Remembering

 REMEMBER HER?

Somewhere inside of you,there’s a little firecracker with her arms folded and a frown on her face.

She isn’t happy about all the times you said no when you wanted to say yes.

All the times you said yes when you wanted to say no.

She wanted you to buy the ticket.

She wanted you to take that trip.

She definitely wanted you to take that risk, 

the one that may have just opened a whole new world.

She wants you to remember what it feels like to run to the sea without a care in the world and splash and laugh till you ache. To face the day without a fear in your heart and embrace every opportunity that comes.

She doesn’t understand why you won’t wear the bikini.

She doesn’t understand why you won’t eat the cake.

She doesn’t understand why you don’t let it go.

She definitely doesn’t understand why you accept second best.

Somewhere inside there is a little girl who wonders at the adult you’ve become..

She still has many things she wants to learn and so many people still to meet.

She still has food she’d like to taste and parties she wants to dance at.

She still has places she wants to visit and wonders she wants to stare at.

Somewhere inside you, there is a little firecracker, desperate to see more of this thing we call life.

Go get her, she’s fun.

Donna Ashworth

From ‘to the women’

Art by Lisa Aisato

I am feeling absolutely done in. Not an ounce of energy to play with.

I am in bed with State of Origin on the telly but I think I will be sound asleep before half time.

Apart from an enjoyable catch up with my art girls this morning, nothing of interest happened today.

So signing off with pics from the park this morning …

And a couple memes …

Nite all.

Are You Ready?

Hero or Devil? (23 minutes)

We had big plans for a Bay visit today but the weather soon put the kibosh on that! It rained all day and it was quite chilly.

Adoring Husband and I did a decent shop at the local supermarket instead..

It was suddenly lunch time so I used the remaining salmon mix and cooked up some more patties to serve with salad.

BGWLBH drove to Howard to purchase lotto tickets and I moved to the art space and added to my painting …

Still LOTS more to do yet but I am enjoying the process. Very therapeutic!

I watched the quiz shows and cooked Duck with berry chilly jus served with roasted pumpkin and baby spinach salad and pine nuts. It was delicious. Dessert was fruit whip.

We watched the final of Big Brother and I was very happy to see Reggie win. We then watched the recorded MasterChef finale and I was very happy to see Billie win! 

What an enjoyable night.

Today I received my order of 48 rolls of bamboo toilet paper from “Who Gives a Crap”. The way the news is headed, I fear another lockdown soon. They have already locked down a couple of nursing homes.

Between Covid 19, this Winter’s flu, lung infections, Monkeypox, Foot and Mouth Disease, overwhelmed hospitals and now mentions of Marburg Virus, it’s highly likely that they are heading towards more lockdowns.

With food shortages, increasing fuel prices (I’ve heard from a wholesale supplier that $5 litre is likely), prescription limits due to a shortage of ingredients, interest rates rising rapidly, rising power costs and so much more I could mention … we need to be prepared.

I think we are well set up for any situations that may arise.

It’s now almost midnight so I’m outta here.

Nite all.

Not Forgotten

You’ll need over 3 hours for this one!! AMPS Medico Legal Summit 2022 

Well, as usual, Kyrgios imploded and lost himself a Wimbledon final. He is full of self sabotage and needs to get himself some help. He has the potential to be a tennis great because his game is top notch when his emotions are not getting the better of him.

It was about 3am when I got to sleep and 4am when not so psychotic dog woke me with her shrieking because she needed to pee! Ugh!

I was out of bed at 9.30am drinking warm lemon water with BGWLBH at the games table.

My plan for dinner was salmon patties, so I put the potatoes and sweet potatoes on to cook so that they’d be cold by evening.

I made bacon and eggs for lunch.

I got my art on and added to my underwater reef.

I watched my quiz shows until I received a call from Vegan Chickie telling me about the passing of my first father-in-law, Grandpa Jim. I realised I’d had a missed call from Bubbles who was calling for the same reason.

Grandpa Jim lived a good long 93 years of life. He had a massive heart attack when I was pregnant with Vegan Chickie, so the fact that he lived another 42 years is a huge bonus that we never expected. Thanks to his loving wife Grannymus and a radical diet and lifestyle change, he got to meet and form relationships with 11 grandchildren and I think 4 great grandchildren. He began his work life on the railway but became a highly respected and dedicated Canon with the Anglican Church for many decades. Sadly, in the end, he was diagnosed with dementia and even though his passing is so sad for so many, he is in a better place now. 

Thinking of you with much love at this time Grannymus.

I’ve spoken to my kids today who are all feeling his loss, especially Number One Son who declared that Grandpa Jim was his favourite person in the world.

Now it’s time for me to sleep. It’s been a long emotional day.

Nite all.

It’s On!

I am very busy watching the Wimbledon final between my two favourite players.

