Day 214 in a Year of my Life

Today, sadly, I said goodbye to my family for another month or so.

It was a full and wonderful three days of quality time with my little Chicklet, and I hope enough of a break for Mama and Dadoo to regenerate a little, after the last difficult few weeks.

I got to the train station very early this morning, as the Bare-chested Chef dropped me off on his way to work.

After we hugged goodbye, I got myself a take-away coffee, and headed over to the train station.

Not long after I got there, a self confessed 'homeless and harmless' man walked through the door, armed with a giant bucket of single pink roses that he was selling for $10 each.  He announced that the money went towards shelter and food for the homeless in the area.

As I was counting my change to buy a rose from him, he pointed to the ground under my seat and said "You are sitting over my bed.  That's where I sleep most nights."

Not long after that, a young man came through the door and needed to know where and when to catch the bus to Nambour that evening.

The homeless and harmless man gave him directions and information and asked if he would buy a rose.  The young man only had $2.65 in his pocket, and he apologised and gave it to the man as a donation.

In another little while, an 84 yr old lady arrived with her luggage.  She had been house and cat sitting for a friend for two weeks and was on her way home to Gladstone.

In the course of the conversation with the homeless and harmless man, he mentioned that today was his 56th birthday.  The elderly lady opened her purse and pulled out $20.  She said "I don't want a rose, because I have too far to travel.  This $20 is for you.  Happy birthday."

We chatted with the man for the next 90 minutes as we waited for the train and in that time, he helped a lot of people with directions and information and times for the trains and buses.

As the time approached for our train to arrive, he showed the elderly lady and myself where to stand for our carriage number.

It's cold and wet in the Sunny Coast tonight and I know that Cooroy has a shelter, so I hope that tonight, for his birthday, he is sheltered and warm.

A couple of photos from my time on the Sunny Coast ...

Today, I am grateful for a lucky life, in which I am warm and well fed and clothed and I know that I am loved by my Adoring Husband, my children, my family and my friends.  Others are not so lucky.

Nite all.

Day 213 in a Year of my Life

Life is all about negotiation ... especially with a two year old in the house!  And also out of the house!

When Vegan Chickie and the Bare-chested Chef took the afternoon off from hands-on parenting, I took Chicklet to the park.

After 3pm is a bad time of day at the park because it's full of hyperactive school kids trying to release pent up energy after the last couple of hours in a classroom.

The park is also surrounded by parents of said hyperactive children, creating discussion circles, and not paying one iota of attention to what their terrors are up to.

Dangerous territory for a two year old.

A couple of loud "You're NOT my friends!!" got it all sorted.

Chicklet attempted to befriend a pelican, which was a good foot taller than her.  Luckily the pelican was friendly, because Chicklet was quite put out when I attempted to lure her to safety.  She was almost touching the bird and repeating "Hello" over and over again, like she was expecting the bird to reply ...

... understandable really, because all of her animal toys at home say "Hello" back when she talks to them!  Let's hope she doesn't get that close to the lion or the alligator when she wants to say hello!

Anyway, we had lots of cuddles and playtime again today.  More treasured memories... even though my camera battery decided to go flat on the way to the park this afternoon!  How VERY inconvenient!

So I have no photos from our day together or the park, but I do have this photo from bath time tonight.  After rolling in, and eating much sand at the park, she was in desperate need of a shower - but she wasn't keen, so once again after some negotiating ...

Eventually, we had a favourable result!

What a great day!

Now, it is absolutely pouring with rain and has been for a good couple of hours.  It should be nice to fall asleep to the sound of rain on the roof.

Today, I am grateful that I was able to get Chicklet home from the park after many failed negotiation attempts.  I love her sooooo much.

Nite all.

Day 212 in a Year of my Life

My day was filled with Chicklet fun today.

Vegan Chickie and the Bare-chested Chef look like a pair of zombies as they recover from various illnesses and overwork, while Chicklet has become a little Tassie Devil in the unit.

