Into the Future

Four or five years ago, Vegan Chickie introduced me to a site where you can write a letter to your future self and then select a date in the future where they return the letter to your email address.

I've been writing to myself every year, talking about my fears, my accomplishments, my hopes and dreams, my disappointments, my celebrations, my highs and my lows.

Every year, I forget that I've done it and every year, I get excited when I see my letter appear in my inbox.

It's always exciting for me to read about my life from just one short year ago and how things have changed in that time. How I've recovered from the low times like the tornado, and how I've coped with challenges like Adoring Husband's and my health issues. How my kid's lives have changed and how they follow their own paths into their future. The new people I meet and how they affect my life.

So I thought I would share the link here and perhaps you would like to try this yourself. Go to this link ...

Dear Future Me

When you've finished your letter, you can choose to make it 'public and anonymous' or 'private' - I always select 'private' and then hit send. They request verification by sending you an email to verify your email address. Upon completion of the process, a box will appear asking you to donate to the site but you don't have to donate at all, just close the page.

That's it!

One of our lovely neighbours dropped by with a packet of fresh fish that he had caught this morning, so I crumbed it with almond meal and shallow fried in coconut oil for lunch. I've never had mackerel before, which is a bit scary because I thought it was mullet, which I know is safe for me to eat. By the time I found out it was mackerel, I had already eaten one fillet.

It's been four hours since lunch with no ill effects, so hopefully, I now have another 'safe' fish to add to my 'non-allergic' list!

My cold is still lingering, but not taking control. I'm putting up a good fight! It's been a pretty lazy Sunday because I figure I should not overdo it to give my body the best chance to keep this cold at bay.

Not so lazy for AH who has been in the garden again working extremely hard!

Oops! It's after 6pm and I haven't even started dinner so I'd best sign off.

Nite all.    

Spoke Too Soon

After bragging in last night's short post about beating my cold with my natural remedies, I woke up this morning with a cough and bit of congestion! Not happy Jan!

So today, I've pumped the chicken broth into me (3 cups of it) and made a chicken and vegetable soup (one bowl), two deliciously sweet crisp red apples and a rich savoury mince (grass fed mince) full of organic onion, garlic, carrot, celery, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms.

I haven't had any honey and lemon yet, but will make myself a big mug of it before I go to bed tonight. I've also been drinking lots of filtered water.

I made enough for twelve containers of chicken broth with this batch which I completed this morning after about 36 hours in the slow cooker.

I finally made up the dog food and got 15 feeds each out of today's concoction. I used 2 kgs chicken mince, 2 kgs of beef mince, 1 whole jap pumpkin (cooked), a large bunch of silverbeet, 3 sticks of celery, 1 large carrot, 4 eggs (shell and all), 4 Tablespoons of coconut oil, 2 Tablespoons of Cod Liver Oil and 4 teaspoons of spirulina.

My new hair curler is amazing! I curled my hair yesterday afternoon before going out to the club. I'm pretty pleased with my first effort and I'm sure, with practise, I will get better at it.

Number One Son called me today. It's always nice to hear from him and I can always count on him for regular phone calls to keep me posted on his happenings.

Adoring Husband has had a busy couple of days in the garden doing lots of maintenance work ... like spring cleaning outdoors ... and it's all looking very good.

Our peach and mulberry trees are bountiful right now, and the avocado trees are full of flowers, the citrus trees have new blossoms, there are delicious cherry tomatoes all ripening beautifully on the vine and the chooks are laying well. I haven't checked the grapes, pomegranate, mango or banana trees. The new sapota tree seems to have established itself well in the back corner.

I'd like to plant lots of green leafy vegetables like baby spinach, rocket, pak choy, silverbeet, kale and chard. I'd like some cucumbers, zucchini, snow peas, radishes and beetroot. That should do it I reckon. I think I have all of those seeds in my fridge waiting to be used.

Well, it might be time to go make my hot lemon and honey drink. Hopefully tomorrow, I will be feeling enthusiastic enough to get some cooking done. I've been collecting some delicious looking sweet recipes because I know how much AH likes the chocolate sweets after dinner.

May tomorrow find me bursting with energetic health!

Nite all.

Quickie

There is no blog tonight. I've had too much wine and I'm off to bed.

I just wanted to let you know that I beat the flu/cold that was trying to get me on my last day in Griffith.

I had fresh honey from the bees, fresh lemon from the trees, fresh garlic from the ground and fresh ginger from The Nikonian. That combination helped me fight the germs and I have recovered well. Three doses of honey, lemon, ginger and garlic was enough to fight the virus. I also had a tablespoon of fresh honey for breakfast, lunch, dinner and just before bed.

When your diet is pure, it only takes some added freshness like honey, lemon, garlic and honey to put up a good fight and win.

Thank you nature.

Nite all.

Weather Event

I woke at about 4am to the sound of rain on the roof.

So there was no trike ride to the fire station this morning .. maybe tomorrow morning.

Adoring Husband brought my coffee to my bedside so that I could spend a lazy couple of hours reading and easing my way into the morning.

I ordered a new hair straightener (because my old one sucks) and a hair curler online from Harvey Norman. Once they confirmed the order, we headed into The Bay at lunch time to pick them up. I really love the 'order and pay online and pick it up in store' idea!! I wish all shops did that!

Unfortunately, though storms were only predicted for Maryborough and further south, as we were heading home, a huge storm followed us. We were pelted with heavy rain that fluctuated between a smashing downpour and soft spray for about 20 minutes.

There were huge puddles across the road that made for some tricky driving and I even made AH pull into a shopping centre car park under some sails to wait for one heavy downpour to finish.

We made it home safe n sound and soon after that, after a couple more heavy showers, the sky cleared and the rain was gone.

Our rain gauge showed 28 mm, but AH hadn't emptied it since the rain last week while I was away, so I don't know how much rain fell today.

I won the flickr challenge this month with my Mallee Ringtail Parrot shot that I took in Griffith while I was there. Now I have to think of a theme for this month and I really have no idea!

Anyway, it was a slow day. I have some chicken bone broth in the slow cooker and tomorrow I need to make up a batch of dog food.

I'm also going to practise with my new hair curler! That should be interesting!

I've reached my midnight deadline, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Photo Shoot Out

I think it's funny .. maybe.

About 8 weeks ago, I was asked by a member of the volunteer fire brigade, if I would go to the station and take photos of their new vehicles and equipment.

He said to me "You're AH's wife aren't you?" I replied "Yes"

He then asked "You're a photographer?" I replied "Yes"

His next question was "Would you come to the station and take some photos of our new equipment?"

My response was "Yes"

I was about to leave for BGWLBH and my road trip, but he was happy to wait for two weeks. We agreed that I would go to the station the first Wednesday after I returned from the holiday.

By the time I returned, I'd forgotten all about it so I missed going there on that first Wednesday.

I ran into him at the local shops and he asked me what had happened. I admitted to my poor memory and said that I would be there the following Wednesday, forgetting (there's that memory problem again) that I was already busy and wouldn't be available. I didn't have a contact phone number, so I couldn't tell him what was happening.

I eventually saw him again and HE was going away, so we arranged it for when he returned.

In the meantime, I had to head south for Dad W's funeral, hence missing the agreed date yet again.

He saw AH during my absence and mentioned that I still hadn't attended the shed, so AH filled him in on my situation and the man said not to worry and to just turn up on a Wednesday after I returned to town.

So today was that Wednesday.

I arrived on my trike with coffee and camera in hand.

He said to me "We've just been looking at the photos. Come through and I'll show you them on the computer in the back room."

I wondered what photos he was talking about, but didn't say anything, and followed him through to the office.

