The Journey Begins

Day one and Vegan Chickie landed in Hong Kong on her way to Paris. This is sunrise over Hong Kong ...

She checked the first thing off her bucket list for this trip - 'eat a dumpling in Hong Kong'

Meanwhile, in Australia, the Bare-chested Chef had a day off, so I took it pretty easy. Enjoyed a late morning in bed while BCC and Chicklet played Minecraft on their iPads.

Eventually, I decided to go for a walk to the local shopping centre for my morning coffee. I made a deal with BCC that if I didn't feel like I could walk back, I would call him and he would come and get me.

The day was quite nice. Overcast with a cool breeze. Great walking weather. I chose to take the road route to the shops instead of the forest walk. The forest walk is too remote for me to feel safe walking there alone - unfortunately, in this day and age, it's something that needs to be taken into consideration.

It's not as far as I remembered, only fifteen minutes each way, but it's quite hilly, so the walk is a touch more strenuous than the flat roads at home. When you have a five year old dawdling along beside you, the trip takes quite a bit longer too, but today I was alone, so the walk was quick - even for my little legs.

The coffee was delicious and well worth the walk.

As soon as I arrived home, Chicklet decided that we needed to go to the park, which is only a two minute walk from the house, so me, my coffee and she, walked to the park and played on the swings, climbed the timber cave and while Chicklet successfully climbed the slope of the slippery dip to the top of the tower, I attempted several different access points to the tower without success!

I swear that they made this park for giants or acrobats, because you need to be incredibly lithe and agile to be able to stretch your legs to reach every climbing point!

We played for almost an hour and then I cleared all the litter from the park. Three empty cans of bourbon and coke, two broken and melted cigarette lighters, an almost empty packet of cigarette papers, three empty lolly packets, an empty packet of chips, a dozen cigarette butts and a plastic bag.

My good deed for the day complete, we wandered home.

BCC and Chicklet went for a drive to get some lunch and I returned to my room for some more quiet time.

They played Minecraft all afternoon, while I dozed, read, played and drank kombucha in my room.

At 4pm I chucked the organic chook that I'd bought at the markets yesterday, into the oven, stuffed with lemon, garlic and coconut oil, lightly coated in himalayan salt and pepper. Next to it, a good portion of sweet potato to be shared between BCC and I.

I made up the most delicious salad to accompany our chook. A couple of different varieties of kale, finely shredded. Some torn lettuce leaves. Finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Roughly chopped snap peas and fresh beans. Julienned carrots. Diced avocado. A handful of adzuki beans. Diced cucumber. Roasted slivered almonds. A small sprinkling of crumbled basil pesto feta. A good splash of coriander/lime dressing.

Even BCC commented about how tasty it was!

After dinner and after Chicklet put away her toys, I gave her a bath and then BCC read to her before she quite quickly fell asleep.

I think Chicklet struggled a little bit today and was in the mood for a fight, but some quick side stepping, some momentary distractions and some gentle persuasion curtailed most collisions.

BCC has six long days of double shifts from here on in, so it will be Chicklet and I conquering the world together.

I need to make a concerted effort to take photos!

I was introduced to this webcam today ... White-breasted Sea Eagle nest ... there is a chick in the nest. There were originally two but one of them disappeared at about the 2 or 3 week mark. There is a Facebook page with lots of photos too.

There is an amazing woman by the name of Kym Bradley, whom I only know through a photography page in Facebook, called 'Birds of Oz', where more than 10,000 bird loving photographers from around the world gather to share photos of birds.

She spent a few hours taking photos of a Wedge-tailed Eagle in Canberra today and shared those absolutely amazing photos on Facebook. I have messaged her to get permission to put a couple of her photos in here, but she must be in bed by now, so I'll have to wait til tomorrow.

She is the one who introduced me to the White Breasted Sea Eagle webcam today.

Kym is a wonderful nature photographer and is one of a very few among those 10,000 that I truly look forward to seeing her work when she posts.

Ok, well, it's 11pm, so I'd best get some sleep in preparation for a big Chicklet day tomorrow!

Nite all.

No More Sleeps!

It's been quite a day!