Today, between about 6 repeats of Playschool's Dinosaur dvd (that may be a small exaggeration), I ran about 1,842 laps of the couch (that is NO exaggeration) while wearing an elephant mask, all the while chasing Chicklet, who was wearing a pig mask.

We also spent a good portion of the day, creating a friendship group on the couch for all of her animal toys.

Chicklet emerging from the toy area and holding a pig in outstretched arms "Hello! I'm a pig" (in a very deep pig-like voice)

Me "Hello pig.  Would you like join us on the couch?"

Chicklet  "I would LOVE to"

Me "Would you like to sit beside the duck?"

Chicklet  "No.  I want to sit on top of the dinosaur"

Me  "Ok" placing the stuffed pig on top of the stuffed dinosaur.

Chicklet (emerging again from the toy box) "Hello!  I'm a chicken!" (in a very high pitched chicken-like voice)

Me  "Hello chicken.  Would you like to join us on the couch?"

Chicklet  "I would LOVE to"

Me  "Would you like to sit in front of the pig?"

Chicklet  "No.  I would like to sit behind the duck!"

... and so this went on for every animal toy that she possesses.  I didn't count them but it would have to come close to 50!

We read a dozen books ... well, actually, we read the first 3 pages of 12 books.

We played many many games of 'this little piggy' as she squealed with delight.

We drew lots of pictures on the ipad mini with a colourful children's app.

Tomorrow we have another big day planned, while Mama and Dadoo spend some time together and have a nice day out.

Which means, I must get some sleep so that I have plenty of energy to keep up with her!

I'm seriously considering joining a gym, and going on a special energy lifting diet, just to get fit and strong enough to keep up with her!

Here are some more photos from the Children's Festival yesterday.

Hunting for gems with Dadoo

Making a clay rabbit

Playing the giant xylophone

Today I am grateful for every moment, even the energy draining moments with my little Chicklet.  I don't get to see her often enough, so I love every second ... even when it gets to the exhausting ones ... and I wish my head was able to absorb every single bit of it, so that I could replay it like a movie when I get back home.

Nite all.

Day 211 in a Year of my Life

Started the day at stupid o'clock to catch a sunrise with the girls .. but yet another fizzer spoiled our photography morning!

We had a lovely breakfast at the coffee club before I was dropped off at Chicklet's place.

What a beautiful smile and much excitement when she saw me at her front door!  Talk about bringing joy to my heart!

We all then spent 3 hours at the Children's Festival ...

http://www.noosasteiner.qld.edu.au/announcements/childrens-festival

... and what a great day it was.

The weather was perfect.  The atmosphere was happy.  Live music.  Activities everywhere for the children.  Delicious, healthful food available.

Chicklet had a lovely time and here is the first photo to show it ...

I have lots of others to share, but the day has taken it's toll on this poor old body and I need to get some much needed sleep so that I have energy to keep up with Chicklet tomorrow!

I don't know what our plan will be tomorrow, but whatever happens, it will be fun, and you will hear about it.

Today I am grateful for the fun of being a grandparent and seeing that beautiful smile on her face when she sees me for the first time, and the quiet time on the couch when she rests her head on my arm for a moment, or touches my hand to make sure I'm still there or when she looks up at me and smiles and says "Hullo Bozzy Wozzy" with all the love in her voice.

*sigh*

Life is good ... tiring ... but oh so good :)

Nite all.

Day 210 in a Year of my Life

The Nikonian was generous enough to allow 'Boot Scoot' and I to share a newborn baby photo shoot with her this morning.

The young couple were family and they brought 14 day old Ayla to the house.  She was a little slice of heaven and it was so much fun taking the photos.

The Nikonian had all the props - blankets, shawls, backdrops, head bands, baskets and bowls.

I enjoyed the shoot so much more than I expected.  They were a beautiful loving family and little Ayla was a perfect subject who did just about everything we asked of her - and added a bit of extra dampness here and there just to challenge us!

