Ruby Spring 2015

Spring 2015 the thinking women’s magazine

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IF YOU WANT SOMETHING SAID, ASK A MAN; IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE, ASK A WOMAN - MARGARET THATCHER ‘Like’ us at MagazineRuby

contents

06

42

Ruby Psychology

Ruby Health

08

51

Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Food

10

54

Ruby Loves

Ruby Musings

12

56

Style Session

Ruby Living

25

66

Ruby Kids

Ruby Business

32

74

Ruby Insight

Ruby Book Club

O

RUBY is an Adcell Group publication.

We try to get out as many free copies as we can, but we know that they disappear faster than fairy bread at a 4th birthday party.

So if you can’t get your hands on a copy, why not subscribe for a guaranteed copy of your very own.

Visit rubymagazine.com.au Today!

PUBLISHER Maureen Tayler ISSN: 1838-1456 MANAGER Caroline Tayler EDITOR Davina Montgomery davina@adcellgroup.com.au DESIGN Gillian Brew ADVERTISE IN RUBY MAGAZINE Abbey Sherwell M 0418 991 203 abbey@adcellgroup.com.au --Tanya Carroll M 0418 302 869 tanya@adcellgroup.com.au Adcell Group Geelong - Head Office T (03) 5221 4408 / F (03) 5221 3322 203 Malop Street, PO Box 491, Geelong, VIC 3220

rubymagazine.com.au 04 Ruby Spring

ruby editor editor

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR RUBY Our cheeky little lady turns five this issue, and oh, how she’s grown.

You know that thing you do when someone reaches a certain age and you start looking back at what they were like all those years ago? Strapping big kids become, in your mind, a gorgeous little bundle of warm softness … well, until you get downwind of them and are promptly shocked back into reality.

A little over five years ago, while the women of the office were having a collective whinge about not being able to find any good women’s magazines to read we had the opposite of light bulb moment. The kind where there is no great surprise or flash of genius, just a ‘stuff it, if no one else is going to do it, we will’ decision.

For years, as we beavered (minds out of the gutter, ladies) away telling the stories of local businesses and delving into some of the big issues of the day in Business News, we would come across so many inspiring, interesting and often hilarious stories about women. There were so many big topics to cover and so many moments of madness that come with being a partner/mother/ daughter/sister/friend that we knew really should be shared but just didn’t fit in the scope of the business magazine.

We had no plan for Ruby, no grand agenda and, in many ways, no freakin’ idea what we were doing. But we knew who we were

doing it for. We were doing it for all of the women who were just like us, who found themselves saying, ‘Why doesn’t anyone write about that?’

All of those everyday stories, all of the amazing local women doing inspiring things, and all of the frustrations, the horrors and the joys of womanhood are the raison d'être for Ruby magazine. That we get to completely embarrass our significant others, parents and kids along the way has really just been an added bonus.

But the really, amazingly wonderful thing about the journey so far is that every time someone picks up a copy for a read, or that we get to meet and share their story, becomes one of the Ruby ladies (or a Ruby bloke). And all of it has kept us so busy that I nearly fell off my chair when someone pointed out that it would be five years this spring since that very first edition. Where did the time go?

In a panic, we thought, ‘What are we going to do for our fifth birthday?’

With our bonkers lives and coming out of a winter season that had all of us either curled up in a ball of viral misery, or, worse, dealing with the collective balls of viral misery of the significant others and family at home, the thought of an all-out birthday bash was not very attractive.

Frankly, we’d rather be at home, under a blankie, watching back-to-back chick flicks or binge watching those series that we’ve been recording since last year but haven’t had time to watch yet, and enjoying a quiet cup of tea and chocolate that we don’t have to share because, thank any deity that wants to claim credit, the significant others and kids are back at work/school and we have the house to ourselves.

Sometimes it’s the simple things that are the most memorable. For my 5th birthday I got a goldfish, which I called Bubbles, and a Barbie. And while some of the details are hazy, some memories shine through: Mum put five candles on a Boston Bun and there were family, friends, corduroy overalls, home knitted jumpers and shiny party hats involved.

And all I wanted to do was to scoop up that glorious sugar cream and coconut icing with my finger and eat it - all of it. Even my nascent questioning child self wondered at why that would be such a bad thing, as my parents seemed to think it was. What is the point of having cake if you can’t eat it too?

So, here is our Ruby birthday wish for you: Do at least one thing today you really want to. Spoil yourself. Don’t just have your cake, eat it too, all if it if you want. Lick the plate!

words davina montgomery 05 Ruby Spring

ruby psychology

Do Nice Girls Finish Last?

06 Ruby Spring

ruby psychology Are you too nice? What’s that old adage – nice gals/guys finish last? Is it so?

Whether it be a cliché or not, do you try your very darnedest to be the epitome of niceness?

Why would you bother, I ask? To hear people say, “You’re the nicest person I know – you never have a bad word to say about anyone.” What high expectations to live up to. It must take its toll keeping that halo polished up to such a sparkly, shiny, sheen. Seems to me that keeping that nice girl image in tact may hold you back from being authentic.

What is nice any way? Even the word nice is bland.

A quick definition reveals nice to be: polite, respectable, agreeable, pleasant, wonderful – need I continue? In one way, it feels so very good to be that person who never says a bad word about anybody. And, naturally, you’d assume that you’re not giving anyone a reason to say a bad word about you. It feels good.

You like to be liked and what better way than being nice as pie to everybody who crosses your path? To conform to certain behaviours and opinions gains us social acceptance within society, and we don’t want to be the odd one out, do we?

I’d dare to suggest that it is actually impossible to control other’s opinions about you. They either like you or they don’t. And, to be honest, it works both ways. You won’t like everyone you meet, even if you are just too polite to show it. You may be smiling and ever so affable on the outside but your mind is screaming, “Get me out of here and away from this self-obsessed person who turns everything around to be about them!” But you keep smiling and nodding because looking bored or and walking away wouldn’t be nice, would it? And you are a very nice person, and you know this because everyone tells you so.

Incongruence lives within. Often termed cognitive dissonance – your behaviour doesn’t quite match what you are thinking. This can bring about copious amounts of mental torment when you are holding two conflicting beliefs or values at the same time.

Sound like hard work? Yes it is, but you still continue to persevere. Let’s see if you check any of the following items; you don’t express strong opinions from anything political to anything theological – you couldn’t possibly take the chance

of offending anyone. And when asked when or what you want the best policy is to always conform with the popular consensus, “Oh, I’m easy, I’ll have what you’re having,” or, “I’m open to anything.”

And, horror of horrors, you could never say the ‘no’ word to anyone. You can even resort to downright lying, “Oh, I’d love to come but I’m taking my cat to the ophthalmologist tonight.”

Further to that, you agonise and procrastinate over your responses to emails or texts. Goodness me, what would people think if your reply was anything less than nice? Your wellcultivated niceness would evaporate if you put a foot wrong, so you tread very carefully because your reputation depends on it. Or does it?

AND, HORROR OF HORRORS, YOU COULD NEVER SAY THE ‘NO’ WORD TO ANYONE. YOU CAN EVEN RESORT TO DOWNRIGHT LYING, “OH, I’D LOVE TO COME BUT I’M TAKING MY CAT TO THE OPHTHALMOLOGIST TONIGHT.” Here’s a thought, what if being so very, very nice when it’s not genuine was in fact just reframed as fake niceness? Now there’s a scary thought. But being fake goes against your basic core beliefs of being a polite, respectable, agreeable, pleasant, and wonderful human being.

But it could be that the majority of us do engage in fake niceness on a daily basis, when the situation demands it. Hands up if you dabble in a little fake niceness here and there? Yep, thought so. We’re only human after all. I guess it’s about intention. So, if there is no intention to cause harm as opposed to intentionally causing harm, you’re looking good.

I’d suggest being wary of those presumably nice folk aiming the

backhanded comments. This is usually a dead giveaway of fake niceness: “Those pants look great on you – very flattering around your rear end,” or maybe, “This food is divine, which caterer did you use?”

I think you’ll work them out. It’s when you stand there momentarily with your mouth open and emitting no sound. Sometimes that brain freeze mode just kicks in! Or you revert back to your niceness default and give an elaborate explanation about your ongoing battle with your rear end and finding suitable apparel that makes you presentable in public. Goodness me, we wouldn’t want that not-so-nice person to feel uncomfortable in our presence.

Getting back to not being able to say ‘no’. You may assume that it is your job to make family, friends and coworkers happy. But ah no, that’s their responsibility. If you continually put other’s needs ahead of your own, naturally resentment will eventually kick in.

It’s about setting boundaries that you are comfortable with and feeling empowered.

Being assertive doesn’t mean being aggressive. A little bit of assertiveness goes a long way. How does this sound?

Instead of, “Oh I’d love to come, but the cat also has an orthodontists appointment I forgot about – he’s getting braces,” to, “Oh, thanks, but I’m just not in the mood for a night out.” So much less stress and, dare I say it, honest.

Congratulations you have just empowered yourself and you’re still a nice person!

Let’s have a look at the nice gal/guys finishing last question that we started off with. What is technically a positive trait can also be a negative trait for some of us. Research demonstrates that genetics and life experiences combine to make us who we are. So, whether you are wired for niceness or just brought up with it, being nice to others will benefit them as well as boosting your mood.

Or it could just come down to good old chemistry – your brain releases endorphins and serotonin when you do something nice for someone and you get a hit. Whatever the rationale, maybe coming in at second place isn’t such a bad place to finish after all.

words charmaine morse, psychologist, charmainemorse.com.au 07 Ruby Spring

ARRIVING HOME, THE HOUSE, WHICH WAS ITS USUAL POST-DEADLINE DISASTER ZONE, HAD A DISTURBINGLY RURAL SMELL ABOUT IT...

08 Ruby Spring

ruby tuesday

SOME DAYS YOU JUST GET IT WRONG After years of bitter experience, I have come to dread the moments when you stop and think, ‘Hey, I have actually got it together today.’

N

o, NO, NOOO! That is the working parent equivalent of saying Macbeth in the theatre, or ‘quiet’ in the emergency department. As all sensible people know, the utterance of the words, the mere whisper of the thought, spells certain chaos.

Some of the very worst days of my life have begun with that very thought, before WHAM, the universe shifts and the nightmare begins.

Fortunately, most of the time, it isn’t utter doom that ensues, just the kind of day that you can’t wait to see the end of and during which you get to use some of the more colourful curses you’ve pocketed away for such occasions.

A few weeks ago, I had one of those days.

I was chasing a tight deadline and my brother and sister-in-law had flown down with our eight month-old nephew to stay with us over the weekend. It was lovely to see them and the baby cuddles were so precious, but it also meant staying up in the wee hours of Monday morning to get copy ready for the morning.

Sleep-deprived but quietly proud at what I’d churned out overnight, I went into the office to drop off the copy and run. I had actually got it all together, so I thought, and was too tired to hear the warning bells.

With a celebratory coffee and some eye spray to treat the scratchy eyes from stupid amounts of screen time I would be free to enjoy the rest of the day.

I reached into my bag, grabbed my eye spray, and did as the packet instructed and closed my eyes and gave both eyes a solid double spray before realising, hmmm, that smells odd, and my face is really quite wet, which it normally isn’t after eye spray. And it wouldn’t have been if I had actually used eye spray instead of my glasses cleaning spray … Yes, I had Windexed my eyes.

Never mind, coffee will fix everything. I have an almost religious relationship with my morning coffee. I like to save the daily

devotion until the kids are safely at school, or I am in the office or in a quiet house and can savour the joy in peace. And this morning, the smell of it bubbling out of the machine was oh so good. Picking up the cup and realising I hadn’t heated the milk was not so good, and that had been my last coffee pod.

Ah, the glamorous world of media, where you can be seen staggering around the streets with panda eyes from working past midnight for two weeks solid, your keys are buried somewhere in the labyrinth of a journo’s handbag and you can’t remember where you parked the car. All of this is so far, so normal, until you realize you’ve been wondering aimlessly around the entrance to the brothel next door to the office for ten minutes now, and the only clean and ironed clothes and matching shoes you could find to wear are a borderline inappropriate dress with knee high black boots and all of this is starting to attract some very quizzical looks from passers by.

But never mind, because I was free.

Arriving home, the house, which was its usual post-deadline disaster zone, had a disturbingly rural smell about it. Postcyclonic piles of clothes and toys, not to mention all those brochures and mags that we were absolutely going to read so didn’t chuck in the recycling when they arrived, a week ago, are one thing. Any sort of biological odour is another thing entirely.

And yes, the smallest, hairiest and grumpiest member of the Jones clan had ignored his fresh and inviting kitty litter in favour of using the floor all around the litter tray. Like many middle-aged men of most species, he can be a right [add colourful expletive of your choice here].

Delaying my plans to collapse on the couch face down for an hour or two before rolling over and staring at the TV for another couple of hours, I brought out every antibacterial product I could get my hands on – and there was a surprising number of them – all trace of rural was banished.

Back to the couch, remote in hand, I was thinking of hitting the Audrey Hepburn backlog, or possibly something involving Melissa McCarthy or Kristen Wiig, when the sad spinning wheel popped up on the screen. Yep, the kids had sucked up all our data watching Netflix.

Oh, you have got to be #$%# #$#$ *&^E-ing kidding me!

Laughing about all of this with another manic mama a week or so later, she dried her tears and told me about her very recent version of the same day.

An outwardly super-sorted and sophisticated professional woman, she was enjoying a rare trouble-free morning.

Everyone was packed, dressed and primped and out the door early. It was, she thought, a minor miracle until, while she was dropping off her youngest at a prestigious early learning centre in Melbourne, she felt a friend pulling on the back of her dress. It appeared she had been doing the morning drop off with the neck to never never zip at the back of her belted dress wide open, exposing bra and knickers to everyone she had rushed past.

‘I think we really need to take some more time for ourselves,’ she reflected, after we had calmed down again. And being an inveterate doer, that’s what she did and booked herself in for a relaxing beauty treatment.

A few days later she called, saying, ‘You know that episode of Sex and the City where Samantha had to wear a hat and veil to Carrie’s book launch because a chemical peel went wrong. Well, that actually happens.’

What was supposed to be a quick pick me up became an allergic reaction and/ or chemical burn that was less fresh and fabulous and more flayed. After a week of dermatology appointments, antihistamines, antibiotics and some severe embarrassment both her skin and her pride had settled down.

‘I think I’m being punished for my vanity,’ she moaned, ‘Q#$#&%$!’

words tuesday jones 09 Ruby Spring

ruby loves

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13 8 10 Ruby Spring

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DEAR RUBY LADIES, We love putting Ruby together. It makes us feel like we have a special little non-argumentative girl child that holds all our hopes, our beliefs, and yes, a few of our foibles as well. She is the very best version of ourselves and when you tell us that you love her too, well, we melt a little.

We also know she’s a popular little minx, never where she should be and running off with, let’s face it, anyone who’ll have her. So, we sat her down, gave her a good talking to about why she needs to be certain places, so that the fabulous women who like her can find her.

From now on, our Ruby bloke, Ronnie, will be out around town dropping off more copies of Ruby and filling up Ruby baskets (for distribution points, see the list below). We won’t be posting out as many copies but if you’re business is missing out, just get in touch with the gorgeous Abbey: abbey@adcellgroup.com.au Someone snaffling your office copy, or keep finding empty Ruby baskets (told you she’s a minx!)? Don't worry, we've got a new low subscription fee of $14.50 per year. I know, she’s cheap too – but in a good way!

Here are 30 + places you can pick up a copy of Ruby Magazine in and around Geelong.

More locations are coming soon so keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates.

BELLARINE PENINSULA: Flying Brick Cider Co Jack Rabbit Leura Park Estate Oakdene Restaurant, Vineyard & Café Terindah Estate BELMONT/GROVEDALE/ WAURN PONDS Blu Living Kardinia Health Soft Coffee Lounge (Spotlight Centre) The Cottage Medical Clinic The Grovedale Community Hub Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre EAST GEELONG/ NEWCOMB/BREAKWATER: Bellarine Shopping Centre Bellarine Café Buckleys Entertainment Centre Buxton East Geelong Kings Funerals Lucy Lockets 261 Newcomb Central Medical Centre Pink Elm Bellarine Café The Ebony Forest IT’S FREE! If you would like to stock Ruby Magazine in your business get in touch with abbey@adcellgroup.com.au

GEELONG CBD: Australian Skin Face & Body Baveras City of Greater Geelong Geelong City Medical Clinic Geelong Laser Tattoo Removal GPAC Dennys Kitchen Deakin Waterfront Kitchen Market Square Shopping Centre Myer St Medical Clinic Royal Geelong Yacht Club Speakys Surf, Skate and Snow Venus Flytrap The Firm Slimming Clinic GEELONG WEST/ NEWTOWN Artworks Jewellers Brax Windows & Blinds Eclectica Jovic Accounting Newtown Medical Centre Pakington Bakery Ts 14+ West End Real Estate HIGHTON: Darriwill Farm Café SOUTH GEELONG: Byars Packaging SURFCOAST: Swell Café Temple Hair & Beauty Torquay Tattslotto & Gifts

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Because we all fit

REAL nyata.com.au 11 Ruby Spring

ruby musings

STYLE ME UP - STYLE DUO Since reaching my mid 40’s I’ve fallen into a fashion rut.

In my attempt to look stylish and keep up with the trends I usually end up not looking stylish at all and feeling a bit like a try hard. Or as my dear old dad used to say ‘mutton dressed up as lamb!’

S

o, I decided to do something about it and get in some professional help. I made a call to local personal stylists Style Duo. As soon as I met Emma and Alex (a.k.a. Style Duo) they put me at ease straight away with their down to earth, friendly personalities.

The first step was a 30-minute Q&A session, with questions along the lines of what I felt my best features were, what I felt my worst features were, which celebrity style I liked, and what I was struggling with the most when it came to dressing - was it evening, work wear, casual, etc.

For me it was the smart casual look - you know when you just need to quickly throw something on for a last minute dinner with friends, drinks with the girls, backyard BBQ etc.

The girls took my measurements (clothes left on - thank goodness!) and worked out my body shape. I’d always thought I was a column shape, but it turns out I’m actually an inverted triangle.

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TODAY!

That didn’t mean much to me then, but I now realise, after our little shopping expedition, that it’s really important to dress for your body shape.

I then met the girls for our three-hour shopping session. What an absolute blast. I never once felt pressured to spend money, it was totally up to me. I could have walked away without spending a cent if I chose to – though, of course, that was never going to happen! They were really flexible with their time too - we went on a Friday night, which was the only time I could fit it into my busy schedule with work, kids extra-curricular, etc. so that was a bonus.

Alex and Emma had already done their research during the day and had outfits put aside for me, so as soon as we walked into a store I was straight into the change rooms to try on. No wasting time window shopping or rack browsing.

Everything they had chosen fitted and I loved. The best part was that it all goes together - mix and match – and I ended up with a number of outfits that I can put together at a moment’s notice without having to think about it.

The girls really listened to my concerns and chose clothes that they knew I’d be comfortable wearing. They educated me on what styles to look for to suit my body shape, what fabrics are best, how to accessorise, along with a lot of other little stylist insider tips and tricks which have been invaluable.

They also cater to any budget, so don’t feel like you have to have squillions - they easily adapt to your personal situation and lifestyle.

If a personal stylist is something you’ve only ever dreamed about stop dreaming and call the girls at Style Duo - you won’t regret it!

It was one of the best things I’ve done.

Tanya xx

A bit from Alex & Emma: Both of us have trained and worked with one of Australia’s top fashion stylists. This incredible experience, along with our own individual qualifications in the fashion and beauty industry, ensures that all clients are in expert hands when working with us.

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We love showing women how to love themselves again and it’s amazing how a person’s confidence and selfbelief can soar, simply by wearing the right clothes!

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words tanya carroll 12 Ruby Spring

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13 Ruby Spring

ruby fashion

A BLOKES VIEW How very dare he …

I

know Ruby is predominantly a women’s magazine but recently I caught my bloke flicking through the pages of our winter issue. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that he’s taking an interest and reading the Rubes – the more blokes that read it the better I reckon – they might actually learn a thing or two! But I’m not sure if I’m ready for his critique of our little lady Ruby.