We planned on leaving home at 7am and we were both awake and out of bed before the alarm even sounded.

In one hour, I finished packing, finished clearing out the fridge, had a shower, tidied up a few odds and ends, checked off my 'to do' list and as we walked out the door, Adoring Husband asked me if I needed a hat ... lucky! Because I forgot to put that on my packing list!

We left the house right on time.

There were a few lunatics on the road this morning. Overtaking illegally, overtaking and cutting us off, trucks overtaking legally but without enough room left on the overtaking lane to get past and plenty of others taking unnecessary risks.

No wonder that stretch of the highway is notorious for accidents. There is nothing wrong with the road. The real problem is the stupidity of the drivers.

We made the mandatory stop at Sexie Coffee. Adoring Husband ordered his usual Jumbo Cappuccino and I had a large latte, which, as always, was delicious.

Our next stop was Gympie for a GF Beefy's Meat Pie - my last indulgence before commencing my three week kick start to better health.

The final stop before arriving at the Chicklet destination, was the Noosa Farmer's Markets.

OMG! Why didn't I know about these before now??? What a fabulous market. So much goodness in one market!

We were there for perhaps 30 minutes - a speed shopping expedition - and I bought (all organic):

• A bag of mixed kale leaves.
• A bag of romaine lettuce leaves.
• A bag of carrots.
• A bag of snap peas.
• A bag of green beans.
• A large punnet of strawberries.
• A large bag of apples.
• A bunch of spring onions.
• Half a cabbage.
• Four cucumbers.
• A hand of lady finger bananas.
• Five avocados.
• A bottle of chilli, lime and coriander dressing.
• A tub of basil infused feta cheese.
• A tub of sprouted Adzuki beans (yum!)
• Three bottles of ginger kombucha.
• An organic pasture raised rump steak.
• A packet of organic pasture raised pork sausages.
• A whole organic chicken.
• Four organic lamb loin chops.
• A packet of slivered blanched almonds.
• A packet of pine nuts.

 I think that's all. I've already made up two big salads today with the kale, lettuce, cucumber, adzuki beans, avocado, snap peas and a sprinkling of basil feta with a splash of the dressing. SO delicious!!

I don't even know how much I spent at the markets, but after just those two salads today, I feel energised and ready to take on the world!

We left the markets at about 10.45am and headed for my final destination - the Chicklet family home!

After a warm family greeting, it took Adoring Husband quite a while to unpack the car of my suitcase, camera bag, laptop, esky full of food and drink from home and then all the shopping from the markets. Anyone would think I was staying for a month!! Oh!! Wait!! I am!!

Much to Chicklet's dismay, the first few hours were NOT all about her because Vegan Chickie and I only had a few hours til she left for the airport, so we had lots of news and gossip to catch up on, as well as instructions and explanations for the coming few weeks.

It was very frustrating for Chicklet but we eventually farewelled Vegan Chickie as she climbed aboard the airport shuttle bus, and this meant Chicklet could have my undivided attention. Mama had left her a little box of goodies to open after she left, which had a tiny lego figurine and four kinder surprise toys inside it.

We spent some time putting the toys together and playing with them. Then we joined the dots on the dragon picture in her new dragon story book.

She decided that she did not want dinner, but instead wanted to lie on the couch eating grapes and playing on her iPad. She did this while I ate my second salad of the day.

We cleared all of the toys and mess out of the lounge room, had a bath, read the new dragon book, talked about our day and after a while I had to get tough with her and tell her to be quiet and go to sleep! Which she did!

That was my cue to tidy the kitchen and unpack my suitcase, climb into my pyjamas, phone Adoring Husband to wish him good night and then get comfortable in my cosy bed. It's quite chilly here on the Sunny Coast. I even had to search for a jacket earlier in the evening.

I now have all of my electronic devices plugged in and charging.

I just looked at the clock. I thought it was about 9.30 - 10pm. It's 11.15pm! I'm off to get some sleep. I have a feeling that I'm going to need it!

Vegan Chickie should have boarded her plane by now. Her flight is due to depart at 11.30pm.

Happy and safe travelling my lovely daughter!

