Scaryborough

For the first time in about two years (maybe more), we attended the Maryborough Thursday morning markets in Adelaide Street. This was specifically for the benefit of Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour.

I bought a hanging whale tail for my tree (I have two frangipani trees in the front garden, from which I hang crystals, beads, ceramic shapes and animals, lead light ornaments, glass art etc).

I bought some clip on buttons for a necklace and bracelet set that I bought at Urangan markets a few weeks ago. The buttons are interchangeable so you can create the colour and style that you desire.

I bought a beautiful bunch of sunflowers that are just about to bloom.

I bought a bag of avocados.

I bought two large punnets of Eumundi strawberries.

From there, we walked to Gattaker's Artspace to show the kids where my Photography Exhibit was displayed in 2012. There was some really beautiful, colourful art hanging in the upstairs galleries.

Behind the gallery is the War Museum, which has the most amazing memorabilia from all the war years and from the wars that Australia has been involved in, and where an elderly gentlemen greets visitors with stories about each and every item and the people to whom they belonged. He is very proud of the museum and very proud of the friends and associates whose stories he shares.

We considered having lunch at the new 'Muddy Waters' Cafe, but it seems that their menu options are quite limited, nothing was marked GF and all the choice tables were reserved, so we moved on.

Earlier in the day, I had google searched eating options in Maryborough and found a place called 'Mitchell's Pantry'. The reviews were all very positive and talked about the huge number of gluten free options - especially the sweet treats like tarts and muffins and cheesecakes. So we went in search of that one.

It was very similar to Nana's Pantry, with the walls lined with containers of flours, nuts, seeds, grains, dried fruits etc and a whole room out the back full of gluten free products.

The difference was that the floor had tables and chairs at which we could sit and dine.

For lunch, I ordered a GF lasagne with salad for Adoring Husband and I had GF Shepherds Pie with salad. They were both delicious and full of flavour. The accompanying salad was fresh with a delicious dressing.

On the way out, I bought some sweets to take home. A GF citrus tart, GF chocolate brownie, GF salted caramel and macadamia tart and a Paleo banana muffin.

We walked through a long alleyway (of which there are many in Maryborough) and found some art worthy of a photo ...

From there, because of roadworks on the highway that provided long delays if you got there at the wrong time, we decided on a different route and came home via Hervey Bay. We stopped at a little crafty gift store, where I found a great little book about dragons for Chicklet, lead light letters to spell my name (to put in the tree) and a little concrete platypus for the garden.

There were fabulous, though rustic, gardens to wander through, with chickens, birds and guinea pigs to admire ...

... and a broken down, but stunning, old upright piano on the verandah of the old house where the craft was on display.

We picked up the FROG box on the way home and we were all ready to slob around and relax for the first hour after we arrived home.

Home made hamburgers for the kids for dinner, while I reheated some of last night's meatballs and had them with some raw onion.

Adoring Husband had SES training tonight, so I watched the Broncos thrash the Bulldogs in a fiery game of football.

Now, it's time to get some sleep. I will definitely be sleeping in tomorrow and enjoying a lazy morning in bed.

Nite all.  

Cinematic Disappointment

Before heading off the movies this morning, I had my usual Wednesday morning tea with the ladies. Only four of us this morning because the other four are out of town enjoying holidays, road trips and great grandchildren. It was still a fun morning. It doesn't matter how many of us are there, we always manage to have a good laugh.

I left morning tea a touch earlier than usual, because the family had planned a trip to the cinema.  

Don't go see 'Suicide Squad'.

It is not worthy of 145 minutes of your valuable time.

Margot Robbie (who is Australian) is the only actor, in a sea of famous names, who was good. Her character (Harley Quinn) was my favourite in the movie. For all the hype about Jared Leto playing The Joker, he was the biggest disappointment.

All of the jokes and one liners fell flat. The special effects weren't that great. The storyline was pretty woeful. The acting was poor. The characters were bland. Adoring Husband slept through a good portion of it and I admit that at about the one hour mark, I dozed momentarily and had to sit forward in the seat to stop myself from falling asleep.

Even the music, which is what attracted me to the movie in the first place, was disappointing.

This movie had the potential to be better than ok, but fell way short of my expectations.

After the movie, we picked up my framed photo from the framers ...

... did some grocery shopping, bought some take away coffees and then headed home.

Crispy skinned chicken with vegetables for dinner and then another quick game of Cards Against Humanity.

Everyone is now in bed as I write this and we plan on a trip to Maryborough tomorrow for the markets, a visit to the Art Gallery and possibly a game of ten pin bowling.

So this is my brief post before climbing into bed for some much needed sleep. Two nights at 2am with early morning rises, is catching up to me and I'm feeling very weary.

Nite all.

Cards are Bad

There's a new game in the world.

It's called Cards Against Humanity.

It's as bad as the name suggests and is described as 'a party game for horrible people'.

Adoring Husband and I must be horrible people, because we even shocked Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour.

So much laughter. Laughing in shock and disbelief. Laughing in disgust. Laughing with genuine hilarity. Laughing uncontrollably.

I was expecting to struggle through the game and be offended and possibly quit well before the game was over, but much hilarity ensued and the competition was fierce.

AH stayed up for three hours longer than usual, even after a late night last night, and in the end, he was forced to go to bed because he felt like he might collapse.

It's been a long time since I've heard him laugh like that, and quite often I had to take his card and read it for him, because he was incapable of reading through his hysteria. It was good to hear, and my cheeks are sore from laughing and smiling.

A good night was had by all.

Now it's time for bed because we have a big day planned for tomorrow.

Nite all.

PS I was the winner!!

Trio of Welcomes

What an eventful day!

It started with work, followed by some last minute grocery shopping. I also had a few last minute chores to do around the house before my visitors arrived.

The Blonde Bombshell picked me up at 11am and we drove to the airport to await the arrival of Knight in Shining Armour's plane. We had just enough time to order a coffee before we heard the plane land, but then it seemed to take forever for the luggage to appear on the conveyor belt!

The psychotic dogs were pretty happy to see KISA, once they realised it was him!

We had about 3 hours to catch up and then it was time to head off to the train station to meet Bubbles' train. She arrived right on time and the psychotic dogs were doing backflips when they saw her walk through the door. They've had lots of cuddles and are already in heaven from the spoiling.

I did lamb racks with baked veg, snow peas and beans and carrots for dinner.

I had no sooner finished cleaning up and loading the dishwasher, when Adoring Husband phoned to say that they had arrived in town from their trip home from Fairbairn Dam and they were dropping everything at the shed and would be home soon.

I expected that they would eat dinner on the way home, but that wasn't to be, so I had to figure out what to prepare at short notice. Luckily I had some curried chicken in the freezer, so I popped that in oven.

It had been a very stressful weekend for AH so he needed desperately to wind down and relax. With a full belly, a beer and some debriefing, he finally climbed into bed shortly before 11pm and is now fast asleep.

Everybody is now in bed, except for me ... of course ... it's well after midnight and here I am watching the Olympic Games and feeling wide awake because I've had three coffees today!

