Day 205 in a Year of my Life

Adoring Husband and I pushed our marriage to it's limits today.

We put a decal on our bedroom wall.

Has anybody out there in my blog world EVER attempted to put a decal on a wall?

Who invented decals?

I certainly hope that they were punished severely.

The only thing that I can compare it to, is hanging wallpaper ... and I haven't done that for almost 40 years, so I imagine they've made great improvements in that time!

The other question I would like to ask, is why 'I' decided to buy a decal to put on 'our' wall!

Generally speaking, I think long and hard about these things before I make a decision .. in this case I made an impulse buy, and half way through the process of attaching it to the wall, I regretted that impulse buy, more than you can know.

It's taken a year for us to find the courage to take on the challenge!

I think I need a little red robin to perch on one of the branches and a bright yellow sun to put up in one corner.

What am I saying????  Somebody slap me!!

So now, with the new doona cover, pillow cases and the wall, our bedroom has become a forest!

When Adoring Husband went to bed tonight, I told him to check to see if bears really do &%$# in the woods.

Shame on me.

Today, I am grateful that the decal job is over and that another life lesson has been learned.  No more decals are allowed in this house. (I still have another one to put up yet - photos will come later)

Nite all.

Day 204 in a Year of my Life

Sad news.

When I was about 8 yrs old, I was introduced, through the movies, to the delightful singing voice of an actress by the name of Deanna Durbin ...

If you'd like to hear some snippets of her singing, go to this link and there are a number of tracks that you can hear a small selection of...

http://www.last.fm/music/Deanna+Durbin

... even when I was 8, her voice brought tears to my eyes.  I have a few of her old movies on dvd and when I watch them, I'm taken back in time to my childhood, and I am totally mesmerised by Deanna.

She lived to the ripe old age of 91.

I think that I might watch one of her movies tomorrow, to pay my last respects.

Today I'm grateful for happy childhood memories that gave me dreams of becoming Deanna Durbin.

 Alas, by my teens, and thanks to good old fashioned tape recorders, I played back a self recorded version of me singing Olivia Newton John's "I Honestly Love You" and was horrified to discover that Deanna Durbin, I would NEVER be.

Nite all.

Day 203 in a Year of my Life

My work space/studio has gone from this ...

to this (thank you Cyclone Oswald) ...

to this ...

I love this space.  I spend more time sitting and feeling the love, than I do actually working!

I pedalled like crazy, up and down the road along the beach this morning.

There were Brahminy Kites, Whistling Kites and the White Breasted Sea Eagle taking advantage of the very low tide, but every time I stopped and scrambled down to the beach, they would fly further up or down the shore line and I would have to jump back on the trike and pedal harder and faster!

On one of my scrambles, there was a group of six mature men and women pumping the sand for bait and I was walking quite a distance from them, scouring the sky for the raptors.

The wind was blowing in my direction and I heard one of them say "That's her!  That's that woman!"

I looked over and they called out "We were admiring your beautiful photos in the bakery!"

My head and chest swelled just a little and I smiled widely and thanked them as I walked back towards my trike ... feeling pretty chuffed!

Finally I gave up on the birds and stopped my trike just to enjoy the water and sunshine for a moment.

I lifted my face towards the sun and closed my eyes for a moment (such a nice feeling) and when I opened my eyes, this is what I saw ...

So obviously, my lesson learned, is to sit in one place and wait for the birds to come to me.  This is how I've been successful with my last three bird shots!

Today, I am grateful for perfect, cloudless Autumn days, when the air is clean and the light is sparkling and vibrant.  Days when I can lift my face towards the sun and feel the warmth emanate from top to toe.

Nite all.

Day 202 in a Year of my Life

A long trip to Bundaberg through numerous roadworks, took almost twice as long as usual to get there and then ended with a truck throwing a stone up and cracking our windscreen!

Luckily it was repairable (just) and we didn't have to pay a fortune to replace it!

We watched the new Star Trek movie at the cinema and really enjoyed it.

