Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Tasty Tastings

A bunch of us had a nice afternoon at The Blonde Bombshell's house for some tasting of delicious balsamic vinegars, flavoured olive oils, dukkahs, spice mixes and other such deliciousness.

I'm not a fan of adding anything, that's not fresh, to my food and quite a few of these blends had added sugars, but everything else in the mixes seemed pretty safe. I must admit that the balsamic vinegars have taken my fancy.

I already have the Raspberry Chocolate Caramelised and Coconut Mango Lime vinegars. Today I ordered the Coconut Caramelised & Spiced Rum Balsamic Vinegar. I could drink that one by the glassful!! I also ordered the Wild Lime Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I currently use the Asian oil from that selection.

The consultant, prepared a number of dishes in the Bombshell's kitchen, but I found some of them a bit bland. Her kitchen skills were left wanting and she neglected to add any basic seasoning like salt and pepper to the savoury dishes, or sweeteners to the sweet dishes. This meant that the food didn't do justice to the mixes.

I agreed to have a tasting afternoon in October, on the proviso that the consultant stay out of my kitchen (only because I don't like anyone else using my kitchen or appliances), and I get to prepare the dishes myself. She seemed pretty happy with my suggestion and will email me with some of her recipes and ideas. I'll attempt to tweak them and hopefully I won't stuff up!

Overall, it was a really nice afternoon, where I met a couple of new faces and spent time with good friends. A pretty decent way to spend a windy, rainy, Wintery afternoon.

I found some funny tweets made my husbands and wives and thought that I'd share the good ones here.

*My wife wanted two kittens, but I'm the man of this house so we got two kittens.

*My husband still talks about that one time he loaded the dishwasher correctly, like it's going to get our kids into Harvard!

*Sorry. I was late because I had to find all the things that were in plain sight for my husband.

*My husband is home sick from work today and it's like having 1000 babies!

*Know those adorable little idiosyncrasies you loved when first dating? After 20 years of marriage, they become what the police refer to as 'motive'.

*MARRIED SEXTING: I'm not wearing any underwear ... because you didn't put the laundry in the dryer like I asked you a hundred bloody times!

*My husband is on the roof - only a few inches away from an insurance claim that could completely change my life!

Finally, this very quick and easy recipe looks delicious and healthful ...



It's still raining. It's quite heavy at the moment. I'm told it will clear tomorrow and we will have sunshine again, but the weather app on my iPad tells me that the rain won't clear til Monday. I guess we will wait and see!

The rain is lovely and as Adoring Husband said this afternoon, it's nice to have some days that actually feel Wintery - they don't happen too often in this neck of the woods. Falling asleep to the sound of rain on our roof is also lovely.

I'm off to watch 'Sex and the City'.

Nite all.

It's Wet

It's very wet. I can hear the rain hitting the front windows of the house and the wind sounds a little gusty out there.

It's also well after midnight, so this is a short post with nothing much to report. Have I ever??

The Romance channel on Foxtel is having a Twilight marathon tonight. The first movie started at about 10.30pm and the final movie in the series will finish at 8.30am tomorrow. Tempting though it is, to stay up all night watching it, I won't. I have them all on dvd, so if I want to watch them all, I can at any time.

I believe tomorrow will be another long lazy morning in bed, especially if it's still raining!

I bought some bananas with the FROG box order last week and found these recipes today. I think they might be my project for the weekend!

Frozen Superfoods

That's it from me.

Nite all.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Movie + Therapy

I had a very good day today, with Adoring Husband.

"Independence Day: Resurgence" was a great movie! I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially Liam Hemsworth, and even though I was never a fan of Jeff Goldblum, in my eyes, he has improved with age and having seen a couple of his interviews, I have definitely warmed to him.

The special effects were pretty amazing too.

My bucket list of movies has grown somewhat:

  • Ghostbusters
  • The Legend of Tarzan
  • Star Trek Beyond
  • Central Intelligence
  • Bad Moms
  • Bridget Jones' Baby
  • Dr Strange
  • Finding Dory
Half of these haven't even been released yet, but there are four from the list that I need to see in the next couple of weeks before they finish.


My retail therapist called after the movie, so AH dropped me off at Stocklands, while he visited the dreaded Bunnings, and I enjoyed an hour of therapy.


We picked up the FROG box on the way home and I cooked a late lunch/early dinner because AH has SES training tonight.

Sadly, Queensland lost the State of Origin game last night. Some controversial decisions were made by the refs, which are still being discussed by various media outlets today, but to me, it really doesn't matter, because QLD won the series and the game meant little. Apologies to any NSW supporters out there who are basking in the glory (that would be Adoring Husband!).

How many of these videos have you watched? Check out how they were made and how you got tricked!!



Gotta get to bed before I turn into a pumpkin.

Nite all.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

SOO Finale

I am sitting on my couch, wearing my State of Origin t-shirt, my Queensland necklace and my maroon dressing gown. I decided against wearing my State of Origin dreadlocks.