Not only did he proceed to tell me he thought some of our titles were ‘a bit risqué’ (‘My Pussy is Poorly’ was one particular title that caught his eye) but he also suggested that perhaps we should put more text and headlines etc. on the cover! Well, excuuuuusse meeeeee!

I, of course, got on the defensive and a lovely discussion about publishing magazines, target audiences, point of difference, advertising spend, distribution, price (you should sell it instead of giving it away for free – he says!) ensued.

The conversation ended abruptly (when I cracked the sads) and told him he couldn’t possibly understand the publishing world – him coming from a retail background and that he should perhaps stick to reading the local football record! Yes, I’m ashamed of myself for stooping so low, but hey, in

the heat of the moment I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

So, it was to my pleasant surprise when I arrived home the other day and he showed me his new purchases. Not one, but two pairs of glasses from Eyewear on Pako - a pair of sunnies and a pair of reading specs.

“How good are they at Eyewear on Pako?

They had a great range and really know their stuff,” he says.

“Yes, they do. What made you go to Eyewear on Pako?” I ask.

“I saw them in your Ruby magazine!”

And that, my friends, is how the Ruby rolls!

words tanya carroll

Find us on facebook Find us on facebook @eyewearonpako @eyewearonpako

14 Ruby Spring

ruby fashion

SPRING INTO SEPTEMBER with

SAPPHIRES Sapphires are the birthstone for September. It is also the stone of wisdom and purity.

16 Ruby Spring

ruby fashion

S

apphires belong to the group of minerals known as corundum, which is crystalline aluminium oxide. Pure corundum is colourless. The presence of a few atoms of a transition element in the crystal structure, that displaces some of the aluminium atoms causes colour in corundum crystals.

oval Ceylon sapphire weighing nine carats.

Therefore sapphires come in a variety of colours from clear, yellow, pink, orange, green, violet to navy blue to almost black.

Most people think of the Australian blue sapphire however, and the most desired colour is the “cornflower” blue. Think of Princess Diana’s engagement ring – now Princess Catherine’s engagement ring - an

Today, sapphires are mined in Australia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and other regions.

Madagascar is a large source of a wide variety of coloured sapphires.

Sapphire’s hardness, brilliance and availability in so many beautiful colours makes it very versatile for all forms of jewellery. The gem is rated nine on the Mohs scale of hardness and is second only to the diamond in terms of hardness.

This makes it ideal for rings.

Treatment of sapphires is common. The most common is heat treatment. This enhances the colour. It is permanent and accepted by the jewellery industry.

Other treatments, such a beryllium coating and glass filling, are not permanent and can be very deceptive to the layman.

All treatments such as these should be disclosed to the buyer.

Large sapphires are rare. They are sometimes named in the same way as famous diamonds. The American Museum of Natural History owns the “Star of India” weighing 536ct; also the “Midnight Star” weighing 116ct. Another two famous sapphires are part of the British Crown Jewels: St. Edward’s and the Stewart sapphire. All these sapphires can be seen on the internet and are well worth a look. www.artworksjewellers.com.au

17 Ruby Spring

STREET SNAP Elise I AM: Elise I AM WEARING: a Country Road wool cardigan, pants, and a white t-shirt - this one is from Sportsgirl but I have about ten on rotation - and my favourite Emily Green necklace.

MY STYLE IS: relaxed, comfortable and practical; but I also love a bit of vintage glamour.

I ADMIRE THE STYLE OF: the classics…

Audrey Hepburn and Twiggy.

ruby fashion

WHAT ARE THE JACKETS OF 2015 SPRING?

Y

es. It’s official. Spring is here, and that means it is time to bring in the breezy, flirty, fun looks you have been dying to get on that fabulous bod of yours whilst persisting through the chills of winter.

And hasn’t it been a chilly one, for sure!

MY FAVOURITE PLACE TO SHOP: I can usually find something I love in Cue.

You are fed up with wearing those baggy layers to keep you cozy and warm, and you want to get your gorgeous legs out to flaunt to the world, I know, I know.

MY BIGGEST FASHION MISTAKE WAS: green bike shorts on Grade 4 camp. I will never live that down.

Well, spring is here to enjoy, and, fashion wise, this season is a blessing as anything that goes in autumn and summer goes in spring as well… including jackets.

MY FAVOURITE PIECE IN MY WARDROBE IS: my J brand jeans and my Nordic Fusion Clogs.

While the usual staples are still in, and always will be, I want to show you how you can wear them in a different way, plus we have a few new stars in line for spring 2015.

WHAT I LOVE TO WEAR TO COMPLIMENT MY GORGEOUS FIGURE: vintage inspired dresses.

I have to say, my wardrobe is full of amazing jackets. I love buying from second hand shops and always love a day trip to Savers in Brunswick.

I enjoy finding something super unique, which may be a vibrant colour or feature a bold and striking print. It always tizzies up my outfits, and I am forever receiving comments from people. I love that I can wear them from season to season.

I WOULD NEVER BE CAUGHT DEAD IN: leather jogger pants.

In other words, jackets, when worn more creatively, can be eye catching pieces and give your outfits that extra bit of somethin’ somethin’.

So let’s get creative!

1. The leather jacket. Yes we all love a classic black leather jacket, it will always be a part of our wardrobe. But it’s coloured leather jackets that are having a moment in the spring fashion world, from gorgeous blue tones to amazing nudes and browns.

How to wear it? It literally goes with anything, you know that. Challenge yourself and wear it with your office suit, or pencil skirt, instead of doing the blazer. It’s more sophisticated.

2. The safari jacket. The safari jacket is usually in khaki, black, light green and brown tones, and are generally made from a very light fabric, with a hidden adjustable belt, and some may also have a hoodie.

How to wear it? It tends to look better with more casual styles, but it can look great with heels and skirts if you roll up the sleeves, worn with a belt, and wear it unbuttoned - casual comes classy. You can get away with both looks with one of these babies in your wardrobe. words amber gwynn 18 Ruby Spring

STREET SNAP Zoe I AM: Zoe Scott I AM WEARING: a skirt from Bardot and cape I got as a gift.

MY STYLE IS: edgy and bold.

3. The denim jacket. Massive in the 1980s and 1990s. Denim jackets are hot yet again, especially slightly distressed and not too dark. Studs are big this season and there is something very rock ‘n roll about a studded denim jacket.

Denim jackets have been edited to make them so much more flattering, and the studs are a modern upgrade.

How to wear it? Same as the leather one, it does go with anything, even layered over a button-down-shirt and pencil skirt, but keeping in mind it adds more sportiness and casualness to a look.

4. The trench coat. Yes, they will always be in. Trenches are here to stay. I. Think 80s styles this season - super long, slightly oversized, with rolled up sleeves.

Cream and white tones are a fave.

I ADMIRE THE STYLE OF: Kate Moss or the Kardashians.

MY FAVOURITE PLACE TO SHOP: Everywhere!

MY BIGGEST FASHION MISTAKE WAS: In high school. I had the shortest layers in my hair, I looked like Rod Stewart meets a crow!

MY FAVOURITE PIECE IN MY WARDROBE IS: my leather jacket – it’s my go-to item.

WHAT I LOVE TO WEAR TO COMPLIMENT MY GORGEOUS FIGURE: Clothes that pinch in at my waist.

I WOULD NEVER BE CAUGHT DEAD IN: Crocs! Couldn't pay me enough to wear them.

How to wear it? It literally looks great with anything, yet I would say avoid wearing it with too long, too oversized skirts or dresses. Corporate wear looks great with a trench coat: a suit, a pencil skirt, a dress. Skinny jeans, casual dresses, itsy bitsy shorts underneath can look gorgeous too. Especially when paired with some amazing flats.

5. The belted blazer. Now this is a gorgeous look and a personal fave of mine. It’s time we think outside the square and not just think about blazers for the office. Let’s think about them in a more fun way.

How to wear it? The belted blazer works best with more fitted outfits: skinny pants, shorts, flirty dresses or skirts.

6. The bomber jacket. The bomber jacket looks great when you’re going for a rather sporty glam style, more casual without being too polished. Be creative with bold, fun prints.

How to wear it? Neutral colours or patterns look great with just about anything. Floral print bomber jackets are great for spring, Invest in a bold print bomber jacket and mix it and match it with everything in your closet. I have two in my wardrobe and I wear them ALL the time.

19 Ruby Spring

ruby business

LIFE BEHIND THE

STAFF ONLY DOORS A

couple of my earliest working experiences were in shopping centres and I learned early on that behind the scenes, shopping centres are small communities, with all the characters and in-jokes and stories that nobody talks about, so they say, but that everybody seems to know.

When we heard, along with everybody else, that Market Square was getting a facelift in time for its 30th birthday, including the massive job of painting the façade and upgraded lifts, we were suitably excited.

The birthday celebrations will extend for 30 days, from the 3rd of November to the 3rd of December, with the 3rd of December being the official birthday.

The centre will be giving away $30,000 worth of prizes, including a brand new car courtesy of Rex Gorrell.

Here at the Ruby office most of us remember when the centre first opened. A real shopping centre in central Geelong?

Like, wow! It was the 80s; there was heady excitement in the air – although that could have been a byproduct of breathing in too much hairspray. But either way, it really was a very big deal.

And that is why the culmination of the centre’s birthday celebrations will be a huge 1985-inspired party.

Behind all of this excitement is Market Square’s Marketing Manager of four and a half years, Sarla Holmes. Sarla provides the link between the local community and the shopping centre, including designing the campaigns and coordinating the special events.

As part of the 30th birthday celebrations, Level 3 of Market Square will host a huge temporary gallery showcasing the centre’s staff, contractors, retailers and customers.

“It’s huge, incredibly bright and colourful and really very exciting,” she said. And Ruby readers are getting a sneak peek into just some of the images that will go on 20 Ruby Spring

display, helping to tell the real story of life behind the Staff Only doors.

And when it comes to shopping centre shenanigans, she’s seen it all.

“I arrived at work one day, and it was during Christmas time, and Santa came into the office and was in an absolute flap.

Apparently Santa’s changing room was a mess and the reindeer food was scattered everywhere.

“At the same time as our Santa visits, we had been working really closely with Village Cinemas and had some of their mascots and their film animals coming down to promote Village gift cards. We’d had The Chipmunks in the day before, and they had used the same room that Santa had been using. It turned out that The Chipmunks had got into the reindeer food and spread it all over the change room and Santa was clearly unimpressed.”

And, as you can imagine, that is by no means the only Santa incident that has come up over the years.

What’s it like being the Marketing Manager of a Shopping Centre? “Crazy, in a word,” Sarla said, laughing. “You know what’s amazing about this job is that it is incredibly dynamic, it is crazy, and it’s different every single day. And because you’re dealing with the public, and so many retailers and so many contractors all at the same time, anything can happen.”

Sarla’s career has taken more than few twists along the way, which perhaps explains why she enjoys the organised chaos of centre management. She has worked in the military, in retail, teaching at TAFE, human resources and recruitment, and as a swim teacher.

She was in the Army Reserve and went on to do infantry training as a cadet officer. I suggested this may be where she gained her discipline and organisational skills, she jokingly countered that it honed her direct and ruthless attitude.

Sarla Holmes

And anyone who doesn’t think you need an element of ruthlessness to work in a shopping centre has clearly never worked in a shopping centre.

“But seriously, officer training taught me a lot about leadership and how much it was possible to get done in a day. No matter how impossible a task might seem, if you have a high-functioning team around you, you can literally achieve the impossible.”

Teamwork plays an incredibly important part in the big circus act that is managing a shopping centre from behind the scenes.

And in a local independent centre like Market Square, behind the Staff Only doors it really is just one big crazy family. From the Centre Management staff to the cleaners, security staff, electrical, plumbing and maintenance staff, to the cark park attendants. Not to mention the retailers, three of whom have been there from the beginning, and Duffs Jewellers, Sportsgirl and Spotlight will be celebrating the 30th birthday of their stores along with the centre.

The centre has been recognised for its innovative events over the years, and the recent Augmented Reality exhibition where customers could see themselves in an Antarctic penguin scene has been nominated for a major marketing award.

But it’s not always the big things that make a difference, and, in the world of shopping

centres, it’s often the little things that really tell the story. Having attendants available for people with disabilities at the lifts, or the friendly face of the parking attendant on the way out of the car park.

Taking their role in the local community seriously, the Centre also sponsors twelve key local charitable organisations – one for each month of the year – helping to highlight the issues that matter in the wider community. And sometimes it’s a simple kids activity during the school holidays that takes a shopping trip from a tantrum-inducing experience for both parents and children into a fun day out.

“The events are some of the most exciting parts of my job,” Sarla said. “The historical project that I’ve been working on as part of the birthday celebrations has been a fantastic project to work on that is celebrating 178 years of local history. And we’ve had some fantastic school holiday programs. But for me, having a Christmas program that is completely focused on children and being a part of that is really special. To me, Christmas is about magic.”

When it comes to the things that happen in shopping centres, well, we could go on for days … but some things really should remain behind Staff Only doors.

21 Ruby Spring

ruby fashion

RUBY ALL AROUND FOR

Spring Racing

I have known Victoria Henderson, milliner and owner of Ruby & Leo since my early childhood days. Being best friends with one of her three daughters meant I was exposed early on in life to her fabulous quirky style, creative flair, hardworking nature and kind heart.

The story behind Ruby & Leo

V

ictoria began her artistic affair with the design and creation of jewellery in 1994, and owned Gorgeous Jewellery boutique on Pakington Street with husband Richard from 2000 to 2013.

As the orders began to flow in for bridal headpieces she developed quite a love and talent for millinery.

Over the years the business expanded and at one point ran four Gorgeous boutique stores across Geelong, and with the workload that comes with having so many businesses, Victoria had to put more time into running them and less time into design and innovation.

“I lost track of what I set out to do and that is to create, make and sell my own craft,” she said.

The fun, creativity and passion for millinery began outweighing the mundane parts of owning the businesses.

“We already had the leasehold in Highton as this was our Gorgeous Clearance outlet and for some time I had been thinking of converting it to a millinery boutique. Even though I had thought about it, it was a particular incident one day at Gorgeous Fashionista that prompted me to open

Ruby & Leo and it ended up happening quite rapidly.”

Victoria experienced first-hand that when you are determined and set on an idea, it is amazing how quickly you action plans.

“I decided on the Thursday before Easter that year, 2011, and by the week after Ruby & Leo opened.”

Victoria actually fell into the millinery trade by accident. “My brother was getting married and I was Matron of Honour to my now darling sister-in-law. She was trying on wedding dresses and in one of the stores they put a headpiece on her head. When she was getting changed she passed it to me and being a ‘crafts person’ I knew that I could make her something similar to save her the money. I did and she absolutely loved it and that was when my millinery journey began.”

“I started playing around with all kinds of materials and fell in love with millinery as an art. There are so many different techniques and materials used in the trade that you could never get bored. There is always something to learn, which has kept me fascinated with it for over 20 years.”

Located in the heart of Highton village, home to food provedores, surrounding gift

words ally mcmanus 22 Ruby Spring

shops and an abundance of fresh fruit and veg, Ruby & Leo certainly fits into the quaint nature of the suburb’s shopping strip.

Victoria explains the boutique as “an outlet for creative designs to sit on your crown for many occasions and reasons.”

Her Spring Racing Repertoire Although Ruby & Leo does many bridal, mother of the bride and other special custom-made orders throughout the year, the main focus is Spring Racing.

“It is a hectic time, both making a range for the store and also taking custom orders. It means long days and sore hands! But as they say, "Make hay while the sun shines".

As for most milliners, it is the busiest time of the year and we rely on it for a major part of our income for the year.”

Most of Victoria’s work is produced between August and November, and while this requires a quick turnover, the system works well for her.

“I seem to thrive best under pressure so it’s a good time for me.”

Victoria has had some interesting racing clientele over the years, working with female race horse owners that are quite prominent in the industry. She also created some hats for the Geelong mayor’s fiancé,

ruby fashion

Elissa Friday, who was the Geelong Cup Ambassador last season.

“That was quite a big job. Her hat had to be quite specific to match her unusual frock, and it took many hours to complete.”

To get through the long hours of millinery, Victoria says she enjoys listening to audio books. Elissa’s hat took Victoria so long that she listened to The Diary of Anne Frank in its entirety!

Serendipity with a shared Ruby The name Ruby is equally as special to Victoria as it is to us at the magazine.

“Ruby was our sweet little Fox Terrier, our

family dog who sadly passed away at the ripe old age of 15 years about nine months after we opened the store. She spent many a happy day behind the counter with me,” Victoria said.

The Leo in the name is actually after another family pet, “(he) is our silly little cat who is still with us. As the shop sells both men’s and women’s hats, I needed a name that was both feminine and masculine but I wanted it to have some significance.”

After being asked many times if Victoria was Ruby, she decided to have a digital portrait done of Ruby and Leo in 1920’s

attire that sweetly adorns one of the walls in the shop.

Ruby & Leo is a unique millinery boutique, they open all year long. Given this accessibility to customers throughout the whole year, Victoria has been learning more about what her clients want and has a few potential plans for the shop in the future.

“We are thinking maybe of trying to find space in here for a fitting room and putting in a select clothing range, that could be on the cards and I am also constantly sourcing new quirky gifts, homewares and accessories.”

photos matt richards, matt richards photography 23 Ruby Spring

ruby careers

THE BULLSH*T NOTION OF

‘ Having It All ’

Doesn't everyone want it all? Isn't that the point? Isn't that what the meaning of life is all about?

And if this notion has inspired countless books, songs, movies and adventures then why are mothers still being challenged for embarking on their own search for it?

I

don't get it and, to be honest, a bit over the amount of time dedicated to discussing whether women can have it all. (And yes, I do see the irony in writing a piece on it, but I have to have a say.)

and happy home above), the turmoil of leaving small children in daycare overwhelms most of the benefits of accomplishing any kind of paid work and there is never enough sleep.

I am currently in the throes of desperately trying to have it all. By all I mean fitness, friendship, healthy family relationships and tummies, a clean house, a happy home, a flutter at a new career, the comfort of an old career, enough sleep, laughter, adventure and lots of love.

But isn't this what everyone is doing?

Kids or not? Male or female? Single, married, studying, employed, young, old? Isn't this just called life?

It's a bit of a struggle.

To make some of these things happen, either for me or for those around me, other things have to be given up, or sacrificed or just done really badly.

Friends get neglected, my heart rate only rises at dinner time as the healthy food gets piffed across the table, or just pushed aside, (see clean house

I have always had a sense of 'the something elses'. You know, I am doing this but I could be doing something else‌ another degree, the next step of my career, an overseas adventure, a sea change; most of which I have had a crack at. And I am certainly not alone, lots of my friends are the same, renovating houses, travelling to remote places, fitting a bit of paid work in between caring for little munchkins.

I also think men do this too, and young singles, and empty nesters, everyone

who wants to gets the most out of whatever opportunity they have in front of them. Whether it be chasing exotic, warm, uncrowded waves, or having something or someone to call their own, or reinventing themselves. Isn't everyone chasing the key that unlocks the next stage of happiness in their lives?

And I don't think this should have the negative connotation of having it all, I think this is what a fulfilled life is about. It is all a balance, for everyone.

A balance between needs and wants, dreams and reality, the affordable and the unattainable.

Sometimes we tip the scales in our favour, and sometimes we fall off in a screaming heap.

And you don't need to be a mother with children to be walking the tightrope; you just need to get back on.

words laura gordon

Laura writes the hilariously honest parenting blog, Poo, Spew and Superglue on Aussie Blogs, poospewandsuperglue.wordpress.com. She is raising two small hell raisers, with the third, and final, and scariest, having just arrived to really make things interesting. She lives in Jan Juc and will be a regular commentator on the beauty of parenting (snort) in Ruby magazine.

24 Ruby Spring

ruby careers

AN ATYPICAL CAREER STORY Careers don’t always have a linear progression, and for women in particular, career opportunities can come much later in life than you might have thought when picturing your future all those decades ago.

T

his was certainly true for Family Law Principal at Coulter Roache Lawyers, Anne O’Loughlin.

Having grown up in Geelong, Anne always had an interest in the law. She moved to Melbourne at 18 to work at the Australian Tax Office before starting a Commerce degree at Melbourne University and subsequently a Law degree at Monash. With her husband also studying the Law part time and working full time, Anne went back to work to assist the family financially r before starting a family.

