Aussie Captain

My son has been asked to captain the Australian cricket team! 🏏 

A bunch of old yachties are coming to Australia from England and when they land in Perth, they’ll be playing cricket against a bunch of old Aussie yachties.

It should be an interesting and eventful match, especially because my son is a bowler and is currently nursing a fractured elbow!

I’m hoping the match will be live streamed so that I can watch it, but otherwise I’ll have to rely on Number One Son’s description, which I’m certain will be colourful.

Today was a long day in The Bay and while Adoring Husband was having a scan done, I did the grocery shopping.

Prior to that, we had lunch at a fish and chip shop that does gluten free batter on their fish AND they have a separate area in the kitchen to cook their GF options. We had cod and chips. I thought the chips were a bit too dry, but the fish was large and delicious. I could only eat half of mine so AH had extra.

While we waited for it to cook, I popped into Tinkerbell’s and bought a Christmas gift.

AH dropped me at Stocklands where I got a few more Christmas gifts - I still have 3 more gifts to buy - and I did a small grocery shop that still cost $160!! Living is certainly not cheap.

Tomorrow morning, I hope to attend Howard country markets because I ordered some capri pants from one of the stalls and I think I can get those last three gifts at the markets too. Fingers crossed.

So now it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Sporting Fever

Decisions … Decisions … Decisions.

Now that I’m too old to play sports, I have become a little obsessed with watching sport.

This weekend, beginning today, I am spoilt for choice - between the Australian Open Golf and the 2nd Ashes Cricket Test between Australia and England. 

I love them both, so there will be channel surfing!

I missed most of both events today because I had the day in the Bay with BGWLBH, and tomorrow I’ll be in the Bay with Adoring Husband while he attends yet another medical test.

AH played golf today. Apparently, he played well.

I cooked a baked dinner (chicken) which I had to jump right into, the minute we arrived home, and it turned out to be delicious.

We all played trivia after dinner.

We were all in bed before 7.30pm.

God we’re old!

It’s now almost 11.30pm and I’m very tired.

Nite all.

Begin Again

I enjoyed the final meditation class of the year and followed that up with two hours chatting with The Gypsy.

She drove me home afterwards and I stepped into an empty house.

Adoring Husband was out mowing and BGWLBH was in the bay. Harley greeted me with a waggy tail and a great big smile!

My alone time was short lived and AH arrived home within about 20 minutes. BGWLBH pulled into the driveway about 45 minutes later.

I spent an hour on my bed resting, before taking Harley out to play and making dinner. Snags, leftover mash and salad. Nice and easy.

I cleaned out another fridge and now it smells like vanilla.

AH and I watched Big Brother before heading to bed. (Yes! AH watches Big Brother!)

Now I’m watching Love Island before sleepy time.

Nite all.

A New Week

I cleaned out the fridge.

It was pretty bad.

Now it’s very empty and we need to go food shopping.

No rain or storms today/tonight, which was very nice, for a change.

Adoring Husband had to drive into the bay for a medical test, one of three, so I had the lounge room and TV to myself. Love Island was my entertainment of choice haha.

Creamy garlic chicken with mash and veg (asparagus, beans, snow peas and carrot) for dinner.

Both AH and BGWLBH are on a diet, so my menu choices are limited.

The last meditation class for the year is tomorrow, so I’d best get some sleep for an early start.

Recipe for Christmas gnome cheesecakes

Nite all.

Cuppla Dayz

Helen Mirren once said: Before you argue with someone, ask yourself, is that person even mentally mature enough to grasp the concept of a different perspective. Because if not, there's absolutely no point.

Not every argument is worth your energy. Sometimes, no matter how clearly you express yourself, the other person isn’t listening to understand—they’re listening to react.

They’re stuck in their own perspective, unwilling to consider another viewpoint, and engaging with them only drains you.

There’s a difference between a healthy discussion and a pointless debate.

A conversation with someone who is open-minded, who values growth and understanding, can be enlightening—even if you don’t agree. But trying to reason with someone who refuses to see beyond their own beliefs? That’s like talking to a wall. No matter how much logic or truth you present, they will twist, deflect, or dismiss your words, not because you’re wrong, but because they’re unwilling to see another side.

Maturity isn’t about who wins an argument—it’s about knowing when an argument isn’t worth having. It’s realizing that your peace is more valuable than proving a point to someone who has already decided they won’t change their mind. Not every battle needs to be fought. Not every person deserves your explanation.