A great experience!

Tonight, about 14 of us from the JPEG flickr group met at Lake Baroon to try some 'star trail' photography.  Alas the cloud cover kind of spoiled that idea, so we opted to do some other fun stuff with light ...

After all that silliness in the cold night air, we met at Montville for pizza, where I had the most delicious gluten free garlic pesto bread and a nice garden salad ... mustn't forget the wine too!

So it's been a long eventful day ... most satisfying on the photography front.

Today I am grateful for a great group of photography friends to share our love of cameras and all things photography related.

A good time was had by all.

Nite all.

Day 209 in a Year of my Life

Soooooo tired.

I didn't get to bed til midnight and the alarm woke me at 4.10am.

At least this time, the train arrived on time and there was hardly anybody on it, so I had two seats to myself.

I kicked back and relaxed, dozing on and off between announcements.

The Nikonian was there at the station to pick me up, but first we headed to McCafe for a good hot coffee.

She took me to the most AMAZING organic market place and I've already advised Adoring Husband that we have to move down here and build a house right next door to the market place!

Full of healthy deliciousness and I had a lovely time buying some organic, gluten free products to enjoy while I'm here.

We came back to The Nikonian's place while she prepared dinner in the slow cooker - Osso Buco - more heavenly deliciousness!

I'm sorry to continue in the food vein, but then we drove to Maloolaba for lunch and shared two healthy tasty salads.

It was a beautiful day, and we ate overlooking the water, which was bluer than blue and glistening in the sunlight.

Of course, some shopping was to be had and I bought three lovely tops.

The Nikonian's daughter joined us for dinner tonight.  I haven't decided on a name for her yet.  It has to be the perfect name ... so for now she will be known as TN's daughter.

She was delightful, just like her Mum and we had a lot of fun over dinner and wine.

Now, I am utterly exhausted and ready for a good solid sleep.

So that was my day in a nutshell.

Having a wonderful time!  Wish you were here!  Please send money!  :D

Today I am grateful for my lovely friend who always makes me feel so welcome.  I am so looking forward to watching her do a newborn baby shoot tomorrow and then our night shoot tomorrow night with the flickr group.

Photos to share tomorrow, hopefully!

Nite all.  

Day 208 in a Year of my Life

That is tonight's sunset.

Had a lovely lunch for 'Woman of many talents' birthday today.  Good food, good wine, good friends.

A short post tonight because I am packing.

Today, I am grateful for fluffy winter dressing gowns and fluffy slippers to take the chill out of the Autumn air ... yes even 'I' am feeling the cold!

Nite all.

Day 207 in a Year of my Life

How's this for a sunrise?????

All in the space of 45 minutes.

So, I've had two hours less sleep than normal and I'm feeling it!

Today, I am grateful to Mother Nature for showing me her beautiful side.

That is all.

Nite all.

Day 206 in a Year of my Life

Terrible, terrible tornados in Oklahoma, USA in the past couple of days.

Last I heard, 91 people were confirmed dead and the devastation is just heart breaking to see.

Even though, for me, it was difficult to watch, I was doing ok.  Vegan Chickie called me to see if I was ok, which I was.

Then I watched the news tonight.  I struggled.

Re-living the fear was difficult, but what felt like a war zone to us, and a disaster beyond compare ... now seems so minimal, and trivial, compared to what they have endured in Oklahoma.

Worst of all, for these poor people, is that there are still storms in the area and the strong and real possibility of any number of tornados touching down on their already decimated town.

The fear they must be feeling is palpable.

In January, the morning after the tornado hit our town, the police were walking our streets and  warning us that there was a danger we could be hit by more tornados in the next few hours.

I can't describe to you, the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, and how, with every sound, my eyes darted in all directions expecting to see something forming and heading in our direction.

