Soul to Soul

I left Harley in the capable hands of BGWLBH and Adoring Husband for almost 7 hours while I spent some quality time with two special people.

Heart of Gold picked me up just after 8am and we drove to The Gypsy in Dallarnil for some meditation, fresh country air and some soul searching.

Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, time spent with those two is precious and always good for the soul.

By the time I got home, it was almost 3pm and I was starving! So I made myself a sandwich and sat down just in time for the football.

There have been a couple of upsets this weekend so nobody in the tipping comp is doing very well, me included.

I stayed awake until 2.30am watching the Djokovic vs Alcaraz tennis final. Thankfully it was a bit of an anticlimax because in the third set, Alcaraz got severe cramps through his body and the residual pain caused his tennis game to fall apart and Djokovic won in four sets.

I say ‘thankfully’ because had they both remained strong and fit for the duration of the match, it would have lasted a good 5 hours, resulting in no sleep for me! 

Alcaraz is an amazing player for a 20 yr old and Djokovic is an amazing player for a 36 yr old. One set apiece before the cramps set in, showing how evenly matched they were.

I thoroughly enjoyed it while it lasted.

With only four hours of sleep, broken by a pee break (!) I am now feeling very weary, so it’s sleep time for me.

Nite all.

Training Walk

Harley and I walked for an hour this morning.

We walked to the river then along the river path to the beach. He had his first walk on the sand at low tide and later we walked along the main road home.

Way back when we were first walking (about 4 months ago) he happily walked on a loose leash, but then I let two different people walk him two days in a row and they allowed him free rein. Big mistake on my part because I’ve struggled ever since to get him to walk on a loose leash.

He’s improving every day and he’s not pulling me but I’m constantly correcting him.

The main thing I worked on today was preventing him from chasing cars. By halfway, he was ignoring the traffic, including the 8 motorbikes that flew past us, however, he doesn’t like cars coming from behind. So that’s something else we need to work on.

Even after walking for an hour and refusing to drink at each water station, he still wanted to play when we arrived home, so I gave him 20 minutes around the pool chasing balls.

After that, I planted myself in front of the TV to watch some more ‘Stranger Things’.

Nothing productive for the remainder of the day.

Tonight I’m attempting to stay awake long enough to watch Djokovic play Alcaraz Garfia in the French Open Tennis Semi Final. I’ve never seen Alcaraz Garfia play and he’s number one in the world, so I’m looking forward to seeing him in action.

I’m leaving early in the morning for meditation at The Gypsy’s place so I hope the match doesn’t go for 4  or 5 hours!

I had a call from Number One Son this afternoon. He’s feeling down after breaking up with his girlfriend. I never met her and never spoke to her but I knew from her social media accounts that she wasn’t right for him. Very high maintenance and quite toxic.

He deserves better and I hope he realises it.

Nite all.

Ruined

I began varnishing my art in preparation for the art expo in 16 days.

I discovered, the hard way, that posca pens are not varnish friendly and the colour has run on my small seahorse picture and my wave.

If I’d used a spray on varnish, it would have been ok but I used my preferred ‘brush on’ varnish and that was disastrous.

Ugh 😩 

So it was a disappointing day for me.

I did get two of my fluid art paintings varnished and they look great. The colours are brighter and the glossy shine looks awesome, so I guess the day wasn’t a complete failure.

My purple octopus got some more attention too.

In between all of that I took Harley out for play twice and I cooked all three meals today so I’m feeling a bit worn out. I even fell asleep on the couch watching the football! Unheard of!

So, on that note, I shall sign off and snuggle under my covers and aim for a solid nights sleep.

Nite all.

New Brekky Spot

We found The Spotted Goat.

I’d heard of this restaurant and friends had posted pics of themselves dining outside but even though we drive along The Esplanade often, I’d never seen it or noticed it.

Today we decided to go in search of it with the idea of dining in for breakfast.

I think we arrived a bit after 8am and there were two tables with diners.

The staff were super friendly, greeting us at the door and explaining the process.

It was a bit chilly this morning so we opted to eat inside. There were about 6 tables outside on the footpath and there was a gentleman drinking coffee at one of them.

