Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Cold and Wet

We left at about 9am and drove for two hours in the dull grey weather.

Most noticeable were the huge  numbers of cockatoos and galahs feeding on the seeds in the fields along the side of the road!

I brought my camera, but we needed to be at our destination at a certain time, so photos have to wait until the trip home, when we can take our time.

So many photo opportunities, so I hope the light is favourable tomorrow on the return trip.

We arrived in town at 11am today and booked into the motel.  After we visited someone special, we did the unthinkable ... we went shopping!!

So many sales!

I walked in my heels until my feet were so sore that I had to buy new flat shoes to rest my weary feet.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel a visit with G'ma and G'pa today.  That made me a bit sad :o(  Hopefully, there will be another opportunity in the not too distant future :o)

The weather is cold and wet and the temperature ranged from a minimum of 4C to a maximum of 9C today.  Tomorrow will reach 11C.  Ugh!

Looking forward to returning to the lovely luke warm temperatures of Queensland, where getting out of bed in the mornings is a pleasant experience, instead of a bone freezing wake up call!

I can handle cold weather at almost any time of the day or night, but I don't enjoy turning down the covers in the morning to be greeted by cold discomfort.  It's just a nasty way to start the day!

I am, however, REALLY enjoying my time with BGWLBH.

It's been fun. Without doing anything out of the ordinary or making any plans for the holiday, we've had fun doing girlie stuff like shopping, watching Dr Who dvds, shopping, Maccas breakfast routine, cooking, shopping ... just regular everyday stuff.  Oh and did I mention shopping?

It's going to be tough saying goodbye ... it's ALWAYS tough saying goodbye to BGWLBH!

It won't be tough, however, saying goodbye to the cold and the wet!

Today has been a good day!

Nite all.

PS  Adoring Husband!!  I love you xxx

Friday, July 8, 2011

Adoring Husband is the Man!

BGWLBH and I dropped the car off to be serviced today and then had to find things to do to fill the day.

Of course, breakfast at Maccas was the first port of call, so the mechanic dropped us there.

We then walked up the main street of town and stopped at every shop that looked like it might stock clothes, jewellery, handbags or shoes.  

Morning tea was up next, followed by MORE shopping.  I acquired some fabulous dress jewellery at very reasonable prices.  

I am also looking at a nice handbag, but we are travelling out of town tomorrow, and hope to do something different like ... ah ... shopping!!  If I can't find anything in our travels, then I will come back for this one.

I've knitted myself a lovely purple shawl while I've been here and I've almost finished a purple scarf as well.

Considering that it was -2C degrees this morning with a heavy frost, I think I need to knit myself a long overcoat!!  It's going to be even colder tomorrow where we are travelling!!  Ugh!!

The best news of the day, however, is that Adoring Husband has booked and paid for two tickets to Jon English and The Rock Show for August back home!!  WAHOO!!

I'm a bit excited about that!!  Adoring Husband!!  He's the MAN!!

Nite all

The Rock Show

OH!
MY!
GOD!

I just experienced the MOST AMAZING theatre show starring Jon English and eight other incredibly talented and energetic young musicians.

I am blown away and did NOT expect to feel so pumped and so exhilarated by these brilliant performers!

They played rock songs from the 60s and 70s including Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Pink Floyd, David Bowie among many more and then topped it off with the 2nd best rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody I've heard (nobody will ever outdo Freddie Mercury and Queen for that one).

Every single one of those young musicians was absolutely exceptional and extraordinary and could easily be stars in their own right.

All of them could expertly play at least three instruments.  They played violin, cello, bongos, upright piano, electronic keyboards, mouth organs, triangle, tamborines, cowbells, flute, saxophone, acoustic and every other kind of guitar in the universe.

There are no words to describe their voices.  Their vocal ranges were jaw dropping and I could have listened to them all night.

The show went for over 3 hours with a twenty minute interval and the time went so fast!  I could have happily sat there for another 3 hours.

One of them was a dead ringer for Jack Black and another was a Lenny Kravitz lookalike (but much hotter!).

I found myself, during the show, yearning to play an instrument.  They were inspirational.  Quite obviously loving what they do and really enjoying themselves on stage.

They are playing in Maryborough next month and I am hoping Adoring Husband reads this post and books us a couple of tickets because I would LOVE to see them again!

To find out a bit more about what the show is about and how it began, here is the link ...

http://www.therockshow.com.au/

BGWLBH was beside herself when we left the show and couldn't stop raving about it.  The crowd went wild and were so energised when they left, all talking over each other to remind each other of different parts of the show.

Everyone sang along (because they were all from our generation) and the audience gave the show two standing ovations.  Truly remarkable!

If any of you out there have the opportunity to see this show .. don't miss it!  There are a number of shows throughout NSW and QLD between now and December and I HIGHLY recommend it!!