We had a nice hot coffee in a little cafe by the river, and then, finally, we picked up the camper van from the dealer where they repaired it, after tornado damage 3 months ago.

It's been a long day and I have no photos to share.

I chose not to take my camera today and before we'd driven ten kilometres out of town, we spotted a beautiful Brahminy Kite, sitting on a fence post, chewing on his prey.

Ugh!

Note to self "The choice should ALWAYS be to TAKE THE CAMERA WITH YOU!"

Today, I appreciate the little life lesson that I learned about my camera.

Nite all.

Day 201 in a Year of my Life

I woke up at 6am, jumped out of bed and looked out the window.

A sunrise to die for!!  The sky was awash with ripples of pink, yellow, orange, purple and red.  Beautiful clouds spreading their fingers right across the sky, the edges of them glistening in the sunlight.

I gasped, and in a flurry, threw off my pyjamas and threw on my dirty clothes from yesterday that were lying on the floor next to the bed.  No time to lose!!

I rushed out to my work area and shoved my camera and lenses into my camera bag, grabbed my hat of the rack, my glasses off the table, slid my thongs on my feet and opened the door into the garage.

There was Adoring Husband getting himself organised for his first day back at golf since the tornado hit in January.

I rushed past him, dumped my camera bag into the basket, jumped on the trike and began to pedal, calling out "See ya!"

"Where are you going?" he asked (he knows that the only reason I leave the house at stupid o'clock is for sunrise shots) so I give him a short and obvious answer, and he says "But I'm leaving soon!"

Now .. anybody with photography experience (which Adoring Husband has), KNOWS that a sunrise or sunset lasts just a few minutes.  TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!  There is no time to stop and have a conversation.

So, I get to the bottom of the driveway and do a quick u-turn calling out "Well come here and kiss me goodbye!"  He stops halfway down the driveway and says "Don't worry about it!"

UGH!  More precious seconds wasted!

I pedal another 100 metres, the colour is fading fast and I know that by the time I reach the beach, it will be completely gone from the sky.

UGH!  (again)

So I do a quick detour into the lane that takes me to the lagoon.

By now, I could feel a very light sprinkle of rain.  I take a couple of quick shots of the lagoon in it's morning stillness.

Then I see a little duck on the water - and the rain has stopped.  I quickly change lenses and take half a dozen shots of the little duck and his reflection in the still water.

I feel the rain begin to softly fall - not enough for me to be worried about the camera, but I look up at the sky and see half a rainbow forming.

I change my lens, yet again, and begin shooting.  As I shoot, the rainbow slowly grows into a giant arch stretching right across the width of the lagoon.

The sun's rays are gently touching the trees and as the rain falls, the colours of the rainbow gradually brighten ... and then ... a very faint second rainbow appears above it.

WOW

In the space of about 7 minutes, the light has changed so much!

All of this happened in just 20 minutes and I pedalled back home in time to say goodbye to Adoring Husband, who was still trying to get himself organised for golf!

Originally, I thought that this was my consolation prize for missing the lovely sunrise - and for this I'm grateful - I think I would have been more disappointed if I had missed this, so really, it's a winner for me!

Nite all.

Day 200 in a Year of my Life

Well, I've had my life flash before my eyes today.

One particular bag of goodies that has been shoved away in a cupboard for the last 5 yrs, and before that, it was packed in a box for even longer.

It was like opening a treasure chest and finding some lovely, and not so lovely, treasures to ponder.

Starting with some old school reports.

Second year of high school and the Principal commented "A poor student.  Rozlyn will achieve little until her behaviour and her attitude improve.  At present her behaviour is hardly tolerable".

Other comments from teachers include "Inattentive and talkative" and "If Rozlyn put as much effort into her work as she does into 'showing off' and distracting others, she could do well.  She frequently refuses to participate".

Wow, I don't remember being that bad!

I found a 'farewell' card signed by all of my classmates when I left that school.

A photo of 15 yr old me riding a horse!