Sometimes, the strongest thing you can do is walk away—not because you have nothing to say, but because you recognize that some people aren’t ready to listen. And that’s not your burden to carry.

Another quiet couple of days.

Adoring Husband has been hard at work in the yard, mowing, pruning and edging.

BGWLBH has been hard at work doing her art which has been selling at a steady rate in the art/craft store near the esplanade in Hervey Bay.

I have been hard at work playing with Harley and watching the Australian PGA Championship golf.

Today was “fend for yourself” dinner and I cooked up some honey/soy prawn cutlets and served them with avocado/mango/goats cheese/pine nut salad. It was perfectly divine!

We were hit with a mighty storm tonight with a couple of big thunderbolts very close by, some heavy rain (7mm in about 10 mins) and some strong gusty winds. Yet again, we survived.

Can you believe that we are almost in December?

Christmas is close and another year is soon to begin! I am approaching my 66th birthday, my grand daughters will be turning 5 and 15 next year, Harley is already 3yrs old and the world is very much a crappier place than it ever has been before.

I’m hoping to find some motivation, inspiration and enthusiasm in 2026. I’m not sure what for yet, but I reckon ‘something’ will come to me. I’ve been in the doldrums for way too long.

Right now, it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

The Week That Was

The land down under or Stralya to some

The land I was raised in; my country; my home.

A kid in the bush with parents true blue

Weekends with ferrets and an old 22.

A bright future ahead for my country and me

As I considered my options of what I would be.

A chippy said Dad. A fine carpenter son

You’ll makes lots of money, provide, and save some

But as I grew older, the country fell sick

To greedy politicians and lazy misfits.

When I was a kid, the water was free

It fell from the sky and made rivers and creeks

And the farmer was happy, the milk tasted great

A steak you could chew and was big as your plate

A Sunday drive with family we’d go

Mum made the sangas and a thermos with brew

It was just a few bob...to go to Noojee

We’d fish there for yabbies and pick blackberries

Now there’s a meter for this and for that

And payment plans for those doing it tough

And china buys country, dairy farms and a wharf

Cattle stations, fruit farms and what else, what a thought

Now the country she burns and koalas cry out

And the wombats dig deeper to keep the flames out

Climate change shout the greenies, its the end of the world

Green house gases........CO2, ......we need  that Im sure

But apparently not. The UN said fix it, you’re polluters they say

And you’re major emitters

While China and India have it their way

Developing nations, we can’t stand in their way

And while where at it let’s give them some dosh

To build a few power stations and lots more sweat shops

Now the pollies all bicker and run each other down

And you’d think question time was run by some clowns

Now where are the men and the women of the past

The ones with principles and honesty and heart

The ones who cared the direction we’d go

It’s our nation, our country.....the Australia we knew

It’s the land we adopted. Captian Cook...he knew

It’s a place with riches beyond wildest dreams

But we give it to other countries

I’m not sure that I see..........

Because others benefit from  these riches and gold

It’s not for my kids or the Aussies of old

It’s poverty and meagre pensions for those who live now

While poliies feather their nest with gold and silver down.

Retirement looks good for the Canberra lot

Can you pay my rates and electricity you lazy lot?

As usual, not much to report.

My five day fast ended at 5.30pm today.

I feel better for it, but not as good as I expected. I might do it once each month for a while and see if the improvements are accumulative.

On Tuesday, I accompanied Adoring Husband to his doctor’s appointment where he received excellent news about his yearly blood tests. Everything is perfect.

Not such good news about his weight gain. He’s the heaviest he’s been since we moved to this town, so he’s now been given until Valentine’s Day to lose it. He will do that easily, just by reducing his coffee intake, and dropping bread, Weis bars and Toblerone chocolate from his diet.

It concerned me greatly that the doctor was very quick to suggest Ozempic as his first option for weight loss. 

No thank you.

AH needs to have a couple of other tests to check his lungs, bladder and prostate. Watch this space.

We ran some errands while in town and I was exhausted by the time we arrived home because I was running on 2 hours of sleep. 

On Wednesday, I spent the day in the bay with BGWLBH, which wasn’t so bad because I’d slept well the night before.

Today, I missed morning tea with my art girls, because I was feeling less than my best. I’m too old to be gallivanting all over the place for days in a row - although doing it in the middle of a 5 day fast probably wasn’t a great idea!

I rested and rejuvenated today and feel much better for it.