He sat down at a desk top, inserted a USB stick and there appeared a set of photos of the three vehicles he wanted me to photograph.

I commented on the photos and how they needed to be taken in better light at a different time of the day. He then told me that he would like me to get on the roof and take the photos from a higher level.

That was when I asked him who took the photos.

He looked at me and said "I thought you did".

I shook my head and said "No, this is my first visit here. I haven't taken any photos yet."

So he asked a couple of men who were talking to each other nearby. "Who took these photos?"

Their reply was "AH's wife."

I said "I am AH's wife and I didn't take these pics."

"OH? Well we don't know then."

We walked outside and asked two more men and their response was "AH's wife". I repeated my answer.

We walked to the shed and asked another two men. They had the same answer "AH's wife."

When I told them that I was AH's wife, they said "No it was AH McGovern's wife."

It seems that there is another AH whose wife is also a photographer!

So here is how I believe this whole situation occurred, from beginning to end...

All of those weeks ago, at a meeting, after they had taken receipt of the new vehicles, somebody suggested that they get some good photos to put in their newsletter.

One person probably suggested that AH's wife would do it, meaning AH McGovern's wife. Another person, the man who originally asked me, got his wires crossed and thought they meant 'my' AH and me. So I was asked by one person and AH McGovern's wife was asked by another person.

She got there to take the photos before I did!

Now none of this bothers me in the slightest, but that man still wants me to go and take photos from the roof of the shed and I said that I would go take a look at the light in the early morning to figure out where and how to get the shots.

I'm now having second thoughts because, one, I don't want to step on AH McGovern's wife's toes and two, because I don't believe that I was ever the intended photographer in the first place!

Talk about confusing! I think I will withdraw my services.

I did get to spend a little time searching for more Tawny Frogmouth nests, to no avail. There are no nests in the other locations from last year. One of the trees now has a magpie nest in it, so the maggies will scare off any other birds that try to nest there.

Another tree is missing the branch where they nested last year, so they've probably gone searching elsewhere.

I'm on a mission.

Nite all.

Thawed Out

The warm Queensland Winter sunshine has today thawed my bones.

I saw my boys at the Seat of Knowledge and sat in the sun with them for about half an hour before meeting the girls for coffee at our usual haunt. There were only four of us. Mardi, Maid Marian, Reality TV Queen and myself. We had plenty to talk about because we didn't leave our table until well after 10am.

Afterwards, I really wanted to pedal around town to search out the Tawny Frogmouth nests, but I'd bought some meat from the butcher, so I had to get home with that, plus Adoring Husband was only going to be home for a few hours, so we were having our main meal as a late lunch. Food preparation was the order of the morning.

I have to mention here that I am liking my new skin care products very much! I've used all of the products now and I really like the feel of it on my skin. I'm not sure how long it's supposed to take before I'm supposed to notice any difference. I've been on the website this evening and there are pages and pages to read about so many different aspects of skincare .. including diet and exercise, organics, naturopathy, ageing etc.

I think that I may have to dedicate some reading time to that site.

Our monthly barbecue at the river was tonight, but AH had a meeting out of town, so I pedalled down to a very windy and uncomfortable evening with some very cold friends, each wearing about 3 layers of clothes. Of course, I told them to toughen up and that they had no idea what 'cold' really was!! Our barbecue lasted all of 75 minutes .. well actually, I pedalled off after 75 minutes, I guess the others may have stayed longer, but I doubt it!

I did, however, discover a new Tawny nest on the way to the barbecue *insert beaming smile here*. These Tawnies attempted to nest in the same tree for the last two years, but something caused them to toss the eggs out of the nest before they hatched. They usually do that when something happens to one of the parents .. the remaining parent knows that they can't care for the chicks on their own and so they toss the eggs.

I will be watching closely and hoping for the best this year, because the nest is quite low and I think I can get some great photos of the little chicks when they hatch. Fingers crossed!

I will do some more searching tomorrow.

My plan was to go to the movies tomorrow, but I think the movies can wait. I have other things that need to be done.

Can you believe that it's almost midnight .. again?

Nite all.

Perfect Flights

My two flights today were perfect

Both take-offs.

Both landings.

Smooth flying in perfect skies with a tail wind to bring us home early.

I peered out the window for the entire trip, both flights, and watched the ground as it changed from farmland with the long morning shadows of the trees, to mountains with misty fog undulating in the gullies, to cityscapes with sunlight glistening on the opera house and harbour bridge, the river full of ferries and thousands of small boats and yachts as it snaked toward the sea and then finally to the ocean which was the deepest cleanest blue that I've ever seen.

Heading north, on the way home from Sydney, we followed the coastline all the way. The long sandy beaches, the river mouths opening into the ocean. The small towns and the bigger cities changing the landscape. The huge cargo ships out to sea. The thick heavy cloud way out on the horizon. Then recognition as we passed over Fraser Island which was our cue to descend for landing.

The only time I looked away from the view, was when I accepted a glass of water from the flight attendant.

We landed in The Bay ten minutes earlier than expected and Adoring Husband was waiting with a big smile and open arms.

I was starving by the time we landed, so AH took us to 'Eat @ Dan & Steph's' for lunch, where we each thoroughly enjoyed a Cumin Spiced Chicken Salad and a coffee. It's the first time that we've eaten at this restaurant which is owned by the 2013 MKR winners.

The seating is not very comfortable, so we wouldn't go there for a long leisurely lunch, but the service was very friendly, the food was delicious, reasonably priced and it was served promptly.

After some grocery shopping, we came home to be greeted by three very happy and excited psychotic dogs. I think they were happy to see me :)

My head cold still hasn't set in ... I'm hoping that a miracle will occur tonight and I will wake in the morning with a completely clear head!

I've ordered our FROG box for this week.

Another exciting thing that happened today, was me being pounced upon (not literally) by a beautiful Arabic-Canadian man who was selling an organic skincare range at the airport.  He was an excellent salesman and I bought some of his product. It's an Australian made and owned company as well. I guess you'll have to watch this space to get my review in about a month.

I'm about to go use it for the first time right now before bed.

Griffith farewelled me with a chilly zero degree morning ... that's bloody cold.

It was extremely hard to say goodbye to BGWLBH this morning. It was our most difficult goodbye yet. Ugh.

So in the words of BGWLBH ...

Good Bloody Nite.    

Health Check

My health has obviously been compromised somewhere in the last two weeks.

It could have been when we got drenched at the funeral. It could be because I haven't had any bone broth or fermented veg or sunshine or exercise for the last two weeks. It could be because the temperature has ranged from 2C - 15C for almost the entire two weeks that I've been here.

Who knows?

I have that niggling raw feeling at the back of my throat, which started yesterday evening.  I've sneezed about a dozen times today and my nose has been just a touch runny.

Luckily BGWLBH had a large jar of fresh honey from the bees and bowl full of fresh lemons from her trees at hand for me to mix up a batch of hot honey and lemon. I've taken a teaspoon of honey every few hours.

I can feel my body fighting it, but I'm not sure I will win this one. Fingers crossed.

Uncle Polly Waffle arrived tonight for a few days with the family, so with everything in the fridge, we scraped together enough to prepare a feast to feed six people with leftovers for tomorrow night as well.

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go ... there is a song in that! My bag weighed 14 kgs on the way here, but I think it will weigh about 18 kgs on the way home! I did a little shopping while I was here, and yes that is unusual isn't it?????? Ha ha!

I'm NOT looking forward to climbing out of bed at 5.30am when I know it will be an icy cold predicted 1 degree Celsius!

I AM looking forward to landing in 24C and sunshine at home!

