All Gone Away

We were up at stupid o'clock this morning to take Bubbles to the train station so that she could travel to the Sunny Coast to spend a week with her bestie before returning to Sydney to start her new job.

It was a pleasant morning drive and it wasn't too windy, but the temperature had dropped to a cooler and more acceptable number.

The train was only 5 minutes late and Bubbles arrived at her destination pretty much on time.

Meanwhile, we returned home, Knight in Shining Armour finished packing and spent some quality time with the psychotic dogs who were already missing Bubbles.

We left home at 8.45am and even though KISA was happy for us to drop him at the airport, Adoring Husband decided that we would park the car and have a coffee with KISA in the terminal cafe.

I was almost certain that the flight would be cancelled because by 10am the wind was absolutely crazy. We left KISA well before his flight and planned to spend some time in The Bay, so if the flight was cancelled at the last minute, we wouldn't be too far away to return and bring him home.

His flight had been delayed at the Sydney end so it left The Bay about 30 minutes later than planned. He informed me that even though the take off felt blustery, the flight was fine, so he arrived home safe n sound.

AH and I drove into The Bay and decided to have breakfast at Dan and Steph's on the Esplanade.  We've eaten there before and enjoyed it so we were expecting more of the same.

We sat out the front of the cafe and even though the winds were strong, they weren't affecting the eating area, although at one point the very heavy sign that was hanging nearby, came flying off the hooks and landed about 15cm from AH's foot. THAT could have been a disaster! But it wasn't.

We both ordered the same meal - it was almost a nachos - a big bowl with home made corn chips, char grilled corn, friend beans, pulled pork, avocado, cherry tomatoes, capsicum sticks, coriander and sour cream. It was supposed to be GF.

I don't think it was.

We had to drop some paperwork into our financial advisor's office, but before the lift doors even opened to take us to their floor, my stomach began doing loop the loops and churning the way it does when I eat gluten. The pain doubled me over at one stage. I spent a considerable amount of time in the nearest bathroom before we could eventually drop off our paperwork.

It was an uncomfortable drive home and I felt so poorly, I went straight to bed and there I slept for 90 minutes.

It has been 3 weeks since I spent a Friday night at the club for the raffle night and both AH and I intended on being there tonight, but I didn't have the energy.

I am still in bed as I write this!

The wind and the new Bali hut has caused us some extra work in the last 24 hours. All the loose grass from the roof of the hut has been blowing off in the strong winds and of course, going directly into the pool!

We see this as a good thing. Strong winds for a few days will clean the roof of all the loose stuff and instead of having a few months of gradual grass thinning, it will be over in one hit!

All of our furniture has been packed into the pool room, the umbrella has been wound down and tied safely, the water feature has been tied to the fence (it is yet to be secured to it's final position) and the Bali bed has been secured with special locks to the bamboo fence.

So while cyclone Oma idles over 600kms from us, her strong wind gusts are causing a bit of grief by creating 12 metre waves in some coastal areas, causing beach erosion along most of our coastline, bringing incredibly high tides to the beaches and river mouths and the windy conditions are generally making life uncomfortable - which is preferable to her making landfall and causing catastrophic damage of course.

I just hope that the winds die down a little so that The Motivator and I can fly out of The Bay tomorrow without drama!

We are looking forward to our time in Sydney and shopping at the gift fair for new and different stock  to display and sell in the shop!

I think I need some more sleep now - help my body recover properly before we fly out.

Nite all.

Mum and Daughter Day

Bubbles and I caught the bus into The Bay and spent the day shopping and lunching.

It was a fabulous day which I enjoyed very much and we got lots of shopping done at some bargain prices.

While we were there, this happened ...

... it was so nice to return home to find my Bali hut FINALLY complete!

All that's left is to place our beautiful big pots in the garden, hang my hammock and hang my crystals and lead-light decorations.

At the moment there is lots of grass blowing in the wind, breaking off and filling the garden and the pool, but these windy days should clean off all the loose grass and it should settle in a few days.

Hopefully cyclone Oma doesn't make an appearance to ruin all of our hard work!!

Fingers crossed and positive thoughts.

Once again, I'm exhausted, so I'm off for an early night because I have work tomorrow.

Nite all.

Another Day Gone

I can't believe that eleven days have gone 'just like that'!

Only three more sleeps and the house will be empty - especially for Adoring Husband because I'll be leaving for Sydney (weather permitting) on Saturday.

Today was another full one, which started with the girls for coffee. We were a bit light on and only four of us in attendance, including The Motivator and myself.

Adoring Husband, Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour picked me up at 10am and we drove to Howard to visit Vancootens, a haberdashery come gift store just fifteen minutes from here.

They sell a few of the same items as The Happy Abode, but are more expensive than us. The shop is not as packed or cramped as I remember it from when I visited five or six years ago. We bought some tea towels.

From there, we drove to "Australiana Cottage Crafts and Herb Farm" where I purchased an iPad pillow, a leadlight peace sign and two garden ornaments - a frog and a turtle.

