Not Myself

I felt a little 'out of it' today.

I haven't slept well since I left home, so lack of sleep is not helping.

We four girls have been together for 6 days.  Living in close quarters with three other people, dealing with their habits and taking their individual needs and wants into consideration, compromising and cushioning and sacrificing .. well it can be quite draining.

We've done very well with meals so far. We are preparing our meals in the unit. Everything has been gluten free and we all pitch in together with the preparations. The food has been delicious and satisfying, however, I REALLY miss my own food and my pantry full of special ingredients that I can call on for all of my favourite recipes.

I miss my town and my house and my routine and my Adoring Husband.

Just a little glitch in the middle of a long holiday.

Tomorrow, I will feel better and more myself.

Meanwhile, some photos from the trip so far.

I'm yet to find a Sunbird to photograph.  I've found LOTS of nests, but no birds. That is my mission tomorrow! I've also set my alarm and Di and I are waking early to catch the sunrise over the ocean and the infinite pool in the morning.

The click-clack sofa has been set up in the lounge room for me to attempt to get some sound sleep tonight. The single bed isn't cutting it for me.

A quick pic with the phone tonight at 'wine o'clock' ...

... and now I will watch the last of Big Brother and then hopefully doze into slumberland.

Nite all.

Bay Hopping

Woman of Many Talents and The Reality TV Queen left early this morning, intending to do a decent trek through the mountainous bushland, by following a walking trail to Arcadia.

Mrs Bucket and I planned on catching the bus later and meeting them there for a swim at the beach and morning tea. So the two of us had a leisurely morning at home. We had breakfast, did some washing, ironing and a little housework.

At 9am, we were sitting in the bus waiting for it to leave the depot, when the girls phoned to let us know that they were actually at Horseshoe Bay .. which is quite a bit further than Arcadia.

You have to realise that any walk over the island is a 'trek' because it is rugged and mountainous and not easily navigated.

To hear The Reality TV Queen tell the story of their trek this morning, is hilariously funny and even though she has told it three times already today, I still laughed just as loud the third time, as I did the first time.

They are both regular walkers and both very fit, so to hear how difficult this walk was and how it affected their bodies, made me grateful that I didn't join them!

I planned on doing a walk or two through the trails with my camera, to hopefully get some bird and wildlife pics, but I am quite hesitant now that I've seen the terrain.

So, Mrs Bucket and I eventually met them at Horseshoe Bay, where we enjoyed a smoothie and I bought a gluten free strawberry cheesecake tart for later. We did a short walk along the main thoroughfare, and then found our way to the bus stop, planning to bus it to Picnic Bay, which is across the other side of the island.

It took a while to get there, and Mrs Bucket left us when the bus reached Nellie Bay. We looked through the shops and little art gallery, took some photos of the big old trees and the bay itself, then went into the pub for a drink.

Woman of Many Talents bought some take away lunch and by 1pm we were on the bus heading back to Nellie Bay.

At one stop, there was a large number of back packers who boarded the bus and very soon, the bus was so full that there was standing room only.

It was heartening to see, that every time an elderly person boarded the bus, a young person, without question, stood up and offered their seat to them. It must have happened eight times and I have to admit that I felt quite emotional and surprised by so many respectful gestures.

Eventually, the fully loaded bus arrived at Nellie Bay and the girls and I made a quick trip to the supermarket to get some supplies for dinner.

We made a great team this evening. Mrs Bucket made her famous fried rice. The Reality TV Queen made kale chips with roasted pumpkin. Woman of Many Talents fired up the barbecue and cooked the chicken that I had marinated earlier in the day and I made a garden salad.

It was all very delicious and we washed it down with a couple of glasses of wine before settling down in front of the TV to watch 'X Factor' and 'Winners and Losers'.

It's been a very grey day, as far as the weather is concerned, but all in all, it's been a fabulous day.

I did take a few photos .. not a lot because I didn't think the greyness of the day did justice to the beauty of the area, but I will take more as the holiday wears on. If I have time to go through them tomorrow, I will share some here tomorrow night.

Now, hopefully, I will have better luck falling asleep tonight than I did last night!

Nite all.

Wish You Were Here

First full day on the island and we are having a lovely relaxing time.

Today is Mrs Bucket's birthday, so we started the day with a "Happy Birthday" song and a small gift, then went for a long walk.

Mrs Bucket and I then stopped for coffee and juice at Peppers Resort, while the other two went on their marathon walk. The two of us had a lovely long chat about all the things that have been happening in our lives lately .. it was a pleasant way to spend the morning .. before heading back to our unit.

When the others arrived back, we all decided to go to Peppers for their lunch time special which cost $25 per head and included a main meal, dessert and a glass of wine, beer or soft drink.

Two of us had salt and pepper calamari and the other two had beer battered fish and chips. Dessert was the choice of pavlova or trio of sorbets. I had the sorbets and it was delicious. The whole lunch was delicious.

Here we are just as we arrived ...

We have a pool on the roof, so after lunch, Mrs Bucket and Woman of Many Talents headed up there for a swim. I did some photo editing while Reality TV Queen lay down and watched some telly in her bedroom.

Right now, it's 'wine o'clock', so we are kicking back with a glass of vino and are definitely in holiday mode.

Yesterday afternoon as we were settling into our unit, we were briefly entertained by a wedding party having part of their photo shoot on the helipad across the water.

The view from our room ..

Now I'm off to enjoy my wine.

Nite all

Food for Thought

Not much time for blogging again, but today we shopped til we dropped.

I got some new swimmers (or togs as they call them in Queensland), a pair of shorts, two tops, some junk jewellery, a new bag, a phone case and a couple of singlet tops.

We came back to the room for a one hour rest stop, then got ready for the casino! We all played the pokies for a little while, then had an 'all you can eat' buffet for $42 per head. I think I ate three plates of seafood and then a big bowl of dessert. We ALL pigged out big time!

Home by 8pm and now ready for a good sleep before we hit the markets bright and early tomorrow morning.

We catch the barge over to the island at lunch time.

Here is the view from our room in Townsville .. the Holiday Inn.

Please excuse the quality of the pics .. they are taken with my phone.

Time for sleeping.

Nite all.