While having three kids in five years, Anne worked her way through a Bachelor of Arts. Shortly after her youngest son started school she underwent a Diploma in Social Science / Justice and started volunteering at the Department of Justice in the Office of Corrections. She was offered a job not long after, as a Community Corrections Officer, and while working part-time and at 43, finally went back to her law degree.

Her work as a Corrections Officer provided Anne with some unique insights into issues around Family Law. It was a period of incredibly challenging work, supervising offenders on parole and writing pre-sentence reports on sex offenders.

At 43, she went back to the law degree she had started all those years ago, but after another four years of study Anne found that it wasn’t easy to find work as a graduate in her 40s. She wrote 56 job applications and got 54 rejection letters.

“I thought that I was never going to get a job because of my age, and I was a bit down in the dumps about that.”

A chance meeting with a Principal at Coulter Roache at a race event in Melbourne led to a job offer in the firm’s Family Law Department.

Ten years on and Anne is now a Principal at Coulter Roache – something she never dreamed she would achieve – and heads up the Family Law Department.

She has recently stepped down as the President of the Geelong Law Association after having developed a very strong relationship between the Association and Deakin University in particular, and is the Deputy Chair of MacKillop Family Services and an Independent Children’s Lawyer.

Living on the other side of Melbourne, Anne said when friends wonder why she would travel so far for work, she has an easy answer, “I’d rather drive down here and be satisfied and happy where I work than work just around the corner and be unhappy.”

Speaking recently to a group of Deakin Uni law students who are the first in their family to go to university, Anne said she had one main piece of advice for graduates coming out into a very tough job market, “Never give up – you never know where a job will come from. Turn up, volunteer, take every opportunity and just keep going.

It’s amazing what can come from just turning up.”

words davina montgomery

Coulter Roache.

Understanding you.

• Wills & Estates • Property & Development • Dispute Resolution

• Corporate and Commercial • Family Law • Workplace Relations

Geelong | Anglesea | Bannockburn | Barwon Heads | Portarlington | Torquay

03 5273 5273 coulterroache.com.au

25 Ruby Spring

ruby money

BRIDGING THE GAP: FINANCIAL EQUALITY I get riled, it irks me, it makes me cringe. Do we really need events specifically targeted at women?

A

s a woman, I have had a successful career which has allowed me flexibility and choices and sees me treated with respect in my workplace – I’m treated the same as any male counterparts in an industry that has traditionally been male dominated. As a mother of two young girls I don’t feel like there are any limitations or restrictions to their future just because they are female.

So if this is how I feel, why is it that: Women remain behind men in the pay scale, earning an average annual gross income of $67,000 compared to men who are paid about $82,500 per year.

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia tell us that in 2011-12 average super balances were $82,615 for men and $44,866 for women.

I feel equal but these statistics don’t feel equal. Combine this with the fact that: Women have a longer life expectancy than men.

Women are more likely to have breaks in employment or work part time, either caring for children or elderly parents.

Women could spend 30+ years in retirement. Put another way, on average a 65 year old woman will spend 25% of her life in retirement.

OK, I don’t like to generalise, however we have noticed a trend where women have a tendency to avoid seeking

financial advice. This trend doesn’t seem to discriminate – it applies to single women, women in relationships, divorced women, professional women and stay at home Mums. Women are great at being busy. We juggle a lot of roles. We also tend to be competent at managing our households – we definitely seem to have day to day finances under control. The same can’t be said for long term planning – and it’s long term planning that can make the world of difference.

All of these factors seem quite grim. So I’m going to earn less, save less and need to fund a longer retirement. On top of that I’m going to ignore the situation and not seek advice. Situation hopeless, right? Wrong.

In direct response to these issues Income Solutions have developed a targeted presentation for women, helping to break down the issues and provide solutions. There are so many things that can be done to bridge this gap.

Every women should feel empowered to take control and make a difference to their future financial fitness. I’m going to quote on of our advisers, Gareth Daniels “It doesn’t matter how much you earn, it doesn’t matter where you are in life – you can make some informed decisions and sensible choices. You really can design a lifestyle that you are passionate and excited about”. Gareth’s comment

wasn’t particularly female focused but boy, his message hits the nail on the head! Ivana Trump once famously said “Don’t get mad, get even”. She was of course talking about making her soon to be ex-husband pay dearly in their divorce. Think about it though – getting even is exactly what we want to achieve. Financial equality…….and we can show women how they can create it themselves without the need to marry and then divorce the rich husband!

How can women get started if they don’t know where to start and are not likely to seek help? In developing Income Solutions for Women, we’ve made sure the presentation is portable. We know Geelong is full of great businesses and inside these great business are owners and managers that care about their employees and their future. After all, that’s just smart business. Our philosophy at Income Solutions has always centred around education – it is the key to empowerment. As a result Income Solutions for Women is now available as a work place session. Come on employers, its history in the making!

To book a session or to talk about Income Solutions for Women or any of the other information sessions in our range, give us a call on 5229 0577 or drop us a line to events@ incomesolutions.com.au.

DISCLAIMER: The advice in this article is of a general nature only and has not been tailored to your personal circumstances.

Please seek personal advice prior to acting on this information. words alison adams, business development manager, income solutions

26 Ruby Spring

ruby careers

WE NEED

MORE WOMEN

AT THE TABLE As part of a women’s advisory committee to Council I recently found myself on my way to a Council Meeting, after having spent the past decade and a half assiduously avoiding the Tuesday night display of local democracy in action.

I

t became clear quite early on that we need to look at how we can support more women to put their hand up for a seat on Council – and, in fact, at all levels of government.

Of course, we don’t just need more women on Council (and in government); we need a Council (and State and Federal Government) that reflects the real diversity of our community.

We need business people and community-focused people; we need people passionate about the environment and we need people who understand the big picture of development and infrastructure. We also need the voices of our Aboriginal community and those from our culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) community to be heard. We need people with real experience with disability in the Council chamber. And yes, we need more women.

As a group, the Women in Community Life Advisory Committee to Council (WiCLAC for short-er) trouped along to a wintery Tuesday night council meeting.

A couple of the Committee members had submitted questions around gender equity within the City of Greater Geelong, policies on domestic violence and the like. Our youngest member of the Committee, at just 19, had to work and couldn’t make it, and asked me to put a question to the Council in her place. It was a simple enough question, asking each Councillor how they supported gender equity in their portfolio areas and would they support equal numbers of men and woman on Council.

There were a couple of surprisingly passionate responses along the lines of why there should be more women on council. And there were some interesting

insights into the City’s policy development around supporting employees who disclose domestic violence.

Then, on the question of gender equity on Council, there was a parade of words to this effect: “I have three daughters, so of course I support women’s rights.”

There were some words to the effect of their wives, having supported them in council, almost, in a way, having a role on council. A couple of them even mentioned they have a female dog - as if the acknowledgement of females of any species in their home was tantamount to a profound support of women’s rights.

I left quite genuinely bewildered.

Daughters? Wives? Dogs?

The point of having significant female representation is that it brings a wider view, in the same way that having people of different ages and different backgrounds brings a broader perspective. Just knowing people with a different perspective isn’t the same thing at all.

The local by-election for the Kildare Ward, with the seat recently vacated by longserving Councillor Srechko Kontelj, will be held in October. We had a chat with the lone female candidate, Ellen Csar.

The saying goes that if you want to get something done, give the job to a busy person. With two young children, Ellen Csar is certainly a busy person.

Ellen said she was driven to put her hand up to serve on Council because she believes the people of her area needs a grassroots voice for the local community.

“I feel Council could do with a younger, fresher, more vibrant point of view, and words davina montgomery

particularly a female one at that,” she said.

“From little things big things grow is one of my favourite sayings and I really believe that. We need to get back to basics. You need to start at the grassroots and build from there.

“If you can get the little things done well, it gives people the confidence that you know what you’re doing. I want to be that voice for my local community and if I could provide that link between the people here and Council, I’d be happy with that.

Everyone has a right to be heard.”

Having young children means Ellen knows all too well the importance of being able to access services and facilities for families, like Maternal and Child Health nurses and playgroups. But she is also passionate about services for the elderly, for youth and for the homeless.

And if she isn’t successful this time around, Ellen said she would be back at next year’s Council elections.

“I’m not going to give up. I live in the electorate and I know this area. I want to help make this a better place for everyone who lives here. I’m going to keep fighting the good fight.”

With both local council and a federal election looming in 2016, wouldn’t it be nice to think the candidate pool would be widened beyond the usual suspects.

27 Ruby Spring

ruby careers

SHEPRENEURS THE RISE OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS Women all around us are becoming entrepreneurs. They are determined, hard working and have a dream that they want to turn into a reality. Another way to describe these women is by the concept Shepreneurs.

These ladies want to make the community a better place through their businesses. They are living their dreams and are full of perseverance to obtain more freedom, more successful opportunities and above all – more fun.

Karin Hagberg Aspire Wellbeing Karin founded her own health and wellness business Aspire Wellbeing in 2000. Based on the Surf Coast, she teaches yoga and Pilates and runs wellness workshops and health retreats.

She began Aspire with individual and group personal training sessions as well as Pilates and yoga classes. She then progressed to offer remedial massage and corporate training as well as her wellness presentations. After working outdoors, hiring halls, visiting corporates and subletting a studio in Torquay, Karin now operates her business from her home on the Surf Coast and has added food, lifestyle and wellness coaching to her repertoire.

With any business, no matter how small or large it is, you are bound to experience speed bumps throughout the journey.

“There are always hurdles on the way and you just have to work through them. It might be issues with the venue hire, finding fill-in contractors, finding enough time to work on the business instead of in the business and personal issues.”

Karin also admits the difficulties of a solo venture.

“It can be a lonely journey running a business on your own when you don't have a business partner to bounce ideas off or get feedback from. The hurdles can also be your own mindset - if you start to look at the dollar sign - money you have to bring in… It is important to stay focused on why you are doing what you are doing, and not look at people as only money coming in.”

Karin has learnt as much as possible from these challenges, which she says have words ally mcmanus

28 Ruby Spring

been incredibly valuable to her personal growth.

“I overcame them by focusing on why I am doing it. To focus on having fun and having passion whilst doing it. To work on myself, to grow and educate myself and also work on how to improve things and find solutions.”

This journey has allowed Karin to reap the benefits and live her dream every day.

“The rewards are seeing people accomplish, improve, grow and have fun. To be there to help people achieve more wellness or fitness in their lives and be able to work with what I have a passion for and, of course, the financial rewards. I have also learnt to be patient and that it is important to be a good listener and to have compassion for people whilst being a great communicator, motivator and to be authentic.”

Jennifer Cromarty tandemVox Launching consultancy firm tandenVox was a new endeavour for Jennifer; however she encompasses the experience of having a similar business after founding Br&new PR in Brisbane in 2000. After moving her family and job back to Geelong she was offered a position at the Australian Retailers Association followed by government relations firm Socom.

“All of these experiences gave me a chance to continue building networks in government and hone my strategic skills.

It was a great learning experience, but my heart is where I grew up in Geelong so I found myself wanting to work there and support my community. So, when the right time came, I decided to start my own consultancy in Geelong in early 2015.”

Jennifer understands there are many risks, chances and learning curves that come with any new endeavour.

“There are always both hurdles and opportunities in everything that’s worthwhile in life,” she says.

Jennifer’s largest difficulties with tandemVox in the beginning were around understanding tax and cash flow management.

“For me, getting advice early from specialists was important. Bringing paid work into the business is one thing, but making sure you are mindful of your liabilities can’t be overlooked.”

She also learnt that handing over work to a trusted source of support has helped her play to her strengths. “Being able to take someone on is a great responsibility but also a great source of personal pride,” she says.

She also felt it was important to have family valued at her business. “Many of my staff have been women with children, and developing a culture where family is at the forefront was paramount. Some of my staff well remember my daily work patterns being managed around kindergarten and school timetables, and I still count some of my former staff as best friends.”

In the beginning, Jennifer was aware there were plenty of monetary opportunities available, however the reality is it can take anywhere from three to twelve months to bring in business. “There is always the temptation to over-service new clients, but allocating time to 'working on the business' cannot be ignored at any time, especially at the beginning.”

Jennifer also learnt that business mentors are invaluable, saying that being able to find mentors is a hugely important factor that will not only add to the growth of your business, but also will assist your personal growth. “Don't be afraid to ask people you respect to mentor you,” she says. She is also incredibly grateful for her colleagues that have played important roles in her businesses, and has treasured seeing these women grow, learn and succeed.

Several have won Young Practitioner of the

Year awards through the Public Relations Institute of Australia.

A special moment in Jennifer’s career was creating a special project through social media called Creative Geelong. The Facebook page shows a widespread array of creative businesses and individuals in the community to help give them a voice.

Jennifer is working with targeted networks in Geelong to develop an initiative to increase awareness of the economic and social benefits these creative industries can bring to Geelong, with a working group already actioning this plan.

“It’s thrilling to see something you created out of nothing, impact so many people. The feedback this page has gathered shows me that people want to move ahead for Geelong,” she said.

Jennifer is determined to have her vision become a reality. “My dream for tandemVox is that it can support Geelong into its next phase of economic prosperity, give employment pathways for young PR people and play a role in helping clients have clear, consistent, strategic communication with people and groups important to them.

Ensuring that trust, respect and transparency are at the heart of these relationships is true public relations.”

By developing strong networks in the community, tandemVox has been able to grow and plays a pivotal role in supporting Geelong’s creative industries.

Ally Watson Code Like A Girl Ally Watson yearned to empower the next generation of tech leaders through her digital initiative Code Like A Girl, aimed at inspiring and supporting women in code, an arm of the increasingly prevalent technological industry. The enterprise just launched in Melbourne as an online inspiration network and blog for female coders and women in the wider realm of tech. As a female developer at digital agency Deepend, Ally’s venture was designed to provide an ongoing programme of activity as well as monthly events and meet-ups to bring their members together on an expertise and shared-passions level.

There is a great demand for technological jobs that is only going to increase over time, and given it is a male-dominated sector, Code Like A Girl couldn’t have come at a better time. “Unconscious bias means that from a young age girls are not exposed to problem solving and electronic-based games in the way boys are. This disparity has led to a greater number of boys being interested in technology and pursuing the sector as a valid education and career

path. My core focus for Code Like A Girl is to help likeminded women in the sector grow and support one another, in what can sometimes be a daunting industry for females,“ says Ally.

Jo Cranford, Development Team Leader at Culture Amp, addressed the need for more female tech leaders in the workplace at Code Like A Girl’s launch in Melbourne.

“More women are needed in senior leadership for diversity to happen the whole way down [the management chain]. Many companies are desperate to address the issue of tech’s diversity problem, and are aware of the benefits of a diverse team, yet there is still an ongoing problem.”

Deepend is Australia’s largest independent digital agency, as well as the primary sponsor and an influential driving force behind Code Like A Girl. Managing Director, Kath Blackham, has been a huge support to both the initiative and its founder, as she is also Ally’s mentor.

“Code Like A Girl provides a central hub to connect and meet with others to network and discuss current trends and

issues within the digital industry. Women are hugely underutilised when it comes to the sector and have so much to offer. We need to turn the sliding trends of women in technology around and Code Like A Girl is a fantastic way to tackle the problem.”

Bringing code into primary school classes has even been addressed, as it is a universal language that will only become more widespread in the future. By labelling code as a language, it frames the exercise as something with no gender bias, breaking down another barrier that women and girls can experience throughout both education and the workforce.

Whether it’s a passion for health and wellness, communication and strategy or the wider world of tech – these three women show just how possible it is to make your entrepreneurial dreams come true through determination, uniqueness and community support. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” We’ve certainly experienced, and will continue to see, a surge in strong willed shepreneurs.

29 Ruby Spring

GETTING CAPITAL GAINS TAX CONCESSIONS RIGHT

I

t is permissible to claim as many of the concessions as you are entitled to until your CGT liability has been reduced to zero. If this applies to you, below is a list of the exemptions that may apply to you and your business.

Small business rollover. The small business rollover allows you to defer part or all of your CGT liability until a later year if you have purchased a replacement asset or have incurred costs making improvements to an existing asset.

The 15 year exemption. If your business has held the asset for over 15 years and you are aged over 55 or are permanently incapacitated, then you will not attract a CGT charge when you dispose of the active asset.

According to the ATO, there are some recurring mistakes that small businesses make when applying the eligibility tests for these concessions. Two mistakes that have been identified as particularly common are miscalculating maximum net asset value and using the settlement date.

The 50% active asset reduction. The capital gain on an active asset can be reduced by 50% and can be used in conjunction with the 50 per cent discount available for assets that have been held for over 12 months.

Retirement exemption. If you are over 55, or direct the capital gain directly into your superannuation, then you can claim CGT exemption on active assets. There is a $500 000 lifetime limit on this exemption.

To be eligible for the small business CGT concessions mentioned above, a number of conditions must be met. One of these is that immediately prior to the CGT event the net value of the entity’s CGT assets cannot exceed $6 million.

The net value of CGT assets is calculated as the total market value of its assets less any liabilities relating to those assets.

There are a number of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) concessions available to small businesses that have incurred a capital gain from an active asset.

Liabilities may include provisions such as tax liability and long service leave.

The most common errors relating to calculating the net asset total are failing to include assets owned by connected entities and affiliates, valuing the assets retrospectively instead of at market value, and not including the value of the asset being sold in the calculation.

A CGT event is typically considered to occur on the date that the contract is entered into, not the date of settlement.

The ATO has found that it is a regular mistake that occurs when business owners record CGT events. Incorrectly recording the settlement date instead of the contract date can lead to complications including the asset not being considered as active for the relevant time frame and incorrectly applying the 15 year exemption.

CGT losses and gains should be included in the financial year that the contract was signed.

DISCLAIMER: This article is for guidance only, and professional advice should be obtained before acting on any information contained herein. Neither the writer, publishers nor the distributors can accept any responsibility for loss occasioned to any person as a result of action taken or refrained from in consequence of the contents of this article. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

words renĂŠe jovic, owner & managing accountant, jovic accounting pty ltd

30 Ruby Spring

ruby legal

CUSHIONING THE BUMPY ROAD OF SEPARATION

I

clearly recall my first family law lecture at Melbourne University when my exceptionally flamboyant new lecturer strutted in, slammed his books on the table and announced: “In the practice of family law, please remember that there is always a dumper and a dumpee!”

This moment and this message have stayed with me over the years and, after twenty years in legal practice, I’ve determined that this statement - which seemed so outrageous to me at the time – is, largely speaking, right on the money.

The notion of adjustive dissonance – so inelegantly described by my lecturer that day - is indeed a prevalent and very relevant notion in the practice of family law. Quite simply, people are at different stages on the often bumpy road of separation at different times and, without proper help, the road can be a long one.

Family breakdown is stressful for all those involved and its emotional impact can be long-lasting. Typically, however, one party is more emotionally ready and prepared for the break when it happens and so is more able to make rational choices than the other party, who is often

relatively shocked and overwhelmed by the sudden upturning of their life at the hands of their now estranged partner.

Hardly emotionless, the party instigating the break often contends with the guilt of doing so and this too can be quite debilitating. Of course, the involvement of children in the tumult complicates things further. People’s capacity for sound decision-making is sorely tested at this complex time.

As family lawyers, our task is to carefully guide our client through the turmoil of the breakdown and focus on ensuring that our client’s rights are carefully protected and their interests safeguarded. We think strategically, acting to protect our client’s futures. Sometimes, left to their own devices and without the benefit of legal advice - or at least professional mediation - parties can make decisions that render their financial and emotional futures significantly shakier than may have otherwise been the case.

Good family lawyers in my experience, if I do say so myself, are technically proficient in terms of their knowledge of the law and the legal systems which

underpin it, but are also emotionallyastute practitioners, with real sensitivity to their client’s needs, yet with a mind that is clear and future-focussed.

Despite the usually misplaced suspicion in the community about lawyers “milking” cases for their own gain, most lawyers are in fact very committed to understanding where their client is at on the separation journey and administering tailored advice designed in fact to minimise its economic and emotional pain.

To align yourself with a family lawyer at an early stage in family breakdown is a sound investment, for the whirling emotions of marital breakdown can strike without warning.

