Making the small pleasures guilt-free

I spent a whole hour, yesterday, laying in my hammock in the Winter sunshine.  Pure bliss!  I didn't read or listen to music or focus on anything except the warmth of the sun and the sound of the chooks and their quiet contented clucking.

By the end of an hour, I felt guilty for having been so self indulgent and I came inside the house.  It's very strange that I should feel guilty for enjoying something so simple and I wonder, from where, that guilt stems.

I even looked at the hammock this afternoon and considered spending some more time in it, but denied myself the pleasure, opting instead to unpack my market gear and do a little tidying of the house.

Must rid myself of this unnecessary guilt!  Must enjoy more time in my hammock!  It's on my "Fifty two things to do before I turn fifty two" list!

Enjoying the hammock with Psychotic Dogs

Played a good nine holes of golf yesterday too.  I must say that it was quite chilly on the golf course at 6.30am but once we got moving, we soon warmed up.

It was even too cold for the kangaroos!  We usually see a mob of kangaroos sunning themselves in the paddock beside the golf course, but there were none to be seen yesterday!

To get to the golf course, there is a bridge crossing over a river and when we looked out over the edge of the bridge,  the water was so still, that it looked like a mirror reflecting the perfectly blue sky and the trees lining the banks.  There was a soft mist floating above the water which made it look so pretty and peaceful.  Alas, no camera :o(

I hope that my description is enough to help you conjure the picture in your mind.

Today was market day and I set up my stall alone because my usual off-sider, the lovely Aussie H, is away caring for her grandchildren while her son and his wife are on holidays, and Adoring Husband played golf.

The weather was spectacular!  One of those days where the sunlight glistens off everything and the air is so clean that the colours are vibrant and crisp.  There was a cool breeze and I found myself lifting my face to the sky and closing my eyes to feel the warmth on my skin.

I only had two sales for the day, but I met another stall holder who was lovely and I got to talk to so many locals who are now in the habit of stopping by to say hello on their way through the markets.  With so much socialising happening, it makes the morning go by so quickly!

Little Chicklet visited me briefly with Vegan Chickie and The Bare-chested Chef on their way into The Bay.

On my way home, I pedalled down by the river and just sat for a while looking at the water and watching people bring their boats in and out on the boat ramp.  A very pleasant twenty minutes.

A beautiful sunshiny day

Bubbles phoned me this afternoon to find out how Grandmotherly life was treating me.  We had an interesting conversation over the noise of traffic as she walked home from work along the busy main street in Sydney where she lives.  I miss her :o(

I declare, from this day forward, that my small pleasures in life will be enjoyed GUILT-FREE!

       

Beautiful one day ... perfect the next!

What a glorious day in our patch of paradise today!  It started out quite chilly, because Adoring Husband who had to go to work at 5.30am, came home and pulled the doona tight around my chin saying "Stay in bed!  It's only 8 degrees outside!"

I don't usually feel the cold but I did wear a vest over my sleeveless dress today.  The sun was shining all day and there was a slight breeze blowing which gave the locals a bit of a chill but this is perfect weather for me!  It reached a healthy 23C degrees.

I've had some lovely play times with little Chicklet today.  We explored the front and back gardens again,  talked to the lovely laying chookies, checked out the jewellery making area, discussed the issue of world peace and told each other some little secrets.

We are getting along very nicely!  Thank you for asking!

Adoring Husband played golf today and got to use his new cart, which we have now named "Carter".  Not the fastest cart on the course, especially with two big lugs like Adoring Husband and his golfing buddy 'Green Door' in tow.

Soon, Carter will have a few new accessories to spruce him up and he will be the envy of many!

Adoring Husband with the beloved 'Carter'

Tomorrow the weather will continue to be glorious and I will be playing golf Carter-less because I play golf for the exercise and don't require a cart :o)  (for now)

The bare-chested chef has been having a wonderful time in our kitchen almost all day and is preparing a super delicious pasta dish with freshly made pasta - OF which I will take photos later - OVER which I am sure you will drool with envy!

No words can describe how delightful this meal was!

It's not just the weather that's beautiful one day, perfect the next!

Drinkies!

Yesterday morning, my Aqua-aerobic ladies and I didn't go to Aqua-aerobics, for various reasons, but still met at 9am for our usual morning tea.  

Our 'usual' morning tea turned into an 'unusual' morning tea because the Bakery was unexpectedly closed due to illness, and we had to move along the footpath to another place for our coffee.

While we were there, one of the ladies (I'll call her 'Beauty') invited us all to her house the next afternoon for drinks.  The first questions everybody asked was "What's the occasion?"  and "Whose birthday is it?".

"No occasion" she replied "It's just a gathering of friends.  Bring your own drinks and yourselves, but don't bring anything else".

