Picking Winners

This is what my FROG box lady wrote on their website today. Everything she says resonates with me, and I too tend to move in a different direction to the hoards.

(I am left wondering who it is that is hoarding toilet paper because absolutely everyone that I’ve spoken to is scoffing at the ridiculousness of it all!)

There is a number of people reacting in fear, and they are the people that the media seem to be focussing on, instead of those of us who “choose” to respond calmly with love and peace.

Anyway, this is what Celine wrote...

There's nothing like worldwide panic to make you stop, take a breath and re-assess where you are and how you choose to react to the situation. It might help that I tend to always go a little against the grain, if everyone is heading in one direction, I'm with the small mob going the other way. So with everyone freaking out- I'm choosing not to. Gosh, it feels goood!

There is so much positive change that can come out of this seemingly bad situation. If ever there was a time for people to make better choices NOW is the time! If you've been waiting for an excuse to start looking after yourself NOW is the time! If you love the thought of keeping it local but haven't been quite getting there, NOW is the time to spend your pennies with conscious intent. If you tend to react from a place of lack or fear, NOW is the time to focus on your reactions and start trusting in life.

So I urge you, look at what you are eating- ditch processed foods and choose to eat clean, fresh food loaded with nutrients- strengthen your bodies not only in response to this situation, but to boost your immune system for winter and for life in general. Quality of life comes from being healthy and living well- living well means feeling good, and feeling good comes from having a body that works at its best. If the hype out there is what is needed to kick-start you into gear, then that's a good thing.

Start reconnecting, sharing and acting from a place of love. Remember that you are never alone. Ignore the people with trollies full of toilet paper and shrouded in fear, and remind yourself that there are many more people than them that will happily share with you if you need it. By sharing and giving more, you'll allow that flow of energy to come back to you tenfold. Ask for help if you need it, and be willing to receive. Imagine communities built on kindness and support, lets get together and change this world for good- starting at home!

Think local, spend local. Yes we've heard it all before but now more than ever this rings true. Look at your dollars and spend them where they make a difference. Department stores and supermarkets won't miss you if you choose not to shop with them but small local businesses with families to feed will. Lets spend consciously and help our local community thrive. If we all connect and give each other a financial boost by spending local we'll come out on top of this. You think you can't make a difference but you can!
I know at FROG every order that comes through makes a big difference- to a small business you are not just a number, you help keep that business afloat week after week, and we are totally grateful to have your support..we feel so connected to our customers and if we could give each and everyone of you a hug, we would- although maybe not right now- apparently hugs are banned at the moment. Maybe a high-five... nope can't do that either... Gah!

I feel like someone has grabbed planet Earth and is giving it a HUGE shake-up... and that's a great thing! For too long we've been all talk about what we 'should' be doing. Now its time to put that into action. We are the change-makers right now, and it's connected communities like the one we have here at FROG that can start being that change we want to see in the world.

Let's do this!

♥ Celine

If you’re interested in ordering organic goodness, you can choose set boxes from $40 or you can select fruit, veg and other products individually here. (FYI I don’t receive anything for promoting FROG. I value and recommend this business highly).

I spent today running Day One of our Photography workshop. We have a great group of ladies who are all eager to learn and all with a good sense of humour. Each of them commented on how much they learned on the first day and were keen to go home and practice.

It was a bad start to the day when instead of pressing the ‘snooze’ button on my alarm, I accidentally turned it off and slept for another hour! This meant that I was rushing to get ready and feeling quite flustered when the class began. That’s a horrible feeling.

It was all ok in the end.

My lower back is giving me a bit of trouble at the moment and I feel like I’m struggling to walk distances which is tricky when after lunch, we are out and about in the field practicing what we learned in the morning. I had a dodgy limp by the end of the day.

I’m looking forward to the second day and I’ll be sure to leap out of bed as quickly as my back will allow - no snooze button or accidental offs!

I have to say it’s been a great weekend of footy so far for the first round of the season and as of this moment my tips are perfect - 5 from 5 and my pick in the 6th game is winning. I will brag while I can because my winning run might not last!

Have a happy Sunday!

Nite all

Totally Drained

I was incapable of leaving the bedroom today.

The visit from AJ totally drained me.

It really was a great visit, but there was so much family ‘stuff’ that I needed to process.

Stuff that I wasn’t aware of.

Stuff that AJ wasn’t aware of.

Stuff that upset us.

Stuff that shocked us.

Stuff that amused us.

Stuff that confused us.

