Some Solo Time

A solid 8 hours sleep last night. Gotta love that.

Coffee with the art girls was postponed until next week.

I woke at 7.30am but didn’t get out of bed until after 9am and took Harley straight outside to play for 30 minutes.

Adoring Husband was ready for golf and came out to join us. BGWLBH was working today and had left early.

When we’d finished playing and I’d watered my vegetables, I remembered that I had 1kg of diced beef in the fridge so I decided to do a type of stew in small casserole dishes with a pastry topper.

Onion, tomato, garlic, thyme, broth and diced beef.

I tossed the beef in seasoned corn flour, browned it in olive oil and set it aside, fried the onion with garlic and thyme, added the diced tomato (fresh from the garden), added 1cup of chicken broth and then added the beef. A very low simmer on the stove for 2 hours. It was a bit salty so I added some more stock and a tablespoon of brown sugar which took the edge off.

I spooned the mixture into single serve casserole dishes and covered them with GF puff pastry, pierced holes in the top, brushed with milk and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Cooked in a hot oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

I then did stir fried vegetables. Beans, snow peas, broccolini, carrot sticks, onion and mushrooms fried in garlic butter and right at the end, drizzled with a little honey and added quarter of a cup of water. Served with a scatter of crumbled goats cheese and toasted pine nuts.

The plates were bare at the end of the meal.

While the beef was simmering I watched the Netflix movie “Song Sung Blue” with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. I didn’t realise that it was based on a true story! It was full of both shocking and very sad moments. I enjoyed it very much and thought that Hugh and Kate did a great job. I recommend it.

After that movie, I watched “A Walk in the Woods” with Robert Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson. Great movie with some big names scattered in there.

AH had a great day at golf.

BGWLBH had a quiet sales day, but a big people day needing a nap this afternoon.

Harley enjoyed an afternoon play around the pool.

I picked 6 ripe Roma tomatoes from the garden.

Did a little tidying up.

The golf FedEx Cup starts at midnight tonight but I’m not sure if I can stay awake to watch it. Perhaps I can sleep early and wake up later to check it out.

I’m watching the Panthers vs Roosters NRL game on telly and the Roosters are winning 8-0. If the Roosters win, I will only be 2 points behind my sister in the footy tipping. Sneaking up from the rear! Fingers crossed.

Time to snuggle under the covers.

Nite all.

Smokey Start

Sleeping was easier for me last night, although my solid sleep was only 5 hours.

My alarm sounded at 6am and I snoozed it until 6.30am, which gave me 45 minutes to get ready for my trip into the bay for the Urangan Pier markets.

We stepped outside under a suspended umbrella of smelly, choking smoke. So we were pleased to be heading into the bay, away from it!

Nope. This was the view of the Bay as we got closer …

It took us 40 minutes to arrive at the Jam Jar cafe, but it wasn’t open yet, so BGWLBH purchased her morning coffee at the nearby bakery, and we sat at their outdoor table until she left for her nail salon appointment.

I wandered through BigW and bought 2 lipsticks and a mascara.

Because we were planning on buying our fruit and veg at the markets, I found a cool little granny trolley for just $23 in BigW.

From there I carried my goodies across the road to the other shopping centre where I updated my lotto tickets. I was feeling pretty peckish by then but couldn’t find any breakfast food nearby so I returned to the Jam Jar cafe and selected a toasted chicken, avocado and onion sandwich with a green day juice.

Before I’d finished my food, BGWLBH returned with her new nails, which looked fabulous.

We drove to the Daymen St bakery and got two loaves of sourdough bread then straight to the markets from there.

Unfortunately, there were no fruit and veg stalls, but lots of other great stalls.

I bought two singlet tops, three bracelets, 6 GF donuts and a pearl ring.

There was more that I would have liked, especially in the clothing, but I restrained myself. I sat for a while listening to the fantastic live music on offer though and thoroughly enjoyed it.

By that time, the breeze had picked up and blown away all the smoke, so it turned into yet another perfect winters day and view across the calm blue ocean was beautiful (but I didn’t get a pic to prove it).

We then did a Coles shop, Choice and the butcher and drove to Eli Waters to Farm Gate for those elusive fruit and veg.