Brief Blogging

I'm just here to say that I'm alive and having a good time!

It seemed like a long long long trip from Mackay to Townsville today, but we finally made it safe n sound.

We spent the evening at the Cowboys Leagues Club tonight, which was very crowded with Cowboys supporters for their semi final game, but unfortunately they lost by one point.

The club was pumping right til the end and then it suddenly went silent, and people left in droves. A sad end to a great night.

We waited for an hour and twenty minutes for our meals tonight, but the meals were worth the wait. Delicious!

While we were waiting for our meal, there was an elderly gentleman looking for somewhere to sit, so the 'Reality TV Queen' invited him to sit with us at our table .. which had the only spare seat in the house! He welcomed the invitation and then introduced himself as one of the directors of the club.

When our meal took so long, he spoke to the kitchen staff to move things along and then organised a free drink for us, which was lovely.

So now, at 10.25pm, we are home and ready to climb into bed.

There are markets on the street outside out motel room tomorrow morning, so we will be up bright and early, ready to spend money :)

We have a whole day in Townsville tomorrow so the Casino will also be on the cards.

Anyway, just thought I'd touch base with any of you who care. Can you tell that I've had a few wines tonight??

Nite all.

Kitchen Antics

I calculate that I spent 8 hours cooking in the kitchen today - preparing meals to freeze for Adoring Husband to eat while I'm away.

Curried Sausages x 2
Chicken & Vegetable Curry x 2
Bolognese Sauce x 2
Savoury Chicken Mince x 3
Potato Bake x 3
Cut and seasoned vegetables bagged x 6
Coriander Lemon Chicken Meatballs x 35
Roast Chicken x 1

I did some washing.

I cleared over one thousand emails.

Wednesday is now available for me to be productive, so I have a list of chores to do, as well as packing.

I enjoyed a lovely morning tea with the girls today. It's good to have Maid Marian back in town .. permanently. I feel as if we are 'complete' again.

It was also nice to have a good coffee. I missed my coffee while I was away.

Tomorrow I plan on making some sweet treats for Adoring Husband. Chocolate cupcakes. Banana and walnut muffins. Chocolate bark.

I guess I'll be doing some photo editing while I'm on holidays! Lot's of Chicklet photos to play with :)

Once again, it's after midnight. Time to sleep.

Nite all.

In Between

Home safe n sound and now preparing for the next leg!

I've unpacked, done my washing and now planning, in my mind, everything that needs to be done before I leave on Thursday .. considering Wednesday is no longer viable for me, I have to do everything tomorrow!

I need to make a list! My time management skills will certainly be stretched.

It was good to see Adoring Husband but it feels weird to be leaving so soon and I'm not sure about spending two weeks away from him. I hope he will be ok. I hope I will be ok!

Despite those concerns, I'm looking forward to having a break. Between my studies and everything else that has happened this year, it will be nice just to 'be' and regenerate, rejuvenate and come back ready to take on the world!

I've just received the new Study Smart format for my study site, so I began exploring that and methodically going through the steps, but time has passed so quickly that I now notice it's almost midnight! I've been in bed with lights out before 9.30pm for the last 3 nights!

Thank you to my lovely Chicklet family for a great 3 days *LOVE* Little Chicklet wore me out again .. but the 90 minute walk this morning was the killer!

So here I end my post, once again without photos. Where does the time go?

Nite all.

Another Visit Over

When will I learn? Walking around in bare feet on a tiled floor all day is NOT good for your back!! Ugh!

I think that if I wore a pedometer while playing with Chicklet all day, it would be interesting to see how many steps I take.

Between my bare feet on the tiled floor and running around with Chicklet, I feel like I've run a marathon.

I got some more photos today of Chicklet with a clean face, but I'm afraid you will have to wait, because my laptop seems to be heating up more than usual and I'm not going to risk overheating it.

Tomorrow, I am heading home again. It's been a quick three days and it feels like it's flown by. I will be sad to say goodbye again to my Chicklet family, but looking forward to seeing Adoring Husband for a few days before heading off to Magnetic Island with the girls for 2 weeks of fun and frivolity.

I also hope to catch up with The Nikonian before I leave tomorrow!

I've now yawned 5 times in the last 5 minutes so I think that's my cue to turn out the lights and lay my weary head upon the pillow. Yup 9pm and I'm done.

Nite all.

Still happy.

Well my little Tassie Devil lasted approximately 20 minutes in my bed!

We did our usual story time and read 6 books. She had her own blanket and pillow in here and lay down to attempt sleep. Tossed and turned. Asked me a few questions. Asked if she could play the muppet game on my iPad and when I told her "No. It's sleep time now." she replied with "Can I sleep in the big bed with Mama?"

And that was that.

Small steps lol.

I took lots of photos today and had intended putting some on here tonight, but because every single one of them has a very messy peanut butter face, they are going to take a bit of work to clean up.

Note to self - clean Chicklet's face before taking 200 photos.

So, instead, I will share a photo taken yesterday, with my iphone, of Chicklet taking a break on the path that we took through the bush.

It's just after 9.30pm and I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be woken up early tomorrow morning by a smiley face planting kisses along my arm, so I'm off to get some much needed sleep.

Nite all.

Happiness is ...

Well, after another late and restless night at home, and after 3 hours of sleep, I was awake at 4am preparing to leave on the train for the Sunny Coast. Taking into consideration the other restless nights I've had this week, and how I'm no longer used to that kind of broken sleep, I am feeling decidedly tired tonight .. even though I had a nana nap this afternoon!

This is my new bed and bedding at the new house - it was very comfortable this afternoon, so I anticipate a good night's sleep tonight.

Little Chicklet wanted to sleep in bed with me tonight .. and that's the reason I chose a double bed, specifically because I hoped she would want to do that .. but knowing how restless she is, and knowing how desperately in need of sleep I am tonight, we made a deal that she could do it tomorrow night.

It's been a good day. Chicklet has been like a mini Tassie Devil and it's been difficult keeping up with her, but it's great to be here. The new house is lovely and set in beautiful bushland surroundings that have walking paths, so they couldn't ask for a nicer environment.

It's 8pm and I am about to settle into an exhausted sleep.

Nite all.