I don't know why, but I'm feeling incredibly tired tonight and could possibly end up in bed by half time .. unless of course, I get my second wind .. which has been known to happen.

It was a great morning with the girls for our weekly morning tea. Only three of us missing, but it seemed like a much bigger gap than that. There were a LOT of tourists about, filling the tables and all drinking coffee, which made for a noisy atmosphere and meant that we had to lean forward to hear each other and talk loudly to be heard!

The girls making our coffee were wearing interesting costumes. The NSW supporters were very animated in their giant cockroach outfit and cheer leader colours. It makes me wonder where they can find their enthusiasm every year, when their team gives them nothing to cheer about.

I thought the same thing tonight, when they showed the blues supporters in the crowd at the stadium. There have been so many losses, yet the fans turn up on a freezing cold night, wearing their blue wigs and their jerseys. That's dedication for you.

Queensland has already scored, just 8 minutes into the game.

I bought and downloaded a new app today called 'Minecraft'. Chicklet is obsessed with this game and has called me twice to excitedly explain everything that happens in the game. I said that I would get it so that we could play together, but now I have no idea what to do next!! This will be interesting!! I may need to google it, to learn how to play.

Adoring Husband and I have a movie date tomorrow to see 'Independence Day'. BGWLBH saw it last night and gave it a good review, so I'm looking forward to it.

Bubbles gave a good review for the movie 'The Legend of Tarzan' too, so I might need to squeeze that one in somewhere. Next Thursday, our date will be to see 'Star Trek Beyond'.

One might ask ... what has my life become??? Haha.

Anyway, I'm off to focus on the game.

Nite all.

Midday Rising

Yes, that's what time I chose to start my day.

My good intentions of going to bed at the early hour that I announced last night, kind of fell by the wayside, when I got all involved in the idiot box and those TV shows that I mentioned. It was almost 1am when the TV screen went black and I immediately fell into a deep sleep.

So, it was 8.15am when I opened my eyes and Adoring Husband kindly heated up a cup of chicken bone broth for me, so that I could sit in bed reading and facebooking and youtubing and generally having a gloriously lazy and blissful start to my day.

At midday, I showered and dressed and hopped on my trike for a ride in the sunshine ... and oh what a perfectly wonderful day it was outside! The temperature was mild, the breeze was slight and the sun was putting a sparkle in my world.

I took the long way to the shops where I bought a few items, including a coffee, and then I took the long way home. While I was riding, I closed my eyes and raised my face to the sunshine ... how lucky that I live in a quiet little town, where I can do that with a low degree of risk! It felt good.

Adoring Husband and I watched the two Miss Congeniality movies this afternoon. They were a bit of fun.

I thought you might find this story an interesting read ... My Story ... it's one of those 'let food be thy medicine' success stories. I love reading them. They are inspiring and give me hope for our future.

Well, again, it's after midnight. Adoring Husband doesn't like it when I post after midnight. He gets confused with the dates!

Nite all.

Monday, July 11, 2016

On The Down Side

Well, I didn't quite get to bed as early as I'd planned last night, but it was still well before midnight when I finally got there. I didn't even get to see the entire first set of the Andy Murray final.

I decided last night that I was going to make a concerted effort to quit coffee and alcohol for the duration of my second attempt at the Paleo 10 week program. So, this morning, I heated up a nice big mug of chicken bone broth and after drinking some lemon water, I sat up in bed sipping my broth while watching a movie length video "Ethos Time to Unslave Humanity" .

It was a nice slow and comfortable way to start the day.

Soon, I realised that I hadn't made up this fortnight's dog food, and I had no pumpkin, so off I pedalled in search of the vegetable.

There are two farmers in town who sell their pumpkins from home. One usually has a timber box full of pumpkins and pineapples, stationed on his front lawn, but of course, it was nowhere to be seen today. The other has a wheel barrow full of pumpkins on his front porch, but it appears that he is away indefinitely .. he has a hessian bag covering his sign.

This meant the local supermarket was my only option. I was in luck! Quite reasonably priced too.

By the time I'd finished making the dog food, filling the containers and cleaning up the mess, I had a headache that would kill an elephant!! I'd only made it to 3pm and I pleaded with Adoring Husband to fetch me a coffee. I would prefer to drink a coffee to ease the pain, than take a pain killer.

Funnily enough, I could physically feel my body responding to the caffeine with the first mouthful and by the second mouthful, the pain had eased significantly. It was a very strange feeling.

I still plan on quitting coffee, but I won't go cold turkey, as I did the last two times. I'll increase the time between coffees a little each day, over the period of a week, and see if that makes it easier.

Recently, I saved a recipe from my Facebook feed, called 'Gluten Free Brazilian Chicken with Coconut Milk Reduction'. It came from the Inspired Eats website, but the site is having problems and the recipe cannot be accessed through any link or even directly from the site.