Nite all.

List Checked

Made a list and luckily I checked it twice, because I missed a task or two!

I've got my washing up to date.

I've prepared 18 days worth of meals for the dogs.

I've got my ironing up to date.

I'm partially packed.

I did the printouts for Vegan Chickie.

I packed the games/toys/stickers for Chicklet.

I've prepared ten meals for Adoring Husband.

Cleaned out the fridge.

I found my sunglasses!!! (not in the fridge)

Thanks to Adoring Husband who spent a good deal of time today helping me search for my sunglasses, my reading glasses and my black glasses case. We still haven't found my reading glasses or glasses case. The sunglasses were on the floor behind the couch.

*two hours later*

I JUST FOUND MY READING GLASSES AND BLACK CASE!!!

In one of the handbags that I had already searched through twice! Under the tissues.

Thanks to The Nikonian for suggesting that I check my handbags. I told her that I had already looked, but then I decided to try there one more time.

So in the space of six hours, I have gone from only having one pair of distance glasses in my possession, to having all three pairs back in my hot little hands. I'm so happy!

Disaster averted.

Now I need to go finish packing and hopefully get an early-ish night. We hope to get an early start tomorrow morning.

Nite all.

Bit of a Date

Today was a bit of a date day with Adoring Husband. No movie, but some grocery shopping and a pleasant lunch at Arkarra Tea Gardens was a great way to spend the day.

Arkarra was incredibly busy and by the time we ordered, there was a 45 minute wait on meals. Soon after, we overheard them tell the customers who were served after us that they had a 60 minute wait!

We did NOT have to wait for the entire 45 minutes and we enjoyed our GF Salt and Pepper Calamari with salad very much.

The day seemed to fly by so quickly!

AH even accompanied me to the Bowl's Club this evening! I had a win on the pokies, but we had no luck with any other of our gambling pursuits. The raffle, Lotsapots, 100 club, Member's draw, Keno, Spin and Win ... all equivalent to 'big fat fail'.

I've made a 'to do' list for tomorrow and a list of packing requirements.

I wish I had something more exciting to share, but I am well and truly ready for bed. It's only 11pm, which is pretty early for me, but I'm done. I'll try to make up for it tomorrow night.

So ... nite all.

Fiery Threat

There was a large bushfire on the outskirts of our town yesterday, which burned through the night and proved difficult for the fire brigade to bring under control. This photo is not mine and was taken from a local property, so it got quite close!

Adoring Husband spent the night at the SES shed providing support for the fieries and didn't climb into bed until after 4am. He spent more time at the shed today and unfortunately there was some unexpected extra work to do with his maintenance job, which he had to attend to this afternoon, so he is exhausted and is currently sleeping in his recliner chair as I type this.

The fieries were successful in their endeavours to kill the fire before it reached any buildings, so we can all rest easy, but now the investigation begins into how it started. They suspect arson.

Meanwhile, my editing skills have been sought to repair or improve a photo that was poorly taken. I don't think I can make much of an improvement, but I'll try (like I have extra time before I go away to do this!). There are times when 'no' should be my appropriate response.

I've been searching through the official trailers of movies that will be released in 2017 and sadly, there are MANY superhero and marvel movies. Plenty of science fiction and horror movies. Very few romances or comedies - well none that have trailers or previews right now anyway.

I'm looking forward to the new Bridget Jones movie that will be released on 15th September. I will be on the Sunny Coast, but I have a date booked to see it with Adoring Husband upon my return!

Three more sleeps til I see my little Chicklet!!

So much to do, so little time! I need a 'to do' list ... we all know how successful my 'to do' lists are!

I'll think about it tomorrow. Right now, it's time for bed.

Nite all.

A Bit of Programming

I have been very unwell all afternoon. I don't know if it was something that I ate, but my tummy has been very unhappy for a good six hours now and it's most unpleasant.

It's well after midnight and I've wanted to go to bed for some time, but I was just too uncomfortable. I am now much improved, so I'm heading to bed momentarily.

Adoring Husband is on SES duty, as a deliberately lit bushfire roars out of control in our local area. We can see the glow of the flames from our house, but luckily, the weather is quite mild with no strong winds, so hopefully they can control it soon. AH expects to be out all night.

