Late Lunch

If you read yesterday's post, you may have noticed that it was almost 1am when I hit the 'publish' button, which meant that by the time I finished my pre-bedtime routine and climbed into bed, it was well after 1.30am, and close to 2am before I closed my book and turned out the light.

I fell asleep instantly! As I do most nights.

Much to my surprise, it was after 9am when I opened my eyes this morning, but for a change, I didn't hang around in bed for too long.

I actually went for a trike ride. It has been a few days since I've been for a ride and as I was riding over a small rise, I was struggling to pedal and wondered how it could be so difficult after just a few days away from the trike. I was riding into the wind, so I used that as an excuse. Then I arrived at my destination and discovered that one of my brakes had been on for the entire journey! No wonder it was hard work!

My first stop was to deliver a storage container to the Mini Farmer. She had made a batch of olives for me to try .. even though I told her that I didn't eat olives .. she claimed that home made olives were very different from the shop bought olives. So I trusted her judgement and took a container of them from her.

Even Adoring Husband, who enjoys olives, didn't like them. They tasted even more olive-y than normal!! blurgh I was honest and told her my opinion of her olives (in the nicest way possible).

Coffee was my next stop. While I was there I bought some avocados to make chocolate mousse to have with fresh strawberries.

On my way home I delivered some photos to Old Yellow Hat. He'd asked me to take a photo of his block of land, which he'd sold, before the new owners began to build on it. I had all sorts of trouble trying to print it at home - our printer obviously doesn't like glossy photo paper - then I kept forgetting to take the usb stick into town to have it printed, so it's been a while coming for him. Unfortunately he wasn't home, so I left it on the chair beside his front door.

I stopped at The Motivator's (who is currently in Sydney), because her partner, The Fisher King, had the crab sign displayed on the front lawn and I bought 5 crabs.

It must have been around 11am when I arrived home, and I began quite a productive day.

• I shelled the 5 crabs and put the meat into a container in the fridge.
• Cleaned the main bathroom and toilet and then used my new Lorraine Lea bathmats (they look lovely!)
• Did 3 loads of washing, including all of the old bathmats.
• Swept the floors.
• Made a baked dinner with a leg of lamb, sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, carrot, onion, snow peas, beans and home made gravy. A late lunch at 3pm.
• Made chocolate mousse to have with our strawberries.
• Did some screwing with Adoring Husband - nuts and bolts (get your mind out of the gutter!)
• Sprayed some peppermint oil in an attempt to get rid of the ants (must be going to rain, because the ants are back!)

The football started at 3pm and that's my signal to sit down and relax! It's super Saturday and there are three games of footy today. So far, the only blemish on my footy tipping week, has been my own team, Broncos, losing to Penrith Panthers. Luckily, everybody else in the tipping comp selected Broncos too, so their loss makes no difference to the standings.

Tonight, while I'm watching the footy, I need to make a list of all the plans I have for my office, and then tomorrow, I hope to begin marking off some of those items. I still need to make the strings of beads and hang some crystals and hearts between the scarves.

I also have to practise the chalk painting on the photo frames and then plan the wall gallery, which will include some of my photos, family pics, quotes and other artwork.

My dinner tonight was coffee and crab meat and I'm feeling rather sleepy ... funnily enough, that usually happens when I eat crab or prawns. I must research that and find out why. It's possible I won't get to see all of the footy tonight.

I'm done.

Nite all.  

A Ghostly date

I just want to declare that I LOVED 'GHOSTBUSTERS'!

I don't remember the original movie very well, because I was never a big fan. I certainly didn't hate it, but I could never understand the hype that surrounded it. We bought the original movie on dvd today and will watch it over the weekend. That should trigger my memory and I can make some comparisons.

This new movie makes me want to BE a ghostbuster! If it wasn't already way after midnight, I would write a full review here, but it's late and I'm tired and I'm off to bed.

I just want to make it clear that the preview of the movie does not do it justice!

Nite all.

