Beaten by the Weather

I woke during the night to the sound of heavy rain. It was about 3am and I immediately thought of our trike ride being in jeopardy.

At 7am, I looked out of the bedroom window and thought it had fogged up on the inside of the glass, but alas, the entire town of Mudgee was fogged up! We could barely see 20 feet in front of us, so I messaged Phil, our driver, and suggested that we take his car instead. He had told me it was available if the weather turned bad and I think he was expecting my text. I also think he was relieved because he told me that he feels the cold these days.

Prior to meeting Phil and heading off on our winery tour, BGWLBH and I drove into town and had a delicious breakfast in a lovely cafe. I had grilled atlantic salmon with green salad, which was just divine, but way too big for me to finish and BGWLBH had the standard bacon and eggs on toast.

I noticed on the blackboard that they also serve kombucha (fermented tea), as well as duck eggs, so we are going back tomorrow and I'll have both of those items. I have never eaten duck egg and I didn't want to risk a reaction to them while touring with Phil, so I avoided them this morning.

We even had time to fit some shopping in, after breakfast and before we had to be back at the caravan park, for Phil to pick us up.

I had never met Phil and our communications since I booked the drive a couple of weeks ago, have only been via email and text messages, so I had no idea what to expect.

He was a lovely older gentleman with white hair and a friendly smile. His right arm was immobile so his driving was all left handed, and I wondered how he managed to manoeuvre a big motorised trike with only one arm. Obviously he was quite capable and I guess if I can ride around town on my trike with a cup of coffee in one hand without any difficulty, then he must be competent enough too.

We had three hours with him and he took us to four different wineries in that time. Not long after our tour began, the fog completely lifted and it turned into a glorious day (of course!).

I bought 13 bottles of white wine and a bottle of white port. I'm not a port drinker generally, but the first words that came out of my mouth when I tasted it were "OH YUM!". BGWLBH bought a couple of bottles of red.

The last winery that we visited was an organic winery and I bought a bottle of Riesling there. I'm also not usually a fan of Riesling!! But it was too nice to pass up.

My favourite thing about the last winery was the number of Superb Fairy Wrens that were flitting all over the place. I spent a lot of time with my camera aimed at the birds.

I've decided that I like Mudgee very much and if I had to live inland again, it would be on my list of top 5 places to live. It's a pretty town with beautiful countryside surrounding it. The people are happy and friendly, the cafes and restaurants are very good quality with healthful and delicious food, the shopping is great and the clubs are welcoming and modern. It's much bigger than I expected with a population of around 9000.

After our winery tour, we came back to the cabin, did some washing, rested up and then headed off to the Soldier's Club for dinner. An inspection of their menu left us preferring the menu at the Golf Club, so after a short visit, we headed back there for dinner instead. I had the same meal as the night before but it must have been a different chef because it was prepared very differently to last nights. It was still delicious, but not as good as Tuesday night.

We will be heading north tomorrow. That's all I know.

I was able to play with a couple of photos tonight ...

It's very chilly tonight and the minimum will go as low as -2C tomorrow morning. We had planned on going to the wetlands very early in the morning to get some misty water and possible bird shots, but tonight we decided that only fools would go out in those kinds of temperatures, so we will stay inside where it's warmer until it's time to leave town.

 Meanwhile, I will enjoy sleeping in the double bed tonight. It's likely, that for the rest of the trip I will be in single beds. Since BGWLBH is the driver, it's only fair that she gets a good nights sleep on a decent bed every night.

It's 11pm so ...

Nite all.

Nudging Mudgee

A sunrise was on the agenda this morning, so we rose bright and early and looked at the sky outside our motel window for a rough idea of how the sunrise might appear. The clouds were spidering across the sky in long wispy streams, so we quickly got dressed, gathered our camera gear and in 6C temperatures, found our way to the lookout where the Three Sisters were located.

There we were, all alone for a good period of time and all the while, the sky looked incredibly promising. It really didn't feel that cold and we waited.

Way off in the distance where the sun was rising, there was some glorious colour in the low clouds, but it was too far off to get a good shot. The colour in the clear sky on the horizon changed beautifully too. There was mist in the valley below which made a pretty backdrop for the Three Sisters, but the sky did not change colour where we were.

At about 7am, we gave up. The sun was up, but hidden behind cloud. The scattered clouds remained grey and there wasn't even sunshine peaking through the cloud to play on the mist or the cliff faces. Very disappointing.

We drove back to the motel and as we came over the rise towards the town of Katoomba, the sky was a beautiful pink orange. Obviously, we were at the wrong location for this particular sunrise!

So we had our hot showers and packed all of our gear into the car, left the car parked in the motel car park and walked to the nearest 'open' cafe at 8.30 am. There we ordered bacon, eggs and coffee/tea and had a leisurely breakfast.

My plan after breakfast was to return to a shop that we visited yesterday to buy some beautiful silk scarves. I pondered over them yesterday but left the shop empty handed. They were so soft and delicate and the colours were the most beautiful and vibrant that I've seen. I decided that they would make great gifts ... because you can never have too many scarves! Right girls?

Much to my disappointment, the sign on the shop door showed that opening time was 10.30am. Good grief! So the scarves remain in the shop, because we left town at 9.30am.

We slowly made our way to Mudgee, stopping a few times along the way to get coffee and for toilet breaks and to photograph raptors hunting on the side of the road and to do some fruit/veg shopping at a supermarket.

There were a hell of a lot of dead native animals on the side of the road and I counted 5 dead wombats .. BIG ones .. and heaps of kangaroos and wallabies.

Probably the saddest part of the trip, was BGWLBH pointing to various landmarks on the way asking me if I remembered them from the last time we came this way, and my response on too many occasions was "No, I'm sure we haven't been this way before". She was insistent that we had, but I didn't even have the vaguest memory .. until finally we came across a little town by the name of 'Kandos' and finally the memory came back to me!

BGWLBH was relieved that she wasn't imagining a trip from our past and I was relieved not to have completely forgotten everything about that trip from our past!!

Finally, we arrived in Mudgee and immediately looked for somewhere to have lunch. We had a delicious hot meal in a little restaurant recommended to us by a local and then we enjoyed a stroll through some great little shops that had half price sales.

I bought some jewellery and a couple of bags and a new wallet. Retail therapy ... always enjoyable!!

With a little help from Google GPS, we navigated our way to the caravan park where we have a cabin for two nights. Very clean and comfortable and with two bedrooms each containing a double bed. We settled into our rooms and then for dinner, we drove not too far to the local Golf Club. I had a delicious Chilli Lime Coriander Chicken Salad. I can't begin to tell you how good it was!

We were home early and BGWLBH headed straight to bed. I watched The Voice and then some tennis for a while and now I'm all cosy in my own bed. I'm wondering whether to leave the heater on in the cabin all night. It doesn't take long for the cabin to get cold, so I'm thinking, for my own comfort, I'm going to leave it going.

Anyway, as usual, it's almost midnight so I'm bidding you adieu.

Nite all.

Mountain Road Climbing

Katoomba is hilly and cold and ecclectic. At least half of the population wear a hat!

We spent the early morning looking for somewhere to have breakfast. There wasn't much open at 9am. I think most places open at 10am!!  Annoying!