Chris is an Accredited Specialist in Children’s Law and a registered Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner. Harwood Andrews is committed to providing high quality family legal services that are cost-effective and absolutely assure your safe passage through the inevitably complex journey of separation.

words chris thomas, special counsel at harwood andrews lawyers

Harwood Andrews is solutions focused We provide a complete range of family law services for married and defacto couples.

Our team of family law professionals and accredited specialists offer a results driven and client focused approach in dealing with issues relating to separation and divorce, parental agreements and responsibility, child custody law and child support.

03 5225 5225

www.harwoodandrews.com.au

31 Ruby Spring

ruby education

CHAMPIONING CHANGE IN SCHOOLS “It’s a five-day conference and they start at a quarter to nine in the morning and they go to six o’clock at night and it is just session, after session, after session and it’s fabulous. There were night lectures and we had cocktails at the Guggenheim, which was damn fantastic.

She encountered Edward de Bono for the third time, sitting next to him and holding his hand. Afterwards, overcome, she had to go and have a quiet sit down and a coffee, “because Edward de Bono is considered to be one of the top 250 people who have changed human kind.”

M

axine Driscoll is one of those interesting people that see the world just a little bit differently to most. Raised in Melbourne and doing a sea change to the Geelong region at only 23 years of age, Maxine has travelled widely, and has indulged her passion for education through school leadership roles in Australia and in Asia, has studied in New York and has had dinner with Edward de Bono.

Maxine said this emersion into creative thinking, having attended her first ICOT event in 2003, changed the way that she looked at education, how it is delivered and what our kids need from it.

A former Elementary Principal at Kardinia International College, and an award winning teacher, Maxine lived and worked in Thailand for nine years, with the last five headed up a K-12 International Baccalaureate IB World School. Having moved back home to Geelong she has recently established her own education consultancy firm.

But what struck me most when talking to her was that for someone who has outwardly done many interesting things, so much of her burning curiosity is focused not on where she is or what she’s doing, but what she’s learning and how the people around her are thinking.

Think Strategic provides leadership training for school leaders and aspiring school leaders around the world.

When I spoke to her, Maxine had just returned from Bilbao, Spain, where she had attended the International Conference on Thinking, ICOT 2015. This year’s conference has a focus on 21st Century Schools and the list of presenters included some of the world’s most interesting thinkers, people like Edward de Bono (widely known as the Father of Lateral Thinking and Creativity), Howard Gardner (Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education), Art Costa (Author of Habits of the Mind and a former director of educational programs for NASA), David Perkins (founding member of Harvard Project Zero), Guy Claxton (internationally acclaimed writer, consultant, lecturer and academic on creativity and learning), Lane Clark (U.S. based curriculum design expert) and Ewan McIntosh (global education consultant).

“I’ve always been a passionate educator and, unbeknownst to me, people have watched and so I’ve won awards and been humbled and embarrassed. But I really do care about it, I really care.”

32 Ruby Spring

And while it seems that Maxine has an effervescent curiosity for everything and anything, it is education that is her true passion.

A little over ten years ago, a chance phone call offering her a teaching position in Asia for eight weeks would send her career in a whole new direction.

“As the Elementary Principal at Kardinia, I’d been out of the classroom for five years while I was leading the school. I had introduced the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program (PYP) at the school, but I hadn’t actually taught with it,” she said. “I wanted to know what I was putting my teachers through.”

Her passion for the IB curriculum is based in the belief that it is a combination of the best elements of education.

She was invited to teach in Chiang Mai in Thailand for eight weeks to learn more about teaching under the International Baccalaureate. Eight months later the same Chiang Mai school offered her a leadership role.

“I told them I was flattered but they were really only offering me what I already had and I wanted more. They asked me what I would like and I said that I wanted to learn more about curriculum. So they offered me the Deputy Head position of a K-12 school, overseeing the three International Baccalaureate programs.

“My kids at the time were 21 and 24 and a friend of mine said to me, ‘Give them the gift of independence,’ and so we went and they stayed here.”

At the end of her initial four-year contract Maxine said was ready to come home. She was offered another contract, which she turned down, explaining that she wanted a headship, and then they offered her the headship role.

“So I was the head of a three-program International Baccalaureate school in Chiang Mai, which isn’t something I could just do for a year.

“That was when strategic thinking really started to come into my mind. It was about this idea that our children are precious and if we’re not thinking strategically about what we can do to empower them as they go through school and as they graduate and as they live, then we’re wasting our time.

“Over the next five years, I hired people who were more intelligent than me and more creative than me and I harnessed their qualities and we created an amazingly collaborative strategic plan that the whole school community could be a part of, could access and could add collaborations to.”

During her time in Chiang Mai, Maxine’s school introduced a fourth IB program, becoming one of the first schools in the Asia-Pacific region to do that. After five years in that role, it was time to come home and spend more time with her adult children.

“But how lucky. It was nine and a quarter years that we lived in Asia. You know, when we talk about being Asia-literate, I feel that it’s not about going and having holidays in a place; it’s about understanding the people.

ruby education

I had Cambodians and Vietnamese and Indians and Americans and New Zealanders and Japanese and Africans and, of course, Thai children. We had over thirty nationalities at our school.

“I organised for a young female professor from America to come and train our staff on curriculum mapping and she inspired me. For me, I get my good ideas when I come out of the shower and I got out of the shower the next morning after her first day working with the whole staff and I thought, I should do this. I should go to schools around the world and talk to them about thinking strategically for the 21st century and what impact they can have.

The idea took seed, and Maxine began planning her global education consultancy, based at home in Australia.

“Young people need to be entrepreneurial and for many educators they’ve gone to school, they’ve gone to university, they’ve got a job in a school and they’ve worked in schools. They’ve never stepped outside.

“Edward de Bono says that the most creative people are business people, because they look at new ways of doing business, of diversifying, all the time, and they have to take risks,” and that, she explained, is why we need to take a more entrepreneurial approach into the education of our kids.

“I’m particularly looking at developing Generation Y, or the Millennials, because we need a new generation of leaders in schools and we don’t need the people who just want to do things the way we’ve always done it.

“I want to create leaders who are change agents because schools need to change.

They need to change really quickly. Some schools are changing but because schools are so busy, it’s so easy to just keep doing what we’ve been doing.

“This year, Generation Alpha, our little five year-olds, have started school and every generation is something like eight-points more intelligent than the generation before.

Generation Z are highly intelligent, they’re global, they want to help in the world and we’ve got to harness it all. They want to make a difference in the world through education and that’s what I’m happy about.”

The introduction of new ways of thinking, of new ways of teaching, is disruptive to the happy normality of schools and this isn’t

something all teachers accept easily, and certainly not at first.

“Schools don’t listen to kids. They think that they are the adults and the parents are the adults and we know what’s best. When in actual fact we really need to listen to young people. I had Grade Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve kids meeting with me on strategic thinking. I used the drivers and trends of the future and asked them what they thought should be on the strategic plan.

...WE NEED A NEW GENERATION OF LEADERS IN SCHOOLS AND WE DON’T NEED THE PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT TO DO THINGS THE WAY WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT. “Quite a few schools are doing this, but part of it also involves having flexible learning spaces and really changing the whole physical nature of schools. But you can’t drop any plans, you have to do these things and keep your focus on the curriculum that we need for the 21st Century.

“I would like to suggest that our teachers need to change and it’s hard. They have got to be accountable to the government and to parents through constant reporting on averages for that year level and so on – there is so much that they have to be accountable for that it makes them cautious about change.”

Maxine said some of the biggest barriers to change are the same sources outwardly calling for change – governments.

“The bureaucracy is driven by governments, governments make decisions on what will win them votes at the next election and too often the expectations of what can and should be delivered in schools is twisted by people who are not educators. What really matters is what kids need in schools and how schools can keep moving forward to help prepare them for life after school.”

We spend so much time and energy in Australia talking about and investigating and analysing educational outcomes, yet very little changes.

Maxine laughed when I brought the subject up.

“You know what educational outcomes are? The educational outcomes should be well-adjusted, resilient, creative children.”

It’s an idea that is hard to argue with. After all, real change, fundamental change, doesn’t come from people who are good at doing what we do the way we’ve always done it. Real change comes from people who don’t like the way things are done and who go out and find a better way.

“I think all students in schools, and particularly the older ones, should be having BYOD – bring your own device – but schools are blocking that because they have their own laptops in the school and their own technicians who know how to fix those laptops. But that’s because that’s what makes the teachers feel comfortable, and teachers have to let go of that,” she said.

“I’m talking about secondary school kids here, but if the kids have a phone and they can download information straight away, that’s the whole world in their hand. So why not use that? If that’s their point of interest, why not use that?

“We talk about the proximal zone of learning, which is when people want to know, well hey, these children have got this amazing device in their hands, so let them learn through that. words davina montgomery 33 Ruby Spring

ruby legal

O

kay, you've separated from your job.

You have plenty of spare time. The sun is beginning to shine and you plan to use this downtime to improve your fitness. What better way to do this than onya bike?

Maybe you haven’t separated from your job, but are intending to ditch the car and cycle to and from your workplace?

Improved health and fitness, shorter trip times in the city, reduction of environmental impacts, lower costs of travel are but a few of the benefits of getting on your bike.

Before you race out to the shed to dust off the old trusty two-wheeler, let’s consider the law and what happens when someone disobeys it. Yes, there is a downside to everything it seems, but then again, knowledge is power!

Cyclists must follow the same road rules as drivers as set out in the Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic). There are additional road rules we must obey and these rules are contained in Part 15 of the Road Safety Rules 2009 (Vic).

A bicycle is described in the Rules as being any two or more wheeled vehicle that is built to be propelled by human power through a belt, chain or gears (whether or not it has an auxillary motor) and includes a pedicab, penny-farthing, tricycle and a pedalec (pedal electric bike).

I think I'll stick with my two-wheeler.

The thought of pushing a penny-

farthing up Leopold hill makes me want to lie down!

All bicycles on the road must have an effective brake, bell, horn or other warning device. Yes, your bike like your car must be roadworthy. If riding at night or in bad weather conditions with poor visibility your bicycle must have a flashing or steady white light. It must be clearly visible for at least 200 metres in front of your bicycle.

You also must have a flashing or steady red light and reflector that is clearly visible for at least 200 metres from the rear of your bike and a red reflector that is clearly visible for at least 50 metres from the rear of your bike when light is projected onto it by a vehicle's low beam headlight. A failure to comply with all of the above may result in penalty units being imposed on you.

In addition to a roadworthy bicycle, you must wear an approved and securely fitted and fastened bicycle helmet.

There are also rules about how you should ride your bike. You must sit astride the riders seat, facing forwards with one hand on the handlebars. I have always been too chicken to try no hands, but I intend to cite the law next weekend to that 20-something year-old who excels in such antics. Like drivers, no hand held mobile phones are permitted whilst cycling. This offence

involves a maximum penalty of 10 penalty units. Other things you are not permitted to do include: dinking, riding within two metres of the rear of a moving vehicle for more than 200 metres, causing a traffic hazard, being towed by another vehicle or holding on to a moving vehicle, and riding more than two abreast on a road.

It may be possible to be charged under the Summary Offences Act 1966 (Vic) for being drunk in charge of a carriage (not including a motor vehicle) in a public place. "Carriage" is not defined, but would probably include a bicycle. This offence imposes a maximum of 10 penalty units or two months imprisonment.

If you are over 12 years of age you cannot cycle on the footpath unless you are over 18 years and are supervising a child under the age of 12 years. You can cycle on the footpath if you have a physical or intellectual disability and have a valid medical certificate to prove same.

When using a footpath, shared bicycle path or lane you must keep to the left of within the designated lane. If there is a designated bicycle lane on the road, cyclists must use that lane unless it is "impracticable to do so".

Cyclists, like drivers, can be charged with very serious offences under the Road Safety Act.

ONYA BIKE! *The author Robyn Davis is the principal lawyer at Greater Geelong Legal and co-ordinator of women's recreational riding at the Geelong Cycling Club. She also rides with off road pedallers at the Drysdale Pedal Shed.

34 Ruby Spring

ruby legal The Act was amended in 2009 to include dangerous driving, careless driving, failing to stop to render assistance or exchange details following an accident as extending to cyclists.

So we must share the road, follow the road rules and be mindful of and observant to the rules that apply particularly to us when cycling.

What happens if I have an accident?

Cyclists are more easily injured than motor vehicle occupants, so cyclists should know what happens if they have an accident. Of course, not having the accident in the first place is ideal, and it’s safer to be highly visible and vigilant when sharing the road.

Cyclists are in the same position as pedestrians; they are not covered under the Transport Accident Commission unless injured by a motor vehicle, train or tram.

You may, in certain circumstances, be entitled to lump sum compensation.

If you are involved in an accident on the road involving the driving of a motor vehicle (including car, truck, motorcycle, train, tram) and sustain an injury you should, if possible, obtain details of any person who witnessed the accident and report the accident to the police. You should also notify the Transport Accident Commission (TAC). You have twelve months from the date of accident to lodge a claim with the TAC. You may be entitled to the following services from the TAC: payment of medical, hospital, nursing and

ambulance fees, ongoing medical expenses including specialists expenses, rehabilitation services, therapy services, household and community support services (such as gardening help, help with housework), medication and equipment, travel expenses, and loss of income.

You may also be entitled to lump sum compensation if you have suffered a permanent physical or psychological condition caused by the accident. You may be entitled to common law damages if your injuries reach a certain impairment rating or if you have suffered a serious injury.

But, let’s get back to the cycling.

Share the road, push the pedals, feel the sunshine on your face and see you at the coffee stop!

If you are involved in an accident caused by the driving of a motor vehicle or by the condition of a road you should obtain legal advice to ensure that you receive an appropriate level of services and compensation where appropriate.

words robyn davis

GGL

Small Business Law, TAC, Personal Injuries & Family Law.

Ph: 5222 8986 | Mob: 0447089763 Suite 1 Level 1, 27-31 Myers Street, Geelong Vic 3220. e: robyn@greatergeelonglegal.com.au greatergeelonglegal.com.au

35 Ruby Spring

ruby insight

HIDDEN HISTORY How many of us know that there’s an Academy Award winning film that opens in Deans Marsh starring the Baroness from the Sound of Music?

would have been lightly documented and difficult to find, but I needed to drive past the Marjorie Lawrence Drive sign to know to look for her.

Interrupted Melody tells the story of Marjorie Lawrence, who grew up in Deans Marsh and became a world renowned Wagnerian soprano before being struck by polio at the height of her career, taking the “Sister Kenny” treatment and fighting back to return to the stage.

So, what can you do to unearth some of Geelong’s hidden history?

A section of the Winchelsea to Deans Marsh road named Marjorie Lawrence Drive set me on the path to learning about this remarkable woman.

The Geelong Cemeteries Trust is conducting a historical tour of Eastern Cemetery on 15 November to help bring to life the stories of Geelong’s early settlers buried in the 175 year-old cemetery.

Those lucky enough to obtain tickets will learn some of the stories of the first European inhabitants in our region.

In my experience, the lack of curation of the internet means that I know a lot about some very specific areas, a smattering about things that have fallen into my orbit and am oblivious to the existence of vast swathes of knowledge and human experience.

The Geelong Library and Heritage Centre will be opening shortly and this will be another excellent place to visit, both to admire the architectural features and to peruse the historical resources. There is also a wonderful digital archive on their website where you can view photos and videos of Geelong as well as written documents.

The internet gave me the tools to become deeply knowledgeable about Marjorie Lawrence and other areas which previously

And, last but not least, ask your older relatives to tell their stories. Maybe some of them saw Marjorie Lawrence perform words beth king, bking@kingsfunerals.com.au

36 Ruby Spring

live at her homecoming concert in Winchelsea in 1939.

Perhaps they also received the Sister Kenny treatment, which was devised by an Australian nurse and was the precursor to the discipline of physiotherapy (as well as the subject of another Hollywood film).

They might have gone to the cinema in 1955 to see Interrupted Melody and thrilled at seeing Geelong on the big screen as both Marjorie’s childhood home and the site of the 1928 Sun Aria competition that launched her into international attention.

While most of us don’t have experiences as glamorous or as challenging as Marjorie Lawrence, every life is interesting and of equal value. When families stop and reflect at the end of a life, the story that emerges of that person’s life is rich, complex and beautiful. The more things we learn and time we spend with our loved ones while they are with us, the stronger they live on in our hearts and memories.

Style me

SPRING

The Sun is back!

It's time to shake off the winter doldrums and pamper yourself from head to toe.

Let the style and beauty experts at Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre make a fabulous new woman of you this spring.

37 Ruby Spring

Style me

SPRING

B CUTS & COLOR When Melbourne-based Lara Cardinale followed her heart and her partner to Geelong, she discovered a place to truly call home. Waurn Ponds felt just right. It had a diverse blend of laid back people, a fabulous location between beaches, a thriving city, a rural zone and growing housing developments, and a bustling shopping complex.

Her position as Salon Manager for Cuts & Color was the cherry on top of her happiness cake.

Lara’s immense pride in the salon is obvious. Her eyes light up while describing her work challenges and successes, during the first year of trade.

“Opening a new hair salon was a gamble, but we’ve been so warmly welcomed by locals. The salon’s keeping busier than we expected, with a lot of regular clients already,” she said.

Cuts and Colour has a cool and classic vibe. Oversized, bold chrome edged mirrors, dark leather old-time barber’s chairs and furniture made from deeply toned wood and earth tones set the style mood.

The salon has a rich dark warmth, providing clients with an intimate, private experience while having their hair transformed. Despite the sumptuous décor, Cuts and Color is a very budget friendly salon. Services range from a quick dry trim and go right through to precision colour correction and full restyling, all at economical price points.

The salon stocks high-end products, Redkin, Muk and Alfa Parf. It is open seven days, with late night services on Thursdays and Fridays.

Shop no. 977 Ph: 5244 5300

DEEGEES If you love keeping up with the latest hair trends and appreciate contemporary looks, Waurn Ponds’ Deegees salon is for you. The bright, airy salon design makes a funky minimalist statement. Highly knowledgeable, friendly and professional staff really know their fashion and can transform even the most fashion-blasé of us into an icon of style.

Despite the hip, edgy look, the salon is not exclusively for young, uber chic fashionistas. According to Salon Manager, Bronte Lonsdale-Thomson, the Waurn Ponds location sees a wide cross section of the community, from farmers to surfers, executives to apprentices. The salon even sees toddlers for their first trim. Some of Bronte’s favourite clients are the retired, older ladies who regularly pop in for a chat and a blow wave.

38 Ruby Spring

The changing seasons have a huge impact on hair trends. This winter, Deegees clients have opting for shorter, bolder looks, with chunky bobs and sleek asymmetrical cuts, contrasting summer’s tousled windswept beachy looks. The cooler weather look has been for more blended and subtle colour gradients, over last season’s vivid, strong hues. While the multi-tonal ombre look is still popular, tones are being added more subtly.

So, even if your ‘French Twist’ comes from a bakery and thoughts of a ‘Mermaid’ features a shell bra and tail, the team of fashion colourists and style specialists at Waurn Ponds Deegees can give you the ultimate modern look.

Shop no. 809 Ph: 5244 3466

If s W p e

P id s a a

E c fa B fe g

6

BLUSH HEAD TO TOE A step inside the elegant Blush Head to Toe provides a hint of the decadence enjoyed by their clients. With crisp white fixtures, chrome accents and splashes of turquoise, the salon has the air of an escape to the Hamptons, right here in Waurn Ponds.

Owner, Sharyn McKinnis, and her highly trained team of Advanced Beauty Therapists provide clients with an outstanding menu of individually tailored services for luxurious, radiant, healthy skin.

Whether it’s capturing the summer year round with a spray tan, a relaxing full body massage, treatments to even and brighten skin texture, enhancing lashes and brows, saying goodbye to unwanted hair or adding some glamour with nail enhancement, Blush truly has you covered, from head to toe.

Blush is thrilled to announce an exclusive, new line of outstanding products, available only at Blush Head to Toe.

Blush Skin Solutions is a signature range of elite cosmeceutical treatments developed by Blush’s advanced beauty therapists along with an industry leading Australian cosmetic pharmaceutical company.

The entire line of highly effective skin care solutions is cruelty free and was developed to meet their clients’ need for products that deliver lasting results, at an affordable price. Blush Skin Solutions products help to maximise skin health and youthfulness by combining nature’s finest ingredients including certified organic essential oils, plant extracts, vitamin treatments, natural antioxidants, AHAs, and skin enhancing enzymes.