Talk tomorrow!

Nite all.

Beginnings

Factual but what is your perception?

The link to the government website

I watched tennis until 2am and didn’t quite make it to the end of Djokovic’s match. I knew he would win.

I slept until 9am.

I was up at 10am enjoying my breakfast in the sunshine by the pool. The Winter sun is in the perfect position to make the Bali hut a cozy retreat for most of the day.

I started to check off my ‘to-do’ list by doing two loads of washing.

I decided to clear out the bottom kitchen drawer so that all of my folded tea towels fit properly. That was a task in itself! There were receipts from 2016 in there! It took me almost 30 minutes to finish that task.

I wasn’t hungry but decided to prepare lunch for BGWLBH and Adoring Husband. I did a grazing platter with an avocado and tuna mash to wrap in lettuce leaves.

I gave up on the middle part of my list and skipped right to end for some art fun.

I have a long way to go yet, but it’s a start. This took two hours so I reckon I’ll need at least another twelve hours to finish. There will be lots of intricate details later.

I wonder if I will maintain my motivation long enough to finish?!

I made hot and spicy coated chicken for dinner with sweet potato chips and salad.

I competed with AH and BGWLBH in trivia for an hour before the football started.

I have three out of three correct in the footy tipping.

I am now sitting up in bed flipping between Wimbledon and the movie Die Hard 4.0

I am also impressed that I began every sentence in this post with “I”.

I hope you have a lovely Sunday.

Nite all.

Nil Zip Nada

I did bugger all today.

I did get out of bed and took my breakfast under the Bali hut.

I made poached eggs on toast for BGWLBH who is still struggling with laryngitis.

I sat in front of the TV for the rest of the day.

Adoring Husband made the usual Friday night dinner.

I watched the footy and now watching Wimbledon - Lady’s Doubles Final. Djokovic vs Norrie - Men’s semi final is next.

I’m making a ‘to do’ list for tomorrow.

• Washing
• Change bedding
• Clean loo
• Clean ensuite
• Do art

Let’s see how successful I am with that small list.

Ok I’m off to settle into Wimbledon now.

Nite all.

Bright Day

It has been a glorious day.

The weather sunshiny and perfect.

I stayed up watching Wimbledon until 1.30am, fell asleep and woke at 2.15am so I turn on the TV and watched more Wimbledon. I saw Nadal win his match under gruelling circumstances with physical problems hindering his game.

It was around 4.30am when I fell asleep and I had set my alarm for 9.30am so that I’d have time to get ready for our lunch.

I took my time getting ready and I was picked up right on 11.30am by Klokka. It was an uneventful but pleasant drive out to Torbanlea and was nice to have some one on one time with her.

We were the first to arrive so we checked our table, perused the menu and put our KENO on - I haven’t played KENO for about 2.5 years!

The other girls soon arrived and we all sat at the table. We ordered our food and then went to the bar for drinks.

Luckily almost all of the items on the menu could be created GF and my selection was crumbed calamari with chips and salad. It was a huge serving for only $15!

Everybody enjoyed their meals and almost licked their plates clean. Conversation flowed, laughter was loud, drinks were refreshing, food was great, atmosphere was relaxing, service was friendly and we all had a lovely time.

I only ate half of my food and almost asked for a doggy bag! 

We all gathered our goods and strolled down the street to ‘Tin and Timber HOME’ for the girls’ first visit and my second.

They had a great old time and we must have been in there for a good 30 minutes. The owner was very grateful because until we walked in, she’d had a very quiet day. Most of us made a purchase and all commented on the very reasonable prices for quality items.

It was 2.30pm when Klokka dropped me home.

Adoring Husband was off mowing for work and BGWLBH was still in her room attempting to heal, so I plonked myself on the couch to watch my quiz shows.

At dinner time, I made another curried chicken for AH and a potato, mushroom and chilli soup for BGWLBH. I was still full from lunch so I sat with them while they ate and we all played TV trivia for an hour before the football started.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my day. It was reminiscent of the private Burrum Babes lunches, which I miss very much.

Tonight, I have been sitting up in bed with fresh strawberries and cream watching Wimbledon but I think I might be asleep earlier tonight. I’m getting too old for these all nighters!

Nite all.

Not Much Going On

The Covid Story So Far  (An article to read)

I got up at 10am and made breakfast for myself. BGWLBH and I sat in the sun by the pool for about 20 minutes before doing a garden tour and chatting with the fruit and veg plants.

We filled some new strawberry planter pots with soil and found a position for them.

I made a warm chicken salad lunch for Adoring Husband and BGWLBH before giving not so psychotic dog Colli a little haircut around her face. She wasn't happy about it but she was looking pretty messy so it had to be done.

We had a little time in the art room but my time was spent trying to figure out how to pair my iPhone to the sound bar so no art got done.

