It's Indy's birthday!

Indy is a Border Collie cross bitch who lives with BGWLBH and is her best friend.  Today is her birthday, so this morning we sang happy birthday to her and gave her a treat.

She was named Indy because she was born on American Independence Day :o)

This afternoon she went for a nice walk with us through the farm and then this evening we encouraged her to catch mice (there is currently a mouse plague in the area) on the front verandah and she seemed to really enjoy that!

I think she had a very pleasant birthday!

Adoring Husband has been off on photographic jaunts while I've been away and took this fabulous photo of synchronised birds which I'm dying to share with you.

I really love it and I'm so jealous that I wasn't there to attempt a shot at this.

I went on a little jaunt myself this afternoon.  I didn't get many good shots in though.  I was a bit too lazy to play with the settings on the camera or to change lenses when I should have, plus I was walking around in gum boots that were a size too big!

Flowering Gum

Vineyard across the road

Renovations in progress for a farm cottage

I will make a more concerted effort over the coming days.

I bumped into some old friends in the main street of town today.  

John, with whom I worked for sixteen years.  It was great to catch up with him and hear about how his family have fared over the years.  He is a good man.

I chatted briefly with KG.  I dedicated a post to her a while back.  She is just adorable and seems to be incredibly happy right now.  I wish her the very best and hope that her happiness only increases as the weeks and months go by.

We did a little shopping today and got a few good bargains.  Gotta love mid year sales!

I do miss my Adoring Husband and my lovely little family back home, but I am really enjoying the time here with my friend too.  It has been relaxing and funny. 

It's so good to know that all the strange things that have been happening to me as I get older are also happening to BGWLBH and that I don't have some strange and rare disease that is eating away at my mental state!

We are growing old and senile at the same rate.  We are just doing it thousands of kms apart!  Such a relief!

Nite all.

Day One - Life is Good!

It was so cold during the night that I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed to pee!  brrrrrrrrr

It's okay, I didn't pee in the bed!

Maccas for breakfast this morning!  Free WiFi and good McCafe coffee ... not that I would EVER recommend Maccas for ANY meal of the day!

However, it's a morning ritual that I have come to enjoy when visiting BGWLBH because she has a serious Maccas breakfast addiction!

Did some shopping early in the day and found my favourite lingerie shop where I seriously controlled my spending.

Ran into an old friend who worked at one of the shops there and caught up with some of her news.

We later visited BGWLBH's Mum and stole some vegetables out of her garden.  We have some serious cooking planned, but tonight we ate out.

I bumped into a few old work colleagues and a couple of friends, an acquaintance or two who seemed to be much more friendly than I remember!

After six years away from here, I am only back twenty four hours and I feel like I never left.  It still feels like home!

People say that once you leave a place, you can never go back because it will never feel the same.  I come back every year expecting people to either have forgotten me or not want to know me anymore, but I am always welcomed back with open arms and I am always surprised by that.

Tomorrow I plan on taking my camera out and about.  While BGWLBH is at church, I will be roaming the village and hopefully getting some nice shots in the early morning light.

It's day one,  I'm having a very nice time and life is good!

Nite for now!

Safe n Sound

Just a quick post before I climb into bed.

I set the buzzers off through the security gate twice (!) before I even left the Bay this morning THEN the drug/bomb man with the scanner stopped me to scan ME and my belongings!  Did I look suspicious??

Had two seats to myself on the flight to Sydney and I planned on writing in the DDD, but discovered that both the pens that I had put in my handbag had mysteriously disappeared!  Bugger!  So I had to settle with reading the inflight magazine instead.

I hadn't eaten breakfast OR lunch so I was feeling a bit peckish and wanted to buy something on the plane.  Then I found that Virgin menus had changed.  The selection to choose from had reduced considerably and the prices had increased markedly.

Instead of paying $10 for a sandwich, I chose a $4 packet of potato chips which disappointingly turned out to be a 30 gram packet which is equivalent to about five crisps.

I decided to wait til I arrived at Sydney airport and buy something more substantial for lunch.

The people sitting behind me had a baby, about four or five months old, who seemed to dislike flying and screamed uncontrollably for the first twenty minutes of the flight.  She cheered up because while we waiting to disembark, she was beaming and smiling at everyone who looked at her!

One of the people sitting in front of me was 'passing smelly wind' for the first twenty minutes of the flight.

So you could say that the first twenty minutes of my journey was most unpleasant!

It did improve though.  The flight was very smooth until we hit the thick, dark clouds hanging over Sydney.  That created a very bumpy descent to the tarmac.