Sharyn and her team welcome new clients to experience the luxurious pampering and exclusive skin enhancing treatments at Blush Head to Toe.

Shop no. 808 Ph: 5241 2211

BEAUTY ON EARTH If thoughts of being pampered in a lusciously tranquil tropical retreat sounds tempting, but a holiday is out of the question, dream no more.

Waurn Pond’s newest day spa, Beauty on Earth, has been created as a private sanctuary to hide away from the world while enjoying the most effective and relaxing of beauty treatments.

Proud salon manager, Vannettee Nguyen, chose Waurn Ponds as the ideal position to establish her family’s fourth and most beautiful day spa. After eight and a half years of developing luxurious, innovative and nurturing beauty treatment sites, her latest location has emerged as a peaceful oasis, amidst the thriving shopping centre.

throughout. Generously proportioned modern foot spa suites are concealed behind opulent private curtaining.

The whisper quiet nail enhancement area is to the rear in a spacious, immaculately ordered relaxation zone. Skilful nail technicians specialise in delivering the innovative new SNS powdered nail system.

Behind closed doors there are secluded, purpose-specific treatment rooms established to house technologically advanced equipment for spray tanning, skin treatments, waxing and massage.

Vannettee and her professional team warmly welcome existing and new clients to enjoy the premium standard in beauty therapy services.

Every intricate detail, inside and out, has been selected to ensure clients have the most comforting and elegant environment. The facade is reminiscent of an upmarket medical suite, illustrating Beauty on Earth’s professional approach. The soothing entry foyer features sophisticated neutral toned décor with richly textured tiles, gold silk drapery and oriental accents. Calming music is gently piped

Address: 173-199 Pioneer Rd Waurn Ponds VIC 3216

Shop no. 944 Ph: 5241 2886

Phone: 03 5244 2580 www.waurnpondssc.com.au

39 Ruby Spring

Style me

SPRING JUST CUTS

Everyone is warmly welcomed at Just Cuts Waurn Ponds. Qualified hairdressers are always on hand to ensure busy mums can pop in without an appointment and walk out with a stylish new look.

Retirees can enjoy a blow-wave on a budget. Tradies can get a tidy up during smoko, without breaking the bank.

The salon is even child friendly, with a great selection of DVDs to keep little ones entertained during their trim.

Just Cuts clients enjoy great value and individualised service. The stylists are happy to teach the professional tricks, so maintaining a new look at home is easy. Their exclusive range of ‘JUSTICE Professional’ unisex hair care and styling products, give that ‘just left the salon’ look at home, for a fraction of the price you’d expect.

The team at Just Cuts is so sure you’ll be happy with your haircut they offer a seven-day written guarantee. If you’d prefer a little more off around the ears, or wished you’d gone a little shorter with your fringe, simply pop back in.

Team leader, Pamela Booker, has been with Just Cuts for over a decade and greets most people by name as they walk in. The salon’s loyal clients are from all ages and backgrounds with one thing in common - they enjoy the value and the personal attention they get from the friendly Shop no. 905 team at Just Cuts.

Ph: 5243 3643

LOVELY NAILS If all day, every day, you rush about for everybody else, perhaps it’s time to treat yourself. Finding a little me time doesn't have to involve wandering far from home, or spending a fortune. Waurn Ponds’ Lovely Nails has some quick, inexpensive pampering options to give you an indulgent escape.

The team of nail technicians and beauty therapists at Lovely Nails do more than just give their customers lovely nails. They specialise in providing hand, foot and skin treatments that will leave you feeling totally spoilt.

Lovely Nails welcomes new and existing customers, without the need to make an appointment.

While shopping at Waurn Ponds, relax with a foot massage and pedicure, in about the same amount of time it takes for coffee break.

40 Ruby Spring

A moisturising treatment for hard working hands and a manicure to professionally reshape your natural nails will have you feeling on top of the world. Lovely Nails can even give you silky smooth hair-free skin, with their selection of economical waxing options.

Beautiful nails complete any special occasional look. Lovely Nails can apply long lasting gel polish in dozens of coordinated fashion shades. Instantly long, glamorous nails can be created with a full set of acrylic or gel nails. The creative team at Lovely Nails can even add a unique touch with sparkling embellishments or some delicately hand-painted artwork.

Shop no. 919 Ph: 5241 1992

HOLLYWOOD NAILS Waurn Ponds has its own touch of movie star glamour, with Hollywood Nails. Friendly, highly trained staff can bring out your inner Diva, without the designer label price tag. The salon’s bright, modern feel and bold elegant design is reflected in sophisticated fittings and spacious layout.

Salon owner, Sandy Vo, and Manager, Martin Tran, introduced to Geelong the most innovative change to the nail industry since the invention of, well, nail polish.

SNS is the latest technology in nail health, as the first overlay product to actually strengthen natural nails. Rather than filing to remove the nail’s tough outer surface then rebuilding with chemicals, the SNS system is a natural powdered coating. It features a unique combination of Calcium, Vitamins A, D, D3 and B5. It results in a thin, durable, glossy finish nourishing and protecting the nail underneath.

Nails become stronger and grow faster. Unlike traditional nail

treatments the system doesn’t require UV light, dries in seconds and is odour free.

And for those with gel or acrylic nails who prefer the familiar coatings, Hollywood Nails technicians can perform regular maintenance in-fills too. The salon uses the most respected brands in nail art, including CND Shellac and OPI Polishes along with a wide range of creative embellishments for durable and creative effects.

The Waurn Ponds community has warmly embraced Sandy and Martin. Their new clients usually arrive through word of mouth, as people share experiences of the outstanding service and high standards of work Shop no. 960 quality Hollywood Nails Ph: 5241 3056 is proud of.

HAIRHOUSE WAREHOUSE Waurn Ponds’ Hairhouse Warehouse has everything you could possibly need for beautiful hair. From professional hairdressers and hair care advice to the widest range of hair styling tools, professional quality products, brushes and embellishments, can all be found at the busy shopfront.

Behind the sales area sits a complete Matrix hair salon, with a team of highly trained, committed hair professionals. Whether it’s a simple fringe tidy up, or reshaping hair into a radically different new style, experimenting with some subtle highlights, or changing to a bold new colour, the hairdressers at Hairhouse Warehouse provide outstanding service, at the best price.

Store and salon owner, Bernie Monahan, enjoyed a long hairdressing career before becoming part of Hairhouse Warehouse.

She admits the move into the business has made her more skilled and knowledgeable. Despite having learned all the basics during her apprenticeship, as years passed she found some techniques

Address: 173-199 Pioneer Rd Waurn Ponds VIC 3216

were neglected while others became superseded. Hairhouse Warehouse has extensive, continual updates and training, ensuring each staff member develops their abilities, maintains skills and embraces new techniques.

Additional training is provided by each of Hairhouse Warehouse’s hundreds of brands. You can trust the recommendations made are from sales people who truly know their products. Bernie began with Hairhouse Warehouse out of frustration that clients were not always receiving the most appropriate salon-only products, because of salons’ allegiances to specific brands. By stocking all of the major salon quality labels, she knows her customers are truly receiving the Shop no. 918 ideal product to Ph: 5241 3055 suit their unique requirements.

Phone: 03 5244 2580 www.waurnpondssc.com.au

41 Ruby Spring

BREAKING THE

BREAKOUT CYCLE P

imples AND wrinkles? Oh, the humanity! Having to deal with them at separate life stages is inevitable. Having to deal with them at the same time is just cruel, not to mention confidence sucking and embarrassing.

Yet, nearly half of all woman aged 21 to 30, a quarter of woman aged from 31 to 40 and 12 per cent of woman aged 41 to 50 deal with the dreaded duo on a monthly, if not daily, basis.

Why? No surprises here, bacteria, blocked pores and hormones. For many of us, it’s the monthly hormone cycle that triggers a breakout. Stress is the other big one.

Regardless of age, acne rears its ugly white/black/painful and pink head when hair follicles become blocked with oil (sebum) and dead skin cells, creating the perfect conditions for bacteria to thrive. Hair follicles are connected to our sebaceous glands and acne tends to affect areas on the face, neck, chest, back and shoulders because those are the areas of our skin with the most sebaceous glands.

42 Ruby Spring

While in some cases the onset of acne can indicate an underlying condition such as polycystic ovary syndrome, for most of us, it’s an unsightly skin condition that we would be much happier without.

Rebecca Harrison, Dermal Clinician at Australian Skin Face Body, said there is a range of treatment options available that break the cycle of the dreaded breakouts.

At the extreme end of the acne scale, the last resort treatment when all others have failed, is photodynamic therapy (PDT).

The treatment, also used in the treatment of some pre-cancerous skin legions, shocks the sebaceous glands into producing less oil. Less oil means less breakouts and longer periods for your skin to heal. Essentially, the treatment damages the skin cells, triggering the bodies healing response.

The treatment is a serious dermal procedure and should only ever be undertaken by an experienced clinician.

And it does come with some downtime, with peeling, scabbing and crusting lasting for around 7 to 10 days. Once the skin has healed, sebum production can be reduced from anywhere between six to eighteen months.

ruby health The cream used in the PDT treatment is selectively absorbed into damaged skin cells, including those affected by acne.

The result is apoptosis, or programed cell death. Rebecca describes the P.acnes (propionibacterium acnes) - bacteria that live on our skin - as opportunistic. When your body is run down or the skin’s barrier function is weakened, they take advantage.

Dead skin cells remain on the skin instead of sloughing off and that triggers the sebaceous glands into oil production, making a very happy environment for the bacteria and BAM – breakout.

Effective acne treatment is based around regulating sebum production and keeping the skin cells turning over, so they are not clogging pores.

For women who have dealt with acne for most, if not all of their adult lives, they’ve probably tried every off the shelf product on the market. Some work, for a while; some do nothing; some can even make the skin more sensitive and prone to breakouts. Others will have seen their GP and undergone cycles of low-dose antibiotic, like Doxycycline, or retinoids like Roaccutane, or hormone-based treatments through contraceptive pills. And while these pharmaceutical treatments are effective, there are potential side effects and there are limits to prolonged use.

The sad fact is, for many women, their skin may never be entirely pimple free until the natural ageing process puts the brakes on

sebum production – basically when the skin gets old and the pimples just make way for more wrinkles.

The good news is that with a combination of cosmeceutical skin care and treatments, the breakouts can be greatly reduced in frequency and duration, meaning fewer pimples that heal quicker and longer periods of clear skin.

Rebecca says the most important thing she works on with patients with acne is rebuilding their skin’s barrier function.

“A lot of the time patients will be sceptical, because they’ve tried every product on the market. It’s up to us to explain the difference between cosmetic, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical products. Cosmeceutical are the ones that are going to penetrate the skin and help change the skin, but you can buy them over the counter without a prescription.

“Most acne products are alcohol based, which strips the skin of its natural defence system,” Rebecca explained. “You need to rebuild and repair that skin function and you can combine that with LED treatment that is used for healing and help to regulate cell function.”

So, what should we be using? First, a decent cleanser, one that isn’t going to stripping or drying and includes Vitamin B, which boosts the skin’s immune system. As a bare minimum, you also need a sunscreen. As the skin gets stronger, introducing a Vitamin A product

into your skincare will help keep your skin exfoliated and helps reduce future breakouts (also great for minimising the appearance of wrinkles). Cosmeceutical products specifically designed for acneprone skin are ideal, and the Australian company created the Rationale Sebocyte range because the company’s founder and director, Richard Parker, grew up with problem skin that he couldn’t find a solution for. So he studied, immersed himself in the industry and created the Australian-made cosmeceuticals for dermatologists and medical skin care clinics.

Your skin care regime is your skin’s daily defence system, and you can supercharge your acne defence system with skin peels and LED treatments.

But beware, you should never, EVER, combine photosensitive treatments such as retinoids and antibiotics that make your skin sensitive to UV light. The risk of damage to your skin is just not worth it.

A good skin care treatment program takes time, but the results can be staggering, with women who have never been able to go out without make up chucking out the heavy foundation, sweeping on some BB Cream when they need a made-up look.

The secret to healthy skin is just like the secret to successful weight loss, there is no secret - you just have to keep working on it every day.

That just leaves the wrinkles to deal with … and that is a whole other story.

words davina montgomery

look fabulous with our Spring Racing Package Medical-grade facial peel and LED light therapy for soft smooth skin

130

$

Upgrade with a hyperhydrating infusion for only

PLUS $30 receive a take-home booster serum valued at $119*

*available while stocks last. Product available with first treatment only.

Australian Skin Face Body 50 Western Beach Road, Geelong Telephone 5221 2238 www.asfb.com.au AusSkinFaceBody

We also offer treatments for: facial pigmentation, fine lines & wrinkles, acne & acne scarring and specialised skin conditions.

43 Ruby Spring

ruby health

PEW, PEW IT’S LASER TIME! Recently a couple of our Ruby chicks escaped the office and took a quick field trip to see Helen Hochreiter at the Geelong Laser and Electrolysis and Clinic in Belmont – here’s how it went down.

Chick No.1: Let’s call her Tanya!

I first noticed the unsightly black hairs sprouting out of my chin when I was putting my lipstick on in the car. You know that mirror on the back of the visor that magnifies everything – there’s no hiding anything from that bloody mirror!

M

I’d always thought that Laser and Electrolysis Hair Removal was expensive and painful and when the opportunity came up to give it a try I was a bit dubious. Helen put me at ease straight away with her professionalism and the relaxed and friendly environment at her clinic. It shouldn’t be called a clinic. It doesn’t feel clinical at all. It feels more like your best girlfriend’s house and you’ve just popped in to have a chat and a coffee.

The procedure itself wasn’t expensive and didn’t hurt at all - I was pleasantly surprised. The best explanation I can give is that it felt like fine rubber bands lightly flicking onto your skin. The whole thing took about 5 minutes - my face wasn’t red afterwards and Helen even gave me some makeup to apply before I left.

It’s been around 6 weeks now since my session and I can’t believe the difference – there’s definitely no hairs growing where the laser was done.

My hairy chin was a really embarrassing issue for me and affected my confidence on a daily basis. To finally be hair free is fantastic!

If you’ve been thinking about trying it ladies, go on, give it a try - I highly recommend it. I just wish I had of done it years ago!

Chick No. 2: She may or may not be Abbey…

A few years back I decided to pull the pin on painful waxing treatments.

Instead, I opted for a 'cost effective' mainstream/commercialised IPL treatment, which was relatively pain free but best of all, super fast. I could be in and out in 10 minutes while treating multiple areas.

The results were good but didn't last as long as promised by the technician who told me this would be permanent. I attended every 4 weeks for about 8 months with hair returning a few months after my last treatment – albeit, a bit finer and more sporadic.

Helen Hochreiter

So, when given the opportunity to try Geelong Laser and Electrolysis I was excited to see the difference in the machines and the results I could achieve. It took a little longer than my IPL but two armpits were done in about 10 minutes and the process relatively pain-free.

Helen’s machine heads are slightly smaller than what I had seen before, but this is because they are more concentrated than IPL. In just one go I have noticed a huge difference and will be back for a top up in the next fortnight or so (8 weeks since treatment). After this maybe 3 monthly then 6 monthly top ups will be required?

Time and dollar wise, laser has given me faster results with fewer appointments.

49 Thomson St, Belmont 3216 P (03) 5243 0431 geelonglaserelectrolysis.com.au

A couple of assisting factors could be: I have fair skin with darkish hair in the pits (recommended) but discuss your options. Helen is very honest about what you can achieve. And I have had some similar treatment in the past (about 2 years ago).

Either way, this is a great process and one I would highly recommend. words tanya carroll & abbey sherwell

44 Ruby Spring

I

W a w

I had to revert to carrying tweezers with me in the car so I could pluck the little buggers out while I was sitting at the traffic lights. Attractive? NOT!

Geelong’s specialists in laser hair removal and electrolysis

D

a m t t

N c t

F L e s

L o e s c d

M t t l t

T t o

ruby health

DO YOU HAVE

Ink Regret?

We’ve all made decisions in our life that we later come to regret, and that’s okay. We’re human, we make mistakes. Luckily for those who regret a tattoo choice, laser tattoo removal can help erase that regret.

M

y name’s Jacqui Norton-Bee and I’m the owner and laser technician at Geelong Laser Tattoo Removal. Like so many others, I have a tattoo that I regret too. I got my tattoo when I was in my early 20s. At the time I had a boyfriend who was a tattoo artist, so it was only a matter of time before I found myself getting a tattoo. At the time I loved my tattoo – I thought it was unique and, to be honest, I really didn’t think about the future and what I might think of the tattoo in years to come. Needless to say, the tattoo outlasted the relationship.

Now, 20 years later, I’m married to a wonderful man and we have two amazing children and I want to be rid of the tattoo. It is just a reminder of a relationship from the past that I would rather forget about.

For people in the same boat as me wanting to fade or remove a tattoo, Geelong Laser Tattoo Removal offers a friendly, professional service in a non-clinical environment. We use a Medlite C6 Q-Switched laser which is considered the ‘gold standard’ of lasers for tattoo removal.

Laser tattoo removal involves using a laser which passes through the top layer of skin and targets the tattoo’s ink particles. The ink particles absorb the light energy and shatter into smaller pieces so that the body’s lymphatic and immune systems can clear them away. We use our laser in conjunction with a Zimmer cooling machine that blows air out at minus 30 degrees to minimise the amount of discomfort experienced during treatments.

Multiple treatments are required for the removal of a tattoo and the number of treatments required depends on a range of factors such as the colours in the tattoo, whether the tattoo is professional or amateur, the client’s skin type, and the location of the tattoo. Amateur tattoos normally take fewer treatments to remove than professional tattoos.

Treatments are spaced 6 to 12 weeks apart, so typically a professional tattoo will take a year or so to remove completely. At Geelong Laser Tattoo Removal we offer a thorough consultation process, which will help to estimate the number of treatments required for the removal of each individual tattoo.

Many of our clients are fading their tattoos so that they can cover them with a new design. By fading your original tattoo, you can choose the cover-up that you really want, rather than having to choose a design simply because it will cover your existing tattoo.

My own tattoo removal treatment is ongoing and I’m happy knowing that soon it will be a distant memory. words jacqui norton bee

Got a tattoo that no longer fits your lifestyle?

We can help.

tattoo removal and fading free consultation 18 James Street, Geelong 0478 616 905

geelonglasertattooremoval.com.au 45 Ruby Spring

ruby wine

H

eld over the Melbourne Cup long weekend, Geelong’s premier food and wine event, Toast to the Coast is not to be missed.

Take the opportunity to explore one of Australia’s truly iconic wine regions and taste your way across The Bellarine, Moorabool Valley and Surf Coast, as our region’s producers showcase the best Geelong winery experiences on offer. Relax and enjoy our acclaimed wines and delicious food and be entertained by the finest local musicians.

Toast to the Coast is a true celebration of the Geelong Wine region’s premium cool climate wines, local produce and entertainers. With more than 25 wineries on board this year, you can immerse yourself in wine, visit our scenic cellar doors and meet with the makers.

Your weekend pass is just $45 and includes a commemorative Geelong Wine glass – your passport to wine tastings at all host vineyards, rare back vintages, premium new releases and an abundance of regional fare and entertainment. You are guaranteed a weekend to remember.

Event information, touring maps and shuttle bus details can be found online at www.toasttothecoast.com.au

To win a double pass to Toast to the Coast please head to our Facebook page and tell us which region you will be toasting or email abbey@adcellgroup.com.au with your answer and TOAST in the subject line.

46 Ruby Spring

Competition closes October 1st 2015 and winners announced October 2nd 2015 on our Facebook page and notified by email where applicable.

ruby wine

GREAT WINE, FOOD, FRIENDS AND FUN Bring on Spring at Leura Park Estate!

W

eekend chilling at Leura Park Estate has become a much loved tradition for those who know good times.

With its rustic chic ambience, sprawling al fresco lawn and umbrellas and ‘Vault’ - the estate’s striking living art compound – there’s a lot to love about this top Bellarine winery only 15 minutes from Geelong.

Settle in for guided tastings of the multi-award winning stable of wines, a stunning al fresco paddle board, gourmet stone based pizzas, a seriously hearty fillet steak sandwich or perhaps salt and pepper calamari amongst other culinary offerings.

