Triple Bunger

The three tennis matches that I most wanted to watch tonight all commenced at the same time on different courts.

For me, Alexei Popyrin vs Ben Shelton was my number one game, so we viewed that on the big screen TV. Unfortunately, the Aussie lost in three sets, but as an unseeded qualifier, he did exceptionally well for this tournament.

My second most wanted match was Djokovic vs Dimitrov so I live streamed that one on my iPad and held it in my lap. Djokovic is struggling through a hamstring injury but has won the first two sets and leading in the third set, 3 games to nil.

Third game I wanted to watch was the Andy Murray vs Roberto Bautista Agut match. Murray returning to tennis after a hip replacement! He has played two very long five set matches to get to this game and I don’t hold much hope for him. His body is struggling but he is mentally tough. Time will tell.

I was watching the live scores for this one on the Australian Open website but now I’m watching the match live because Popyrin’s game is finished.

I spent a good portion of today pulling Harley away from fighting Armstrong at the fence. It’s so freaking annoying when Armstrong’s owner doesn’t bother attempting to stop Armstrong until she hears me outside pulling Harley away. It’s Armstrong who starts the fracas by jumping at the fence when he knows Harley is in the yard.

He just started doing it in the last week or so. It’s been so peaceful until then.

Otherwise it has been a tennis day for me and dozing on the couch.

I think I’ll be asleep very soon. I’m tired.

Nite all.

Get me a Bucket

Harley chewed up an entire bucket in the space of about 30 minutes. 😳

I think it was his way of punishing me for shutting him outside while we ate dinner - because he was biting BGWLBH’s feet at the dinner table.

You can’t tell me that he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

The new dilemma now is the neighbour’s dog Armstrong jumping on the fence and running up and down the length of the fence stirring up Harley. I’m trying to figure out how to stop Harley from barking at him and copying the fence running.

There’s always something new to keep me on my toes.

I went in for a swim early this morning, after breakfast. It was around 8.30am and Harley joined me. The water was perfect and I enjoyed a good 30 minutes swimming laps and stretching in the water as well as having Harley cuddles.

We played ‘fetch’ for a while until Harley lost the plot (I put the video on YouTube so click here to view it) …

Harley the Superhound

I’m not certain what the hell was going on there.

I spent some time in the art space watching a couple of puppy training videos. I am dubious about some of these so-called dog trainers, but a couple of them are pretty good on YouTube.

I watched some tennis and I dozed on and off for an hour on the couch.

It seems I’ve taken over Friday night chicken wing dinner.

Despite my nap, I’m still feeling tired so it’s time for me to once again, fall asleep to the sound of ball on racket.

PS Harley passes wind a LOT and crikey it stinks!!

Nite all.

Pamper Day

I found this … 

"I'm slowly learning that even if I react, it won't [always] change anything, it won't make people suddenly love and respect me, it won't magically change their minds.

Sometimes it's better to just let things be, let people go, don't fight for closure, don't ask for explanations, don't chase answers and don't expect people to understand where you're coming from.

I'm slowly learning that life is better lived when you don't centre it on what's happening around you and centre it on what's happening inside you instead.

Work on yourself and your inner peace and you'll come to realise that not reacting to every little thing that bothers you is the first ingredient to living a happy and healthy life."

🖋️Author : Rania Naim

🎨 A painting “Golden Tears” done by Anne-Marie Zilberman.

BGWLBH and I started the day with breakfast at Salt Cafe.

The weather was perfect, the tide just right, the temperature mild and the air was very clear making the colours vibrant.

We checked out the little gift shop and walked from there to Luxe where I bought a top, a necklace and a string of hanging bells for the Bali hut.

It was a decent walk to the hat shop near the pier but their hats were disappointing. We expected some beautifully designed flamboyant creations but they were all pretty standard hats that didn’t inspire us.

We played “tourists” and took lots of pics of the water in front of our breakfast cafe.

We attended our nail salon appointment where I had a delicious pedicure and BGWLBH had infills. I shopped for Harley and found a good quality harness with a short lead, a kong ball and some training treats.

We stopped in at the Christmas shop hoping to find a Christmas tree storage bag. The box for our tree, after 20 years, has deteriorated beyond repair, but we had no luck because apparently the supplier, having made the decision to not sell to Australia, cancelled their order of tree storage bags before Christmas.

I bought lotto tickets and before we drove home, stopped at the post office to pick up the mail and to the butcher for our meat order.

We were both buggered and spent the remainder of the afternoon reclined, although I did get up for 20 minutes to play fetch with Harley and take him for a dip in the pool.

I made potato salad, coleslaw, balsamic tomatoes and crispy skinned chicken for dinner.

I’ve been watching the tennis and enjoying the success of a few of the Aussies. Two are currently playing as I type this and no doubt I will fall asleep before either of the matches are complete. I suspect a couple of 5 setters will be presented.

Nite all.

Hump of a Day

Former British Soldier Exposes The Monarchy

Today has been an interesting day.

Harley woke me at 6.15am which is the latest morning we’ve had so far and I was very happy! 

Just the two of us rode to the Lions Park for morning coffee with the art girls.

Harley knows when I take my little backpack out of the drawer that it means he’s going out, so he was very excited as I put his harness on and lifted him into the trike basket (I will be very happy when he’s able to jump in by himself!) attaching him to the harness strap for safety. He sat up like King Harley with a big smile on his face.

I parked the trike at our usual table and attempted to take him for a walk before everyone arrived but instead of his usual calm walk with a loose leash at my side, he pulled in front and wanted to drag me along. It didn’t matter what I did, he wanted to be in charge.