I don't now how I am going to come down from this Rock Show 'high' to get some sleep.  I've got an early start tomorrow!

Nite all.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

The Hair Master

Today, I finally got to see my old hair dresser, The Hair Master.  He IS the master of hair ... especially my hair!  I spent a quality two and a half hours with him and he made my hair beautiful again.

I love my Hair Master :o)

He has been in town for twelve years now and in three weeks will be opening his own salon.

When I first moved to Sydney, I flew back every couple of months to get my hair done by my Hair Master, but when I moved to Queensland, it proved WAY too expensive to do that.

Now I make do with a local girl, who kind of follows instructions, but does it poorly.

My Master of Hair charged me $83 for chocolate and blond foils, shampoo, conditioning treatment, blow dry and straightening.

My new hairdresser charges me $130 for two different coloured foils, shampoo and a blow dry and she doesn't even do it well.

I miss my Hair Master :o(

So now, I am going to look fabulous for the Jon English rock concert tomorrow night!

I should get some sleep now, or I may just fall asleep during the concert ... I'm not as young as I once was and it's now 1.15am!!

Still having a lovely time :o)

Nite all.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Bridesmaids

Still having a wonderful time.  The nights are freezing.  Today there were gale force conditions and I was almost blown over in the street!

Tried, unsuccessfully, to do some shoe shopping, but at least Adoring Husband is pleased with a nil result on the shoe score.

This afternoon, BGWLBH and I went to the movies to see 'Bridesmaids'.

We almost bought the cinemas out of junk food.  Popcorn, maltesers, ice cream, twisties and water (because that washes all the calories away!) and then made our way into the cinema.

My real time friends and my facebook friends all told me it was the funniest movie EVER!  So I was expecting hilarity from the very beginning.

It took a good thirty minutes for the first giggle to float from my lips and even then it was an uncomfortable one.

All I felt was sadness and discomfort for the main character, Annie.  It slowly picked up and the scene on the plane was so funny that I had cramps in my ribs from laughing so hard.

Then it got sad again.  I spent more time crying in this movie, from sadness, than laughing!

I really enjoyed the movie after the first thirty excruciating minutes, but it was very emotional.  Even though there was some funny parts to it, on the whole, it was quite sad.

I found the vomiting and diarrhoea scene quite unnecessarily graphic and wasn't amused by it at all.

So we cried a lot ... and I didn't take tissues!

I would highly recommend seeing the movie, but don't go there expecting it to be all comedy, make sure you take tissues and be prepared to feel sympathy, empathy and compassion.

Melissa McCarthy was BRILLIANT as Megan.  I LOVED Chris O'Dowd as Officer Nathan Rhodes.  Kristen Wiig was FABULOUS as Annie ... I think we can all relate to her!

I think I will buy 'Bridesmaids' when it comes out on dvd and add it to my collection!

Nite all.

Monday, July 4, 2011

It's Indy's birthday!

Indy is a Border Collie cross bitch who lives with BGWLBH and is her best friend.  Today is her birthday, so this morning we sang happy birthday to her and gave her a treat.

She was named Indy because she was born on American Independence Day :o)

This afternoon she went for a nice walk with us through the farm and then this evening we encouraged her to catch mice (there is currently a mouse plague in the area) on the front verandah and she seemed to really enjoy that!

I think she had a very pleasant birthday!

Adoring Husband has been off on photographic jaunts while I've been away and took this fabulous photo of synchronised birds which I'm dying to share with you.



I really love it and I'm so jealous that I wasn't there to attempt a shot at this.

I went on a little jaunt myself this afternoon.  I didn't get many good shots in though.  I was a bit too lazy to play with the settings on the camera or to change lenses when I should have, plus I was walking around in gum boots that were a size too big!

Flowering Gum

Vineyard across the road

Renovations in progress for a farm cottage
I will make a more concerted effort over the coming days.

I bumped into some old friends in the main street of town today.  

John, with whom I worked for sixteen years.  It was great to catch up with him and hear about how his family have fared over the years.  He is a good man.

I chatted briefly with KG.  I dedicated a post to her a while back.  She is just adorable and seems to be incredibly happy right now.  I wish her the very best and hope that her happiness only increases as the weeks and months go by.

We did a little shopping today and got a few good bargains.  Gotta love mid year sales!

I do miss my Adoring Husband and my lovely little family back home, but I am really enjoying the time here with my friend too.  It has been relaxing and funny. 

It's so good to know that all the strange things that have been happening to me as I get older are also happening to BGWLBH and that I don't have some strange and rare disease that is eating away at my mental state!

We are growing old and senile at the same rate.  We are just doing it thousands of kms apart!  Such a relief!

Nite all.