A Joyful Day

Retail therapy is always fun.

Today, we bought a bed for me to sleep on at the Chicklet family house on the Sunny Coast and it's being delivered there tomorrow. Then I got to choose some bright colourful bedding, so I'm really looking forward to my first night at the new house.

It's only been a month since I saw the Chicklet family, but it feels like forever! I can't wait to see my little Chicklet. I miss her.

I planned on getting a pedicure today and I can usually walk straight in to any nail salon without an appointment and not have to wait, but today, the first two salons that I tried couldn't fit me in for a couple of hours! I didn't want to hang around, so I declined both of them and then found another salon where I least expected and luckily got straight in.

The young girl was brilliant and she massaged my calves and feet beautifully, in between the pedicure and painting my nails. The chair had massaging vibration in it, which gave me an almost deep tissue massage as I sat there.

It was heavenly, it took almost an hour and I was only charged $35! Bonus!

This afternoon, we 'Island getaway girls' had a meeting with a bottle of wine to discuss departure times and plan our drive up north which will be happening next week. I think we are all getting very excited as it draws closer.

So it seems that I have a very busy and full month ahead of me!

It will be football grand final time when I return and my little sis will hopefully be popping down for a visit for grand final weekend.

It will also be time to start the next stage of my studies!

So much happening!

I'm exhausted just writing about it!

There are so many exclamation marks at the end of all of my sentences!

Now it's time to sleep.

Nite all.

Done and Dusted

It's OVER!

The exam is finished and that officially puts an end to my first semester.

Hear my audible sigh of relief!

I would like to apologise to anyone reading this who got sick and tired of my incessant study chatter.

I would like to apologise to my friends and family who I'm sure got sick and tired of my incessant worrying and stressing over my inability to retain information.

I would also like to apologise to Adoring Husband who has been living in a silent world for 6 months, wearing headphones while watching television and spending lots of time out of the house while I crammed.

Now that I know what to expect for future studies, I'm sure that I won't stress so much and it will be much easier for all of you! Thank you for your tolerance and patience and support and encouragement.

Feel the love!

The exam wasn't too difficult. I feel like I may not have given as much detail as they were expecting, so there may be some points lost for my brevity, but I 'think' I will pass .. fingers crossed.

Now I can think about, plan, and look forward to other things like visiting my little Chicklet family and then an island getaway!

Meanwhile in Tawny Frogmouth world .. there is a new nest! This is the same bird that made such a flimsy nest last year that all of the eggs fell to the ground.

This nest looks much more secure, and is in the perfect spot for me to get some good shots of chicks when they hatch. It's quite low in the tree, so let's hope she has better luck this year and we get to see some babies!

Adoring Husband and I went for our barefoot walk along the beach this afternoon. The tide was way out and it was a beautiful afternoon. We only walked half the distance that we planned, because the sand was quite soft as we attempted to walk to the 2nd marker and we were fast sinking deep into the sand, almost up to our knees!

The further we walked, the more broken shells there were, and other partially buried debris to navigate, so we decided not to take the risk

By the time we returned, we were both feeling leg weary!

Anyway, it's been a great day and now I can sleep with peace of mind.

Nite all.

Last Time

This is the last time that I will complain about my studying for the big exam .. tomorrow is the day .. go hard or go home!

By mid afternoon tomorrow, it will all be over and I can relax for a couple of weeks.

If I fail, I only have my old brain to blame .. because I have studied with a vengeance .. it just seems that no matter how much I cover, there seems to be more and more that I haven't covered!!

Today, I looked on YouTube for study hints and ways to remember stuff for tests. Surprisingly, there were quite a lot of videos to watch and I wasted 90 minutes learning to do stuff that I am already doing and which I feel isn't working for me.

HOWEVER ...

One of the teachers on one of the videos described perfectly how my brain is working at the moment and how it feels to me like all the information is flying out of my brain as quickly as it comes in. He said that once I sit down for the exam, I will be surprised by how much my brain has actually retained.

I can only hope that he is right. It gave me the boost that I needed to keep powering on regardless of my doubts.

I think I'll be studying late into the night and then I will squeeze in some more for a couple of hours before I sit the exam tomorrow.

I know that I will be able to say, that no matter what, I tried my best, and have given myself the best chance possible.

On that note ..

Nite all.

Signs of Spring

I always know that Spring has arrived, when the Tawny Frogmouths appear.

This guy was very low on a branch and alone .. which usually means that there is a nest nearby .. so my next trick is to find the nest!

Then there was this pair .. no nest yet for them ..

There is one other, but I don't have a photograph of him yet because he was high in a tree and well obscured by foliage, but I'll keep trying.

By the time I get back from holidays at the end of the month, there should be chicks to photograph!

Still studying. Ugh!

Nite all.

Under the Weather

So I was a little under the weather last night, hence, no blog post.

I just discovered this on youtube and thought I'd share it. It's an oldie but a goodie!



YouTube can be so much fun sometimes! I get lots of study information in YouTube too .. you name it, YouTube has it!

Speaking of study, I squeezed in a few hours of study today, but I'm still feeling a little panicked over the exam on Tuesday. I hate exams! Don't we all?

So, obviously, while I'm studying so voraciously, not much else is happening to share with you.

Nite all.

Counting Down

Five more days of study left til the exam.  Feeling pressured.  Brain won't retain the information long enough!  So much to remember!  Ugh!

I wish there was a way to change my brain from being a reflective surface bouncing all the information back to where it came from .. to a sponge soaking up and retaining everything that I need to know.

Ageing brains are not our friends.  Well, not mine anyway.

I actually did some cooking today too. A chicken and vegetable stew, a roast chicken and some honey and lemon chicken wings.  I planned on making an apple tart this evening too, but then a very long phone call with 'best cousin in the world' put an end to that idea.

Adoring Husband had some SES training tonight, so I had a few hours at home alone, but a very unproductive few hours!

Once again, it's after midnight.

Sleep is my friend.

Nite all.

Sleep and Food

It was a late and slow start to the day.

I had a very late night last night, because sometimes life gets in the way.

Eventually, after coffee and a trike ride, by late morning, I started to study.

