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, April 16, 2016

I'm a Kitchen Maid

I've spent a good deal of my day in the kitchen, but not enough that I'm sick of it yet.

I've been watching all of the Paleo people on one of the Facebook pages, discussing how they spend a day every week doing a bulk cook and then freezing it, so that all of their meals are prepared and they only have to make the salad or the vegetables to go with it.

Some also make a weekly batch of mayonnaise and then make the coleslaw, they prepare dips to have with their vegetable sticks as snacks, roasted vegetables to reheat etc etc.

There are times, especially when the football is on TV, when I don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen, so today, I decided to do a cook off.
  • 3 X Curried Sausage
  • 3 X Spaghetti Sauces
  • 3 X Beef Stroganoff
  • 1 X Savoury Chilli Chicken Mince
  • 1 Big batch of Pea and Ham Soup (not Paleo)
  • 1 Big batch of Chicken Broth
  • 2 X batches of Chicken Sesame Rissoles (tomorrow)
  • 12 Apple and Walnut Muffins (tomorrow)
  • 1 Chocolate Tart (tomorrow)
  • 16 days of dog food (tomorrow)
So, Adoring Husband will have prepared meals, if he wants them, while I'm away next week and there will be plenty left for when I return.

The only hiccup was when I dropped one of the pyrex storage bowls onto the tiled floor. Wow! What a mess! Luckily, I hadn't filled it with food, so it was empty, but boy did it shatter into a million pieces and it flew in all directions!

I have a long kitchen with only one entry/exit, which is lucky, because the force of the broken glass was quite powerful. The cupboards and wall stopped most of it but it still found it's way under the pantry door and even as far as my desk which is about 20 feet from where I dropped it.

Adoring Husband came running to my rescue in bare feet, calling out "Don't move!" - so I reminded him how smart it would be, for HIM to put thongs or shoes on HIS feet! I was already wearing rubber thongs.

Between us, we found all the broken glass and cleaned it up pretty quickly, but now I will have to replace the container.

This cooler weather has been a real blessing. The boys on the Seat of Knowledge are even wearing jackets in the mornings! For the second night in a row, I pulled the bed covers over me, but still left the fan running - because I love to feel the breeze while I sleep.

If I could, I'd be like Vegan Chickie and have the air conditioner running even during Winter, so that snuggling under the warm doona would be all the more enjoyable!

I found this today and felt that it would be a warm and fuzzy way to start our Sunday ...



Finally, I'd like to say Happy Birthday to 'Beauty' who celebrated birthday number 52 today (or yesterday, as you are reading this on Sunday)!!

I'm off to watch Brisbane Broncos finish off the Newcastle Knights with a flourish! (I hope I don't live to regret those words!)

Nite all.

Friday, April 15, 2016

In The Air

Do I detect a slight chill in the air?????

Did Mother Nature take note of my request last week to give us a taste of Autumn????

It is absolutely delightful and in the early hours of this morning, I even pulled the bed cover over me ... for the first time in about six months.

This weather is perfect.

So I am going to take advantage of it and head off to bed to snuggle under the sheets.

It has been a long time since I posted some quotes on here, so for your viewing pleasure ...






May your weekend be amazing!

Nite all.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Opening Day

Adoring Husband and I attended the debut viewing of the movie "Allegiant" today.

It was brilliant!

It is the third movie in the Divergent Series. The series started with "Divergent", followed by "Insurgent" and today we saw "Allegiant".

We thought that there were only three movies in the series, and we wondered why this one ended as it did, but I have just discovered that there is a part two to this movie to be released in 2017 called "Ascendant"!! I'm excited!!

The main character, Triss, is played by Shailene Woodley (she has also starred in "The Fault in Our Stars" and "The Descendants").

I have found the series, so far, to be an extreme and symbolic view of how the world is today and I sit on the edge of my seat through the movies taking it all in and wishing I could be half as amazing as Triss!

Today, AH and I were the only two sitting in the cinema until about 2 minutes before the movie commenced, when gradually, 19 others found their way in and sat scattered throughout the largest cinema in the complex.

Now the countdown begins until the final instalment - June 2017.

We tried to replenish our stock of salted caramel ice cream today, but Go Natural was sold out. The salesperson told us that it was the most popular flavour and was always the first to sell out. Apparently, there will be new stock in on Monday ... another countdown begins!