So we landed in Sydney and I found my way to the check-in counter for Rex Airlines where the very smiley attendant commented how 'nice and early' I was.  She didn't charge me for my luggage which was six kilograms over the allowable limit.  (Thank you :o) lovely attendant).

I had to stand on the end of a very long queue and wait for over twenty minutes to get through the security gates back into the terminal, so I spent the time singing happy songs to myself and smiling at strangers.  They appeared to be suspicious of my friendly behaviour!

Then I had four hours to kill.

I tried to get into the Rex Guest Lounge, but you have to be a paid member and they don't have day passes into the area (which Virgin Blue DO - by the way).

So I sat in the waiting area scribbling frantically in my DDD (after first stopping at the airport newsagent to purchase 2 pens - just in case)

After about two hours, a young girl in her early twenties sat beside me and found an appointment card for a brain surgeon on the seat.

She waved it in my direction and said "Oh look!  Somebody had an appt this morning with a brain surgeon!"

I replied "Yes!  I did see that!"

She then came back with "This would look great on a piece of artwork titled "Flotsam and Jetsom" with lots of other things"

I responded with "It's interesting that your brain works that way ... perhaps you could visit this brain surgeon and have that looked at!"

She giggled loudly and five minutes later disappeared around the corner.

When I finally got to board the next flight, I was sitting beside a young man, also in his early twenties. Approximately 20 minutes into the flight, he tapped my arm to get my attention and handed me two pieces of stone with gold strips in them.

He looked at me and said "That's real gold there".  I replied "Kewl! Where'dya get it?"  He said "I pulled it out of the tyre treads on a big truck at the gold mine!"  I answered "Wow!  And they let you keep it?"  He said "No, not really!"  I said "Don't tell me any more!"

Then he took his rocks back and proceeded to listen to music in his ipod.

It was a nice quick flight.  We must have had a strong tail wind because we arrived fifteen minutes early, despite leaving Sydney ten minutes late.

So here I am safe n sound and already enjoying BGWLBH's warm hospitality.

I've watched some tennis but it's been a long day, and my back has been good all day but is just starting to niggle a bit, so I'd best go rest my weary bones.

Nite all

This time tomorrow ...

This time tomorrow, I will be elsewhere, after spending eight hours in transit!

Bags are packed (except for what I need tomorrow morning to get ready).

Checklist marked off.

My only concern right now, is my back.  As I lifted some groceries onto the kitchen bench today, I felt 'something' happen in my back and it is causing me a little discomfort, and every so often, some stronger pain.

I'm hoping that a good night of sound sleep will heal what I think is only a minor injury, otherwise travelling might prove difficult!

Four hours in Sydney airport should be interesting.  Last time I travelled via Sydney, I spent over seven hours there.

I love to 'people watch' and you see such a wide cross section of people from all walks of life at an airport.

Thankfully, these days, you can also get good coffee at the airport so the combination of drinking coffee and 'people watching' is very appealing!

I think I can hear my bed calling my name!

Wish me luck in the healing process and I'll tell you all about my travels and 'people watching' tomorrow!

Oh! Aussie H came for lunch today and FINALLY met Chicklet!!  Wahoo!!

Nite all

rQQzy's photostream

rQQzy's photostream on Flickr.

All is right again!

Watching Tomic (the Aussie) play Djokovic in the Wimbledon Quarter Finals tonight.  Not sure if I'll make it to the end of the match though because I'm feeling very weary.  One set all.

I think yesterday wore me out.

I'm in the middle of making my travelling list so that I'll know what to pack for my holiday.   Trying to travel light, which is difficult to do in Winter!

Aussie  Aussie  Aussie
Oi!       Oi!        Oi!

I think I need to make this short and sweet because Tomic is playing so well and I am having trouble keeping my focus here on the written word.

I even made a chicken sandwich hoping that it would keep me awake a while longer!

Goran Ivanisovic is sitting right beside Patrick Rafter in the stands!  They played each other in the 2001 Wimbledon Final.  Ivanisovic won on that occasion.

Federer is winning his match.  Another good one will be Andy Murray's match.  I'd love to see him in the final.  Wouldn't all of England love to see him win a Wimbledon final!?

Ok, that's if from me.  I just have to stop rambling and I have to watch this match!!

Thank you to everybody who today sent me kind thoughts and wishes after my sad post yesterday.  I felt your love and I appreciate that you took the time to drop me those few lines of support.

Just as I suspected ... a new day, a better day and once again, all is right with the world!!