 I met a lady from Perth who was waiting patiently for her husband who was talking “shop” with the Farm Gate owner. Their lives were spent owning and operating a number of fruit and veg shops in Perth and they have now retired.

I think the fresh seafood place has closed down. That would be sad.

Tomorrow is coffee with the art girls, so it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Animated Meditation

My sleep was very light last night so I didn’t feel rested this morning.

I set my alarm for 6am but when it sounded, I continually hit the snooze button for more than an hour!

I left myself 35 minutes to get ready for meditation.

What was worse … before heading to class I had to go to the ATM for cash to pay for class!

I ordered a coffee and had to wait a couple of minutes for that, then I was pulled up by a neighbour for a chat and even though I extracted myself quickly, it still made me 5 minutes late for class.

The class was fantastic today. One of the best we’ve had that inspired deep conversation and we were animated and connected as a group.

Afterwards, I met The Gypsy at the Lions Park and we chatted for 2.5 hours. It was another perfect Winters day and a pleasant way to pass the morning.

It was such a beautiful day, I decided to go for a long ride before heading home, so I was, once again, exhausted by the time I did get home!

Straight to bed for resting, where I stayed all afternoon, even dozing once or twice.

I made chicken and vegetable pastries for dinner and served them with home made pickled tomato, cucumber and onion plus 1/4 of a fresh avocado on the side.

Then straight back to bed!

Off to the pier markets in the morning and BGWLBH has an appointment at the nail salon, so I need better sleep tonight.

Nite all.

This Week has Started

I slept well last night. 7.5 hours interrupted only by Harley jumping out of his bed and onto my bed at 6.20am. He licked my face, then curled up and went to sleep beside me.

An unplanned day in the Bay.

Breakfast at Arkarra Tea Gardens again.

A long visit to Spotlight. I needed to find some extra material for patch working my jeans and I thought Spotlight would solve the issue.

It didn’t.

There’s just too much to choose from and it took me forever just to choose from one small selection! I didn’t even look at the big rolls of material! I would like a couple more hours.

Only looking at blues and pinks …

… and they go pretty well with the stuff I’ve already cut and set aside. 

Then I went in search of batteries for our bathroom scales. They are never with regular batteries and today I found them in a chemist on a wall with a bunch of other unusually sized and shaped batteries.

I weighed myself this afternoon and I have gained 1.5kgs, which is not a bad thing for me. I am 55.2kgs and I’m pretty happy at that weight.

I’d like to tone up my saggy baggy bits though. That would require a commitment to regular movement and that’s a struggle for me. 

We arrived home around 3pm and I got changed, hung out my washing, took Harley out to play and then organised dinner. 

Leftover lasagne for Adoring Husband. Chicken schnitzel with wombok salad, garden salad and buttery potatoes for BGWLBH. Chicken nuggets for me.

I’m very tired this evening and I need to get up early for meditation tomorrow.

Nite all.

Cutting and Sewing

I did not fall asleep until 5am 😩

My body couldn’t relax. I had nothing on my mind. I just lay in the dark, wide awake and wondering why!

I put the golf on a couple of times, with the volume off and set the timer for one hour each time.

Finally, just after 5, I drifted into a light sleep and stirred many times until 9.30am when I decided to give up and rise.

I played with Harley for 30 minutes, put on a load of washing, got the lasagne sauce out of the freezer, gathered all the clothing that I’m cutting up for patchwork, cut out flowers, stars, strips, a unicorn and hand sewed one strip of material which will eventually act as a sun ray on one leg of my jeans.

It took a long time to pin and hand sew. I think I’m being way too particular!

I made a prawn salad for my lunch. 7 cooked prawns, shredded lettuce, 1 small avocado cubed, 1 small tomato chunky diced, 1 spring onion chopped, half a pear diced, fresh coriander and a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts. I made a dressing of coconut yoghurt, splash of ACV, teaspoon of mango and pineapple jam, splash of maple syrup, salt and a sprinkle of poppy seeds.

If I could order that in a restaurant, I’d choose it every time. Bloody delicious!

Adoring Husband and I watched a documentary on Woodstock (I only saw parts of it), followed by two games of football.

I made the lasagne with a salad for dinner.

We watched the first Block room reveal.

Now it’s already 11pm and I’m hoping that I will easily fall asleep very soon.

Nite all.