Day 189 in a Year of my Life

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Happy Birthday to you! ♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Happy Birthday to you! ♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Happy Birthday dear Kaz ♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Happy Birthday to yewwwwww ♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Sung to the tune of 'Happy Birthday' and in my very best Operatic Soprano singing voice!

In honour of your birthday (knowing how disappointed you are in the fact that I use your real name here instead of a nickname), I now dub thee ... *drum roll*

"Sparkles" due to your beautiful sparkling eyes.

Lef to right - Hopalong, Sparkles, Lady Lynn and Bev4now

So ... it was Sparkles' birthday today!  Quite a large group of us congregated at the Lions Park for a birthday barbecue.

I was in charge of the birthday cake because Sparkles and I are both gluten free and therefore we have easier access to good gluten free recipes.

This is a very old recipe that I haven't even used for over twenty years, long before I became aware of my gluten intolerance. 

It was more delicious than I remember!

Almost all of the dishes were gluten free and every one of them were mouth wateringly (I think I just made that word up) good!  

Our friends are so wonderful to put such an effort into providing nice food to meet our dietary requirements on occasions like this.  It's usually difficult at social events, but they go out of their way for us and today, that's what I am grateful for.  Thank you friends :)

Nite all.

Day 188 in a Year of my Life

While I was taking photos on the beach, a local gentleman riding a scooter, came looking for me to tell me about some kangaroos fighting on the edge of the national park near where he lives.

Apparently, there were originally eight fighting bucks, but by the time I arrived there were only four left and only two of them were fighting.

They were huge and I estimate that the biggest ones were about 8 feet tall when they were standing upright.

I kept a safe distance.  I've seen the sort of damage that an angry buck can do to a person, so I wasn't going to take any risks.

These guys were very close to where I almost stood on the Red Belly Black snake last week, so I was being doubly cautious.

I've got a big day planned for tomorrow and after two glasses of wine tonight, I am feeling decidedly weary, so I'm off to get some beauty sleep.

Today, I am grateful for locals who come to find me when they see something that they think is worthy of photographing.  50% of the time, it's definitely worth following up!

Nite all.

Day 187 in a Year of my Life

Three whole months after the tornado, Adoring Husband brought all of my jewellery making paraphernalia in from the container, for me to sort, clean, clear, dispose of and/or store in my new work area.

Sadly, one whole large box of it had to be disposed of due to water damage - rust, mould, swelling, staining etc.

There was JUST enough room to store the remainder in my work area!  Whew!

That job took about 6 hours!  I'm so glad that it's done.

I did wake early this morning - before the alarm even went off - hoping for a sunrise to photograph, but there was not a cloud in the sky and no colour to speak of.  I decided to save myself for a prettier morning .. perhaps it will be tomorrow morning?!

Another photo from the Bubbles collection ...

and this gave me a bit of a giggle today...

Ten minutes to midnight - best hit the hay!  Last but not least is a photo from the Vegan Chickie collection ...

How cute is that???

Today I am grateful to be yet another step closer to normality.

Nite all.

Day 186 in a Year of my Life

Well ... another big day!

Our trip took about thirty minutes longer than usual, due to many, many road works along the way.  The trip is going to be a breeze when the roads have improved with more passing lanes.

The Specialist in Bundaberg was able to confirm that Adoring Husband's Parkinsons hasn't deteriorated in the last 3 months, which, I guess, is a good sign.  We travelled a long way and paid him a lot of money to give us that little jewel!

Anyway, we had a lovely lunch at Brother's Sports Club and they had some good gluten free options.  My choice was Atlantic Salmon with prawns and a glazed honey dressing.  Delicious!

Adoring Husband ate half a cow!

We visited Spotlight to replace all of my jewellery making tools that I lost when the tornado hit, and then tried to find an oddly sized chest of drawers for AH.  Most chests of drawers are one of three standard sizes - none of which are good for his requirements.

He may have to use his ingenius brain and excellent cabinet making skills to create his own masterpiece!

We arrived home safe n sound late this afternoon and discovered that our male psychotic dog is still feeling a little off.  I think we'll take him to the vet tomorrow to have him checked.  He hasn't been himself for about a week now and I must admit that even 'I' am feeling a little concerned.

There was no chance for photography today, so here is a shot that I took while Bubbles was here.

If I get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight, I may even wake up early enough for a sunrise ... we all know how successful my sunrise plans usually are!  However .. it is now 7pm and I am signing off.  Surely that's a good sign!

Nite all.

Day 185 in a Year of my Life

What a lovely day I've had today.

It started with my early morning ride to the boys at the new Seat of Knowledge, which was followed by a very pleasant morning tea with the girls.

I spent ninety minutes playing with my photos, which then gave me 30 minutes to get ready for the monthly 'Lady's Luncheon'!  It was held at the local watering hole today and there were about fifteen of us in attendance.

I actually ate at home before I left, because the pub's 'gluten free' options aren't strictly 'gluten free', and I have been caught out there before.