Leura Park Estate 1400 Portarlington Road Curlewis P 5253 3180 E functions@leuraparkestate.com.au www.leuraparkestate.com.au

Enjoy a classic Sunday session complete with lay back live music from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s – every Sunday, all year round.

A note to all Rubies – be sure to book!

Open weekends and public holidays 10am – 5pm.

Other times and functions available by prior arrangement.

47 Ruby Spring

ruby wine

Photo Drew Ryan Photography

TERINDAH: THE DARK HORSE RISES Outstanding wines, beautiful food and breathtaking views, there is no argument that Peter and Cate Slattery are continuing to create something very special at Terindah Estate on the Bellarine Peninsula.

One person who agrees is none other than James Halliday, with the wine guru awarding Terindah with one of his six annual wine awards, the Dark Horse Winery of the Year, at the 2015 Qantas epiQure Halliday Wine Companion Awards in late July.

The couple, who established the winery in 2001 as a not-so-quiet retirement project, said the high profile award will help shine a light on the quality of the local wine industry and tourism industry.

The Slatterys bought the beautiful bayfront property after Cate stumbled on the for sale advertisement and went to have a look. She fell in love with the then farm’s panoramic views and gently rolling hills. Her businessman husband saw the potential and fought hard for it at auction. Just three years after opening to the public, Terindah has become a destination winery and a sought-after wedding and function venue.

The building itself, designed and built by a long time friend of Peter and Cate, Max May, is quite extraordinary. There is nothing twee in the building, nothing extraneous.

There are stories in the timbers. There are Blackbutt wharf deck supports and Jarrah stair treads that were reprocessed from 48 Ruby Spring

Melbourne’s Station Pier. Pathways are paved with recycled wooden tram blocks and Douglas Fir boards were used to create the Sawtooth Lining ceiling.

varietals of Zinfandel, Picolit (a sweet varietal normally associated with high quality wines from Northern Italy), and Shiraz went in as well.

But the aria is the breathtaking view, framed by walls of glass and stainless steel.

The winery picked up the trophy for Shiraz of the Show at the 2013 National Wine Show - the first time a cool climate Shiraz had won the coveted trophy.

The property has 15 acres of vines, as well as quince, fig and citrus orchards, rotating wheat and barley crops and an organic herb and vegetable garden.

The produce of the property, including seaweed harvested from the property’s private beach and saltbush from the native garden, is featured on the award-winning menu created by chefs Lyndon Betts (Mietta’s of Queenscliff, Pettavel, The Vue Grand) and 22 year-old William Moyle (Donovans, St Kilda).

The Shed @ Terindah, now an awardwinning café and events space, started its life as the property’s hay shed. Peter cleaned it out, laid a concrete floor and the Slatterys used to hold parties for their family in it. Then the neighbours wanted to hold a wedding in it, and more friends began asking to use it for weddings and parties and the demand kept growing. They eventually opened the gates to the public in 2012.

The first vines were planted on the property in 2001, with typical local varietals of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.

The couple extended into less traditional

Terindah produces between 2500 and 3000 cases of wine each year. With all wines produced on the estate, visitors can see the winemaking production, eat at the restaurant, buy at the cellar door and take in the beauty around them.

ruby wine

ruby lifestyle

GOING GREEN NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD! Here’s a thought that might sound a bit foreign to some. . .golf (and the right clubhouse!) can be great fun – and delicious.

Head Chef, Travis Owen

With the warmer weather upon us, Spring is the time to get into golf at Curlewis Golf Club – just 15 minutes from Geelong. Catering for all ages and abilities, Curlewis has got you covered with a range of golf clinics, group or private lessons and kids clinics.

Resident PGA Pro, Steve Brodie and the Pro-Shop team are ready to get you, friends and family going green and loving it.

As for the social side of things, more and more people are opting for a corporate or social day with a difference – think teams, fun, a drinks cart, great dining afterwards, amazing views across the rolling fairways towards the ocean. Perhaps canapés and drinks on the Founders deck followed by a gourmet sunset BBQ? Or else a sit down dining experience in the hip clubhouse?

Want to bypass the golf and focus on the 19th hole? Under the helm of Head Chef, Travis Owen, the hip Curlewis clubhouse has launched a top new menu. Travis’s signature is contemporary with a paddock to plate edge.

Curlewis Golf Club is open 7 days 10am – 5.30pm for golf, lunch or coffee and cake with a difference.

CURLEWIS GOLF CLUB  1345 PORTARLINGTON ROAD, CURLEWIS  P 52 51 2534  www.curlewisgolf.com.au 50 Ruby Spring

RUBY

FOOD

DARIUS SARKIS

NICOLE BEARDSLEY

Head Chef, Baveras Brasserie

Occupational Therapist, Gut Health Coach, Author, Speaker and founder of The Happy Parent Project.

Originally trained in French cuisine, Darius enjoys the lighter side of Asian cuisine and tries to combine a blend of both in his cooking.

After commencing his career at Mietta’s in Queenscliff, Darius has worked at Harry’s, Finnigans Place, and Riviera on Yarra before starting with Baveras Brasserie in 2012.

With 19 years’ experience now under his belt, passion continues to drive Darius to evolve in the craft of cooking as he inspires his team and customers at Baveras Brasserie.

Spring HAS Sprung!

Here’s a thought that might sound a bit foreign to some. . .golf (and the right clubhouse!) can be great fun – and delicious.

The Happy Parent Project promotes awareness and provides education about treatment options for gut health disorders, with the belief that strong gut health is the foundation for health and happiness in our families.

Nicole is passionate about supporting parents to make long term changes for the health and happiness of themselves and their family.

Her book ‘Sugar Free Baking for Busy Families’ is available on her website and Nicole also hosts numerous workshops throughout the year.

FRUIT

VEG

Bananas

Asparagus

Berries

Peas

Grapefruit

Potatos

Lemons & Limes Mandarins

Spinach Spring Onions

Spring is a wonderful time of the year bringing new growth, life and colour to our lives. There are new crops bursting with fresh fruit and vegetables ready for you to find at your nearest local market and of course ultimately make it to your plate!

We are in citrus heaven which is perfect timing to help get back your zing from the dreary winter months. A few extra lashings of the citrus tang will also give you some amazing health benefits. The fruits contain the highest antioxidant activity of its rivals and may also help to boost the immune system, purify and balance the ph levels of your skin and protect against cancer and heart disease.

51 Ruby Spring

ruby food

BEETROOT AND VODKA CURED SALMON WITH FENNEL SEED CRÈME FRAICHE AND PICKLED FENNEL CURED SALMON

PICKLED FENNEL

FENNEL SEED CRÈME FRAICHE

½ Side Atlantic salmon Skinned and pin bones removed

2 baby fennel

250g crème fraiche

250ml white wine vinegar

4 tbs fennel seeds

1/3 cup vodka

250ml water

Salt

2/3 cups caster sugar

500g caster sugar

Pepper

1/3 cup table salt

Pinch of salt

1 lemon – juiced

2 tbs coarsely ground black pepper

Combine the white wine vinegar, water, caster sugar and salt in a bowl and mix until the sugar and salt has dissolved.

Thinly slice the baby fennel and place in the pickling liquid ensuring that the fennel is fully submerged.

Place in fridge for at least 2 hours before you are going to need it.

In a medium sized non-stick pan lightly toast your fennel seeds over a medium heat. Make sure you constantly toss the pan to make sure the seeds get toasted evenly. Once fragrant, remove from the pan and allow to cool. Once cooled, in a mortar and pestle gently crush the fennel seeds making sure that you don’t crush them to a powder as you still want a little bit of texture with the seeds.

5 large beetroot, peeled and grated In a large bowl mix the sugar, salt, pepper, vodka and beetroot. In a large baking tray spread half of your curing mix in an even layer on the bottom of the tray.

Place the salmon fillet down on top of the curing mix and then cover with the remaining mixture. Ensure the all of the fish has been covered. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge. Allow the fish to cure for 2 to 3 days. Once the fish has cured remove from mixture and gently remove any mixture that is still on the fillet.

Pat dry and carefully slice the salmon thinly.

52 Ruby Spring

In a separate bowl, add your crème fraiche, lemon juice, ½ the crushed fennel seeds and salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

ruby food

BERRY AND COCONUT CHEESE CAKE FILLING: 2 cups cashews 2 cups frozen or fresh mixed berries 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted 1/2 cup lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla essence 1/4 cup water BASE: 1/2 cup raw almonds 1 cup shredded coconut 1 Tb honey 2 1/2 Tb coconut oil, melted 1/2 tsp vanilla essence Pinch salt 4 medjool dates METHOD: Soak the almonds and cashews for 4 hours or overnight (in separate bowls). Discard water. Process the base ingredients until they resemble bread crumbs, or start coming together. Press into a greased cheesecake pan.

Process the filling ingredients until smooth. Pour over the base and smooth the top. Freeze for 3 hours.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Before serving sit at room temperature for 10 minutes to soften. Garnish with extra coconut and blueberries This recipe is from Nicole’s book ‘Sugar Free Baking For Busy Families’. Available in paperback for $24.95 or E-Book for $19.95 at www.thehappyparentproject.com.

www.thehappyparentproject.com

53 Ruby Spring

ruby musings

SPRING ME A BARGAIN Spring. It’s here, and it’s more than a bit demanding. It pretends to be all playful and fresh, but it expects us to have cleared and cleaned, and budded and borne in frenetic fecundity.

It’s is a paradox of a season. Spring is about having all things bright and beautiful, of cleaning and clearing out the old to make way for the new. So the Garage Sale signs go up, Spring Stocktake Sales are spruiked, and the op shops and Gumtree and eBay get crammed with all the excess of others who, presumably, are lounging about in serenity and peace in their clean, uncluttered homes while the rest of us make a bit more space in our crammed rooms so that we can go bargain hunting.

Ah, how I love a good bargain hunt. I’m a proud proponent of the ‘reuse, recycle, renew and repurpose’ philosophy. I’m thrilled to sit on a quality couch or wear a great outfit or use fancy saucepans that cost someone else a motza in their first incarnation, and which quickly became ‘superfluous to needs’ and got sent off to the Salvos or Vinnies or listed on Gumtree, where they then caught the eye of someone like me who was-and-is willing to pay cheap and cheerful prices for what was once seriously expensive stuff.

I adore op shops, I’m crazy about garage sales, and eBay can send me dizzy with delight when I’ve managed to win the prize. I’ve had some pretty marvellous experiences in my life, but I can tell you here and now, dear reader, that there is nothing to match the feeling of spending $250 on a $5000 lounge suite on eBay, or $7000 on a five-year-old $65,000 car (thank you, on site car auctions). Or going to a garage sale in South Yarra and spending $20 on a Chanel quilted tote bag that, if it was a knock-off (but I don’t think it was), was so good that it fooled the Toorak frock shop ladies into fawning over me like the snooty shop ladies did to Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

something nice in exchange for agreeing to queue up in the early hours (7.00am) to get in position to claim not one but two of these boxed Royal Albert dinner sets (each box was a setting for four, and she needed a setting for eight.)

On that cold and rainy morning, back in the mists of time otherwise known as the 1980s, I joined the other wild-eyed queuers in Little Bourke Street outside the China and Glass Department.

Conversations among a few of us started out politely enough.

Weather: ‘Yes, isn’t it cold lately?’ Time: ‘Yes, isn’t it going slowly?’

Queues: ‘Yes, isn’t it long?’ Coffee: ‘Yes, isn’t it awful – I wish it would hurry up to the year 2000 when we start getting decent coffee in Melbourne.’ (Actually, that last bit is what future me would have said.) When suddenly, the lady behind me rather inelegantly asked, ‘What is everybody wanting to buy today?’

It seemed so indiscreet, a bit like asking how much we all earned, but most were willing to share. ‘Well, I’m hoping to get some Waterford Crystal’; another said, ‘Ah, I’m after the Willow Pattern dinner set’; and eventually I piped up with ‘I’m here for a couple of the Royal Albert dinner sets for my sister’. A voice behind me said, ‘Really? So am I!’ I turned around thinking ‘Them’s fighting words’. I saw a woman about my age, about my height and build looking at me without any expression. Wondering if I was going to have to wrestle her or get some elbow technique a’happenin’ when the doors opened she suddenly smiled and said, ‘My friend works here and said all the Royal Albert would be in boxes right beside the front door. But there’s only six boxes, apparently. We can help each other, if you’d like.’

I can say with absolute honesty that if I had spent $5000 on a $5000 lounge suite, or $3000 on a bag, there is no way that I would have appreciated them as much as I appreciated them when they were bargains. Diamonds might be forever, but bargains are priceless!

A team of rather harried David Jones gents opened the doors, and we strode purposefully in and, sure enough, my fellow-queuer was right and there were just six boxes of the special Royal Albert dinner sets. She baggsed two, I baggsed two and two other queuers from much further back scored one apiece.

Back when a Clearance Sale was a big deal and had bargains worth queuing up for, my eldest sister, Juliette, had a brand new David Jones account and a hankering to own a Royal Albert dinner set. She’s short and I was able to judo throw her when I was 7 years old and she was 17 (true story!); she knew she would probably be one of those shoppers who get trampled in the Big Sales and end up on A Current Affair, so she offered to buy me

There was no thrill of the hunt or aggressive Guerilla shopping tactics, just gentility and common purpose and cooperation. Of course I didn’t tell my sister that. I tricked her by phoning her and saying, ‘Sorry, Ju. No Royal Albert, but I did get you a nice set of Noritake mugs.’ After the silence and the disappointed, ‘Oh well, thank you for trying, love,’ I laughed at her and she laughed at me,

words anna-marie hughes 54 Ruby Spring

"Back in the mists of time otherwise known as the 1980s, I joined the other wild-eyed queuers in Little Bourke Street outside the China and Glass Department." and as far as she knows I was magnificent in battle, even though some years later she admitted to me that she had never liked the pattern much!

The Clearance Sale experience was fun, but as far as bargains go, I far prefer the tale of her going to a garage sale where an ex wife sold her artist ex-husband’s great big oil painting to her for $28. There was one of those printed ‘artist information’ sheets pasted on the back of this obviously worthwhile painting and, after a bit of research (speaking to the artist himself who, in typical artist fashion, was not much bothered about the money), she discovered it was valued at a couple of thousand dollars.

I hope and trust that someone going through a divorce or relationship breakdown finds that having a garage sale and ridding themselves of their sentimental ‘stuff’ to be a healthy and cathartic experience – because it’s brilliant as far as getting a bargain is concerned.

My niece went to a garage sale not that long ago where a woman sold her a set of Bohemia Crystal wine glasses for $5 because the Decree nisi had come through and the glasses had been a wedding present and she didn’t want to see them ever again.

Another friend, a professional cook, had lucked in early one Sunday morning at the Trash and Treasure Market out in Wantirna. She saw a vast set of unused Le Creuset pans and casseroles and skillets – all perfect, with lids. ‘How much?’ she asked, without any intention of parting with the hundreds of dollars she knew they were worth. ‘Ten dollars the lot,’ she was told. They were a wedding present and this young bride didn’t like them because they were heavy and they were orange. Well yeah!

My friend loved every bit of her heavy, orange Le Creuset set and she used them, cared for them and appreciated them for over 20 years. And given the fabulous food she cooked in them, we were glad she’d got them too.

Geelong has a huge number of really great op shops. I have my favourites and I love the ones that are run by nice people who aren’t officious or patronising and who price their items reasonably. I have no patience with op shops that try and sell an old t-shirt for $5 when I can go to Kmart and buy a new one for $4. Happily, they are few and far between.

I have friends who come and visit me from Melbourne. None of these friends would be what I’d call ‘struggling’ financially, but they will ask me to take them to our fabulous op shops. With so much donated to all the charity bins, most charities have to hire huge skips to remove the tonnes of ‘rubbish’ that cannot be sold, so there is plenty for every bargain hunter, regardless of need or motivation.

In these days of global warming, buying pre-loved is more about ethics, a life choice and one that we are quite proud to do because, apart from the obvious saving of our precious dollars, I just love the fact that we’re not wasting precious resources.

This spring, spring into action and clean out those cupboards and sheds, and anything you don’t love anymore can have an opportunity to be reused, recycled, repurposed and re-loved by someone whose day will be made by the bargain. Who knows, you’ll probably put a real spring in their step!

THINKING ABOUT A CAREER IN REAL ESTATE?

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A career in real estate can be challenging and rewarding.

You need to be prepared to work long hours for the reward.

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eal estate is very much about building and maintaining relationships with your clients. Some relationships in property management can last for decades, some for the sale or purchase of a property.

Beginning your career in real estate requires you to successfully complete three units of competency in real estate, at a registered training organisation.

Real estate is not just about sales, there are other career paths, including administration, trust accounting, sales, property management and business development.

When you have decided on your career choice you will need to make the allimportant decision of WHERE TO WORK, WHO TO WORK FOR...

Many believe working for a large franchise is the ideal for them and there are many benefits, including in-house training, knowledge from other employees, a greater share of market enquiry.

Others may prefer working for a smaller agency, where the work environment may be more nurturing. Either way, it is rarely boring, but the choice is personal and what suits one may not suit another. words gina tobolov, westendrealestate.com.au

When deciding who you want to work for, do your research. Follow the agency on their website, social media sites, print inserts, attend opens and auctions and get a feel for their work ethic.

Real estate can be a difficult business to ‘make it’ in, but the rewards, both monetarily and personally, can be very satisfying.

It is important to enjoy the job you do and it really isn’t always about the money. In real estate, it can be the personal satisfaction in knowing that you have assisted someone in buying, selling or renting a home.

Enjoy the journey.

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ruby living

THE LADY’S GOT STYLE and she’s sharing it!

Juliet Love knows good style. An interior designer, stylist and television presenter, she began her career at Vogue Living and has worked for clients including Christian Dior, Smirnoff, Vogue Apartment Living, Home Beautiful and The LifeStyle Channel.

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ow running her own business, Juliet has shared her wealth of knowledge in a new book, Love Style. Through gorgeous photography and practical insights into how to use balance, harmony, proportion and style to revamp your home. She provides inside tips on how to get a designer look on a tight budget, how to use visual tricks to create the illusion of space, how to match colours, textures and patterns with confidence and more.

Juliet took some time out of her busy schedule to share some her thoughts with Ruby readers on how to bring great style into our homes, even if, like me, you can spend hours looking at cushions and still not get it right.

Q: What is the biggest challenge most people face when styling their home?

“The biggest challenge for most people is working out their own style. I suggest using a vision or ‘mood’ board to collect fabric swatches, samples and images they love. They’ll quickly see a pattern emerging and can delete anything that doesn’t work.”

Q: What are you favourite tricks for creating a sense of space in a room?

“It’s an old trick, but it works – use white to open up your space. Also reflective surfaces are great – mirrored furniture or mirrors used as decorative items will create the optical illusion of more space. Just make sure whatever the mirror is reflecting is attractive.”

Q: Minimalist, animal prints, retro, white on white, colour explosion - how can we avoid unnecessarily dating our home when giving into the latest design trends?

“Keep your large items classic, and then update smaller, more affordable accessories such as cushions,

lampshades or rugs. This way you can refresh your home and give it a new look seasonally, or on a whim.”

Q: I know a balanced and harmonious room when I see one, but I just don’t know how to replicate that at home.

How can I get it right?

“Take a photo of your room and draw a line down each axis (effectively creating a cross). You should immediately see anything that is out of balance in the room pop out. Keep furniture in proportion, and don’t have too many ‘busy’ fabrics in the one room or it will be too much for the eye to take in.”

Q: Space versus clutter - how do you create an inviting feel without overdoing it?

“Live by the old adage “a place for everything, and everything in its place”.

But then avoid a clinical, sparse space by adding in things that you love – treasured photos, items collected on travels, and decorative objects such as vases.”

Q: What is the first thing I should do when looking to re-do a room?

“If you can, remove all the furniture and start again. If you lived in a home for any length of time, it becomes difficult to see it in a different light. But by changing the floor plan and placement of furniture, even slightly, you can use the room in a more efficient manner, and make it more aesthetically pleasing too.”

Q: If you could instill one design rule into every home in Australia, what would it be?

