My Pleasure

It was so nice to be back at work today.

There were lots of customers to fill my morning and in between, I wandered through the shop admiring our wares and feeeeeeeeeeling the serenity.

More annual visitors are arriving in town and questioning whether we were here this time last year, which of course, we were not BUT we are getting close to one year open!

I guess we should start thinking about a birthday celebration to share with the community!

Adoring Husband dropped me off at work this morning but forgot that we close at 1pm on Saturdays and I had to message him at 2.30pm to come get me. It was ok because I had plenty to do and a couple of late customers dropped in before I brought in the flags and signs.

I was very spoilt this afternoon, when AH cooked roast chicken and vegetables in the barbecue. He did the chicken on the rotisserie and made some gravy with my chicken bone broth. We had potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, onion, asparagus and broccoli.

He still has great cooking skills and it was delicious!

He's in bed right now and I just took the dogs in ... he was laying in the bed with the lights out and no TV (very unusual) but said he was listening to some hooning in the distance and was waiting to hear a crash. I hope not.

I received a private message on Facebook today, from a friend's daughter (who I also consider a friend) and she is marrying her girlfriend in Melbourne in November this year. She has asked me if I will do the photography for her wedding!

I feel incredibly honoured that she has asked me, but I haven't made a decision yet. There is much to consider and a few questions that I need answered, as well as discussing it with some important people who will be affected by my decision.

I am strongly leaning towards a 'yes' but we will see.

Tomorrow is Sunday and I have some washing to do, but aside from that, it's going to be a lazy day for me. I can't wait.

I'm even having an early night tonight!

I just saw an ad for Fox Classics movie channel having a Doris Day week of movies next week! OMG I love Doris Day. I'll be watching!

Enough from me for now.

Nite all.

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet!

That's how fast the five days went by!

We left a bit too early to drive No. 1 Son straight to the airport, so we stopped at Hervey Norman's to pick up my photos.

While we were there, we looked at some toasters, because two of the four slots in our ten year old toaster no longer work.

We happened across some 'end of the range' kitchen appliances on sale for less than half price and decided to buy a matching kettle and toaster in this gorgeous yellow ...

... unfortunately, when we arrived home, we discovered that one of the elements in the new toaster also didn't work, so Adoring Husband took another trip into town to return it. We were told when we bought it that it was the last one in the shop, so we were expecting to have our money returned, but it turns out that Bundaberg has one there, so it will be sent down next week.

From there, we drove to the airport and enjoyed a coffee while we waited with No. 1 Son for his flight to depart. The plane arrived at the time when he should have been boarding but we said our farewells and AH and I left the airport as the plane landed on the tarmac.

We drove across town to Tinkerbells where, on Wednesday, I had seen a ring that I thought would look fabulous with the turquoise pendant I bought a few months ago. I took the pendant with me today because I wanted to check that the colour closely matched it. It wasn't a perfect match, but was close enough for me, so I bought it. It was on sale at 40% off so that was my second bargain for the day!

After my time off this week to spend with No. 1 Son, The Motivator is going to take a few deserving days off, so I'd best get some sleep so that I can be bright and breezy for work tomorrow.

I'm excited to be returning to the shop.

Nite all.

Feelin' Racy

Today was RACE DAY!!

The challenge was on!! Had to triple tie my hair in a bun, zip up the jacket, double hair net for extra protection, squeeze on the helmet, slide the sunnies through the eye slot...

... struggle to get down low into the go kart seat ... then to discover that the pedals and steering wheel were in a position that my dodgy knee couldn’t manoeuvre around.

So my money was refunded and I had to watch Adoring Husband and No. 1 Son from trackside.

The boys chased each other around the track for thirty minutes, both of them experiencing mishaps on the track, but nothing to cause injury.

I had psyched myself into enjoying this adventure for what it was, so I was quite disappointed when I couldn't fulfil the challenge.

Afterwards, we shopped til we dropped - for stuff that we needed at home and also for the shop. We grabbed some sushi for lunch while we were at Stocklands and on the way home, we planned to go fishing on the beach.

We stopped at the shop to drop off the mail and the purchases that I'd made at Office Works while AH ordered our coffee and No. 1 Son bought some bait for the fishing trip.

After I unpacked the groceries and AH organised the fishing rods and tackle box, we drove to the beach where the boys fished and I walked the sand with my camera ...

No fish were caught but we felt the serenity, breathed the fresh air, felt the sand between our toes (well I did anyway) and enjoyed the beauty of nature for almost two hours.

Empty handed, we returned home to prepare an easy dinner of steak on the barbecue, buttered mushroom and onions, boiled potatoes in the jacket and a big garden salad.

Fruit whip ice cream for dessert followed by disappointment that the usual football is not on TV this weekend!

I'll be requiring another early night to bed and tomorrow we will be farewelling No. 1 son because his five days are all over red rover. How quick was that?! Crazy quick.

I think he had a good time. There was not a lot of excitement, but I think that's the idea of having a holiday from Sydney ... the serenity and the laziness and the stress free environment. It was all about the food and the complete lack of pressure.

I've enjoyed having No 1 Son here and I hope he doesn't leave it another five years before visiting us again. AH has enjoyed No. 1 Son's company as well. Even though the boys ganged up on me a bit, I'm tough and can handle it! 

Bloody Blues supporters!

Nite all.