How I feel about Mum's birthday

Had she lived, today would have been my Mum's 71st birthday.  I know I've said it before, but I wish she was here to share our little Chicklet with us.

One of the many faces of Chicklet

Play time.

I wish she was here to share baby stories and talk about me as a baby, compared to Vegan Chickie as a baby, compared to Chicklet now.

Grandparents and great-grandparents tend to do that stuff.

I feel a bit cheated that we didn't get to share this fun time.

I feel a bit alone.

I feel like there's nobody who has been in my life long enough to understand 'me' and 'this' and how it all fits together.

I feel like there is nobody who appreciates all that I've been through in my life and how I got 'here' now.

I feel a bit isolated in the world.

I feel like only a Mum can understand all these things ... even if it's never talked about ... it's a shared history and having that one person who has been there for it all, kind of wraps you in an invisible security blanket.

It's a difficult thing to understand until you haven't got it anymore.

There are moments in your life when you feel the massive empty chasm that their passing creates.

This is a difficult time of year for many reasons.  May/June has all the important events that Mum was passionate about, like State of Origin Football and Wimbledon Tennis Grand Slam, as well as Mother's Day in May and her birthday in June.

Even though I don't necessarily dwell on them, these things sit quietly in the back of my mind and little things trigger the memories.

I often wonder how different our lives might have been if she was still with us.

I apologise for being a bit of a sad sack in this post.  I do try to be up-beat and positive in my blog posts, but once in a while, the melancholy visits briefly and it's nice to have this place to share my feelings.

These things pass.  Tomorrow will be a new day.  Tomorrow will be a better day.

Wherever you are Mum, I'm thinking of you with love ... Happy Birthday.

Tired Old Pumpkin

These were taken ten days ago when little Chicklet was four months old ...

She's a regular little chatterbox and talks and sings all day long!

I love the sound of her happy chatter :o)

She's my little Sweetie Possum :o)

I have to say hello ***waves frantically*** to my friend in Tasmania, who I shall call 'The Sex Therapist', who is now linked to this blog and will receive my posts daily.

She has been gone from here for a year now and is very much missed by everybody.  I wonder if she remembers why she is called The Sex Therapist???

The Sex Therapist and I at last years State of Origin pub night

One of these days, Adoring Husband and I will find our way down to Tassie for a visit ... but not during Winter!

Although, the following photo shows that it's not always sunshine and roses here in Winter either!

It wasn't as cold as it looks ... just very foggy

Another short post today.  It's after midnight and I've watched the Aussie, Bernard Tomic win his tennis match to make it into the quarter finals of Wimbledon.

I can feel myself turning into a pumpkin again so I'm outta here!

Nite all

Under Pressure

Anybody who knows me, also knows that I do my best work under pressure!

Whenever I am going to be away from home for any length of time, it doesn't matter how much notice I have, I never pack until the night before.

I spend the couple of days leading up to my departure, making a list of all the things that I will need, so that when the time comes, I just check off the list as I pack.

Following this routine, it usually takes me about thirty minutes to pack for a long trip, unless I have to iron clothes (which I only do if I'm not going to have access to an iron where I am going).

Today, I spent an hour in the bedroom trying on outfits that I could potentially take with me on my trip to see BGWLBH.

I was pleased to discover that my big Italian wool coat still fits me and is in good condition.

I was displeased to discover that I can only do up my jeans by lying on my bed and breathing in tight!

So, I figure that I need to lose about four kilos before Friday (that's four days away!) so that my jeans will fit me comfortably while I'm away.

Vegan Chickie offered to be my personal trainer to motivate me to use my gym equipment to remove unwanted weight over the coming days.

Between the cross-trainer, the mini trampoline, my trike and maybe even a little walking, I might be able to lose a couple of kilos.

Thank goodness my feet don't change size with my weight loss/gain!  I have plenty of shoes!

So I partly packed my suitcase with the clothes that I selected today.  The majority of my clothes are made of materials that travel well and require little ironing anyway, so that's a bonus.

I fear that by partly packing, this will take me out of my usual routine and mess up my system.  I do NOT do my best work when I am organised!

I think, tomorrow, I will empty said suitcase and wait until Thursday night because everybody knows ...

I ALWAYS do my best work under pressure!

Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are [Debut Single]

... and last but not least

Day 30 - My favourite song this time last year

Fabulous Federer

It's almost midnight, and here I am, still awake to watch Wimbledon ... again!

I have spent a lazy day watching the sixth season of 'Friends', whilst sitting on the couch with Adoring Husband, who slept during two episodes!