I stopped briefly for lunch when Adoring Husband was good enough to bring some delicious fresh sand crab home. I devoured it over the kitchen sink, making a fabulous splashy juicy mess everywhere!

Facebook provided me with this great recipe that I modified (as I do) and had with dinner tonight.

Ingredients:

4 zucchinis quartered lengthways
1/2 cup of grated parmesan
1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried Basil (or 5 fresh leaves finely chopped)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 fresh cloves minced)
salt and pepper to taste
2 T coconut oil
2 T fresh chopped parsley

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.
Line a flat pan with baking paper.
Combine everything except the zucchini, parsley and oil, in a bowl.
Place the zucchini on the prepared pan, drizzle with oil and sprinkle the parmesan mixture over the top.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
Put under the grill for 2-3 minutes until golden brown (be careful the paper doesn't catch alight).
Serve immediately, sprinkled with parsley.

I really loved the flavour of this, except I accidentally mixed the parsley with the mixture and it got a little burnt under the grill .. so I'll leave that out and sprinkle it last next time, like the recipe states!

We had it with crispy skinned salmon, sweet potato chips, snow peas and broccoli.

Dessert was chocolate zucchini cupcake with blueberries, strawberries and cream.

I'm soooooo full!

Nite all.

Study Mode

Yep, study mode again. I was actually quite productive with my study today, so I'm feeling happy with today's achievements.

Morning tea with the girls was a great start to the day and Adoring Husband spent a lot of time at the SES shed, which gave me the quiet time that I needed, to get focused.

We didn't go for our walk along the beach this afternoon because we had gale force winds attempting to blow the town away. If the weather improves tomorrow, we'll try again.

I love these cups ...

... and here are my favourite quotes from Facebook this week ...

Psychotic dogs are a bit restless tonight, so I think I'll get them to bed early.

Nite all.

After my Heart

So ... I've known this woman in town for about 18 months. We have never had a long conversation, but have lunched in a group situation a couple of times and always say hello when we pass in the street or the supermarket. We probably wouldn't even qualify as acquaintances.

Yesterday, I stopped at her house to buy something that she had for sale and we began to chat.

Almost immediately, we discovered that we have a similar dislike for, and mistrust of, doctors, and the conversation became much more animated about our health and the various methods of healing that we use.

Well ... you all know how passionate I am about nutrition and how I find it difficult to control my, for want of a better word, 'enthusiasm' for my recent lifestyle change. I discovered that she too, was equally enthusiastic and showed me a book that she had recently acquired called "Take Control of Your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry" by Elaine Hollingsworth.

I guess she sensed my keen interest, because she hesitantly offered to loan it to me for 'a couple of days'. I accepted her offer and spent yesterday afternoon devouring as much information from the book as I could and took copious notes.

This afternoon, I went to return the book and told her how excited I was to read it and that I would definitely order one for myself from the website. She then offered for me to keep the book for another week! I almost snatched it back from her! So now I am taking my time with long leisurely reads (between my studying sessions of course).

There is so much interesting information in the book. Some of the advice, I have been putting into practice for almost a year already, but there is more information that I wasn't aware of, but which makes so much sense to me. Some of it I will share here during the week.

If you're interested in the book or the website from where I will be ordering it, go here.

Meanwhile, I finally got to take Adoring Husband to the beach for our bare foot walk on the sand this afternoon. We walked for about 50 minutes and it was really nice to have the time together in the fresh air, with time to talk and no distractions like TV or phones or dogs and to feel the sand between our toes and slosh through the puddles and shallow channels.

We've decided to make it a habit.

It's been difficult to get into my studies this week. There are two houses being built behind us and they are at the 'nail gun' stage. The wind is blowing from that direction, straight into our back door, so the sound seems amplified and pierces my tranquility. Every time I feel focussed, there is a sudden series of loud bangs as the builders get on a role.

I'm not sure how I'm going to combat this problem, but I'll work on it.

Once again, it's almost midnight, so I'm outta here!

Nite all.

Perfect Sunday

Today was THE MOST PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL DAY! I took this photo with my phone.

I spent an hour walking along the beach and another hour sitting on the bank of the river, just enjoying the fresh air, the clear water and the blue skies.

I had to come home eventually and do some studying.

Adoring Husband arrived home safe n sound from Marburg after successfully completing his SES training. He's a happy chappy and now in bed snoring his happy little head off!

I am following his lead.

Nite all.

Saturday Bliss

I set my alarm for 6am this morning, so that I could go to work. The alarm went off right on cue, so I switched it off and promptly went back to sleep!

Despite the scrambled start to the morning, I did get my work done and then spent some time at the Seat of Knowledge. Later, I kicked my shoes off and went for a long walk along the beach as the tide came in.

I sloshed, ankle deep, through the shallow water which was icy cold in patches, but comfortable in others.

There were quite a few pelicans resting on the beach, so I took a few quick snaps of them, until a lady stopped to chat. Her name was Christine and she was in her early 60s and a self proclaimed hippie.

She had lived in Gladstone for 39 years, then sold her house and bought one for $20000 in Cracow, which is about 300 km west of here. It's a very small and old gold mining town with a population of about 120 people.

She was travelling in an old 4WD, but was planning on getting a small camper and painting it bright colours and then travelling wherever life wanted to take her. She makes dream catchers out of the bird feathers that she collects on her long walks.

She did confess to stopping for road kill .. a dead Wedge-tailed Eagle on the road, to steal it's feathers for her dream catchers! I told her that I thought that was pretty sick .. and not in a good way! She laughed and said "Well, it's not like I killed it for the feathers. It was already dead!" We both laughed.

We shared a little of our life history and then went our separate ways. She is taking a sick friend to Brisbane for surgery and then they are coming back here for recovery time and then home to Cracow.

I walked for another 45 minutes and then pedalled to my local haunt, got my usual take-away coffee and sat outside in the sunshine for about an hour.  A few locals stopped by for a chat and finally, I arrived home at about 11.30am.

I had some lunch and then set myself up in bed with my laptop and study material, ready to spend a couple of hours studying before the football started. Yes, it probably seems strange to do this in bed, when I have a perfectly good desk to sit at .. but the air and light in the bedroom was so lovely, it just seemed like the right place to be.