The coffee machine is now repaired, so all going well, I should be able to get my morning coffee tomorrow.

So for now, all is well and it's lovely to have family at home.

Nite all.

 

Experimental Gingerizing

Best Cousin in the World visited today, her arms loaded with coffee from Sexie Coffee. What a life saver!

She was also loaded up with a box full of ginger from her farm.

We peeled it and sliced two different types of ginger, and lay the slices onto six trays of the dehydrator.

I flipped the switch to turn on the dehydrator.

Nothing.

No lights. No motor. Absolutely nothing.

I found the manual in the filing cabinet, while Marco Polo found it online, but there was nothing in that to help.

So Marco Polo asked for a screw driver and pulled the back off the box to check the motor.

I thought it might be damage from geckos - they have a habit of eating through wiring - but we couldn't see anything. Then he broke my house. There was an almighty spark and the power went out!

He found the power box and the power returned, but not to the dehydrator.

We achieved nothing and still have no idea why it's not working.

This meant we had to use the oven on low.

Best Cousin in the World and I are both photographers and neither of us thought about taking photos of our ginger experiments in the kitchen!

After we'd finished peeling and chopping, it was time for lunch. I made Hainan Chicken and then we had chocado mousse with berries and chocolate coconut ice cream. It was very filling and we enjoyed it with a couple of glasses of wine.

Being farmers, with errands to run and responsibilities to fulfil, they left at about 2pm.

The ginger has now finished dehydrating. The pieces that were cut quite thickly, have set like concrete, but the very thinly sliced ginger is nice and crispy and crumbly. I am going to grind it up and add it to some curry spices for a green curry. I'll also try some dips, like a ginger hummus and maybe a carrot and ginger dip. Chilli, garlic and ginger might be nice too.

After chewing on some of the ginger, I swallowed a mouthful of wine to cleanse my palate and OMG the taste of the wine combined with the ginger was DELICIOUS!!

That was my gingery day.

Now I'm preparing for Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour to arrive tomorrow!

Adoring Husband will also be returning from his SES exercise out west. Tomorrow should be a good day!

Nite all.  

No Coffeeeeeeee!!

The world, as I know it, has shifted on it's axis and I don't know what I'm going to do!

The coffee machine where I get my daily coffee has broken down and nobody will even look at it until Monday and then who knows how long they will take to fix it!!

Best Cousin in the World is coming to visit me tomorrow to experiment with her ginger and my dehydrator, so I've requested that she drop in to Sexie Coffee on the way here and buy me two large lattes.

That should get me through tomorrow and then Monday morning!

Ugh!

Our local markets were held this morning and there were quite a few of the regular stalls missing. There were two new stalls. One that looked deceptively like a hippie woman selling crystals and semi precious rocks and gems, but in reality, she was selling dyed rocks and some semi precious gems, of which she didn't know the names. She was a bit ditzy, but I like to support the local market, so I bought a cage pendant with an amethyst stone inside.

I bought a hanging crystal from the jewellery lady who is a regular, a string of colourful stained glass hearts for my scarf window, some blank cards with beautiful artwork on the front from a local artist and a $3 cane fan. The gentleman wanted to reduce the price to $2, but I wouldn't let him.

I was hoping that the coffee van would be set up at the markets, because the baker in town doesn't open on Saturdays, but unfortunately there was no coffee to be had in town. Luckily I had one in the fridge from yesterday that I heated up when I got home!

My scarf window got a make over today. I had to pull all the scarves off the rod so that I could put the crystals and hanging hearts in between them. It's difficult to see them in the photos though ...

Bubbles was part of the wedding party today at her best friend's wedding in Noosa. She sent me this photo ...

I would love to show you a photo of the bride, but I think that one has to remain private until the bride decides to share.

Knight in Shining Armour phoned tonight to confirm the time of his arrival on Monday. Getting closer now!

I'm off to bed so that I can get up early to prepare lunch for the fam.

Nite all.

Bizzzaaaarrrroooo

The weirdest thing happened to me this evening.

Every so often, I do a search on Facebook, for people from my past. I rarely find any of them, but about 2 years ago, I searched for a guy who was a neighbour at the time that I split from my first husband, and with whom I had a brief relationship which lasted about 6 months. We broke up when I discovered that he was already in a long term relationship and that I was 'the affair'.

Anyway, two years ago, I thought I'd found him. The photo certainly looked just like him, except he was greyer, after all, I knew him thirty years ago. His FB page gave away no real information about him and it showed that he lived in Calgary, Alberta and nobody on his friend's list was from the Riverina, so I figured that I must be mistaken.

Roll on to today, two years later, and I'm Facebook stalking The Motivator, checking out her friend's list ,and amazingly, I come across this same guy's profile pic!

So I decided to message The Motivator and ask her if he is Australian and how she knows him.

She replies to my message with 'Yes, he's Australian and omg, I think he is from Griffiths (sic)'

The only information that she gave me, was that they met at Thredbo years ago and that she thought he was a nice guy.

Instead of having long detailed chats online, I'm going to visit her tomorrow so that we can gossip about somebody from my past. How freakish that the two of us know him from so many years ago!

That man broke my heart. When I discovered his deceit, I sobbed so uncontrollably, that I had an asthma attack and I'm not even asthmatic!! He was not a nice man.

Weird huh?

Today, Adoring Husband and I went to the cinema to see 'Bad Moms'. Great movie! Put it on your list!



While we were at Stocklands, there was a book kiosk set up in the middle of the walkway and I grabbed two boxed sets. One for learning the guitar and one for meditation ...

Adoring Husband has a three day SES flood boat exercise coming up, so this afternoon I whipped up some energy balls for him to take with him. He will need all the energy he can get!

It's raining here!

Nite all.

Practise Makes Perfect

I say that with hope in my voice!

Most of you know that I have never been a fan of photoshop. It's a complex editing program that takes a long time to master. Especially for me.

My closed mind has only made it more difficult to learn - it was the same for me, years ago, when I was learning to work a computer for the first time. I believed that I wasn't smart enough ... and so became the self fulfilling prophecy ... until one day, I believed that computers weren't THAT difficult to use ... and so my mind opened up to the possibilities.

My mind has now opened to the possibilities of photoshop, which is kind of funny because I think that most professional portrait photographers use photoshop for very basic editing.  Presets, filters and actions are the popular way to go, to enhance photography these days.

I guess I'm falling behind the times and need to catch up!

The most frustrating thing, is that I want to know it all NOW and I lose patience when there are so many steps to each process!

Anyway, just to keep Rebel Mardi happy, I am sharing one more photo from the shoot, which includes her beautiful grandson ...

I hope that one will keep her happy while I work on the remaining photos. Three fabulous smiles!

Even though there were only four of us, morning tea with the girls was very enjoyable today.

It's date day with Adoring Husband tomorrow, so I need to get to bed. It will be an early start!

Nite all.

Govt Fail

Well! What a big hullabaloo over the ABS website going down while everybody was attempting to complete their census online!