The day started with rain and the forecast showed that we should have rain until Tuesday, but it's a very starry night, so I find it difficult to believe that it will rain tomorrow.

I have less than a week til I fly to my friend, BGWLBH, for two weeks.

This was taken just before my 'hen's night'.   Vegan Chickie, BGWLBH and I attempting to pose like Charlie's Angels.

It's going to be cold.

I'm stressing a little over the weather down that way, because I sent most of my warm clothes to the  Salvation Army and the rest of my warm clothes don't fit me any more because I've gained weight!

My lovely little Chicklet has been giggling her little heart out today.  She also popped her first tooth yesterday!  She didn't seem to have too much discomfort with it at all!

I tried to upload the sounds of her giggling for you, but I keep getting an error message!

How disappointing!

I will figure something out eventually ... but not tonight.  I am off to watch the Fabulous Federer play his tennis match against Nalbandian.

Nite all

John Farnham - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

Day 29 - A song from my childhood.

Prawn Fever

A successful night at the Bowls Club tonight.

This past month has been very busy in our town, on the river and out to sea.  People have been catching bucket loads of prawns.

Apparently, by law, the allowable limit is ten kilos of prawns per person in a boat.

The authorities have been working along the beaches with binoculars and noting down the registration numbers of the boats that are out catching prawns.

Word has it that the authorities will be visiting the homes of the owners of these boats to make sure they don't have more than their allowance of ten kilos of prawns in their fridges or freezers.

Our neighbour across the road gave us two kilos of prawns on Tuesday morning that he had caught on Monday.

Another neighbour further down the street, phoned to offer us more prawns, which we gracefully declined.

The streets of our town have been lined with cars and boat trailers as people travel from far and wide to catch the apparent abundance of prawns on offer at the moment.

I hear that the prawns have been here in abundance since the full moon and they are expected to disappear again by the next full moon.

Anyway, after all that, Adoring Husband and I won TWO prawn trays in the raffles at the Bowls Club tonight!!  Unfortunately, they are frozen and not fresh, so we couldn't even munch on them when we arrived home from the club.

I do love to eat prawns ... but it's possible to have too much of a good thing!

I am proud to announce that I stayed awake until 2.30am this morning watching Lleyton Hewitt play his match at Wimbledon.

Sadly, he was defeated in five sets.  He put up a good fight, however, Soderling is seeded fifth for the tournament and Lleyton has slipped to something like 130th in the world, so his chances of winning were very slim.

I'm pleased that I watched it, but I didn't wake up til after eight o'clock this morning and I am feeling decidedly weary now, at only 9.27pm!

I'm willing to bet that I'll be sound asleep before 10.30pm!!

Dreaming of prawn fever :)

Nite all :)

Vic Dana - Red roses for a blue lady

Day 28 - A song that makes me feel guilty (in relation to an 'incident' between my parents)

The Chant for Lleyton!

Well!  Here I am!!  It's after midnight and still awake watching Wimbledon!!!

Watching Lleyton Hewitt play Soderling and he has won the first two sets so far.

Hewitt is one of my favourites and I've been watching and supporting him since he was about 16 yrs of age.  I find it difficult to believe that he is now 30!

He is not everybody's cup of tea because he isn't as humble as some, but being smaller than the average tennis player, he has had to fight hard in his career and I admire that in him.

He plays tennis with the same fight and determination as I used in my sporting life.

While I never came close to Lleyton's level of achievements, some of my sporting wins brought me the greatest satisfaction just for the 'never-say-die' attitude that I had at the time.

Anyway, the important thing for me is that it's almost 12.30am and I am still awake!  I admit that I did have a little doze there during the first set, but I'm back, awake, alive and alert!

My photos today are of some bird life around town and the first is of a pelican who was playing around near the Seat of Knowledge this morning.

The second photo is of some Tawny Frogmouths that like to spend time in a tree in the Lion's Park by the river.  Sometimes there are four of them sitting in the tree.

I attempted to get a photo of a Cormorant that has been hanging around the newly formed lake since the floods, but I can't get close enough before he flies away and I don't have the right lens yet for my camera to take a good photo from a distance (working on that).

Lleyton has just lost the third set ... I have a feeling that it's going to be long night!

I really love this time of night when everybody else, in my part of the world, is asleep.  It's all quiet outside, except for the occasional Plover calling in the distance, and it's peaceful and tranquil.

It's quite chilly and I'm rugged up in my warm fluffy dressing gown and slippers.  Such a good look!