After a while, I got a phone call from Vegan Chickie, who has been very ill for a couple of weeks with every ailment known to mankind, from the flu to food poisoning to infections to serious allergies!

The poor thing. Luckily, she is on the mend now, but it might take a while for her poor body to fully recover from such an onslaught! It was really nice to hear from her and I loved listening to Chicklet chatting in the background. I miss them and need to get down there for a visit soon.

I decided to go for another ride before the football started and as I rode along the path beside the river, there was a Whistling Kite floating above me ...

I waited patiently for the White Breasted Sea Eagle that was soaring in the skies across the river, to head in my direction, but even though he teased me a couple of times, he never got close enough to photograph and eventually I gave up and rushed home to watch the football.

There were 3 games today and I tipped the losing teams in all three games .. not happy Jan!

I think I will now climb into bed and watch the end of the movie "Armageddon". It's highly possible that I will fall asleep before it finishes, considering it's now 10.40pm and it doesn't finish til midnight!

So, nite all.  

A Good Time

It was a good night tonight at the club.

I won a raffle prize and it was nice to have some fun with the girls.

We discussed that I would be brief in my blog post tonight because I planned on coming home to have some more wine and then fall into bed.

I haven't had any more wine since I arrived home and I only had 3 glasses at the club, but I am decidedly tired so am climbing into bed as soon as I sign out.

My footy team won tonight, so they are still in with a small chance of making the finals. Fingers crossed.

Congratulations to my friend The Nikonian, on the birth of her first Grandson, Flynn Cheyne. I can feel the overwhelming love from here! He looks so peaceful and perfect and I know that everyone is over the moon with happiness.

On that note .. my bed is calling.

Nite all.

The Joy of Sales

Firstly, a photo of our lady's lunch yesterday ...

... and my neighbour asked me if I'd like some herbs, namely Dill and Parsley, from her garden. I accepted her offer because my herbs are failing in their tiny little dried up pots. Her brand new garden is flourishing, as ours did when we first moved here and she gave me this lovely big bouquet of herbs.

Remember the wonderful walls of herbs that Adoring Husband created for me in April? Well, it seems that the herbs don't like such tiny pots because the soil dries out so quickly, it's impossible to keep enough water up to them. So we have to rethink our herb situation.

Just recently, the Rainbow Bee Eaters have returned to our area. They have always nested, by tunnelling into the ground, next door on what was once an empty block of land, but now our neighbours have built on the block and the birds have had to find a new nesting spot.

Luckily for us, there are still a couple of empty blocks nearby, so they are still nesting quite close and they sit in the branches of our young Jacaranda trees on our footpath.

Tomorrow, I plan on sitting on the garden seat in our front yard, camera in hand, attempting to get some good shots of the Bee Eaters as they feed on the bees from our garden! I hope they co-operate!

Adoring Husband and I spent a lot of time in The Bay today. I got some great clothes and jewellery on sale .. which of course, means that I have to toss some old clothes out of my wardrobe .. that's the rule! Out with the old. In with the new.

I also bought a book called 'I Quit Sugar for Life' by Sarah Wilson. Sarah's facebook page was the first page I joined when I quit sugar in September last year and I have seen a few excerpts from her book, so I was interested to see more. The first shop was selling it for $39 and then we looked in BigW and there it was for $18!! Bargain!!

So, as usual, retail therapy cured many ills today.

Good grief!  It's after midnight!!

Nite all.


 

Lady's Lunch

Had a great day today.

Caught up with a couple of friends as I drank coffee at my local haunt, then came home and made myself presentable for the lady's lunch, which I really enjoyed. The food was good and the company was funny and interesting.

Fabulous storms all afternoon dropped 15mm of rain on our garden and then a quiet evening at home while Adoring Husband attended an SES meeting.

I have photos from today .. but they have to wait til tomorrow's post.

It's almost midnight and I think the pumpkin thing is going to happen any minute!!

Nite all.

People

People suck.

Why do people have such an aggressive and negative attitude about other people's food choices?

How does it affect them?

Is it because they feel guilty about their own food choices?

I know that vegans, vegetarians, fruitarians and raw foodies, as well as Celiacs and their 'gluten free' requirements, all have the same kind of responses and I've had the discussion with Vegan Chickie before.

You only have to look at some of the recent negativity in the media, surrounding Pete Evans and his Paleo lifestyle.

If the Paleo diet gets people to choose real food over junk, take away and processed food, then I'm all for it! If Pete Evans' improved health status is any indication of how effective the diet is, then that's another reason to be all for it.

I like to follow a lot of paleo recipes, but our only real restrictions are on refined sugar, processed foods and gluten.

Anyway, after a pleasant morning enjoying two morning teas and then pedalling around town for about 45 minutes, I came home for another cookathon.

I finished off the tomato sauce and then made a spaghetti bolognese with the leftover sauce and used chicken mince. It was so full of flavour!

Time sure gets away. I'm off to bed because we have the big lady's luncheon tomorrow, so I need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed!

Nite all.

A Bit of Productivity

Yes! I got out on my trike this morning! I saw my boys, rode along the river path, sat with my coffee and did a little grocery shopping ready for a productive day in the kitchen.

I finished off and packaged my beef stock first, and there was still enough meat on the bones to have with dinner tonight, which I'll tell you about soon. I ended up with seven containers of stock to freeze.

I needed the slow cooker for my tomato sauce, which is still slow cooking as I type this. I'll keep it going overnight, so the flavour should be rich and delicious by morning!

Next on the cooking agenda was lunch, which I didn't photograph, but we tried our local butcher's chicken kiev flavoured chicken sausages with a big salad of baby spinach, lettuce, red capsicum, tomato, onion, snow peas, avocado and boiled egg.

So far, we haven't been a fan of his flavoured sausages, and we've tried four or five different flavours. Today's were quite nice though. Our favourite is still his plain beef sausage.

Adoring Husband headed back to the SES shed after lunch, which gave me the opportunity to make some Banana and Walnut muffins.

... and the finished product ...

Delicious, sliced in half with a slathering of butter!