Believe it or not, it is only 9.40pm and I am already sitting up in bed as I write this, feeling snug and warm. I will attempt to sleep early in preparation for my big day of travel tomorrow so ...

Nite all.

Two More Sleeps

The time has come to bid a fond farewell and I will be flying out early Monday morning.

It's kind of bittersweet.

I'm looking forward to seeing Adoring Husband and sleeping in my own bed and cooking in my own kitchen and triking in the warm Winter sunshine, but I feel really sad to be leaving BGWLBH. I know that she has some tough times ahead of her and I wish that I lived closer so that I could visit more often.

We don't even need to talk. It's just about 'being there'. It's difficult to 'be there' when you live 1500 kilometres away!

We had a good day today. We picked up my new car ... because I'M BATMAN!

BGWLBH drew out a winner's name from the barrel ...

I submitted my photo for the flickr challenge "Australian Wildlife". This is a male 'Mallee Ringneck Parrot'. Very prolific in this area, but highly sought after in my neck of the woods.

I think BGWLBH is planning on waking me early in the morning so that we can get photos of mist on the lake, so I'd best get some sleep .. it is, once again, almost midnight!

Nite all.  

Oh The Juicy Stuff

It was a beautiful day here today. It started off a little bit cold at 4C but warmed up to a sunny 15C. A sunny 15 is much nicer and easier to handle than a cloudy or wet 15, believe me!

So I had lunch with my old workmate today.

Oh the juicy gossip! There was something for everybody! Extra-marital affairs, marriage breakups, alcoholics, children whose paternity is questionable, forced out of town transfers, divorces, overseas drug use leading to psychosis, sexual assault charges, serious medical conditions, boss and supervisor troubles and the list goes on.

We barely took a breath for the entire lunch hour. I don't even know how we ate our lunch! A most thoroughly enjoyable hour where I spent a lot of time lifting my jaw off the ground. I simply was not expecting ANY of that and loved every second of it!

It's a shame we only had an hour.

Here is a photo of BGWLBH and I, taken by her brother, with my camera, at Dad W's wake...

She bought me a beautiful silver frame, so I will print this one out and put it in the frame.

I can't believe it's almost 11.30pm .. it was only 9pm what seemed like a minute ago! Best go climb into my cocoon.

Nite all.

X-work visit

Just want to express how much I appreciate that BGWLBH has gone out of her way to provide me with takeaway coffee every morning while I've been here. Not only does my body, brain and heart appreciate the early morning caffeine hit, but it starts my day with an explosion of happiness and love that is difficult to express!

Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!

BGWLBH had some business at my old place of work today, so I tagged along and bumped into a few X-workmates, one of whom I've booked a lunch date with tomorrow.

This works out well, because BGWLBH has an appointment nearby around the same time.

I spent the morning with Mum W, and ninety minutes of that time on the phone checking out what sort of aged care packages were available with the new changes that came into effect in July this year. I spoke to a young lady, who informed me that she was 6' 4" tall .. I only assume that she was young.

After that, we had some business in town and of course .. coffee!

I'm feeling very self conscious about my teeth and have made the decision to do something about them upon my return home. My front left incisor is very crooked, very deformed, very loose and makes it difficult for me to bite anything, because there is pain when I put pressure on it. It's definitely time to take action.

I've also been day dreaming of my inner hippy and the lifestyle in my imagination ...

It's getting late, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Newbie Maybe

I spent a lot of today browsing through a gozillion old photographs of Mum & Dad W's families, going WAY back. Great Great Grandparents and maybe even further back.

I love seeing the old photos and hearing stories about family members from the past. Almost everybody has at least one juicy story to tell about somebody from the family tree!

It makes me want to delve further into my own family tree. I know that there are some interesting mysteries out there about family on my Dad's side that nobody has solved and I'd really love to follow the few clues that I have and fill in the blanks.

One day maybe.

Tonight, BGWLBH and I went out to dinner with a bunch of her workmates. It was a great night. There are some crazy personalities in the group and a few good belly laughs were had by all as they told some funny work stories. I always enjoy myself when I get to spend coffee mornings or dinners with those girls (and sometimes a boy or two).

I gave these blog details to one of those girls tonight and maybe she'll log in one day .. or maybe she won't .. but here are some things you need to know if you have found your way here...

I never name names. Everybody has a pseudonym. Sometimes you will figure out who I'm talking about and sometimes you will have no idea who I'm talking about. So be prepared to be confused.

Sometimes I get very motivated and share great recipes here with step by step photos taken in my kitchen .. they will always be healthy recipes, reasonably quick to prepare and generally fairly easy.

On other motivated days, I'll share health information.

Now that I'm no longer studying, I expect to get out more often with my camera again, so I'll share photos here.

On my lazy, unmotivated days, you will be bored out of your brain with what I write. A blow by blow explanation of my very boring day from what time I get out of bed, to what I eat for each meal of the day and what time I'm going to bed.

So don't get excited about what you might find here each day. It's very hit and miss!

I have a nice cosy little audience of about 25-30 readers (that I know of) each day. Dad W was one of those readers. He hated it when I put recipes here because they were too healthy for his liking.

He wanted me to share more photos and he especially liked it when BGWLBH and I had our road trips and he would follow the blog carefully to see where we were and what we were up to and loved to see those photos.

I always thought of him as I wrote the blog each night and I already miss his presence in my cyber life.

So, to the girl (she will love that I call her a 'girl') who may or may not be joining my readers, your pseudonym, in future, will be 'Little Pattie'. I can see the confused look on your face and that's the way I like it :)

It's well after midnight so ..

Nite all

Much Ado About Everything

So much to do, so little time.

It's cold. The maximum temperature did not go higher than 10C today. The air was still damp with the heavy rains that we experienced over the last few days and the humidity was over 90% all day. I can feel the cold in my bones .. the girl who doesn't feel the cold, is DEFINITELY feeling the cold!

At least the temperature is predicted to reach 16C tomorrow!

I saw my old hairdresser today .. I could tell that he was disappointed in my current hair situation and he advised me to put a special shampoo in my hair. I wish I could remember what he said. Maybe BGWLBH will remember .. maybe 'silver' shampoo??

Back in the day, 'Magic Silver White' or 'Magic Silver Rose' were popular after putting blond in your hair, so I wonder if that's what he is talking about? I should have asked more questions, but I felt embarrassed. Not necessarily because I've let my hair go 'a la natural', but because it got rained on yesterday and it's fuzzy from the humidity and I didn't straighten it the last time I washed it, so it's very messy and fly-away and kinky.

At least I got some washing done today. Some of it I dried in the clothes dryer and the rest is hanging up in my bedroom .. the weather certainly is not conducive for drying the washing on the line.

More beautiful flowers arrived today.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day, and then we have a date with some friends tomorrow night so I'm off to bed.

It's time to start thinking about returning home. I'll make my decision tomorrow.

Nite all.

The Sky Cried

We knew as soon as we opened our eyes this morning, that the weather was NOT going to be kind.

BGWLBH and a couple of family members left the house early for a 'viewing' before the funeral and being the saint that she is, she stopped on her way back home and bought me a large take away coffee! Just what I needed to help kickstart this emotional day.

The thunder rolled in the distance, the rain steadily increased during the morning, from a light mist to a heavy downpour, the clouds grew darker and as we drove toward the cemetery, the lightning flashed across the sky.

By the time we reached the cemetery, the heavy rain had created thick red clay mud, and it was difficult to find solid footing between the mud, the puddles and tiny clumps of grass as we walked the 50 metres from where the car was parked to where the service would be held.

I think that the worst part, was the fear of being struck while walking across the grounds with an umbrella as the light show continued above us.