Another Date!

Another date day with Adoring Husband today.

We watched the new Star Trek Beyond movie and loved it. AH is a huge Trekky (although he doesn't dress up like the real Trekkies) and he declared it to be the best Star Trek movie yet!! I thought it was a touch long, but I enjoyed it very much ... and I am NOT a Star Trek fan.

Afterwards, we had a couple of hours to kill before picking up our FROG box, so we decided to lunch at Aquavue, not realising that their renovations have moved into the kitchen area, so there is only basic food available, like sandwiches and wraps and such.

We moved on and because we had such a a good car park, decided to check out the cafes and restaurants across the road.

We stumbled upon Cafe Tapas, which looked interesting from the outside, with mood lighting and a variety of seating areas to choose from. The menu showed that there were GF options, so we took the plunge and tried something new!

We chose three dishes. Lamb cutlets with pesto sauce, skewered king prawns and button mushrooms stuffed with blue cheese.

Absolutely delicious. The male waiter who served us was very efficient and friendly. The seating was comfortable. The atmosphere was very relaxed and the background music was easy listening. We were pretty happy with our choice and will probably return for future lunches. It won't be our favourite, the way Aquavue is, but it will certainly go on the 'good option' page.

We were home by 2.30pm and I put Hanain Chicken on for dinner. We spent the next couple of hours in separate areas of the house, reading! Adoring Husband sat in the Alfresco area drinking coffee and reading a book, while I sat up in bed with coffee and a good book! We've never done that before, but the peace was lovely ... AH usually has the TV blaring most days.

While AH was at SES training tonight, I got to chat briefly with Chicklet and Vegan Chickie. We talked about the movie 'Ghostbusters', which AH and I are going to see tomorrow. VC has given it an excellent review, so I'm looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, AH's Mum was admitted to hospital with a twisted bowel earlier in the week. They seem to have fixed the problem, but she has not coped well with being there. She panics and her dementia becomes considerably worse, so it is difficult, if not impossible, to treat her because she cannot communicate and she becomes aggressive toward the staff. It's a very tricky situation.

Well, we have another early start tomorrow, with yet another list of errands to run, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Awesome Hump Day

We were out of bed by 5am, in the car by 6.10am, and on our way in the dawn darkness.

Sexie Coffee was our first stop where Adoring Husband is on a first name basis with the girls behind the counter and was greeted with splendiferous joy by them all!

We left there with our heart starters, which was a good thing, because, for the next hour, we had some pretty thick fog to contend with on the drive.

We arrived near our destination earlier than expected, so we continued on to Kunara Organic Marketplace, where I stocked up on my Super Multibiotics. I didn't even look sideways at the rest of the store, otherwise I would have wanted to grab a trolley and begin filling it! I pretended to be wearing blinkers and exited the building with my two bottles of life saving capsules before I could be sidetracked.

I was ten minutes early for my dental appointment and only waited for five when the dental assistant called me into the room.

My shoe broke on the way down the hallway. Brand new pair of shoes only worn once, and that was yesterday! Luckily, I had taken a spare pair of shoes, because I was worried that I might get blisters, wearing new shoes two days running ... how lucky was that!?

The dentist and I spent ten minutes relating shoe stories to each other before she began cleaning my teeth. She showed me, with her tiny camera, the little bit of plaque that I had inside my bottom teeth and also showed me how healthy my gums were. She said that there was no sign of the chronic gum disease that I had carried into her office 8 months ago.

It took her about ten minutes to clean and scrape my teeth. I showed her my dentures, explained how uncomfortable they were, and showed her where they caused pain. She set up her little filing drill and filed down both sides of the denture until they fit in my mouth without causing pain.

My appointment was for 9.30am (I was called in 5 mins early) and I was paying the receptionist by 9.50am. Very efficient.

Next, we drove to Noosa Civic, where we bought a small saucepan, which was the final piece to our set, and which the original shop didn't have on hand when we bought our set more than a year ago.