We found an alley recently opened to the public, full of street art and spent about half an hour taking photos and admiring the creative works covering the buildings and the walls and the fences and the garage doors. Amazing stuff. Photos to come, after I get home. Internet is intermittent, cutting in and out, making it unreliable for editing and posting photos.

The hat shop was open, so that was our next stop, but I didn't find a hat that I liked enough to buy. I did find one hat, but the band had a big hole in it, as if something had been pinned to it and then removed. I tried many different styles and I loved the 'mad hatters' hat, but it cost $245 and I wasn't prepared to pay that.

We walked next door to the 'Hatters' cafe for breakfast. I had the Canadian breakfast .. french toast (gf) with bacon and pure maple syrup. Absolutely delicious. Their coffee was damned good too. The service was fantastic so if you're heading this way, I highly recommend it. They have a good range of meals and great selection of gluten free meals available.

After breakfast, we walked the streets and went into every antique store (of which there were many!) and before we were halfway up the hill, BGWLBH looked like a pack horse! She had bought books and jumpers and goodness knows what else.

We walked into a bar - the name of which I can't remember - and it was spectacular in it's age and style and furnishings and old photos on the wall depicting an era long ago. We hoped we could get a coffee there and wanted to sit in the sunshine at the front window where there were huge worn leather sofas calling our names, but there was no coffee and it was far too early for a beverage.

Soon after that we stopped at an old building with big glass windows where old photos were taped. Amazing old photos of Katoomba in the early 1900s with the old cars and the fashions of the day and crowds of people at dances and rollerskating evenings. They had us intrigued from the first photo to the last.

We found a little cafe with old wicker chairs covered in lambswool. It was very bohemian with hippy undertones. BGWLBH ordered coffee and cake while I was next door checking out the jewellery. I bought two silver and onyx rings.

After about an hour relaxing there, we continued on our way until we finally found our way back to the motel and once there, we decided to walk to one of the lookouts.

Our map made the walk look quite short, but we didn't take the steep hills into consideration and as we came to the first hill, which was downhill, we considered our options and strongly considered turning back! But we continued on our way. It was all downhill in a big zigzag to the walking track and then just a slight uphill walk to the lookout.

Unfortunately, that meant that the walk back was ALL uphill and steep!

BGWLBH suggested that we take tiny steps so as not to over exert ourselves, and that advice was perfect. I felt like the slow and steady tortoise that won the race. There was no huffing and puffing. No heavy breathing. No burning calves. Even though it took a little longer, it didn't matter.

As we walked up the first hill, a man came out with a sign and he was selling organic lemons and limes, so we bought half a dozen lemons from him on the way.

After a short break, we got changed and headed to the RSL Club again for dinner.

Dinner was even better tonight than last night and we had a couple of glasses of wine to celebrate our holiday.

Tomorrow, we head off to Mudgee.

Having a fabulous time so far. Feeling very relaxed and comfortable and the weather has been superb.

I must admit to feeling very weary tonight, so I think I will sleep well .. and it's only 9.15pm!!

Nite all.

Sydney Shopping

We woke to a very chilly Sydney this morning and realised it with a shock when we opened the door onto our balcony of our motel room! Brrrrr!

Two sulphur crested cockatoos landed on our balcony with full intentions of sneaking into our room (so the receptionist informed us) so BGWLBH gave them the biscuits from our coffee/tea allocation (yes, we know that's naughty) and then the elderly couple in the room beside ours fed them fruit and suddenly there were seven cockatoos in on the action and a couple of them spoke to us "Hello Cocky!"

We checked out of the motel and were given permission to leave our car in the motel car park while we went across the road to Miranda Fair for breakfast and shopping.

There was a cafe opening as we entered the shopping centre and we enjoyed some coffee and bacon and eggs for breakfast.

The shops didn't open until 10am so we wandered around checking out which shops we'd return to and then met up with Bubbles. She grabbed a quick bite to eat and then we went in search of an outfit for her to wear to an engagement party in August.

We did find a couple of items, but ran out of time before we put together the perfect outfit.

Meanwhile, I got some comfy walking shoes, a pair of black and white tights covered in peace signs and yin/yang symbols and pair of stretchy patchwork flares from 'Tree of Life'. I tried to buy a boho hat like the one that BGWLBH bought, but she got the last one .. HOWEVER .. we walked past a shop in Katoomba this afternoon that is full of hats, so I'm going there tomorrow to have a look!

We finally left the motel car park around 1.20pm and followed google maps on my phone to get out of dirty busy horrible Sydney. We did get lost briefly when I gave the wrong directions, but it only took us 20 minutes out of our way, so we arrived at our motel in Katoomba at about 3.30pm.

Our room is cosy and clean - I currently have the window open next to my bed and there is an icy breeze wafting over my bed. Delicious.

As soon as we arrived, we went in search of something to eat because we hadn't eaten since breakfast. We tried the first cafe next door to the motel, but they had no gluten free options, so we moved on to the next place.

The only gluten free option there was a chocolate cake, so we ordered that with a coffee, with every intention of having an early dinner at the nearest club. The waitress brought us the biggest slices of chocolate cake I've ever seen (if we'd known, we'd have shared one piece) and she had warmed it in the microwave (if I'd known she was going to do that, I'd have asked her NOT to do that), so the very thick icing was all gooey and melting everywhere like fudge, and beside it was a little bowl of whipped cream.

Absolutely decadent and delicious. Incredibly sweet .. especially for me because it's been a million years since I had sugar like that. We had about four mouthfuls each and couldn't eat any more, so we asked for a doggy bag and brought it back to our room. After dinner tonight, I tried some more, but two mouthfuls was more than enough. At this rate, it will last until the end of the week!

The Katoomba RSL seemed like the ideal place to try for dinner, because it was within easy walking distance from our motel .. although it was downhill, which made for a tough walk back when we came home!! Very steep!

The RSL had a Chinese restaurant and they made a special gluten free stir fry for my benefit with more prawns than I could even eat. Some wine with dinner was a very enjoyable way to end a great day.

We huffed and puffed our way back up the hill and now I can hear BGWLBH softly snoring as I type away on my laptop.

I expect we will wake to an even chillier morning tomorrow. It was 19C at the bottom of the mountain and by the time we arrived at Katoomba, it had dropped to 12C. It is currently 4C and tomorrow will reach a maximum of 11C.

Luckily, BGWLBH brought extra woollies with her and she is sharing with me :)

Needless to say, her car is absolutely chockers and I'm sure she has brought everything except the kitchen sink .. the boot is full and the back seat is full. Certainly no room for passengers!!

I have photos to share, but they will have to wait for another time.

It's almost 11pm so I think I shall get some sleep.

Nite all.

I left on a jet plane

The plane was on time. The flight was uneventful. I got a free cup of tea. We landed in sunny, warm Sydney and taxied to the terminal, but the moving bridge wouldn't work so we all had to exit through the rear door and walk across the tarmac and up a gozillion flights of steps to get into the terminal.

There were a gozillion people at the airport all shuffling together and refusing to give way to anybody.

I was met by the smiling, but stressed Knight in Shining Armour, who rushed me through the airport to the baggage claim area and my bag arrived on the conveyor belt at the exact same time that we stepped off the escalator! Excellent timing!