I found the same recipe in Pinterest, but the site could still not be accessed. The photo in Pinterest had the ingredients listed below it, but no method or instructions ... so I had to make it up, using the photo, the ingredients and my imagination.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
4 boneless chicken thighs
2 Tablespoons of coconut oil
1 onion chopped
1 Tablespoon minced ginger
2 garlic cloves minced
1 can coconut milk
1 cup chopped broccoli

So ... I mixed the first 5 ingredients to make a rub for the chicken, coated each piece and rubbed it into the flesh. I heated the oil and browned the chicken on both sides, partially cooking it.

I removed the chicken from the pan and gently fried the onion, garlic and ginger, then poured in the coconut milk and simmered it gently for about 20 minutes until it reduced somewhat. I added the chicken to the coconut milk and simmered for another 10 minutes until the chicken was cooked through.

I steamed the broccoli separately and then stirred it through the sauce at the end.


It was nice, but I think it needed more heat, so I'll add some chilli and maybe cayenne pepper next time. Adoring Husband seems to think that it would be nice with duck, so I'll try that too.

I'll also keep trying to get into the site to see how this dish should be cooked. Hopefully,  they will iron out their problems soon.

I forgot to mention that I made chicken liver pate on Sunday after everybody had left. I'd taken the chicken livers out of the freezer on Friday, but didn't have time to make it for the party. I didn't want to waste 1kg of organic chicken livers.

It's the first time I've made it and it's quite delicious! I added some white port to the mix. It was supposed to be Brandy, but I didn't have any, so I improvised!

I'm disappointed that Murray defeated Raonic in the Wimbledon final last night, but I'm glad that the tournament is finished. Two weeks on minimal sleep is quite enough for me.

The US Open starts at the end of August and goes til the 11th September, but I'll be babysitting, so I won't be watching any of that one. My sleep will be valuable and I will need my wits about me! I'll definitely watch the results with interest.

I wonder how successful I will be, in getting to bed early tonight? Two of my favourite shows are on tonight 'Love Child' and 'Grey's Anatomy'. I guess I could try that modern idea of 'recording' the shows and watching them tomorrow. Just a thought.

A couple of bad Dad jokes ...

So what if I can't spell Armageddon? It's not the end of the world.

What sort of exercises do lazy people do? Diddly Squats.

Sorry :)

Nite all.  

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Empty Nest

It's very quiet in our house now.

Our visitors are sleeping in their own beds tonight and I'm happy to report that they all arrived home safe n sound.

Needless to say, we'll be eating leftovers for a week!

We fed them a good hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, tomato and mushrooms before they headed off. Let me rephrase that ... Adoring Husband fed them AND he bought everybody a coffee this morning. I spent the morning relaxing and chatting with everyone while he did all the hard work. He's a good man.

Right now, I'm tossing up between climbing into bed for an early night, or staying up to watch the Wimbledon final between Andy Murray and Milos Raonic.

I'm looking forward to this movie being released in Australia in August! It looks like a lot of fun.



Ok, I've decided. I'm off to bed.

Nite all.


Party Time

I woke up at 8am, to discover a coffee on my bedside table ... thank you Adoring Husband.

Even though I had a stack of things to do, I didn't get out of bed til after 9am and decided at 9.30am that I had to attend the local markets to get some more coconut mango lime balsamic vinegar. The woman on the stall had a LOT more stock to show this week, and I bought some Asian oil and some Wasabi Dukkah.

There was a new stall in the hall where I bought some Aloe Vera juice too.

I picked up a couple more groceries from the local shop and headed home at about 10.20am.

I had four hours to complete my set tasks, but ran out of time and the last two things on my list didn't get done.

  • Pear, rocket, feta and walnut salad
  • Garden salad
  • Moroccan carrot salad
  • Rice Salad
  • Potato Salad
  • Guacamole with vegetable sticks - capsicum, celery, cucumber and carrot
  • Cheese platter with strawberries and smoked salmon
  • Smoked salmon & cream cheese roll ups on cucumber discs
  • One plate of GF crackers and dip
  • One bowl of potato chips
  • Cabanossi
  • 20 Red velvet cupcakes, iced and topped with toffeed pecans 
  • Pork & chicken meatballs
  • Chicken liver pate
I didn't get photos of everything but here's a couple ...




I blew up 3 red balloons and set Best Cousin in the World's present (a good bottle of Merlot) on the table with her card and party hat. I set both the dining table and the outside table because we weren't sure how the temperature would hold out for the evening.

We ended up staying outside for the entire night. Everyone, except BCITW and I, were in bed by about 10pm. We sat up til midnight solving some of the world's problems.

The food went down a treat and Adoring Husband did a cracker of a job cooking all our meat on the barbecue.

Between us all, we drank five bottles of wine and about ten stubbies of beer. That's not bad for six adults! Only one of us was a little the worse for wear by bed time .. and it wasn't me!

I had a really nice night. BCITW and I decided it was bed time at about 12.30am, but it's now almost 1.30am!

Chunky's team made it into the Grand Final today, but unfortunately lost it 7-5. Thankfully, he wasn't too upset about it, but Mum needed a stiff drink to drown her sorrows!

It's time for me to get some much needed sleep.

Nite all.