Finals Weekend

I sit here on my couch watching the AFL grand final as Hawthorn is annihilating West Coast Eagles. Hawthorn already lead by 43 points and there is still ten minutes left of the second quarter. A disappointing game so far, but games have been known to turn around when you least expect it, so I continue to watch with eager anticipation!

The expectation for tomorrow's NRL grand final is for a much closer game, however, because there are two Queensland teams playing, I really don't mind who wins. Being a Bronco's supporter, I would like them to win of course, but I wouldn't begrudge a Cowboys victory.

I've made an observation over the past week. I seem to have had a more social week than usual and have spent time with a LOT of different people. I've had conversations with at least 60 local people, sometimes one on one, sometimes in group situations.

Something I've noticed, is that few people actually listen when others speak. I don't specifically mean when "I" speak, but when others, in their company, speak.

I've noticed that people mostly wait for a pause in the conversation, so that they can tell their comparable story, all the while, not actually listening to anything but the voice in their own head telling them how to relate their own tale.

Some people don't even wait for a pause. They simply interrupt with a loud forceful voice, making sure that they will be heard above everyone else.

I've also noticed that there are some people who will speak even louder to prevent the other loud person from speaking above them! Then there are those who simply go silent, knowing that they will not be heard if they continue .. or knowing that nobody is really listening to what they have to say.

When this happens to me, I feel empty inside, so I try really hard not to do it to others. I don't know how successful I am because I'm always in group situations and rarely one on one with my friends, but I do try.

There are times when we really need to share 'stuff'.

When it takes a long time to find the courage to share something important, there is nothing more demoralising than being cut off part way through your story, by someone who thinks that sharing their own experience is going to miraculously bring comfort and closure to your problem.

Sometimes we don't need advice or suggestions or a solution. We want to say it out loud and not be judged or compared to or laughed at. We just want to be heard.

Listening seems to be a dying art. I wonder if the death of 'listening' has anything to do with the increase in depression and anxiety in this world?

One of the most sincere

forms of respect 

is actually listening 

to what another 

has to say.

- Bryant McGill

I also found this quote today and wanted to share it ...

 To laugh often and much: to win the respect of

intelligent people and the affection of children;

to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure

the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty;

to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better

whether by healthy child, a garden patch or a

redeemed social condition; to know that even

one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yesterday, one of the Tawny Frogmouths finally sat on the nest that I was watching grow bigger each day. I was VERY excited to see it!

Today, I looked at the nest and it was empty!!

A Tawny Frogmouth was perched alone on a branch nearby and there on the ground were the remains of an egg or two.

I figure one of two things may have happened.

1. They did a crap job building the nest and the eggs fell out (Tawnies are renowned for poor nest building).

2. Something has happened to one of the Tawnies and the eggs have been tossed because one Tawny cannot take care of them alone.

I hope that number one is the correct answer and that they have the opportunity to repair the nest and try again.

Fingers crossed.

Anyway, that's enough of my philosophical post for today. It's not even 5pm but I guess it's close enough to ...

Nite all.

Guilty as Charged

All of us who own dogs understand that cower of guilt that dogs display when they know they've been caught out doing something naughty, so I thought I would share this with you. You will smile and at the same time feel sorry for each and every one of these naughty canines.



It's 10.30pm and I am definitely ready for bed, so this is just a short post.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Nite all.

De-cluttering Time

My only real plan for the day, was to change the bedding, including the quilt cover to bring some new colour into the bedroom.

Big mistake!

This led to clearing out the linen cupboard.

I threw away three bags of linen.

Old white sheets and pillow cases that had miraculously changed their colour from white to yellow. A cane picnic basket that has been stored there for 7 years and has never been used in that time. Some old oven mitts. Hand towels and t-towels. A bag full of light globes that don't fit any light fittings in our house. Computer cables that are now living in the 'man shed'. Tote bags and eco bags that have NEVER been used.

I got half way through the cleansing process when I had to stop to make lunch. The laundry and hallway looked like a disaster area!

After lunch, I lost all motivation and it took me more than an hour to build up my care factor and finish the job.

My status update on facebook, which declared my achievement of linen cupboard clearing, brought comments from a few people, one of whom introduced me to something called the KonMari method of de-cluttering, where you hold the item (clothes, shoes, knick-knacks, photos etc etc) and ask yourself if this item brings you joy. If you have to think about it, the answer is no and you should toss it.