We then walked to the car, which was on the 3rd level of the carpark and try as we might, even following the 'way out' signs, we struggled to find the way out!! It took us about 15 minutes to FINALLY find the exit!!

The worst part was the number of cars driving in the wrong direction and us trying to squeeze past them and then the one woman who decided to do a u-turn in her large 4wd and had to do a 23 point turn to do so. We sat for about 8 minutes watching her do that.

We easily found our way to the motel and I checked in. Knight in Shining Armour dropped me off at the Miranda RSL where I found BGWLBH, who had arrived about an hour before me.

Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour arrived a couple of hours later and we all had dinner together, which was delicious! A glass of wine with dinner and watching Cronulla beat Cowboys on the big screen in the distance. There's nothing better than being in 'The Shire' when the Sharks win a football game .. it happens so rarely these days!

We were back in our room by 7pm and are now sitting up watching telly and checking out youtube videos.

Despite the loud street noise and a few noisy patrons in the hallways, I think we will sleep well tonight.

It's almost 10pm and I'm going to sign off here. No photos yet. Shopping tomorrow.

Nite all.

Is it too late?

Do you think it's too late for me to have singing lessons?  I wonder?  I've always wished I could sing and I wonder if it's necessary to have natural ability, or if you can learn to be as wonderful as Barbra Streisand or Pink or Celine Dion.

Recently, I've been posting videos, on facebook, of little kids singing. A four year old singing "I Will Always Love You" and an 18 month old singing along to Elvis's "Hallelujah" and now this eight year old singing an Ed Sheeran song.

I wish I could sing. I'm going to consider lessons.



Tomorrow is the big day.

I'm leaving on a jet plane and heading south where it's bloody cold and grey and foggy. I'm leaving the beautiful mild Queensland Winter sunshine that I love, that I've been longing for over the long hot Summer and will be spending two weeks wrapped up in a coat with scarf and gloves!

I don't generally feel the cold, so I can't imagine that I will suffer too much.

I'm excited at the prospect of playing with my camera and my imagination is picturing all sorts of pretty Winter scenery.

I'm also excited about seeing BGWLBH again!

It will be great to catch up with Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour tomorrow.

I'm keen to do some shopping. Retail therapy is always fabulous.

The search for great food will be a worthy challenge.

It's going to be a fun holiday.

I'm up for it!

As usual, it's almost midnight, so I'm off to get some sleep. I didn't get everything done on my list today, so I have a couple of chores to do first thing in the morning before I leave.

See you tomorrow, from the big smoke!

Nite all.

Halfway There

I'm almost packed! Can you believe that? Totes organised!

Tomorrow, I need to spend a considerable amount of time in the kitchen.

Two weeks worth of dog food to be prepared, ANOTHER 50 energy balls because Adoring Husband is a guts and has eaten almost all of the ones that I made at the beginning of the week and a few batches of the butter chicken sauce so that AH only has to add the meat.

At AH's request, I am not going to prepare any other meals, because if he doesn't eat them, I get cranky and question him about what he has eaten while I've been away! So I've made his bone broth for the mornings and will make the energy balls for his snacks and he will be in charge of all other meals!

It was a beautiful day today, aside from the short, but very heavy downpour mid afternoon, the weather was sunny and mild for the rest of it. I spent some time with bare feet in the sand on the beach at low tide this morning.

I found myself a comfortable rock and sat with my coffee, soaking up the sunshine and watching the lazy world pass by.

I love this time of year here. Winters are so mild during the days and cool enough at nights to snuggle under the covers and sleep soundly.

Anyway, before I head off to bed .. this movie looks like a bit of fun and hopefully BGWLBH and I will get to see it during our holiday. If not, I'll drag somebody to see it when I get back.



I'm getting good at this ... it's 11.10pm ... way before midnight!!

Nite all.

One Down

I sat my Musculoskeletal exam today.

There was one question that I could not answer. I had absolutely no idea, not even enough of a clue to bluff my way through!!

There were about 4 questions that I could not complete .. they had four parts to them and I was only confident with three of the parts. Remember when I told you about the muscles having origins, insertions, actions etc? I struggled with the 'insertions' parts.

Aside from those few questions, the rest was much easier than I expected! So I'm feeling confident of a pass.

The challenge, for me, has kind of dulled now that they've changed the marking process. There are only two marks ... 'competent' or 'not yet competent' and then you get second chance to become competent. This disturbs me because in real life, when the life of a human being is in your hands, you don't get a second chance!

To be honest, I feel a lot less pressure with this marking system, but less pressure stops me from pushing myself and it's the 'pressure' and the 'pushing' that I thrive on.

Anyway, I'm glad it's done and dusted. Now I can relax and look forward to my road trip before the next exam is due .. two weeks after I get back!

I wrote out my packing 'to do' list this afternoon. We had a lazy Roz's dinner of chicken broth with diced chicken thigh, shallots and sweet potato noodles added. Strawberries and cream for dessert. Yum.

I know you will love this little video of a four year old boy singing a Whitney Houston song. He is pretty amazing!

Now I'm heading off to bed before I have to say "It's already after midnight" because it's only 11.15pm, so it's an early night for me!

Nite all.

The Fleeting Visit

Chicklet's itinerary:

1. Arrive at Poppy Barry's and Bozzy Wozzy's house.
2. Use the toilet (fast!)
3. Meet SEB the cockatiel.
4. Meet the chickens.
5. Collect the eggs - three of them.
6. Give Bozzy Wozzy a belated hello hug.
7. Gather together and count all the frog garden ornaments.
8. Have lunch.
9. Greet Poppy Barry who arrives home late for lunch.
10. Play tag with Bozzy Wozzy in the back yard (while Bozzy Wozzy is surprised at how well Bozzy Wozzy can run!)
11. Open the bag of goodies from Bozzy Wozzy.
12. Meet psychotic dog Ruby.
13. Drive to the beach with Poppy Barry, Bozzy Wozzy and Mamma.
14. Explore the beach and collect shells with Poppy Barry.
15. Have a bath with Bozzy Wozzy's supervision.
16. Watch TV while Bozzy Wozzy cooks dinner.
17. Eat dinner.
18. Read 5 books with Bozzy Wozzy.
19. Have a mini meltdown.
20. Sleep.
21. Wake up and say good morning to everyone.
22. Sort Bozzy Wozzy's jewellery, by moving it from the dressing table to the bed, in it's tangled mess.
23. Hide in Bozzy Wozzy's wardrobe while she gets dressed.
24. Collect the eggs with Dadoo - two of them.
25. Go to morning tea with Bozzy Wozzy and meet her friends.
26. Play with Archie the dog, whose Aunty was at morning tea.
27. Collect Bozzy Wozzy's mail from the post office box.
28. Collect Lady Lynn's mail from the post office box.
29. Go to the park and play on the swings with Poppy Barry and Bozzy Wozzy.
30. Run up and slide down the skate ramps with Poppy Barry.
31. Say goodbye to Poppy Barry.
32. Have long cuddles with Bozzy Wozzy.
33. Climb in the car and drive home to Sunny Coast.

So, as you can tell, the visit was short, but we fit plenty into the time we had.

