Happy New Year

2022

• Closed my business
• Attended a “Know Your Rights” rally
• Reconnected with a (deceased) x-boyfriend’s family
• Created a new art space in the double garage
• Created 6 new pieces of art
• Spent LOTS of time with my BFF
• Created a number of raised garden beds full of fruit and veg
• Spent five days on the Sunny Coast with my BFF
• Spent a day with Bubbles
• Built the new carport
• Gained Harley the Border Collie
• Had a surprise visit from my sister who I hadn’t seen for 9 years
• Lost Colli, the not so psychotic dog
• Remained proudly unvaccinated and in excellent physical health

I have to say that I am not a fan of 2022 and I struggled to find positive things to put on that list. In previous years I’ve been excited to list all the great things that happened but 2022 was a non event.

I’m going to gently ease my way into 2023 and at the end of it I hope to have much to celebrate!

My word for the year is “EQUANIMITY” - mental calmness, composure and evenness of temper.

I am yet to create my vision board but I’ll give myself a week to manifest that one.

In the meantime my hope is that you face 2023 with an open heart and an open mind, that you discover truth where you least expect it and that your body finds a way to strengthen the weaknesses that befall it. Let there be happiness and contentment in your life and enough positive challenges to keep you interested and excited. May your friendships strengthen and allow love into your heart.

Hugs to you all.

Nite all.

Touristy

Our town and The Bay are absolutely chockers full of tourists!

The caravan parks are bursting at the seams and there are a million kids tearing around on scooters and bikes, most of them not wearing helmets or protection.

While checking the post office this afternoon, I feared for my safety as eight kids of varying ages swept past me in very close proximity on the footpath outside the local supermarket.

I think I will avoid the area for the next couple of weeks and venture back out when the crowds thin.

BGWLBH and I went to the nail salon today and were very impressed with our new manicurists. Very professional with much better care taken than the previous salon.

My pedicure was the best I’ve had for a couple of years. Maytwo gave me an amazing leg and foot massage and she was very friendly and just the right amount of ‘chatty’.

We will definitely return.

We did some shopping before and after our appointments but I didn’t get to spend my vouchers. There were just too many people (aka tourists) to contend with.

Adoring Husband babysat Harley who apparently was a very good boy.

I took Harley out to the pool soon after I arrived home and he sat in the water on the top step for about 5 minutes before stepping out, shaking himself off and then rolling in the grass (as they do).

Just enough to cool down.

After dinner I played fetch with him until he gave up.

I had a stack of beef mince, ox liver and brisket bones to divide up into Harley meal sizes which took about 30 minutes and three loaves of bread to divide into 2 slice per ziplock bag to freeze, which also took some time.

AH cooked up the usual chicken wings for Friday night dinner.

It’s now after 9pm and I’m exhausted.

I’m pretty sure we’ll be having a playful time in the art room tomorrow so I need a restful nights sleep - unlike last night which was very restless for me - courtesy of a coffee I’d had at 11am. Caffeine runs through your system for about 12 hours so it was around 11am when I fell asleep but I woke up 3 times during the night.

I’m yawning like crazy so it’s sleep time for me.

Nite all.

Christmas Gifts

This evening, BGWLBH and I opened our Christmas gifts to each other.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we were unable to do so on Christmas Day or Boxing Day and then we wanted to wait until the stars aligned.

Today, they aligned.

Having received very generous gift vouchers from my two favourite shops - Tinkerbell’s and Office Works, I feel very spoilt and can’t wait to spend them! She knows me so well.

I did some more of my art today but forgot to take a pic.

Harley and I spent some time floating around the pool …

We played fetch a lot.

Adoring Husband spent a good portion of the day mowing lawns for work and at home.

Basic chicken and salads for dinner tonight.

Tomorrow we have nail salon appointments again (at a different salon) so let’s hope that goes more smoothly than last week!

It’s way past my sleep time now.

Nite all.