There were two gazebos set up on the lawn. One with Dad W's coffin and a dozen folding chairs. The other right beside it with some matting on the ground and with enough room to shelter about fifteen people standing very close together.

Water poured through the gap between the two gazebos splashing onto the ground and creating a very moist atmosphere.

A couple of minutes before the service was due to start, about 60 people emerged from their parked cars, all opening their umbrellas as more lightning flashed across the sky and the sound of booming thunder followed immediately after.

There simply wasn't enough room under the gazebos, so everybody stood in the rain for the service, some sharing umbrellas, some very elderly, some in work uniforms and all looking very sombre.

The service was wonderful and the celebrant did a great job of reading the eulogy and the tributes. People laughed at some of the stories that were shared as they recognised Dad W's silly sense of humour within them.

There were moments for all of us where we struggled to hold it together, but 25 minutes later, it was all over and everybody was rushing to their car to find shelter from the weather. It did not let up for the entire service and in fact, I think it got heavier during that time. The only thing missing was wind!

BGWLBH requested that instead of receiving people in the wet, that they all go to the Leagues Club to pay their respects, so we were all able to get to dry ground as soon as possible. I think that was a suggestion appreciated by everyone.

When we arrived at the wake, there was one wall adorned with photos of Dad W, the staff with whom he had worked over 30+ years as Manager of the Griffith Leagues Club, as well as photos of the renovations and new buildings that he oversaw during his time. There were a number of gentlemen all looking at the photos and recognising old friends and telling a few tales about the history of the club.

The Leagues Club generously gave the family, the use of the auditorium and provided all of the food and drinks for the wake, as their token of respect for the man that Dad W was, and for two hours, his friends and family shared stories and we all felt the love.

One elderly man asked me to take a photo of him standing beside the oil painted portrait of Dad W and he told me stories of Dad W's generosity and friendship over the years. He was obviously sad to have lost his friend and if the weather had been better, he would have given his own tribute at the service. I have promised to send him a copy of the photo.

BGWLBH gave a thank you speech, which was a bit emotional and well received.

I met up with some people from my past and caught up on lots of news.

About two hours later, the crowd had dwindled to just a few family members, so they all took Mum W home and BGWLBH and I spent some quiet time together debriefing and going over our perceptions of the funeral and the people who attended.

We arrived home later to find the living room lined with chairs and family were all in little groups and filling the room with chatter. Tea and coffee had been served and the strong scent of the many bouquets of flowers filled the room.

By now, I was beginning to feel quite exhausted and as we all made our way next door to brother W's house for another barbecue to use up all the meat and salads that had accumulated over the weekend, I was grateful for the opportunity to sit quietly in a corner and eat my dinner, then sneak out and head back to the main house to have some alone time.

At 7.30pm I was struggling to keep my eyes open and BGWLBH decided to get an early night herself, so I washed all the tea and coffee cups and headed to my room.

It's been an exhausting, emotional and full day.

Now I need to close my eyes.

Nite all.

This is it!

It's time.

It's time to say our last goodbyes to this wonderful man who, I have learned, is loved my many. There are so many stories about his goodness, his strength, his loving and supportive nature and his generosity. The big man with the big heart, who quite obviously will be deeply missed.

Of course, it goes without saying that we are all dreading the final goodbye.

By the same token, it means that everybody can begin the difficult task of moving on and learning to live with that huge empty space that he once filled.

I wish that I could do more to ease the burden and lessen everybody's pain, but I know we all have to travel the grieving journey in our own way. It's difficult to watch.

Today, we received more flowers, more food and more family and friends.

It was a very full and very noisy house for a while.

Right now, it's very quiet and I am all alone in the living room, surrounded by flowers and cards and photos. It doesn't feel peaceful though .. I don't know if it's just me, but the tension feels quite heavy in the air.

It's time for me to attempt sleep. I will also 'attempt' to post here tomorrow night, but don't be concerned if it doesn't happen.

Nite all.

Weather Worries

The weather is looking awfully ominous for Monday.

It is currently raining and the rain radar on the BOM website is showing lots more rain to the West and heading in this direction. The forecast shows 80% chance of rain tomorrow and Monday. Fingers crossed for dry skies at 10am Monday!

We bought umbrellas in preparation.

More family arrived late last night and while they stayed with BGWLBH's brother last night, they were booked into a motel for the rest of the visit and left us late this afternoon to book in. We spent some time with them during the day, and tomorrow, the last brother and his family are due to arrive.

More flowers were delivered this morning, along with a giant fruit basket that included cookies, tomato relish and semi dried grapes.

An elderly neighbour made an emotional delivery of a very large container of home made pea and ham soup (which was Dad W's favourite) and some warm date scones wrapped in foil.

It was nice and easy to heat up soup for dinner. Minimal effort. Minimal cleaning up.

BGWLBH and I cracked open some of our wine that we purchased on our road trip and had a glass each with dinner. It was as good as we remembered.

I was informed that there is a resident Chlamydosaurus in the garden and one of the relatives actually got a very nice photo of it sunning itself on a fence post while I was out today. I wonder if my little Chicklet knows that a Chlamydosaurus is a frill-necked lizard??

Hopefully, I will get the opportunity to take some photos of this little gem before I have to return home.

I ran into an old work mate today. One of my favourite girls, 'Sharpy', and we are going to try for a lunch together next week some time. Fingers crossed our stars align and it happens.

I thought I would share a couple of photos that I took yesterday ...

I love the second one with Mum W laughing. She's one of those people who can't stop talking while the camera is on them, so I demanded that she "shut up and smile!" She thought that was funny and I pressed the shutter button just at the right time.

On these occasions, the big smiley moments are few and far between, so it's magic to capture them when they happen.

I'm sorry to say that my footy team lost their match tonight and now have to share equal first place on the ladder. If they don't pick their game up, they will slip a place or two in the coming weeks before the finals begin. Maybe that's their plan!

It feels warmer tonight, with the rain, I may have to open a window and get some cool fresh air in the room!

It's heading fast towards midnight, so I'm off to get some sleep.

Nite all.  

All Set

We are all set and ready for the onslaught of friends and family over the weekend.

It took us half the day, with a lot of help from BGWLBH's friends and colleagues from school, to finish, print out and fold the booklets. 200 of them! We dropped them into the funeral director on the way home.

While BGWLBH attempted a much needed nap this afternoon, I typed up the eulogy, most of which had already been written for a family reunion document a couple of years ago, and then emailed it to the celebrant.

Some visiting family who couldn't stay for the funeral, due to circumstances beyond their control, left after lunch and more family will arrive at about 10 o'clock tonight. There will be many arrivals over the weekend but most are staying in motels and will visit the house at different times.

There has been a regular procession of flowers arriving throughout the day and there are seven beautiful bouquets adorning the living room as I speak.

Corned beef with white sauce and veg for dinner tonight, which, even if I do say so myself, was delicious!

Going by Indi the dog, there are storms coming. She is scared of storms and can give a couple of hours warning before the storms hit, just by her attachment behaviour with BGWLBH. Rain has been forecast for the whole weekend and for Monday. We are hoping the rain will hold off for the lawn service, which will be at 10am.

It's Friday night and I'm hoping that my name hasn't been drawn out for the Members Draw at home .. I would hate to miss out on over $1500. Surely Karma will be kind to me and wait until I return! I hope you girls are all missing me :)

I've been taking photos of the beautiful birds all converging on the clothes line to eat the seed provided for them every day. I hope the photos turn out well enough for me to enter one of them into the flickr challenge this month, which is themed 'Australian Wildlife'.

The football is about to begin on TV, so I am off to settle in for an evening of sport .. but will probably head to bed before it even finishes. I am feeling a little weary.

Nite all.

Griffith, I am in you!