This means that I can’t allow anyone else to walk him now until I train him properly. BGWLBH took him for a walk and allowed him to lead the way - now I have to retrain him. It’s exhausting.

This mornings walk was a disaster.

He behaved himself while all the ladies were there and he said hullo to lots of people who stopped to admire him, including two young girls. One of my ladies asked if she could take him for a walk and because she is such a dog lover, I agreed. 

Being a dog lover doesn’t make you a good dog walker. She lengthened the leash and he literally dragged her for 20 minutes, running in all directions and jumping on people as they walked by. Ugh. They both had a great old time and she had a grin from ear to ear when they returned.

For me, leash training begins all over again and I have to deny others the joy of walking him, at least for a while.

We left there around 11am and Harley was exhausted so he happily lay against the cushion in the rear basket and we road home.

When we got home I took him out the back and opened the gate into the pool. He ran full throttle and slid into the water, swimming two laps before he climbed out.

THEN he still wanted to play fetch! That boy has so much energy. We played for about 15 minutes and then he gave up.

I then plonked myself in front of the tennis for the remainder of the day.

Adoring Husband drove to the local take away and bought some hot chips for lunch.

I reluctantly made dinner of honey, garlic, sesame chicken with salads. The Australian, Jason Kubler, was playing and I wanted to watch him play, which is why I ‘reluctantly’ cooked dinner.

Harley wasn’t keen on coming to bed tonight, but he settled after about ten minutes and is now sleeping soundly.

I shall fall asleep to the sound of a rackets on ball again tonight.

Nite all.

Rainy Tuesday

Girl brilliantly explains how the current financial system works.

Yet another rainy day - constant rain to deter you from wanting to do anything or go anywhere.

So it was lucky that I had a zoom meeting booked with The Gypsy and I killed 2 hours in the morning being inspired and energised by her teachings.

Her energy and health has improved considerably since we saw her last Thursday and I feel much better about her ability to thrive from here on in.

Whenever I spend time with The Gypsy I ALWAYS leave her company with my mood at least 50% improved. Everything she says makes sense. Her grounded intuition, common sense and spiritual wisdom feed and nourish me in ways that just can’t be explained.

Today, I knew her health had turned a corner because she chatted vibrantly about all the things we both needed to face in our lives and it all made perfect sense. I feel much more at peace.

Harley had an amazingly good day today. He was calm and obedient and affectionate. This is him sleeping against the gate to the lounge room where I was situated - when we got him, he fit about 2” longer than two tiles. Look how big he is now!

Adoring Husband’s foot seems to be on the mend although it is still swollen and painful. He needs to be more diligent with that moon boot though.

We enjoyed a nice chicken and salad for dinner and played trivia for 30 minutes before The Bachelors came on telly.

I will fall asleep to the sound of Djokovic playing tennis. He has injured his hamstring so I’m concerned as to whether he’s fit enough to see the match out. I hope it’s nothing serious. It would be such a shame for him to pull out after all he’s been through.

It’s a lovely cool night so sleep should be very comfortable. I’m outta here.

Nite all.

It’s Monday

Introducing The Reset | The Great Reset Docuseries (Episode 1)

BGWLBH and I had plans to visit Maryborough today. She had a Drs appointment and we were going to book into a hairdresser, visit the Bling shop and look around the town.

Unfortunately I had a terribly restless night with an upset tummy so I had to cancel and she did the trip solo.

Harley was in the worst mood today, which was not good for me when I was feeling so tired and lethargic from my uncomfortable night.

He did absolutely nothing that was asked of him. He would not sit. He would not stay. He would not come. He kept trying to bite everyone. He barked. He chewed the furniture. He jumped up at the table.

Ugh 😩

I even locked him outside for a while!

To escape him, I sat in the lounge room and turned on the TV. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Australian Open was starting! I’d forgotten all about it!

BGWLBH arrived home bearing gifts which was lovely and then offered to take Harley for a walk to get rid of some of that pent up energy. I accepted her offer.

They were gone for about 30 minutes and soon after arriving home, Harley collapsed into a deep sleep.

Tonight’s dinner was lamb cutlets and vegetables with a chilli mulberry sauce.

I’m feeling very tired so it’s sleep time for me now.

Nite all.

Lazy Wet Sunday

Immunology 101

It has been another drizzly wet day but at least Harley got to go for a swim.

We were playing fetch during a rain break and he was huffing and puffing from all the running and jumping so I opened the pool gate and in he slid for a couple of laps before getting back into the game.

Unfortunately he decided to dry himself on the couch in the family room and luckily I have a coverlet over it so I can wash it and get rid of that wet dog smell!

This is the interesting way he sleeps under the little table in the family room …

And this is Harley eating the basil plant from the garden …

BGWLBH and I spent some time in the art space and I finished my octopus collage …

I found a great YouTube tutorial for learning how to do a portrait using pastels. I got myself all set up with the iPad and YouTube on the bamboo stand, the right paper and my new pastels … then the first step was to sketch the face.

😳

I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to do something so detailed so I’ve set it aside for another day.

I won $40million in Texas Hold’em instead. Pity it’s not real.

I watched a couple of great Netflix movies. “Half Brothers” and “Along For The Ride”. I enjoyed both of them.

Sunday roast lamb and vegetables for dinner.

The Bachelors for Sunday night viewing.

I phoned Number One son and sang Happy Birthday to him very badly.

Now it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.