We will work our way up to longer visits until eventually, Chicklet will come home on the train with me and spend time here without Mamma and Dadoo.

After the fam left, I rode to the butcher and picked up my order of chicken frames and thighs and then came home to put on a big batch of chicken broth so that Adoring Husband has enough while I'm away next week.

I got some study in, but then when nothing was staying in my head, I decided to finish the job that Chicklet started, and sorted through my jewellery.

Vegan Chickie, quite rightly, described the giant mess as 'obscene'. She was referring more to the amount of jewellery that I had acquired, than the actual mess itself.

So today, I decided that it was time to do a brutal cull.

After at least two hours of back breaking sorting and culling, I tossed a full plastic shopping bag full of junk and dress jewellery and STILL what is left doesn't fit in my two large jewellery boxes on the dressing table. I STILL have MANY MANY necklaces hanging off both corners of the dressing table mirror!!

Anyway, I feel good because I've been wanting to clear that mess for months, but kept putting it off .. it took Chicklet's visit and her attempt to look at everything in the tangled mess, to motivate me.

By the time I'd finished sorting, my back was complaining, so I took the easy way out and prepared leftovers for dinner. Luckily, my back only needed resting because it's fine again now.

Now, it's time for an early night in preparation for my exam tomorrow so ...

Nite all.

Busy Chicklet Day

It's after midnight and I have to sleep, but just wanted to pop in and post a couple of pics.

I'll tell you all about our day in tomorrow's post.

Nite all.

Ready Mr Music

Ready and excited for the family to arrive tomorrow!

We've left eggs in the chook pen so that Chicklet can collect them. We have a bag of goodies for her .. clothes, toys, books and 3 rubber duckies to play with in the bath. The dogs are bathed - especially Ruby, because she's the only one happy to play with kids. Hopefully, we will get to collect shells on the beach and of course we'll have to go to the park!

We only have a short time together, so we'll pack as much in as we can.

I tried for another sunset this afternoon, but it was a fizzer.

I got some good study in and made some choc energy balls, groomed and bathed the psychotic dogs, watched my Broncos beat Melbourne Storm and cooked dinner.

Now I have to mop the floors before I head to bed. Short but sweet tonight and hopefully I'll have some Chicklet photos tomorrow :)

Nite all.

So much to do ...

So little time.

Tomorrow, I have to groom the dogs and do some cooking in preparation for the family coming on Monday.

And I have to study. I sooooo need to study. I just don't feel ready for the exam. It's going to be a tough one and I need to be better prepared.

It's so intense and there is so much information that I need to learn, I have to take regular breaks, because otherwise it all starts to sound like blah blah blah.

At least I got to enjoy a nice sunset this afternoon ...

I slept in this morning and didn't get out on the trike at all. Adoring Husband delivered my coffee bedside again and I took my time greeting the day.

I seemed to spend a lot of time in the kitchen in between study sets. A big bacon and egg breakfast. Fresh fish and salad for lunch. Bone broth. Steak and veg for dinner tonight.

Now I'm trying to fatten up AH by feeding him some carbs. A big batch of fried rice yesterday and a big fat baked potato in it's jacket for him tonight. Who'd a thunk that I would ever be trying to fatten him up!!?

The trick now is for me to avoid the carbs that I prepare for him. I found my food niche .. the perfect foods that don't negatively affect me and I need to stick with them to maintain optimal health. It's so easy to be tempted to eat the foods that I once loved.

I had some rice last night and suffered with indigestion and reflux for two hours between 2.30 am and 4.30am! I finally made my way to the kitchen and took a swig of apple cider vinegar. That mouthful stung my throat so badly, I thought it was being stripped bare! But within about 30 seconds, I felt my stomach settle and the indigestion and reflux miraculously vanished!

This is why I slept in ... trying to catch up on those lost two hours.

It's almost 11pm, so I think I'll try for a solid night of sleep.

Nite all.

Friday is my Favourite

It's Friday!

I love Fridays.

I love meeting my friends at the Club on a Friday night.

It was a special night, because Mardi's daughter, Aunty R was there with her J-Man. I REALLY like J-Man - I think he's the real deal.

I should have taken pics, and I probably would have if we'd gone into the restaurant for dinner as planned, but AH has had a big week with SES duties and I have had a big week with studies and, having been given an 'out' by Mardi, we decided to come home instead.

We had lunch leftovers for dinner and as I write this, it is ticking over to 9pm .. as soon as I sign off here, I am off to bed.

Hopefully, tomorrow, I will rise early and take advantage of that photo opportunity that I spoke about yesterday.

I am feeling very weary and I have plenty of study tomorrow, as well as preparations for the Vegan Chickie family visit on Monday.

So much to do above and beyond study before the exam on Wednesday and then the road trip at the end of next week.

I feel it all creeping up on me.

Ciao for now and chat more tomorrow.

Nite all.

There was Light

Adoring Husband and I arrived home from The Bay yesterday right on sunset and the sky looked like it might have something special in it, so I jumped on my trike and pedalled like crazy down to a different part of the river than my usual spot.

The sky didn't quite reach the heights of colour that I was expecting and I actually ran up and over the grassy dune that was between me and the mud flats to get a decent shot before what little colour there was, disappeared.

Did you take that in? I RAN! It didn't even hurt! And I lived! I lived to tell the tale!

Anyway, I came across a big old abandoned boat beached on the sandy bank with a big chain hanging down off the bow, so I used it to my advantage to add a bit of interest to the shot ..

Once again, nothing to report for the day. I studied.

I was given a tip about a great photo opportunity, which I'm going to follow up tomorrow morning, so watch this space!

It's almost midnight again, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

State of Shame

The second State of Origin game was played tonight, in Melbourne.

Queensland won the first game three weeks ago, and for those of you who don't know about the State of Origin series, it's the best of three games.

Tonight, before the game, they announced 1 minute of silence for one of Australia's greatest athletes, Ron Clark, who passed away earlier today at the age of 78.

A large portion of the crowd was a disgrace during that minute, chanting and yelling and swearing throughout the entire minute and behaving in such a disrespectful manner that I was appalled, as I'm sure, many other Australians were too.

It was positively shameful.

It was a bad start to a bad game. Poor refereeing by both the video refs and the on-field refs (those poor decisions were made for both teams). Nasty tactics by the NSW captain and most (but not all) of his team. It seems that NSW can only win with rough-house tactics because they don't have the skill to win a fair game.

NSW won, so there will be a decider played in Queensland in three weeks time.

So .. I've had my say on that terrible game .. had to get it off my chest .. thank you for listening!

This afternoon, I attended our community hall to take a group photo of some ladies called 'The Village Voices", who often have morning or afternoon teas where they entertain the local community and raise money for various causes.

Today, they were raising money for the children of June Wallis. June was murdered by her husband (the children's father) in March this year and the children are now in the care of their grandparents.

One of the ladies told me that the only group photos they have, are of them looking down at their music sheets, or with their mouths wide open singing, so I volunteered my services and also offered to take photos to be published in our local newsletter that is circulated monthly, to show how the community take care of each other.

I will share them here another time.