I can't remember the last time I was here.

I believe it was before the tornado .. it seems that my entire life is now measured by 'before the tornado' and 'after the tornado'!

I've just remembered that it was 'after the tornado' in January 2014. We kidnapped Mickey Mouse Wizard and took him on our road trip that year.

So much has changed in town since then. A lot of shops have closed. A lot have moved location. A few new shops have opened.

There is still evidence of the mini tornado that ripped through one section of town, where trees were stripped bare, others ripped out completely, some just missing limbs and others purposely cut down due to age or damage. It brought back some fearful memories.

Today we shopped for clothes to wear to the funeral. I had an outfit planned, but my brain was in Queensland mode and my choice is just not going to be appropriate for the cold, wet weather predicted for Monday.

I bought some long black pants and some ankle boots. Both were on sale at ridiculously low prices, so the purchases were not at all painful.

Speaking of weather, there was a heavy frost this morning and it was freeeeeeeezing cold! I stayed in bed til after 8.30am snug and warm between the flannelette sheets and a few light blankets.

Today, we decided to create the Memory Booklets for the funeral service ourselves! *insert a 'what was I thinking?' look here*

I have a program on my computer, which I have never used before, to create an eight page booklet, and I have spent many hours today trying to figure out how to use it. I think I've got it worked out now, but I also have to figure out how to connect my laptop to the printer here and hope that it all works.

We bought some cheap paper to have some practise runs and we have til Monday to perfect the process, so hopefully that will be enough to create a successful masterpiece!

We have lots of photos to add to it, all provided by various members of the family.

I must say, that I've enjoyed listening to the family stories being shared around the living room and they can only get better as more and more family and friends arrive in the coming days.

The brothers have provided some wonderful tributes which I've elaborated on, edited and typed up to pass on to the celebrant.

We are yet to attempt the eulogy, but it's going to be so interesting because even BGWLBH is learning new stuff about her Dad from his early childhood through to his young adulthood that she never knew.

Dad W was the expert on all things family. He was always the 'go to' man whenever anybody needed a year or a name or some other details, but he's no longer here to ask! Hopefully, with some brain storming and some team work, the family can fill in some gaps together.

Tonight, I cooked a nice healthy dinner for Mum W, BGWLBH and I, while the rest of the family ate take away Chinese .. I would have cooked for everybody, but we all got our wires crossed and didn't know what each other had planned. I'm not sure that they would have cared for my healthy meat and veg anyway.

So, needless to say, it's been a full and busy day, but I feel like I'm doing exactly what I should be doing and love that I can be so useful and helpful in this hour of need. I love that BGWLBH knows what she needs and isn't afraid to ask.

The burden of organising everything has been heavily place upon her shoulders while her family struggle to cope with the trauma of losing this great man, so anything I can do to slightly ease the burden makes me very happy.

On that note, it's time for me to go turn my bed into a cocoon and sleep the night away.  I need to rest this weary brain, so that it can figure out the really tricky stuff tomorrow!

Nite all.

Have a Little Faith

I've always had a fear of flying, although these days it's just a small niggle in the back of my mind. Years ago I would throw up as I walked across the Tarmac (before the days of electronic bridges that take you directly from the plane into the terminal), and then I would use up any number of sick bags ON the plane.

I apologise to all of those passengers who had to listen to that over the years!

My fear has mellowed with age and with experience.

I've been thinking today, about how much faith we need to have in our fellow humans, just to take one flight from point A to point B.

You hear stories about terrorist bombs in various random locations around the world, or just some 'nut job' who woke up feeling angry with the world, about planes disappearing in mid air, or being accidentally shot down.

You hear about people getting drunk and trying to open plane doors mid air, or pilots attempting suicide and taking everyone out with him/her.

With those few scenarios aside, you hope that the ground and maintenance crew are on the ball and doing their jobs diligently. You pray that the control tower staff are not hung over or suffering from insomnia or being distracted by some other stress in their lives.

You hope that none of the passengers are using 'ice' or have decided on this day to cease taking their medication for a mental illness.

People these days are so unpredictable and life can change in just a split second.

So I sit here at the airport, having completed the first leg of my journey, grateful for 'so far, so good'.

Watching the world go by. Watching so many people (including me), absorbed in their electronic devices. Watching. Waiting. Listening. Wondering.

It reminds me a little of when Dad died and after we left the hospital, while it felt like my world had come to a standstill, I watched the rest of the world continue on regardless.

It's kind of surreal that someone important in your life has suddenly gone and someone even more important is hurting, but the world just continues on.

It also reminds me of that ad on TV about depression, where the everything is happening in fast motion, while the person with depression stands there with a blank expression.

Anyway, today, I have complete faith in all of my fellow humans. I have faith that you will all be doing exactly what you should be doing, to keep my world, and everybody in it, as safe as humanly possible.

On a brighter note, I was pleasantly surprised to find the option of a delicious pumpkin and coconut soup with Thai spices for lunch, at the airport! I enjoyed it very much, followed by an equally delicious latte!

My flight will be boarding in about 35 minutes so I'm off to do some more people watching.

Nite all.

PS Don't be concerned by my melancholy xo

A Few Pics

Here are some of the pics from last week ...

Except for a much needed and enjoyable morning tea with the girls this morning, it's been a long day. Time goes so slowly when you want, and need, to be somewhere else.

I'm all packed. I've prepared a couple of weeks worth of dog food. The freezer is chock full of bone broth, curry sauces and other food for Adoring Husband. I'll make some chocolate energy balls in the morning and then I'll be set to go.

This time tomorrow night I'll be where I should be.

I may or may not post here tomorrow night.

Nite all.

Depths of Sadness

My heart is breaking as I think of my bff, BGWLBH, and her family, who are right now, dealing with the passing of Dad W.

He was a big man with a big heart and he loved his family with his whole being. He has put up such a strong fight for such a long time and I can't believe he's gone.

I felt like he was my 2nd Dad. He was one of the first on the phone after the tornado, to check that I was ok. He tried many times, to have Skype calls with me, but we had trouble with our monitor microphones. He called me for advice about camera lenses when he wanted to buy BGWLBH a camera lens for her birthday. He let us use his car for our road trips. He always seemed happy to see me when I visited and loved to show me his wounds and injuries and scars .. because I was always excited about how impressive they were!

His passing will leave a huge hole in our hearts and even though we didn't see each other often, I will miss him.

I'll be travelling south on Wednesday to hopefully be of some help and support for BGWLBH and her family. It's going to be tough holding back the tears and being the strong support that I know she wants me to be.

I will do my best.

RIP Dad W.

Nite all.  

Commitment-phobic

By commitment-phobic, I mean that when I make a plan for myself, I simply cannot commit to it!

Yesterday's blog post is a perfect example.

I said that I hoped to get up early and go out with my camera .. didn't do it.

I said that I hoped to go through the photos that I took last week while I was away .. didn't do it.

I said that I was going to make a plan to methodically clean my house for Spring .. didn't do it.

I said that I was going to cook a roast dinner .. I DID do that!

For the first time, I used tallow to cook the potato, sweet potato and pumpkin in the oven. It cooked much faster than when I used other oils in the past and the vegetables were well caramelised and the potatoes nicely crisp on the outside. I didn't need to use much, compared to oil either.

So I'm liking the tallow, the duck fat and the ghee for cooking, as well as coconut oil.

I stayed in bed until about 8.30 this morning. An enjoyably lazy start to a Sunday.

I rode to get my coffee and while I waited outside at a table for it to be ready, a lady stopped with her very large dog (a great dane almost the size of a horse) and she asked if it was ok to leave her dog with me while she ordered her coffee inside.