I feel so helpless for those people.  I feel my throat getting tight whenever I try to put myself in their shoes.

My sister, Squirt, phoned me tonight as well, to make sure I was ok.

I'm ok.  I'm scared for the people of Oklahoma.

Isn't it funny, how after we've experienced a disaster ourselves, other people's disasters touch us so much more deeply?

Today, I'm grateful for family who love me.

A sunset photo to bring an air of peace.

Nite all.
 

Day 205 in a Year of my Life

Adoring Husband and I pushed our marriage to it's limits today.

We put a decal on our bedroom wall.

Has anybody out there in my blog world EVER attempted to put a decal on a wall?

Who invented decals?

I certainly hope that they were punished severely.

The only thing that I can compare it to, is hanging wallpaper ... and I haven't done that for almost 40 years, so I imagine they've made great improvements in that time!

The other question I would like to ask, is why 'I' decided to buy a decal to put on 'our' wall!

Generally speaking, I think long and hard about these things before I make a decision .. in this case I made an impulse buy, and half way through the process of attaching it to the wall, I regretted that impulse buy, more than you can know.

It's taken a year for us to find the courage to take on the challenge!

I think I need a little red robin to perch on one of the branches and a bright yellow sun to put up in one corner.

What am I saying????  Somebody slap me!!

So now, with the new doona cover, pillow cases and the wall, our bedroom has become a forest!

When Adoring Husband went to bed tonight, I told him to check to see if bears really do &%$# in the woods.

Shame on me.

Today, I am grateful that the decal job is over and that another life lesson has been learned.  No more decals are allowed in this house. (I still have another one to put up yet - photos will come later)

Nite all.

Day 204 in a Year of my Life

Sad news.

When I was about 8 yrs old, I was introduced, through the movies, to the delightful singing voice of an actress by the name of Deanna Durbin ...

If you'd like to hear some snippets of her singing, go to this link and there are a number of tracks that you can hear a small selection of...

http://www.last.fm/music/Deanna+Durbin

... even when I was 8, her voice brought tears to my eyes.  I have a few of her old movies on dvd and when I watch them, I'm taken back in time to my childhood, and I am totally mesmerised by Deanna.

She lived to the ripe old age of 91.

I think that I might watch one of her movies tomorrow, to pay my last respects.

Today I'm grateful for happy childhood memories that gave me dreams of becoming Deanna Durbin.

 Alas, by my teens, and thanks to good old fashioned tape recorders, I played back a self recorded version of me singing Olivia Newton John's "I Honestly Love You" and was horrified to discover that Deanna Durbin, I would NEVER be.

Nite all.

Day 203 in a Year of my Life

My work space/studio has gone from this ...

to this (thank you Cyclone Oswald) ...

to this ...

I love this space.  I spend more time sitting and feeling the love, than I do actually working!

I pedalled like crazy, up and down the road along the beach this morning.

There were Brahminy Kites, Whistling Kites and the White Breasted Sea Eagle taking advantage of the very low tide, but every time I stopped and scrambled down to the beach, they would fly further up or down the shore line and I would have to jump back on the trike and pedal harder and faster!

On one of my scrambles, there was a group of six mature men and women pumping the sand for bait and I was walking quite a distance from them, scouring the sky for the raptors.

The wind was blowing in my direction and I heard one of them say "That's her!  That's that woman!"

I looked over and they called out "We were admiring your beautiful photos in the bakery!"

My head and chest swelled just a little and I smiled widely and thanked them as I walked back towards my trike ... feeling pretty chuffed!

Finally I gave up on the birds and stopped my trike just to enjoy the water and sunshine for a moment.

I lifted my face towards the sun and closed my eyes for a moment (such a nice feeling) and when I opened my eyes, this is what I saw ...

So obviously, my lesson learned, is to sit in one place and wait for the birds to come to me.  This is how I've been successful with my last three bird shots!