Three takeaway coffees, two lemon meringue tarts, a french coconut meringue and a raspberry petit four later, we loaded the goodies into the car and headed to the Chicklet family's house.

One of the gifts that we brought down for Chicklet this visit, was a Batman costume. She put it on straight away and spent quite a bit of time admiring her reflection in the mirror, flexing her muscles and flapping the cape behind her. I think it was a hit because I just received a text from Vegan Chickie telling me that Chicklet wore her Batman costume to bed.

We only stayed for two hours today, but in that time, we ate our goodies, played Batman and Batwoman (that was me), played hide n seek, played tag and I got a short lesson on the game of Minecraft on the iPad.

The Library Guy (who is actually a woman and also my x-sister-in-law) was there too, enjoying her last day of holidays. I didn't get to spend much time with her, but it was nice to catch up, even if it was brief.

We said our goodbyes. I had to peel Chicklet off me to leave and then headed to Gundiah where we were dropping in to visit Best Cousin in the World on their new property.

What a nice drive in a very picturesque part of the world. Their driveway was very easy to spot and it was just a short drive to the house. We met a few family members along the way ... ones that go 'moo' ...  and by the time we reached the house, BCITW had locked the 11 (I think) dogs away, so they wouldn't jump on us.

She showed us around the grounds - the ginger crop, the shed, the old railway station building and pointed out the approximate boundary lines of their rather large property.

By this time, Marco Polo had returned to the house, so he filled the ute with a bag of beer and took us for a 4WD bash around the property to show us the best bits .. such as the view from the highest point, the resident Wedge Tail Eagle, the amazing rocks and boulders, picturesque dams and water holes, the river frontage and the beautiful old abandoned disused bridge.

We saw LOTS of bunnies hopping around. Plenty of birdlife and wildlife. It's a beautiful spot and it's understandable why they call it their 'happy place'.

I'll definitely take my camera on the next visit.

Next, we got a tour of the ageing house. It's obvious, at first glance, that the house is very old and it's been a long time since any real work has been done to it. Peeling paint, broken windows etc., but it's a solid old home with some fabulous original features.

The panes in the in old timber framed windows are just gorgeous and I doubt that you could ever replace them, with their unusual patterns and ridges - even the huge sliding room divider in the lounge room has the same panes except on a much larger scale. Gorgeous old bathroom with fabulous tiles and the original old vanity unit and bathtub.

Lovely high ceilings, solid timber floor boards and the bedrooms are all cosy but generous. The front verandah is even a comfortable size - enough for the barbecue and plenty of seating, but there is heaps of room to extend and renovate, which they intend on doing once they are properly established.

We enjoyed a drink on the verandah and were introduced to some of the furry friends. We fell deeply in love with Libby and apparently we would need to go on a long, long list of possible future homes for this precious pet. What a beautiful and gentle soul she is. Everybody falls in love with her.

Two hours later, we were once again in the car and heading in the direction of home. The drive was made all the more enjoyable with Mother Nature putting on a spectacular show at sunset ...

I'd forgotten to get anything out of the freezer for dinner, so we stopped at the supermarket on the way home and bought some lamb loin chops. It was after 6pm when we pulled in our driveway. Our fur babies were happy to see us, though not as noisy as usual. I made a quick salsa salad to have with the chops and by 7.30pm Adoring Husband was dozing off in his chair.

It's been a pretty big day, full of fun and excitement and now it's almost midnight!

I believe that I will sleep well tonight.

Nite all.

Tidying Up a Little

I bought some hooks today, to hang over my dressing table mirror, to drape 'some' of my necklaces in a more orderly fashion.

Originally, they were tangled in masses over each end of the mirror, ridiculously strewn in messy piles on top of both of my jewellery boxes and sadly looped over stands that were meant for short necklaces.

Something had to be done!

Retail therapy doesn't seem to be working for me. I could just about open my own dress jewellery store! Seriously!