Adoring Husband and I spent the afternoon in The Bay. I had to get an enlarged print of a photograph for someone and also stock up on some pantry items. I enjoyed a little retail therapy as well.

We've had some good rain today. It also rained very heavily in The Bay while we were there. We need it and the garden is very happy. I picked some bok choy from the garden when we got home and it was full and crisp and delicious from the rain.

I thought I'd share this trailer for a documentary that I have been keeping my eye on for the last year or so. It asks for donations to help in the creation of the documentary. I just wanted to clarify that I'm not sharing this to ask for money on their behalf.

I'm sharing it because I think just about every woman who I know reads this blog, has body issues .. hell who hasn't? I believe that it will be a very interesting documentary, and will show us that we are not alone with our negative thoughts.



Oops! I may be turning into a pumpkin! It's just past midnight ... again!

Nite all.

Specifically

Surely it's impossible to know all of this stuff.

I can totally understand, now, why doctors 'specialise' in a specific field of medicine.

Once again, I thank the internet gods for youtube, google, practice quizzes and online flash cards!

I was thinking today about my method of study.

If I began studying at a steady pace, from the beginning of each semester, by the time exams rolled around, I would never remember what I learnt at the beginning. I would be panicking just as much trying to review it all before exams, as I do now simply learning it at the last minute.

Anyway, after another great morning tea with the girls, I studied for the rest of the day, only stopping to make lunch with the delicious whiting fillets that 'The Captain' dropped off this morning.

So nothing to report, but I wanted to share this funny video of goats. I giggled a lot when I watched this ... a cute way to end my day.



It's almost midnight again lol.

Nite all.

Studious Me.

Study Study Study

That's about the long and the short of it today.

Oh I had a visit from my Jehovah's Witness friends today! Once again I denied them entry .. only because we were just about to sit down to our very late lunch.

The story goes like this ...

About 6 years ago, I made friends with a couple who come to our town every year over the Summer months. They own and work a mine out west, but it's too hot in Summer, so they bring their caravan and spend about 3 months enjoying the cooler coastal weather. He is in his 80s and she is early 60s.

I only just found out early this year that she is a Jehovah's Witness. He is not. She talked about how horrible people are to JWs when they knock on doors, so I naively promised her that I would be nice to the next JWs to knock on my door and invite them in.

As I'm sure you've guessed, two days later, two JWs knocked on my front door!

I was very friendly to them, but I just couldn't invite them in because I was 24 hours away from an exam and couldn't pause my studies for them, so I offered them a genuine apology and suggested "maybe next time".

The next time was the day before my birthday morning tea and I was in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Once again I apologised and offered another 'maybe next time'.

The next time, was today.

Adoring Husband had been in town all day on SES duties and arrived home for a very late lunch .. which I cooked as a main meal, because he had to attend an important SES meeting tonight and had to leave quite early.

We were ten minutes away from sitting down to lunch, when they rang the doorbell.

So, as it turned out, third time was not lucky for them .. but they could smell lunch through the open door, so they knew I wasn't telling fibs. They kindly left me with one of those funky little magazines and promised to return next time.

Yay! *sigh*

I must admit that I've always been curious to hear what they have to say and I'm sure I will have some tricky questions to ask them, so ...

I will definitely invite them into my lounge room one day when AH is not here, and I will have the obligatory discussion about their idea of 'god' and then I will thank them for their time and request that they avoid my doorbell during future visits to our town.

I see that puzzled frown on your brow! I like to keep my mind open to new experiences and I like to hear how 'other people' think, especially with subjects that I've always been taught to disrespect. I only have preconceived ideas about JWs because of what other people have told me, never from first hand experience.

So when it finally happens, you'll be the first to hear all about my JW discussion!

I'm certain that you all know me well enough to realise that I would never be recruited into the JW way of life!

Now, I'm picturing the JW trolls trolling through the internet and discovering my blog and rubbing their hands with glee and sending out a posse on the recruitment drive!! Haha!!

Back to the books.

Nite all.

Salubrious Sunday

I was awake early .. for a Sunday!

I walked into the back room to get my tracky dacks to wear for the day, when I noticed, at the end of the bed, my pile of 'small' clothes that I haven't been able to wear for about 6-7 years, due to weight gain, and for some strange reason, I decided to try them on.

Well, what a surprise and what a nice way to start the day!  All but one of them fit perfectly and the one that didn't, is just a little tight. I started my Sunday with a smile on my face.

I visited my boys and then got my coffee, but I couldn't head straight home, because the morning was just so glorious. A perfect sunshiny Winter's day that sparkled with perfect light, clear air and vibrant colours, so I pedalled to the beach, kicked off my shoes, grabbed my camera bag and headed out onto the sand flats at low tide.

I saw only two birds. A Curlew and a Seagull. So there was no photography to be had, but it didn't matter, because it meant I could just feel the cool water running over my bare feet, the sand between my toes, the sunshine on my face and the fresh air in my lungs.

I walked for about half an hour and enjoyed every single solitary minute of it, avoiding the few people that were out and about at that hour.

When I got home, I had a little serving of chocolate chia pudding with strawberries for breakfast and a handful of nuts and sat down at my desk to study.

Before lunch I did some washing and then heated up some chicken broth for lunch, which was delicious. Broth is one of my favourite foods these days. It's so rich with flavour and very satisfying.

I gave up on the study at around 4pm so that I could watch the football and before half time, I began preparing dinner. Adoring Husband was due home and I knew that he would be hungry, so dinner was going to be early. I was also hungry after my light lunch.

Crispy skinned chicken (one of our favourites) with sweet potato chips and salsa, served on a bed of fresh lettuce from a neighbour's garden. Then for dessert, chocolate chia pudding with strawberries and berry syrup. A most satisfying and healthful dinner to end my salubrious Sunday.

Today, my study involved muscles. If I was surprised by bone, then there are no words to describe how I feel about muscles. This is going to be as tough, if not tougher, than Chemistry. Let me give you an example .. this is something that my teacher wrote in an email responding to another student's question ...

*** The lats, pec major and teres major all insert into the lip of the bicipital groove - this groove then is a major landmark for us. Many times the landmarks are named after a muscle that attaches to them (eg deltoid tuberosity) or what the landmarks looks like (e.g. groove) so try and use any such connections to help you remember them. i.e. why is something named like it is. ***

Gobbledy gook huh?

Every muscle has a name, an origin, an insertion, an action, a palpation and an innervation.

So, for example, there is a muscle in the jaw called 'temporalis'. It's origin is the lateral surface of the temporal bone. It's insertion is coronoid process and ramus of the mandible. It's action is to retract and elevate the jaw. It's palpation is lateral surface at temple.  It's innervation is cranial nerve V (trigeminal).

Right?

So every muscle in the body has all of those things and all of them are different and I have to learn them all.

*sigh*

I have to do that in the next 8 days, so that I can sit my exam before I go on holidays. 

I'm beginning to feel just a little overwhelmed.

Anyway, now that I have your sympathy, I'm off to bed.

I thought this quote appropriate for me ..

Nite all. 

Road Trip is ON!

This has been on the cards for a few months now, but I just wasn't sure if I could manage it financially, with my studies, possible visitors plus Adoring Husband's SES duties, but it seems that the Gods have smiled upon us and except for one small hiccup, which can be overcome, the road trip is ON!