I found this very interesting video this evening ...



The need to conform is strong in some people, less so in others, but this is quite confronting and makes you think! Well, I HOPE it makes you think! I think we need fewer conformists and more rebels or free thinkers.

Anyway, the psychotic dogs are harassing me to go to bed, so I'm off.

Nite all.

Feel The Love

This is the song that Adoring Husband and I played while we were signing the register at the completion of our wedding vows. I just love it and it always makes me feel emotional when I hear it.



I actually got out and about today. I went for a ride and finally got to visit The Motivator and her Mum, who is still here on her extended holiday. I took a dozen eggs to her and she responded by giving me a sand crab and a bottle of delicious green salad dressing!

I worked on some photo editing .. learned how to use some presets and actions .. but just when I was ready to use them on some real photos, I got a phone call from Chicklet and Vegan Chickie!!

I was happy to put the editing on hold so that I could chat with them for about 45 minutes. Only five more sleeps until I get to spend about three weeks with Chicklet while she babysits me!

After our phone call, it was time to cook dinner and then I was in for an evening of trashy TV viewing, after massaging some healing oil into AH's aching joints.

'Married at First Sight', 'Winners and Losers', '800 Words'.

I'm looking forward to lunch with the ladies tomorrow!

Here it is 11.30pm already and it's time for bed.

Nite all!

Never Too Late

Every now and then, we all need a little inspiration. 

... and one more for added interest ... It's never too late

So I'm just going to keep trying different things until I find something at which I am brilliant.

It's been another quiet day for me .. no motivation to try anything that I might be brilliant at lol.

I edited another of Mardi's photos ...

My brain seems to be fuzzing and fizzing and frazzling and generally being uncooperative. Poor food choices, not enough sleep, not enough sunshine and not enough activity. 

I've lost my sunglasses, so if there are any clairvoyants out there who might have an idea about where I should look ... feel free to speak up!

Having mentioned that I'm not getting enough sleep, here we are at midnight as I sign off.

Ugh.

Nite all.

A Bit Blurgh

I've been feeling a bit blurgh today.

You know. Just one of those days.

Nothing bad has happened.

Apart from a quick ride to get coffee, I hibernated with the windows closed and the blinds drawn.

I bet some of these songs trigger some long lost memories for you ...



Who knew that 1970 was such a good year? I was 10 years old, but I know most of these songs, and there are some real legends here - gone but not forgotten.

Let's hope for a brighter, happier day tomorrow.

Nite all.

What List?

I made a list in yesterday's blog post about all the things that I was going to get done over the weekend, while Adoring Husband was at First Aid Training.

I bet you can guess how many of those things I've done today.

If you guessed 'none', you would be so wrong!!

If you guessed 'all of them', you would also be so wrong!!

I did one of those items on the list.

Let me refresh your memory. I planned on editing photos, experimenting with ginger, cleaning, visiting the motivator and spending long mornings in bed.

I bet you can guess NOW, what part of the list got done.

Yes! I had a long lazy morning in bed. Haha.

It was a glorious Winter's day and I didn't waste it completely. At midday, I jumped on my trike and headed to the river, where I rode along the path and took in the sights.

There were a LOT of families and couples walking along the path, and quite a number of them eating ice cream cones that they'd bought from our local ice cream vendor.

The tide was low and on it's way in, so there was plenty of beach available and people were standing along the edge of the water with their fishing rods and buckets enjoying the sunshine and testing their luck.

The Council Caravan Park is quite full with visiting tourists at the moment and many of them were sitting in groups, in their folding chairs, overlooking the river, discussing their recent travels.

There were many people out on the sand flats at the mouth of the river, throwing sticks for their pets or playing ball or chasing each other through the huge puddles of salt water or collecting shells or just strolling hand in hand with their partner.

Before I returned home, I picked up a few groceries to replenish the stocks of coconut milk & cream that I'd used for the curries on Thursday night.

After my hit of Vitamin D, I hibernated in the lounge room and watched a couple of episodes of Grace and Frankie before the football started.