Basically, I went for the social aspect and I now have a morning tea date with one of the ladies next week!  We've talked about it many times before this, but never made any solid plans til now, so I'm really looking forward to that.

I've been taking a lot of photos lately, but my success rate has been pretty low.  I have a sunset shot from last Saturday.

and a 'before' and 'after' shot of one of Bubbles' photos.  I think she composed this photo very well. I just added my own bit of editing.  I know it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I like it.

Another big day tomorrow, so I'm off to bed.  Have a lovely 'hump day' (Wednesday) everybody.

Nite all.

Day 184 in a Year of my Life

There's nothing nicer than the feel of soft new carpet under your feet, the smell of freshly washed walls and the clear light that bursts through thoroughly cleaned windows.

Spring cleaning doesn't just clean your house.  It cleans your mind, your heart and your soul.

We haven't finished spring (should I say Autumn?) cleaning yet, but it already feels pretty good!

We have a fairly busy week ahead of us, so I should go slide between the fresh clean sheets that are gracing our bed right now.

I have lots of photos on my camera, awaiting my perusal, but just haven't had a chance to look at them - therefore I have none to share with you tonight.

Short post *yawn*

Nite all.

Day 183 in a Year of my Life

What a day!

Bubbles was driven to the airport by Kaz's husband, who I now dub 'The Lifesaver', because he has come to our rescue on so many occasions for emergencies and other moments of need.

He is a good and kind man and we regard him (and Kaz) as valued and cherished friends.

Anyway, as I was saying ...

Bubbles left for the airport at 10.30am and when she had gone, I sat quietly for an hour contemplating my next move.

We have carpet layers coming tomorrow morning to lay new carpet in our bedroom, so the plan of action was to clear as much furniture and belongings out of the room as possible, so that by morning, we would only need to remove the bed.

I began clearing my dressing table.

I'm not sure that you understand the enormity of this task.

I possess two very large, very full jewellery boxes.  They contain very little of value.  Mostly dress and junk jewellery, but there is a LOT of it.

Beside my jewellery boxes, are 3 wire jewellery racks, which I initially bought to display jewellery at my market stall.  When I withdrew from the markets, these racks found a new home on my dressing table, displaying my own jewellery.

My large dressing table mirror also acts as a rack for my larger beaded necklaces to drape over.

On the edge of the dressing table, there is space for a very small television screen.

It took me one hour to clear the mess.  This does NOT include tidying the jewellery boxes, which are in desperate need of exactly that.  One hour just to make the dressing table top clean.

Adoring Husband arrived home from his trip to the Gold Coast just as I was finishing this job and he immediately joined me in the massive bedroom clearing task.

Five hours later, we had cleared and cleaned all of the timber furniture (except the bed), washed the walls down with sugar soap, cleaned the windows, cleaned the ensuite bathroom, vacuumed the carpet, cleaned our large bedside lamps (this was a chore all on it's own), cleared what was left out of the walk in robe and removed the door.

I cooked dinner while AH began assembling the furniture that we'd bought on Friday.  He assembled all but one cupboard.

Every muscle, every bone and every joint in my body is aching.  I imagine that a body might feel like this after running a marathon!  I don't ever intend to find out for sure!

This evening, I sat back in our new recliner lounge and watched The Voice and the end of the final of My Kitchen Rules.

I don't mind telling you that it took quite a bit of loud effort to remove myself from said lounge.  I grunted and groaned my way to the desk to write this post and I'm feeling every bit of my 53 years.

Another bee shot from yesterday.

I hear my pillows calling my name.

Today, I am grateful to The Lifesaver, for once again coming to our rescue.

Nite all.    

Day 182 in a Year of my Life

This is a photo that Bubbles took while in Hervey Bay.  This is her original shot ...

This is after I edited it...

The bees were having a fine time in my passionfruit vine this afternoon, so Bubbles and I spent some time trying to get shots with multiple bees in them ...

Sadly, Bubbles returns to Sydney tomorrow, but she now takes possession of my old Sony camera, so I hope she is motivated and enthusiastic enough to get out there and take all sorts of photos.

Practise, practise, practise is the key to improvement!

I found this photo floating around facebook - if you're a camera buff at all, you might find it interesting.

Well, it's been a very pleasant and relaxing day.

Bubbles and I went to the park by the river to try for a sunset shot this afternoon.  It was a bit of a fizzer, but we got some interesting shots anyway.  I'll download them tomorrow and choose which ones to share in here tomorrow night.

My NRL and AFL teams both won their games tonight.  Bubbles and I had an easy dinner and watched Breaking Dawn Part II on the big screen.  Then we packed her suitcase.  She is, surprisingly, only 1kg over the weight limit!

We might even try for a sunrise shot tomorrow morning!  Now, getting Bubbles out of bed for a sunrise???  THAT would be a miracle!

Today, I am grateful for a nice relaxing final day to Bubbles' holiday.  I will be sad to see her go, but I have really loved having her here.  The time just went too quickly.

Nite all.