The Education of Me

I'm currently watching a new series of interviews with hundreds of doctors about the effectiveness (or not) of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments for cancer.

I'm only a third of the way through the first two hour long episode and have already learnt some interesting facts.

You know that I've written about how doctors are branded as 'quacks' if they speak up against any medical treatments. Today, I discovered that George Washington actually died as a result of 'blood letting' which was recommended and performed by a number of medically qualified doctors.

I did a bit of a search to find information to back this story and found this ...



I also discovered that the first doctor who recommended that surgeons wash their hands prior to performing surgery, was branded a quack, as a result of this suggestion. Really?

Here are some facts that completely astounded me. In the early to mid 1900s, a group of pharmaceutical companies, including Bayer, Hoechst and BASF formed 'IG Farben Industries' and used inmates from the German concentration camps in WWII as slave labor to build their industrial plants. They rotated the inmates every 3 months, killing each retiring crew in the gas chambers.

They also manufactured and provided the gas to the Nazis for the gas chambers as well as actually building the extermination camps and gas chambers (using slave labor).

Of the twelve tribunals that were conducted after the war, this pharmaceutical group were the 6th to be tried and it was proven that they were responsible for, among other things, building the camps and conducting torturous experiments.

They were never punished for these atrocities.

More of my searches uncovered this! and this!

If they were capable of committing these horrendous acts back then, in the name of money and profits, what makes anybody believe that they are not capable of doing the same thing in a more modern and secretive way in this day and age? (especially if they were never punished back then)

To finish my blog on a more happy and pleasant note, I got a little peek at one of the chicks in the Tawny Frogmouth nest today! It was very brief and not very clear, but at least I know that there is at least one chick and maybe more will be revealed as time goes on!

I have to say that it's a beautiful day and I'm looking forward to spending a couple of hours with Woman of Many Talents this afternoon.

Later: I enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine with my friend and today has been a good day :)

Nite all.

False Pretences

People who we consider to be 'Australian'

Nicole Kidman .. actually born in Honolulu, Hawaii
Olivia Newton John .. actually born in United Kingdom
Mel Gibson .. born in New York, United States
Guy Pearce .. born in United Kingdom
Sam Worthington .. born in United Kingdom
Naomi Watts .. born in United Kingdom
Hugo Weaving .. born in Nigeria
Isla Fisher .. born in Muscat, Oman

There are very few 'apparently' famous Australians, actually born in Australia ..

Chris, Liam and Luke Hemsworth .. born in Melbourne
Hugh Jackman .. born in Sydney
Cate Blanchett .. born in Melbourne
Geoffrey Rush .. born in Toowoomba
Heath Ledger .. born in Perth
Eric Banner .. Melbourne
Simon Baker .. Launceston
Rose Byrne .. Sydney
Toni Colette .. Blacktown
Melissa George .. Perth

We really do claim a lot of 'unAustralians' as our own!

I won a chicken tray in a raffle tonight and took some money out of the pokies, but not enough to brag about.

There weren't many of us at the club tonight .. very quiet. Adoring Husband arrived quite late in the evening after his important SES meeting. He has a big SES weekend ahead of him too.

It's not even 9.30pm yet and I am feeling very very tired, so I might just head off to bed and see if I can fall asleep early. .. I may even wake up with enough energy and motivation to clean the house!

That's about all I have the energy to share tonight, so I hope your weekend is amazing and I hope I have something interesting to share beyond the weekend.

Nite al.

Socially Acceptable

For some strange and inexplicable reason, I felt the need this morning, to socialise! Maybe because I missed my morning tea with the girls on Tuesday.

I started at the Seat of Knowledge, then bought my coffee, and half way home, I decided to drop in on Apple, knowing that The Reality TV Queen would also be visiting during the morning.

For the last 3 months, the Reality TV Queen has been dog sitting a long haired Jack Russell named Harry. Today was her last day with him, so she was taking him for a walk to say goodbye to everyone. I think she was kind of torn. Happy to have her life back, but at the same time, sad to be losing him.

We three spent a couple of hours over coffee, bitching, laughing, bragging, whinging and telling animated stories. The Reality TV Queen is the second best story teller of all time and makes me laugh so hard. The only story teller better than her, is Tweedle Dee, but she has left town, so her top spot is on offer.