I've only got one of my tips wrong this week so far, but it's enough to put me out of the running for any prizes in the competition. This means, unfortunately, I'm now just in it for the thrill of beating most of the men in the tipping comp. That's ok too!

Tonight, now that the last game of the day is over, I'm watching one of my favourite movies. "It Could Happen to You" with Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. It's such a feel good movie.

Looking forward to waking up tomorrow and feeling motivated enough to do all the other things on my list.

Nite all.

All Over Red Rover

Another family holiday done and dusted.

After twelve days of fun and sunshine, Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour flew home this morning.

The psychotic dogs are missing them very much, especially Jack, who has been absolutely spoilt rotten and molly coddled beyond all recognition.

It's now very quiet in our house and Adoring Husband has a big weekend of First Aide training happening with the SES so I will have the house to myself. I plan on editing photos, experimenting with ginger, cleaning, visiting The Motivator and spending long mornings in bed.

I didn't get a chance to post here last night because we all had a very late night.

We invited Best Cousin in the World and Marco Polo to our place to meet Bubbles and KISA for the first time. What started out as a planned barbecue with salads, Adoring Husband as the cook, ended up being a full day in the kitchen for me, because AH was required at SES training for the evening.

KISA is not a cook, not even on the barbecue, and I didn't want my guests to have to cook their own dinner, so I opted to cook a couple of curries. Curries are not my forte. I cook a reasonable Butter Chicken. That's it.

BCITW and MP are Indian Food connoisseurs, and I did not remember this fact until my pots were on the stove simmering away, at which point, I regretted my decision immediately. *rolls eyes*

Anyway, I did a Beef Rendang and a Butter Chicken, with boiled rice, Naan bread and natural yoghurt with cucumber and coriander. They turned out quite nice, though not as full of flavour as the Indian Restaurants, but acceptable.

For dessert, it was chocolate mud cake with chocolate icing and sprinkled with candied pecans. The pecans were candied with maple syrup mixed with a ginger powder that I made with BCITW's and MP's ginger from their farm.

I marinated slices of ginger in a flavoured balsamic vinegar, then dehydrated it in the oven and then ground it to a powder in the food processor. To taste it on it's own, it was very strong and very hot, with a sweet tangy flavour. Because of the strength of heat and flavour, I only used one teaspoon of the powder in three tablespoons of maple syrup.

I drizzled that mixture over pecans and cooked in a hot oven for 12 minutes. After it cools, the syrup mixture hardens to toffee and then I chop the pecans and toffee into small pieces, and then sprinkled it over the icing on the cake.

Surprisingly, the ginger could barely be tasted, so next time, I will add a couple more teaspoons of the ginger powder.

After dinner, and while we were affected by an unknown number of alcoholic beverages, we played Cards Against Humanity. It started out very even, with each of us winning a game. I'm sure MP hit the lead there a number of times, but in the end, I was the victor! Which just shows how sick my mind is!

A good time was had by all and Adoring Husband came home in time to join in for an hour before he had to go collapse in bed.

Everybody went to bed, except for BCITW and I. We sat up talking until 1.30am (I'm certain that she wanted to go to bed at least an hour earlier, but was too kind to tell me to shut up and go to bed!). I could have written a blog post because I lay in bed for almost two hours not able to sleep. It was almost 3.30am when I finally fell asleep.

We drove the kids to the airport this morning, washed the car in The Bay, did a little grocery shopping and came home with just enough time to enjoy a coffee and some nibbles before getting ready for the club.

Tonight, I won $80 on the keno, two pots in the 'lotsapots' and a pie pack in the raffle, which consisted of a large curry pie and a large apple pie direct from the bakery.

I arrived home in time to watch my team, the Brisbane Broncos, defeat the top team in the competition, the Melbourne Storm!! Yeeha!!

Now, it's well after midnight and I am off to bed. I'm exhausted.

I can't believe that I did not get one photo of Bubbles and I together while she was here!

Nite all.  

Pausing the Binge

I am not binge watching tonight! Tempting though it is! I need a good night's sleep. Frankie and Grace will have to wait.