I found an envelope full of letters from my Korean and Japanese penpals with whom I regularly corresponded when I was 16 and 17 yrs of age.

A pile of congratulatory telegrams from my first wedding.

Photos of little Jamie's baptism and later, his funeral.

Numerous letters that I had written but never sent (those that know me will be nodding their heads  and rolling their eyes) to my father, my x-husband, friends.

Notes on storylines for books that I wanted to write.  Chapters written for some of those stories!

An old Tax Assessement Notice from 1992 showing that my taxable income was $18501.

A couple of my kids' school reports.

Emails from my mother, as well as jokes that she faxed to me at work.

Long emails from Vegan Chickie when she was living in Melbourne all those years ago.

A disc with photos that Bubbles and I had taken of each other so that we could make an "MSN" profile back in 2003 - the year my mother updated her computer and gave me her old one.  That computer changed our lives!

A cartoon drawing in pencil, that Number One Son drew about 20 yrs ago.

Numerous photos that made me feel both happy and sad.

What an interesting ride it was, reliving all those memories.

So I cleared my mind with a ride down to the river for a sunset shot.

Today, I am grateful for little bags of treasures that remind me where I came from and how much I've learned, how much I've grown and how happy I am now.  Exhausting!  But fun :)

Nite all.

Day 199 in a Year of my LIfe

A short break in the rain this morning and I got these ...

... but the break didn't last long, so by the time I got home, I was almost drenched through!

I had to blow dry my hair before I went to the hairdressers!  There's nothing nicer than a couple of hours spent at the hairdressers being pampered.  The only other pampering I prefer, is a full pedicure with foot massage included - delicious!

This afternoon I missed a beautiful sunset, but prior to that I was playing with my camera, some weeds and the lovely afternoon light in the back yard.  (No sign of Jake the snake, thank goodness!)

So today, I am grateful to my regular hairdresser, who knows how to make my visit a pleasure and who supported me by attending my photography exhibit last year.  She's a lovely lady and (not that she reads this blog) I dub her 'Snips'!

Nite all.  

Day 198 in a Year of my Life

I didn't tell you all about my snake visitor on Saturday!

Meet Jake ...

Of course, if you had spoken to me on Saturday at the time of sighting ... there was no 'Jake' ... there was a &^%@^* red bellied black %$#@&^ snake in the chook pen!!

I actually went to get the egg that I knew was waiting in the egg box.  I lifted the lid and spotted the egg and within a split second, I noticed the snake on the other side of the box (the egg box is about 4 feet long).

I yelled quite loudly and dropped the lid of the box as I stepped backwards.

Facebook was the first to know.

My facebook world gave me some good advice and some bad advice and some useless advice.

Then I remembered Helen (the chook) was still in the pen, so I went to let her out and took my camera (just in case) - THAT'S when I saw Jake's little head peeking around the corner!

I helped Helen escape and then locked myself and the dogs INSIDE the house.

By the time I was convinced, by my facebook world, to call someone to come and relocate the snake, Jake had disappeared.

So, if I remember correctly, Jake is the third snake visitor in our yard ... well, the third that we've witnessed ... who knows how many have actually entered our yard!

It's that time of the year when snakes are looking for warm, dry, comfortable places to hibernate.

Pleeeeeeeease don't let Jake think that our house, shed or garden is warm enough, dry enough or comfortable enough for any hibernation period!

We've emptied the container in our back yard and now wait for the company to come pick it up.

The new fridge is delivered tomorrow.

Once again, it's all happening at our house!

Today I am grateful to have Adoring Husband home with a new burst of enthusiasm, energy and motivation.

I think I need to leave home until he runs out of all that stuff.  :D  He's wearing me out!

Nite all.

Day 197 in a Year of my Life

It's Mother's Day.

To all the mothers out there, who come visit my blog regularly, I hope that you had a fabulous mother's day and that those who love you made the day as special as it should be.

This is for you ...