I finally found my way home around midday, by which time, the motivation level for cleaning was pretty low! No cleaning today!

I cooked lunch and then an early dinner because Adoring Husband had a meeting tonight. While he was at the meeting, I disappointingly overcooked some chocolate lava cupcakes. They will have to be mixed with coconut cream and berries, because they are too dry to eat as they are.

I'll attempt another batch over the weekend.

This evening I added a quote to one of my own photos ...

... and found another one in facebook that I liked ...

I received my Statement of Attainment for the studies that I completed. It seems that I am now able to confirm your physical health status, communicate effectively, make referrals to other health care professionals and provide basic dietary advice.

My GPA (Grade Point Average) was 6.4 (the grading is between 1 and 7).

So there you go.

You never know, one day I might re-enrol and finish the course!

But right now, I am enjoying my life.

Nite all.

A Day Full of 'C's

Coffee, crabs, cooking, curry, cabernet sauvignon, casserole, cleaning, complex circuitry and cancer.

My day was full of 'C's.

As usual, my day started with some time at the Seat of Knowledge and my second stop was for coffee and comestibles (I needed a word starting with 'c' that meant 'food').

The Motivator had her 'cooked crabs for sale' sign out, so I stopped to visit her, talk a little business and bought six nice sized sand crabs before pedalling home to decide whether to cook or clean!

Since I had the comestibles fresh at hand,  I decided to cook.

I made four meals of curried chicken, four meals of casseroled beef and some 'cibo' (Italian for food) spaghetti bolognese sauce, which I flavoured with a nice swig or two of cabernet sauvignon.

While I was preparing these meals, I shelled the six crabs and stored the meat in a container in the fridge, so that I could nibble during the day.

I was also called to assist Adoring Husband in the garage as he tackled the complex circuitry of the break/tail/blinker lights of the box trailer. Much to his frustration, this task eventually proved unsuccessful for the right side lights.

Only minimal cleaning was performed by me. Some sweeping, dish washing, dusting, but by 3pm I was ready to sit down and take a load off.

I took this opportunity to have a look through my Jeunesse paperwork and wrote down some questions to ask one of the experts next week when we meet for some website training.

Finally, I found this very interesting article written by a reporter, who herself, was dying as a result of the treatment she received for breast cancer. She says all of the things that I've been trying to convey for years and considering the amount of research she did over the years of her illness, I find her words painful to read. I can only imagine her overwhelming frustration.

It has been a long and productive day for me. Hopefully, tomorrow, I will wake with the same level of  enthusiasm and get the desperately needed cleaning done! It would be nice to step into the weekend with a clean house and a clean conscience!

I hope that tomorrow I can bring you another 'C' word. CHICKS! The Tawny Frogmouth chicks have hatched and are making Dad squirm on the nest ... their fluffy white selves should be poking their heads out for a look at the world any day now. I'll be ready with my camera.

Should be an early night for me :)

Nite all.

An Enthusiastic Introduction

What an interesting morning.

I'm glad that I made the effort and sacrificed my morning tea with the girls to meet the amazing people, whose passion, enthusiasm and experience with Jeunesse was contagious and inspiring.

Again, I learnt a lot and Adoring Husband has now been recruited as my guinea pig to test out the Jeunesse healthcare products over the next few months. This is what we do .. we try everything and anything that looks like it might be effective in some way. You just never know what might work.

Doing something, is better than doing nothing.

So I am getting behind the Jeunesse movement and while using the skincare products on myself (properly this time) and the healthcare products on AH, will share the experiences and our progress here, so watch this space for the expected miracles lol.

So if you're interested in what Jeunesse has to offer, you can look here.

Also, one of the health products, 'Reserve', has the main ingredient of Resveratrol, which you can learn about on this 60 Minutes report ...



Did you hear at the end of the program where he announced that those Drs' startup company was sold to a pharmaceutical company for three quarters of a billion dollars? That usually means that the prize ingredient (in this case resveratrol) will either never reach mainstream population because it has the potential to replace all of their other profit making drugs, OR, it means that they will take advantage of reports like this and create a product that has so little resveratrol in it, that it will not be in the slightest bit effective.

Anyway, the Jeunesse 'Reserve' (containing resveratrol) is one of the products that I have introduced to AH and he commenced taking it this morning.

