It's in the way!

Life gets in the way sometimes.

It's definitely getting in the way of my website that's for sure!

I had big plans for this week AND for this weekend. Thursday and Friday were going to be MY days to lock myself away in my workspace and completely focus on the website. Life got in the way, when family, errands, cooking, psychotic dogs, housework, birthdays and friends required my attention.

My only commitment for Saturday was an hour for Frack Free Burrum Heads in the morning and the remainder of the day was for the website. Now, I have birthday drinks in the afternoon and a family visitor for the night.

Sunday was going to be totally free for me to work in my office. Now, we are committed to a barbecue lunch with friends!

I don't want to complain, because it's so nice to have friends and family to fill our lives with social events and visits, but at the same time, it's frustrating to have such big plans that continue to be thwarted before they go into full swing.

On Monday, I expect my new Macbook Pro to arrive, so most of the day will be spent setting it up. I expect that all of my Academy books for 2017 will arrive on Monday or Tuesday too, and they will take time to organise and fill out.

Aside from that, I have Wednesday morning coffee with the girls, and the rest of my week is free. I am NOT going to accept any invitations - unless it's something really special! Ugh! All invitations are special. There is no hope for me.

At least I was clever enough to send my sister's birthday present today. She should actually receive it before her birthday! This is becoming a habit ... once upon a time, I would send her gifts 6 months after her birthday.

It's time for me to sleep now. I'm done for the day.

Nite all.

Messy Stuff

After my morning coffee, I got about 90 minutes of work done on the website before we headed into town to visit Marco Polo in the hospital.

All things considered, he was in fine spirits and we spent an hour making fun of his situation, comparing injury stories and wondering why his attached machinery was sending off alarms that were not immediately answered!

We brought him some fresh fruit and a newspaper and Marco Polo was grateful that the golf was on TV to keep him occupied during his much longer than expected stay.

He's itching to get back to work, so I think hospital is the best place for him right now! Hopefully, he will have a speedy recovery so that he can be back in full swing sooner, rather than later. When you love the work that you do, it's difficult to find self control!

We said our goodbyes and did some necessary shopping before picking up our FROG box and heading home.

I had time to unpack the groceries, cook Adoring Husband's dinner before he headed off to SES training and I had another hour or so at my desk.

When I sign off here, I have to make up a batch of dog food, so my day is not quite over yet ... even though I wish it was!

It's already 10pm so I'd best get moving.

Nite all.

Team Dynamic

The Motivator and I formed what I considered a dynamic team today, and headed off with all of our 'frack free' paraphernalia to ask people how they felt about gas mining in our area.

Having no experience whatsoever in door knocking and cold canvassing, we had a little practise in the car about what we would say when people answered the door and how we would present our spiel.

After a while, we gathered our courage, climbed out of the car and headed towards our first house, me with the bright yellow 'Lock the Gate' sign in my hands (hoping that it would indicate to the residents that we were not selling religion) and The Motivator with our lime folder full of information packs.

First house - nobody home (except the dog)
Second house - nobody home (except the dog)
Third house - nobody home (except the dog)

Next street.

First house - a man rushed through his open garage door to stop us in our tracks. "No thank you!" he said with a combination of assertion and aggression.

We told him that we weren't selling anything and asked if he knew about the possibility of gas fields in our area and he replied "Yes. I have relatives working in the industry so I'm not interested in anything you have to say".

So we thanked him for his time and moved on.

The next gentleman we came across had previously worked in the industry himself and with the same combination of assertion and aggression, declared that he didn't want 'that mess' coming into our community and wanted to help in any way that he could.

The last house that we visited was the home of Tweedle Dee. She and her husband, Tiny Tim, gave us a warm welcome and offered us tea/coffee/water and then sat down to listen to our story. They both asked lots of questions and enthusiastically supported our cause. It was nice to end our day on a more positive note.

We had been advised that weekends were better for this sort of thing, so we will try again on Saturday.

I got to spend some time on my ebook this afternoon and I sourced some jewellery wholesalers for semi precious gemstone jewellery to sell on the site. So I feel that I accomplished a little today .. though not as much as I'd have liked.

While I'd hoped to spend all day working on the website tomorrow, we have to head into The Bay to visit Best Cousin in the World's husband, Marco Polo. MP had an argument with a grinder and caused enough damage to his leg that he required surgery and a stay in hospital, so we will go in and offer some TLC and perhaps we will make fun of him a bit too!