Today I am grateful to my kids for their texts, phone calls and skype calls to make me feel like a Mum who is loved.  I love you xxx.

Nite all.

Day 196 in a Year of my Life

We had a short sharp rain storm this afternoon just before sunset.

The sky had so much potential with some amazing clouds full of depth and the sunlight playing on them beautifully, until the crucial sunset moment ... then nothing ... the clouds closed in and the light disappeared and once again I was left feeling disappointed.

My consolation photo.

A funny moment the other day when I was sitting with my boys at the Seat of Knowledge.

This Noisy Mynah chick was learning to fly.  It had clumsily tumbled from it's nest to the ground under a tall tree nearby and then attempted to climb the tree, without much success.

Gentleman Jim attempted to pick the bird up to place it back in it's nest, but it panicked and flew straight under the shelter and landed straight on The Little Gnome's cap peak.

It climbed up his cap, left it's calling card and then flew off into the shrubbery.

Meanwhile, Gentleman Jim was being swooped by a number of adult Noisy Mynahs for getting too close to their baby!

A bit of a comedy really.  Thank goodness I had my camera handy!

Adoring Husband arrived home from his golfing week in Victoria, this afternoon.  He had a good time and appears to be pretty relaxed .. the Life Saver told me before they left that he hoped he could help Adoring Husband relax after such a horrible start to our year.  It appears to have worked :)

I am feeling pretty relaxed too :)

Today I am grateful for a week of relaxation for both of us.

Nite all.

Day 195 in a Year of my Life

This probably means that our lime tree is in big trouble ...

Interesting looking creature up close and personal hey?  He was hungry and ate that leaf pretty quickly.

Adoring Husband might be disappointed to hear that I didn't kill it.

You would think that Helen (the one remaining Lovely Laying Chook), who has been freely roaming the garden for the past few weeks, would have kept these blighters at bay wouldn't you?

Had a lovely chat on the phone with Best Cousin in the World today.

Nothing else to report.

Today I am grateful to have a Best Cousin in the World, who sells my hand made bracelets in her far away land.  Saleswoman of the year!  Thanks Cuz!

Nite all.

Day 194 in a Year of my Life

I ask myself this question .. Can I be any more relaxed?

I kept all the windows and blinds closed, because it was another cool, windy and wet day.

I spent the morning in my work space.

I talked on the phone with Chicklet and Vegan Chickie.

I made Pad Thai with chicken and prawns for lunch.

I watched 'Some Kind of Wonderful' and 'The Breakfast Club' on dvd.

I had leftover lunch for dinner.

I am wearing my Winter slippers!

I am going to bed.

I am grateful for the way my home (now that it is repaired),  feels like a pair of strong arms wrapped securely around me, and when I walk in the door, I feel a wave of warmth engulf me.

*contented sigh*

The answer to my first question is a resounding NO!

Nite all.

Day 193 in a Year of my Life

Photos taken for a challenge - 'Choose a subject and photograph it five different ways'.

I chose a hibiscus flower as my subject.

It's been a cool wet day today, so after I visited my boys this morning, I came home to the safety and comfort of my lovely home and spent the day playing with my camera.

More showers are forecast for tomorrow.  I can handle that :)

Today, I am grateful for the cool wet days that allow me to hide at home with the windows and blinds closed and indulge in my favourite pastime of photography without interruption.

Nite all.

Day 192 in a Year of my Life

Day 192 has been very quiet.

I have been relaxing and enjoying some time at home doing not much of anything.

I am grateful for days like this.  They are good for the soul and I feel quite rejuvenated.

Breathe in.  Breathe out.

Everybody should try to have a day like this.

No demands.  No guilt.  No deadlines.

From the minute you wake up in the morning, til the second you fall asleep that night - all for you, to do exactly as you please.

Time at home by myself is a great luxury for me and one of my favourite things.