I am going to look further into this process because I'm feeling somewhat inspired to completely cleanse and de-clutter my life!

The pantry is next on my list, then all of the wardrobes in all of the bedrooms, and of course my office/work area which will probably be the scariest part of all!

Meanwhile, I found this little family on my way home from coffee a few mornings ago...

I also found a Butcher Bird nest with babies in it, but Mrs Butcher Bird is very protective, so I don't think I have much chance of getting a photo. I will don my suit of armour tomorrow and make an attempt.

Post-de-cluttering sleep is now required .. which can also be described as pre-de-cluttering sleep, if I can make another start tomorrow!

Nite all.

Lousy Lunch

Lady's luncheon was quite disappointing today.

Luckily the company was good, because the food was not. Mine and Mardi's only GF option was steak and salad. The salad consisted of quarter of a tomato, a slice of onion, two small lettuce leaves and three pieces each of grated carrot and beetroot.

My steak was as tough as boot leather and I asked for medium rare but it was delivered well done.

I asked for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and was given a $15 bottle of wine that required 4 mouthfuls for the taste buds to adapt.

The company was good and there was a lovely breeze blowing through the beer garden where we were seated. We definitely gained plenty of attention from the 'regulars'.

We were home before 3pm.

Today is the deadline for the flickr challenge and I've submitted this photo ...

It won't win because there are 22 entries, some of which are pretty darned good, but that's ok because I won last month and I'm happy with that.

The theme is 'Beach, bush/forest, city or outback'.

I cooked up some lamb shanks in the slow cooker before I left for lunch, so I didn't have to worry about putting too much effort into dinner tonight.

Now it's almost midnight and there is rain coming ... although, as it gets closer to town, it seems to be petering out. That's pretty typical. We are desperate for rain.

I'm off to bed, hopefully to fall asleep to the sound of rain.

Nite all.
  

Longest Morning Tea

I saw my boys at the Seat of Knowledge before heading off to morning tea with the girls today.

The river was clear and blue and it was a gorgeous Spring morning by the water.

I met the girls at 8.30am for coffee and didn't leave to return home til after 11am!

I made a zucchini slice for lunch.

Watched the movie 'Crazy Stupid Love' for about the 30th time .. I just can't ignore Ryan Gosling in this movie. I also love Emma Stone and my favourite parts are the 'photoshop' line and when he does the Dirty Dancing scene with her. He's just a bit yummy.

There was a huge line of storms heading in our direction from the West this afternoon, but as usual, they separated and skirted around us. Just briefly, there was a rumble or two in the distance, but no rain for us, unfortunately.

I enjoyed my social Tuesday very much and tomorrow is lunch with the ladies, so it will be a social Wednesday!

I have a good life :)

Nite all.

Going Going Going Gone

Adoring Husband had an early start in the garden today.

He picked all of the sweet potatoes out of the back corner raised garden bed. We now have a bucket of very spindly looking vegetables. I haven't looked closely at them, but at a glance, we probably won't get too many feeds out of them.

He also picked all of the cherry tomatoes and I used them to make a big batch of tomato sauce, which I put into 200ml batches and froze all but one. I ended up with about 1.5 litres of sauce.

While he was in the garden, I rode out for coffee and another unsuccessful search for Tawny nests.

I stopped to buy some crabs from The Motivator, who arrived home after a few weeks in Sydney and then spent about 45 minutes standing at the kitchen sink, removing all the meat from them.

Today may be a momentous date because it seems that we have sold our camper van. We feel a bit sad about that, but we've owned it for three years and only used it once.

That 'once' was a fabulous month long holiday that provided us with wonderful memories, but no matter how hard we try to make arrangements for another holiday, circumstances always lead to us cancelling at the last minute.

AH has organised any number of week long trips that never eventuated, so I think the universe has been telling us for a while that we needed to sell up.

We know that it's going to a good home where it will be loved and enjoyed and used to it's full potential, so all going well, we will say our final goodbye in a week or so.

We also spent a couple of hours watching a few episodes of the last season of The Big Bang Theory. I love that show.

So that was the extent of my Monday. Quite productive really!

Nite all.

Easy Breezy Sunday

I knew last night that I wasn't going to be productive today.

I only had two glasses of wine last night, so it wasn't alcohol that kept me inactive.

It was 1.58am when I climbed into bed, but I had already asked Adoring Husband to buy my coffee if he was up early and buying his own, so I knew that it would be a lazy start to the day.