Surprisingly, after yesterday's activities in Bundaberg, the kids are feeling the pain today. They discovered muscles where they forgot they had muscles. Even more surprisingly, Adoring Husband and I are not!

Our own Australian version of Cards Against Humanity arrived in the mail today, so we played for a few hours this afternoon. Best Cousin in the World is visiting us tomorrow, to meet Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour, so we plan on introducing her and Marco Polo to the game. I hope that their sense of humour is as sick as I imagine it to be!

AH and I spent the morning in The Bay attending the yearly financial planner appointment. Quite dull really.

The weather has turned from glorious mild Wintry sunshine, to overcast with intermittent downpours of cool rain and bursts of gale force winds. Tomorrow is going to be 5C cooler than today, which is fine by me. I LOVE the cooler weather. It will be nice to lie in bed late again tomorrow and perhaps Adoring Husband will bring me coffee to start my day on a perfectly wonderful note!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a busy few days for us, so I'd like to start it in my happy place :)

Right now, it's time to drag the psychotic dogs out of Bubble's and KISA's room and put them to bed. Then it's time for me to follow suit. My pillow awaits me.

Nite all.

Bundy Tuesdy

After another late night (or should I say early morning) of binge watching 'Grace and Frankie', I struggled to get out of bed this morning. REALLY struggled.

We agreed, last night, to leave home at 8.30am to reach Bundaberg before 10am.

I got out of bed at 8.20am, showered and dressed and was sitting in the car by by 8.45am, which I thought was pretty good going.

There was a lot of traffic on the road, and also a lot of roadworks, but we had a pretty good run, stopping along the way at Childers to get coffee, before reaching Bundaberg by 10.20am.

The Bundy Bowl and Leisure Centre was our destination, where we planned a family fun day.

First game off the rank, was Jurassic Putt Putt ...

Knight in Shining Armour won that round. Thanks to one VERY VERY bad hole for me, I came last!!

Next game was 10 Pin Bowling ...

We played two games and Adoring Husband won that round by a long way! It was a lot of fun, but I've decided that it's NOT like riding a bike (although AH might disagree).

Next, we tried Laser Tag. AH and I have never attempted this activity before and I have to admit, I was dubious and hesitant, but it was actually a lot of fun. Adoring Husband said he's never seen me run so much and we are all preparing ourselves for sore muscles tomorrow after 30 minutes of fast and furious war games!

Unfortunately, the packs on two of our vests didn't register any activity, so Bubbles and I didn't get a score for our efforts. Knight in Shining Armour won that round, even though only he and AH got a score.

To compensate for our failed packs, the girl gave us $20 worth of tokens for the games arcade, where, between us, we won 264 tickets, which we traded for a number of dinosaur related toys and will give to Chicklet at the next visit!

We left the leisure centre at about 1.20pm and drove around the corner to The Waves Sports Club in search of some lunch.

What a nice club it is! The staff were all very friendly and welcoming and the atmosphere was lovely. AH and I both had Veal Scallopini with salad for lunch, which was GF and delicious. Bubbles and KISA shared some hot chips and cheese/bacon/garlic focaccia bread, which they seemed to enjoy.

The bathroom at the club was so classy and beautiful, I was tempted to take a chair in there, just to sit and feel the ambience!

We left Bundaberg for a good run home, stopping again at The Drunk Bean in Childers for another of their delicious coffees.

The psychotic dogs were very excited to see us arrive home at around 4.30pm.

I think the day well and truly wore us all out, but I believe that 'Grace and Frankie' may get another workout tonight, if I can just find my second wind!!

I'm about to cook up some quick tacos for dinner.

Nite all.

Shop til we Drop

Adoring Husband had a busy day today, so the kids and I went in to The Bay for some retail therapy.

Each time we left a shop with arms full of shopping bags, Knight in Shining Armour would take the bags to the car and we would start again!

Because of this tactic, we didn't feel like we did that much shopping ... until we arrived home and began emptying the car!!

It felt like the week before Christmas .. you know how you rush out to buy those last minute gifts? The car was chocka-block!!

I ALMOST bought two pairs of shoes. Common sense prevailed.

