Unlike Me

Last night, BGWLBH invited me to attend the Pier Markets with her early this morning. I reluctantly declined because I had a lot to do - things that I have put off all week (if not longer) and I was feeling motivated enough to GSD (get s#§t done).

She left around 6.30am and I was up before 7.30am.

First priority was a load of washing and once that was on, I made some breakfast to take out to the Bali hut where I watched the latest episode of The Block while soaking up some early morning sunshine.

A very pleasant start to the day.

I hung out my washing and put in another load before making my way to my art space where I uploaded the whale pics to edit.

My old iMac is very very slow and it took forever to upload and then another ‘forever’ to edit each pic. 

Out of 240 pics, I deleted 210.

The pics that remained were far from spectacular because the whales were too far away and they were not doing anything worth photographing. But I have to keep some to prove we had the experience.

Where you see two whales, it is a mother teaching the baby to slap it’s tail on the surface.

This took almost 90 minutes!

I was just about to hang my second load of washing when BGWLBH returned. She was loud and animated raving about how fabulous the markets were and reefing purchase after purchase out of her shopping bags regaling about the music and the water/running races and all the humans with their pets and the fantastic stalls and what was for sale.

She made sure I knew I’d missed a fabulous morning but eased my pain with the gift of a macrame plant hanger with turquoise beading, which I LOVED!

She bought Adoring Husband a t-shirt that says “You can’t scare me. I have a wife.” Very appropriate.

I finally got to hang out my washing and BGWLBH made a grazing platter for hers and AH’s lunch while I partially decluttered my wardrobe by removing a dozen tops/dresses to send to the local op shop. There is still much to do in that wardrobe but it was a good start.

I made myself some tea and we all sat under the Bali hut playing trivia until the footy started.

For dinner I made honey/chilli chicken thighs, stuffed zucchini from the garden, minted snow and snap peas from the garden and laksa spinach & tomato from the garden with a smattering of sultanas. It was all quite delicious and the plates were bare.

We are watching super Saturday football and currently hoping that Souths can continue their good form in the second half and beat the Cowboys. They are winning 14-6 at the moment.

I’m feeling quite weary after my early start and productive day.

Let me close with pics of my girls. I wish I could get down to visit them, but I’m concerned about VIC’s non acceptance of my vaccination status and how I might be treated once over the border. That govt is so unpredictable and given their strict mandates and policies, I don’t feel comfortable or safe travelling there yet.

I’m grateful for the regular pics that Vegan Chickie sends to me (I must find a new name to represent her current lifestyle choices - considering she hasn’t been vegan for a number of years now!).

Think I’m done.

Nite all.

Couldn’t Be Bothered

Catherine celebrates her 110th Birthday in Australia (click here for ABC news story)

I didn’t post last night because I just couldn’t be bothered 😕 

I was still a bit out of sorts after the crappy food and 2 glasses of alcohol on Wednesday night and was feeling quite toxic inside my entire body. It was only lunch time today that I started to come good. Perhaps my meal wasn’t gluten free as promised? Who knows.

On top of that I had a serious case of vertigo which had improved somewhat by this morning but I still had a couple of dizzy moments upon waking.

I was able to rise at 10am and made myself a toasted ham, tomato and onion sandwich with a cup of tea which I ate under the Bali hut.

When Adoring Husband returned from his coffee date, he joined us and we played trivia until BGWLBH  decided to prepare a grazing platter for lunch.

At that same time I received a phone call from an X boyfriends Mum (let’s call her “Bren” because she will be keeping in touch) and surprisingly she had a lot of news, both past and present to pass on. We chatted for about 30 minutes.

By then, I had to get ready for a preplanned ‘meet up’ with a friend who’s trike I was going to purchase. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting, so when she told me she’d had a couple of other enquires, I felt able to decline.

I was able to spend two lovely hours in her company (and her preciously divine fur kids) and we caught up on lots of news. 

While I was there another friend arrived unexpectedly and she joined us. I really enjoyed my time there and felt very welcomed. 

I was also happy to gift her a beautiful Serenade handbag that she had admired before I closed the shop and which I hadn’t sold in the closing down sale. She was very excited and pleased to be the recipient.

So it was well after 3pm when I left her house and on my way home I ran into a nearby neighbour who stepped outside for a chat and we talked for about 15 minutes ending the conversation with a tentative plan to meet for a drink and introduction to BGWLBH.

Ah was surprised to see me arrive without the trike and I caught him up on any news I thought he might be interested in.

