Sleepy Productive

I slept so well on Friday night, I was up before 8am Saturday.

Breakfast under the Bali hut and I ALMOST jumped in the pool. The water has warmed up considerably and tomorrow could be the day!

I removed all of my washing from the line and did another load. 

BGWLBH was doing the ironing so I gave her 5 items of mine to do and I did some myself.

I decluttered my wardrobe of 8 items. I could probably do more.

I prepared a nice lunch for Adoring Husband and BGWLBH.

After lunch, I returned to bed for a Nana nap and watched a couple of episodes of White Lotus. Strange show that one.

For dinner I made vegetable laksa with crispy skinned chicken.

We played trivia for an hour until the footy started and we watched a disappointing game between Penrith and Souths.

I’ve watched another couple of episodes of White Lotus since coming to bed and now it’s almost midnight!

Nite all.

Upanattem!

Much more energised today, although not too productive.

I finally unpacked my suitcase and did two loads of washing - one bag from the trip away and then a few bits and pieces.

I made breakfast and sat under the Bali hut because it was such a beautiful morning.

Adoring Husband had a coffee date so BGWLBH took advantage of us not being inside the house and vacuumed and dusted.

The two of us formed a team and did the side cabinet with all of the photos.

Because I had a 2kg bag of chicken thighs to use, I decided to make a big batch of butter chicken which I offered to my team for lunch and there was still enough to freeze two containers.

I made BGWLBH a juice of pineapple, orange, apple and passionfruit with coconut water and iced water.

We played “Who Am I?” trivia for about an hour until my quiz shows started on TV.

I made the sauce for Friday night chicken wings and marinated them for an hour before AH started the oven.

We played TV trivia for 90 minutes before the footy started and there’s 15 minutes remaining in the game where Cowboys are winning by 2 points!

So I’m off to enjoy that last 15 minutes.

Nite all.

Recovery Day

Today has been a recovery day for me.

After such a busy and tiring holiday, then arriving home and spending hours in the kitchen I felt completely drained when I woke up this morning.

I decided to remain in bed.

It was a rainy, stormy day so it was perfect for staying in bed.

I binge watched the rest of Cobra Kai. 

I watched some YouTube videos on unexplained excess deaths since the vaccines rolled out, on the royal family and how the global community will react/respond with King Charles now at the realm, how Biden has declared the pandemic over but Australia is still under emergency laws and how something BIG is going to happen 24th/25th September - something that everybody will remember where they were when it happened.

If this is true (and they don’t specify what it is), I believe it will have something to do with:

• finances, stock market crash, digital currency or banks taking control of our money to save themselves.
• perhaps something to do with the royal family
• Putin vs Ukraine (aka USA)

I hope that on 26th I can say “well that was much ado about nothing!”

I got out of bed at 5.15pm and attempted to prepare a stuffed sweet potato with bacon, onion, garlic, kale, tomato, zucchini, spinach and pulled chicken.

The team ate all of it, even though I was disappointed with my efforts. I ate an orange for dinner.

I returned to bed straight after dinner.

Tomorrow is another day.

We picked all of these tomatoes from the garden yesterday and there are this many to pick tomorrow.

This is one of my purchases from Montville on Monday …

The garden loved the rain today.

I’m outta here.

Nite all.

A Warm Hug

Last night, my bed wrapped its loving arms around me and welcomed me home by providing nine hours of solid sound sleep. The comfort factor was off the charts and I was SO happy.

I woke before my alarm sounded and I was feeling refreshed and ready to start my day.

We met the girls at the Lions Park for two hours of giggles, whinging, venting and full belly laughter.

We handed out produce from our garden. Kale, lettuce, basil and lavender which was very much appreciated.

After a couple of hours, we said our goodbyes and instead of going straight to the Post Office, BGWLBH walked and I rode home so that we could drive to the supermarket for all the goodies required for my planned afternoon of baking.

We prepared coleslaw and garden salad for lunch with tinned tuna on the side and a nice citrus dressing.

At 2pm I started to make a paleo lemon cake. The list of ingredients was a mile long and it took me a full hour to measure out everything and prep the tins. Things like 1T of lemon zest, 3T lemon juice, 1/2 cup honey, 1t baking soda, 2t baking powder, 1T collagen, 1C coconut flour, 1/2C tapioca flour, 10 eggs, 1T vanilla extract and so much more.

First I had to make lemon curd which took 15 minutes of whisking while it heated and then I had to cover it with plastic and let it set in the fridge while I mixed the cake ingredients.

I put it in the oven at 4pm and started preparing the meringue.

Then I began on dinner.

Chicken drumsticks done in the oven on a bed of onion and sliced pear and sprinkled with lime and chilli salt and thin slices of lemon wedged between each piece of chicken. Fried rice and a garden salad.

When the cake was done, I swapped it for the chicken dish and when the chicken dish was done, I swapped it for the meringue and turned the oven down low.

By the time I’d finished everything, I had been in the kitchen for four hours!

My back and my feet are complaining loudly BUT my bed has once again welcomed me and is easing the pain.

It’s been a long day and I’m ready to sleep.

Nite all.

Return of Us

We are home safe and sound.

We decided to forego a morning with Bubbles and leave the Sunny Coast early.

Thank God we did!

The roadworks were horrendous and our trip home, which would normally take 2.5 hours, took 4 hours.

If we’d spent the day with Bubbles and left at 3pm as originally planned, we’d have arrived home at 7pm after dark which would have been problematic because BGWLBH has night blindness 😳

It was a long arduous drive and at one stage we were stopped for 30 minutes on a stretch of road where there was no phone or internet coverage and the hot sun was streaming through the front window.

People were out of their cars and standing around waiting while hundreds of cars were driving past us, very slowly, from the opposite direction.