Eight hours of non stop chatter revealing so much ‘stuff’!

I think I have to use some of my tools, like meditation, tapping and self journeying to clear some of it because it’s all weighing quite heavily on my mind.

Adoring Husband dragged me (not physically) outside for about 15 minutes to help him put together the replacement pergoda that was delivered yesterday morning.

That was a frustrating process but thank goodness it didn’t last too long!

Chicken and vegetables for dinner.

Tomorrow I’ll be making the finishing touches to the photography course that I’m leading on the weekend.

... and finishing with a funny one 🤣

Nite all.

#1 Aunty

I have this Aunty.

I haven’t seen her since my mother’s funeral 15 years ago.

She was ALWAYS my favourite and because she had three sons, I was her first and favourite niece, who she always treated like a daughter.

Today I attended meditation and about ten minutes in, The Motivator called me out of the room. There was a woman standing with her back to me and TM pointed to her and said “There’s a lady here who wants to speak to you.”

I looked up and waited for the lady to turn around.

She did NOT turn around and almost immediately I recognised that she was my Aunty.

I said “I know who you are. Turn around!”

She turned and I saw that beautiful face looking older and wiser but very much the loveable Aunty from my youth.

I’ve only seen her twice in 40 yrs and both times it was at one of my parent’s funerals.

I just wanted to stay wrapped in her loving arms and listen to her talk all day.

I immediately rushed her out the door and off to sit quietly with a coffee, to share the quick verbal diarrhoea that happens when you have so much to say and you’re unsure how much time you’re going to have to talk privately.

We had about an hour together before Adoring Husband appeared. He had known AJ was coming and  had struggled to keep the secret from me, but he was successful on this occasion.

We drove home and she met the psychotic dogs. She loved them immediately.

I took her straight out to the pool area and we sat under the Bali hut for an hour talking a mile a minute. Her, telling me stories about her life and me asking questions and gaping in awe as she told us about the time Rod Stewart baited her fishing hook and about the time she met The Eagles and numerous other famous bands and singers when she owned the music shop in Toombul years ago.

It all happened while I was travelling Australia with my parents and living in Perth. That’s why I missed all the action.

Soon we came indoors for a cup of tea and Adoring Husband took control in the kitchen while she and I continued with our insatiable chatter. He prepared us a light lunch which she mostly fed to the psychotic dogs.

As close as we were, there are sections in our lives where we lived on different sides of the country and where contact between her and my parents was patchy and there are large gaps in our knowledge of each other’s life story. This meant that we learnt lots of new stuff about each other today.

All too soon, we knew our time was coming to an end and our chatter slowed down considerably.

We drove her to her pick up point - a friend from Maryborough drives a school bus and had dropped her off this morning where TM had collected her and brought her to the shop.

The Motivator had planned this surprise with AJ and AH. I am very grateful for the effort required to pull this off and I hope you all can appreciate how happy I have felt today 🥰

It was a beautiful surprise and I thoroughly enjoyed my day.

AJ will come to stay for a week some time in the second half of the year.

After we dropped her off, we had to drive in to pick up our FROG box.

It was trivia night tonight, but we were “done in” by our big day so we cancelled. It seems that that the rest of our team were not really up for it either, so it turned out ok for everyone.

Now it’s time for some sleep.

Nite all.

Early Start

I was up n at’m bright and early this morning and arrived for my coffee date at about 8.20am.

Aggie arrived just after 8.30am and The Motivator dropped by for a quick 15 minutes before opening the shop and then The Brains Trust and The Blonde Bombshell were the only others to join me.

It was a fun morning and they got me up to speed on how the “celebration of life” weekend in Bargara went. Sadly I missed out on that one, but time with Bubbles was more important for me because I’m lucky if I get to see her once a year.

Time with my kids is rare and precious.

After much laughter, some deep discussions and sharing of weekend stories, we parted ways at about 11am.

I picked up the mail and delivered it to the shop intending to also clear the training room in readiness for meditation on Wednesday morning, but TM was in deep discussion in that room with a customer, so I waited for a while and then announced that I would return in the afternoon.

When I returned home I packaged up the bone broth that I made for the dogs in the slow cooker overnight and put it in the freezer. I did two loads of washing and decided to not eat lunch.

At 2pm I got ready to head back to the shop and between AH, TM and I, we made the training room presentable for meditation.

I browsed the new stock that TM ordered and which arrived today.