I have booked my flight to Sydney and BGWLBH is driving to Sydney on the same day .. but that's as far as our plans have progressed. We haven't finalised any accommodation details. We have no idea what direction we are heading, if at all. It's just going to be one of those 'follow your nose and decide as we go' situations.

It will be nice to get some camera time in and BGWLBH has a new lens that she wants to play with, so we'll be searching for some great photo opportunities.

Knight in Shining Armour will be picking me up from the airport while Bubbles is at work and then hopefully, we'll spend Sunday with them before we embark on our adventure.

In the meantime, I have to study with intensity and sit an exam before I leave, then upon my return, I will have two weeks until my next exam! Two weeks after that I'll have an assignment due! So I'll be pushing myself to my limits!

Ah well, that's life.

Do we all love Meryl Streep? It took a lot of years for me to warm to her, but now I am a fan.

As an SES volunteer, Adoring Husband has to participate in a land search tomorrow for a missing man in our area. I can't imagine that I could ever do such a thing. The idea of possibly coming across the remains of a fellow human being, fills me with dread, so I have great admiration for the people who have the courage to do it.

I can only feel grateful that I will have a full day of silence to get in some of that intense study that I mentioned.

So I'd best get some sleep.

Nite all.

Crunchy Deliciousness!

A huge 'thankyou' to Judi!!!

Judi's advice to get the pork crackle crunchy, worked a treat, and for the first time in my life, I got a deliciously crunchy crackle on my pork belly. THE FIRST TIME EVER!!! The whole thing was crunchy and salty and delicious!

*happy dance*

I do believe that we will have pork belly regularly from here on in!

Go here for a nice positive way to start your day.

It's Friday night and we had a good night at the club .. none of us were winners, although I got a small win on the pokies, and I have a keno ticket riding.

Sleep is looking like a really good option right now ...

Maybe, just a little lol

Nite all ... or HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Oozing Brain

Who knew that bone was more than just bone?

Well, ok, I knew that there was marrow in bone and I knew that there was cartilage somewhere on the bone.

A bone also comprises of epiphysis, diaphysis, compact bone, spongy bone, periosteum, medullary cavity, nerves, blood vessels and four types of cells - osteoblasts, osteocytes, osteoclasts and bone-lining cells.

But wait! There's more! I won't bore you with it though - I hear your sigh of relief.

With every single day of study, I am more amazed by the human body and how it works. We really are quite a miracle of nature and I often, in the course of my study days, find myself shaking my head in disbelief.

I got some good hours of study in today, despite Adoring Husband conducting his SES business very loudly in various parts of the house!

For lunch today, we had a big plate of roasted sweet potato, cauliflower, zucchini, carrot and tomato with last night's leftover kangaroo heated up in a cashew cream onion sauce.

Dinner tonight was turkey mince. In the turkey mince was turmeric, paprika, cumin, butter, onion, garlic, rainbow chard, sweet potato, choko, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, chilli tomato sauce, chicken broth and cashew cream. I really loved it and there is some leftover for tomorrow night.

Tomorrow, I am going to attempt pork belly with crackling again .. I have it drying out in the fridge overnight and I'm going to do my darndest to get it right for our lunch time meal. Wish me luck!

Thought you might get a giggle out of these pics ...

Nite all ... or ... HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!

The Question of Conformity.

There are two comedians in this world who have always left me feeling cold and flat. I couldn't understand how people could find them funny and after my first experience with both of them, I avoided watching all of their movies and anything that included them on television.

I formed an opinion on first impressions (as most of us do) and then couldn't be swayed from that opinion.

Those two comedians are Jim Carrey and Russell Brand.

For 25 years I avoided everything Jim Carey and for 10 years avoided Russell Brand.

Actually, I'm still not a fan of Russell Brand's style of comedy and I think he is a bit confronting and offensive .. however, that's my problem, not his. I do however, believe in his belief system and his revolutionary way of opening our eyes to what's happening in the world today.

We all swim along the river of conformity like a school of fish. Have you seen the footage of huge schools of fish in the ocean and as they move in unison, the sunlight glistens off their scaly skin and flickers through the water? That's us.

We don't even realise we're doing it.

Conformity is actually hard work and takes all of our thought processes to keep ourselves close to the school.

You know what happens to the fish who become detached from the school?  They get eaten!

Somebody makes rules, so we follow them.

Somebody sets standards, so we aspire to reach them.

Somebody creates lifestyle cliques and we choose one.

Somebody brands certain life decisions as 'bad' and we avoid them.

Somebody tells us we must choose 'something', so we make our choice and then close our minds to all other 'somethings'.

Somebody tells us that women are the home makers, so all women become home makers.

Somebody tells us that all men are the providers, so all men become the providers.

Somebody tells us that a single mother is a failed human, so we look down upon and judge all single mothers.

Somebody tells us that a single father is a wonderful example of successful parenting, so we all look up to and judge all single fathers.

Somebody tells us that the sign of success is accumulated material possessions, so we spend our lives accumulating houses, cars, boats, caravans, big screen televisions, overseas holidays, expensive breeds of pets etc.

Through the decades, somebody has told us how to think, what to believe, where to go, when to stop, who to trust, who not to trust etc etc etc.

BUT they always find a way to put the seed of doubt in our minds. So we are always questioning inwardly, whether we have done, or are doing, the right thing. That way, our minds will always be preoccupied with all of the trivial matters that I've mentioned - and they are only a spit in the ocean - until our aim is to disappear into the mediocrity of the niche that we've created for our lives.

We don't want to stand out. We don't want to be noticed as different. We want to look like we are doing as well as everyone else, but not so well that others think that we believe we are better than them.

We spend our entire lives obsessed with creating the so-called perfect life.

I've discovered that these two comedians have not followed the flow of conformity. They detached themselves from that flow, at a young age, and they believed in themselves and they didn't care what other people thought of them. They became successful doing what they loved.

Yet they've realised that with success, comes responsibility and accountability.

They've realised that success, both spiritual and financial, does not bring happiness or comfort.

They know, that with their fame, they have the power to show us and teach us that we all have a choice.

We don't have to conform.

We have the power to change the way things have always been and we don't have to fit into any niche or clique or class system.

We can be unique.

We can be perfectly wonderful, just the way we are.

We can release the pressures of conformity.

They question conformity.

They try to open our eyes to what is outside our protected shell of a life.

They break the barriers.

That's what makes them confronting and offensive.

They force us to see outside our own existence and they question our ideals, just as we should always be questioning ourselves.

This video of Jim Carrey goes for almost 30 minutes. His speech is uplifting and he makes so much sense. I have become a fan. I still don't like his brand of comedy much, but he is a great serious actor and his take on life is inspirational.

I honestly believe that if I'd heard this speech in my teens, my life may have been entirely different.



Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time, sometimes to the "last minute" before a deadline.
This has been #369 from 'The Art of Procrastination' by Roz G.

Nite all.

Wasted Day

It's been an enjoyable, but wasted day .. and by wasted, I mean a wasted study day .. again.