My Facebook feed is full of very angry people, all over Australia, complaining very loudly about the site going down before they had a chance to do it.

I went online at 6.45pm and had it completed and submitted by 7pm without a hitch. I would have completed it faster, except I had to call Adoring Husband into the room to ask where his parents were born and what his ancestry was.

I've had a fairly crappy day today (pardon the pun) ... meaning that I spent a good deal of it on the royal throne. My tummy has been very unhappy since yesterday afternoon and it has made it very difficult to concentrate on the fabulous videos that I selected for my photoshop tutorials.

It could be my body detoxing since I commenced taking some very strong probiotics. It usually takes about two weeks for the body to release all the nasties in the gut, and I may have to cut back and take one every second day, instead of one daily.

I guess it could be a tummy bug, but it doesn't feel like any tummy bug that I've had before.

Whatever.  It's not pleasant at all.

I did get a little practical work done with the photoshop tutorials and I found a really great guy on youtube whose channel is called Phlearn. His name is Aaron Nace and I really like him a lot. He explains photoshop in a way that I can understand, and that means a lot because my brain puts up a big barrier to photoshop. I don't know why!

The Flickr challenge this month is 'head and shoulders portrait'. It must be an adult human portrait. So I will put my photoshop skills to good use and create something worthy of submitting into the challenge.

I'll be able to practise on Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour while they're here next week. I might even talk the boys at The Seat of Knowledge into sitting for me. A wrinkly face with a bit of age to it, might make for an interesting portrait!

I wanted to stay awake to see how the Australians perform in the equestrian event tonight. The Aussies are in first place at this stage of the three day event and are looking good for the gold medal, but I don't think I can stay awake for much longer.

I guess I'll have to catch the news in the morning.

I'm looking forward to morning tea with the girls, so I'd best get my beauty sleep!

Nite all.

Forgotten Skills

Oh my gosh.

I spent quite a bit of time sorting through the MANY photos that I took yesterday and selecting the best shots for editing, but I'm feeling a bit pressured to do a 'better than usual' job, so I spent some time this afternoon watching some youtube videos on editing in photoshop.

I've created a list of short tutorials to watch tomorrow before I begin the task of editing, so hopefully, by the end of the week, I will have them ready to share with the Mardi family!

I have to say, I don't think I've ever seen a more photogenic family. It almost seems silly to edit them at all.

Pork belly was on the menu for lunch today, and for the first time in my life, the entire crackling was crunchy! The meat was tender too and it wasn't even marinated! I did a fried rice with the basic bacon, egg and onion plus home made sweet potato chips, roasted beetroot, feta cheese and balsamic dressing.

That was for Adoring Husband. I ate a section of the crackling, and for dinner tonight, I toasted some Paleo Bread and had some pork belly sliced onto it with raw onion. I can guarantee that tomorrow, I will be craving vegetables, so luckily, I have a crisper full of bok choy, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, cabbage and sweet potato. I feel a veg nosh up coming on!

I think I'm all done with my Olympic viewing for today, so I'm off to bed. I'm feeling a bit weary tonight .. brain weary, rather than body weary.

Nite all.  

Welcoming

This morning I woke to the sound of rain on the roof.

It was a lovely way to start the day, and to make it even better, I had my coffee from yesterday, in the fridge ready to heat up, so that I didn't have to pedal to the shop in the rain!

I sat up in bed until 10.30am, drinking coffee, reading, Facebooking, checking my emails and listening to the rain. I couldn't even imagine a better way to spend a wet Sunday morning.

At about the same time that Adoring Husband would have been boarding his plane in Sydney, I decided it was time to get out of bed and do something productive, like housework - ugh.

The ironing board had been set up in the family room since last Wednesday, so I decided that this morning would be a good time to do the ironing that I'd planned on doing last week, so that I could put the board and iron away with a clear conscience.

I made the bed, tidied the kitchen and did a couple of loads of washing, fed the chooks, put my camera gear away and put lunch in the oven so that it would be ready when Adoring Husband arrived home.

AH's lift stopped in the driveway at about 1pm. The psychotic dogs were very excited to see him and they all did their crazy bark and ran around in circles. Ruby was even squealing, she was so happy!

I was happy to see him too, but I didn't put on the same show as the dogs.

By the time we ate lunch, and caught up with all the news, the Sunday football had started, so we spent the afternoon watching TV and complaining loudly about the results! The only saving grace is that everybody else picked the favourites to win too, so even though they lost, there is no change to the positions on the tipping score card.

Tomorrow's plan includes editing the photos from yesterday, so I'm really looking forward to seeing them all on the big monitor and then sharing the best ones with Mardi and her family.

The countdown has begun for Vegan Chickie's trip overseas and she is preparing Chicklet with a bat countdown ...

... and care packages for each day she's away, which I assume are full of activities and ideas to fill our days ...

The ideas that Vegan Chickie comes up with, really make babysitting a breeze. Even 'I' get excited about what each day has in store for us!

Meanwhile, we are just one week away from a Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour visit! It's all happening!

Time for me to sleep.

Nite all.  

Shootfest

I did NOT want to get out of bed this morning, but I had to go to work, so I hit 'snooze' twice before reluctantly climbing out of bed and fulfilling my duties.

From there, I bought a coffee and visited my boys on The Seat of Knowledge.

Upon my return home, I contemplated climbing back into bed, but opted instead to take the chicken wings, which had been marinating overnight, and put them in the oven to cook for lunch. Then I fed the chookies, checked the water for the chooks and SEB, watered the outdoor plants, hung out some washing, swept the floor and then parked myself in Adoring Husband's recliner to watch some of my recorded TV programs.

I was booked this afternoon for a photo shoot with Rebel Mardi and her family. Her lovely kids arranged to surprise her for a belated 60th birthday present and have some family photos taken. I was very honoured when they asked me to be their photographer.

We were to meet at a prearranged location at 3pm, so I filled the back of my trike with a tripod, monopod, light reflector, camera bag full of my camera with assorted lenses, a bottle of water, a thermos cup full of wine and ice, a towel and then I stopped at the shops to buy two cups of coffee! One to drink immediately and one to bring home so that I can reheat it tomorrow morning. That way, I can have a lazy Sunday morning in bed!

While I was waiting for my coffee, the heavens opened! I couldn't believe how heavy the rain fell and even though it was only a small cloud moving above us, it took it's time and had me very concerned about not having a Plan B!

Eventually, the skies cleared and I headed to the shoot location, where I took a few photos to test the light and checked out the different spots that I had in mind.

There is one small grassy area with tall trees, a bridge over a little creek full of mangroves, a kids park with play equipment and through a small walkway is the beach which has fallen trees and driftwood, a concrete pipe with timber framing which makes it look like a small jetty and a long sandy beach.

Unfortunately, the tide was out, so there was no beautiful blue water as a back drop, but instead, miles of grey, wet, sandy flats. However, our beaches have beautiful golden sands and stretch for hundreds of metres, so we took advantage of that.