I didn't have an afternoon coffee today, so I am feeling quite drowsy. It's almost 11pm, so it might be time to sleep.

Nite all.  

Me and the Amazon

Not actually Amazon .. Amazonite!

I asked Adoring Husband to stop at Tinkerbells on The Esplanade this morning as we were driving past.

For some time now, I have been thinking about buying myself a ring with a turquoise stone or similar because I seem to be attracted to that colour (along with yellow) and have often selected that colour to wear.

Before I entered the shop, I glanced in the window and was immediately drawn to a ring on the rotating mirrored stand. I read the word Amazonite, so I entered the shop and asked the woman if I could try it on.

I also asked to see her range of turquoise rings.

As soon as I tried on the Amazonite ring, I loved it and knew that I wanted it. None of the other Amazonite rings appealed to me, so I turned my attention to the rings with Turquoise stones. There was only one on the tray that drew my eye and when I tried it on, I couldn't decided between the two rings that I loved, so I bought both!!

The one with the larger stone is the Amazonite.

It's quite amazing that I was drawn to this stone because for all the time that I spend in front of my computer screen lately, I discovered that:

Amazonite: At a physical level, it blocks geopathic stress, absorbs microwaves and cell phone emanations and protects against electromagnetic pollution. It calms the brain and the nervous system, alleviates worry and fear and dispels negative energy.

For healing, it benefits conditions like osteoporosis, calcium deficiency and tooth decay and rectifies metabolic deficiencies.

Turquoise: Enhances communication, releases inhibitions, dispels negative energy. It promotes self-realisation and assists creative problem solving. It dissolves self sabotage. It's an excellent stone to protect against panic attacks.

For healing, it is anti-inflammatory and detoxifying, enhances the psychic and physical immune system and supports the assimilation of nutrients. It heals the whole body, but especially the eyes and the stomach.

So I am very very happy with my purchases and I bought a couple of Christmas gifts today, as well as a beautiful 2017 calendar for myself. I also found a new board to create my next vision board. I have so much planned over the next few months, I think I have to make a priority list!

Anyway, it's only 6pm so I now have an evening free and may even have an early night to bed!

Nite all.
 

Super Flop

With all the hype over the supposed super moon tonight, I simply HAD to pedal down to the beach and attempt to capture the spectacle with my camera!

There were a LOT of people with the same idea and surprisingly, there were others with tripods and cameras with long lenses, lined up along the shore line waiting for the spectacle with me.

For all of the full moons and super moons that I've waited for on that same spot, there has never been anyone else with a good quality camera, let alone a tripod and long lens attached.

Others were sitting in their fold up chairs or on the structures that were there, snacking on their nibbly food and drinking wine and beer. Some were pacing along the beach watching the horizon expectantly.

Someone asked me where I thought the moon would rise and I pointed to my chosen spot. The men disagreed and pointed more than 90 degrees to the right, to a spot that would be obscured by trees and claimed that we would miss it rising and wouldn't see it until it rose above the trees.

I'd forgotten to take my phone so I couldn't check the app to see exactly where it would rise, but crossed my fingers, hoping that my guestimation would be closer to the spot than theirs.

I guess that there were approximately 30 or 40 people in the vicinity and everybody was chatting and drinking and eating and socialising while I stared at the horizon.

There was a lot of cloud. It appeared to be thin cloud, but enough to obscure the rising moon. I noticed the arc appear above the horizon well before anybody else and I grabbed a few shots as it rose into the only clear space available.

Unfortunately, the hazy cloud was enough to stop the sunlight from reflecting off the surface of the moon and it was barely noticeable.

After I selfishly got my shots, I decided to point it out to the gathering crowd and suddenly there were phones and cameras aiming in that direction and shutters were clicking all around me as I packed my gear away into the back of my trike.

I knew that was the end of the show for quite some time.

As I pedalled home, I kept looking behind me, wondering if the moon would rise above the cloud, but instead I noticed that the cloud in the East was changing colour as the sun set in the West, so I did a quick U-turn and headed back towards the river.

This is what greeted me as I reached the water ...

It was quite beautiful.

Earlier this morning, it was my mission, along with three other members of the 'Frack Free Burrum Heads' group, to meet with the Federal Member for Hinkler at the Lions Park to discuss our issue about gas fields in the area.

He knew nothing about anything, claiming that mining in Queensland was under the jurisdiction of the State Government and that the Federal Government was not permitted to intervene.