As I was saying earlier, about there still being enough meat on some of the ox tail bones to remove and mix with dinner tonight, I made the same sauce as last night, with some beef stock, red wine, apple juice and a little of the tomato sauce mixture that was still cooking. I stirred that through diced chicken breast and ox tail meat mixed together. There was leftover cauliflower au gratin and I steamed some broccoli and snow peas.

A healthful and satisfying dinner.

So the dishwasher has certainly had a workout today and I thoroughly enjoyed spending so much time in the kitchen. I think I'll try some new recipes tomorrow too.

Oh my gosh, I just looked at the time and realised it's after midnight! I think I am just naturally a night owl .. I'll never be able to stick to my 'early night' rule!

Nite all.

Late Nights and Cooking

Today is day four.

Four days in a row that I haven't gone out in the morning for a ride on my trike.

One of those mornings was far too wet to even consider it, but the other three have been because Adoring Husband has brought my coffee to me in bed and then I have lazed in bed with my iPad, sipping take-away coffee with not a care in the world.

Suddenly I miss my morning routine. I miss seeing the boys at the Seat of Knowledge. I miss riding along the river path and soaking up the fresh air and beautiful water views. I miss sitting outside the local shops drinking my coffee and chatting with the locals.

It's time to get energised again and start my days with a bit more enthusiasm!

When I climbed into bed last night .. well after midnight (Yes I know! Much later than my new rule allows!), I was flicking through the channels on the bedroom TV to find something to fall asleep to, when I stumbled across the beginning of a movie.

I recognised it immediately. The opening scene is a huge indoor concert arena with the audience chanting and spotlights moving through the darkness. A frisbee sails through the air and it glows under the spotlight.

It was the movie "A Star is Born" with Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson and Gary Busey. Another one of my favourite movies of all time and one that I've watched about 30 times.

I was 16 yrs old the first time I watched it and I still sob during the same scenes almost 40 years later!

Of course, I had to sit up in bed and watch the entire movie and it was 3am when I turned off the TV and immediately fell asleep!!

Adoring Husband made us a delicious fluffy omelette this morning with cheese and mushroom and onion and capsicum and snow peas. A great way to start Sunday.

After we cleared that mess away, I made a fresh beetroot, carrot, apple and lemon drink for Adoring Husband and then began preparing dinner:

• I browned 1.5kg of ox tail in a skillet
• Placed it in the slow cooker with celery, carrot, garlic, apple cider vinegar, himalayan salt and ground pepper and lots of filtered water, for 5 hours on high.
• I removed the bones from the cooker and took all the meat off, placing it in a bowl and then setting it aside, putting the bones back in the cooker.
• I also removed 3 cups of the broth from the cooker and put it in a saucepan with a big splash of red wine and half a cup of freshly squeezed apple juice (which I just happened to have in the fridge) and a little more himalayan salt.
• I let this simmer on the stove for about 20 minutes until it reduced a little, added some cornflour to thicken it and then added the meat from the ox tail.

I served this with a delicious cauliflower/broccoli au gratin, the sauce for which, I invented a few weeks ago and froze, so I can't share that recipe, because I can't remember it, and I steamed some snow peas as well.

Adoring Husband ate seconds, he enjoyed it so much.

In the meantime, I added more water to the cooker and the bones and vegetables are still in the slow cooker for another 7 hours. It will be a delicious stock/broth that I will freeze. I should get about 6 or 8 chinese containers out of it.

Sadly, I did not take one photo of my concoctions, but I do have plans for some more cooking tomorrow, because I didn't make AH's breakfast cereal today and I have some muffins to make for his desserts and snacks, so I will take photos tomorrow.

I feel like I achieved 'something' today anyway.

Nite all.

The Laziness Continues

Another cold, wet and windy day where I stayed in bed longer than I should have .. although there was nothing on my agenda, so staying in bed was the most enjoyable option.

I am not a Pluviophile.

Which is not to say that I don't enjoy the rain sometimes, but I certainly do not find joy and peace of mind during a rainy day.

I had to get up twice to answer our front door. Once for the Girl Guides selling raffle tickets and once for a neighbour asking if I knew of any Justices of the Peace in town.

That was annoying, because nobody ever knocks on our front door, and I was very warm and comfortable in bed!

Adoring Husband made his way to the SES shed early this morning to attempt to erect a tower - yes in this dreadful weather - and they didn't quite finish the job, but he did bring me coffee before he left the house. Thank you darling :)

Aside from that, I boiled a dozen eggs to make a paleo version of devilled eggs tomorrow and I cut up a big fillet of Snapper into fish fingers and crumbed them to have with home made chips and salad for dinner.

I swapped produce with my neighbours yesterday and today. My next door neighbour gave me a lettuce out of his garden and I gave him 8 eggs. My rear neighbour gave me a couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes and I gave him 6 eggs straight from the chook pen.

Adoring Husband ate the last of the chocolate zucchini cupcakes, so I have to make something tomorrow to replace them. I also have to make his special breakfast cereal.

After AH arrived home this afternoon, we sat down in front of the TV with our lunch and watched a good old movie made in 1963, starring Doris Day and James Garner, called "Move Over Darling". I love Doris Day.

I found a couple of nice quotes on facebook today.

All things going to plan I should be able to share a recipe or two with you tomorrow.

Meanwhile, you know the drill.

Nite all.

Care Factor

It's been a lazy day of doing bugger all.

Adoring Husband snuck into the bedroom and left my coffee on the bedside table this morning, but I must have woken soon after because the coffee was still very hot when I took my first mouthful.

So I was awake just after 7am and then I lay in bed with my iPad until after 9.30am!!!!!!

The day was cold and wet and windy, so there was certainly no rush to get out of bed and we had nothing planned for the day, so I savoured the deliciousness of a lazy morning in bed.

It wasn't that long ago that I couldn't stay in bed for more than 5 or 6 hours because my back was just too painful, but since my change of diet, the only time my back really gives me a hard time, is when I spend hours either doing housework or cooking in the kitchen with bare feet on the tiles.

I try to wear slippers or rubber thongs when I do either of those two things and my back is fine.

We had a delicious salad with chilli garlic prawns for lunch and then the same salad with crispy skinned salmon for dinner.

I'm off to bed now after watching a great game of football where Manly lost.