It will not be an instant fix, although some medical conditions have been known to disappear after just a couple of weeks, but Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a little more complex than most conditions, so it may take a bit longer. It may have no affect at all, it may ease the symptoms just slightly or it may have a big impact.

AH will take this product, in conjunction with a couple of others, that I will tell you about in another post or two.

It's a matter of 'wait and see', so watch this space!

Oh and because the Jeunesse meeting that I attended was across the road from Shoe Frenzy, I, of course, took the opportunity to both browse and buy!! I will be wearing new shoes on Friday night!

Nite all.

Quotes of Encouragement.

Tonight, I accompanied The Motivator into The Bay and attended a Jeunesse meeting where I learnt more about the many and varied products that they have available,  how the company came into being and how and why it continues to flourish.

What attracts me the most is that the products are certified organic, GMO free, hypoallergenic and phthalate free.

It was a very interesting evening and I learnt a lot, however, I am attending another meeting tomorrow morning to learn more, so I'll tell you more about it after that!

In the meantime, here are some quotes of encouragement.

I just wanted to mention that I was torn about attending tomorrow's meeting because it means that I'm going to miss morning tea. I LOVE my weekly morning tea with the girls and I HATE that I'm missing it this week!! It may seem like such a small thing, but I struggled making the decision to attend the meeting instead.

So girls, I apologise for the short notice and I'll catch up with you soon!

Nite all.

Boring Cars

Bathurst weekend .. ugh!

Every year I complain about the cars driving round and round and round and round... for five or six hours!!!

Why do (mostly) men find that so appealing???

How much money is spent on running this race every year? I just can't get my head around it and I don't understand the fascination.

I am very grateful that it's over for another year.

So my Sunday has been one to easily forget. A nice big breakfast of bacon, eggs, tomato, avocado, mushrooms and spinach to start the day. Stuffed baked zucchini for lunch. Steak and rocket/pear/candied walnut salad for dinner.

The Seat of Knowledge was very pleasant this morning with high tide and sunshine to welcome the day. The boys were in fine form.

The Tawny Frogmouth is still not showing his chicks, but I continue to monitor the nest.

It was mental health week in Queensland last week so I thought I'd give my tips on keeping or finding good mental health.

1. Make sure you spend time in the sunshine to get a good dose of vitamin D daily.
2. Exercise, even if it's just a twenty minute walk every morning or afternoon.
3. Walk barefoot on the beach or on the grass in the back yard.
4. Eat nourishing fresh food and avoid processed foods and sugar.
5. Drink plenty of filtered water to help your body remove toxins.
6. Listen to your favourite uplifting music.
7. Spend time with animals - very therapeutic.
8. Pamper yourself - a bath, a pedicure, a movie, a nice lunch or morning tea with the girls.
9. Random acts of kindness - make soup for sick friend, leave a good book on a park bench as a pleasant surprise for a stranger to read, pay for two coffees at your local cafe so that the next customer gets them for free, visit an elderly person and brighten their day.
10. Get a solid night's sleep. Seven or eight hours of sleep every night helps your body rest and heal itself ready for the next day.

When I get into a rut and I'm feeling a bit down, it's easy for me to hibernate and neglect myself, which in turn sends me deeper into that rut and closer to depression, so it's important for me to be aware of my habits and be proactive by taking control of the little things.

One small step at a time.

That's my advice ... for what it's worth.

Three things I'm grateful for today ... Adoring Husband and his love, this caring community in which I live and friendships that bring comforting routines and a long history of unconditional loyalty, dependability and commitment.  

Nite all.

Totally Clueless

I had a good time at the Murder Mystery night at the club.

I wish I'd taken my reading glasses because there was a bit of reading to do and the slips of paper were small with tiny print, which is very difficult to read in low light, let alone without glasses!

This was my first Murder Mystery night, so I had no idea what to expect. Everyone at our table were a little confused by the whole thing.

Here is what I figured out by the end of the evening...

1. It's important to mingle with as many people as possible (there were 50 guests!)
2. Ask lots of questions and listen carefully to the answers.
3. Go to the website and study the main characters before the event.
4. Take notice of the one piece of information that EVERYBODY is sharing.
5. It's very easy to be distracted.
6. It's very easy to get confused.
7. Take your reading glasses .. you will be reading clues and questions and people's name tags all night.

