Productive

I had a very intense and productive day at my desk and I have plenty of enthusiasm to power on tomorrow and learn some stuff that I've had in the 'too hard' basket, which I've avoided for too long.

With my Himalayan salt lamp glowing and Frankincense oil diffusing beside me, I felt bright and alert and open to new information. Also, the sound of my door beads blowing in the breeze made for a very relaxing and calm environment.

This beaded curtain has been rolled up, wrapped up and stored in the shed for the last eight years. It was only found because Adoring Husband was clearing out the shed and decluttering! I love it!

I'm feeling quite tired, mentally, so I'm looking forward to getting some sleep so that I'm fresh to start tomorrow. Having said that, the weather is hardly conducive to sound sleep. It's very hot and very humid and our air conditioner is still on the blink. We are looking at 3-5 weeks, if we're lucky, before it can be replaced (it can't be repaired).

I've been so desperate for some way of getting cool, that I've been researching swimming pools!!

A swimming pool is on my vision board and something that I'm sending out to the universe, so that it becomes a reality in the near future (by near future, I mean this year).

I'm very lucky that my workspace is the coolest room in the house at this time of the year. A cool breeze blows through the window all day and I have a little fan which plugs into a USB port in the desktop which keeps me cool from the other direction.

I'm excited that the Australian Open Tennis starts this Monday!

It's 9.30pm and I'm OFF to bed!

Nite all.

   

Two Steps Forward

Two steps forward and one step back.

I'm getting there.

Slowly.

My Canberra Conference has been cancelled *insert sad face here*, but since I'd already booked everything AND I discovered that there is a Health and Wellness Festival being held in Canberra on the same weekend, I've decided to still fly down and make it a kind of retreat for myself.

After my initial disappointment, I'm quite excited about the trip now!

Anyway it's rapidly approaching midnight so check these out ...

That last one is so ME!

I'm outta here!

Nite all.

What the Hell!?

I'm sitting here nine tenths of the way through building this website and feeling totally overwhelmed!

Tiny details that don't quite match up the way they should, which then require hours of research or investigation or experimentation or back tracking to find the one little thing that I missed. Sometimes it only takes a couple of minutes to figure it out, but sometimes it takes a couple of hours.

Those are the times when I look at myself and say "What the hell were you thinking? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Here I am at the far end of 56, (to a lot of people this seems really young, and to many others it seems really old!) attempting to teach myself to build a website, and not just a simple one page or one subject website, but one with multiple pages covering multiple subjects and including a shop which sells actual products that I now possess.

This requires stocktaking, photographing, pricing, cataloguing, packaging, mailing, invoicing etc etc.

My future will now require, not only maintaining the website, but

• actively creating a weekly recipe (a long winded process) to post on the recipe page
• attempting weekly art/craft/DIY projects and both writing and photographing the step by step process to post on the' Let's Get Arty Farty' page
• providing weekly photography tips for the 'Photography and You' page, as well as running a competition for followers via Facebook and Flickr
• Providing weekly healthy habits and good nutrition information on it's own page
• Maintaining all social network pages i.e. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Flickr and Pinterest
• Writing a weekly blog post for the 'Life as Roz knows it' page
• Daily trips to the post office to send off the products that people buy (hopefully)
• Continuing to write daily for my old blog
• Writing more ebooks, some free and some for sale
• My other special project that I'm keeping under wraps until it's finished

Aside from all of that, I need to continue eating well and providing good healthful meals for Adoring Husband and myself.

I need to continue my gentle exercises, which takes at least forty minutes of my day.

I'd like to think that my business will make enough money that I can afford a cleaner at some time in the near future, so I don't have to worry about that. That may be wishful thinking.

Anyway, that's where I'm at and even though I'm not deterred and I'm still feeling excited about the prospect of being successful with this, I'm a little concerned that I've bitten off more than I can chew and I feel that my time management skills may need some work!

Now I'm off for an early night, so that I can put in a solid day tomorrow.

Nite all


 

No Show

It seems that we must be the only town in Australia that is not sweltering in ridiculously hot temperatures!

I admit that it is warm, but nothing like NSW and central QLD. I will, however, be putting my pyjamas under the cold water tap and wringing them out before I put them on tonight. The breeze from the fan will keep me cool in wet PJs!

Our bedroom is the hottest room in the house in Summer. It's situated on the front corner of the house, so two walls are on the West and South side of the house and have direct sun for most of the afternoon. With the air conditioning still out of order, it makes for quite an uncomfortable temperature.

I pedalled down to the Seat of Knowledge and spent twenty minutes with the boys this morning before making my way to the beach for a short walk. The tide was high, which only leaves a short stretch of beach accessible, but I walked up to my knees in the shallows and the water was very cool and refreshing.