The third countdown for me, is the visit to the Chicklet family next week and what should be my second last visit to the dentist. I can't wait to see my little Chicklet and I can't wait to be finished with the dentist!

Nite all.


Wednesday, April 13, 2016

I Missed You!

How did I miss posting last night? I don't even remember doing anything important that would stop me from posting.

See, it's another one of those hiccups in my life, where my memory fails me. It's not the only thing I've forgotten this week.

Both of my sons-in-law had birthdays this week, just one day apart. One is the 12th and one is the 13th April. For some strange reason, I switched the dates in my head, and gave one the 13th and one the 14th!!

Vegan Chickie phoned me today and said "You forgot the Bare-chested Chef's birthday"

I said "No, the day isn't over yet. I haven't forgotten."

She replied "Mum, it was yesterday."

I am a BAD mother-in-law!

Let me make it clear that Vegan Chickie didn't phone specifically to tell me that and make me feel bad.

Luckily for my other son-in-law, that she DID call me, because it meant that I didn't miss his birthday completely!

So now I've hired Vegan Chickie as my PA so that she can make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again in my future.

Good grief.

I found this today. An interview with the author of 'Grain Brain' explaining how gut health is so important and how it affects our health, in particular, brain health with neurological disorders like Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Autism, Dementia, Depression etc.

This is only 20 minutes of the complete interview, which I think goes for about 90 minutes altogether. Very interesting and makes a whole lot of sense.  



Finally, I think we should start our day with this wonderful thought ...


Nite all.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Finally .. 'After'

Honestly, I still have to clip her nails and do some more tidying up, but this is close enough for now ...


I was reading a funny article today, about how the younger generations don't understand some of our expressions. This will make you feel old ...

Q: Why do we say "hang up" a phone?
A: Phones used to have two parts to them, a base and a receiver. In order to end a call, the receiver had to be placed on the base.

Q: Why do we say "dial" a phone?
A: To call someone on an old phone, you had to stick your finger in a rotating dial at number positions that would turn the dial for various lengths of time when released. You had to dial the entire number every time.

There were others, but these two related more to my generation (and older) than those others.

Then I found this ...

Introducing kids to rotary phones

How funny! Technology has changed a lot in the last twenty or thirty years!!

Now I'm off for some more guitar practise and then another early night to bed.

Nite all.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Who Knew?

I knew that my gum disease was affecting my overall health, but as time goes on, I'm learning more and more, how vitally important is our oral health. I found this article incredibly interesting and full of information that we all really need to know.

Gum disease opens up the body to a host of infections.

The scary thing is that I had no idea that I even had gum disease, and it was chronic! The dentist wondered why I couldn't taste it or feel it, but the only indications that there was something wrong for me, was that two of my front teeth were being pushed out of the gums until they looked like vampire fangs, and one of them was very loose for a long time. I had no idea that it was gum disease causing that.

There was no bad taste in my mouth, no pain or tenderness for years until it became painful to bite with one of the crooked teeth.

I left it way too long before I finally found the courage to visit a dentist. The first dentist put the fear of god in me (as if I wasn't already terrified) and my chosen holistic dentist has worked hard to keep me calm and keep me informed about the work required.

She even printed out a dental plan with a step by step process and price list. The fact that I misplaced the dental plan before the third visit tells you something about either my apathy, or my confidence lol.

I still only have a vague idea of what's coming next, but I DO know that the worst is over, so I'm not concerned about my dental future. My next visit is 21st April, not too far away.

I enjoyed morning tea with the Blond Bombshell and Reality TV Queen today. The chocolate tart didn't get touched yesterday during our gathering, so I took half of it home and left half of it there, with an invitation to share it for morning tea today. We ate it with raspberries, strawberries and dollop cream. YUM!

Adoring Husband and I attempted to finish the grooming of Colli today. We've done two short shifts, where I was able to clip her four legs and paws, snipping my own palm in the process! I clipped some of her neck and face, but she became very agitated, so I hope to finish off her face tomorrow.

I would groom her more often, which would make the job a lot easier and more pleasant, if only she would be nice about it, but she's not, so I keep putting it off, which just makes the job more difficult. I think in future, I will suck it up and do it once a month before it gets to this state.

I admit, I only have myself to blame.

Anyway, as you can tell, I've posted this nice and early today. I'm aiming for an evening of guitar practise and then an early-ish night to bed.



Afternoon all.