Everybody made a fantastic effort to dress up as the characters that they were assigned. I think I was the most boring character - Gigi Opal, a homemaker married to a football star who is never home and mother to 5 children. My costume (if you can call it that) was jeans, a top and a matching head band.

There was a Doctor, a pharmacist, a mayor, a movie star, a tennis player, a comedian, a food stylist, a baker, TV producer, personal chef, hitman, lunatic, police officer, real estate agent, florist, a pilot, a marathon runner, a travel agent, a lumberjack, a teacher, a roller skating rink owner, a model, a librarian and the list goes on and on. Everybody dressed accordingly and had props to match.

Happy Harry and Lady Lynn looked absolutely amazing and totally looked like their characters - the 'food stylist' and the 'florist'. In fact if they were giving out prizes for best dressed, I'd have given it to Lady Lynn. Happy Harry's hair was pretty great too .. it deserves a special mention.

Dinner was a choice of lamb shanks or avocado chicken and there were two desserts, which I couldn't have because they weren't GF, but I was given 4 meringue mushrooms with ice cream, which were delicious!

The night was loud and confusing but fun and interesting. I, nor anyone at my table, had any idea who the murderer was. I don't think anybody in the room guessed it correctly.

Now that I know how it works, I think I'd like to attend another one, just to see if my theory gets me closer to figuring it out.

Anyway it's well after midnight, so I think I need to go to bed. Just thought I'd pop in here and give you a report on the evening. I shared a bottle of wine with Lady Lynn, so I'm completely sober at the end of the night!

Nite all.

Winning

I've had a pleasant day which included the Seat of Knowledge, morning coffee, retail therapy, winning on the pokies and keno, helping a slightly inebriated Adoring Husband into bed, a lava chocolate cake and strawberry dessert and any second now .. an early night.

No photos.

I am very tired and looking forward to tomorrow night's Murder Mystery Party at the Bowl's Club. "Homicide at the Harrison House".

My character is of little importance .. thank goodness .. I will get to observe all the other more important characters and from what I've heard about other characters and their costumes, it's going to be a great night!

I think it's now time to climb into bed.

Nite all.

Trekking

A couple of days ago I booked a date with Apple and Reality TV Queen to go trekking through the bush in search of the elusive lake.

Adoring Husband and I went searching for the lake about 4 years ago, but the weather had been so wet, that the lake was flooded and we couldn't get anywhere near it due to the vast expanse of water surrounding it.

Today was a different matter altogether!

I donned my jeans and hiking boots - for safety - after all it is Spring and the snakes are out ready to party!

The other girls donned their shorts and sandals questioning my attire.

I carried my camera bag and a bottle of water.

They carried a big stick each and had their dogs.

We drove from Apple's house to the track (which really wasn't very far at all).

They let their dogs off the leash and let them run ahead while we figured out what direction to walk.

When we reached the point where we had to decide between three directions, we knew that 'straight ahead' was not the right way. I said, "I think we should go left, but I have a terrible sense of direction, so let's go right".

We followed the path for about 20 minutes and suddenly there in front of us, was the infamous lake! Or what is left of it ...

Obviously, we are in desperate need of some rain! Very cracked and dry in places.

We walked right across the middle of the lake and around the edge of it back to where we first came across it.

It was nice to see some bird life. The whole idea of this trek, for me, was to find birdlife, but the dogs soon put a stop to that! At least now, I'm familiar with the path and in the future, will be able to find my way there on my own.

I'll take my little folding chair, perch myself upon it, and wait for the birdlife to come to me!

Luckily, it was easy to find our way back to the beginning of the path where we climbed back into the twin cab with two very muddy dogs and drove back to Apple's house, where we sat on her deck drinking tea and coffee for about an hour.

After I left her house, I bought my morning coffee and returned home to find that Adoring Husband had been doing some cleaning in the garage.

We watched a couple of recorded shows on TV, I cooked lunch and then he drove into The Bay to run some errands. Unfortunately, when he arrived in The Bay, he realised that he'd left his wallet at home!! He was not a happy man.

He picked up our FROG box on the way home and then headed straight out to the garden for some outdoor therapy.