Today, I am grateful for perfect, cloudless Autumn days, when the air is clean and the light is sparkling and vibrant.  Days when I can lift my face towards the sun and feel the warmth emanate from top to toe.

Nite all.

Day 202 in a Year of my Life

A long trip to Bundaberg through numerous roadworks, took almost twice as long as usual to get there and then ended with a truck throwing a stone up and cracking our windscreen!

Luckily it was repairable (just) and we didn't have to pay a fortune to replace it!

We watched the new Star Trek movie at the cinema and really enjoyed it.

We had a nice hot coffee in a little cafe by the river, and then, finally, we picked up the camper van from the dealer where they repaired it, after tornado damage 3 months ago.

It's been a long day and I have no photos to share.

I chose not to take my camera today and before we'd driven ten kilometres out of town, we spotted a beautiful Brahminy Kite, sitting on a fence post, chewing on his prey.

Ugh!

Note to self "The choice should ALWAYS be to TAKE THE CAMERA WITH YOU!"

Today, I appreciate the little life lesson that I learned about my camera.

Nite all.

Day 201 in a Year of my Life

I woke up at 6am, jumped out of bed and looked out the window.

A sunrise to die for!!  The sky was awash with ripples of pink, yellow, orange, purple and red.  Beautiful clouds spreading their fingers right across the sky, the edges of them glistening in the sunlight.

I gasped, and in a flurry, threw off my pyjamas and threw on my dirty clothes from yesterday that were lying on the floor next to the bed.  No time to lose!!

I rushed out to my work area and shoved my camera and lenses into my camera bag, grabbed my hat of the rack, my glasses off the table, slid my thongs on my feet and opened the door into the garage.

There was Adoring Husband getting himself organised for his first day back at golf since the tornado hit in January.

I rushed past him, dumped my camera bag into the basket, jumped on the trike and began to pedal, calling out "See ya!"

"Where are you going?" he asked (he knows that the only reason I leave the house at stupid o'clock is for sunrise shots) so I give him a short and obvious answer, and he says "But I'm leaving soon!"

Now .. anybody with photography experience (which Adoring Husband has), KNOWS that a sunrise or sunset lasts just a few minutes.  TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!  There is no time to stop and have a conversation.

So, I get to the bottom of the driveway and do a quick u-turn calling out "Well come here and kiss me goodbye!"  He stops halfway down the driveway and says "Don't worry about it!"

UGH!  More precious seconds wasted!

I pedal another 100 metres, the colour is fading fast and I know that by the time I reach the beach, it will be completely gone from the sky.

UGH!  (again)

So I do a quick detour into the lane that takes me to the lagoon.

By now, I could feel a very light sprinkle of rain.  I take a couple of quick shots of the lagoon in it's morning stillness.

Then I see a little duck on the water - and the rain has stopped.  I quickly change lenses and take half a dozen shots of the little duck and his reflection in the still water.

I feel the rain begin to softly fall - not enough for me to be worried about the camera, but I look up at the sky and see half a rainbow forming.

I change my lens, yet again, and begin shooting.  As I shoot, the rainbow slowly grows into a giant arch stretching right across the width of the lagoon.

The sun's rays are gently touching the trees and as the rain falls, the colours of the rainbow gradually brighten ... and then ... a very faint second rainbow appears above it.

WOW

In the space of about 7 minutes, the light has changed so much!

All of this happened in just 20 minutes and I pedalled back home in time to say goodbye to Adoring Husband, who was still trying to get himself organised for golf!

Originally, I thought that this was my consolation prize for missing the lovely sunrise - and for this I'm grateful - I think I would have been more disappointed if I had missed this, so really, it's a winner for me!

Nite all.

Day 200 in a Year of my Life

Well, I've had my life flash before my eyes today.

One particular bag of goodies that has been shoved away in a cupboard for the last 5 yrs, and before that, it was packed in a box for even longer.

It was like opening a treasure chest and finding some lovely, and not so lovely, treasures to ponder.