You could feel the tension in the air.

It would have been so much faster to come home via Maryborough and Hervey Bay.

Luckily we had stopped at Kunara Organic Markets in Forest Glen where we enjoyed a delicious organic bacon (nitrate free) and egg breakfast with pots of tea, so we were energised for the first two hours of the trip.

That’s where I purchased a native bee box.

We have native bees nesting in our front door step and they are buzzing all through our avocado tree so we are going to hang this inside the avocado tree and hope that they move in.

I bought a plant to put in the pot that I bought to put in the macrame hanger.

I got some Neem oil.

In the supermarket I purchased 2 x bottles of my Lamav BB cream. I had JUST used the last of mine that morning and tossed the bottle in the bin and I was unscrewing the top and scooping the last of it with a cotton bud!

I also bought some Vit C face serum, some night cream, a face mist, some purifying essence and a new brand of natural toothpaste.

We stopped at Beefy’s and got three frozen GF steak pies. When we arrived at the Torbanlea turnoff I phoned Adoring Husband and asked him to turn on the oven and as soon as we arrived home, I popped them in and they cooked while we unpacked the car.

I unwrapped all my goodies to show AH, put all the foodstuff away but still haven’t unpacked my suitcase.

BGWLBH and I could muster no energy this afternoon and it took every effort to prepare sweet potato chips and salad while AH cooked lamb cutlets on the barbecue. I didn’t eat any dinner but sat with them while they ate.

I came to bed at 6.30pm but got up twice to attempt to unpack - I’m halfway there - I have to mention how wonderfully comfortable my bed is after spending five nights in those dreadful beds in the apartment - which I mentioned on their feedback sheet so it’ll be interesting to see if I hear anything back.

Now I’m going to close my exhausted eyes and hopefully sleep very soundly for the first time in five nights.

Nite all.

Need Another Holiday

We need another holiday to recover from this holiday!

Today was Montville day.

I usually visit Montville every three or more years and I swear that hill gets steeper with every visit!

We picked Bubbles up from an agreed location at 9am and drove straight to Montville where we enjoyed the views and breakfast at The Edge Cafe …

From there, we walked across the road to visit the first crystal shop and slowly made our way down the hill, stopping at different shops along the way.

We searched high and low for fresh juice, to no avail.

Before we’d stopped in all of the shops (after about 2.5 hours) we were buggered and could do no more.

We decided to pack all of our purchases into the car and drive to Buderim but changed our minds halfway there and drove to Sunshine Plaza instead - where we knew we could get fresh juice!

We sat outside drinking our juices and reminiscing then went inside searching for bike shorts and capris pants, which we found.

It was time to drop Bubbles off where she would claim a lift home with her BFFs husband and we headed back to our apartment.

Sadly, our Asian Restaurant wasn’t open tonight so we decided to try the bistro at the RSL Club. We enjoyed butterflied chicken breast with pepper sauce and salad. Delicious and tender chicken with a pepper sauce packed with heat. Most enjoyable and only a seven minute drive from our accommodation!

It was so nice to spend quality time with Bubbles today and she gives the longest warmest hugs ever. We had lots of giggles and big belly laughs that almost made me pee my pants! Dangerously close!

Now BGWLBH and I have partially packed and will be making our way home tomorrow. We have a couple of stops planned along the way and will take our time getting there.

It’s been a great day but I wish we’d taken a selfie!!

Nite all.

Hitting the Wall

Exactly how far can we push ourselves this holiday?

To the absolute limits!

We left home this morning at about 9am with the intention of walking the 2.1kms from our apartment to Zara Shoes on Brisbane Road, Mooloolaba.

We were looking at lots of other shops too, but Zara’s was the furthest location.

There was a hell of a hill to climb at the mid point and the temperature was reaching 26°C, the traffic was hectic, there were people everywhere and we (especially me) are not as young or as fit as we once were!

By the time we reached the shopping area, we were very hot and sweaty and we stopped for a juice, water and sit down rest before we moved further towards Zara’s.

Being the first Sunday of the school holidays, the street was crowded with tourists. The beach below the street was also packed. The street in front of the shops was bumper to bumper with slow moving traffic.

Gasp!! 

People!!

I didnt purchase any shoes from Zara’s. There was one pair that I loved but they were very dressy and since I don’t go anywhere these days and don’t get included or invited to birthday lunches anymore, I have nowhere to wear them so I showed restraint.

There was a shop where the least expensive item on the racks was $295 and it was a plain t-shirt. I browsed through all the racks and only found one top that I liked - $495. I didn’t even try it on, but the last time I was here with Adoring Husband, I tried three different tops on. I didn’t love any of them enough to pay the high prices.

From that point on, we found lots of fashion stores with more affordable prices. We each purchased some lovely linen items and I returned home with four new tops.

With all of my new purchases, my wardrobe will, once again, require decluttering!

I tried lots of beautiful pants on but none of them fitted well. One size 8 that were too big!! All of them, the smallest sizes were either too baggy around my bum and thighs or they were a weird length on my legs.

Disappointing.

Once we’d had our fill of shopping, we considered catching a taxi or Uber home but decided to risk the walk 😳

I reckon we walked a good 5kms today.

On the return home, we stopped twice for a rest and rewarded ourselves with a cup of ice creams and sorbets which we ate part of and then stored in the freezer until this evening.

It was a glorious day …

… but my body has been suffering. My shins, knees and hips have been giving me “what for” all day.

After a light lunch, we lay down for a nap and slept for about 30 minutes.

Dinner was light too. We couldn’t even muster the energy to walk to our favourite Asian restaurant tonight so it was toast and tea for us.

Tomorrow, we are meeting Bubbles and doing Montville. Again … God help us!! Talk about gluttons for punishment!

Time for me to sleep.

Nite all.