It's HOT!

The weather is ridiculously hot.

Uncomfortable.

Oppressive.

Steamy.

Blurgh.

Tomorrow will be even worse.

Thank goodness for air conditioning.

We had another quiet, but also productive day in the shop and again, it was good to be working together! We make a good team.

I rode directly home, because it was too hot to do anything else.

Ironically, I made a curry for dinner!

It was only Butter Chicken, but it was made from scratch and it was delicious, especially with a generous scattering of fresh coriander on top.

We watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory before Adoring Husband went to bed.

I then watched 'Mean Girls' - I've never watched the entire movie before and there are a lot of famous actors in it. I had a few aha moments, when I recognised scenes that have been stolen for various TV series over the years. Surprisingly, it's been fourteen years since the movie was made.

Tomorrow is Sunday and will be my first day off in ten days. I also have Monday off. I have quite a bit to catch up on, a few things that I've put off, a few errands to run in The Bay and some chores to do around the house.

So I guess they won't really be days off will they?

It's 11.30pm and feels much later.

I'm done for the day.

Nite all.

Sis Time

There I was, sitting on my couch, watching the movie "Jerry Maguire" (even though, as a rule, I refuse to watch Tom Cruise movies) and about to start writing my blog, when up popped the 'FaceTime' icon and my sister's name!

She has been trying to FaceTime me since Christmas, so it was fabulous to finally come face to face with her looking so relaxed and happy in her new house on Magnetic Island.

We chatted for about an hour - until her phone went completely flat. It was good to catch up.

It was nice to spend the day in the shop with The Motivator. We had a lot of catching up to do and a lot to plan for the next couple of months, including some workshops, courses and some business travel.

Luckily it was a slow day in the shop so we were able to achieve quite a lot. I phoned the people who had expressed interest in our meditation classes and ticked their names off the list, while The Motivator booked our flights and accommodation for Sydney. She also made up some new signs. I posted our vision board information sheet on our Facebook page and started a newsletter for our email list.

I spoke to a few people who are interested in the photography course and had them fill in my questionnaire, but I still have a few more to contact yet.

It was another nice, but losing night at the Club. The same lucky people still winning while the rest of us watch on!

Now, it's after midnight and I need to sleep. I have work tomorrow!

Nite all.

On Leave

Mother Nature is still on leave.

There is nothing to photograph with my new camera. I spent another hour this afternoon pedalling around town looking for subjects - to no avail!

Frustrating.

It was a beautiful sunset this evening, but I was already in my pyjamas so the camera remained in the bag and I remained on the couch!

No dinner tonight because Adoring Husband had SES duty and I wasn't hungry.

It was quite busy in the shop today but mostly with people who were in for a chat and a look around. No big sales but lots of compliments.

I had a photo shoot this afternoon for a customer who wanted a photo of himself wearing all of his finery from  an organisation with which he has been a member for 40 years. His finery was looking all 40 yrs of its life and had certainly seen better days.

I don't, as a rule, do private photo shoots, but this was a special case and only took ten minutes.

The Motivator will be back on board tomorrow and we will begin our 2018 as a team.

Now I'm off to bed.

Tired azzzzz!

Nite all

Old Times

Just like old times, I pedalled back and forth along the river path this afternoon with my new camera.

Before I got to the river path, I spotted some Corella in a pine tree, so I stopped and took my first pic with the camera.

Looking at those pics 'in camera' - I am very impressed and can't wait to see them on a big monitor, but the connection that I need for the camera to the computer is at work, so I can't look at them properly until tomorrow! Ugh!

Other than the Corella, there was absolutely nothing else to photograph.

No birds.

No creatures.

No beautiful light.

No sunset.

Three rides back and forth along the path, looking up into the trees, looking out into the water, looking along the ground.

Nothing.

I sat on a shaded bench seat overlooking the water, hoping that if I waited long enough, something might happen. The only thing that happened was a local came and sat beside me and we chatted for about an hour.

Way off in the distance, out on the water, there was a Tern dive bombing the water over and over again, but it was too far out even for my long lens to capture the action.

It was after 6pm when I finally headed home and as I pulled into our driveway, I noticed a bee buzzing around the Murraya flowers on our front lawn, so I stopped and pulled out the camera.