I catch up on new dvds or watch my favourite old ones.  No set times for eating.  Take up the whole bed while I sleep.  Sing loudly to the radio.  Dance around the kitchen while I cook.  Doze on the couch during the day.  Paint my toe nails.  Catch up on my reading - usually old subscription magazines (photography) that I haven't had a chance to get into.  The list goes on.

Today has been a very good day.

Nite all.

Day 191 in a Year of my Life

I spent a really pleasant morning in my friend's native garden today.

'Snow White' and 'The Woodsman' invited me for morning tea and afterwards, we wandered around and through the garden admiring the native plants, the orchids, the home grown vegetables and all the resident creepy crawlies and beautiful creatures within.

They are such a lovely couple and the atmosphere in their home and their garden is indicative of their happy and kind natures.

They have some lovely flowers almost ready to burst from their buds, so some time soon, I hope to get a phone call so that I can head back out there with my camera for some more shots.

Their family also includes two beautiful Golden Retriever bitches.  Such loving and friendly pooches who love nothing better than cuddles and pats from anyone who enters their front gate!  I could easily have brought them home with me.

So just as the heavens opened, I arrived home to the noisy greetings of our own psychotic dogs, who were very happy to see me return.

I spent the rest of the day inside my own head, which was also a pretty good place to be today!

Today I am grateful for new friendships that sometimes develop from unusual circumstances and with people you least expect.

Nite all.

Day 190 in a Year of my Life

I almost sold my old trike today.

I haven't advertised it yet, but a man stopped and asked me about my new trike when I was at the park this morning, so when I told him that I had an old one to sell, he was very keen and took my phone number.

He and his wife came to the house this afternoon to look at it and although he was very keen - he wants it to transport his fishing gear to the river and likes the rod holders on the back, as well as the large basket - but his wife was not keen.

They both had a ride of the old trike as well as the new trike and she preferred the new trike.  I'm not sure why she gets to choose what he rides, however, they said they'd get back to me.

While they were looking at at, I was feeling a bit reluctant anyway.  It's my baby, and even though I have every intention of selling it, I wasn't expecting it to happen this soon!

So, I told them about the trike that's advertised on the notice board at our local shops.  $450 brand new.  They are going to follow that up, so I should get to keep my baby for a bit longer.

I met another man at the beach today.  He was with his friend Reggie...

Reggie is a 13 week old male Eclectus Parrot.  He is a beautiful bird, but if he was mine, I don't think I'd take him out on the beach, especially at low tide when all the Kites and Eagles are out hunting.  He would make a delicious meal for them if they swooped from behind and snatched him from the man's shoulder!

Notice how I got the parrot's name but not his owner's?

I have seen this Grey Heron out and about lately.  He was catching fish in the little streams left as the tide went out, but as I tried to sneak closer to get a good shot, he took off!

He flew high into the trees and annoyed the smaller birds.

So my mission tonight is to finish watching 'The Man from Snowy River' on dvd, so that I can return it to it's rightful owner tomorrow.  I borrowed it from one of my boys, a week before the tornado hit and then it got packed away with all of our belongings while the house got repaired.

He reminded me about it today.  Luckily we just unpacked all the dvds last week, so it was easy to find.

The movie is better than I remembered it.

Today, I am grateful for the sounds of silence.  No TV and no radio.  Just the silence that surrounds us at night when the residents all go inside and close their doors til morning.  Feeling the serenity.

Nite all.

Day 189 in a Year of my Life

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Happy Birthday to you! ♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Happy Birthday to you! ♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Happy Birthday dear Kaz ♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Happy Birthday to yewwwwww ♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Sung to the tune of 'Happy Birthday' and in my very best Operatic Soprano singing voice!

In honour of your birthday (knowing how disappointed you are in the fact that I use your real name here instead of a nickname), I now dub thee ... *drum roll*

"Sparkles" due to your beautiful sparkling eyes.

Lef to right - Hopalong, Sparkles, Lady Lynn and Bev4now

So ... it was Sparkles' birthday today!  Quite a large group of us congregated at the Lions Park for a birthday barbecue.