Each shot, in each of the spots that I mentioned, took all of two minutes. Rebel Mardi and her family were pretty amazing, incredibly photogenic, and perfect subjects for posing while all smiling at the same time when instructed.

This was the very first photo taken within 5 minutes of them arriving on location ...

I asked each couple to choose a tree and stand on either side of it. Then I asked that they lean across, on the count of three and in their own unique way, give each other a kiss. This is pretty much what I had in mind when I planned the photo, and I had an inkling that 'The Circus Duo' would attempt an acrobatic kiss using the tree as a prop.

This photo epitomises each couple so well and I'm very happy with it.

I've had a quick look at the other shots and I'm really looking forward to editing the remaining photos tomorrow. There are some good ones there!

I had allotted 2.5 hours for the shoot, but I had all the shots that I wanted in less than an hour, so, much to the joy of the family, they spent a good thirty minutes playing with all the circus toys - hula hoops, spinning plates, juggling balls, colourful flowing fans and an acrylic sphere, among other unusual props.

These provided a few good candid shots, as well as a couple of set acrobatic shots to add to the mix.

It was a really fun afternoon. A beautiful, loving and happy family who made a shoot that I was quite nervous about, so easy and enjoyable. It has been a very long time between shoots (about 18 months), so my confidence was low, but I think they helped me find my mojo! Or my phojo!!

Thank you Mardi's family. Big hugs and kisses to you.

Adoring Husband returns home tomorrow. It's been a long four days, and knowing what he's had to endure while in Sydney this trip, I've really missed him and I'm looking forward to getting him home.

So I'm off to bed.

I remember when we first moved here, in 2008, for the first two years, every Saturday night was party time at somebody's house. It was exhausting!! Even though we had a fabulous time, and made some great memories, I'm so glad that Saturdays are now non-events. I love staying home and watching the footy instead of partying.

Nite all.  

Just Quietly

It has been a cold and windy Wintry day, and I had to pedal to work during the coldest part of the morning. I even wore my gloves!

It was so cold, that I returned home and climbed straight back into my bed!

I stayed there til 11am, at which point I figured it was time to go check the mail and buy myself a coffee.

I need to give thanks to two lovely friends.

Thank you Rebel Mardi and Lifesaver for buying and delivering my chookie food today. The girls were very grateful and asked me to pass on a 'cluck bukark' to you!

Thank you also, to The Blonde Bombshell for offering your taxi services to me for when Knight in Shining Armour arrives in the big silver bird in just over a week. I appreciate your kindness.

My sister, Squirt, shared this video on Facebook today and it brought a big smile to my face. I reckon, with a bit of practise, Adoring Husband and I would be able to do this dance together. I might have to lose about 10kg to be light enough for him to lift me for that end move though! He also might need to do some weight training lol.



... and it's good night from me.

Nite all.

Movie Marathon

There is a Twilight movie marathon on Foxtel tonight. I am onto the fourth movie of five, but I doubt that I'll stay up to watch the final one.

I am in total relaxation mode tonight, so this blog post will be short.

I'm adding the links to the ABC's Catalyst shows about gut health. I put the links here last year, but they have just been replayed on the ABC, and I believe they are worth reposting here.

Gut Reaction: Part 1

Gut Reaction: Part 2

I hope you learn something from them. I picked up on a few things that I missed last year when I watched it. Adoring Husband even watched them with me!

Nite all.

Almost a Bradman

RIP Nellie Smithurst 1917 - 2016

We received the phone call at 12.30am advising us that our Nellie had passed away.

I didn't meet Nellie until she had already displayed signs of dementia, so I wasn't able to get to know her the way I'd have liked.

There are so many questions that I would have loved to ask her. About her life. About Adoring Husband and his childhood.

The only information that I have, is what AH has told me about her. We've spent a lot of time poring over old photographs with AH sharing the details that he could remember, of Nellie's early life in England and as a young woman when she first arrived in Australia.

It seems to me, from the many and varied stories that AH has shared, that Nellie was a strong woman, who stood up for herself and demanded what was rightfully hers, so that she could provide a stable life for her son.

Her life, as for most of us, was not so easy and she was dealt some nasty cards. Her husband left her, and took with him, one of their adopted sons, leaving AH with Nellie. That was during an era where there was no pension available and the stigma attached to the title 'single mother', put women in a class that was looked down upon in the community.

She had to make do with a very small weekly allowance that was paid to her by her X-husband. I can only imagine how she must have struggled to get by.

During her very long life, she watched all of her family members and friends pass on, so that in the end, there was only her. That must have been a lonely feeling.

She was a strong, robust woman, who lived alone until the ripe old age of 93, when sadly, after an 'episode', we had to admit her into the nursing home just around the corner from her house. I believe that being so close to her street, made the transition easier for her.

What I DO know, for certain, is that she did an amazing job raising Adoring Husband on her own, because he is the most honest, hard working, generous, warm and loving person I know, with a heart of pure gold. These values are even more amazing considering the many hardships that they endured together.

This is the last pic taken of Nellie, with AH's phone.

She is frail and unlike herself. I prefer to remember her wide eyed radiant smile that she used to greet us with, when we visited her, as if we were her entire world.

I hope she has awakened in her next world, with all of her wonderful faculties, feeling physically strong and surrounded by all of her loved ones, in the happiest of peaceful surroundings.

That's how I imagine the end to be.

Nellie didn't quite reach 100. She was 99 and 5 months. That's almost the Don Bradman batting average!

It was her time and may she now rest in peace.

Nite all.

Groovy Grooming

I had a late start to my day - what else is new?

Adoring Husband had SES duties today, so I decided to groom one of the psychotic dogs. My plan of spending a little time grooming Colli every week, never came to fruition, so of course she was in dire need of a full groom.

It took me about 40 minutes to trim her torso and legs with scissors. All of that fur filled a plastic grocery bag, but then she wouldn't let me near her face, so I took her to the laundry tub and saturated her head so that I could easily clean the muck around her eyes and then snip the fur all around her head, face and neck. That took another 40 minutes.

Even though she hates every minute of her grooming (as do I), Colli always smiles widely when it's over and runs around like a loopy creature on speed. Once she's dry, she struts around like she's Lady Muck showing off her new 'do'. I'm sure that all dog owners can relate to this description because I'm pretty certain that all canines display these crazy traits!

I don't even have 'before' and 'after' shots!

By the time I cleaned up the aftermath of such a grooming, it was lunch time, so I made my paleo version of Nachos. Sweet potato chips to replace the corn chips, mashed avocado, spaghetti bolognese mince (which I already had in the freezer) and just for Adoring Husband, some grated parmesan cheese over the top. No sour cream.

I did a few more mundane chores before spending some time in my new workspace .. it felt like a million years since I was there last! I listened to Taylor Swift and researched some more stuff on chalk painting, which I hope to find time to practise tomorrow.

There WILL be 'before' and 'after' photos!

Nite all.

Festive Fun

Ya gotta be quick!