Dinner tonight was crispy skinned duck breast with cauliflower, garlic and avocado purée (which I created out of my imagination and it was delicious!).

Now I’m feeling weary and I’m off to bed.

Nite all.

Fretting For Bubbles

Bubbles flew home this morning.

The psychotic dogs are fretting over her disappearance.

She spoiled them rotten. Fed them from her plate. Allowed them to sleep in her bed every night. Carried them and cuddled them constantly. Included them in all of her “at home” activities.

Now they’re lost and alone.

Come back Bubbles!

She joined in the art class again on Saturday and acted as my personal assistant ...

It was a really enjoyable class with three new ladies in attendance. I believe that two of them may have been bitten by the bug and will be heading home after their holiday to buy up big from their closest art supply shop!

It was a fun group who all enjoyed experimenting with colours.

It was a full three hours and I needed a nap after lunch, as did she!

We spent Sunday playing trivia, Yahtzee and card games with a roast lamb dinner.

I was sad to say goodbye to my girl this morning, but all good things come to end and there will be another holiday soon I hope!

Adoring Husband and I bought lunch at my new favourite shop in Pialba before doing a small shop at Coles - and by the way, not a toilet roll to be found!

Because of a restless sleep on Sunday night, I napped for about an hour this afternoon. I think I needed more 😳

Psychotic dog Jack has been cramping all day so AH is feeling stressed.

We took Ruby to the vet on Thursday for an allergy shot and she is a new dog! No more uncontrollable scratching and she is full of beans and wanting to spend time with us again. Thank goodness.

Now it’s almost 11pm and I’m off to bed. I hope to see the girls for coffee in the morning.

Nite all.

Slower Day

I took it nice and slow today.

I stayed in bed until about 11.30am.

That time was spent being very productive though and I wrote out 4 pages of info to share in tomorrow’s art class and watched some instructional YouTube videos just to make sure my knowledge was up to date.

After that I did some washing, cooked some lunch and then gathered all the art supplies together that I needed to take to the shop.

Adoring Husband dropped Bubbles and I off at the shop so that we could set up the training room for the class.

The Motivator had already set up two of the tables so Bubbles and I set the other two tables up and found all the tools and resources for each place setting. At this stage, there will be 8 in attendance, including some newcomers! It should be a good class!

I spent some time catching up with TM and checking out some new stock and we returned home some time after 4pm.

AH cooked up a quick dinner for himself and Bubbles, while I made a smoothie - celery, cucumber, spinach, apple, carrot, mint and coconut water for my dinner. Of course I ended with a less healthy dessert of choc chip chocolate ice cream.

Only three more sleeps until Bubbles flies home so we need to make the most of that time. She will join the art class tomorrow and I’m not sure how we’ll spend Sunday yet.

It’s time for me to get some sleep so that I can be clear headed and arty farty tomorrow.

Nite all.

Feeling My Age!

Tuesday, after morning coffee with the girls, I returned home and cleared the art studio so that Bubbles and I could create some art. It took a while to clear, but eventually she decided to try the sky view beach scene so we did these ...

I was exhausted by the end of the day and in bed by about 8.30pm.

Wednesday was an early start and we drove to Childers for breakfast at Kape Central. I was hoping for GF waffles but they don’t make them anymore ☹️

Of course, when you’re in Childers, you simply MUST visit the shoe shop!

Adoring Husband very generously purchased these for me.

The Bird Sanctuary was our main headline for the day and we really enjoyed the fabulous interaction with the bird life. We fell in love with the black cockatoos and the different parrots that followed us around the grounds.

I got sucked in by what I thought was a solo brolga in a field. I very slowly worked my way towards it taking photos every few steps in case I frightened it away. When I got within about 20 feet away, I suddenly realised that it wasn’t real and when I walked up to it, discovered it was a statue set in a concrete block!

It was both embarrassing and hilarious! Those photos are still in camera.

It got very hot in the afternoon and although it was difficult to say goodbye to our new friends, we were heading home by 1.30pm, but we had to drive to Craignish to collect our FROG box on the way home.

By the time we arrived home, we were all worn out! Adoring Husband was so exhausted, he went to bed before 5.30pm.

Today, Bubbles and I had our day together in The Bay. We were going to have pedicures and manicures, but changed our minds and decided to get our hair done instead. We walked in to the salon in Pialba called Haircorp and asked for a shampoo, a treatment, a scalp massage and a blow dry.

They were quite busy but had 4 or 5 staff working so they squeezed us in.