I watched my quiz show and then made the marinate for tonight’s chicken - although it has become more a cooking sauce now.

AH cooked our dinner early and there were two games of footy on tonight. The second game was brutal with a surprising winner!

Now it’s almost 11pm and I’m ready to sleep.

Nite all.

A Night Out

Warning from an Australian (Queensland) farmer - Food Shortages to come and why …

Well the weather certainly took a turn for the worst last night with a drop in temperature and gale force winds whipping up just before midnight. I could feel the house vibrating with the strong gusts!

For that reason, and because we had plans for tonight, we girls decided to skip coffee at the park. I’m sure we’d have been blown into the river if we’d attempted our Wednesday morning ritual.

I spent the day, after making bacon and eggs for my breakfast, doing mundane chores like chopping open the 2 dozen passionfruit and putting the flesh into ice cube containers to freeze, wrapping gifts to send to my kids and grand kids, helping BGWLBH print out paperwork for tax purposes, inspecting the laundry tub that Adoring Husband has set up outside my art space, figuring out what I was wearing tonight etc etc.

There were ten of us meeting at the local bowls club for dinner. Some of the girls from my old art classes and a few from meditation.

BGWLBH and I were the first to arrive and we bought our alcoholic beverages and put our keno on for the night. Probably twenty minutes later, the first of the girls arrived followed by a bus load and finally a late straggler.

We all sat with our beverages chatting for half an hour before moving into the restaurant where they had reserved a large area for us at one end of the room. We decided to order straight away because it was quite crowded and we didn’t want to be waiting all night.

Surprisingly, our meals were ready in good time. 

Even though I’ve heard a lot of good reports about the food, only three of us enjoyed our meals tonight. The chicken breast was dry and tough, the calamari crumb was not cooked long enough so it was moist and unpleasant, the pork ribs were full of gristle and sinew and couldn’t be cut, the barramundi was dry around the edges and unseasoned.

The girls who had the salmon were happy, as was the chicken schnitzel recipient. 

I don’t plan on returning any time soon. It has been a good ten years since I was served a decent meal in that restaurant.

However, the company was fun. There was plenty of laughter and mucking about and we were pretty noisy!

We all started together at 5.30pm and we’re on our way home at 8.30pm. It was a nice gathering of oldies with only the 40 yr old disappointed in the early night finish.

AH dropped us there and then picked us up so we didn’t have to wait for the bus. We calculated that it wouldn’t return for us until after 9pm and we’d be the last dropped off so a 9.30pm home time was really not acceptable. AH is a good egg.

Now it’s 11.30pm and I’m supposed to be up early for another trip into The Bay so I’d best get some sleep.

Nite all.

Time to Declutter

In the last month, I’ve purchased nine new tops and I haven’t removed anything from my wardrobe to make space so it’s time to declutter! My wardrobe is bursting at the seams!

Today was a fun girlie day. 

We drove into The Bay and wanted to put our lotto on but the system was down at the first newsagent we tried.

There was a nail salon nearby so we made an appointment for 3 weeks time. That’s how long they are booked out for! So I figure they must be pretty good.

We were starving hungry and we were going to try “Eat” with Dan & Steph & Emmy for a late breakfast but discovered it is closed on Tuesdays, so we decided on “Salt” cafe instead.

We ordered the usual bacon and poached eggs with GF bread, a pot of tea for me and a MEGA coffee for BGWLBH. We tried to take photos to show how big the coffee cup was but in every pic, it just looks like a normal cup …

There were 2.5 normal cups of coffee in that one mug!

Anyway, we enjoyed a very leisurely breakfast with great views …

After we paid the bill, we browsed through the gift shop next door and I tried on a few tops, one of which I purchased. 

After an extended conversation about blue kyanite with the shop owner, we walked down the steps and found “Luxe”.

BGWLBH was enamoured with the amazing art work adorning the walls and I selected 8 items of clothing from the racks and took them to the rear change rooms to try on. After receiving all the right advice from BGWLBH, I selected two of the 8 items and a silver bracelet.

The man serving us showed us a paint pour that he did with water colour which was very impressive and I’m sure we could have spent quite some time talking all things art but his daughter from Melbourne phoned and our conversation was cut short.

Next we went in search of somewhere to lodge our lotto and we just happened to come across a place right near Fire and Ice which is yet another clothing store for shopaholics like us!

It was there that I ran into Ms Stinger, an old customer of mine. We had a lot to catch up on and not enough time to do so, so we made tentative plans to meet next week.