The chant in my head goes like this ...

Come on Lleyton, let's go!
Come on Lleyton, let's go!
Come on Hewitt, you can do it!
Come on Lleyton, let's go!

Does that count for number forty two on my 'fifty two things to do before I turn fifty two' list?

42.  Write a poem?

Probably not huh?

Nite all!

If Justin Bieber can get famous... why can't I? ("Jonah" - Graham Stookey)

Day 27 - A song that I wish I could play

Rained Out at the Tennis!

It seems that I just don't have the stamina for Wimbledon the way I used to!

Once upon a time, I could sit up all night ... or at the very least have a couple of 15 minute power naps through the night so that I would see all of the tennis available to me on whatever station it was being shown on.

These days, I am dozing in the chair by 10.30pm, and missing long snippets of the tennis.

I will attempt to save my stamina for the more worthy games ... that is any match with an Aussie playing and any quarter finals and beyond.  The morning news will just have to provide me with most of the results.

I should do what my Mum used to do.  Record all of the tennis and then start watching it in the mornings when she woke up and fast forwarding through the ads or the boring games that she wasn't interested in.

That would mean NOT watching or listening to any news prior to sitting down!

Updated photos of little Chicklet who is growing up before my very eyes!

Babies seem so much older at 4 months these days, compared to when mine were this age.

So cute!

... in the meantime, I simply MUST go to bed.

Good night all!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (with lyrics)

Day 26 - A song that I can play on an instrument (Sadly, it's the only song that I can play on an instrument - the piano and the recorder)

It's All About the Shopping!

Oh the shopping ... we lurve the shopping!

We left bright and early on Saturday morning so that we could stop at Eumundi Markets on the way to the Gold Coast.  We were early enough to get a good parking spot and we were so early, that at the first three stalls, our purchases were their first for the day!

Eumundi markets are HUGE and people drive for miles on the weekends to attend them.  There are buskers on every corner and the market stalls are many and varied, selling everything you can think of.

Jams and chilli concoctions, jewellery, beautiful artworks, home made clothes for babies, children, women and men, tie-dyes, pottery, woodwork, fresh produce, make-up, home made soaps, knitwear, hats, musical instruments, scented candles, ceramics, natural therapies and fresh cooked foods from all different cultures, just to name a few!

We spent about three hours wandering around and bought some cute clothes for little Chicklet among other things ... poor Adoring Husband was my pack horse carrying around all the bags of goodies before we decided to hit the road and head for the Gold Coast.

Five minutes before we found our motel, we drove past Harbour Town!

Now Harbour Town is similar to a DFO (Direct Factory Outlet) and I LURVE Harbour Town.  It's my favourite shopping place on the Gold Coast!

So we checked into our apartment and headed straight back to Harbour Town!  Another three hours of shopping!  I was in heaven ***sigh*** As a bonus, the 'end of financial year' sales were on!  How much luckier could I be!?

Poor Adoring Husband was absolutely exhausted at the end of the day after lugging around all of my shopping from both ventures!  He hardly had the energy to get ready for the big party.

Lots of clothes for me ... to replace the bag of old clothes that I took from my wardrobe to give to Lifeline (or similar) last week!  Warmer clothes to take with me to Griffith when I travel there in a couple of weeks.

Then on Sunday morning, after the party was well and truly over, and we started our journey home, we discovered the new Westfield at Northlakes, just north of Brisbane.

It too, was huge with so many specialty stores plus one of my favourite department stores, Myer :o)

We spent about two hours shopping there and only saw a fraction of the shops at the centre.  I got myself a lovely pair of tan boots and we found some cookware that we've been looking for online.

Adoring Husband is the best male shopper that I know!  Thank goodness he's mine!  He doesn't get impatient and he really gets involved in the process, just like one of the girls (and I mean that in the nicest possible way!).

So aside from the great 30th birthday party on Saturday night and catching up with friends and family...

The birthday boy, Jovial Son, in the centre wearing the white t-shirt and standing beside Adoring Husband/Father

.... it was all about the shopping!  We lurve the shopping!

Kasey Chambers - Not Pretty Enough

Day 25 - A song that makes me laugh - My Mum hated this song and would mimic Kasey Chambers, by holding her nose and singing the chorus. Whenever I hear this song, I imagine my mother holding her nose and singing high pitched and nasally.

It's Wimbledon Time!!!

Oh how I love Wimbledon!  Oh how I love to watch the tennis!

It's that time of year again!  One of my favourite times of year.