At 4pm, I demanded that he come with me to the beach for a bare foot walk along the sand. The tide was almost full, so there wasn't much beach to walk along and the wind was almost gale force but we splashed through the water and walked for about 25 minutes before driving to the park where we sat for a while enjoying the water views and I asked AH to walk with me to see the Tawny Frogmouth nest near the Seat of Knowledge.

All in all, it was a very pleasant way to spend an hour.

So my day has included about two hours of walking and twenty minutes of triking. That's more exercise than I've done for quite some time!

It's almost 10pm and I'm off for an early night.

Nite all.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Today, we delivered our camper van to the neighbours and swapped it for a generous payment.

I felt a bit sad that it was gone and I know that Adoring Husband struggled to let it go, but it was time.

We had taken it into town for the roadworthy and some other checks this morning and while we were there, I got in some retail therapy.

I bought a few small Christmas presents to put away and some clothes for Chicklet. I bought myself a couple of t-shirts and some fresh flowers. We did some grocery shopping and got the ingredients for yet another batch of dog food.

As soon as we arrived back in town, AH delivered the camper van and all the extras to our neighbours. While he showed them how to set it up and pull it down, I spent 2 hours cooking the pumpkin, preparing the dog food and then cleaning up the vast mess that I tend to create in this process.

My back did not like standing in the kitchen for that long in my good shoes (even though they were flat), so I desperately needed to sit for a while afterwards. Just in time for AH to arrive home with a couple of coffees!

Because he read it in my blog that I was quitting coffee, but I did not tell him to his face, he decided it was ok to get me an afternoon brew. I must admit I was secretly pleased that he did this :)

I am going to cut back to just one coffee each day - my morning coffee - for a while, so that I don't have such terrible withdrawals when I eventually cut it completely.

I may continue to have my morning coffee while babysitting Chicklet for two weeks in November.

After that, I plan on drinking coffee on Tuesday mornings with the ladies and 'once in a while' if I meet with BGWLBH or The Nikonian - which is only a couple of times each year.

Something exciting that happened for my youngest daughter, Bubbles, is that one of her photos was featured on the weather page of the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Since it's only the second time she's ever climbed out of bed at 'stupid o'clock' to be on the beach for sunrise, it was a nice reward for her to see one of those pics published.

Also, my little Chicklet has been going to swimming lessons!

She loves it!

Well, it's an early night for me so ...

Nite all.  

Externalising

It was a nice morning tea with eight of us in attendance and afterwards four of us drove into The Bay for a movie date!

We all enjoyed 'The Intern'.

Robert De Niro was, as always, amazing. He is so versatile and can play characters ranging from an evil, murderous criminal to a tough guy cop to a loving disabled patient to a strong caring champion to the underdog.

He is one of my favourite actors. I loved him in all of his earlier movies like The Godfather II and Taxi Driver, The Untouchables and Stanley and Iris, but Awakenings, which is one of my all time favourite movies, put him firmly in my top 3 actors list. He is 72 years of age, has appeared in more than 90 movies and currently has 6 movies in various stages of production. That's one hell of a career!!

Anne Hathaway was pretty good too. She is not one of my favourite actors, but she is growing on me.



We weren't home long from our movie date, when it was time to head down to the park for our monthly barbecue.

There were sixteen of us and it was a perfect evening. Clear skies and a gentle breeze, good company, delicious food and a nice wine or two. Always enjoyable.

Adoring Husband didn't join us tonight because he had SES duties out of town.

I pedalled home with head and tail lights flashing, emptied my cold bag, stacked the dishwasher and was sitting down on my couch to watch X-Factor by 7.30pm.

I love my life.

Nite all.

Slippin' and a Slidin'

How easy is it to slide back into eating habits that cause discomfort, brain fog and pain?

September marked a year since becoming sugar free and I have been gluten free for more than 3 years.

Going Paleo in January this year meant removing dairy and grains, which included rice, breads, pastas etc. Caffeine and potatoes were also removed, as well as legumes.

After my body became accustomed to my new way of eating, I felt re-energised. My joint pain was gone, I slept better, bloating was non-existent, my digestion improved, my eyes were brighter, skin was clear and I felt more alert. I no longer needed an afternoon nap and I was able to keep up with Chicklet without praying for the night to bring me sleep.