Manly is my least favourite team of all time and I so enjoy watching them lose. My favourite is when my team, the Broncos, beat them, but a close second is when ANY other team beats them. Unfortunately, my little sister supports Manly. Also unfortunately, I tipped Manly in the footy tipping comp this week because I was certain that they would beat Parramatta. On the plus side, everybody else tipped them too, so it won't make a difference to anyone on the ladder.

Happy Friday night and Happy Weekend everybody :)

Nite all

Patchy Poitier

I'm watching an old movie. One of my favourites. Made in 1965 and starring Sidney Poitier and Shelley Winters. It's called "A Patch of Blue".

I think I was about 10 yrs old the first time I watched it, and I've seen it about ten times.

A Patch of Blue

The second part to Catalyst was on tonight too.  Here is the link if you missed it. I haven't watched it myself yet. I think I'll save it for tomorrow, when I can take my time and enjoy it.

I used up all of my old vegetables from the fridge to day, to make a spaghetti sauce.

It had fresh tomatoes, celery, onion, carrot, garlic, zucchini, roasted capsicum, spinach, home made chicken stock, chilli, pork and chicken mince.

It was a long process but very enjoyable for me to spend time in the kitchen. I made enough for tonight's dinner and three more meals which I've frozen for Adoring Husband to use when I go away in September.

I've baked a whole sweet potato in it's jacket too, which I'll use to make sweet potato salmon patties for lunch tomorrow. It's a new recipe that I haven't tried yet.

The weather has turned quite chilly again and there is a strong cool breeze blowing through our front windows. I love it when the breeze blows in that direction. I leave our bedroom windows open and snuggle right under the doona. Perfect sleeping weather.

Well, I'd love to stay up and watch all of this movie, but it doesn't finish til midnight and we all know my new sleeping rule...

... so nite all.

Worked It

A day of house cleaning.

Checklist:

• 2 x bathrooms
• 2 x toilets
• Front porch cleaned
• Front door washed
• Entry Hall dusted and mopped
• Hallway and laundry mopped
• TV cabinet dusted
• 4 loads of washing
• Plants watered
• Chocolate Cupcakes baked and iced
• Almost 3,000 emails deleted
• Dinner Cooked
• Body hurting very much due to working in bare feet on floor tiles. Ugh!

That's only half of what needs to be done. I'm hoping that I will wake tomorrow with equal motivation so that I can finish the other half of the house.

I just need to order my coffee early .. if Adoring Husband can bring me my coffee in bed, the way he did this morning, then I can jump out of bed with vim and vigour and zip through the rest of the work with a flourish!

It's 11pm and time to climb into bed for some rejuvenating sleep.

Nite all.

Gut Reaction

In case you missed the ABC program, Catalyst, this week ...

Catalyst - Gut Reaction Part 1

There is a lot of information here that was part of my course studies this semester, and a lot of extra information here, that is new, so not included in any studies yet.

I find it amazing that it has taken more than 50 years for science to begin researching food and diet and how it relates to our health, to bring about positive change.

Medicine and Science have been rejecting Naturopathy and nutrition for so many years and essentially warning us all away from it, when this "apparently" new information is what Naturopathy has always promoted.

Finally Science is catching up .. or perhaps they are looking backwards at how we once lived and are realising that before fast food, junk food and strong medications and antibiotics took over our lives, we were actually at our healthiest.

I'm looking forward to next week and watching Part 2.

I took the opportunity today to catch up on a little housework. Because of my studies and Adoring Husband's health issues as well as visitors, the housekeeping has suffered somewhat, so we are taking the next couple of days to join forces and do a bit of Spring cleaning.

Now that I am on a study break, I'm going to take the time to get back to cooking again too.

I'm looking at better sleeping habits too .. that doesn't mean that I'm going to bed at 8pm with AH, but it DOES mean going to try getting to bed well before midnight!

Nite all.

Quiet on the Home Front

Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour are home safensound after a flight that left The Bay about 40 minutes late and landed in a cold, wet and windy Sydney at about 3pm.

It's all quiet on the home front and the psychotic dogs are feeling very abandoned. For ten days, they've been either in somebody's arms or on somebody's bed ... now they have to adjust to their own beds again!

It might take a day or two to get back to normal.

I've been meaning to post a photo of the artwork that we bought at Eumundi last week. This is Bertie .. who is hanging beside my side of the bed, so she is the first thing I see when I wake in the mornings. She makes me feel very happy!

Finally, I thought you might like to see how healthy Adoring Husband is looking ...

Now I need sleep.

Nite all.

Sunday

It has been at least a couple of years since Adoring Husband and I attended the markets in the Bay, but we decided to take Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour into the markets today.

We remembered the markets as being very big, with a hundred or more stalls ranging from fresh fruit and veg to jewellery to craft to plants and garden ornaments to bric-a-brac and much more.

We remembered the car park being difficult to navigate and always full to the brim.

We remembered that it took a couple of hours to stroll through the markets to see everything.

So we were looking forward to spending a leisurely couple of hours browsing.

How disappointed were we to discover maybe 15 stalls set up at the markets .. mostly fruit and veg. Apparently, according to the people running the markets, the bad weather from the day and night before, had frightened the other stall owners away.

Today was a glorious day with not a cloud in the sky.

I got a few fresh vegetables and then we drove to the Boat Club where we had some lunch, put $20 each in the pokies, followed that up with some shopping and then home in time to cook dinner.

A bit disappointing for a their final day here, but at least we got to spend it together.

Everyone is into bed early, ready for a reasonably early start morning tomorrow, so that's where I'm going now.

I have to say that I'm feeling pretty exhausted tonight.

Nite all.

One Down

The first semester of my Nutritional Medicine course is now complete!

Disappointingly, and only because I set myself a goal, the mark for my final assessment was only 88% which is graded as a Distinction. I wanted to get High Distinctions for all of my assignments and it was a stupid typo that lost me the points, so it was a hard lesson learned.

I must check, double check and triple check my work before submitting it!

However, overall, my average mark is 96% and I'm pretty happy with that.

I never imagined, as I began this course, that I could do this well .. but now that I have proven that I CAN, I expect to continue to do so!

For now, I wait to receive my new subjects and lesson plans for the second semester.