My attendant’s name was Heidi and I loved her so much, I took her name and private number - she ran a holistic healing centre in Broome and Gold Coast and has her finger firmly on the pulse of everything regarding physical, emotional and mental healing. Our conversation was rapid fire and I felt a real connection with her.

I hope to invite her to The Happy Abode to run one of my health and wellness classes this year. She was fabulous!

I discovered my new favourite food place at the Su Jus Bar. Oh the healthful goodness of it all! The coffee superb, EVERYTHING GF, the bread to die for, the cakes divine. I am going to be their new best friend!

I did not buy shoes.

I got soap, nail polish, 2 books about crystals, a top and some canvases for the next art class.

Adoring Husband was shocked that I came home with only one bag!

I did bring home a selection of cakes from my new favourite food shop and we placed a candle in one of those cakes and sang happy birthday to me!

Now, once again, I am exhausted, so I’m off to bed.

Nite all.

Need a Holiday

I need a holiday to get over my holiday and I’ll need another holiday to get over Bubbles’s holiday!

After a solid two hours at Eumundi Markets on Saturday morning where I bought two necklaces, a ring and two tops we drove directly home and arrived at 2.30pm.

I immediately unpacked my entire suitcase, giving Bubbles a parade of my holiday purchases. I still haven’t done my washing from the holiday, but aside from that you wouldn’t even know that I’ve been away!

My first day at home was spent in bed til late morning and then ‘in’ and ‘around’ the pool with Adoring Husband and Bubbles. It was nice to be home again.

It was nice to sleep in my own bed. It was nice to sit in my comfortable lounge chair.

We had a great holiday and for me, it probably needed to be a couple of days longer because we didn’t get to IKEA which I was most looking forward to and I didn’t take my camera out once - if we’d made it to the zoo, I could have practiced my photography. Even our river cruise was washed out.

Having time away with AH was really special and we indulged in choc chip gelato in a GF cone every day! I think I only had one disappointing meal for the entire week, so our record of finding great food remains pretty much intact.

Today was a day spent in The Bay with Bubbles and AH.

At Bubbles’s request, Time Zone was our first port of call and we spent an hour and a lot of money playing mindless games there. Sometimes it was fun and funny. Sometimes it was disappointing.

We decided on Salt restaurant at Peppers resort for lunch. We all ate delicious healthy food. I selected the quinoa salad with pan fried prawns, AH chose seafood scallops and prawns while Bubbles had grilled fish, chips and garlic bread.

We all spent a couple of hours at Stocklands helping Bubbles choose some new work outfits. I found some new PJs at KMart and AH did some grocery shopping while he waited.

It was well after 4pm when we made our way home and I was feeling absolutely exhausted!

Bubbles and I played some Yahtzee and then made up a card game that we played until I conceded that bed was calling me.

I’m worn out!

Before I sign off, I’d like to mention that BGWLBH’s Mum, Margie, passed away last week. I’ve known Margie almost as long as I’ve known BGWLBH, so 30+ years of rarely seeing eye to eye and sharing some cheeky banter between us, but It was her time and she is in a better place.

RIP Margie W.

Biggest love and warmest hugs to BGWLBH. See you soon.

Nite all.

Final Day

We squeezed a lot into our final day - including a morning nap for Adoring Husband and an afternoon nap for me.

The Mooloolaba Spit was our lunch destination and ‘Fish on Parkyn’ was our restaurant of choice.

On the way there, I discovered my new favourite shop and spent about 30 minutes browsing. I could have spent two or three hours easily because it was a treasure chest of awesomeness!

I bought two pairs of the same shoes, one black pair and one red pair. I wore the black ones tonight and they are sooooooo comfortable and for high shoes, very easy to walk in.

I also found a small silver glomesh clutch.

I definitely needed a nap before our big date at the racing track. 

What a fantastic night we had! Buying the temporary ticket to the members area was SO worth it. We had a perfect view of the finishing line, were in air conditioned comfort, had access to the main restaurant and the food was amazing, no queue to place bets and great service over the bar as well as in the restaurant.

I was so excited about the main meal (I had the chicken), I forgot to take a photo!

It was a wonderful four hours and we finally won on the last race of the night.

Adoring Husband is now snoring loudly in the bedroom so I shall go place a pillow over his face (joking of course) so that I can get some sleep. Tomorrow morning, we pack up and leave. On the way home, we’ll stop in at Eumundi Markets, so there is still something to look forward to at the end of our holiday.

I think I’m done for the day. 

Nite all.