It’s almost midnight so it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Healing Myself

Today was a 3 hour zoom call with The Gypsy, followed by a 30 minute phone call with Number One Son.

I spent the majority of the day in bed and continuing my fasting.

I started the day with warm lemon water, soursop tea, lots of filtered water, chicken bone broth, more water, more soursop tea and finishing with water.

I’m feeling better. Not great, but definitely better.

I made the others a creamy lemon garlic chicken and vegetable concoction for dinner.

Nite all.

Weekend Warrior or Not

A lawyer shows how one sentence freezes ANY government letter and why almost no citizen knows it exists …

1. He spent 18 years in administrative law and said citizens panic because they think every letter is an order. He wrote down one sentence: “Please provide the legal basis for this request, including the specific statute and clause that obligates my response.” That single line turns compliance into hesitation, because the burden flips back to them.

2. Offices survive on procedure, not speed. When asked for the statute and clause, the whole process halts until legality is verified. Most letters rely on habit, not law, so internal teams scramble through archives before answering, exposing how much of bureaucracy runs on assumption.

3. A family once got a “submit in 5 days” notice. They sent that sentence. The reply came 46 days later, and the demand vanished. Time pressure dissolved when legality had to be proven. The lawyer said it’s not rebellion, it’s precision — and systems freeze under it.

4. A small business faced a fine for missing “updated records.” Same method, same outcome. The agency paused penalties because no clause backed the demand. Inside offices, people fear signing off without a statute number; that fear is your shield.

5. His closing line stayed with me: bureaucracy eats those who rush, but it stalls before those who request proof. What slows the machine isn’t emotion, it’s paperwork logic you can trigger with one calm question.

It’s Sunday and I’ve been in bed all day feeling quite poorly.

I took Harley out to play this morning and I cooked a vegetarian dinner for the team tonight.

I made a fresh pineapple, mint and coconut water juice for my dinner adding a quarter of a cup of pineapple/ginger kombucha. 

My gut is the worst it’s been for some time so I’m trying a liquid fast for a few days.

Adoring Husband took on Harley play duties this afternoon while I prepared dinner.

On Saturday, BGWLBH and I attempted to win $500,000 at the big golden ticket promotion at the RSL. Sadly, we were unsuccessful, but BGWLBH was the fifth name drawn and won $1000!

I was a big fat loser.

It was loud and busy and full of people, so there were no poker machines available and nowhere to sit. 

The whole process was poorly organised, with the golden ticket holders (with their +1) herded into a very small area where nibbles and champagne was provided, however, by the time the 50th person had their golden ticket checked, there were no nibbles left.

It took a whole 15 minutes to draw the one ticket holder who got to choose from 100 envelopes. The envelope that she selected contained $10,000. Then, five more names, the first of whom won $3,000, followed by 3 x $1,000 prizes..

The MC used very few words. There was no fanfare. The whole shebang was pretty underwhelming. Those of us who dressed up and drove a long way to attend, were pretty disappointed.

The draw started at 4.10pm and we were in the car making our way out of the carpark at 4.30pm.

Ho Hum.

It’s now 9.10pm on Sunday and I’m ready to sleep. 

Let the healing begin!

Nite all.

Otherwise Engaged

Two long days in the bay and another happening tomorrow.

I’m too old for all this gadding about!

I need to sleep because I feel depleted.

Nite all.

I’m Alive!

It has been a quiet, uneventful few days.

Meditation on Tuesday was a small class, but inspiring and spiritually educational.

The Gypsy had a hair appointment afterwards, so we didn’t get to catch up. We organised two different ZOOM meetings, but due to circumstances beyond our control, both had to be cancelled.

The stars will align for us eventually.

My health has been a bit challenging this week, because my diet has been a bit slack, so I’m back on the bone broth, extra filtered water and fresh fruit. I’ve added some of this to my regimen …

It’s for gut health, liver health, balancing moods, joint health, maintaining energy throughout the day and providing antioxidants for stronger immunity.

Today was my first day, so I can’t really give an honest review yet. I’ll try to remember on Friday.

The weather has been warm.

Harley has been playful.

Adoring Husband has been working in the yard.

BGWLBH has been arting.

I did some washing today and caught up on my reality tv shows.

For dinner, I prepared roast pumpkin, spinach and pine nut salad to go with turkey meatballs in sweet spicy sauce.

I received a Wednesday Waffle video from Vegan Chickie, which was lovely.

That’s about the long and short of my week so far.

The next three days will be busy busy busy, so I need sleep!

Nite all.