I felt fresher and like a whole new person!

Firstly, I re-introduced caffeine .. just one cup each day and I can't have it without milk, so that was also a re-introduction and my only source of dairy. Now I have increased that to two or three cups each day. I drink lattes, so that's a lot of dairy in a day!

I am strongly considering removing caffeine permanently from my diet. All of that dairy fills me up and I am not eating enough nourishing food because of it.

Adoring Husband was losing too much weight, so to help him level out, I re-introduced rice and potatoes to his diet. Of course, I began eating those foods as well .. even though they made me feel uncomfortable and bloated afterwards, it was there, so I ate it.

I have persisted for about 8 weeks, believing that my body's reaction to these foods would ease, but they haven't. The continued discomfort is too much to manage, so I've chosen to remove these foods again from my diet.

The other slip I've made is having sugary desserts when I'm out for a meal or for morning tea .. telling myself that it wouldn't hurt once or twice a week.

But it has hurt.

Slipping back into old eating habits has had negative affects on my brain and body.

I've been feeling bloated and full after meals. My joints ache in the mornings and I am hobbling when I first arise, just as I did before I started my new way of eating. I have needed a nap for the last three afternoons (in fact, I slept for over two hours on Sunday afternoon).

My digestion has been all over the place and I've had blemishes around my mouth and chin. My mental clarity and my moods have become erratic and unreliable.

I don't like how I feel at all, so I'm taking a step back and starting again. It's time to take care of me and I need to bring nourishment to my physical body again.

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen today, getting back to the sugar free, dairy free, gluten free munchies.

I made 40 energy balls,  6 chocolate lava brownies + a slab of the same, a dozen macaroons, a batch of coriander pesto sauce, lamb meatloaf + a dozen lamb rissoles, broccoli au gratin, sweet potato chips and guacamole.

My kitchen was a hell of a mess for most of the day and Adoring Husband spent a lot of time emptying and re-stacking the dishwasher!

I forgot to mention yesterday that the Tawny Frogmouth was back on the nest, however, today the nest was empty again. I am monitoring daily.

So that's where I am at. I'm about to slip and slide back into good health!

Nite all

Another Footy Year Over

What an exciting NRL Grand Final!!

My team lost by one point, but I have to admit that when the Cowboys scored in the dying seconds of the game, to level the scores, I was 'willing' the Thurston kick to go between the posts.

Unfortunately, the ball hit the posts which meant that the game went into extra time, but a mistake by a player on the Broncos team put the advantage firmly into the Cowboy's hands, which led to the captain, Jonathan Thurston, kicking a field goal to help them win by one point.

If my team had to be beaten in a grand final, I'm glad it was by the Cowboys led by Jonathan Thurston.

Firstly, they are a Queensland team!

Secondly, Jonathan Thurston is a true gentleman of the game and sets a positive example for all the kids who look up to him. He is generous with his time off the football field and appreciative of the support he receives from a very large section of the state of QLD. He adores his family and the loving twinkle in his eye when he is with them gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Thirdly, their coach, Paul Green, was taught everything he knows by Wayne Bennett, my team's coach!

Lastly, the Cowboys are a strong team who always play a fair game and have worked hard for their success.

So congratulations to Jonathan Thurston, the entire Cowboys team and all of their loyal fans, who I'm sure will be celebrating long into the night .. and probably all week!!

Quite off topic, I found this last night and thought it was worth posting here...    

"NOT" 

by Erin Hanson

You are not your age,

nor the size of clothes you wear.

You are not a weight 

or the colour of your hair.

You are not your name, 

or the dimples in your cheeks.

You are all the books you read,

and all the words you speak.

You are your croaky morning voice,

And the smiles you try to hide.

You're the sweetness in your laughter

and every tear you've cried.

You're the songs you sing so loudly,

when you know you're all alone.

You're the places that you've been to,

and the one that you call home.

You're the things that you believe in

and the people that you love.

You're the photos in your bedroom

and the future you dream of.

You're made of so much beauty,

but it seems that you forgot

when you decided that you were defined

by all the things you're not.

So, after a phone call from my very drunk sister who is celebrating a Cowboys win at her 'local', even though she is a lowly Manly supporter, it's now time for me to head off to bed!

Nite all.