When I was working, I would take some annual leave for at least a week, usually the second week of Wimbledon, so that I could sit up all night watching the tennis!

Wimbledon and the Australian Open are my favourites of the Grand Slam tennis events.

I've been lucky enough to attend the Australian Open twice and I hope to get there again in the future.

My Mum was a big tennis fan and I was introduced to tennis back in the 70s when John Newcombe, Tony Roche and Yvonne Goolagong were champion players.

She got so much pleasure from tennis and had a little bit of a 'thing' for John Newcombe (along with a million other Australian women!).

She saw the potential in Patrick Rafter when she watched him play his first few tournaments and told me to 'wait and see' how brilliant he would become.

Even though she always barracked for him, she didn't like Lleyton Hewitt, citing him to be a 'cocky little upstart'.

I, however, loved Lleyton and still enjoy watching him play.  What I love most about him is his guts and determination to fight to the very end when he plays.

I never give up on Lleyton in any of his matches until the last ball is hit, because I know that he fights back and that the game can turn around at any time!

Federer and Nadal are wonderful to watch, as well as the Aussie girl Samantha Stosur ... let's hope she can go a bit further this year.

I also like to barrack for the underdog, so I will almost always cheer the least likely winner on!  Not just in tennis, but in most sporting events!

Now that I am over half a century old, I am not as resilient as I once was, so I need to prepare and train like all good athletes.

This means having long naps in the afternoons and it means eating properly, so that I don't want to curl up and fall asleep every five minutes and it means drinking lots of water to keep hydrated.

So, these days, I not only get to enjoy the tennis on TV, but at the same time I remember my Mum and wish that she was still around to have our long discussions about the tennis players, old and new, and how they played the night before.

It's only day one of Wimbledon and it's not even midnight yet ... but I am yawning my head off and I have to be up early for aqua-aerobics.

Time to find the draw and strategically plan my Wimbledon nights!  Choose my favourite players and plan to watch their matches between sleeps!

I've watched a couple of hours of tennis already tonight and now it's time to sleep.

Ah to be young again ... but YAY!  It's Wimbledon time!!

John Lennon - Imagine

Day 24 - A song I want played at my funeral (I also want Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen!)

Not as Young as I Once Was!

We arrived home safe and sound from a great weekend.

We shopped til we dropped on our way home and are both exhausted!

The view from our motel balcony at sunrise this morning was spectacular ...

6 am today

A bit after 6 am today

But right now, I am struggling to keep my eyes open.  This is short and sweet because I am not as young as I once was and any party that keeps me up til midnight sends my brain and body into 'repair' mode for the following three days!

Thank you for your kind understanding and tolerance :o)

Nite all

grow old with you

Day 23 - A song that I want to play at my wedding (and I did!)

30 and Fabulous

The thirtieth birthday party is a SUCCESS!

Just quickly - we left home at 5.30am, stopped at Sexie Coffee for 30 minutes where we had coffee and breakfast then drove on to Eumundi markets.

Shopped at the markets for three hours and then drove through to the Gold Coast.

After we checked in to our room, we went to Harbourtown, which is only about ten minutes from our motel!  We shopped there for almost three hours and then drove back to our room where we got ready for the birthday bash.

Here is the view from our balcony ...

We hope to get a nice sunrise in the morning from the opposite direction to this photo.

We got downstairs to meet up with all of Jovial Son's friends and family and waited for Jovial Son to arrive, at which point we all shouted 'SURPRISE!' (and he was!)

It was fabulous night.  Caught up with people whom we hadn't seen since his wedding and generally had a good time.

But now, it's almost midnight and I can feel the pumpkin thing happening, so it's sleep time.  Catch up tomorrow!

Nite all.

SMILE- Michael Jackson

Day 22 - A song that I listen to when I'm sad.

Weekend to Party

I have to be awake at 4.30am tomorrow.

One of Adoring Husband's sons turns thirty tomorrow and is having a big party which we are attending tomorrow night at the Gold Coast.

So we are leaving very early in the morning and stopping at the Eumundi markets on the way.  We expect to be there for at least a couple of hours and will then drive on to the Gold Coast.

The restaurant where we are attending the birthday party is attached to a motel and that is where we are staying, so at least we don't have to worry about catching taxis anywhere and we can safely stagger home from the party any time we want to leave.

I don't enjoy the drive down there, but once we arrive, it should be a good weekend and we usually have a bit of fun with Jovial Son and his newish wife.  They have a good bunch of friends and a close family, so there is lots of love to be spread around.