I was in charge of the birthday cake because Sparkles and I are both gluten free and therefore we have easier access to good gluten free recipes.

This is a very old recipe that I haven't even used for over twenty years, long before I became aware of my gluten intolerance. 

It was more delicious than I remember!

Almost all of the dishes were gluten free and every one of them were mouth wateringly (I think I just made that word up) good!  

Our friends are so wonderful to put such an effort into providing nice food to meet our dietary requirements on occasions like this.  It's usually difficult at social events, but they go out of their way for us and today, that's what I am grateful for.  Thank you friends :)

Nite all.

Day 188 in a Year of my Life

While I was taking photos on the beach, a local gentleman riding a scooter, came looking for me to tell me about some kangaroos fighting on the edge of the national park near where he lives.

Apparently, there were originally eight fighting bucks, but by the time I arrived there were only four left and only two of them were fighting.

They were huge and I estimate that the biggest ones were about 8 feet tall when they were standing upright.

I kept a safe distance.  I've seen the sort of damage that an angry buck can do to a person, so I wasn't going to take any risks.

These guys were very close to where I almost stood on the Red Belly Black snake last week, so I was being doubly cautious.

I've got a big day planned for tomorrow and after two glasses of wine tonight, I am feeling decidedly weary, so I'm off to get some beauty sleep.

Today, I am grateful for locals who come to find me when they see something that they think is worthy of photographing.  50% of the time, it's definitely worth following up!

Nite all.

Day 187 in a Year of my Life

Three whole months after the tornado, Adoring Husband brought all of my jewellery making paraphernalia in from the container, for me to sort, clean, clear, dispose of and/or store in my new work area.

Sadly, one whole large box of it had to be disposed of due to water damage - rust, mould, swelling, staining etc.

There was JUST enough room to store the remainder in my work area!  Whew!

That job took about 6 hours!  I'm so glad that it's done.

I did wake early this morning - before the alarm even went off - hoping for a sunrise to photograph, but there was not a cloud in the sky and no colour to speak of.  I decided to save myself for a prettier morning .. perhaps it will be tomorrow morning?!

Another photo from the Bubbles collection ...

and this gave me a bit of a giggle today...

Ten minutes to midnight - best hit the hay!  Last but not least is a photo from the Vegan Chickie collection ...

How cute is that???

Today I am grateful to be yet another step closer to normality.

Nite all.

Day 186 in a Year of my Life

Well ... another big day!

Our trip took about thirty minutes longer than usual, due to many, many road works along the way.  The trip is going to be a breeze when the roads have improved with more passing lanes.

The Specialist in Bundaberg was able to confirm that Adoring Husband's Parkinsons hasn't deteriorated in the last 3 months, which, I guess, is a good sign.  We travelled a long way and paid him a lot of money to give us that little jewel!

Anyway, we had a lovely lunch at Brother's Sports Club and they had some good gluten free options.  My choice was Atlantic Salmon with prawns and a glazed honey dressing.  Delicious!

Adoring Husband ate half a cow!

We visited Spotlight to replace all of my jewellery making tools that I lost when the tornado hit, and then tried to find an oddly sized chest of drawers for AH.  Most chests of drawers are one of three standard sizes - none of which are good for his requirements.

He may have to use his ingenius brain and excellent cabinet making skills to create his own masterpiece!

We arrived home safe n sound late this afternoon and discovered that our male psychotic dog is still feeling a little off.  I think we'll take him to the vet tomorrow to have him checked.  He hasn't been himself for about a week now and I must admit that even 'I' am feeling a little concerned.

There was no chance for photography today, so here is a shot that I took while Bubbles was here.

If I get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight, I may even wake up early enough for a sunrise ... we all know how successful my sunrise plans usually are!  However .. it is now 7pm and I am signing off.  Surely that's a good sign!

Nite all.

Day 185 in a Year of my Life

What a lovely day I've had today.

It started with my early morning ride to the boys at the new Seat of Knowledge, which was followed by a very pleasant morning tea with the girls.