Of course, before we could head to the Multicultural Festival, we had to stop for coffee, so the car's clock displayed 7am as we drove out of town.

There was no traffic and we had a clear run through.

We were the second car to park in the closest car park to the main street of Childers. This is how it looked when we arrived ...

... and this is how it looked when we left. It was completely full and the gates were locked to all entering vehicles.

It was about 7.45am when we walked to the main street, which, every year is closed off to traffic and becomes the temporary home to hundreds of street stalls. I didn't take any other photos, because I was too involved in seeking out that which required my complete attention!

Other than the stall holders, there was barely a soul to be seen, so Adoring Husband and I had the perfect opportunity to see everything without fighting the crowds.

I bought an oil infuser pendant.

I bought another beautiful pendant, which I absolutely love, made with a silver spoon, the inner workings of an old clock and some kind of clear resin.

I bought an aqua pottery fish with a giant mouth - it's purpose is to burn mosquito coils (but I won't be using it for that) - it will sit on one of my new white side tables.

I bought an infinite scarf that can be twisted and shaped to become a bolero - that's the purpose for which I bought it, but now I have to go into the shop's Facebook page to learn how to twist and shape it, because even though the lovely lady showed me how to do it, I cannot, for the life of me, figure it out from memory!

I bought two fermented drinks, quite a bit stronger than the drinks that I buy regularly through FROG or Go Natural. The stall was owned by the 'Bottoms Up Colonic Clinic' in Bundaberg and they were selling jars of fermented vegetables and two different types of kombucha fermented drinks. These are strong enough that 1/4 cup per day is the recommended daily intake.

Their Facebook page is advertising the inaugural 'Colon Hydrotherapy & Gut Health 2016 Conference' which is being held on the Gold Coast at the end of August.

I absolutely would have booked my spot at this conference, except the dates fall at the very worst possible time for me. I would miss the last two days of Bubble's and Knight in Shining Armour's visit AND it is four days before I leave to babysit Chicklet for 3 weeks.

At the moment, I'm completely obsessed with the concept of gut health and the effect it has on the body, from the brain, the immune system, all of our organs and even our personality. The fact that mainstream media and the medical industry are finally taking notice of current scientific studies means something, and I am intrigued.

I can only hope that the conference is a huge success, so that they organise another one for next year, because I'll definitely be signing up for that one!

We found the one stall that we were searching for and stocked up on our curry mixes.

There was great music playing at the usual location where the bandstand was constructed. It's the one thing we didn't do this year, that we usually do ... sit down and enjoy the musical entertainment.

There was an Asian food stall there selling gluten free dumplings and rice paper rolls, among other things, so Adoring Husband and I filled our bellies with these delicious goodies and then went back for seconds before we left for home.

By 10.30am, it was difficult to even move through the swarming crowds. The queue for the loo was fifteen deep. The food stalls were beginning to draw queues. It was impossible to see the products in each stall. People were blocking the walkways. The seating for each of the stage shows were filling up fast.

It was time for us to get the hell out of there.

We drove out of our car park and made our way onto the highway, to discover the biggest line of traffic coming into town. It stretched further than the eye could see. Probably 2-3 kms of cars moving at at snail's pace, either trying to get through town to head north, or attempting to find a park, so that they could attend the festival.

I have never seen so many cars. They were parked at least two deep on both sides of the road for kilometres. Crowds of people were making the long hike towards town.

Our side of the road, southbound out of Childers, was completely clear as we drove past the hundreds of cars going in the opposite direction. By the time we got home, unpacked the car and put away our purchases, it was 11.30am and we were sitting down on our couch wondering what to do for lunch!

I realised that I hadn't made up the dog food, so that was my chore for the next couple of hours, while AH mowed the lawn and whipper snipped the edges.

So, all in all, it was a very productive and fun day for us!

I'm not sure how I will spend my Monday, but I'm off to bed now, before the stroke of midnight!

Nite all.      

Withdrawn from the World

I enjoyed many hours sitting up in bed this morning, reading and playing solitaire on my iPad. I didn't rise until after 11am!! Adoring Husband bought my coffee, and then delivered it to my bedside, so I had no need to leave the house.

The rest of the day was spent doing a few mundane chores.

Tomorrow is going to be a fun day at Childers for the Multicultural Festival. We missed it last year, due to AH's SES commitments.  It was the first festival that we'd missed since we moved here.

We will be specifically looking for the Mudgeeraba Spices Pty Ltd stall. A couple of years ago, we bought a trial box of a dozen different curry flavours, so that we could choose our favourites and then come back and buy the larger jars the following year.

They were all delicious, so it's still going to be difficult to choose!

I'll also be looking for hemp hats and hopefully buying one just like my favourite. The hat that I wear now, is becoming a little threadbare. It's about four years old and I wear it every day, so it has lasted well, and I would love to find another one.

I'm not doing very well with my footy tips this weekend. I held a solid position on the ladder until this week, but I feel that I am slowly sliding in the wrong direction and there are only five weeks remaining .. no time to make up for poor choices.

It's an early night for me, so that I'm refreshed and energised for a big day tomorrow.

I thought you might enjoy starting your day with some memories, while listening to some great music ...

80s celebrities - now and then - part 1

80s celebrities - now and then - part 2

80s celebrities - now and then - part 3

Nite all.

Who Knew?

Who knew that having a poster sized photo professionally framed, would be so expensive???

It's been almost four years since we dealt with a picture framer, and that was when a lovely lady bought one of my photos during my photography exhibit (I can't believe it's been four years!) in Maryborough and she asked for it to be professionally framed. So in our minds, we had an approximate price figured out.

Admittedly, we DID select a nice white, shabby chic style frame, and the photo IS 30 inches X 40 inches, but the quote was a LOT more than we expected .. and that was with the less expensive glass. The latest 'you beaut' clear, non-reflective glass would have cost an extra $120 on top of the quote that we accepted!

This is the photo.

So, this will be our one and only oddly sized photo framing exercise. From now on, we will select standard sized frames for standard sized photos ... unless I take THE MOST AMAZING photo of a lightning strike or an eagle swooping on prey or something extraordinary!

Watch this space in ten days time, when I show you the result!

I had a good night at the club tonight, with a bit of luck on the keno and the pokies. We ladies all turned up wearing black and white. Completely unplanned.

It's well after midnight, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Feeling Homely

I did nothing today .. aside from cook a late lunch, early dinner.

I really needed a lazy day of doing nothing. The last two or three weeks have been pretty full on, with spring cleaning, visitors, birthday parties, moving the house around, movie dates with Adoring Husband and I think we've been into The Bay about ten times in the last two weeks and then the lady's luncheon yesterday. I feel like we haven't stopped.

Adoring Husband asked me if I wanted to go with him into The Bay to buy a plant and to have one of my photos printed. I declined his offer. I didn't want to have to think about anything today. I just lazed around all day in my slobber dog clothes.