He listened to our concerns anyway and I gave him an envelope containing the dvd about how gas fields have affected other communities and also some paperwork with lots of information to add to his education, which he promised he would watch and would read.

I wish I'd thought to throw my camera in the trike basket and then had someone take some photos. We need to start a portfolio of our group's activities and actions supporting our cause.

From there, I bought some coffee and visited The Motivator who wasn't well enough to attend the Lions Park meeting.

I cooked a big lunch for Adoring Husband who had a full morning and then a full evening of SES commitments, so he needed some sustenance.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to do any website work today. Tomorrow will be busy in The Bay and then Wednesday I'm busy gaining support for our campaign to make our community a 'mining free' area.

Perhaps I can aim for Thursday and Friday to get some more done on the website.

Nite all.

Home Again

I didn't get much time with Chicklet this morning before I left, but we squeezed as much as we could into the little time that we had.

My taxi arrived right on time and I had a very chatty taxi driver, who wanted to know my thoughts on improving health by changing lifestyles.

Even though he looked like he needed to heed some of my advice himself, he was concerned for his partner who was struggling with some emotional issues after the deaths of both of her parents recently (both in their 90s) and her physical and mental health seemed to be suffering.

It made for a very short taxi ride and I really enjoyed our talk.

I had called the taxi a little early, so that I could visit my favourite shops in Cooroy before the train arrived .. forgetting that it was Sunday!! Everything was closed except the coffee shops.

So I ordered a coffee and I sat on a stool at a tall bench table near the shop window. Three older people, two women and a man, sat at the low table behind me. One of the women was in her late 60s, was obviously Jewish American (she did mention during the conversation that she and her husband were Jewish) and she dominated the conversation, quite loudly, for the thirty minutes that I was eavesdropping.

Her husband (who is back in Sydney) is suffering from a form of dementia which she described as Adult Attention Deficit. He had been a very successful business man in his time, which she was surprised about because his father was a gambler and did not achieve any financial success, and she had made her own fortune dabbling in the stock market!

Their home in Sydney was recently valued at $4million and it has 5 bathrooms! Her husband's parents were one of the first Jewish families to arrive in Sydney and they built their first home in Surrey Hills.

Her husband was somewhat of a hoarder and she recently brought people in to clear out the garages and some rooms that stored his parents furniture and belongings. When he found out, he was not happy about it.

She was offering stock market advice - something about franked shares (she lost me) - and shared her concerns about the fate of the stock market in 2017.

It was stinking hot in Cooroy today.

At the train station, I met a lady by the name of Joan, whose daughter and son-in-law had recently bought the Miriam Vale Pub and she was heading up there to visit them. She told me that she didn't like the train trip between Gympie and Maryborough. She said that it always seemed to drag on.

It turns out that she was sitting in the seat directly behind me, but we didn't chat any further once we boarded the train.

My senses seemed to be heightened today, especially my hearing and I really tried, unsuccessfully, firstly to read and then to watch a movie.

I could hear -

• young kids talking about animals
• older men discussing life on the farm
• the lady behind me was reading quietly to herself in an audible whisper
• phones with their different sounds announcing the arrival of texts
• the hiss of drink cans opening
• the rustle of plastic food bags opening
• announcements over the PA system
• the hum of the train engine
• the whoosh of the sliding doors as people left the carriage to use the loo
• the jingle of coins as people counted their coffee money
• zippers opening on back packs
• the rattle of the steward's keys
• the tapping on the keyboards of laptops
• the deep voice of the man speaking in a different language
• the clearing of the throat of the man four seats behind me
• the child learning to whistle and continuously practising throughout the trip.

Worst of all, was the stench of nicotine after the 15 minute break at Gympie where the passengers were given permission to disembark and have a quick cigarette. Ugh. I wrapped my new book around my face and inhaled the delicious scent of crisp new paper.

I was very relieved when we finally pulled up at Howard Station and there was Adoring Husband, waiting for me, in full SES uniform, which is orange .. and I was wearing orange pants and orange top .. oh dear. Haha.

The Nikonian shared a photo that she took while she was here, which I quite like .. she made the old bag look presentable and I was happy for it to be shared on facebook too. She is a good photographer .. I knew that I could count on her to get a good one.

I think I'm going to need an early night, because I didn't fall asleep until late last night, had broken sleep and then woke very early this morning. I'm feeling decidedly weary.

Nite all.