BGWLBH had already done her shopping while I was talking so I did a quick skim through the shop and of course I found a top. A lovely emerald green linen top.

By now it was almost 1.30pm.

We went for a drive through some back streets and looked at the outside of a few homes that were for sale. It’s one of our favourite things to do - drive down back streets that we’re not familiar with and it’s  surprising the pretty areas you can find!

As usual, we chose the worst possible time to leave The Bay. It was right on school pick up time and it took 20 minutes to drive from Islander Rd to the turn off to Burrum Heads, a drive that would normally take about 3 minutes.

We decided on bangers and mash for dinner with greens out of the garden. Snap peas, snow peas, chard, kale and zucchini. Very healthful!

The wind has certainly picked up outside tonight so there is a strong cool breeze coming through the bedroom window - just the way I like it.

Time to sleep.

Nite all.

Whale of a Time

Now I have two sets of photos that I want to share but neither of those sets are ready yet.

So watch this space and some time this week, when I get the time and am feeling energised enough to edit/process, you’ll get to see my first photography in about three years!

We were up bright and early - although my alarm didn’t go off so I was feeling under pressure before I even left the house. That was annoying.

When we arrived there were only about five people waiting at the boat. We were 30 minutes early and as time passed, the crowd built and there were good numbers for the morning trip out to find some whales.

The weather was mild but I certainly didn’t get my wish with the sky. It was partly cloudy so I had to play with my settings throughout the day as the sun and the clouds chased each other.

We only found four pods of whales and they remained far from the boat. Even my big 400 lens struggled to capture their minimal antics.

There was one breach that I accidentally, but luckily, captured, however it was a LONG way from the boat. A mother was teaching her baby to slap tails, but again, a long way from the boat. One whale slapped its dorsal fin a few times.

That’s about the long and the short of it.

I’ve been whale watching at least 20 times and this trip goes in my bottom three. 

The Spirit of Hervey Bay crew were friendly enough but not as welcoming or engaging as previous crews on other boats. We were offered tiny cups of tea or coffee and a limited selection of GF snacks for morning tea.

The other patrons filled the front tiers of the boat and the captain aimed the boat at 12 o’clock so unless you were Johnny on the spot up front, it was impossible to see the whales unless the boat drifted to the left or right. I spent my time hanging over the edge of the boat craning to catch a glimpse.

So it was a disappointing day and I wouldn’t use Spirit of Hervey Bay again.

Afterwards we went to Salt cafe for lunch. Adoring Husband and I had the barramundi which was delicious - especially with the beautiful little finger limes.

We stopped to check the mail and came directly home.

I have to say that the Travacalm helped but wasn’t 100% effective and left me feeling pretty fuzzy for the whole day. It’s now 9pm and I’m just starting to feel a bit clearer in the head.

I fell asleep on the couch around 5.30pm and I came to bed at 6.30pm where I dozed on and off for the next hour.

It’s been a tiring and disappointing day really. BGWLBH had a lovely time without Travacalm but AH, who didn’t have any Travacalm felt a bit icky all day and didn’t even use his camera.

That’s about it from me.

Nite all.

As It Should Be

Today was as a Sunday should be.

Nothing much happened but I did get out of bed much earlier than I would normally on a Sunday.

9am start and I made myself bacon and eggs (the other two had already made theirs and eaten it) and I took mine out to the Bali hut. 

It was a perfectly beautiful morning with a clear sky, bright sunshine and a soft breeze.

BGWLBH and I stayed out there for hours and we played trivia while Adoring Husband returned to bed for a four hour nap!

BGWLBH made a huge grazing platter for lunch and I have to say that the oranges and mandarins are sweet and juicy right now. Delicious.

AH woke up in time for a couple of rounds of trivia and a snack before the footy started. BGWLBH retreated to her bedroom until dinner time.

I made fried rice, crumbed fish (for AH and I) and crispy skinned chicken for BGWLBH plus a salad made with our garden produce.

We watched our Sunday night programs and as I write this I’m watching The Block online.

Tomorrow we have our whale trip planned so AH and I found our cameras, charged our batteries, I replaced my SD card and we located our big lenses. Now we hope for either a cloudless sunny day OR a completely overcast day - that way we won’t have to change the settings on our cameras too often. When it’s partly cloudy, we have to adjust the settings every time the sun appears or disappears!

I’ve got my Travacalm so there’ll be no seasickness - although I’m not keen on taking drugs - you know how I feel about that!

Anyway, better get some sleep!

Nite all.