In the 30 seconds that it took me to get the camera out, the bee disappeared. There were no other bees to be seen either. Disappointed, I packed away the camera and gave up for the day.

Needless to say, it was 7pm by the time I'd finished cooking dinner - unheard of in our household, to be eating so late!

It was a good day at the shop and we had some more happy smiling and laughing customers. Of course, most people are happy when they're on holidays aren't they!?

I love our shop!

It's 9.45pm and I'm off to bed.

Now that I've felt the new camera in my hands, I'm ready to get right back into photography. Hopefully, I can leave earlier tomorrow morning and go for a little trek with the camera before work!

Nite all.

Girl Power

It was a great day in the shop.

It all started with my girls filling the shop with the sound of their chatter and laughter - which I always love!

The last of them left quite late in the morning but that seemed to open the energy flow for lots of customers to walk through the door.

Those customers were all lovely and were in for a chat and a laugh.

I stayed open for an extra hour and the last customer left well after 4pm.

Adoring Husband was there to help me bring everything inside and close the shop - he is honestly a champion and I wonder what the hell I would do without him some days (most days).

On my way home, I pedalled along the river path and came face to face with a beautiful goanna, which, as if on cue, stood on it's hind legs and looked around like it was surveying it's kingdom! Of course, no camera to be found!

I think it's time for me to get into the habit of carrying my camera bag with me again and give my new camera a workout. I'm certain that Mother Nature is calling to me!

I am feeling decidedly tired this evening, so I'm off for an early night.

Have a happy hump day :)

Nite all.

Early Start

It was tough getting out of bed so early this morning!

I arrived at the shop five minutes before the meditation began.

It was obviously too early for the kids who were going to attend the meditation but decided that the comfy spot in our lounge area would help them get the extra sleep they needed ...

Annemarie was fantastic explaining the benefits of meditation and showed us with examples how we can feel the changes in our body through the different elements that we can practice on a daily basis anywhere, anytime.

The session took an hour and we came to the end feeling calm, relaxed and motivated to put into practice what we'd learned.

There was a steady flow of customers through the door today, some just for a look, some to add to their snap button collection and others looking specifically for gifts.

In between customers, I got to work on our ad for the next newsletter as well as gather some more info for the workshops.

Everything is coming along slowly but surely.

This afternoon, our new screen was delivered ...

It makes me smile every time I look at it!

Adoring Husband picked me up early and The Motivator took over at the shop at 2.30pm so that we could drive into The Bay and check out some new cars. The trip in was supposed to be for me to look at the three cars that Adoring Husband had narrowed it down to, but in the end, we made a decision and the paperwork was signed.

On a practical level, I'm very happy with the choice the we made.

By the time we returned home, it was getting late, so we decided to get some grilled fish and chips from the takeaway. While we waited, we walked to the beach. The conditions were equal to gale force on the water, so we decided not to walk along the beach. We stood cuddling and enjoyed the view for a minute before returning to the shop. Just one street away and not a breath of wind!

It's been an easy night and suddenly it's almost 11pm.

You know what that means ... time for bed.

Nite all.

The Reason

I decided to open the shop today (Sunday).

I supposed that the holiday-makers were still around and it might be worth the effort.

I had a back up plan. If the the customers didn't come, I could spend time working on the two courses/workshops that we'll be running very soon.

The courses and workshops got a lot of attention.

At the end of the day, I did meet a new town resident who lives on my street. We seemed to click and spent a lot of time chatting about everything and anything. We got along so well that I invited her to our Tuesday morning coffee so that she could meet some lovely ladies. She has a neurological disorder, so she doesn't get out often because it takes her days to recover. I thought I should offer her a safe option to meet people that wouldn't take too much out of her.

I hope she can make it.

It was after 3pm by the time I got home. Adoring Husband came to the shop to help bring everything inside and we did a small grocery shop before he played the role of 'security' again.

I rode home and took the long way so that I could ride past where my new friend lives. Stalker much??? Nah, just curious lol.

After about thirty minutes of doing a quick tidy up, I spent the afternoon on the couch.

I wasn't hungry but I threw together a quick dinner for Adoring Husband.

Suddenly it's after 11pm and I have to be at the shop at 7.30 tomorrow morning for our first meditation class, so I'd best get to bed!

Nite all.