Starting with some old school reports.

Second year of high school and the Principal commented "A poor student.  Rozlyn will achieve little until her behaviour and her attitude improve.  At present her behaviour is hardly tolerable".

Other comments from teachers include "Inattentive and talkative" and "If Rozlyn put as much effort into her work as she does into 'showing off' and distracting others, she could do well.  She frequently refuses to participate".

Wow, I don't remember being that bad!

I found a 'farewell' card signed by all of my classmates when I left that school.

A photo of 15 yr old me riding a horse!

I found an envelope full of letters from my Korean and Japanese penpals with whom I regularly corresponded when I was 16 and 17 yrs of age.

A pile of congratulatory telegrams from my first wedding.

Photos of little Jamie's baptism and later, his funeral.

Numerous letters that I had written but never sent (those that know me will be nodding their heads  and rolling their eyes) to my father, my x-husband, friends.

Notes on storylines for books that I wanted to write.  Chapters written for some of those stories!

An old Tax Assessement Notice from 1992 showing that my taxable income was $18501.

A couple of my kids' school reports.

Emails from my mother, as well as jokes that she faxed to me at work.

Long emails from Vegan Chickie when she was living in Melbourne all those years ago.

A disc with photos that Bubbles and I had taken of each other so that we could make an "MSN" profile back in 2003 - the year my mother updated her computer and gave me her old one.  That computer changed our lives!

A cartoon drawing in pencil, that Number One Son drew about 20 yrs ago.

Numerous photos that made me feel both happy and sad.

What an interesting ride it was, reliving all those memories.

So I cleared my mind with a ride down to the river for a sunset shot.

Today, I am grateful for little bags of treasures that remind me where I came from and how much I've learned, how much I've grown and how happy I am now.  Exhausting!  But fun :)

Nite all.

Day 199 in a Year of my LIfe

A short break in the rain this morning and I got these ...

... but the break didn't last long, so by the time I got home, I was almost drenched through!

I had to blow dry my hair before I went to the hairdressers!  There's nothing nicer than a couple of hours spent at the hairdressers being pampered.  The only other pampering I prefer, is a full pedicure with foot massage included - delicious!

This afternoon I missed a beautiful sunset, but prior to that I was playing with my camera, some weeds and the lovely afternoon light in the back yard.  (No sign of Jake the snake, thank goodness!)

So today, I am grateful to my regular hairdresser, who knows how to make my visit a pleasure and who supported me by attending my photography exhibit last year.  She's a lovely lady and (not that she reads this blog) I dub her 'Snips'!

Nite all.  

Day 198 in a Year of my Life

I didn't tell you all about my snake visitor on Saturday!

Meet Jake ...

Of course, if you had spoken to me on Saturday at the time of sighting ... there was no 'Jake' ... there was a &^%@^* red bellied black %$#@&^ snake in the chook pen!!

I actually went to get the egg that I knew was waiting in the egg box.  I lifted the lid and spotted the egg and within a split second, I noticed the snake on the other side of the box (the egg box is about 4 feet long).

I yelled quite loudly and dropped the lid of the box as I stepped backwards.

Facebook was the first to know.

My facebook world gave me some good advice and some bad advice and some useless advice.

Then I remembered Helen (the chook) was still in the pen, so I went to let her out and took my camera (just in case) - THAT'S when I saw Jake's little head peeking around the corner!

I helped Helen escape and then locked myself and the dogs INSIDE the house.

By the time I was convinced, by my facebook world, to call someone to come and relocate the snake, Jake had disappeared.

So, if I remember correctly, Jake is the third snake visitor in our yard ... well, the third that we've witnessed ... who knows how many have actually entered our yard!

It's that time of the year when snakes are looking for warm, dry, comfortable places to hibernate.

Pleeeeeeeease don't let Jake think that our house, shed or garden is warm enough, dry enough or comfortable enough for any hibernation period!