Speaking of lots of love ... I have some new photos of Chicklet to share with you all today.

This looks like the beginning of a raspberry to me!

Cutie Pitootie

Adorable little doofus!

She has had a massive growth spurt this week and for me, there is a noticeable difference in her size and shape.  She seems more grown up to me as well.

So that's it for me tonight.  I don't know if I will be able to post anything tomorrow night.  We'll see how the day and evening pan out.

Nite all

James Blunt - Stay The Night [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

Day 21 - A song that I listen to when I'm happy!

Bad Moon Rising!

I wanted to capture a beautiful moon-rise this evening.

Yesterday, at 5.30pm, on the bus ride to the pub where we watched the football, we saw the moon low in the sky, large and beautiful and glowing against the darkening sky.

I decided then, that I would make my way to the beach the following night to watch it rise out of the watery horizon.

So, at 4.15pm today, I hopped on my trusty trike with my camera bag and tripod in the rear basket, and pedalled down to the beach.

I chose the beach at the mouth of the river which had the widest ocean horizon because I wasn't sure exactly where the moon was going to rise.

For over an hour I watched the horizon and waited for the telltale glow to begin peeking over the horizon.

While I waited, I photographed kids playing on the beach, men fishing, birds walking on the sand, dogs running along the water's edge and boats motoring into and out of the mouth of the river.

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

At 5.30pm when there was still no sign of the moon, I figured that it must be rising further around the beach and that I would have to go to a different beach tomorrow night and try again.

I began packing up my camera and folding my tripod.  As I went to put the tripod in the basket, I glanced up at the beach and there, to my amazement, was the shining glow of the moon's edge just about to peek over the horizon!

UGH!

As fast as I was able in the low dusk light, I reassembled my tripod, attached my camera and began taking photos as the beautiful golden orb slowly climbed into the sky.

It was difficult in the low light to get the settings correct in the short time it took for the moon to rise just high enough to be less than spectacular.

Pink sky just before sunset

The golden sky right on sunset

The beautiful golden moon rising over the watery horizon

I then had to pedal home in the dark.  The batteries are flat in my headlight on the trike, so it was a little tricky maneuvering the trike over the rough gravel road until I found the footpath to follow.

I think it was worth it in the end, but it was a very bad moon waiting til I was half packed before making itself seen ... which reminds me of the that song ... 'Bad Moon Rising'!

Nite all    

Daydream Believer The Monkees

Day 20 - A song I listen to when I'm angry (it makes me happy!)

Congratulations to Adoring Husband (and all you other Blues supporters)

State of Origin football - game two - was played tonight.

Adoring Husband and I got all dressed up in our supporter's colours and went to the pub where we met up with eight of our friends, ordered pizza and watched the game in the main bar.

Unfortunately, the NSW Blues team won the game and my team lost.  So now, it's one game all and the decider will be played in three week's time, on 5th July.

It was a great night and mostly it was a happy and fun crowd but there is always one, who is a bad sport and tries to stir up trouble.

So ...

Thumbs down to the Queensland Maroon's supporter who mouthed off in a very 'unsportsman' - like manner at the end of the game and tried unsuccessfully to spoil the Blue's supporters moment of exhilaration!

Thumbs up to all of the Blues supporters, who ignored his arrogant, rude rantings and didn't take the bait or try to fight him!

Every year I enjoy being at our 'local' for State of Origin.  Steve, the publican, is a cool guy (even if he is a Blue's supporter) and always puts on a fun night.

There are raffles and then finger food at half time and pick the score.  Most people dress up in their favourite team's paraphernalia.  There are flags and posters and blow-up footballs hanging from the bar.

It's one of the great things about Queensland.  Everybody gets involved.  Shops fly their favourite colours in the form of streamers, balloons and flags.  People decorate their houses.

Adoring Husband and I each have a large flag flying at the front of our house.  Blue on the left, maroon on the right.

When we lived in Sydney, there certainly wasn't the same enthusiasm for State of Origin down there and it was difficult to find a pub or a club that provided any entertainment for the night, so we are really enjoying the positive energy of Origin time here in Queensland.

So, it's all over for another three weeks.  Congratulations to Adoring Husband and all the other blue's supporters, including Number One Son, Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armor.

I hope that on the 5th of July, you will all be congratulating me and Queenslanders will be celebrating six years in a row of winning!!

Nite all!

Bella's Lullaby (Twilight Soundtrack Version Official )

Day 19 - A song from my favourite album.

Joke of the Day

I can NEVER remember jokes!

