Out and About Again

At 9am, after a solid 7 hours of sleep, I accepted BGWLBH’s invitation into the Bay.

Her mission was to purchase a new phone charging cord.

My mission was to refresh my lotto tickets and find some chicken breasts at the butcher.

Fresh roadworks have commenced on the main drag into the Bay and traffic lights have been set up, so we were stopped for 10-15 minutes at a red light, extending the length of our trip by two thirds!

We decided that Office Works was the place for cords … and we all know what a dangerous place that is for me … but I’m proud to announce that I controlled my spending and only bought 2 rolls of mentos.

No journals.

Our next stop was the newsagent at Pialba. The queue there was eight people long with only one person on the till.

I am constantly surprised at how many tickets people buy for all the lottos. Aren’t we supposed to be right in the middle of a cost of living crisis? Yet people are paying high prices for concert tickets, theatre tickets, sporting events, restaurant meals etc etc etc.

I can’t see any penny pinching going on. I just hear mainstream media telling me how tough it is out there and that we should hold on tight to our pennies.

Suffice to say, it took quite some time for these people to check their multiple tickets and replay them. A couple of people had a dozen tickets to check.

My butcher let me down and didn’t have the chicken breasts that I so desired. Instead, I found some lamb shanks to test my new slow cooker. They also had chicken, mushroom and garlic sausages that I desperately wanted to try, so I got 8 of them.

The last stop was the Jam Jar for our juices.

Another long ride home because of roadworks, but as soon as I arrived home and had my Harley cuddles, I cooked up a couple of the chicken sausages for a late lunch.

They were bloody delicious!

For dinner, I made salmon and potato patties with pickled tomato, cucumber and red onion, wombok salad and grated carrot/cheese.

Also delicious.

Tomorrow I have morning tea with my art girls, followed by a zoom meeting with The Gypsy, so it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Change of Plan

I’m trying to remember what I’ve done today 🤔

Due to illness (not mine), meditation was cancelled this morning, so I got to stay in bed until 8am.

Adoring Husband knocked on my bedroom door to take my water bottle, which he fills for me every time I leave the house. He didn’t know at that point that I wasn’t leaving, so Harley took that opportunity to escape the confines of the room and I was left on my own.

It was such a glorious day that I decided to go for a ride on my trike, so I showered and made myself presentable, took coffee orders and off I rode.

The river looked amazing with the sunlight sparkling off the blue water. The sky was mostly clear and there were boats making their way out to sea for a good days fishing. People were out walking their dogs, tradies enjoying smoko at the park, cyclists in groups and couples walking hand in hand.

Ours is a busy little community these days.

I found myself an isolated bench seat in the sunshine, away from the crowds and overlooking the beach where I sat soaking up the vitamin D and enjoying the peace and quiet for about 30 minutes.

It was lovely.

I dropped off a bag of passionfruit at the free food bank table under the church ramp.

I wandered through the supermarket where I found wheat free GF SR flour and plain flour so I grabbed a packet of each, a couple of other baking items for future use and I ordered our three coffees on a cardboard tray.

After I secured the tray of coffees to the mini frame in front of my trike, I slipped into the bakery for some GF profiteroles.

On the way home, I hit a few bumps which splashed a lot of coffee out of the drinking holes in the cup lids and I was worried that there might not be much left in the cup by the time I got to my place! As it was, there was a lot of cleaning up to do before I handed off their coffees AND I reheated mine in a saucepan because it was lukewarm.

Perhaps I’ll remember to take the mini esky next time, to contain the overflow and keep the coffee hot.

My new Instant Pot Pro arrived by courier - it has 10 different functions …

Electric pressure cooker, slow cooker, sous vide, rice/grain cooker, sauté pan, steriliser, cake baker, steamer, yoghurt maker and food warmer.

It looks good!

After 2 hours out and about getting exercise and sunshine and social interactions, I needed to rest in my room!

That’s where I watched an interesting interview on ‘Diary of a CEO’ about sunlight and other natural health phenomenons …

The Magic of Sunlight

So far, I’m really enjoying these interviews. He has the most amazing experts in so many different fields and backs it up with links to all of the research papers and journals for scientific proof. He also asks the best questions.

For dinner, I cooked crumbed beef and served with boiled buttered potatoes, wombok salad and garden salad.

I had the last container of home made tomato soup with toasted sourdough. It was bloody delicious!

Now I’m ready to sleep.

Nite all.

Mildly Productive

I declined BGWLBH’s invitation into The Bay this morning because I was feeling slightly motivated to be moderately productive around the house.

Note the two words “slightly” and “moderately”.

I was awake at 5.30am and turned on the live golf to watch the final round of the BMW Championship.

Harley got to play at 9am after I had removed the pedestal fan from my room so that Adoring Husband could pull it apart for me to clean, however, when I returned inside, he had already cleaned it!

What a good egg.

My bedroom floor was looking very ‘furry’, so I asked AH to set the vacuum cleaner up for me while I used the rubber broom to scrape as much Harley hair from the floor and especially the architraves as I could.

AH decided to take over that chore too, so I let him finish before taking the vacuum cleaner and doing the job properly, including cleaning the ceiling cornices and brushing the walls that had a coating of dust.