There is a series on Netflix called Grace & Frankie, starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. It's had amazing reviews and I've considered signing up for Netflix just to see it, but have held off. There is another reason to sign up, and that is for The Gilmore Girls ... they have made four new shows of the girls all grown up, that will be aired in November ... but only on Netflix.

Anyway, I thought I would share this 8 minutes from Grace & Frankie. Watch it til the end. You should get a good giggle.



There will be no lazing tomorrow, but there will be yet another trip into The Bay, so that I can choose the frame to go with my poster sized photo. When it's framed and up on the wall, I'll take a photo and share it here. It will probably be a few weeks.

I can't believe it's already 11pm. I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Done in!

I had a very late night and a very early morning and a fabulous lunch with a select number of ladies and four glasses of wine, which has left me feeling decidedly buggered tonight!

I didn't take any pics today, but we ate at Cafe Tapas and it was just as good as when Adoring Husband and I were there last week.

The Reality TV Queen did not like it and won't return ... but nobody is surprised by that, because she is very difficult to please when it comes to food! I think everybody else was happy, although I think a couple of the dishes were a bit bland, but my three tapas choices were delicious, as were my desserts, which Rebel Mardi and I shared.

As usual, after lunch, we stopped for a couple of drinks at The Speckled Hen's house, but The Blonde Bombshell and I didn't stay long.

I discovered this video this afternoon, will a helpful tip to putting doona covers on a doona. I'll try it next time I wash my bedding. It's gotta be easier that my current strategy, which is similar to a gym workout! I may have posted something similar in the past, but I forgot all about it and never put it to the test. Hopefully, I will remember to try it next time!



It's almost 8pm and I am well and truly ready for bed. I'm certain that I can hear my soft fluffy pillows calling my name, so ...

Nite all.

Retail Therapy Like a Pro!

It's very tricky shopping for furniture on a tight budget and when you only have a vague idea of what you want. Putting colours and styles together in your mind, creates a vision that may, or may not, be everything that you imagined, once it's all placed in the space.

In approximately five weeks, our furniture will be delivered, but during that five weeks, my vision will succeed and fail in a hundred different ways as my imagination spirals out of control!

It's going to be a long five weeks.

The hall table will go in the dining room, but the other furniture will fill the family room. A couple of throw rugs and some cushions will hopefully create a nice space.

The experience was pain free. Adoring Husband and I selected the styles and colours without incident and I only had to say 'NO' once!

We killed it! We retail therapied like pros! What a team!

It was after 4pm when we arrived home. I didn't get to spend any time in my study today and there have been no further developments there, nor will there be any tomorrow, because it's lady's luncheon day!

I love lady's luncheon days.

It's midnight. I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

On Monday She Rested

I spent almost the entire day in my workspace today. Twenty minutes was spent organising and the remainder of my day was spent listening to music, training the dogs to stay OUT ...

... researching how to create a website, clearing out my emails, taking photos, editing photos ... 

and thoroughly enjoying the ambience of my new space. As you can see, on the floor in the basket and in a pile on the bottom left, is the stuff that still needs to be homed. Once I've cleared out the cupboards of my beads, there will be room for all of this.

I only surfaced from the room to make lunch, and then reluctantly, when it was time to make dinner and actually join Adoring Husband in the land of the living. He even sent me a text during the day to enquire as to whether I was actually still in the house. I replied that I was, but that he couldn't be certain unless he ventured to my end of the house, because a text didn't actually prove anything!

Tomorrow is another date day for us. We'll spend the morning at the cinema, and we need to furnish the empty space in our family room, so we'll be searching for something comfortable and stylish and inexpensive. 

Wish us luck!

Nite all. 

Se7en Hours

Yes, seven hours of emptying, filling, moving, rearranging, cleaning, pushing, pulling, sliding, hanging, deconstructing, reconstructing and debating.

We moved the bedroom to the garage, the study to the bedroom, the dining room to the old study and the leftovers to the old dining room.

Adoring Husband and I are struggling to get our moving body parts to move right now.

I should have worn a pedometer today, because we walked from one end of the house to the other, hundreds of times, and in bare feet on the tiled floor, which isn't very good for the feet, knees, hips and back!

I stopped briefly at 3pm to eat 3 chicken wings, but we powered on for 7 hours.

My original plan for today was to spend some quality time learning how to chalk paint and creating strings of beads to hang on my bohemian curtain.

But AH had other ideas.

He brought my coffee into the bedroom this morning and then disappeared. By the time I got out of bed at about 9am, he had emptied all of the furniture out of the back bedroom and that meant we were committed to completing the room switch.

Here are some photos of our progress. Firstly the study converted into the dining room ...

Secondly, the bedroom almost converted to a study. I have progressed further than this, but there is still quite a way to go yet. It will take me all day tomorrow to finish, so the final photos will be posted here tomorrow.

I pulled the plug at 4.50pm and refused to do any more, but sitting down was a big mistake because every part of my body seized up and I still had to make dinner! Luckily, we had some leftover chicken wings, so I made up a salad to go with them and then we had strawberries and leftover choc avocado mousse for dessert.

Of course, an alcoholic beverage was well deserved after such a labour intensive day!

I'm pretty sure that we'll both sleep well tonight. As you can see, it's just after 9.30pm as I finish this post and we are currently watching the end of the original Ghostbusters movie ... I have to say that the latest movie with Melissa McCarthy, for me, is far better than the original.

I thought you might enjoy some Celine Dion fun ...



On that note, I'm outta here.

Nite all.

Late Lunch

If you read yesterday's post, you may have noticed that it was almost 1am when I hit the 'publish' button, which meant that by the time I finished my pre-bedtime routine and climbed into bed, it was well after 1.30am, and close to 2am before I closed my book and turned out the light.

I fell asleep instantly! As I do most nights.

Much to my surprise, it was after 9am when I opened my eyes this morning, but for a change, I didn't hang around in bed for too long.

I actually went for a trike ride. It has been a few days since I've been for a ride and as I was riding over a small rise, I was struggling to pedal and wondered how it could be so difficult after just a few days away from the trike. I was riding into the wind, so I used that as an excuse. Then I arrived at my destination and discovered that one of my brakes had been on for the entire journey! No wonder it was hard work!

My first stop was to deliver a storage container to the Mini Farmer. She had made a batch of olives for me to try .. even though I told her that I didn't eat olives .. she claimed that home made olives were very different from the shop bought olives. So I trusted her judgement and took a container of them from her.

Even Adoring Husband, who enjoys olives, didn't like them. They tasted even more olive-y than normal!! blurgh I was honest and told her my opinion of her olives (in the nicest way possible).

Coffee was my next stop. While I was there I bought some avocados to make chocolate mousse to have with fresh strawberries.

On my way home I delivered some photos to Old Yellow Hat. He'd asked me to take a photo of his block of land, which he'd sold, before the new owners began to build on it. I had all sorts of trouble trying to print it at home - our printer obviously doesn't like glossy photo paper - then I kept forgetting to take the usb stick into town to have it printed, so it's been a while coming for him. Unfortunately he wasn't home, so I left it on the chair beside his front door.