On The Up

Today was an improvement.

At 6am I took Harley for a short walk on the leash. He behaved well.

I made some tea and toast for breakfast and spent about 30 minutes in the art space starting this …

At 8am a message came through from the art girls to see if anyone was going to the park, so I decided to pop down for a bit. 

At 8.40am I rode to the park with Harley sitting in the rear basket of my trike. He was very good and I think he quite enjoys it but I’m worried about him slipping his paws into the spokes of the rear wheels.

He likes to put his paws on the top edge of the basket so that he can see where we are going and it wouldn’t take much for them to slip.

We met a couple of the art girls and chatted for about 90 minutes.

Harley was very good because being school holidays, there were lots of dogs, kids on bikes and scooters and adults with strollers. He was very inquisitive but sat watching it all with his tail wagging happily. No barking and no pulling on the leash to chase.

I was impressed.

We rode home a bit after 10.30am.

I made BGWLBH some bacon and eggs and did some more art with my new pastel pencils for about an hour. So far …

I made a fruit smoothie for everyone and took Harley out to the pool where he had a short swim and we played fetch for a while.

I did some washing and sat to watch my quiz shows.

Harley had another swim and played more fetch before we started dinner.

He hasn’t slept much today and has been a bit more active than usual so I hope he sleeps longer tonight. He’s been sleeping a bit longer each night and it was after 5am when he had me up this morning. He also doesn’t cry to get up, he moves around in his crate and waits til I’m ready to get up.

He has very good bladder control for a puppy.

Bangers and mash for dinner and we should be in bed in the next 30 minutes.

I hope that tomorrow will be an art day before I win $100million in Powerball in the evening!

Nite all.

Meh

I hope that 2023 brings a positive light on our lives.

This year has really sucked.

I usually have a long list of achievements and experiences to brag about and to be proud of, but this year has been quite the opposite and I have felt like a complete misery guts for almost the entire year.

There have been some dark days and I have really struggled trying to act like a normal human and it has taken real effort but I guess the fact that I have even attempted to make the effort says a lot.

I’ve avoided most human contact but have pushed myself to connect with my art girls on a weekly basis. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to make up an excuse to not go.

Anyway, I need to change my attitude and find some reasons to look forward to 2023.

Perhaps I’ll make a bucket list.

I spent quite a lot of time with Harley today …

I also spent time in my art space hoping for inspiration … it eluded me.

Now it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Nothing Changed.

Boxing Day sucked.

Finished this …

Nite all.

Whatever

Christmas sucked.

Nite all.

For Three

I’m not exactly certain why I did this when there are only three of us here for Christmas, but today I made:

• 2 x pavlovas
• 1x trifle (each component from scratch - sponge, jelly, egg custard)
• 1 x stewed apple and rhubarb
• 1 x apple crumble
• 1 x port wine jelly
• 1 x potato salad
• 1 x wombok salad
• 1 x coleslaw

Christmas morning I still have to put the pav together, roast a chicken, peel the remaining prawns, shell the crab and make the garden salad.

BGWLBH set the table …

My back is killing me from standing barefoot on the tiles all day and I’m exhausted!

Harley has been a little terror because he hasn’t had my attention for most of the day and it’s been raining so he hasn’t had as much exercise as normal.

I had no energy to prepare a meal tonight so I sliced some ham and ate some of the salads that I’d made today. Easy, quick and tasty.

The usual Christmas Eve tradition of watching Love Actually with my Melbourne family including Mr Perfect, Mama Perfect and Vegan Chickie happened just after 7pm. Surprisingly, I made it to the end of the movie!

It’s quite warm tonight and I have the fan on but it doesn’t seem to be cooling me down at all. I’m tempted to turn the air con on.

It’s now after 10pm so I’d best get some sleep ready for another early Harley start to the day.