Inside, the decor was crisp and clean, mostly white with touches of blue and pink. There were two big framed pictures on the wall of beach scenes but focusing on pink and gold kombis in the foreground.

We counted 7 staff including the barista and the woman taking orders and payments at the checkout.

The acoustics were not good because every sound echoed, from the many conversations, the background music and the kitchen noise so it was difficult to hear each other when we spoke.

BGWLBH ordered standard poached eggs and bacon with a pot of tea, while I ordered avocado on GF toast with lemon feta and pomegranate which was delicious. I also ordered a small takeaway coffee and that was delicious too.

The meals were reasonably priced and it cost $44 all up.

I’d like to go there again and order something different for lunch.

Within 15 minutes of us ordering, the restaurant was packed and when we left there was only one free table, so obviously they have a reputation and I was surprised to discover that this august, they will have been open for two years!

We certainly took our time over breakfast and it was an enjoyable way to start our day.

Our itinerary today included The Spotted Goat, Nanas Pantry, Choice, Newsagent, Nail Salon, Spotlight, Bakery, Petbarn, 2 x Butchers, Su Jus Cafe, Coles, Woollies, the seafood place at Eli Waters and Craignish to pick up the FROG box.

We left home at 7.30am and returned at 3.30pm.

It was a long day.

Harley was happy to see us return and after I unpacked all of our goodies I got changed and took him to the pool area to play for half an hour. He was very happy with his two new super sized squeaking tennis balls.

I did crumbed chicken with home made coleslaw, sweet potato and white potato chips and a garden salad for dinner.

We played trivia and watched some telly and now it’s almost midnight!

Time to sleep.

Nite all.

Walkies!

I took Harley for his first walk since his operation.

The new choker chain and leash got its first workout and worked a treat. 

We walked for about 45 minutes, stopping at a seat to look out over the river for about ten minutes. While we sat, a gentleman stopped to meet Harley. He had experience with Border Collies and it showed in the way he stopped Harley from jumping on him. It was a very pleasant interaction.

Harley still wanted to play in the pool area so upon our return, we played fetch for about 20 minutes to use up that last bit of energy.

I caught up on the MasterChef episodes that I’d recorded and then watched some more ‘Stranger Things’.

Fried rice was my craving for lunch so I whipped up a quick one making sure there was enough left to add to the dinner plate tonight.

Dinner was duck breast with chilli mulberry jus, fried rice and garden salad.

We played trivia for an hour after dinner.

Now it’s time to sleep. Big day in The Bay tomorrow.

Nite all.

You Know

I paid attention when I didn't get the invite.

I paid attention when I didn't get a thank you.

I paid attention when I didn't get the apology.

I paid attention when they didn't show up for me.

I paid attention when my important life events didn't even get a congratulatory phone call or text.

I paid attention to the disrespect and yes I took it personally.

So now I rarely leave my bubble, my space and I choose my peace every time. 

If I make it to an event I'm invited to, consider it a blessing. 

I raised the bar for who has the pleasure to be around my spirit. 

Because I have a good one. 

I’m done.

Nite all.

Pavlova Overdose

I made a pavlova yesterday - just for me.

I ate a quarter of it after dinner last night.

Another quarter for morning tea today.

The third quarter for afternoon tea.

I’m strongly considering eating the last quarter before going to bed.

I want it to be all gone because the sugar overload is not doing me any favours and even though it tastes divine, my body is complaining in the worst way.

I won’t be making another pavlova any time soon.

We had bacon and eggs for breakfast after which Harley and I spent some quality time around the pool and I followed that up with some art. I did some more to the octopus and then searched through my stored art pieces for the ones that I want to attempt to sell.

Tomorrow I hope to varnish as many pieces as possible. There’s only three weeks until the expo.

I watched 2.5 episodes of Stranger Things because Chicklet watches it religiously. I really like it so I’ll continue watching it and it’ll be nice to write about it in our letters.

There were three games of footy on today so from 2pm I’ve been planted on the couch, sometimes napping but mostly watching the games.

Adoring Husband went off to mow lawns for work and BGWLBH sat in her room doing some very intricate artwork.

I have Harley asleep at my feet right now and I’m watching the French Open tennis. I hope I can stay awake long enough to see Djokovic play.

I doubt it haha.

Nite all.