I stopped at The Motivator's (who is currently in Sydney), because her partner, The Fisher King, had the crab sign displayed on the front lawn and I bought 5 crabs.

It must have been around 11am when I arrived home, and I began quite a productive day.

• I shelled the 5 crabs and put the meat into a container in the fridge.
• Cleaned the main bathroom and toilet and then used my new Lorraine Lea bathmats (they look lovely!)
• Did 3 loads of washing, including all of the old bathmats.
• Swept the floors.
• Made a baked dinner with a leg of lamb, sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, carrot, onion, snow peas, beans and home made gravy. A late lunch at 3pm.
• Made chocolate mousse to have with our strawberries.
• Did some screwing with Adoring Husband - nuts and bolts (get your mind out of the gutter!)
• Sprayed some peppermint oil in an attempt to get rid of the ants (must be going to rain, because the ants are back!)

The football started at 3pm and that's my signal to sit down and relax! It's super Saturday and there are three games of footy today. So far, the only blemish on my footy tipping week, has been my own team, Broncos, losing to Penrith Panthers. Luckily, everybody else in the tipping comp selected Broncos too, so their loss makes no difference to the standings.

Tonight, while I'm watching the footy, I need to make a list of all the plans I have for my office, and then tomorrow, I hope to begin marking off some of those items. I still need to make the strings of beads and hang some crystals and hearts between the scarves.

I also have to practise the chalk painting on the photo frames and then plan the wall gallery, which will include some of my photos, family pics, quotes and other artwork.

My dinner tonight was coffee and crab meat and I'm feeling rather sleepy ... funnily enough, that usually happens when I eat crab or prawns. I must research that and find out why. It's possible I won't get to see all of the footy tonight.

I'm done.

Nite all.  

A Ghostly date

I just want to declare that I LOVED 'GHOSTBUSTERS'!

I don't remember the original movie very well, because I was never a big fan. I certainly didn't hate it, but I could never understand the hype that surrounded it. We bought the original movie on dvd today and will watch it over the weekend. That should trigger my memory and I can make some comparisons.

This new movie makes me want to BE a ghostbuster! If it wasn't already way after midnight, I would write a full review here, but it's late and I'm tired and I'm off to bed.

I just want to make it clear that the preview of the movie does not do it justice!

Nite all.

Another Date!

Another date day with Adoring Husband today.

We watched the new Star Trek Beyond movie and loved it. AH is a huge Trekky (although he doesn't dress up like the real Trekkies) and he declared it to be the best Star Trek movie yet!! I thought it was a touch long, but I enjoyed it very much ... and I am NOT a Star Trek fan.

Afterwards, we had a couple of hours to kill before picking up our FROG box, so we decided to lunch at Aquavue, not realising that their renovations have moved into the kitchen area, so there is only basic food available, like sandwiches and wraps and such.

We moved on and because we had such a a good car park, decided to check out the cafes and restaurants across the road.

We stumbled upon Cafe Tapas, which looked interesting from the outside, with mood lighting and a variety of seating areas to choose from. The menu showed that there were GF options, so we took the plunge and tried something new!

We chose three dishes. Lamb cutlets with pesto sauce, skewered king prawns and button mushrooms stuffed with blue cheese.

Absolutely delicious. The male waiter who served us was very efficient and friendly. The seating was comfortable. The atmosphere was very relaxed and the background music was easy listening. We were pretty happy with our choice and will probably return for future lunches. It won't be our favourite, the way Aquavue is, but it will certainly go on the 'good option' page.

We were home by 2.30pm and I put Hanain Chicken on for dinner. We spent the next couple of hours in separate areas of the house, reading! Adoring Husband sat in the Alfresco area drinking coffee and reading a book, while I sat up in bed with coffee and a good book! We've never done that before, but the peace was lovely ... AH usually has the TV blaring most days.

While AH was at SES training tonight, I got to chat briefly with Chicklet and Vegan Chickie. We talked about the movie 'Ghostbusters', which AH and I are going to see tomorrow. VC has given it an excellent review, so I'm looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, AH's Mum was admitted to hospital with a twisted bowel earlier in the week. They seem to have fixed the problem, but she has not coped well with being there. She panics and her dementia becomes considerably worse, so it is difficult, if not impossible, to treat her because she cannot communicate and she becomes aggressive toward the staff. It's a very tricky situation.

Well, we have another early start tomorrow, with yet another list of errands to run, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Awesome Hump Day

We were out of bed by 5am, in the car by 6.10am, and on our way in the dawn darkness.

Sexie Coffee was our first stop where Adoring Husband is on a first name basis with the girls behind the counter and was greeted with splendiferous joy by them all!

We left there with our heart starters, which was a good thing, because, for the next hour, we had some pretty thick fog to contend with on the drive.

We arrived near our destination earlier than expected, so we continued on to Kunara Organic Marketplace, where I stocked up on my Super Multibiotics. I didn't even look sideways at the rest of the store, otherwise I would have wanted to grab a trolley and begin filling it! I pretended to be wearing blinkers and exited the building with my two bottles of life saving capsules before I could be sidetracked.

I was ten minutes early for my dental appointment and only waited for five when the dental assistant called me into the room.

My shoe broke on the way down the hallway. Brand new pair of shoes only worn once, and that was yesterday! Luckily, I had taken a spare pair of shoes, because I was worried that I might get blisters, wearing new shoes two days running ... how lucky was that!?

The dentist and I spent ten minutes relating shoe stories to each other before she began cleaning my teeth. She showed me, with her tiny camera, the little bit of plaque that I had inside my bottom teeth and also showed me how healthy my gums were. She said that there was no sign of the chronic gum disease that I had carried into her office 8 months ago.

It took her about ten minutes to clean and scrape my teeth. I showed her my dentures, explained how uncomfortable they were, and showed her where they caused pain. She set up her little filing drill and filed down both sides of the denture until they fit in my mouth without causing pain.

My appointment was for 9.30am (I was called in 5 mins early) and I was paying the receptionist by 9.50am. Very efficient.

Next, we drove to Noosa Civic, where we bought a small saucepan, which was the final piece to our set, and which the original shop didn't have on hand when we bought our set more than a year ago.

Three takeaway coffees, two lemon meringue tarts, a french coconut meringue and a raspberry petit four later, we loaded the goodies into the car and headed to the Chicklet family's house.

One of the gifts that we brought down for Chicklet this visit, was a Batman costume. She put it on straight away and spent quite a bit of time admiring her reflection in the mirror, flexing her muscles and flapping the cape behind her. I think it was a hit because I just received a text from Vegan Chickie telling me that Chicklet wore her Batman costume to bed.

We only stayed for two hours today, but in that time, we ate our goodies, played Batman and Batwoman (that was me), played hide n seek, played tag and I got a short lesson on the game of Minecraft on the iPad.

The Library Guy (who is actually a woman and also my x-sister-in-law) was there too, enjoying her last day of holidays. I didn't get to spend much time with her, but it was nice to catch up, even if it was brief.