We've emptied the container in our back yard and now wait for the company to come pick it up.

The new fridge is delivered tomorrow.

Once again, it's all happening at our house!

Today I am grateful to have Adoring Husband home with a new burst of enthusiasm, energy and motivation.

I think I need to leave home until he runs out of all that stuff.  :D  He's wearing me out!

Nite all.

Day 197 in a Year of my Life

It's Mother's Day.

To all the mothers out there, who come visit my blog regularly, I hope that you had a fabulous mother's day and that those who love you made the day as special as it should be.

This is for you ...

Today I am grateful to my kids for their texts, phone calls and skype calls to make me feel like a Mum who is loved.  I love you xxx.

Nite all.

Day 196 in a Year of my Life

We had a short sharp rain storm this afternoon just before sunset.

The sky had so much potential with some amazing clouds full of depth and the sunlight playing on them beautifully, until the crucial sunset moment ... then nothing ... the clouds closed in and the light disappeared and once again I was left feeling disappointed.

My consolation photo.

A funny moment the other day when I was sitting with my boys at the Seat of Knowledge.

This Noisy Mynah chick was learning to fly.  It had clumsily tumbled from it's nest to the ground under a tall tree nearby and then attempted to climb the tree, without much success.

Gentleman Jim attempted to pick the bird up to place it back in it's nest, but it panicked and flew straight under the shelter and landed straight on The Little Gnome's cap peak.

It climbed up his cap, left it's calling card and then flew off into the shrubbery.

Meanwhile, Gentleman Jim was being swooped by a number of adult Noisy Mynahs for getting too close to their baby!

A bit of a comedy really.  Thank goodness I had my camera handy!

Adoring Husband arrived home from his golfing week in Victoria, this afternoon.  He had a good time and appears to be pretty relaxed .. the Life Saver told me before they left that he hoped he could help Adoring Husband relax after such a horrible start to our year.  It appears to have worked :)

I am feeling pretty relaxed too :)

Today I am grateful for a week of relaxation for both of us.

Nite all.

Day 195 in a Year of my Life

This probably means that our lime tree is in big trouble ...

Interesting looking creature up close and personal hey?  He was hungry and ate that leaf pretty quickly.

Adoring Husband might be disappointed to hear that I didn't kill it.

You would think that Helen (the one remaining Lovely Laying Chook), who has been freely roaming the garden for the past few weeks, would have kept these blighters at bay wouldn't you?

Had a lovely chat on the phone with Best Cousin in the World today.

Nothing else to report.

Today I am grateful to have a Best Cousin in the World, who sells my hand made bracelets in her far away land.  Saleswoman of the year!  Thanks Cuz!

Nite all.

Day 194 in a Year of my Life

I ask myself this question .. Can I be any more relaxed?

I kept all the windows and blinds closed, because it was another cool, windy and wet day.

I spent the morning in my work space.

I talked on the phone with Chicklet and Vegan Chickie.

I made Pad Thai with chicken and prawns for lunch.

I watched 'Some Kind of Wonderful' and 'The Breakfast Club' on dvd.

I had leftover lunch for dinner.

I am wearing my Winter slippers!

I am going to bed.

I am grateful for the way my home (now that it is repaired),  feels like a pair of strong arms wrapped securely around me, and when I walk in the door, I feel a wave of warmth engulf me.

*contented sigh*

The answer to my first question is a resounding NO!

Nite all.

Day 193 in a Year of my Life

Photos taken for a challenge - 'Choose a subject and photograph it five different ways'.

I chose a hibiscus flower as my subject.

It's been a cool wet day today, so after I visited my boys this morning, I came home to the safety and comfort of my lovely home and spent the day playing with my camera.

More showers are forecast for tomorrow.  I can handle that :)

Today, I am grateful for the cool wet days that allow me to hide at home with the windows and blinds closed and indulge in my favourite pastime of photography without interruption.

Nite all.