“Express your personality in your home and let it tell a story.”

words davina montgomery 57 Ruby Spring

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ruby living

IS THE LATEST REALLY THE GREATEST? I think some of us have finally worked out that having the latest and greatest may actually not be the greatest – or at least the best thing for us – especially when it comes to our homes. A lot of that technology can just leave us feeling tired and confused – and then we don’t even get around to using it, because its really just all too hard!

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here is a lot of talk at the moment around the concept of ‘smart homes’, but in the context of these homes actually being customized to suit the occupants, how much better would that be?

It does sound simple enough, but when we are faced with the myriad of choices available to us when we are building everything from bathroom fixtures, tiles, carpet and paint colours to heating, cooling and lighting, and that’s once we get past choosing a brick and what colour mortar we’d like with that – it can all become a little too overwhelming.

Building a house can be a risk, particularly if you’ve never done it before. It’s also a big investment, so you do want to make sure you get it right.

When it came time for us to build – which was not our first home, but was our first experience with building – we became these obsessed beings, measuring rooms and trying to get a feel for what our architect was actually suggesting; drawing our furniture onto the plans and trying

to visualize how it would all look. It was no easy task, but we probably had the advantage of going into many new homes as part of our job, so we got to see inside some well-designed homes (as well as some not so good).

One of the things I’m pleased we decided to do when building was to automate our blinds. Yes, it does help that that’s the business we are in, however, after several years of living with automated blinds, I truly believe if they were not automated, then some of them would never go up or down.

Our blinds are set on a schedule – they put themselves up every morning and down each evening – very well behaved. (Now if only we could get the pets and the children to behave as well).

Many people I talk to about automating their blinds tell me, “No, I don’t need that. I just need them to be simple”. The truth is, that automated blinds really are just that.

Many electricians are scared of them, for no good reason, it’s just that they don’t know enough about them, but all that’s really

required for each blind is a power supply.

Its not overly complicated. There’s none of the miles of cabling that’s required for building management systems, (although they can be integrated into your building management system if you are having one – but that’s outside my area of expertise).

Blinds serve many purposes in our homes.

They provide privacy and light control; they stop the glare from hitting our TVs; they keep the heat in in winter and the sun out in summer; they can really finish your décor and make your home look great. They have a big role to play, so it is important to put some thought into them and how they will best suit your lifestyle.

For me, the choice of automated blinds is definitely about lifestyle. I have a busy life, I don’t want to spend time putting the blinds up in the mornings and down when I get home after a busy day. They save my valuable time. And when I go away on holidays, they still go up and down, giving the impression that there is someone home for a little extra security.

words cal stewart 59 Ruby Spring

Old becomes new at the stroke of a brush Lovers of quirky homewares and decorator style now have a new store to add to their personal style hotspots in Queenscliff.

A stunning boutique highlighting a treasure trove of inspiration and ideas with painted pieces of furniture on display, French inspired stencils, fabrics and linen, Mukul Goyal giftware, Canadian hardwood furniture mouldings and antiques. RELUISANT is conveniently located at shop 3, 45 Hesse Street Queenscliff.

The most exciting news is that shop owner Elizabeth and her team are also the official stockist for the incredible Chalk Paint ™ decorative paint by Annie Sloan, the acclaimed no-prep paint that’s become the go-to product for easy makeovers for furniture and more.

Annie Sloan’s incredible zero VOC Chalk Paint™ is available in 32 easily mixable colors. Customers can buy paint, brushes, and sign up for workshops to learn how to transform that piece of furniture that’s gathering dust in the garage!

D.I.Y. furniture decorators or professional restorers can save time and money with the quick drying, versatile paint that can shabby up that dark piece of furniture.

As an exclusive retailer of the world famous Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloane, Elizabeth is also holding monthly workshops in painting furniture, sharing some of her secrets with students and also some handy tips of the trade.

At her regular workshops in the store, Elizabeth will show you how easy and fun it is to use this product, as well as more specialist techniques like gilding and other simple but effective paint techniques.

“We love having the chance to show and share Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan with our customers. The paint is so easy to use and doesn’t need any sanding or prepping. You can literally create your own piece in a very short time and our workshops offer great hands on expertise for novices and DIYers alike. It’s exciting to see the results,” Elizabeth said.

Annie Sloan first developed Chalk Paint™ in 1990 making it quick and easy to transform worn or outdated furniture into something to cherish.

Chalk Paint™ adheres to wood, plastic, stone, brick, concrete and metal.

It provides excellent coverage in small quantities and can be easily thinned or thickened, lightened or mixed with other Chalk Paint™ colours to create custom shades, without compromising the pigment.

It is zero VOC (volatile organic compounds), and quick drying to a velvety, matte finish (hence the name ‘Chalk Paint’), making it easy to complete a project in one day. Its unique properties make it extremely popular for furniture makeovers, kitchen and bathroom cabinets, floors, stairs, and walls, and it can also be used on exteriors.

All Annie Sloan’s products are sold through handpicked Annie Sloan Stockists – such as Reluisant - who are trained in Annie’s painting techniques and run the popular Annie Sloan Painting Workshops.

The Annie Sloan range includes her signature Chalk Paint™, Soft Wax, Pure Bristle Brushes and Craqueleur finish, with more products to be introduced later in the year. Prices from $69.95 for a 1-litre pot.

Anne Sloan is also the author of 23 books on painting techniques (three million sales worldwide, printed in 11 languages), including her latest book, the highly successful Color Recipes For Painted Furniture and More, the follow up to Creating the French Look and Quick and Easy Paint Transformations.

RELUISANT Spring hours are Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10.30am to 4.00pm, as well as public holidays.

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ruby living

LIFTING THE BURDEN OF HOARDING

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oarders… we all know one.

Maybe it’s your grandmother, and you dread the monthly visit because you’re worried that one day one of those many tall piles of books may lean just a little too far and you’ll be lost beneath the pile.

Is it your mother and you can’t help but wonder how on earth you are going to deal with the hoard when the time finally comes and, when you do visit, your desire to clean only ends up in an argument or silent frustration?

Perhaps you know the quiet and harmless 40-something year-old guy down the road with way too many car parts. Maybe you grew up in a hoarded home and to this day still wish you could have just once been able to invite a childhood friend to play.

Whatever your connection, ‘just get rid of it’ would be a phrase that has ran laps around your mind.

To most of us it is just stuff, but to an estimated 5 per cent of the global population, and around 11,000 people in Geelong, hoarding is a multifaceted problem. It can be a symptom of anxiety, or a range of other disorders including OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), and is also a mental health disorder of its own.

Hoarding can be passed from one generation to the next, can start between the age of 10 to 13, it crosses all races, all genders, and all socioeconomic backgrounds.

Hoarding is indiscriminate and is fast becoming a silent epidemic. Hoarding is perhaps most prevalent amongst single women aged over 60, and with an aging population it is little wonder the statistic of 5 per cent is set to increase.

Statistics from the Metropolitan Fire Brigade state that 24 per cent of all preventable house fire deaths were people over the age of 50 who lived in a hoarded house.

Hoarding is the result of excessive

acquisition, whether purchasing new or used goods, sometimes stealing, or never saying no to or seeking out free items, together with the inability to discard, or the intention to save. This combination can result in a debilitating lifestyle, in fact, no lifestyle all.

Where do you even start to clear the path?

Is there a way out?

Elise Purkis is a professional organiser and a trained supportive hoarder cleanout specialist. Not only has she seen it all, but as a reformed hoarder, she’s lived it too.

Now operating a business providing specialised services to help hoarders and their families, Elise says one of the most common reasons hoarders don’t seek help is that they think it’s just a matter of tidying up, that anyone can do it.

“It’s like running; we can all run, however, when you have a personal trainer at your side, you run faster, are more motivated and achieve greater results. You’re held accountable.”

This, Elise says, is what her and her team at UnKluttered Life do, providing motivation, accountability, focus and working with their clients in a compassionate and nonjudgement way so that people can find themselves again amongst all the ‘stuff’.

“Excessive clutter stops your life from moving forward, stops the family coming over for dinner, friends coming over for coffee, and the grandkids from having sleepovers. It can prevent improvements to ill health and, quite simply, it stops your life from going on as it ought to,” she says.

The idea of having a home organised to within an inch of its life is frightening for many who suffer from hoarding, and Elise will tell you it not at all necessary.

“It’s about providing a safe, comfortable environment, and an environment that represents who you are. Being a hoarder or simply having a home cluttered with stuff is incredibly isolating, yet it doesn’t have to be.”

The causes of hoarding are complex, and it can require more than simply moving the piles to find a way to move on. Elise says that at times their work involves working in collaboration with mental health providers, in-home care providers, families, legal guardians or others whose focus is on improving the life of a hoarder. She just wishes there were more such services available to help more people live free of mental and physical clutter.

Let’s face it, we all do the quick tidy up before people come around - we open up the door having just thrown the broom back into the laundry, smile and say welcome and hope our guests think this is how we live all the time, but when you are taking at least a few hours to tidy up or are not letting people into your home at all, then perhaps it’s time to call on an decluttering personal trainer – someone who can give you the tools you need to release the clutter or hoard, have access to what you need, and to stop wasting time looking for matching shoes just so you can go the shop and get some milk.

Elise makes it clear that her role as a Professional Organiser is not that of a psychologist or, as some would believe, a cleaner, but about guiding her clients through the choices, through the pain of making those choices, to keep focused and moving forward at a pace that works for each individual.

“Letting go of the hoard or the clutter is symbolically letting go of parts of your life.

It is not the stuff that we have to battle, it’s the regard we hold to the stuff, the value that isn’t actually there.” www.unklutteredlife.com 61 Ruby Spring

ruby spotlight

Say Goodbye to Wardrobe Envy Wardrobe envy. Have you experienced the pang of jealousy when confronted with the beautifully ordered, organised and spaced wardrobe of a friend?

Who hasn’t!

Wardrobes tend to become the dumping grounds of everything we don’t have time to put away, not to mention all the stuff we haven’t found a home for yet.

Do you want to hide under a pile of Tim Tams every time you think about having to clean out the wardrobe?

Yet we all know women choose houses based on kitchens, bathrooms and wardrobes. Sure, flooding natural light is ideal and yes, we all want to love our floors, but these are the spaces that have to work for you and your family to live comfortably.

But when the reno starts or you’re making the endless choices for that new home, it can be all too easy to forget about the wardrobe. A couple of shelves, a couple of hanging rails, done, right? Of course not!

Do you know any girl that didn’t succumb to wardrobe envy when Big opened the doors to THAT wardrobe in the Sex and the City Movie? Ohhh, the wardrobe …

Now, Nigel Robinson and Chris Adamko from Cabinetmakers Choice may not be all over the latest

fashions when it comes to dresses, heels and must-have new season jackets, but they really know how to make a space that will have your wardrobe staples and gorgeous statement pieces neatly stowed and stored and, most importantly, easy to find when you are running late on a Monday morning and you’ve just remembered that meeting you have to look professional for.

They also know that when you want a job done, or when you need someone to come around to do a quote, that you don’t want to be waiting around for half the day in the hope that someone will, maybe, actually show up.

Turning up when they say they will, providing quotes within 48 hours (or 3 days for really big jobs), friendly service and doing the job as discussed with you, the client, at an exceptionally high standard have won over clients across the region. Communication is the difference and reliability is the cornerstone of the business.

Having opened the doors to their Grovedale showroom three and a half years ago, Cabinetmakers Choice has seen some serious growth, tripling its staff and bringing in three trusted contractors. Nigel and Chris know that customers want personal contact with the person in charge of the job, and being a local business means that is exactly what they get.

www.cabinetmakerschoice.com.au 62 Ruby Spring

The business deals with leading Australian suppliers, from Hettich hardware’s leading soft close and push to open drawers to Colourpyne’s decorative coloured board, to LETO Bamboo, to Laminex, Formica and Wilsonart finishes.

With a combined experience of over 40 years in the industry, the guys at Cabinetmakers Choice know

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that customers expect the latest innovations, the newest trends and they expect their cabinets to last for a long, long time. Dealing with industry leading suppliers ensures the guys can bring the very latest styles and design trends into your home.

And if your wardrobe isn’t filling your heart with joy when you switch on

the dim compact fluoro that casts just enough light for every black top you own to look exactly the same as the others, don’t despair. Nigel, Chris and the lads at Cabinetmakers Choice can find a storage solution to fit your home and your budget (if not quite your Carrie Bradshaw dreams).

They can even sort out the lighting.

Cabinet doors & hardware Decorative boards & laminates Custom & prefabricated wardrobes Timber veneers Benchtops & more!

Unit 1, 124 Grove Road Grovedale 3216 (03) 5244 3631 www.cabinetmakerschoice.com.au 63 Ruby Spring

ruby career

WHEN Opera MEETS THREE-MINUTE

POP MUSIC

When you blend opera vocals with quirky harmonies and a love for three-minute pop you get Kate Miller-Heidke. The incredibly diverse Aussie artist is returning to this year’s Queenscliff Music Festival, and she sure knows how to merge the best of two musical worlds to create a kaleidoscope of entertainment.

The 33 year-old vocalist from Brisbane has taken the Aussie music scene by storm over the last 15 years. From her early opera days to more recently reaching success at the Helpmann Awards, Kate encompasses a diverse range of talent that is loved and supported by her fans. Her impeccable range can take you from sweet lyrical melodies to birdlike harmonies, with the odd siren sound in between. One thing we know for sure is there is never a dull moment when Kate’s triple-octave pipes are involved.

The singer / songwriter got into music from a very young age, which led her to study opera at university in Brisbane to prepare for what she thought was her calling as a lead opera vocalist.

“I was heading down the path to a career as an opera singer, or thought that might be a possibility, and at the same time I had a song that was getting played a lot on Triple J,” Kate tells me. “When I was in my early 20’s I reached a fork in the road where I had to decide between original music and singing classically (opera).”

And, with pop music summoning her, Kate chose to do her own thing. , blindly and clumsily I’m sure,” she says through a laugh. “But weirdly, through doing the pop stuff, it’s kind of led me back into these occasional forays into the classical world, or the world of theatre, which is something that I’m really enjoying at the moment. It’s very inspiring and everything cross-pollinates.”

Kate is currently finding inspiration all around her for her next record, having just come out of making her first opera, writing the music for The Rabbits. She has also recently been in New York and Amsterdam doing other operas and, despite how different this genre is to her records, the inspiration still transcends into her pop music.

“I still really fucking love the three-minute pop song. And always will. But it’s lovely to explore bigger and longer things with a narrative arc.”

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Kate has also just come out of filming an ABC four-part mini series airing in December, her first experience with onscreen acting. The series is a musical about a rich couple who throw a party to celebrate their divorce in what she describes as, “a soap-opera kind of format”.

Going independent

Along with finding inspiration in opera, Kate is also inspired from incredibly candid moments in her life.

In this liberating journey, her O Vertigo! Record was crowd funded with PledgeMusic. To say the funding endeavour was successful would be an understatement. She hit 100 per cent of her target goal in only three days, and, on the campaign’s closing date, it had reached 226 per cent of its goal.

“In all honesty, usually the thing that inspires me is growing embarrassment about the thing that I’ve just done before - and wanting to be better. You know, that perpetual mental disquiet; just feeling dissatisfied. Also, I do find other people’s stories inspiring. Sometimes I get very bored with my own brain,” she says through a chuckle.

Her big break When I ask Kate whether she has had to make any tough decisions in her career, if there have been any ultimatums given her background in different genres, she has a bit of a story to share.

“I had two contracts, one with Opera Australia to sing Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, and my record contract. I didn’t have time to do both, so I had to make the call at that point.”

Making the decision between two very different, yet equally rewarding musical pathways, led Kate to question what she ultimately wanted to achieve in her career.

“It was kind of one of those inevitable choices really, and it all came down to being able to express myself by being the creator, rather than the vehicle. Opera singers are incredible artists and amazing vocal athletes in a lot of ways, but on the pecking order they’re pretty low. They have to do what the conductor or what the director says, and I kind of fought against that a bit. They’ve also got to be very disciplined in terms of their lifestyle.”

After three albums over seven years with Sony, Kate made a change for more freedom and ownership and decided to part ways with her record deal and go independent.

“It just felt like the right decision for me to have complete control over every aspect of things. So I launched this crowdfunding campaign and I am lucky to have this loyal fan base that engaged with me on social media and connected. They were very supportive and it went really well.”

When I ask Kate whether going independent has changed her music at all, she says with conviction that it hasn’t for this last record, but it may for the next.

“Not in the last record, but I’m thinking this new record might be a bit filthier than anything I’ve done before,” she says through a laugh. “There might be a bit more swearing than what’s come before. But I’m not sure…maybe…”

Kate talked about her concerns for new artists entering the industry during this unprecedented digital revolution.

“I think it’s pretty sad and scary and for the young guard of musicians coming out.

I really don’t know how a new indie artist can make a sustainable long-term career unless they get really, really lucky - which I suppose has always been the case, but it seems like a harder puzzle and it seems like you have to spend more time on social media. And the paradox about that is that it’s not good for your art.”

I then asked Kate how social media has affected her music.

ruby career

“AT HEART I REALLY AM A SONGWRITER AND THAT IS WHAT I GET A KICK OUT OF THE MOST. BUT ALSO I FEEL LIKE I AM NOW MORE AND MORE CARVING OUT MY OWN NICHE"

“It’s just so referential, there’s that thing about needing validation, which doesn’t necessarily make for good art. I really like it in some ways; it can really be used brilliantly. It’s just something I think of when I think of new artists coming out now.”

Upon reflection, Kate is grateful for her timing in entering the industry. “I guess in a lot of ways I was quite lucky. I got to ride the last wave of good record deals. I’ve always retained ownership over all my stuff.”

Return to QMF Kate makes a return to Queenscliff Music Festival later this year to take the festival’s fans by storm once more. “Queenscliff is a really special one, and I have been going there for several years now,” she says. “It’s just a beautiful kind of music-loving atmosphere and there’s a diverse line up. The audience seem to come back every year; they have a special attachment to it.”

As our conversation meandered around what it means to be a working musician, life in the industry and the ebbs and flows of inspiration, Kate expressed her immense gratitude for the creativity and playfulness that comes with her profession.

“What I feel most lucky about is that I get to play with ideas for a living, and the fact that music is still this thing that we can’t explain. I’m not working with any concrete substance; it’s working with the frequency of my brain and hopefully other people’s brains in a way that no one can quite explain.

“It’s mysterious and moving and I think that music really changes peoples’ lives. I think it’s the most potent art form.”

She shares how the art of music is inextricably linked to her sense of being; that being able to express herself in a way that is true to who she is, being a gift in itself.

Kate’s new record will hopefully be finished by the end of the year, leaving us waiting in anticipation for the creative mix of lyrics, instruments, vocals and, most importantly, filthiness. With multiple records down since her debut in 2007 and plenty more to come in the future, the artist is an energetic bundle of joy, blending folk, pop and opera, taking listeners on a memorable musical journey. words ally mcmanus 65 Ruby Spring

ruby kids

Join the flock, make a pompom sheep and help the National Wool Museum to beat a Guinness World Record by herding the world’s largest flock of handmade pompom sheep – over 10,000 – by 11 October 2015.

The #10000pompoms world record attempt is inviting people of all ages and all abilities from all over the country to be a part of this seriously cute project.

The National Wool Museum is hosting workshops, school holiday programs, activity group sessions and demonstrations. Or you can download the pattern online at ww.nwm.vic.gov.au.

Make one or 100, induct your sheep into the flock and see your creation on display as part of the PomPom Sheep on Parade exhibition at the museum featuring everyone’s favourite sheep, Shaun the Sheep, until 11 October.

PomPom Sheep on Parade is a fun-filled family experience packed full of wild and woolly things from the National Wool Museum collection – including some never before seen objects like a flock of bollard sheep created by the creator of Geelong’s bollards, Jan Mitchell, as well as long-forgotten vintage films and a rarely seen presentation from Queen Elizabeth II. Make your own pompom sheep on the spot and Pom-APault it across the room.

Shaun the Sheep is also available for selfies.

Find out more at www.nwm.vic.gov.au and follow the record attempt at #10000pompoms

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ruby kids

RUBY KIDS READS

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL

THE 65-STOREY TREEHOUSE

BOOK

Jesse Andrews

Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton

David Miles & Natalie

This is the funniest book you’ll ever read about death.