I did however, find a couple of artists on YouTube doing the type of art embellishments that I want to do so I watched a video on that before joining AH in the lounge room to watch my quiz shows.

Chicken curry was on the menu for AH tonight. BGWLBH and I had chicken soup which was very nourishing.

Big Brother and Wimbledon for me.

The Aussie girl is losing her quarter final match. I’m hoping she can make a last minute come back. Fingers crossed.

That’s all from me tonight.

Nite all.

Always Something

There is always something new to know but you’ll never see it on mainstream media. For your reading pleasure …

According to the New England Journal of Medicine

BGWLBH has a heavy case of laryngitis and has spent the majority of her day in bed. I fed her pumpkin soup, chicken soup and fruit whip.

I was out of bed at 10am - it was just so cozy and comfortable in my bed and I’d have stayed there all day if not for Adoring Husband’s phone appointment with Professor Silburn at 11am. 

I made myself a cup of tea and we sat at the dining table waiting for the call.

The call lasted 15 minutes.

I like Professor Silburn. He is very approachable with a warm friendly demeanour and he’s open to alternative ways to deal with Parkinson’s Disease, even coming up with ideas himself. Our conversations almost always veer away into other areas of life and even after just 15 minutes, I feel like I’ve just finished a call with an old friend.

After the call, I reheated pumpkin soup for all our lunches.

I resolved an ongoing Telstra issue regarding the shop account.

My next plan was to do more art, but I got distracted in YouTube and my afternoon was lost!

I watched my quiz show, caught up on my recorded shows, prepared three different meals for dinner - chicken casserole for AH, chicken soup (from scratch) for BGWLBH and two soft boiled eggs on toast for myself - all timed perfectly so that we could sit down together at the dinner table.

It was well after 2am when I got to sleep last night. Two out of the four Aussies were successful in making the quarter finals of Wimbledon and I watched most of the matches. I hope to watch Djokovic tonight so I should get to sleep earlier.

Right now, I’m watching a couple of German girls fight out the first quarter final on Court One.

There’ll be no morning catch up with the art girls tomorrow because we’ve decided to organise a lunch date on Thursday instead, so I can snuggle late in bed again in the morning.

Excuse me now while I enjoy some tennis viewing!

Nite all.

Glorious Rain

The gardens are loving this beautiful drenching rain.

Our temperatures ranged from 11°C minimum to 13°C maximum so it was, comparatively speaking, on the chilly side for us.

I was out of bed at 10.30am and BGWLBH had already spent considerable time in the art space being creative. Tomorrow, I must get her permission to post a photo of her work!

Between us we made a warm chicken salad for lunch and all three of us sat down to eat at the dinner table.

Afterwards, she and I moved into the art space where she continued with her inspired pieces and I continued sketching out my embellished underwater scene.

The art space is very cold in this weather so it’s not pleasant to spend too much time there.

Dinner was bangers and mash with leftover au gratin.

We played TV trivia until Big Brother came on.

I received a call from Number One son who is about to move permanently to Perth. He has a big 10 year project to oversee so hopefully, if world events settle and I’m “allowed” to fly on planes and travel unimpeded interstate without fear of sudden mandates or lockdowns, I might get to visit him next year.

I am now sitting up in my warm bed listening to the rain and watching Wimbledon. This is my happy place 😍

Signing off before midnight.

Nite all.

Another One

Another nothing day.

I got out of bed earlier than planned to deliver some basil and collect some meat.

When I returned home I made myself some breakfast and sat alone in my art space to enjoy it.

I began removing more stuff from my old art space and found a big box of photos, which, of course, meant that I had to sit down and go through them all! That was a wonderful trip down memory lane.

After that I began searching for some art inspiration.

I decided that I want to embellish an old art pour and create an underwater reef so I googled all things to do with reefs and took screen shots of different corals, creatures, underwater feathers, plants, seaweeds etc and began to lightly sketch the picture that I want to create.

That basically took up my entire day!

For dinner I made lamb rack with cauliflower/broccoli au gratin, sweet potato chips and snow peas, followed by frozen fruit whip.

We finished playing the trivia game that we started a few nights ago. I came from the rear and won! Then we played some TV trivia.

After BGWLBH went to bed, I caught up on some MasterChef episodes until I realised how late it was.

Now I’m in bed with Wimbledon on the telly. I don’t think any Aussies are playing tonight, but Djokovic might be. Maybe Nadal.

I doubt if I’ll see much because I have to be up early in the morning for another trip to The Bay.

It’s very chilly tonight and my weather app tells me that it’s going to be a maximum of 13° tomorrow. Might need to rug up!

I choose a cleaning fairy and teleporting anywhere in the world … I would teleport to Melbourne every night to hug my grand babies good night.

It’s already after midnight.

Nite all.