I saw my boys this morning, then had a really enjoyable morning tea with the girls, bought some groceries, picked up a borrowed item from Gentleman Jim's, dropped the groceries at home and picked up my bags of preloved clothes to deliver to someone who might enjoy them. I then returned home and cooked crispy skinned chicken with sweet potato and choko puree and baby spinach for our lunch.

By this time it was already 2pm and all I wanted to do was sit down and put my feet up. I sat at my desk, but the motivation had well and truly passed, so I did the healthy thing and 'let it go'.

Let's try again tomorrow!

Tonight I cooked up a kangaroo fillet for Adoring Husband and served it with a garden salad of baby spinach, cucumber, tomato, capsicum, onion, pear, avocado and balsamic vinegar.

I had a pear, two energy balls and a bottle of water because I was still satisfied with the rather large lunch that we had consumed.

Adoring Husband is always hungry, always has been and always will be a 'bottomless pit' for food. He has no 'full' button, nor does he have any self control, so, in the last 12 years, I can probably count on one hand how many times he hasn't been able to eat everything on his plate.

For example, I made 36 chocolate energy balls 5 days ago AND a choccado tart (similar to a cheesecake). I ate a third of the tart and 6 energy balls. There is nothing left of either of these sweets.

All of these Paleo sweets and two cooked meals every day, plus chicken broth most mornings .. and he is lean. Leaner than he has been since he was competition dancing back in the 90s. It's amazing what taking processed foods, sugar and carbs out of the diet can do.

Here is a link to a story about saturated fat and cholesterol, which you might find interesting.

Here it is, almost midnight again.

I'm outta here.

Nite all.

To Your Knees

Grab a tissue and sit down for this one. If this doesn't bring you to your knees, nothing will.



Yes, I am procrastinating. I should be studying, but the neighbour has his kids for the weekend and he lives in a raised house with timber floors. I swear every time they walk anywhere in the house, they are pretending to be giants, because their footsteps echo with a boom through my house and unfortunately, my office window is directly opposite his house/verandah. Boom. Boom. Boom.

It's just one of those things .. you know those little things that you just can't stop from driving you to a point close to insanity? Like the continuous sound of pigeons cooing in your back garden or like chalk on a blackboard or the touch of knitted wool to someone else. Anyway, it can't be helped, so I have to find a way to deal with it!

I had a good night's sleep .. about 7 hours last night, but I still didn't care to get up out of bed this morning. It's one of my guilty pleasures. Sitting in bed til mid morning, reading or facebooking on my iPad, or playing with my new app that teaches me about the skeleton and other body parts.

Adoring Husband bought my morning coffee and delivered it bedside for me, so I had no reason to get up til I felt like it.

I made some chicken nuggets for lunch today, with a sticky sweet and spicy sauce. Instead of using breadcrumbs, I used (what I think was) LSA, a combination of ground linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds. This mixture was in an unmarked plastic bag in my pantry. It looked and smelled like LSA, so I am assuming it was exactly that.

I coated the bite sized chicken pieces (which I cut up from boneless thighs)in tapioca flour instead of cornflour or regular flour, then egg and then LSA seasoned with Himalayan salt and cracked pepper. I baked the nuggets in the oven on a greaseproof paper lined tray for about 20 minutes on high (220C).

The crumbed coating turned out quite hard and crumbly, but not as crunchy as breadcrumbs.

The sauce was 1/2 cup raw honey, 1/3 cup of my home made spicy tomato sauce, half a teaspoon of H salt and a teaspoon of garlic powder, well combined and heated in a saucepan on the stove. The recipe that I based and modified my lunch on, stated that the sauce should be poured over the nuggets at the 20 minute mark and then cooked for a further 10 minutes in the oven, but I poured the sauce into ramekins to dip the nuggets into instead.

Served with a garden salad of baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, onion, avocado and pear.

A very pleasant lunch .. nothing to RAVE about .. but nice nonetheless. 

I guess it's time to get back to my studies. A good procrastinator knows when to stop procrastinating.

Nite all.

A Good Time Had By All

Ok so woopsie!!

Funnily enough, we were just talking last night (at the crazy karaoke night) about how amazing it is that I can still write and post on this blog after a Friday night of wine.

Ironically, I was in no fit state (after the crazy karaoke night) to write and post on this blog last night, after drinking too much wine.

A good night was had by all.

No, we did not get up and sing, but we DID sing along, sometimes very loudly, and we DID stand up and dance, near our table. We laughed at the bad singers, were amazed by the good ones, awe struck by the brilliant ones.

We were both horrified and amused by the antics of some local personalities whom we have never seen in an intoxicated state before.

We drank three bottles of wine between three of us .. well actually .. one of us was a driver and only drank two glasses of wine all night .. so really, two of us drank two and a half bottles of wine between us.

I'm hoping that my partner in crime didn't feel as poorly as I did during the night, when my body felt the need to purge itself of some poisons/toxins/alcohol. A confession that I'm sure conjures a pretty picture for you all!

Luckily, and I'm not sure how, I was not hung over when I awoke this morning. No headache, no nausea, but I did feel like there was a disconnect between my body and my brain. That feeling has gradually improved as the day has progressed and I am surprised at how well I have recovered.

I really must learn to pace myself.

I did take a photo with my phone, quite early in the night, but it was before the real action started and it's not worth sharing here. I attempted to take a video on my phone, but in my inebriated state (and never having used the video function on my phone before) I had no idea what I was doing and only managed a 4 second video of blurred action.

Anyway, next year, we have discussed practicing a song before the June long weekend. Mardi and Lady Lynn are going to be my 'doo-wop' girls and we are going to work on a routine. This will require equal amounts of alcohol as that which we consumed last night, to give us the courage to get up and sing and doo-wop. Only time will tell.

Some more quotes to share.

Nite all.  

Fabulous Friday

I studied!!

I studied bones.

It was incredibly interesting and I will share some of the details in another post, but not tonight.

Our neighbour across the road, who goes fishing in his boat every single day that the weather is fine, delivered a bag of fresh fish yesterday.

I have no idea what kind of fish he provided .. just that it was white fish.

I have to to admit that I was a little concerned while I was eating it today, that it might be sea perch .. which I am allergic to .. but after 4 hours, I was feeling relieved that I was wrong.

It usually takes about 90 minutes for my allergy to sea perch to set in, but it was the same for sea scallops and the last time I ate sea scallops, it took 4 hours for the nastiness to set in. Just as I was feeling excited that my allergy had become non-existent, a wave of nausea flowed over me and I ended up spending hours and hours in the bathroom.

So this time, I waited for four hours before I felt safe.

I coated the fish in a mixture of tapioca flour, turmeric, cumin, salt and pepper. I fried it in my cast iron frypan in a shallow layer of butter. Absolutely delicious.

There is a big lawn bowls tournament happening in town this weekend, (which is the Queen's birthday long weekend) and on Saturday night, there is a karaoke night at the bowl's club. I've organised with the girls to catch the bus to the club tomorrow night for the occasion and hopefully, we will have a chance to get up and sing.

I'm hoping for a Bohemian Rhapsody singalong .. or there are other options suggested! Let's wait and see!

The boys have decided not to attend. We girls should have some fun anyway.

Enough of this frivolity.

Time for bed.

Nite all.