Finals Weekend

I sit here on my couch watching the AFL grand final as Hawthorn is annihilating West Coast Eagles. Hawthorn already lead by 43 points and there is still ten minutes left of the second quarter. A disappointing game so far, but games have been known to turn around when you least expect it, so I continue to watch with eager anticipation!

The expectation for tomorrow's NRL grand final is for a much closer game, however, because there are two Queensland teams playing, I really don't mind who wins. Being a Bronco's supporter, I would like them to win of course, but I wouldn't begrudge a Cowboys victory.

I've made an observation over the past week. I seem to have had a more social week than usual and have spent time with a LOT of different people. I've had conversations with at least 60 local people, sometimes one on one, sometimes in group situations.

Something I've noticed, is that few people actually listen when others speak. I don't specifically mean when "I" speak, but when others, in their company, speak.

I've noticed that people mostly wait for a pause in the conversation, so that they can tell their comparable story, all the while, not actually listening to anything but the voice in their own head telling them how to relate their own tale.

Some people don't even wait for a pause. They simply interrupt with a loud forceful voice, making sure that they will be heard above everyone else.

I've also noticed that there are some people who will speak even louder to prevent the other loud person from speaking above them! Then there are those who simply go silent, knowing that they will not be heard if they continue .. or knowing that nobody is really listening to what they have to say.

When this happens to me, I feel empty inside, so I try really hard not to do it to others. I don't know how successful I am because I'm always in group situations and rarely one on one with my friends, but I do try.

There are times when we really need to share 'stuff'.

When it takes a long time to find the courage to share something important, there is nothing more demoralising than being cut off part way through your story, by someone who thinks that sharing their own experience is going to miraculously bring comfort and closure to your problem.

Sometimes we don't need advice or suggestions or a solution. We want to say it out loud and not be judged or compared to or laughed at. We just want to be heard.

Listening seems to be a dying art. I wonder if the death of 'listening' has anything to do with the increase in depression and anxiety in this world?

One of the most sincere

forms of respect 

is actually listening 

to what another 

has to say.

- Bryant McGill

I also found this quote today and wanted to share it ...

 To laugh often and much: to win the respect of

intelligent people and the affection of children;

to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure

the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty;

to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better

whether by healthy child, a garden patch or a

redeemed social condition; to know that even

one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yesterday, one of the Tawny Frogmouths finally sat on the nest that I was watching grow bigger each day. I was VERY excited to see it!

Today, I looked at the nest and it was empty!!

A Tawny Frogmouth was perched alone on a branch nearby and there on the ground were the remains of an egg or two.

I figure one of two things may have happened.

1. They did a crap job building the nest and the eggs fell out (Tawnies are renowned for poor nest building).

2. Something has happened to one of the Tawnies and the eggs have been tossed because one Tawny cannot take care of them alone.

I hope that number one is the correct answer and that they have the opportunity to repair the nest and try again.

Fingers crossed.

Anyway, that's enough of my philosophical post for today. It's not even 5pm but I guess it's close enough to ...

Nite all.

Guilty as Charged

All of us who own dogs understand that cower of guilt that dogs display when they know they've been caught out doing something naughty, so I thought I would share this with you. You will smile and at the same time feel sorry for each and every one of these naughty canines.



It's 10.30pm and I am definitely ready for bed, so this is just a short post.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Nite all.

De-cluttering Time

My only real plan for the day, was to change the bedding, including the quilt cover to bring some new colour into the bedroom.

Big mistake!

This led to clearing out the linen cupboard.

I threw away three bags of linen.

Old white sheets and pillow cases that had miraculously changed their colour from white to yellow. A cane picnic basket that has been stored there for 7 years and has never been used in that time. Some old oven mitts. Hand towels and t-towels. A bag full of light globes that don't fit any light fittings in our house. Computer cables that are now living in the 'man shed'. Tote bags and eco bags that have NEVER been used.

I got half way through the cleansing process when I had to stop to make lunch. The laundry and hallway looked like a disaster area!

After lunch, I lost all motivation and it took me more than an hour to build up my care factor and finish the job.

My status update on facebook, which declared my achievement of linen cupboard clearing, brought comments from a few people, one of whom introduced me to something called the KonMari method of de-cluttering, where you hold the item (clothes, shoes, knick-knacks, photos etc etc) and ask yourself if this item brings you joy. If you have to think about it, the answer is no and you should toss it.