She told me that because these dogs have such large hearts and their bodies are so heavy on their skeleton, their life expectancy is only 8-10 years! How horrible!

I googled "What is the life expectancy of a dog in Australia?"

Australian Shepherd  12-18 years
Shetland Sheepdog  12-13 years
Chihuahua  17 years
Boston Terrier 12-15 years
Jack Russell 12-13 years
Miniature Schnauzer 12-14 years
Shih Tzu 12-16 years
Dachshund 13-15 years
Great Dane 6-8 years (her dog is already 6 years old)

That's just a few from the list and is encouraging for us because we have 2 x chihuahua/maltese and one Shih Tzu/maltese. They were born 6 months apart, each to different parents and the oldest is now 10 years old.

We've been told by a couple of people to expect the worst because dogs only live to about 10-12 yrs.

I poke my tongue out at those people ... although I know that anything can happen, but at least it's nice to know that my dogs have a good life expectancy!

Anyway, while I was looking after this dog, many, many people stopped to pat her and make comment about how huge she was. My coffee came and so did more people, so by the time the crowd had dispersed and the dog returned to her owner, I had finished my coffee, so I ordered another!!

On the way home, I stopped to visit The Motivator and bought some crabs. We chatted til lunch time, mostly because we were often interrupted by customers wanting crabs! A busy Sunday for her!

It took me just over an hour to shell the crabs and put the meat into a container ... I'm getting faster at that!

I watched the end of a movie called 'Serendipity', by which time the footy started.

Adoring Husband arrived home from his SES flood boat training in time to see the end of that game and then watch the second game.

He was a very tired boy and headed off to bed early.

The Paleo Way stories were quite interesting tonight on '60 Minutes' and on 'Sunday Night' and it was good to see the two reporters have great success with their health results and with losing weight. It bothered me a bit that one of the stories still made out that Paleo has a high meat content, but I loved that finally, the stories were positive!!

Hopefully, tomorrow, I WILL have some photos to share here. Wish me luck on that one!

Nite all.

Catching My Breath

Today was spent just being lazy and catching my breath as I considered my educational future and contemplated life.

For the second time since I began my studies, the 'powers that be' have moved the goal posts and I am discouraged enough to withdraw completely.

I have a number of reasons for doing so, which I won't go into here, but the 'cons' far outnumber the 'pros' at this point and I'm actually feeling positive about my future without study!

So many areas of my life have suffered in varying degrees during the last 18 months. The housework, my photography, my time in the kitchen (which I have really missed), time with the family, my social life and even time with Adoring Husband.

For a 'part time' course, it sure took a LOT of my time.

The one thing that has not suffered, and in fact my skills have become more honed, is my ability to procrastinate!! I was always good at that, but now it has almost become my super power!

My plan for tomorrow is to go through the photos that I took while I was away last week, cook a Sunday roast and then make a plan to methodically clean my house over the next couple of weeks in readiness for Spring, during which I hope to be out with my camera taking amazing shots of nature at it's best!

Tomorrow night, some of you might be interested in watching both Sixty Minutes and Sunday Night because both have a story on the Paleo Lifestyle. Mike Willesee and Charles Wooley will be guinea pigs for the Paleo Lifestyle. I'm very interested to see how they handle the stories.

Well, I may have an early Saturday night into bed and if it's not too chilly in the morning, I might attempt to get up early and head out with my camera! We'll see. I really do enjoy spending these chilly mornings snuggled under the doona. This weather doesn't last very long, so I like to make the most of it while I can.

So watch this space for some family pics tomorrow.

Nite all.  

Earthquake Madness

Home safe n sound after a very long and slow trip home on the train.

A magnitude 4 earthquake that struck approximately one hour before the train was due to arrive at my stop, meant that it had to slow down to 40kph, which made it 30 minutes late to my station.

The trip to the next stop, would normally take 40 minutes, but took two hours.

Of course, I had no idea about the earthquake, and no idea why the train was travelling so slowly ... until I overheard one of the attendants tell another passenger that the train would take another 90 minutes to reach the next station, which is normally a 40 minute trip.

Finally, an announcement came over the system "As you are all aware, the earthquake has caused long delays with our travel today"

Nooooo, I was NOT aware that there had been an earthquake and NO I was NOT aware that there were delays!!!!

Ugh!!

So Adoring Husband offered to drive to Maryborough and pick me up from there. That wonderful man was waiting at the station AND had bought coffee on the way, so that I had a delicious hot latte waiting in the car for me.

He dropped me at the Club and then drove home to get ready himself.

I hadn't eaten all day .. I'd had just two coffees. I drank two glasses of wine at the club and by the time we arrived home I was 'hangry' .. for those of you who don't know, hangry is a combination of 'hungry' and 'angry'. AH heated up some pre-made curried sausages and boiled some rice for a quick and delicious dinner.

So I guess he was my Knight in Shining Armour today. Thank you Adoring Husband :)

Now I am looking forward to climbing into my own bed and sleeping the night away.

My Dad would have been 75 years old today. Happy birthday Dad. I expect that wherever you are, you were there to welcome Uncle Ken as he passed and you just might be sharing a beer right now.

I hope that's how the hereafter works!

Nite all.

Another Loved One Gone

This is just a brief post to honourably mention, my Dad's brother, Ken Griffin, who passed away yesterday.

He and Aunty Fay have been married 56 years this year - they were married on the same day as my Mum and Dad. They lived in Mt Isa for many years and retired to Mackay in the 90s where they did this ...

Environmental Achievement Award – Ken and Fay Griffin

Turtles throughout our region will be joining in the applause for husband and wife team Ken and Fay Griffin, worthy Environmental Achievement Award winners.

They have been volunteers for Mackay Turtle Watch Association since it was established in 1992

Over the past 23 years they have spent tireless hours observing the laying habits of turtles and monitoring and collecting vital information about the turtles that lay upon our shores.

The Griffins have passed on their experience and knowledge, training other group members.

They have also implemented information sessions for school groups and the general public, and helped families, children and individuals witness the amazing experiences of turtles laying and hatchlings emerging from nests and dashing for the sea.

Last year Mr Griffin initiated a satellite tracking program in conjunction with James Cook University (JCU) to learn more about where the turtles go when they leave our shores.

And adding to their environmental credentials, they've collected tonnes of plastic rubbish from along the region's beaches.

Their dedication is made even more remarkable by the fact that Mr Griffin's ill health means he needs portable oxygen.

Mackay Turtle Watch won a state award in 2013 and was a finalist for a national award in 2014, where they were highly commended.

This evening the Griffins were presented with this individual Australia Day honour for the role they play in this wonderful organisation.

********

Sadly, another of Dad's brothers has been fighting lung cancer for quite some time and today was given the news that he has just 8 weeks to live.

Not a good day for the Griffin family.

Uncle Ken sent me emails every Christmas and every year on my birthday, (always calling me Rozzy Pozzy, as he did when I was a little kid) and sometimes emailed me when something newsworthy happened with the family. He was a loving Dad, Gramps and Great Grandfather and the love he showed for the extended family was far reaching and warmly received. 

He and my Dad were very much alike and had the same sarcastic, dry sense of humour. They even looked alike and while that was always a comfort to me after Dad passed, it always distressed my sister who struggled to be around him.

Many years ago, our families spent a lot of time together and his oldest daughter, Terri, and I were very close. The years, and life, have widened the yawning gap between us and we seem to only catch up at funerals these days. When we are together, it still feels very comfortable though. 

It's a shocking realisation that the older generations that we loved and relied upon, are thinning out and we that are left are now the older generation being relied upon.

For now, I am feeling the love and appreciating the wonderful memories.

RIP Uncle Ken. 