My navy bedspread also had a coating of Harley hair, because he has been jumping on my bed every morning for the last week and snuggling for an hour or two. I used the lint remover to do that.

The only thing wrong with owning a border collie is the fact that they drop enough fur to make a new border collie every day.

I gave the vacuuming away after doing the hallway outside my bedroom.

I brought my washing inside and put it away.

By then, I was starving so I sent AH to buy coffee while I crumbed and cooked some raw prawn cutlets. I made a seafood dipping sauce and sliced some lemon to have on the side.

While I ate and drank, I caught up on some episodes of The Voice.

We found the new series “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” on HBO and we really enjoyed it. Lots of guest appearances from the characters in Big Bang Theory. There are only 5 episodes so far but I got some good giggles out of it.

Tonight’s dinner was baked potatoes covered in beef with tomato and onion, with stir fried vegetables - beans, snow peas, zucchini, carrots, red capsicum, broccolini, bok choy and onion.

Healthful.

Now it’s time to sleep because I have meditation early tomorrow morning.

Nite all.

Restfully Unexciting

I was awake and out of bed earlier than usual, even after a night of very broken sleep due to the golf.

I took Harley out to play just after 8.30am for almost an hour.

I did some gardening.

I did two loads of washing.

I sent Adoring Husband to get me real coffee while I made myself some toast for breakfast.

I watched an entire series of Taskmaster New Zealand.

I watched two games of football.

I took Harley out for his second play this afternoon.

I made dinner for spaghetti Sunday.

I caught up to my sister in the footy tipping comp.

I didn’t even need a nap today!

I was motivated enough to think about my next art project but not motivated enough to make a start.

I started every sentence here with the word “I”.

Except these two.

Nite all.

Markets Art Craft n more

I slept a solid six hours and woke up without the alarm at 4am.

My alarm was set for 5am to get ready for a 6.30am departure, so I turned on the TV to watch the golf until I needed to rise.

Harley decided he would jump out of his bed onto my bed for cuddles, which was quite lovely. He lay on top of my body and rested his head on my cheek. He loves me.

We left the house at 6.35am and after dealing with crazy, speeding, dangerous overtaking on double lines on a bend and idiots taking risks on crossroads, we arrived at Urangan Pier markets at 7.10am.

It was PACKED! We had to drive around the block 3 times looking for a park and eventually had to park a ten minute walk away! 

There were heaps of stalls and heaps of people and I spent heaps of money.

I bought

• An enormous sourdough loaf
• Six GF cinnamon donuts
• An ocean jasper pendant
• Two handmade cards
• Two journals - one with a free embroidered calico bag
• A tea towel
• A glasses cleaning cloth

There was stunning art on offer, especially some beautiful stylised octopus in carved timber frames.

Three or four stalls with crystals, gemstones and jewellery.

Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.

GF breads of all descriptions, Turkish bread, Lebanese bread, baklava and half a dozen different types of sourdough.

A stall full of jams, relishes, chutneys, sauces and pickles.

Fresh local honey.

Carved timber products like cutting boards, pens, bowls, toys etc.

Lady’s clothing and funny printed t-shirts.

Pottery and ceramics all handmade and hand painted.

Essential oils, balms and sprays.

A magnesium stand.

A hemp stand.

A sausage sizzle.

A German sausage van.

A coffee van.

Two fresh juice vans.

A donut van.

Plants, orchids, succulents, fresh flowers and air plants.

So much more.

We left there at 8.30am and went in search of breakfast. It was quite chilly and my fingers and toes were chilled to the bone! I don’t usually feel the cold, but I certainly did this morning.

I enjoyed a freshly squeezed orange and pineapple juice, while BGWLBH had her usual bacon and eggs with pot of tea.

We went in search of the elusive art gallery that we’ve been meaning to visit for a couple of years. What a hidden gem that is!

Beautifully maintained and obviously well loved, run by volunteers and with a really friendly and warm atmosphere. Lots of beautiful art on the walls and a big area where they run classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced. Today they had mosaic classes.

The art changes every month with a different theme for each hanging.

I wish I either lived closer or had a drivers licence because I would definitely join the gallery, do the classes, hang my art and volunteer on a regular basis.

Our final destination was an art and craft garage sale in Torquay. A little shop that ran different art and craft classes was closing down and becoming a mobile operation, so there was heaps of old stock on offer in packs for $5 each.

BGWLBH got a huge bag of different sized pearls.

I got a bag of sea glass, a small tackle box full of gold and silver jewellery findings, 20 gold and silver key rings with clips, tiny screw in hooks in gold and silver, alcohol ink, silicon moulds, ceramic planter pots, leather fringes, 20 packets of crafting wire, crafting gloves, liquid droppers, nail art stickers, glitter and lots more. I spent $54. I could easily have spent more!

If I was still doing my art classes, I’d have made a killing with premixed pouring paint because she had boxes of it.

We were absolutely exhausted after all of that! We came home, prepared ourselves some lunch and cup of tea before BGWLBH retreated to her bedroom for a nap and I selected the couch for my nap.

I’ve watched the football this afternoon and evening and will probably fall asleep before the golf is telecast.

After four days in a row in the Bay, tomorrow will definitely be a rest day … although I DO have some washing that desperately needs doing.

I’ll see how I feel in the morning.

Nite all.