Now that I have the long necklaces sorted, I need to spend some quality time sorting through the rest of my jewellery and tidying my dressing table ... again!

Thought I'd share this 15 minute video with you. Adoring Husband should take the time to watch this too because it has some interesting references to Parkinson's.



Mark P. Mattson is Chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program National Institute on Aging. He is also Professor of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University.

I'd best head to bed. We've got an early start tomorrow. Sorry girls, to be missing our morning tea. Have a lovely morning.

Nite all.

I'm on a Mission

Adoring Husband and I recently discussed changing our ageing bedroom furniture. It's quite outdated, much darker than any other furniture in the house and doesn't go with the beachy decor of everything else in the room.

I did a bit of research and found a style that I quite liked, though it wasn't perfect.

When I related this to my cousin Nellie, she told me about a fairly new craft item in the market place called chalk paint. She is currently chalk painting her bed and has already completed a side table that she inherited from her grandmother.

Because our current furniture is still strong and is good quality, I've decided that a facelift with chalk paint is the way to go. It will cost a fraction of the price of new furniture, will hopefully look amazing and will be a creative outlet for my itching fingers!

Chalk paint is easily accessible from places like Spotlight or other craft stores, but there is a better quality brand available, called Annie Sloan. Stockists in Australia are limited, so I have to order on line and wait for delivery.

Using this paint is an easier way to create the shabby chic or the distressed look on furniture. Where you once had to prepare your furniture with sanding and undercoating and then paint and then use sandpaper to remove the dry paint .. with this, the only preparation is cleaning the furniture.

The paint itself is so soft that you mostly use a rag to create the look. Sometimes, very soft sanding is required, but with little effort. The wax mixing and coating is what sets the paint.

It's also non toxic and has no smell.

I found a few videos to show some techniques and here is one



... and go here to see the finished product

This is what I'm going to do with my bedroom furniture, except mine will be more of a distressed, almost shabby chic look. I'm not sure what colours I'm going to use yet, but these will give you an idea of how imagination and effort can create something special ...

... or maybe a bit more colour and imagination

I'm going to buy some of the cheaper craft paint and practise my technique on some picture frames before I do the furniture. I'll also change the knobs on the drawers, if I can find something suitable or interesting or unique.

I will take 'before' and 'after' pics!

So that is my mission, which I hope to have completed by the end of August.

Thanks for reading.

Nite all.

Slow Sunday

It was a slow start to the day for me on this lovely, damp Sunday morning. Adoring Husband bought my coffee and then made me breakfast in bed ...

I got out of bed at lunch time and made lunch which was rib fillet with a red wine jus, caramelised onion and served with broccoli and kimchi...

I bought this meat a couple of weeks ago at the markets in The Bay. Organic beef and quite delicious! Unlike the beef cheek that I got from the same place, which turned out like shoe leather ... which may have been my fault in the way that I cooked it!

Instead of using the slow cooker, I did it in the oven, on a very low temperature for almost 3.5 hours. My recipe stated 10 hours in the slow cooker or 3 hours in the oven. I think my oven runs a bit hot. Perhaps I'll try the slow cooker next time.

My Sunday has been very slow and unproductive. I watched the football and 'thought' about all the things that I'd like to get productive with ... like chalk painting, ceramics, beaded strands for my bohemian curtains, catching up on reading all of the health books that I've bought in the last two years and have only skimmed over the pages, finishing my Susan Howatch novel 'Cashelmara', playing my guitar and so much more.

Hopefully, by the end of the month, I will have moved my studio/office to the back room and I can get started on a few of these things. When we go into The Bay on Thursday, I'll have to check out the craft shops to see if they have the chalk paint that I need, otherwise I'll have to buy it online. That's something that I'm really looking forward to!

So, as you can tell, my brain has been very active, but my body has been very inactive, however, I have thoroughly enjoyed my lazy Sunday and I'm looking forward to a busy week!

Just before I go ...

This video is frighteningly awesome! The power of Mother Nature!



Nite all.