Bubbles took these photos in the gardens ...

Coffee was our next priority, so The Coffee Club at Stocklands was our destination.  Bubbles and I purchased a healthy juice from 'Boost' while the boys satisfied their caffeine  addictions.

We did a quick Kmart run, followed by a drive to Nana's Pantry to replenish my stocks of nuts so that I can make some toffee nuts for the kids to take with them when they leave on Friday.

We did lunch at the waterpark again, though it wasn't quite as nice as the other day - different staff on duty.

I needed a new orange flag for my trike so we visited a mobility cart establishment to purchase one of those and then drove home.

An order of chicken was awaiting us at the butcher so we picked that up on the way.

We could hear the pool beckoning us as we drove in the garage so we unpacked the car and then all took a dip in the very cool water before I started dinner.

Now, I'm exhausted so I'm off to bed to rejuvenate before another big day in The Bay with Bubbles tomorrow.

Nite all.

Working the Day

Even though I got to bed earlier than usual and even fell asleep about an hour earlier than usual, I struggled to wake up this morning. I must have pressed 'snooze' eight or nine times and it was 7.30 by the time I found the motivation or the 'wakefulness' to make a decision!

Once I was up and about, things got easier.

I was able to buy my morning coffee and still get to the shop with plenty of time to spare.

The Gypsy arrived at the same time as I did and she set up her room while I took the signs and flags out and opened the shop.

She had clients booked in for the morning and I was quite busy with customers until about 11.30am. The morning passed quickly.

We made our lunch and sat in the lounge area and talked and talked and talked.

The afternoon passed quickly!

A lady gave me her details so that she could be called for the 'journalling' and 'vision board' workshops. She may also attend the meditation class on Wednesday.

Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour spent the day in The Bay, while Adoring Husband spent the day painting the exterior of our other kitchen/pool filter room.

So everybody is pretty tired from their busy days.

I think I'll do MKR again and then off to bed early.

Tomorrow, we are going to Howard to visit Vancootens and then probably into The Bay for a walk along the pier and a touch of shopping.

This reminded me of my mother ...

Looking forward to coffee with the girls!

Nite all.

What a Day!

Saturday was such a big day, with barely a moment to stop and take a breath.

We decided to take a drive to Childers.

Knight in Shining Armour has a real 'thing' for Op Shops and Childers has a couple of good ones, plus a Dimmeys AND a 'Dollars and Sense' store.

They LOVE a bargain!

Childers also has an amazing shoe shop, which was our first stop for the morning.

I tried three or four pairs and the only pair that I loved was not available in my size - BUT - the lady in charge said that next month, when I return with the girls, they will have taken a big delivery of new stock.

*happy dance*

After we visited the Op Shop and Dimmeys, we wandered across the road to the sit down cafe 'Kape`' where we intended to have coffee, but when I spotted the GF waffles on the menu, it was all over for me!

Adoring Husband, who had never eaten a waffle before, totally enjoyed his meal and even though it wasn't quite as good as the Montville version, it was still delicious and I would definitely order that again.

We decided, on the way home, to make a stop at Bamboo Land.

AH had to purchase some more oil to paint the bamboo fence - which protects and rejuvenates it.

We had a little wander around but didn't get to see much so I think we'll take the time this week to return and really look around.

There is no pic of Bubbles because she declined the opportunity to be my subject.

The bamboo was amazing blowing in the wind with the stems creaking and cracking and the leaves swishing and rustling - so tall and almost majestic.

We had to return home and prepare for Best Cousin in the World and Marco Polo.

I made a mayonnaise, a coleslaw, a rice dish, an avocado dip and a garden salad, keeping the tomatoes separate because BCITW doesn't like tomatoes. I baked two trays of potato discs in the oven and AH cooked the steaks, sausages and onion on the barbecue.

After dinner, we played Twenty Questions. AH and I won all three games because we are AMAZINGLY BRILLIANT!

Much alcohol was consumed by some and it got loud - apologies to our neighbours who may have been taken by surprise by the unusual activity that was happening in our outdoor area!

I got to spend a quiet hour with BCITW before bed, which was nice, and it was after midnight when I crawled into bed ... hence NO blog post last night!

This morning, I only got up to say goodbye to BCITW and Marco Polo then I returned to bed until lunch time. AH brought my coffee and some toast for breakfast and I decided to go for a swim after lunch.

Bubbles and I spent quite some time in the water and we played catch with the new ball that we bought in Childers. Luckily AH stayed in the area because our ball skills left a lot to be desired and he spent a lot of time retrieving our wayward throws!

This afternoon I made some GF chocolate cupcakes and some toffee nuts.

Dinner was three different meals - spaghetti bolognese for AH, 4kgs of potatoes made into baked discs for Bubbles and KISA and melted cheese on GF bread rolls for me. Dessert was a cupcake.

I made the decision to spend my night watching MKR and writing my blog post so that I can have an early night.

So thank you for listening/reading.

Nite all.