Almost every morning at the 'Seat of Knowledge', one of the guys, Raymond Claude, tells a joke.  

He is a brilliant joke-teller!

Everybody stops to listen.  

People pause as they walk past, asking him if he has a joke to tell.  

His jokes are always funny and mostly clean.

This means that I hear at least four jokes every week from Raymond Claude and over a period of two years that adds up to over 400 jokes!

I cannot remember a single one of them!

I have this one joke that I heard twenty or more years ago on television ... it may have been Glynn Nicholas on Humphrey B Bear and it goes something like this ....  

The goldfish swam into a wall. He said ... 'Dam!'

Nite all :o) 

TRHPS "Sweet Transvestite"

Day 18 - A song that I wish I heard on the radio

Another Failed Study Session! (AKA Another Successful Friends Marathon)

I tried to do a little studying today while watching 'Friends', but as usual, I got sleepy and ended up having a couple of catnaps (no, not even long enough to be called nana naps!)

My achievements for the day were very few.  A trike ride to the bakery for coffee, thirty minutes at the seat of knowledge, nine holes of golf, some washing, watching season four of Friends, cooking dinner, washing the dishes and now at midnight, attempting to post a token treasure on here.

About the best I can offer is some new photos of my little Chicklet with her favourite toy, Plonker Foot (I hope I spelled it correctly!)

She's my little 'Cutie Possum'.

Adoring Husband is still fighting off his flu symptoms and we have to attend his son's thirtieth birthday party at the Gold Coast this weekend.  Which reminds me ....

It was suggested today, to try 'ivy leaf', to clear up a cough at the end of a flu.  You know that cough that hangs on and just doesn't want to clear up for weeks after a cold or flu??  Apparently 'ivy leaf' does the job.  Must try to get some while in The Bay tomorrow afternoon!

I'm off to bed now because I can't find any toothpicks to keep my eyelids open and besides, I need to be up bright an early for aqua aerobics.

Nite all!  Sweet dreams!!

The Fuifui Moimoi Song

Day 17 - A song I hear often on the radio

My First Kiss

Do you remember your first kiss?

My first kiss was in 1971, when I was not yet 12 yrs old and with a boy named Terry Drew who attended my school - Sunnybank State School in Brisbane.

Having spent about five years travelling around Australia in a caravan, my family and I finished our travels at Seven Trees Caravan Park in Sunnybank and I think by this time, we had been there for about a year.

I can't remember what time of year it was, but my Dad got a new job in Perth, so we had to sell the caravan and move to Western Australia.

My boyfriend at the time was Terry Drew.  It was one of those relationships where you never spend time together, but send notes via friends that read "Do you love me? Yes or No?" (circle your answer).

We girls would sit at the edge of the sports oval and watch the boys play football in the lunch hour, all the while giggling and hiding our faces every time he looked in our direction.

On my last day at that school, which was a Friday (sports day), my friends and I were all sobbing knowing that we would probably never see each other again.  There were goodbye presents and cards.

The teachers were very understanding and there was not a lot of sports played that afternoon.

Near the end of the day, I received a note from Terry, passed on by one of Terry's mates, which read "Can I kiss you goodbye this afternoon?"

You can imagine the mixture of fear, terror and excitement that I felt!  Of course, I replied "Yes" and it was arranged, with notes, for us to meet beside the girls toilets after the last school bell.

The thought of kissing a boy was terrifying for me, so I had to use every ounce of courage that I could muster to make the long walk to the girl's toilets.

I don't know how I did it.  I think it was because I didn't want to look like a coward in front of my friends, who, along with Terry's friends, were standing some distance away waiting to see some action.

So I walked around the corner to find Terry standing there waiting for me already.  My heart leapt into my throat and as I looked at him and choked a "Hi", he leaned forward with tightly puckered lips and planted a quick hard kiss on my unprepared mouth!

He turned and ran so fast that he was gone in less than a blink of an eye!

THAT was my first kiss with a boy.  I can picture it as clearly as if it just happened and as pathetic as the kiss was, I will never forget it or the name of the boy it was with.

The most embarrassing part of the whole experience was that the commencement of my Dad's job was postponed by a week and I actually had to return to the school the following Monday.

There was absolutely no interaction between Terry and I that week and not a tear was cried by anybody the next Friday when I left for the final time - because I don't think anybody really believed that I was going anywhere!

I wonder where Terry Drew is now.  If you're out there Terry .. thanks for my first kiss :o)

Pilot - January (1975)

Day 16 - A song that I used to love but now hate.