I went to check the mail and grabbed a couple of groceries from the supermarket, but while I was there, a little old lady was pushing a trolley through the aisles and she stopped me and said "I really love your hat"

I thanked her and we discussed where I bought it and that it was on it's last legs, when she said "Every time I come here for holidays, I look for you, because you are my 'symbol' of this town and my holiday, with your hat and your trike."

How cool is that!? She made me feel very special!

By the time I arrived home, it was 11am, so after a bit of fluffing about, I made some smoked salmon roll ups for Adoring Husband's lunch and then prepared dinner - we would be away from home at Best Cousin in the World's farm in Gundiah all afternoon, and it would be too late to muck around in the kitchen by the time we returned.

We left at 1pm for Gundiah. The LeReve party was to start at 2.30pm and it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to reach their front door.

I was concerned when we drove up to the house, that Stephanie's car was not there.

Sure enough, when 2.30pm came and went, Best Cousin in the World phoned Stephanie, to discover that she had no idea there was even going to be a party today!! Eight people were sitting on the verandah in the hot weather, expecting to see and smell some oils, perfumes and reed diffusers!

Luckily, I took my catalogue with me, so everybody had a look and got to order what they wanted. Apparently, we will all receive a free gift for our troubles.

At least we got to enjoy this ...

I can't even tell you how beautiful it looked in real life, with the colourful edible flowers scattered through so many different fruits which were then splashed with pieces of, and the juice of a pomegranate.  All of the fruit was delicious, as was the cheese and dips. It really was spectacular.

While the party was 'not' happening, Adoring Husband and Marco Polo headed down to the river, where they climbed into the kayaks and paddled up the river for a spot of fishing. AH had a ball. So much so, that he has been pricing kayaks this evening.

While Best Cousin in the World is away next week, AH is going to have a day with MP on the river. He's very much looking forward to it!

We said our goodbyes at about 4.30pm and I was hoping to stop at the fruit n veg van on the way home to buy some lychees, but it was right on 5pm by the time we reached the spot and we had big trucks right on our clackers.

It amazes me how truck drivers complain when cars pull in front of them because they don't have enough room to stop in an emergency .. but it doesn't seem to stop them from choosing to sit so close to our tail that we can't even see their number plate in the rear view mirror!

Thankfully, we arrived home safe n sound at about 5.50pm.

Oh I forgot to mention that AH has finally taken down the Christmas lights from outside the house!!

Right now, it's 9.30pm and it might be time for me to head to bed.

Nite all.  

Danceless Tuesday

Adoring Husband and I had a disturbed night of sleep last night. Between the heat, coughing fits, full bladders and early alarms, neither of us enjoyed a sound night of sleep.

This means that I did not get to dance on the beach before coffee with the girls, as I mentioned yesterday would be my plan.

I was still able to make it to coffee by 8.30am but there were only two of us there until almost 9am! At that point, just one more arrived and then two 'ring ins' pulled up a seat and joined us for coffee. Beauty sat with us briefly on her way home from swimming.

Morning coffee isn't quite the same without Rebel Mardi and Lady Lynn.

I left the girls at around 10am so that I could drive into The Bay with Adoring Husband. We had to pick up some kombucha that we'd ordered in bulk and also had to restock my coconut ice cream.

My peppermint choc chip ice cream wasn't in stock today and I was SOOO disappointed! I stood in front of those glass fridge doors, looking at all the flavours for about ten minutes until AH said "Standing there staring is not going to make it magically appear" to which I replied "But if I look for long enough, something will jump out at me!"

And it did!

Hiding underneath another flavour, but a different brand to my usual choice, was another peppermint and choc chip!! I pounced on it so fast!

I tasted it after lunch today and OMG, it is now my favourite brand. I almost ate the whole tub, but AH convinced me that I would be disappointed if I didn't have some left for another time. I knew he was right.

After lunch, we watched the movie "Chaplin" which is 25yrs old this year! There are a lot of big names in that movie. I didn't see it in 1992 when it was released, but quite enjoyed it today.

I only had one hour at my desk this afternoon. Found a couple of glitches in my site, so I fixed one of them and will deal with the other one in the morning.

I thought this was pretty funny. I found it tonight ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4LnorVVxfw

Anyway, it's almost 10pm and you know where I am headed.

Nite all.

PS Oh! I bought some new shoes today!

10 out of 10

Yes, today is day ten of 2017 and Christmas is over ... except for us and our neighbours.

Our Christmas lights are still up and flashing brightly every night.

Every year I tell Adoring Husband that we MUST have all the lights and decorations down before the 6th January, otherwise we will have an unlucky year.

