A few things worth a mention from the month of May ....

I always like to have a project on the go and they vary as the mood takes me. On this day, I started one that I had seen others do, but as is my way, it is my slant on it.

100 Days of Happiness is something that has been on Instagram for a while and people tag the event so that all people can see what all the current 100 dayers are doing. It is a photograph accompanied by words expressing what it is about it that makes it a happiness for that person - sometimes no words or just a couple - it is interesting.

My friend Loretta was doing it and I had been thinking about doing it myself and here I was - ready to go.

A lot of people show their artistic sides in what they put up, but I am not creative in that way - I am a lot more literal than that - I take pictures of what is in front of me and that is the story - I am not good at seeing things other than directly as they are. To find happiness during 100 consecutive days will be a challenge - but for me, catching up with people is a huge part of my world and my greatest pleasure, so that will feature. As will music gigs/shows. Then there are memories too. And anything can occur on any particular day, so some surprises will hopefully make their way into it.

I think that this will result in me sharing quite a lot - which I don't tend to do. I always respond to questions - in more detail that the asker probably wanted - but I am not really somebody who offers information unrequested. I am more interested in others than I am about myself, but I think that I am going to enjoy this one.

To see the results .... 100 days of happiness

To celebrate Bob Dylan's birthday (73rd), a gig was arranged where various acts would perform Dylan songs. This isn't the first of these that I've been to, so I knew it would be good. There was a house band of Bruce Haymes (music arranger and keyboards), Ross Hannaford and Shane Howard (guitar), Peter Luscombe (drums) and Steve Hadley (bass).

Performers were Chris Wilson, Charles Jenkins, Lisa Miller, Suzannah Espie, Mick Thomas, Harry Hookey, James Griffin, Gallie, Rebecca Barnard and Shane O’Mara.

There really were some stand out performances from the night - though I forget what the songs were. Rebecca and Shane did a beautiful song. Charles Jenkins blew everyone away with a fantastic performance. Chris Wilson performed like only he can and got the whole place up and moving - god I love what he does.

It was a great night and I've since chatted to Bruce and told him what it was like for us punters - he said that he doesn't usually do such arrangements - unless it's Bob Dylan stuff. He did a stunning job.

It's 10 years since Casey won the second series of Australian Idol and I've stuck with her and gone to see her whenever possible. She has such  stunning voice and does arrangements of the songs of others that often outshine the originals. She is also a fine song writer in her own right. And her personality is infectious and she talks quite openly about her life and writes about it too.

She does acting too and I've seen her twice in the show Flowerchildren - a musical play about the Mamas and Papas - where she played Mama Cass and her voice is probably one of the few that can do justice to Cass - simply stunning.

The gig was the second in her latest tour - celebrating her ten years - so performing songs from throughout her career. The versions of past songs were as powerful and moving as ever and a couple of new songs were superb too. And the gig was at Bennett's Lane which is a good place to experience such a voice.

A couple of friends also attended the gig and sat with us and it was their first experience of a live Casey gig - they were stunned by the show - as was I.

I got into The Waifs back in 2002 and have been to see whenever they put a show on - this is less and less often as they now all live in different places. The band is made up of sisters Donna (guitar and vocals), Vicki (guitar, harmonica and vocals) and Josh (superb guitar and vocals). And they often have base and drums too - at this particular gig, it was just drums.

90% of their stuff is their own songs and there isn't a bad one in there - I love them all - the girls voices and harmonies and Josh's guitar and vocals just make it an incredible sounds. I can say that after each show of theirs, I am left shaking my head and wondering how they can be this good. They are special and a delight. I am missing them as I write this - looking forward to the next time they pass through Melbourne.

I had a day off work and was trying to think of something new to do and then it hit me - go to Healesville Sanctuary and see some animals - any day with animals is a good day, so why not?

Not having a car meant that it would be a long scoot (70km). This was made more difficult as it was a bitterly cold morning - one of the coldest I can remember here - and when I got away from the city, the fog gathered around and it was a ride that needed a lot of concentration - but I made it there and though I couldn't feel my extremities, I was in one piece.

I did visit the Sanctuary when I visited Australia in 1997, but all I remember was that it had lots of flies. Being this time of year, that was not an issue.

I wandered around and it was quite nicely laid out and I got to see some lovely settings and animals. The greatest gift was that it was a very cold start to the day and as such, very few other people were around - so I could wander at my leisure and get to stand and watch without distraction.

One of the activities that happen there is the lunchtime wombat experience where up to 10 people can spend time learning about wombats and getting the opportunity to hold one of them. I booked that and discovered, at the allotted time, that nobody else had. So had all the time to myself where I sat with Robert the wombat on my knee - a great experience and worth the long ride out there.

Each year, my work encourages each employee to do two volunteer days - they have plenty of offers that we can accept or we can choose our own. To have two days of paid volunteer time is a rewarding thing for employees as well as help for those that need our help and time.

I've done various activities for various organisations over the years and this year I have two booked, the first of which was The Long Walk. In fact, the tenth anniversary of the actual long Long walk.

Ten years ago, a very talented and popular (Australian Rules) footballer called Michael Long, walked from Melbourne to Canberra (over 400 miles) to speak to the government on the unfairness and inadequacies around indigenous issues.

One round of each football season is the Indigenous round where it is all about our admiration for the many indigenous players but also the bigger picture. It is a great initiative and well respected.

So each year, the indigenous round and the anniversary of Michael Long's long walk happen on the same weekend.

This year's event was a free event/concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl to celebrate the indigenous folk, Michael Long and the work required for equality.

I did various tasks including carrying thins between venues, giving free water to anyone wh wanted it, collecting donations, tidying up in the VIP area and clearing up at the end of the event. The end of the event is where all the attendees walked from the venue down to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to watch the game between Richmond and Essendon. I didn't attend the game, but it was great watching them go off there.

Other than all the help, I got three rather special photos; one with me and Michael Long, one with me and Dan Sultan and one with me and Casey Donovan. Dan and Casey are two singer/song writers who I hugely admire and go and see when I can - so a thrill to meet them and also to meet Michael Long who I admire for what he stands for. Apparently he was a great footballer, but that was before my Australian time and therefore I never saw him. It was a great day to be part of.