Day 192 in a Year of my Life

Day 192 has been very quiet.

I have been relaxing and enjoying some time at home doing not much of anything.

I am grateful for days like this.  They are good for the soul and I feel quite rejuvenated.

Breathe in.  Breathe out.

Everybody should try to have a day like this.

No demands.  No guilt.  No deadlines.

From the minute you wake up in the morning, til the second you fall asleep that night - all for you, to do exactly as you please.

Time at home by myself is a great luxury for me and one of my favourite things.

I catch up on new dvds or watch my favourite old ones.  No set times for eating.  Take up the whole bed while I sleep.  Sing loudly to the radio.  Dance around the kitchen while I cook.  Doze on the couch during the day.  Paint my toe nails.  Catch up on my reading - usually old subscription magazines (photography) that I haven't had a chance to get into.  The list goes on.

Today has been a very good day.

Nite all.

Day 191 in a Year of my Life

I spent a really pleasant morning in my friend's native garden today.

'Snow White' and 'The Woodsman' invited me for morning tea and afterwards, we wandered around and through the garden admiring the native plants, the orchids, the home grown vegetables and all the resident creepy crawlies and beautiful creatures within.

They are such a lovely couple and the atmosphere in their home and their garden is indicative of their happy and kind natures.

They have some lovely flowers almost ready to burst from their buds, so some time soon, I hope to get a phone call so that I can head back out there with my camera for some more shots.

Their family also includes two beautiful Golden Retriever bitches.  Such loving and friendly pooches who love nothing better than cuddles and pats from anyone who enters their front gate!  I could easily have brought them home with me.

So just as the heavens opened, I arrived home to the noisy greetings of our own psychotic dogs, who were very happy to see me return.

I spent the rest of the day inside my own head, which was also a pretty good place to be today!

Today I am grateful for new friendships that sometimes develop from unusual circumstances and with people you least expect.

Nite all.

Day 190 in a Year of my Life

I almost sold my old trike today.

I haven't advertised it yet, but a man stopped and asked me about my new trike when I was at the park this morning, so when I told him that I had an old one to sell, he was very keen and took my phone number.

He and his wife came to the house this afternoon to look at it and although he was very keen - he wants it to transport his fishing gear to the river and likes the rod holders on the back, as well as the large basket - but his wife was not keen.

They both had a ride of the old trike as well as the new trike and she preferred the new trike.  I'm not sure why she gets to choose what he rides, however, they said they'd get back to me.

While they were looking at at, I was feeling a bit reluctant anyway.  It's my baby, and even though I have every intention of selling it, I wasn't expecting it to happen this soon!

So, I told them about the trike that's advertised on the notice board at our local shops.  $450 brand new.  They are going to follow that up, so I should get to keep my baby for a bit longer.

I met another man at the beach today.  He was with his friend Reggie...

Reggie is a 13 week old male Eclectus Parrot.  He is a beautiful bird, but if he was mine, I don't think I'd take him out on the beach, especially at low tide when all the Kites and Eagles are out hunting.  He would make a delicious meal for them if they swooped from behind and snatched him from the man's shoulder!

Notice how I got the parrot's name but not his owner's?

I have seen this Grey Heron out and about lately.  He was catching fish in the little streams left as the tide went out, but as I tried to sneak closer to get a good shot, he took off!

He flew high into the trees and annoyed the smaller birds.

So my mission tonight is to finish watching 'The Man from Snowy River' on dvd, so that I can return it to it's rightful owner tomorrow.  I borrowed it from one of my boys, a week before the tornado hit and then it got packed away with all of our belongings while the house got repaired.

He reminded me about it today.  Luckily we just unpacked all the dvds last week, so it was easy to find.

The movie is better than I remembered it.

Today, I am grateful for the sounds of silence.  No TV and no radio.  Just the silence that surrounds us at night when the residents all go inside and close their doors til morning.  Feeling the serenity.

Nite all.