Nite all and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Good and Bad

I’ve just spent two hours listening to and watching the reactions of different people all over the world who are watching and listening to John Farnham singing “Help” supported by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

I could watch that video of John Farnham a thousand times and not tire of it. He is astonishingly spectacular and moves me to the brink of tears every time.

Today has been a good day. Tiring but good.

BGWLBH and I had an appointment at the nail salon in Stocklands for 9am so we drove in early and had breakfast at Bean Beat beforehand.

When we arrived at the salon, they did not have us booked in! We even had a card with the time and date written on it! They did nothing to attempt to fix it. No offer of another appointment. No offer of a discount for our next appt (because we are regulars). Absolutely zip.

So I found their Facebook page and hammered them. We won’t be returning.

We’ve booked ourselves in to one of the salons on Main Street for next week.

We stocked up on heaps of fresh fruit for Christmas - lychees, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, grapes, passionfruit and avocados - as well as some turkey and cranberry sauce.

After a couple of other stops, we headed home, stopping at the post office on the way where I picked up a parcel and got to wish everyone in Foodworks a merry Christmas.

After lunch, I played fetch with Harley, took him for a swim in the pool and then watched my quiz shows on TV. More fetch and more swimming in the late afternoon so I think we pretty well tired him out.

Tomorrow morning Adoring Husband is driving me into Urangan Fisheries to purchase some Christmas seafood and we should be pretty well set for Christmas Day.

Ham, turkey, chicken, prawns, crab, pavlova, Christmas pudding, fruit platter, coleslaw, wombok salad, potato salad, garden salad and more. 

There will be just the three of us so there will be leftovers for days!

It’s almost 11pm and Harley will have me awake in 5 hours so I’d best sleep.

Just this second, we have blacked out, so I’d like to know what caused it because there are no storms about. Maybe an accident? I’ll let you know tomorrow.

Nite all.

Attention

There's a lot of Conspiracy Theorists around these days ...

Well, here's another one!

Early in 1616, Galileo was accused of being a heretic, a person who opposed Church teachings. Heresy was a crime for which people were sometimes sentenced to death.

Galileo was cleared of charges of heresy, but was told that he should no longer publicly state his belief that Earth moved around the Sun.

Galileo continued his study of astronomy and became more and more convinced that all planets revolved around the Sun.

In 1632, he published a book that stated, among other things, that the heliocentric theory of Copernicus was correct.

Even though he was correct, Galileo was once again called before the Inquisition and this time was found guilty of heresy. Galileo was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1633.

So, we are in good company and the truth always comes out in the end.

Harley had me up at 4am again so I took him out to the toilet and brought him back to bed until 5am. 

He received lots of attention today and I played ‘fetch’ once in the morning and again in the afternoon. Adoring Husband played the same game late this afternoon. He also swam in the pool with me mid afternoon.

He still managed to empty a pot of soil in the outdoor area, knocked over my pawpaw tree, pulled the broom down from it’s supposedly ‘Harley safe’ space, steal the plastic clips from the garden frames, peed in my art space and almost successfully pull the mini vacuum from its position in the family room.

He pierced my skin twice during play time and drew blood.

I’ve been watching a few short training videos on dog training and practising some of the ideas on Harley. They are working pretty well but not consistently yet.

Trouble with Harley is that he is not food driven so giving him a treat as a reward doesn’t impress him. I need to use a variety of different systems to train him. He is very intelligent but during the ‘witching hours’ he is uncontrollable!

I still love him.

BGWLBH and I went grocery shopping at the local supermarket so that we didn’t have to fight the crowds in The Bay tomorrow. We still have a couple of things to get.

I won a small prize in OzLotto on Tuesday night and a tiny prize in Powerball tonight but the first division has now increased to $100million for next week. What a nice way that would be to start 2023!

Dinner tonight was chicken with tomato pesto and candied ginger, boiled jacket potatoes, green beans, fried rice and garden salad.

Ugh I can’t stop yawning!

BGWLBH and I have a pamper day booked for tomorrow so I need my sleep.

Nite all.