Whaaaaat????

I had a boy's look.

Go-carting was on our 'to do' list this morning. I checked the website which said 'Open 7 days week 9.30am - 5.30pm' but what I failed to notice was that those hours are only during school holidays!

The remainder of the year, they are open Thursday - Sunday. Today is Wednesday.

Ugh.

So, we decided to have an early lunch at Enzos on the Beach before heading out to Gundiah to visit Best Cousin in the World on the farm.

Adoring Husband and I chose the Nachos Moo because it was one of the few GF options available. AH loved it but I thought it was a bit ordinary. No. 1 Son had the curry of the day and even though it tasted good, it was a small serve for the cost of $24. The view and the perfect weather made up for any food shortfalls.

It seemed like a long drive to Gundiah and I thought it would never end, but we finally made it and were greeted with the sight of these gorgeous little fluff balls.

I had a very long cuddle with one of them, which I named Trevor, and he was the only puppy still available, but thanks to Adoring Husband, common sense prevailed and no deal was done! (That's Trevor lying down right at the back)

The boys went for a drive around the farm while BCITW and I chatted over a glass of wine.

After a couple of hours we headed home where AH cooked our steaks on the barbecue and I prepared a couple of salads to go with. After dinner I made a big batch of chocolate soft serve ice cream.

Here it is, almost 9pm and once again, I am feeling very weary.

I've accepted No. 1 Son's challenge to race the boys in the go carts tomorrow, so I'd best get an early night so that I'm fresh and alert for the big event!

Nite all

It's Cold

For the second day in a row, I wore clothes with sleeves!

That's when you know it's cold.

Number One Son walked beside my trike to work and helped me open the shop, which was lovely.

We had another full house for morning coffee with the girls, but it was so busy in the shop that I didn't even get to sit with them, which was kind of bitter sweet.

When it got quiet, a delivery of stock arrived, which meant there were two deliveries to process because one had arrived the day before as well.

I had time to price yesterday's products, but The Motivator will have the happy task of pricing today's delivery.

The last hour was filled with a grey nomad couple who were in for a chat. No 1 Son chatted with the husband while I tempted the wife to purchase. I failed, but they are here for another six weeks and I think she will return this week to buy a birthday gift for a family member.

Tonight was an easy dinner of take away from the cafe which we ate at the Lions Park on dusk. It was very mild weather and the colour in the sky was pretty. We sat there for about thirty minutes enjoying our food until we could feel the chill in the air and we decided to drive home to the comfort of our lounge room.

We've lived here for ten years and this is the first time that we've used the air conditioner for heat. Apparently Adoring Husband used it once while I was away on a road trip, but it's never been used in the house while I've been at home.

We turned the heat on tonight for a while, but AH turned it off when he went to bed an hour ago and now I have the fan directly aimed at me ... go figure.

There are plans afoot for tomorrow and it's now almost 9.30pm so I'm off to bed. I feel surprisingly tired.

Nite all.

He's Baaaa-aaaack!

After five years, Number One Son has returned and arrived safe n sound.

We picked him up from the airport at lunch time.

Because the light is so bright behind the entrance tunnel to the airport, everybody is a black silhouette as they enter the terminal so I had trouble recognising him from all the other big tall men with hairy faces!!

We decided on Aqua Vue for lunch, ran some errands around town, stopped at Dr Dan's, ordered some photo prints from Hardly Normal's and drove home where we gave Number One Son a tour of the shop, introduced him to The Motivator and helped bring everything inside so that she could shut up shop.

Finally, we made our way home.

The Psychotic dogs gave him a loud and crazy welcome, but have settled now and spend a lot of time staring at him.

I think No 1 Son has brought the Winter weather with him because even 'I' am wearing long sleeves today and tonight!

After such a big day, everyone is now snug and warm in bed and I am about to follow suit. I'm working in the morning and I'm looking forward to having coffee with the girls.

*yawn*

Nite all.

Done and Dusted

It was another AMAZING day of the workshop and now it's all over.

The ladies were fantastic. Their camera knowledge improved so much over the weekend as they shared information and supported each other. Then we enjoyed time on the beach putting everything into practice.

It really didn't feel like work at all and I was impressed not only with the way their photography improved over two days, but also by their warmth, laughter and generosity.

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire weekend and feel so grateful to have been able to inspire these ladies and share the time with them.

Over the years, photography has brought me so much joy on so many levels, and now I've found yet avenue to enjoy the craft. I really hope that this is the beginning of many inspirational weekends of photography pleasure!

I got an early night last night and was in bed well before 9.30pm and asleep before 10pm. I didn't set my alarm because I always wake at 6am, at which time I can decide whether to go back to sleep or get up.

As Murphy's Law should dictate, Adoring Husband had to wake me at 8am!! This meant that I had slept for ten hours!! Unheard of, and it also meant that I had to rush around like a chook with it's head cut off to get to the class on time!

Ugh.

I arrived at the shop at 8.50am and the ladies all arrived smack on 9am, so it all worked out in the end.

Tomorrow, Number One Son arrives for a five day visit!

It's been four years since BGWLBH and I visited him in Oakey during a road trip and it's been five years since he was here for a visit.

That's a LONG time!

I'll have Monday, Wednesday and Friday off to spend some time with him.

So I'd best get some sleep so that I can be bright and breezy when he arrives tomorrow!

Nite all.