Every year, our lights and decorations are still up well after the 6th, but at least this year, the decorations inside the house, and the tree, are down and packed away.

For now, I will apologise to our neighbours for the annoying flashing lights that continue well into the new year.

Yes darling, in case you were wondering, that's a hint :)

I started this morning with an hour of reading in bed. It was very relaxing until Adoring Husband came home from mowing at the shops and proceeded to whipper snip and mow our lawns.

I'm not complaining about him doing this important household chore, and he does a good job, but the psychotic dogs live up to their name for the duration of the job. Jack in particular, freaks out, hyperventilates and needs to have his body touching mine until the noise stops.

Since Jack sleeps in a pen in our bedroom, the sound of his stressful panting was enough to get me out of bed to start my day.

Which is a good thing I suppose!

I showered and dressed and headed off on my trike, just as Adoring Husband completed the outdoor work.

I rode to the beach, parked my trike, kicked off my thongs and headed down the stairs towards the soft sand and the receding tide.

Nothing pleases me more than discovering that the caravan parks are emptying and the tourists are thinning, and our town is slowly returning to normal.

Except for two kids paddling in the shallows, I was the only one on the beach, so I decided to lift my spirits by singing and dancing and splashing through the shallow pools.

I sang "You are my Sunshine" and "You Make Me So Very Happy" and "Tea for Two" (a bit random that one) and I raised my arms towards the sky and spin around like Julie Andrews on the mountian in "The Sound of Music" and I skipped and side stepped and kicked at the water.

The water in the pools was surprisingly cool and I enjoyed a good thirty minutes out on the flats, chasing the water as the tide went out.

I 'ran' up the steps to my trike (and as a side message to The Nikonian, I didn't require CPR!).

From there, I did some grocery shopping and visited the butcher, then returned home.

I decided that before I could unpack the groceries, the fridge was in desperate need of a clean out, so I spent about 45 minutes cleaning the fridge and repacking it.

The slow cooker was dragged out of the cupboard and I prepared a whole chicken by stuffing it with butter, lemon and garlic then popped it in the pot for 5 hours on high.

By now it was 11am, so I spent an hour in my workspace before I made lunch.

A chicken burger with toasted GF bread. Delicious!

Before I could get back to my desk, I had to hang out some washing and bring some in off the line.

I got quite a lot done on my website in three hours this afternoon, so I was feeling pretty pleased with myself, but soon I had to return to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner. I made a big tray of roast veg. Parsnip, turnip, pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, garlic, capsicum, chilli, cherry tomatoes and onion, drizzled with honey, sprinkled with salt n pepper and chopped fresh rosemary.

I took the juices from the cooked chicken and thickened it with some tapioca flour for gravy.

 

Presentation leaves a lot to be desired! I need to practice my presentation skills for the recipe page of my website.

That is a very large plate of food for AH, who ate the whole lot!

After dinner, I got to spend another hour at my desk before I joined AH to watch some cricket. He retired to the bedroom about an hour ago and it's now 9.30pm, so I'm going for an early night.

It's been a big day, I have achieved much and I'm feeling satisfied. I have coffee with the girls tomorrow morning, but I might make my way down to the beach for some more singing and dancing to start my day.

Nite all.

Hours of Nothing

Last night I enjoyed a fabulous eight hours sleep.

This morning I enjoyed a fabulous two hours reading in bed.

Today, I enjoyed a fabulous three hours in my workspace.

At 1.30pm I made a batch of dog food and cut Adoring Husband a piece of lime cheesecake for lunch.

This afternoon I enjoyed another three hours in my workspace.

Funnily enough, for all the time that I spent at my desk, I don't feel like I achieved very much!

I think one of my worst traits (in this particular instance) is having to know 'more'. I spend so much time googling to find out more information about what I'm doing, so that I can better understand the process.

It means that what should be a ten minute task, usually ends up being a forty minute task .. or even longer. Sometimes while I'm reading the extra information, there will be a link to even more information, which I will click on and then spend even more time reading.

Potentially, my six hours of work is the equivalent of one hour of actual productivity.

At the beginning of my day, while I was tidying my desk before starting the day, I discovered that I have accumulated a large number of journals!

I love journals.

I acquired all but two of these in the last three months, and I can't decide if it's a precious passion or a dirty addiction. I guess only time will tell.

The clean smooth feel of the pages when you first open the cover, is one of my guilty pleasures, but writing the first word in a brand spanking new journal is such a difficult thing to do! I have to remind myself that each journal needs to feel the love!

I kept two of these journals for two years because they were so beautiful, I couldn't bear to write in them, but now they have a reason for 'being' and I can tell that they are very happy!

Well, it's after 10.30pm and I'm looking forward to another fabulous eight hours of sleep tonight.

Nite all.