I spent ninety minutes playing with my photos, which then gave me 30 minutes to get ready for the monthly 'Lady's Luncheon'!  It was held at the local watering hole today and there were about fifteen of us in attendance.

I actually ate at home before I left, because the pub's 'gluten free' options aren't strictly 'gluten free', and I have been caught out there before.

Basically, I went for the social aspect and I now have a morning tea date with one of the ladies next week!  We've talked about it many times before this, but never made any solid plans til now, so I'm really looking forward to that.

I've been taking a lot of photos lately, but my success rate has been pretty low.  I have a sunset shot from last Saturday.

and a 'before' and 'after' shot of one of Bubbles' photos.  I think she composed this photo very well. I just added my own bit of editing.  I know it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I like it.

Another big day tomorrow, so I'm off to bed.  Have a lovely 'hump day' (Wednesday) everybody.

Nite all.

Day 184 in a Year of my Life

There's nothing nicer than the feel of soft new carpet under your feet, the smell of freshly washed walls and the clear light that bursts through thoroughly cleaned windows.

Spring cleaning doesn't just clean your house.  It cleans your mind, your heart and your soul.

We haven't finished spring (should I say Autumn?) cleaning yet, but it already feels pretty good!

We have a fairly busy week ahead of us, so I should go slide between the fresh clean sheets that are gracing our bed right now.

I have lots of photos on my camera, awaiting my perusal, but just haven't had a chance to look at them - therefore I have none to share with you tonight.

Short post *yawn*

Nite all.

Day 183 in a Year of my Life

What a day!

Bubbles was driven to the airport by Kaz's husband, who I now dub 'The Lifesaver', because he has come to our rescue on so many occasions for emergencies and other moments of need.

He is a good and kind man and we regard him (and Kaz) as valued and cherished friends.

Anyway, as I was saying ...

Bubbles left for the airport at 10.30am and when she had gone, I sat quietly for an hour contemplating my next move.

We have carpet layers coming tomorrow morning to lay new carpet in our bedroom, so the plan of action was to clear as much furniture and belongings out of the room as possible, so that by morning, we would only need to remove the bed.

I began clearing my dressing table.

I'm not sure that you understand the enormity of this task.

I possess two very large, very full jewellery boxes.  They contain very little of value.  Mostly dress and junk jewellery, but there is a LOT of it.

Beside my jewellery boxes, are 3 wire jewellery racks, which I initially bought to display jewellery at my market stall.  When I withdrew from the markets, these racks found a new home on my dressing table, displaying my own jewellery.

My large dressing table mirror also acts as a rack for my larger beaded necklaces to drape over.

On the edge of the dressing table, there is space for a very small television screen.

It took me one hour to clear the mess.  This does NOT include tidying the jewellery boxes, which are in desperate need of exactly that.  One hour just to make the dressing table top clean.

Adoring Husband arrived home from his trip to the Gold Coast just as I was finishing this job and he immediately joined me in the massive bedroom clearing task.

Five hours later, we had cleared and cleaned all of the timber furniture (except the bed), washed the walls down with sugar soap, cleaned the windows, cleaned the ensuite bathroom, vacuumed the carpet, cleaned our large bedside lamps (this was a chore all on it's own), cleared what was left out of the walk in robe and removed the door.

I cooked dinner while AH began assembling the furniture that we'd bought on Friday.  He assembled all but one cupboard.

Every muscle, every bone and every joint in my body is aching.  I imagine that a body might feel like this after running a marathon!  I don't ever intend to find out for sure!

This evening, I sat back in our new recliner lounge and watched The Voice and the end of the final of My Kitchen Rules.

I don't mind telling you that it took quite a bit of loud effort to remove myself from said lounge.  I grunted and groaned my way to the desk to write this post and I'm feeling every bit of my 53 years.

Another bee shot from yesterday.

I hear my pillows calling my name.

Today, I am grateful to The Lifesaver, for once again coming to our rescue.

Nite all.    