I am going to look further into this process because I'm feeling somewhat inspired to completely cleanse and de-clutter my life!

The pantry is next on my list, then all of the wardrobes in all of the bedrooms, and of course my office/work area which will probably be the scariest part of all!

Meanwhile, I found this little family on my way home from coffee a few mornings ago...

I also found a Butcher Bird nest with babies in it, but Mrs Butcher Bird is very protective, so I don't think I have much chance of getting a photo. I will don my suit of armour tomorrow and make an attempt.

Post-de-cluttering sleep is now required .. which can also be described as pre-de-cluttering sleep, if I can make another start tomorrow!

Nite all.

Lousy Lunch

Lady's luncheon was quite disappointing today.

Luckily the company was good, because the food was not. Mine and Mardi's only GF option was steak and salad. The salad consisted of quarter of a tomato, a slice of onion, two small lettuce leaves and three pieces each of grated carrot and beetroot.

My steak was as tough as boot leather and I asked for medium rare but it was delivered well done.

I asked for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and was given a $15 bottle of wine that required 4 mouthfuls for the taste buds to adapt.

The company was good and there was a lovely breeze blowing through the beer garden where we were seated. We definitely gained plenty of attention from the 'regulars'.

We were home before 3pm.

Today is the deadline for the flickr challenge and I've submitted this photo ...

It won't win because there are 22 entries, some of which are pretty darned good, but that's ok because I won last month and I'm happy with that.

The theme is 'Beach, bush/forest, city or outback'.

I cooked up some lamb shanks in the slow cooker before I left for lunch, so I didn't have to worry about putting too much effort into dinner tonight.

Now it's almost midnight and there is rain coming ... although, as it gets closer to town, it seems to be petering out. That's pretty typical. We are desperate for rain.

I'm off to bed, hopefully to fall asleep to the sound of rain.

Nite all.
  

Longest Morning Tea

I saw my boys at the Seat of Knowledge before heading off to morning tea with the girls today.

The river was clear and blue and it was a gorgeous Spring morning by the water.

I met the girls at 8.30am for coffee and didn't leave to return home til after 11am!

I made a zucchini slice for lunch.

Watched the movie 'Crazy Stupid Love' for about the 30th time .. I just can't ignore Ryan Gosling in this movie. I also love Emma Stone and my favourite parts are the 'photoshop' line and when he does the Dirty Dancing scene with her. He's just a bit yummy.

There was a huge line of storms heading in our direction from the West this afternoon, but as usual, they separated and skirted around us. Just briefly, there was a rumble or two in the distance, but no rain for us, unfortunately.

I enjoyed my social Tuesday very much and tomorrow is lunch with the ladies, so it will be a social Wednesday!

I have a good life :)

Nite all.

Going Going Going Gone

Adoring Husband had an early start in the garden today.

He picked all of the sweet potatoes out of the back corner raised garden bed. We now have a bucket of very spindly looking vegetables. I haven't looked closely at them, but at a glance, we probably won't get too many feeds out of them.

He also picked all of the cherry tomatoes and I used them to make a big batch of tomato sauce, which I put into 200ml batches and froze all but one. I ended up with about 1.5 litres of sauce.

While he was in the garden, I rode out for coffee and another unsuccessful search for Tawny nests.

I stopped to buy some crabs from The Motivator, who arrived home after a few weeks in Sydney and then spent about 45 minutes standing at the kitchen sink, removing all the meat from them.

Today may be a momentous date because it seems that we have sold our camper van. We feel a bit sad about that, but we've owned it for three years and only used it once.

That 'once' was a fabulous month long holiday that provided us with wonderful memories, but no matter how hard we try to make arrangements for another holiday, circumstances always lead to us cancelling at the last minute.

AH has organised any number of week long trips that never eventuated, so I think the universe has been telling us for a while that we needed to sell up.

We know that it's going to a good home where it will be loved and enjoyed and used to it's full potential, so all going well, we will say our final goodbye in a week or so.

We also spent a couple of hours watching a few episodes of the last season of The Big Bang Theory. I love that show.

So that was the extent of my Monday. Quite productive really!

Nite all.