Nite all.

Food Heaven

Today, I was introduced to another cafe in Noosaville that is a little piece of food heaven.

The 'Deli Cafe' which is totally gluten free and located on Weyba Road, is very spacious, with a large deck which has a bohemian, rustic and relaxed style and serves the most delicious food .. especially their sweets and desserts!

Blueberry and lemon cheesecake, white chocolate tart, turkish delight slice, lemon meringue tarts, chocolate brownies, passionfruit cheesecake, salted caramel tarts and the list goes on and on. They sell different flavoured kombuchas, delicious coffee, paleo meals, vegan meals and a variety of fresh salads to die for.

If I lived in the area, it would be my 'go to' whenever I wanted to eat out.

After lunch we took Chicklet to the play area in Civic, while the Bare-chested Chef shopped for some groceries. Upon his return, we tag teamed and Vegan Chickie and I went for a short stroll to check out some tops that I admired on the way in and then bought some fresh juice and a smoothie, while TBCC watched Chicklet playing.

This afternoon, as Chicklet and I played 'artist' on our iPads, a huge storm blew over us providing very large black clouds, an amazing light display, cracking thunder and heavy rain .. all lasting for about an hour. We got about an inch (24mm) of rain out of it.

The Bare-Chested Chef covered the dining table tonight, with an array of prepared salad items, dressings, cheese and nuts so that we could create our own salad for dinner. We had avocado, watercress, red & green capsicum, snow peas, radish, pea & bean sprouts, lettuce, fennel, carrot, artichoke, goat's cheese feta and flaked almonds.

My body was so grateful for all of that fresh, crisp, healthy goodness.

I attempted to eat the lemon meringue tart that I had brought home from the deli today, but didn't even get halfway through it .. I am hoping that tomorrow will bring more success .. I'm not used to all that sugary sweetness!

It's almost 10.30pm and it's definitely sleep time for me, but just before I go ...

Nite all.

Zawsted!!

After two bad nights sleep, eating poorly today, meeting up with Bubbles and the Chicklet family, playing in the park, shopping at the Plaza, having fun at Underwater World, saying goodbye to Bubbles, arriving at Chicklet family's home, playing with the new toys, having a bath, reading the bed time books to get Chicklet off to sleep and then eating dinner...

I am absolutely exhausted!

I got lots of great photos today, but unfortunately I have to wait til I get home to download, edit and then share them here because I don't believe that this laptop can cope with any more photos!

Here is one taken with my phone today ...

It has been a pretty big couple of days and at 9pm (right now) I am going to attempt to get a good night's sleep so that I can put in some quality time tomorrow with my little Chicklet.

*yawn*

Nite all.

Sunny Coast, I am in You!

This morning, I arose much earlier than I have for probably a year.

I had a 6am start.

I made 50 energy balls for Adoring Husband and then some curry sauces ... two large containers of curried sausages, two containers of Butter Chicken sauce and two containers of Korma curry sauce.

I showered, washed and blow dried my hair, finished packing and then we left with enough time to get two coffees and check the mail, before driving to the train station in Howard.

I had an easy train trip, although there seemed to be a lot of kids and babies and one woman who wanted to spend 90 minutes of a two hour trip talking very loudly on the phone .. I could even hear her over my ear phones on full volume while attempting to listen to a Harry Potter movie!

The Nikonian was waiting for me at the station and with lots to catch up on, we chatted non stop as we headed into Montville for lunch at 'Poets' cafe. The food, as always was delicious and afterwards we browsed through some shops, but didn't buy anything (yes that may seem surprising coming from me!)

We bought some alcohol and nibbles and headed home for a relaxing afternoon of drinking, eating and talking.

I already feel like I've been on holidays for a week. It's been fun and relaxing catching up with my friend.

It's already after 11.30pm and we have an early start tomorrow, so I'm signing off right here.

It's going to be a big day and you know what it's like the first night with my little Chicklet, so I may or may not be here for tomorrow!

Nite all.

Date Day with AH

I struggled to get out of bed this morning and missed my time with the boys at the Seat of Knowledge, but I did go for an extended trike ride to soak up that glorious Winter sunshine after I bought my coffee.

I've begun my search for Tawny Frogmouth nests, but I may be a touch early .. end of August, early September is the usual time for their nesting to begin, so when I return from the Sunny Coast, I will really get serious with my search.

Adoring Husband had to spend the morning in SES uniform, but then invited me to 'Goody's on the Beach' in Toogoom, for lunch.

It was a beautiful sunshiny day, with just the softest breeze blowing, so conditions were perfect for eating outdoors with water views and enjoying wonderful easy listening entertainment.

I had a Pumpkin and Rocket Salad with Pine Nuts and Prawns, while Adoring Husband ate Moroccan Pork on Wild Rice. We had GF Orange and Almond Cake with Pouring Cream for dessert. I could have easily spent the entire afternoon drinking, eating and listening and enjoying time with AH.

Needless to say, there was no study today. No cooking as I'd planned.

We arrived home, just in time for the football on TV.

I've partially packed my suitcase for my trip tomorrow and I'm excited that the stars have finally aligned and I get to spend tomorrow and overnight with The Nikonian at her home. I worked out that it has been over a year since we've spent any time together .. just one morning tea in February this year, so there may be a wine or two to share and heaps to catch up on!

The next day, I get to see Bubbles again! She is up this way for an engagement party and the Sunny Coast is about the halfway point between our place and where she is staying.

Of course, I am also excited about seeing the Chicklet family and spending a few days with them!

It's going to be a great week.

So, in saying that, I should head to bed and get a good night's sleep, so that I can wake early and at least make AH his energy balls to keep that sweet tooth of his happy while I'm away!

Nite all.

Negative Motivation

Struggling with motivation again today. I did not finish my essay. I may never finish my essay. *sigh*

I had a nice morning, starting at the Seat of Knowledge, followed by coffee and then a stroll through the local markets.

I got some fresh lemons and mandarines, a couple of little gifts to put away for Christmas, a yellow handmade carved timber owl which is now up on the wall in my study and a basket made out of old timber and a bit of driftwood for the handle, which is now sitting on my kitchen bench filled with fresh eggs.

I chatted with the lovely couple who made these crafty items. I bought a gift for Vegan Chickie at the markets in February this year from the same couple. The husband remembered me and said "Goodness, you've lost a lot of weight and you look so healthy and vibrant! What have you been doing?"

We talked about his work with drug addicts and alcoholics and he admitted that he had learned a lot about himself by spending time with them and he even touched on childhood abuse issues just briefly.

They are a lovely couple and I wish we had been able to spend more time together.

I pedalled home fully intending to cook and study and make my day productive, but within twenty minutes of arriving home, all motivation flew out the window.

I did some washing, made some lunch, organised some of my packing, edited some old photos and watched some TV until the football started.

Very happy to say that I got three out of three today with my footy tips.. unfortunately I got none last night, but then most people got none last night!

Some of the photos ...

... and this is a current video, taken today of some White Bellied Sea Eagle chicks being fed by their parents! How cool is that!?



I finished off the bone broth tonight and now I'm ready to climb into bed.

Nite all.

No Winners

Very quiet in our corner of the Bowls Club tonight.

Maid Marian, Apple and I.

Nobody won the membership draw. Nobody won on keno. Nobody won on the poker machines. Nobody won on the raffles.

I got a lift home with Apple.

Adoring Husband hibernated at home after a big SES day.

I spent the day doing everything BUT my essay.

I made up a two week batch of dog food. I have bone broth in the slow cooker. Roasted a chicken in the oven ***yay my oven works***

I almost stayed in bed all morning because it was 4C with the wind chill factor! Very chilly!