Day 182 in a Year of my Life

This is a photo that Bubbles took while in Hervey Bay.  This is her original shot ...

This is after I edited it...

The bees were having a fine time in my passionfruit vine this afternoon, so Bubbles and I spent some time trying to get shots with multiple bees in them ...

Sadly, Bubbles returns to Sydney tomorrow, but she now takes possession of my old Sony camera, so I hope she is motivated and enthusiastic enough to get out there and take all sorts of photos.

Practise, practise, practise is the key to improvement!

I found this photo floating around facebook - if you're a camera buff at all, you might find it interesting.

Well, it's been a very pleasant and relaxing day.

Bubbles and I went to the park by the river to try for a sunset shot this afternoon.  It was a bit of a fizzer, but we got some interesting shots anyway.  I'll download them tomorrow and choose which ones to share in here tomorrow night.

My NRL and AFL teams both won their games tonight.  Bubbles and I had an easy dinner and watched Breaking Dawn Part II on the big screen.  Then we packed her suitcase.  She is, surprisingly, only 1kg over the weight limit!

We might even try for a sunrise shot tomorrow morning!  Now, getting Bubbles out of bed for a sunrise???  THAT would be a miracle!

Today, I am grateful for a nice relaxing final day to Bubbles' holiday.  I will be sad to see her go, but I have really loved having her here.  The time just went too quickly.

Nite all.

Day 181 in a Year of my Life

Today I am grateful that you will forgive me for having nothing to write about tonight.

Nite all.

Day 180 in a Year of my Life

Psychotic dog number one is ok.  He eventually settled well last night and caused no more worry.

We got lots of unpacking done today and the container is almost empty.

We can see light at the end of the tunnel.

It will be another month before everything is back to normal.

Some new furniture is still a month away, as is the campervan and we'll be having a garage sale to get rid of some stuff that we don't need any more, or had minor damage from January.

Still there are people in town whose houses are exactly the same now, as they were the day after the tornado hit.

Insurance companies are taking their time and have sent 7, 8 and even 9 different assessors to look at the damage and still there is no decision about what needs to be done.

The town still has a path of orange tarps on roofs and it's now 3 months since the disaster.

Something should be done about it.  Who monitors these situations?  Who is there to champion the cause?  Why aren't the insurance companies being held accountable?  Where is the media now?

Anyway, don't get me started!

I saw my first turtle since the tornado and was lucky enough to catch him coming to the surface for a breath this morning.

... and a lone paddle boarder just off our beach.

So now I'm off to catch up on some sleep that the sick dog deprived me of last night.

Today, I am grateful for beautiful Autumn days that bring cleaner air to breathe, clearer water in the river and an abundance of wildlife to observe.

Nite all.

Day 179 in a Year of my Life

Adoring Husband and I had the BEST WEDDING EVER, three years ago today.

To celebrate, my combined birthday and anniversary present, was a trip down to the Sunny Coast to spend time with the family and partake of some retail therapy, which is a sure winner for any occasion!

It was a long day - 12 hours from when we left, to when we arrived back home, but it was a great day and I had a good time.

A big day for Adoring Husband who had to do all the driving ... but we all know that he enjoys retail therapy as much as the rest of us!

It was lovely to see little Chicklet again who is growing up so quickly, it scares me!  I think she had some fun with her Aunty Bubbles and with Poppy Bawwy.

Eumundi Markets are always fun to attend and today was no exception.  I'd love to go there one day with no time limit and no spending limit!!

Anyway, I was going to write a much longer post, but I've been interrupted a few times by a dog that seems to be a little 'out of sorts' tonight, so I think I will take him to bed and see how much sleep I can get before he disturbs us.

He had us up three times last night, but seemed ok this morning.  He was even ok this evening when we arrived home, but has appeared to be a bit restless tonight.

Best go give him some TLC.

Today, I am grateful for my lovely family and for Adoring Husband who hasn't been feeling 100%, but who still wanted to make my birthday wish complete.

Nite all.