There have been so many celebrations lately, like Easter, Mother's Day, May Day, Australia Day, ANZAC Day and numerous birthdays that it feels like there has to be a reason for all gatherings now.

When we first moved to this town, there were parties every few weeks for no particular reason except to get to know each other.  It was 'Party Central' and by the end of the first year, we were EXHAUSTED!

So, this afternoon at 3.30, we carried our esky full of beer and sarsaparilla down the street (about five houses down) to Beauty & the Beast's house.  

It was my first time in their home and I felt welcome immediately.  They have a lovely home and there were delicious cooking smells wafting around as we walked through to the back deck.

A couple of the ladies were already there with their husbands and we all made ourselves comfortable outside and chatted among ourselves. 

After about 20 minutes, Beauty appeared from inside, with plates of food.  Every 20-30 minutes, she suddenly re-appeared with even MORE food ... all home cooked with an Asian feel ... all absolutely delicious! 

All I could do was take small samples, knowing full well that The Bare-chested Chef was working away in my kitchen preparing my favourite of his specialty dishes!  

So we ate and drank and laughed and chatted as the sun set behind us through the trees.  After a while I bragged to everyone that we had our own personal chef at home cooking our dinner, and we had to make our excuses and leave after more than two hours of very pleasant company and wonderful hospitality.

***Excuse me ... my dinner is served***

My goodness!  Home made Fajitas with every filling known to mankind and even home made wraps!  My chef is the BEST chef in town - maybe in all of Queensland!

I am so full **rubs belly**

I feel like I'm a bit of a failure ... I should have taken photos at Beauty and the Beast's place and I definitely should have taken a photo of our dinner table tonight ... it was a spectacular sight! 

There are enough leftovers to have fajitas for lunch tomorrow - yummo - and there'll be no drinkies at anyone's house tomorrow, so I can stuff my face with whatever my personal chef cares to make for dinner. 

The camera will definitely be out and ready for action, so I'll share the visual with anyone who cares! 

Blogger Bombed Briefly!

I try so hard to post something new every single day, but for the last twenty four hours, Blogger has had a known problem that has prevented me from communicating via my blog.  Boo hiss :o(

Yesterday was my first full day with the family.  Chicklet was a little unsettled, but even feeling unsettled, she was perfectly fine and hardly made a sound.

The psychotic dogs are still just as psychotic as ever - very jumpy - every little sound sets them off.  People walking by the house sets them off.  Adoring Husband talking loudly on the phone (why do men do that?) sets them off.

They've even begun to fight among themselves because the new dog (Chicklet) in the house seems to have forced a change in the pecking order.  The oldest and the youngest dogs have decided to fight for the role of Alpha dog.  Quite disturbing really.  They'll get over it eventually.

As The Bare-chested Chef asked "Who is actually behind bars?  Chicklet or the Psychotic Dogs?"

Curiouser and Curiouser

Vegan Chickie, Chicklet and I had a lovely few hours together today while The Bare-chested Chef and Adoring Husband drove down south to pick up a second hand car.  Now the new family have a safe family car in which to  travel about.

We took Chicklet outside for some Vitamin D and introduced her to the veggie garden and the Lovely Laying Chooks.  It was all very interesting for her and very tiring, so she has had a few short naps today.  She missed her Daddy and was very happy to see him when he returned home.

Adoring Husband came home with a second hand golf cart so he is also very happy and is currently researching,  investigating and trolling the internet for all of the information available for his particular brand of cart.

All I know is that it's maroon ... so the Queenslander in me is pretty happy :o)

So tomorrow will be a big day for the new family when they go into The Bay to begin establishing themselves as residents of Australia again.  New bank accounts, medicare, driver's licence etc etc.

For the next two nights,  The Bare-chested Chef will be practising his culinary skills in our kitchen, so dinner will be exciting and different!  Yummo!

Except for a day without Blogger, all is right with the world and I am a happy Bella :o)

All Is Right With The World!

Three psychotic dogs are very confused!  They can see this little 'thing' that makes funny noises and gets passed from person to person and they just aren't quite sure what to make of it.  They scuttle around our feet looking up and making strange whiny sounds.

They've never seen or heard a baby before!

They sit in the hallway outside the bedroom listening and then give a little 'woof' when they hear Chicklet make a noise.  It's quite amusing.

Chicklet, as we speak is lying on her Dad's chest, sleeping like a baby.  She is exhausted after two days of travelling and seeing so many strange faces.

It sounded like she was barking in her sleep a little while ago.

She has never seen or heard a dog before.

Photos and more Chicklet news tomorrow.

So ... my lovely family arrived today, safe n sound, and all is right with the world :o)