rip Wheeler, one of the main characters from Yellowstone. For the uninitiated, Yellowstone is a rip-snorting (no pun intended!) modern cowboys and Indians TV series, with justice dispensed western style and there’s loads of sex. Great lockdown material. Rip is the (dare I say, HOT) love interest of Beth, the feisty daughter of magnate ranch owner, John Dutton. So I say: ‘BTW love your profile pic of Rip. Yellowstone.’ There were some funny follow-up comments and me finishing with, ‘We could do with a bit of Rip character right now!’ Maybe riding down Spring St on an American Quarter horse? The mind boggles But we could also absolutely use some BETH, who delivers some of the best lines in the business. In Series 3, when confronted by her opposition (who tells her, If you think you’re up for this fight, Beth, you have no idea how wrong you are) she casually casts him a condescending look and drily responds: ‘Well, right back at ya. You are the trailer park. I am the tornado.’ GOLD. Here’s to dancing in the streets soon my friends. All dancing styles accepted. If you look like Rip Wheeler all the better But if you have chutzpah like Bethwell, you have my standing ovation. You deserve a flipping medal. We’re waiting for you.
09.01.2022 Got to love a bit of Voltaire. Burning with passion through the centuries. via Pinterest.
05.01.2022 All in a smile. All in the eyes. They never lie. #quotestoinspire #mondaymusings
05.01.2022 Something to make you smile this morning: my sister-in-law and family’s grandmother, always known to everyone, including us as ‘Beautiful Nan’ - turned 100!!!! Wow! A centenarian - something truly special to celebrate today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAUTIFUL NAN! @cassiehall77 one of her granddaughters.
03.01.2022 We will remember them. #anzacday2021 #anzacday
01.01.2022 Finding poetry in #iso. Has anyone else? I love this. Atticus nails the strength of the human spirit. Beautiful image by Chilean photographer, Esteban Amaro. @amaro777