We've had a quiet day at home with intermittent rain periods. We hope that the weather will improve tomorrow so that we can fill the day with some touristy activities before Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour head home on Monday.

I really must get some photos of everyone before they head home.

If you are wondering why there was no blog post yesterday .. we attended the Bowls Club last night for the usual raffles and drinks, and then continued on to the restaurant for a farewell dinner for Mrs Bucket and The Jockey.

We shared too much wine and by the time we arrived home, I was both too tipsy and too tired to stay up blogging.

But a good time was had by all!

Adoring Husband and I are watching one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, so I'm off to become absorbed.

Nite all.

Try it

Some time ago, I watched a video of this Dr talking about her MS and how she had reversed the symptoms and changed her life .. I guess she inspired me to change my diet/lifestyle with the hopes of improving my health and stopping, or slowing down the ageing process, which was beginning to hinder me somewhat.

I've enjoyed the positive effects of my new eating regime. Luckily for me, my minimal ageing problems were nothing compared to Dr Wahl's, but I thought I would share her story with you.

Dr Wahl's story

I had a quiet afternoon studying, while the rest of the family went for a drive to Maryborough and Lenthalls Dam. Bubbles got some good photos and I ALMOST finished my assignment. I think it will take another couple of hours tomorrow to finish up.

It's almost midnight and while I am really enjoying listening to some Classic Rock music on Foxtel, I think it's time to turn it off and climb into bed. Queen, Jimi Hendrix, Midnight Oil, George Thorogood and Bob Dylan .. it's been a joy spending the evening with you!

Nite all.

Fabulousness

As much as 'Knight in Shining Armour' complained about having to get out of bed while it was still dark outside, it was a beautiful day when the sun did eventually rise, we had a relatively traffic-friendly trip down to the Sunny Coast and the day could be classified as a SUCCESS!

The Eumundi Markets were surprisingly busy for a Wednesday and for the time of year.

I got some goat's milk soap. Honey and Lemon Myrtle. Coconut and Mint. Lemon and Lime.

Adoring Husband bought me a beautiful original painting of an owl by the artist Tracey Keller whose work I absolutely love. It's so full of fun and happiness and vibrant colour! The owl now hangs on the wall opposite my side of the bed, so it's the first thing I see when I wake in the mornings :)

The man who sold it to us, gave me a free copy of a book created by Katrina Logan and Tracey Keller together. I will give it to Chicklet at my next visit, along with the dinosaur night light that I bought.

I also bought some lovely fresh vegetables at the markets and a delicious noodle salad for a morning snack.

After a couple of hours at the markets, we drove to meet up with Chicklet and Vegan Chickie at a little cafe at the front of their block of units and then spent about 90 minutes over a leisurely lunch.

It was nice to spend time with Chicklet and also nice to have some family time together.

Before we started the long drive home, we detoured via the Chicklet family's new house, which they will move into this weekend, so the next time I visit, they will be at the new address.

It looks like a really nice little area, with a park nearby and lots of trees and bushland. A nature lovers paradise I should imagine! I can't wait to see inside.

It was a good drive home. We stopped at Tiaro to get some meat from the Butcher's for dinner and discovered that a juice van had caught fire across the road to cause quite a commotion and gather a decent crowd of onlookers (which you can't see in this photo)!

The quote on the side of the juice van read "Don't ya wish your campa was hot like me". I'm pretty sure they didn't mean it in the literal sense of the word!! Not quite that hot!

Tonight, after dinner, we sat around the dinner table and played some trivia and then Celebrity Head, which was a lot of fun. Laughter to the point of tears is always hilarious.

It's almost 10.30pm and I think I need to find my way to bed, in fact, I think I'm the last one left awake!

Tomorrow, I simply must spend the day doing my final assignment for Nutrition 1, which is also the final assignment for this semester.

Oh I almost forgot to mention that I got 100% for the video assignment that I submitted last Friday! It was the final assignment for the 'Communication' subject, and my total mark overall, was 98%, which is a High Distinction. I'm feeling pretty happy with that!

I will be very relieved when I complete the last assignment for the semester and I look forward to seeing what my next three subjects will be. I have a sneaking suspicion that I've had it pretty easy for the first semester and the next subjects will be nasty .. like .. anatomy, chemistry and biology. Ugh!!

I'll keep you posted.

Nite all.

A Bit of Market Fun

We are heading for a drive down to the Sunny Coast very bright and early tomorrow morning to check out the Eumundi Markets and then visit Vegan Chickie and Chicklet.

This means that I should go straight to bed because we need to leave around the time that the sun rises!

Eep!

Today we saw the movie "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes". The car had to go in for a 'recall' check, so while we waited, a movie seemed like the best option.

The movie was not my cup of tea.

Tomorrow will be exhausting for us all, however, I am really looking forward to seeing my Chicklet family.

Nite all.

Vet Visit

Anybody out there ever have to squeeze your own dog's anal glands? Ew

I got a lesson from the vet today in how to massage the anal glands which are situated at 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock near the opening of the dog's anus.

I am, at this moment, imagining the look on your face as you read this post. *insert smiley face here* hehehe.

One of the psychotic dogs had a visit to the vet today and it cost me $65 for that lesson!

Adoring Husband looked the other way, because he didn't want to know.

Tomorrow will be a movie day while the car goes in for a 'recall' fix. Hmmm popcorn :)

Nite all.

Hol Mode

There are two types of holidays.

One is intense and busy and so full of activity that you need a holiday to get over your holiday.

The second is so relaxed and quiet and a perfect opportunity to regenerate and rejuvenate and listen to what your brain wants you to hear.

So far, Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour are experiencing the second type.

By the end of this week, they will have experienced the first type.

Hopefully the last couple of days will be rejuvenating time again, before they head back home to the hustle and bustle of city life and normalcy.

Bubbles and I spent a bit over an hour walking the lagoon and the beach trying to find some photographic opportunities this afternoon, but it seemed that the local wildlife went for a nana nap. We got some nice afternoon light, but nothing much to specifically photograph.

Hopefully, we will have more opportunities this week.

Meanwhile I am trying to sneak some study in and finish my next assignment. It may be a little more complex than I expected. Eep!

I'll get there.

Nite all.