We said our goodbyes. I had to peel Chicklet off me to leave and then headed to Gundiah where we were dropping in to visit Best Cousin in the World on their new property.

What a nice drive in a very picturesque part of the world. Their driveway was very easy to spot and it was just a short drive to the house. We met a few family members along the way ... ones that go 'moo' ...  and by the time we reached the house, BCITW had locked the 11 (I think) dogs away, so they wouldn't jump on us.

She showed us around the grounds - the ginger crop, the shed, the old railway station building and pointed out the approximate boundary lines of their rather large property.

By this time, Marco Polo had returned to the house, so he filled the ute with a bag of beer and took us for a 4WD bash around the property to show us the best bits .. such as the view from the highest point, the resident Wedge Tail Eagle, the amazing rocks and boulders, picturesque dams and water holes, the river frontage and the beautiful old abandoned disused bridge.

We saw LOTS of bunnies hopping around. Plenty of birdlife and wildlife. It's a beautiful spot and it's understandable why they call it their 'happy place'.

I'll definitely take my camera on the next visit.

Next, we got a tour of the ageing house. It's obvious, at first glance, that the house is very old and it's been a long time since any real work has been done to it. Peeling paint, broken windows etc., but it's a solid old home with some fabulous original features.

The panes in the in old timber framed windows are just gorgeous and I doubt that you could ever replace them, with their unusual patterns and ridges - even the huge sliding room divider in the lounge room has the same panes except on a much larger scale. Gorgeous old bathroom with fabulous tiles and the original old vanity unit and bathtub.

Lovely high ceilings, solid timber floor boards and the bedrooms are all cosy but generous. The front verandah is even a comfortable size - enough for the barbecue and plenty of seating, but there is heaps of room to extend and renovate, which they intend on doing once they are properly established.

We enjoyed a drink on the verandah and were introduced to some of the furry friends. We fell deeply in love with Libby and apparently we would need to go on a long, long list of possible future homes for this precious pet. What a beautiful and gentle soul she is. Everybody falls in love with her.

Two hours later, we were once again in the car and heading in the direction of home. The drive was made all the more enjoyable with Mother Nature putting on a spectacular show at sunset ...

I'd forgotten to get anything out of the freezer for dinner, so we stopped at the supermarket on the way home and bought some lamb loin chops. It was after 6pm when we pulled in our driveway. Our fur babies were happy to see us, though not as noisy as usual. I made a quick salsa salad to have with the chops and by 7.30pm Adoring Husband was dozing off in his chair.

It's been a pretty big day, full of fun and excitement and now it's almost midnight!

I believe that I will sleep well tonight.

Nite all.

Tidying Up a Little

I bought some hooks today, to hang over my dressing table mirror, to drape 'some' of my necklaces in a more orderly fashion.

Originally, they were tangled in masses over each end of the mirror, ridiculously strewn in messy piles on top of both of my jewellery boxes and sadly looped over stands that were meant for short necklaces.

Something had to be done!

Retail therapy doesn't seem to be working for me. I could just about open my own dress jewellery store! Seriously!

Now that I have the long necklaces sorted, I need to spend some quality time sorting through the rest of my jewellery and tidying my dressing table ... again!

Thought I'd share this 15 minute video with you. Adoring Husband should take the time to watch this too because it has some interesting references to Parkinson's.



Mark P. Mattson is Chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program National Institute on Aging. He is also Professor of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University.

I'd best head to bed. We've got an early start tomorrow. Sorry girls, to be missing our morning tea. Have a lovely morning.

Nite all.

I'm on a Mission

Adoring Husband and I recently discussed changing our ageing bedroom furniture. It's quite outdated, much darker than any other furniture in the house and doesn't go with the beachy decor of everything else in the room.

I did a bit of research and found a style that I quite liked, though it wasn't perfect.

When I related this to my cousin Nellie, she told me about a fairly new craft item in the market place called chalk paint. She is currently chalk painting her bed and has already completed a side table that she inherited from her grandmother.

Because our current furniture is still strong and is good quality, I've decided that a facelift with chalk paint is the way to go. It will cost a fraction of the price of new furniture, will hopefully look amazing and will be a creative outlet for my itching fingers!

Chalk paint is easily accessible from places like Spotlight or other craft stores, but there is a better quality brand available, called Annie Sloan. Stockists in Australia are limited, so I have to order on line and wait for delivery.

Using this paint is an easier way to create the shabby chic or the distressed look on furniture. Where you once had to prepare your furniture with sanding and undercoating and then paint and then use sandpaper to remove the dry paint .. with this, the only preparation is cleaning the furniture.

The paint itself is so soft that you mostly use a rag to create the look. Sometimes, very soft sanding is required, but with little effort. The wax mixing and coating is what sets the paint.

It's also non toxic and has no smell.

I found a few videos to show some techniques and here is one



... and go here to see the finished product

This is what I'm going to do with my bedroom furniture, except mine will be more of a distressed, almost shabby chic look. I'm not sure what colours I'm going to use yet, but these will give you an idea of how imagination and effort can create something special ...

... or maybe a bit more colour and imagination

I'm going to buy some of the cheaper craft paint and practise my technique on some picture frames before I do the furniture. I'll also change the knobs on the drawers, if I can find something suitable or interesting or unique.

I will take 'before' and 'after' pics!

So that is my mission, which I hope to have completed by the end of August.

Thanks for reading.

Nite all.

Slow Sunday

It was a slow start to the day for me on this lovely, damp Sunday morning. Adoring Husband bought my coffee and then made me breakfast in bed ...

I got out of bed at lunch time and made lunch which was rib fillet with a red wine jus, caramelised onion and served with broccoli and kimchi...

I bought this meat a couple of weeks ago at the markets in The Bay. Organic beef and quite delicious! Unlike the beef cheek that I got from the same place, which turned out like shoe leather ... which may have been my fault in the way that I cooked it!

Instead of using the slow cooker, I did it in the oven, on a very low temperature for almost 3.5 hours. My recipe stated 10 hours in the slow cooker or 3 hours in the oven. I think my oven runs a bit hot. Perhaps I'll try the slow cooker next time.

My Sunday has been very slow and unproductive. I watched the football and 'thought' about all the things that I'd like to get productive with ... like chalk painting, ceramics, beaded strands for my bohemian curtains, catching up on reading all of the health books that I've bought in the last two years and have only skimmed over the pages, finishing my Susan Howatch novel 'Cashelmara', playing my guitar and so much more.

Hopefully, by the end of the month, I will have moved my studio/office to the back room and I can get started on a few of these things. When we go into The Bay on Thursday, I'll have to check out the craft shops to see if they have the chalk paint that I need, otherwise I'll have to buy it online. That's something that I'm really looking forward to!

So, as you can tell, my brain has been very active, but my body has been very inactive, however, I have thoroughly enjoyed my lazy Sunday and I'm looking forward to a busy week!

Just before I go ...

This video is frighteningly awesome! The power of Mother Nature!



Nite all.