Anyone with giggling, squealing, primary-aged kids will know these books. The madcap mayhem and crazy cartoons of Andy and Terry make them go-to books for graphically inspired young readers.

I wanted my kids to fall in love with books when they were little. They chewed through board books, squeaked bath books, rustled those weird textural books we get sucked into buying for babies and tore out the title pages of my favourite books (well, that last bit only happened once).

It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he’s figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad?

His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films – parodies of classic films - with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.

This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg’s mum forces him to spend time with Rachel, is sort-ofbut-not-really ex-girlfriend, who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg’s entire life.

There is a load of cynicism, the survival technique of choice of the socially awkward, and a whole lot of teenage stuff about friendship and identity, and yes, acute myelogenous leukemia.

Oh, and apparently the film – out now - is fantastic.

And, when the kids are done, they are well worth a read.

The 65-Storey Treehouse is the fifth Treehouse book, (The 13-Storey Treehouse, The 26-Storey Treehouse, The 39-Storey Treehouse, The 52-Storey Treehouse – literacy and maths in one madcap series!) and every bit has over the top, laugh out loud, crazily, hilariously fun.

Andy and Terry's amazing 65-storey treehouse now has a pet-grooming salon, a birthday room where it's always your birthday (even when it's not), a room full of exploding eyeballs, a lollipop shop, a quicksand pit, an ant farm, a time machine and Tree-NN: a 24-hour-a-day TV news centre keeping you up to date with all the latest treehouse news, current events and gossip. Well, what are you waiting for?

Come on up! Go on, you know you want to.

Book is a book for people who love books and want their kids to love books.

In a world dazzled by the latest gadgets and mesmerized by Internet videos, where everything, it seems, has an upgrade and new levels, the humble book seems like the most ordinary thing that could be. And perhaps it is - until you learn to look closer ...

Beautiful, whimsical illustrations paint the picture of a journey through the literary lands of fact and fiction, a world where passwords, viruses, and broken screens can't stop a young boy's earnest quest for truth.

HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE ILLUSTRATED EDITION J.K. Rowling It’s happened, Harry Potter is now available in a full-colour illustrated edition, with, yes, it has to be said, spellbinding illustrations by Jim Kay. This dazzling depiction of the wizarding world and much loved characters in this full-colour illustrated hardback edition of one of the world’s favourite children's books - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone – could be a gift for a special kid, or, let’s be honest, could be a gift for you!

Brimming with rich detail and humour, the beautiful illustrations breathe a new kind of magic into the characters, the places and the events that J.K. Rowling first poured into readers’ minds in 1997.

When a letter arrives for unhappy but ordinary Harry Potter, a decade-old secret is revealed to him that apparently he's the last to know. From Harry, Ron and Hermione, to the Dursleys, Hogwarts and Hagrid, Kay has reimagined the world that will make you want to take the journey all over again.

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ruby kids

BY E BY E, B A BY

The Bean

Bible

We first met Madelin when her little bean was on the way. Now that baby Evie is here, we are following her parenting and entrepreneurial journey.

neck and watch her huge smile from ear to ear every time she sees me.

I’ve been on maternity leave for three and a half months now. Well, a bit over four if you include the weeks I was off before the enormous wait to finally have my very overdue bub. I had no real plans about heading back to work, but, somehow, I find myself right now in the position where I am going back to work next week, before my official paid maternity leave from the government is even over.

Of course, there are pros and cons about going back to work, and there are people who don’t have the choice but to go back. On my partners wage we would get by, but money would be tight and there would be no saving. No fun, no life, and certainly no holidays back to his mother country of England.

The job is amazing - It’s everything I’ve been working towards. With no Uni background I’ve always been very much of the opinion that it’s not the be all and end all, and you can absolutely crush it in life without it. There are obvious exceptions, like doctors, lawyers and the positions where it’s impossible to succeed without long, arduous study. But for something like my new position as a Marketing Coordinator, I think life experience, ambition and hard work can get you through.

But now I am leaving my baby, who's not even four months old, and I lay wake at night having almost panic attacks and wanting to go and wake her so I can sniff her little head and cuddle her little chubby

So, here I am, on the verge of going back and barely anyone knows. I am a social media queen (hence my new job), and everything from Evie’s regular vomits, my naughty adorable hoard of pets and my boyfriend’s beautiful bearded face goes onto Instagram and Facebook. But not a whisper of my new job has been mentioned. I don’t know if it’s because I fear judgement. No one from my mother’s group has gone back to work yet as much as I am going to be (three full days a week). I don’t know if it’s because if I put it out there it becomes real.

Given that I start in six days time, there isn’t hiding it much anymore and I suppose I’ll have to bite the bullet and announce it. Not because everything needs to be online (ok,

but I do enjoy the good ol’ social media over share), but maybe because once I’ve done it it’ll become more real and I’ll get more excited… or nervous.

Going back to work would never happen without my Mum and sister. I would never want Evie in childcare, especially at this age, and it just wouldn’t be financially feasible either. So, yesterday I took my sister to my mother’s group, made her drive my mummy wagon, make a bottle one-handed and change a formula poo - and she nailed it! Of course she did, she’s my go to lady for Evie care, but it won’t make it any easier to walk out that front door on Monday and leave her.

Evie’s too young to care or notice, I know.

So, I’m certainly not the first mum to go back to work with a small baby and most definitely won’t be the last. I didn’t expect to be going back this early, but with the fantastic career opportunity I guess I’ll just appreciate the 4 days off at home that I do have with her… And also the lunchtime FaceTimes, photos on my desk, phone, locket around my neck and the snippet of hair I’ll keep in my wallet. Okay, I’m definitely kidding about the hair.

Madelin Baldwin from The Bean Bible and Le Monde Entier 68 Ruby Spring

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ELIMINATION DIET LUNCHBOXES Elimination diets are becoming more and more common these days as the rates of food intolerances, asthma and digestive issues in children are steadily rising. It’s fantastic that our GPs are recognizing the need for elimination diets as part of a gut healing programme, but although the theory sounds good in the GP’s office (and we nod our heads agreeing that an elimination diet is most definitely the answer to our problems) the practice is something else.

The thought of putting together a lunchbox that is enticing and nutritious as well as free of gluten, dairy, egg, nuts, soy and package free is enough to send any busy mother crawling under the table with a glass of wine and bar of chocolate at 8am on a Monday morning.

With five years of experience in the ‘elimination diet’ lunchbox arena under my belt, I do feel great sympathy for any parent about to embark on this challenge. Let me give you these words of encouragement though, “It will be worth it.

You will survive. Your child will get better.”

I know that these words will speak to those of you that need them because they were the words I needed to hear myself. You will find the inner strength and reserve to keep going because the option of having a sick child with stomach cramps, rashes, asthma attacks and food reactions is a far greater emotional toll than supporting them on an elimination diet.

When it comes to elimination diet lunchboxes here are a few pointers: Your child is going to come home and say “Everyone else has chocolate

and sandwiches and cheese in their lunchboxes. I’m the only one that’s different.” This may or may not be true, but you’re going to have to stick to your guns and firmly reply that this is just the way that it is for the next few weeks (or months) and that’s the end of that.

From experience, there will be one to two other children in your child’s class who also have sensitivities. Get to know those children’s parents so that you can bounce ideas off each other and get support. It helps the child to know that someone else in their grade can’t eat cheese either.

Speak to your child’s teacher so that they know what’s going on. This is particularly important if your child’s teacher uses lollies or food in class as rewards or to demonstrate maths. They will need to have other options such as pens or toys as rewards for your child. (Ideally this conversation will open up the idea of moving away from food altogether as rewards in the class) Try to remove all eliminated foods from the house as much as possible (i.e. chocolate biscuits, chips) so that your child doesn’t feel excluded from the family. Don’t let your other children have treats that your child on the elimination diet can’t have.

Move away from food as rewards and instead use toys, games or special 1:1 time. We used to keep a reward chart for our daughter. If she got through the whole week of her elimination diet then she got a special toy.

There are loads of healthy food options around these days. Take that brave first step into the health food store and ask the words nicole beardsley

70 Ruby Spring

assistant to show you some options. Gluten free breads, wraps, pastas are all common these days Be careful to read the labels on ‘gluten free’ products. Many of these are high in sugar or additives, which will not help your child’s gut to heal.

Here are my top lunchbox fillers for children on elimination diets: Move away from the idea of sandwiches and instead introduce a thermos (funtainer brand is my favourite) with hot meals in it such as soups, Bolognese with gluten free pasta, chicken meatballs, etc.

Small tins of tuna (pour into a small plastic container if your school doesn’t allow tins) Make up a dairy free smoothie with banana, rice milk, avocado, frozen berries and a little honey. Pour into a plastic bottle, freeze it the night before and it will be nice and cold by lunchtime.

Cucumber sticks with guacamole or hummus Get creative with your baking. You can still make amazing biscuits, cakes and slices with gluten free flour, rice milk and ‘no egg’ replacements (see my recipe book Sugar Free Baking or visit my website for heaps of recipes).

Chia puddings Small bags of popcorn Bags of roasted chickpeas (available in the health food section of the supermarket) Gluten free pizza bases topped with your favourite toppings

Sugar Free Baking For Busy Families is Australia’s most tantalizing healthy baking learner guide.

Compromising 30 breakfast, snack and dessert recipes, the book was lovingly created to help families transition to healthier food habits.

Exquisitely photographed and easy to follow, each recipe is refined sugar, wheat, dairy, gluten and soy free.

$24.95 hardback $19.95 e-book available from www.thehappyparentproject.com/shop www.thehappyparentproject.com https://www.facebook.com/thehappyparentproject 71 Ruby Spring

MUPPETS

THE

Life's like a movie, write your own ending.

Keep believing, keep pretending.

- Jim Henson

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M H

I y t H M S

F F M a S

T e a a o G t f e

A

M f t M

* H M

MUPPETS

ruby art

It’s time to start the music.

It’s time to light the lights.

SCREEN MAGIC TO MAKE YOU SMILE

Muppets™, Music and Magic: Jim Henson’s Legacy It is hard to believe that it has been 25 years since the world drew a curtain on the unique and enchanting genius of Jim Henson, puppeteer and creator of the Muppets that charmed the world in Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.

From the depths of the Henson Foundation’s vaults, Muppets™, Music and Magic: Jim Henson’s Legacy will screen at ACMI from Monday 21 September to Sunday 11 October 2015.

The screening series explores Henson’s experimental films, TV commercials, animations, as well as his work on arguably the most famous and influential of all television programs, Sesame Street.

Guest speaker Martin Baker (UK) from the Jim Henson Foundation will share his fascinating insights into the puppeteer extraordinaire and his iconic furry creations.

Amongst the screening program are: Muppet History 101 (Unclassified All Ages) features rarely-seen TV appearances from the mid-1950s, including the origin of the Muppets in Sam and Friends, as well as TV

commercials, guest appearances and clips from the pilot of The Muppet Show. Martin Baker will provide live commentary, taking audiences on a moving journey through the generations of the Muppets on 24 and 27 September 2015.

Muppets 201: Rarities from the Henson Vault (Unclassified All Ages) reveals Henson’s open and natural dedication to achieving perfection through experimentation and audience engagement. Teeming with clips from the early days in local TV through to variety and game show appearances, Muppets 201 contains film test footage and excerpts from the rarely seen 1981 special The Muppets Go to the Movies.

Witness the magic of the Muppets as they come alive in Jim Henson: Behind the Seams (Unclassified All Ages). Offering a rich compilation of rare and fantastic footage dating back to Super 8 and 16mm home movies, Behind the Seams unearths the growing complexity of Henson’s work.

Martin Barker will provide introductions and participate in a Q&A on 28 September 2015.

Though Jim Henson’s work as a filmmaker and creative innovator are acclaimed, his talents as a performer are sometimes

overlooked. As a puppeteer, he created indelible characters such as Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, Ernie and the Swedish Chef. Jim Henson: In Performance (Unclassified All Ages) illuminates the development and evolution of these characters – and many more – which are testament to Henson’s versatility and imagination.

No one can tell a classic fairy tale better than Kermit and his friends! Jim Henson's Tales from Muppetland (Unclassified All Ages) is an anthology of classic Muppet fairy-tale and storybook moments, including some of Kermit’s Sesame Street news reports, excerpts from The Muppet Show and condensed versions of Tales of the Tinkerdee, Hey Cinderella and The Frog Prince.

Muppets™, Music and Magic: Jim Henson’s Legacy screens at ACMI from Monday 21 September to Sunday 11 October 2015.

For more information, session times and tickets, please visit acmi.net.au/jimhensons-legacy www.acmi.net.au

* This series is produced by The Jim Henson Legacy. Tour Executive Producer Irena Kovarova. Film and program notes courtesy of The Jim Henson Legacy. ™ & © 2015 The Jim Henson Company. JIM HENSON's mark & logo, characters and elements are trademarks of The Jim Henson Company. All rights reserved.

MUPPET, MUPPETS and the Muppets Characters are registered trademarks of Disney. All rights reserved. © 2015 Disney.

73 Ruby Spring

ruby book club

WINTER READS

WOMEN I'VE UNDRESSED: A MEMOIR

Orry-Kelly From Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon to Some Like It Hot, Australian costume designer Orry-Kelly had an extraordinary career in Hollywood. He dressed the biggest stars, from Bette Davis to Marilyn Monroe, and won three Oscars for his work, then his story just faded away.

Orry-Kelly’s memoirs were found by chance in a pillowcase, and in his own words tells of a life lived large, both on and off the set.

Growing up in Kiama, the precocious kid from the coast moved to the big city as a naïve young artist, reveling in in Sydney’s underworld nightlife and dreaming of acting in New York.

Wildly talented and a cheeky rascal, Orry-Kelly was determined to go places and found a way to get there. In New York, he shared an apartment with another aspiring actor, Cary Grant, and partied hard in between auditions. He scraped by, painting murals for speakeasies before graduating to designing stage sets and costumes.

When he reaches Hollywood, the fun really starts. Fearless, funny and outspoken, OrryKelly loved his life and in his long-lost memoirs, Women I've Undressed, he shares a wickedly delicious slice of it.

74 Ruby Spring

BEFORE I FORGET:

IS THIS MY BEAUTIFUL LIFE?

THE SHEPHERD’S CROWN

Christine Bryden

Jessica Rowe

Terry Pratchett

When she was just 46, Christine Bryden – science advisor to the prime minister and single mother of three daughters – was diagnosed with younger-onset dementia. Doctors told her to get her affairs in order as she would soon be incapable of doing so. Twenty years later she is still fighting, still facing up to the exhausting daily struggle to rewire her brain even as it loses its function, still loving, still living, still giving.

In her mind, Jessica Rowe had a beautiful life – blazing ahead with her career as a television presenter and journalist, sharing the domestic duties of cooking and cleaning with her husband Peter and having neat, tidy and well-behaved children who had beautifully brushed hair. That was the dream; the reality was very different.

On the 12th of March, the great British satirist and fantasy writer, Sir Terry Pratchett, died at the age of 66. After being diagnosed with a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s, Pratchett spent his final years campaigning for awareness and research into dementia and for dying with dignity to be a choice, not a crime.

In this deeply honest, funny, gutwrenching and moving memoir, Rowe talks about herself as a woman who thought it would be easy to have it all, to do it all. But what was supposed to be her beautiful life derailed in the very public collapse of her television career accompanied by astonishingly hurtful public trolling, her long struggle to conceive, her fears and what she believed to be failings as a mother and in her professional life, and the diagnosis of post-natal depression.

Outspoken, erudite, fiercely intelligent, gloriously inventive and very, very funny, Pratchett also continued writing as his illness progressed with both human and technological aid.

How I Survived a Diagnosis of Younger-Onset Dementia at 46

The unusually slow progress of her condition puts Christine in a unique position to describe the lived experience of dementia, a condition affecting tens of millions of people worldwide.

In this revealing memoir, she looks back on her life in an effort to understand how her brain – once her greatest asset, now her greatest challenge – works now. She shares what it's like to start grasping for words that used to come easily. To be exhausted from visiting a new place. To suddenly realise you don't remember how to drive. To challenge, every day, the stereotype of the 'empty shell'. Brave and inspiring, this is Christine's legacy for people with dementia and those who care about them.

Finally realising that she wasn’t okay, Jessica reached out for help, and with proper medical treatment and the support of her husband and family, Jessica writes of rediscovering her sparkle.

Jessica is patron of the Mental Health Council of Australia and patron of beyondblue's work on post-natal depression, and a percentage of the purchase price of every book sold will be donated to beyondblue.

The Shepard’s Crown, featuring young witch Tiffany Aching, is the 41st and last installment of the extraordinary Discworld series.

Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength.

This is a time of endings and beginnings, old friends and new, a blurring of edges and a shifting of power. Now Tiffany stands between the light and the dark, the good and the bad.

As the fairy horde prepares for invasion, Tiffany must summon all the witches to stand with her. To protect the land. Her land.

There will be a reckoning . . .

t r,

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ruby book club

THE SUGAR HIT!

LIFE/STYLE

Sarah Coates

Tricia Foley

While we love a few quick and healthy options for the everyday, some days just scream and howl for a salted caramel chocolate crackle. The Sugar Hit! Is packed full of food therapy for womankind.

Have less, live more; it is a beguilingly simple message. When it comes to putting together a beautifully styled home, it is so easy to be entranced by every new, pretty thing. But true style, pure style, comes from an ability to look beyond the individual pieces and see the space as a whole.

The Sugar Hit! is all about kick-ass, delicious treats; the kind of luscious naughtiness that can take an ordinary day and turn it upside down, slather it in cream and plop a cherry on top. Sarah Coates encourages us to bake with unabashed joy and undisguised greed. So why not try a Like a Fat Kid Loves Milkshake or a Salted Caramel Chocolate Crackle?

This cookbook offers something for every occasion. Whether you’re nursing a hangover, a broken heart or just having a Sunday brunch, you too can find solace in Sweet Potato Waffles or a Cinnamon Roll Cake.

POSH TOAST Busy working women are driving a food revolution towards healthy, delicious, inventive and, above all, quick food. Long hours, busy days and hectic social calendars can wreak havoc on culinary creativity, but nothing is quicker, easier and provides more opportunities for clever invention than something yummy on toast.

By toast, of course, we don’t mean the flaccid white sliced stuff, but the much more interesting sourdough, spelt and rye. Posh Toast features everything from good ol' avocado toast, to prawn toast, anchovy toast, posh Nutella on toast, bruschetta, croques, Scandi toasts, chickpea and chorizo on toast, butternut and tahini on toast, whipped gorgonzola and honey on toast… With 70 recipes covering breakfast, lunch, snacks and teatime, plus a guide to the basics of toasting and a photo for every single recipe, this is the ultimate cookbook for toast addicts!

In the tradition of Jane Cumberbatch's classic book Pure Style. Designer Tricia Foley is also a popular devotee of pareddown, quiet interiors.

In Foley's first book devoted to her home, she embraces the power of simplicity in her designs. In this inspiring volume, Tricia Foley's charming home - her personal design laboratory - illustrates her approach to creating pure and simple interiors. This pareddown look is back in vogue and Foley, with her refined taste, and is one of the leading experts.

EVERY ROOM TELLS A STORY

Kit Kemp This is the design book for people who know they will never follow the rules of design books. Kit Kemp shows that you can bring personality, individuality and a certain amount of whacky, zany and offbeat style and still have a stylish home.

Kit Kemp has an everchanging approach to design. She brings life and interest to the rooms she styles and avoids taking design too seriously, playing with scale, colour and pattern to create personal, handcrafted spaces. Featuring the inspiration behind her effortlessly stylish rooms and buildings, Every Room Tells a Story is an intriguing look at Kit’s way of styling – an intoxicating mix of contemporary and antique elements, a playful approach to fabrics and color, and an individual eye for art. Every room that Kit breathes life into has a story to tell.

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Servicing Geelong since

G en e r a l Public Welcom e!

Whethe r you are af ter just one item or wish to buy in b u lk .

The vari et y of p ro ducts Byars ha s to of fe r is amazing .

1985

store • wrap carry • bake • serve & much more Byars Flexible Packaging have a huge range of food containers.

From takeaway food containers in various sizes to eco-friendly paper plates and platters, cake boxes, lollies bags and wrapping.

They have an amazing variety of bits and pieces making Byars your one stop shop for all your disposable packaging needs.

www.byars.com.au