Luckily I pedalled down to the Seat of Knowledge because the Dancing Queen was waiting there with her new iPad mini and had lots of questions to ask me. I sat with her for about 45 minutes giving her a few lessons on how to use Facebook and her Gmail account.

Of course, my morning coffee was next and then I got some chicken frames from the butcher for the bone broth.

When I arrived home, I noticed that the frames still had the parson's nose attached, so I cut them off and fried them up to munch on. YUMMO! My favourite part of the chicken.

I decided to pedal back to the butcher and ask him if he could keep the parson's noses separate for me and I will buy them by the kilo every Friday. He was happy to oblige.

I'm now imagining baking up a big batch of parson's noses, with honey and garlic, in the oven every Saturday afternoon to munch on while watching the footy! Drool.

Right now, at 12.40am, I am watching Australia get annihilated by the Poms in the cricket. I've decided that it's just too painful and torturous to watch, so I'm heading off to bed.

No photos to day. No videos. No quotes.

Have a happy weekend!

Nite all.  

I'm Booked

An hour in the beautiful Winter sunshine was just what I needed this morning. The perfect start to the day.

Coffee, then I booked my train trip to the Sunny Coast for Monday, then more coffee, then home.

Study was intense for a couple of hours including a live seminar that was interesting.

I cooked steak and salad for lunch and then I roasted a big pot of vegetables in the oven to have with sausages and bacon for dinner.

That is the total excitement of my day.

I hope to finish my essay tomorrow so that I can then focus on preparing for my week away. Making up some sauces for Adoring Husband to add to his protein and then some of his favourite chocolate energy balls to keep him energised while I'm gone. I think there is enough bone broth to keep him going, so I won't have to make any more of that.

I feel quite weary tonight and it's only 11pm.

Sorry for the short and sweet post, but some days there is just nothing to report and the brain can't stretch it further than a mini post.

Nite all.

Day of Therapy

Yes, of course! Retail therapy!

I got to spend the day with Adoring Husband and we drove into The Bay and did something similar to a 'pub crawl' except the crawl involved all of my favourite shops!

We started at Office Works because AH needed supplies for his SES duties and I needed nothing, but that didn't stop me from spending money on some items that I WILL need in my study future.

Our next stop was Nana's Pantry where we stocked up on a few items for our own pantry.

Then, of course, Stocklands shopping centre.

AH had an appointment with Bay Audio, so I got to do some shopping in his absence and left the area loaded up with bags full of goodies! We also did some grocery shopping and rushed home to prepare for the oven man to arrive.

You guessed it!! I HAVE MY OVEN WORKING!! Yay!

I actually popped next door for a belated New Years drink with my neighbour, 'P2'. Yes, it's August and we've been talking about and trying to plan an afternoon since November last year!

My plan this afternoon was to stay for one hour, but time flew by while we chatted away at a mile a minute about everything and anything, until we realised that two hours had passed and our husbands were waiting patiently for us to emerge and prepare their respective dinners!

Luckily, I had an easy dinner planned and it didn't take too long to prepare. I did NOT use my newly repaired oven ... but I WILL be using it tomorrow!

The third and final flower photo for the three day challenge that The Nikonian sucked me into (thanks for nothing) ...

and now it is almost midnight, so I'm off to snooze.

Nite all.

Terrific Tuesday

So much for getting early morning sunshine!

This morning I woke up to a dark, gloomy, overcast sky. It had been raining earlier and thankfully, it stopped for me to pedal to the shops, then the soft spray of misty rain fell for quite some time during our morning tea.

Only three of us turned up for coffee this morning. Tweedle Dum, the Reality TV Queen and I. Even though we missed all of you lovely ladies, whom I imagine to be having a fabulous time, we did have a very pleasant morning and we all jumped to attention at 10.30am when we realised the time!! Time flies when you're having fun!

Right on cue, the rain stopped so that I could pedal home without getting wet.

Earlier in the day, we really thought that our monthly evening barbecue might have to be cancelled. It was so cold this morning .. even I felt the chill in the air! The cold combined with the rain didn't seem very conducive to a pleasant evening.

Thankfully, the weather warmed up, the clouds cleared and the sun shone.

So we had a good roll up.  For those of you who are missing ... we had D & J, J & J, N & G, P & D, I & J with their friends S & B and then Adoring Husband and I. Considering how many of our regular group are out of town this week, fourteen was a pretty good number!

It was a good night. I pedalled down at 5pm with all the food and drink packed into my trike basket and AH arrived later after an SES meeting. So at the end of the evening, after two glasses of wine, I pedalled home with all the lights flashing on the trike.

I loudly announced my departure and told everyone to be wary of my flashing trike as they drove home .. but there was no sign of any cars on the road for my whole journey home.

The new theme for this month's flickr challenge is 'Australian Wildlife' so I'm pretty excited about that. It's right up my alley really.

Finally, The Nikonian nominated me (and two others) for a three day flower challenge so this is today's flower offering ...

Heading off to bed before midnight.

Nite all.

A Notch Happier

Today was a slight improvement on yesterday.

I seriously believe that I need to increase my sunshine/vitamin D intake. I've only spent time at the Seat of Knowledge four times in the last two weeks, so I'm not getting enough happy morning sunshine. I'm going to make a concerted effort to pedal there every morning this week.

I bought some more sand crabs today, and as much as I'd have liked to waste some time with The Motivator, I didn't hang around, but came home to shell the crabs and then eat them all for lunch.

I spent a couple of hours studying and after my brain shut down, I chilled on the couch watching 'Love Actually'.

The day seemed to go very fast and before I knew it, Adoring Husband was home from his SES duties and it was time to cook dinner!

Boring old chicken and vegetables tonight, because my oven is still not working. Two more sleeps and it should be done!

Very very surprisingly, I came second in the flickr challenge with my bird's eye photo! I don't think my photo deserved it, but who am I to argue with a bunch of strange people who make such decisions with their votes!?

I collected a dozen eggs from the chook pen today, proving that Adoring Husband has been neglectful in his duties. I also picked an orange from our orange tree. There were two on the tree and it's our first crop since we planted it about 5 years ago (if not longer). I ate the orange and it was just a tiny bit tart, so it may have required a bit longer before picking.

Our peach tree has peaches and our mulberry tree has mulberries! The garden seems to think that it's Spring. I also noticed that the Rainbow Bee Eaters are back with a vengeance and seem to be everywhere!

So while the world is blossoming and blooming, I am a notch happier than I was yesterday. Tomorrow, I will be another notch happier .. even though I will miss my girls, Lady Lynn, Mardi and Maid Marian tomorrow at morning tea and then again at our monthly barbecue by the river tomorrow evening. I hope that you're all having a good time without me!!

Here is another photo of the male Lyre Bird from our road trip.

Time for bed.

Nite all.  

Sad Sack Day

So if this research is already three years old, why are cancer patients still fed lollies and icy poles while they are having their treatment? Is this kind of research not shared far and wide with everybody working in the medical industry?

Helping kill cancer cells

It is lunch time on Sunday and I am feeling so blurgh.

Nope, not alcohol related lol.

You know, some days you wake up feeling a bit crappy and then every tiny thing just drags you down further? Woe is me. It's not taking very much to trigger my anger response. I don't like myself or anybody else today.

I'm certainly not in the mood to study and it's taking all of my will to stop myself from sending an email to withdraw from the course.

It's such a beautiful day outside and I'm cowering inside feeling sorry for myself and feeling angry at the world.

Perhaps I should just go plonk myself on the couch and ride the day out.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

I'm definitely feeling off balance ...

... unlike this beautiful Bald Eagle ...



Yes, tomorrow will be a better day.

Nite all.