Sweets for my Sweet

I stopped to visit The Motivator again this morning. She is a great time waster and before I left, I bought four nice big cooked sand crabs from her. I ate one of them as soon as I arrived home and cleaned the others to put in the fridge for later. Yum.

While Adoring Husband was in town this week, he stocked up on my nuts and other ingredients for our sweet nibbles, so this morning I spent some time making a mess in the kitchen and made a chocolate cheesecake and some energy balls.

Adoring Husband does enjoy the energy balls, though I have to keep an eye on him or he would eat a dozen or more every day! He doesn't have a 'stop' button or a 'full' button and has a habit of doing everything to excess!

I guess, these days, with our healthy way of eating, it's not really such a problem.

For lunch, I used the leftover mini meatballs from last night's dinner, and heated them up in a spicy, buttery, curry soup. It was quite delicious for a quick made up nosh up.

Dinner tonight was an easy crispy skinned salmon steak with salad.

So all of that was my way of procrastinating and avoiding my studies and I didn't even sit down at my desk all day. Tonight I feel quite guilty about that, so tomorrow, while AH has SES duties, I will take advantage of the quiet time and do some cramming.

The new Flickr photo challenge theme for this month is the 'Golden Hour' which is the first hour after the sun rises or the last hour before the sun sets. I love that time of day for photography, but I am rarely outdoors at that time, it is also the coldest part of each day, so it will definitely be a challenge for me this month!

Having just spent some time clearing my wardrobe, I appreciated this facebook quote today!

Nite all.

What day is it?

I woke up this morning wondering what the hell day it was!

At first I thought it was Thursday and my brain was sorting through all the facts that would provide me with a conclusion as to what day it actually was.

I had lazily opened my eyes a little earlier, to see Adoring Husband in his SES t-shirt, so I immediately thought to myself, AH goes to SES on Thursdays .. but then I realised that he goes on Thursday 'nights' NOT mornings.

So then my brain tried to remember the order that AH told me he had SES duties this week .. which did me no good whatsoever because he has SES stuff on every day except Tuesday this week!

I tried to remember what I did yesterday. Aha .. morning tea with the girls and the barbecue last night .. yesterday was Tuesday!! Which makes today Wednesday!!

Then I remembered that I had a date with The Motivator this morning, so I got myself motivated to start my day!

It was very chilly this morning and apparently it was 8C when AH was out in the car earlier. It was chilly enough that I needed to wear something more substantial than just a t-shirt because there was a cold sneaky breeze to add chill to the air.

Down by the river, it was warm enough basking in the sunshine, but when the clouds skimmed over to hide the sun, the chill returned to the air. It's definitely the beginning of Winter.

I had an interesting morning with The Motivator and learned all about some skin care and health care products that she has started using. She is positively glowing, and it's especially noticeable after she had quite invasive surgery that has taken a couple of months from which to recover.

I am seriously considering trying them myself and have been given some information to study.. I will investigate further and get back to you!

This evening, I'm thinking about making some energy balls .. or perhaps waiting til tomorrow morning .. physically, I'm feeling very lazy, but mentally, I have all these energetic ideas that I don't have the physical motivation to complete.

I guess procrastination will win out tonight and I'll find my mojo tomorrow before I sit down to study.

Nite all.

Last Tuesday

It's the last Tuesday of the month.

That means a barbecue at the park, on the river for a large group of us.

Unfortunately, a large number of our large group were not available tonight.

There are usually about 20 of us, but tonight, only 6.

Travelling holidays and other commitments reduced our numbers considerably.

Even though so many of us were not available, it was still a very pleasant evening and the weather was very mild, the sunset quite glorious and the company friendly and comfortable.

I took a photo of the sunset, with my phone, but it was not very good .. instead I am going to share Mardi's phone photo which she took before the rest of us arrived. The horizon is a little crooked, but it's still a lovely pic. I hope Mardi doesn't mind me sharing her pic ...

Adoring Husband bought himself a new laptop today.

I warned him that I didn't want to hear any swearing from him as he set it up, but (and I knew this would happen) he could not help himself. The clawing questions and random swearing came thick and fast. Study was out of the question and my frustration was almost overwhelming.

It's possible that I could move out for a couple of weeks until he has set himself up .. perhaps a trip down south to Chicklet's house is on the cards.

The only other alternative, is to drink copious amounts of alcohol from early hours of the day, to help me cope with the stress of it all.

After 4 days of cursing because of failed technology and then new technology, I am dreaming of an 'island of calm'. I am pleading with the gods of bliss to bring me to that island in a smooth and floaty manner.

Anyway, for the first time in a couple of years, I had to use the public facilities, and on the way back to our barbecue area I stopped to chat with a couple of older gentlemen who were fishing on the river bank.

They had grandchildren and great grandchildren and one of them thought that I was 35 yrs old and didn't believe that I had a grandchild. I hugged him and announced that he was my new best friend. Admittedly, it was very dark and he was very old, but I'm more than happy to tell the story of the man who believed that I was twenty years younger than my actual age!!

It has been a great day .. morning tea with the girls, shopping in The Bay with AH, a pleasant evening at the park and I think I might get another early night tonight. What is the world coming to??!

Nite all.

I'm a Monday Person

I do like Mondays.

Adoring Husband spends Monday mornings fulfilling SES duties, so while I plan on studying every Monday, I always spend a couple of hours tidying my desk, emptying my email inbox, figuring out what order to study my three subjects for the week and planning lunch!

I only spent one hour actually studying today.

I cooked up a fairly substantial lunch of roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and balsamic vinegar, sweet potato chips, steamed snow peas and smoked cod with a leek and white wine sauce. We had chocolate brownies with strawberries and cream for dessert.

Dinner tonight, for Adoring Husband, was a nosh up of cabbage, mushroom, onion and zucchini in a chilli, tomato and white wine sauce, served with crispy skinned chicken.

My dinner was a glass of Oyster Bay SB and three deliciously sweet passionfruit (kindly donated by our neighbours).

Here is the framed photo that I mentioned a couple of days ago.

I feel a bit of a chill in the air tonight .. good sleeping weather. There have also been some beautiful Winter sunrises, so I'm thinking of going to bed early and attempting to get out of bed before the sun tomorrow morning for some sunrise shots. I always have good intentions the night before, but the bed just feels so cozy and comfortable in the darkness of early morning and it's difficult for me to get myself moving!

Wait and see.

Perhaps a concerted effort to get more hours of study in tomorrow .. after morning tea with the girls.

So I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Sensational Sunday

I thoroughly enjoyed my Sunday with Lady Lynn and Mardi. We drove into town and watched this movie ...



We loved it! Great movie.

Afterwards we enjoyed a little retail therapy, which is always a nice way to end a good day.

I realised, 30 minutes ago, that I hadn't done my photo for this month's flickr challenge, so I grabbed this one that I took on Friday morning and submitted it 10 minutes before the cut-off time of midnight! Whew! The theme is 'Wheels'.

It won't win anything, but I like to submit 'something' each month, just to participate. Every so often I get a pearler, but it's been a while since I've done any good in these challenges.

I made delicious chocolate brownies for dessert this evening and served them with fresh strawberries and cream. Adoring Husband does enjoy a nice dessert after dinner.

True to form, it's after midnight, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.