I woke a bit after 7.30 and saw my coffee sitting on the bedside table, which brought a smile to my face.

I sat in bed reading until almost 9.30am.

Adoring Husband invited me into The Bay because he had a few errands to run and also wanted to buy a new pedestal fan for our bedroom .. our old one is on it's last legs .. and I started to get ready, but then lost all motivation, so I declined his invitation and he headed off on his own.

I had a quiet three hours at home and watched the movie 'Speed' and then a few episodes of 'Friends'.

I also started a batch of chicken broth in which I've used some pasture raised organic chicken drumsticks, organic vegetables (celery, garlic, onion and carrot), and then tonight for dinner, I removed the meat from the drumsticks and put the bones back into the broth where I'll leave them for another twelve hours.

In a large saucepan, I melted some butter and added onion and garlic, then sliced mushrooms, grated sweet potato, thinly sliced zucchini, a cup of broth (from the slow cooker) and a third of a cup of pure cream. When the vegetables were tender, I added half a teaspoon of paprika, a teaspoon of himalayan salt, a pinch of black pepper and then the chicken meat that I removed from the drumsticks and shredded.

I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure if AH enjoyed it or not. He didn't say, but he ate all of it, so that's got to be a good sign.

I also roasted some chicken for lunch, with the chicken that I won on Friday night, and served that to AH with a salad for lunch.

So it hasn't been a totally wasted day.

Actually, I don't think lazy days are wasted days! I enjoy lazy days! There is no rule or law that says you have to fill your days with productivity! My forte is 'lazy'!

The weather has been patchy and unpredictable today. There have been water spouts out off Fraser Island and there have been storms brewing up and down the Queensland coast all afternoon.

Luckily, they all skirted past us, although we DO need some rain.

I headed out on my trike late this afternoon, hoping for an interesting sunset with all the storm clouds around, but when I arrived at the river, a big black cloud loomed above me and the thunder was rolling and clapping, then rain began to fall, so I got the shivers and high tailed it home before the lightening decided it wanted to strike me!

The sunset turned out to be a fizzer anyway, so I didn't miss anything.

I have three days to get a photo of 'Beach, bush/forest, city or outback' for this month's flickr challenge. Could be tricky!

Nite all.

Kid's Karaoke

This afternoon, Adoring Husband and I, along with 19 others, caught the Burrum River Cruise boat across the river to Walker's Point, where the Woodgate Bowl's Club courtesy buses picked us all up and drove us to said club.

It was supposed to be for dinner and some live entertainment.

Once there, we signed in, bought ourselves a drink and then sat in the outdoor area to chat for a while before ordering dinner.

I had blue swimmer crab, oysters and king prawns, followed by a GF strawberry tart. It was delicious.

Adoring Husband had steak and salad, followed by a GF strawberry tart. His steak was full of gristle and he was disappointed.

A few of us then made our way into the poker machine area, while others found a table near the stage where the entertainment was supposed to occur.

It was karaoke.

There were about 20 children in attendance ranging from about age 4 through to teenagers. They all well and truly hogged the microphone. A couple of them had wonderful singing voices. Most of them sounded dreadful.

The words to some of the songs are highly inappropriate for young children to be singing, but they didn't even realise the meaning behind the words.

We left the club at about 9.45pm and only about 3 adults had been up to sing, none of us, I might add. The staff advised that no children were allowed in the club after 10pm, but of course, we had to leave before then to catch the boat back to our town.

So half of us watched the football (yay for the Cowboys defeating Storm .. now it will be an all Queensland Grand Final), and half of us watched the karaoke. Some of us enjoyed the karaoke and some of us just wanted it to be over!

Finally, the football was over and we all climbed into the courtesy buses and headed back to Walker's Point boat ramp to catch the boat home.

It was quite chilly out on the water but I had Mardi and The Leggy Blond on either side of me, which kept me warm and snug for the trip. I gave my wrap to The Leggy Blond because she was freezing. She needed it more than I did.

She and her husband, who I shall name Carl Fredricksen (From the movie 'UP') gave us a lift home.

Of all our trips across the river to Woodgate Bowls Club, this one was probably the most disappointing for us. It was a long night and we were pleased to get home.

It's well after midnight and I am sitting here at home watching an old movie made in 1961 (when I was one year old!) called 'The Parent Trap' with Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith. I remember watching and loving this movie as a child of about 10, and I am still enjoying it tonight 45 odd years later!

That's it for our day. It's almost 1am.

Nite all.