It was a full day of shopping and I think that I almost wore the kids out ... rookies. I'm yet to find anyone who can outshop me and still have energy to burn haha!!

We have a day of fun planned for tomorrow, which I will explain in full at the end of the day and I hope to have some interesting pics to share as well.

Last night I binge watched 'Grace and Frankie' on Netflix (thanks to Bubbles) and I still have more episodes to watch. It stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda and Martin Sheen and is only available for viewing on Netflix. What a great show! I watched it for four hours!

Thanks to the Cronulla Sharks football team, I missed a perfect round in the footy tipping this week (along with 11 other people!). Not happy Jan!

I'm off to watch some more G&F (even though I have a big day tomorrow) because I'm hooked.

Nite all.

Catch Up Sunday

Can you believe that I stayed in bed til lunch time today!?

I had an early night, but slept til 9am and then stayed in bed until after noon, reading and playing games on my iPad. It was especially nice because of the mild Winter weather.

By the time I got up, I had just enough time to do a baked Sunday dinner of butterflied lamb with veg and gravy, before getting ready for drinks at The Blonde Bombshell's house.

Bubbles and I spent a couple of hours enjoying the company of my good friends before texting Adoring Husband to come pick us up. We took the Cards Against Humanity game with us because I thought we would all get a good laugh, but Chef Pat was in attendance and her poor eyesight prevents her from reading ... I don't think she would have enjoyed sitting on the side lines watching us play this crude game.

We all had a light dinner and then laughed over some more Cards Against Humanity.

I've enjoyed my day of rest.

A big week has been planned for the remainder of our time with Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour, so I'd best get some beauty sleep. It's after 1.30am!!

Nite all.

Marketeers

It has been a big day, with five hours of travelling, three hours of marketing and a quick hour+ visit to the Chicklet family.

I started the day feeling quite unwell, after an uncomfortable night with broken sleep, nausea was my enemy as I climbed into the car to start our day.

I rubbed some peppermint essential oil into both Bubble's and my wrists, which helped much more than I expected. I still felt uncomfortable, but at least the nausea was gone. We may have picked up a minor tummy bug somewhere. The boys were ok.

The sun had only just appeared when we left town and the fog was very thick this morning. Sometimes we could barely see the road in front of us, but surprisingly, it had cleared by the time we passed the Maryborough turnoff.

We arrived at Eumundi Markets before 8.30am and the weather was perfect. We paid for our parking and went in search of some good bargains. Bubbles and KISA went their way, while Adoring Husband and I went ours and we agreed on a meeting place by 11am - unless we wanted to continue shopping.

I bought a necklace, a hat and a framed quote from A.A.Milne. Bubbles suggested a 'Flash' cape for Chicklet and I also found a Lego-like Batman toy.

For an early lunch, Adoring Husband and I found a French food stall and had GF buckwheat chicken, mushroom and cheese crepes. They were huge and I could eat only half of mine. It was also delicious, but after we'd eaten, I discovered that there was a stall selling Monica Topliss food, which is much closer to Paleo than anything else at the markets.

KISA had a baby possum fall out of a tree and land on his shoe! That was the most exciting thing to happen to any of us today!

I'm always surprised by how many people attend Eumundi Markets. I don't think they ever have a quiet day and the crowds were huge today, to the point that I was getting annoyed at being hindered and jostled during my stroll through the alleyways.

After we left the markets, we drove to Noosa Civic to get coffee and treats to take to Vegan Chickie and then made our way to their house.

Chicklet was very excited to see us and loved her presents. She ran around the house wearing The Flash mask (but not the cape, which she gave to her Mama to wear). Bubbles, Poppy and I all had our fair share of time with Chicklet, playing paleontologists in the sandpit, checking out the new safe place in the wardrobe with the twinkling lights, playing catch in the playroom with the giant ball, swinging on the swing and creating Jurassic World with all the dinosaurs on the lounge room floor.

All too soon, it was time to head home, much to Chicklet's distress.

It always seems like a longer trip going home, than when you're heading to the destination, but finally we arrived home a bit after 4pm. Just enough time to feed the dogs and begin preparing dinner, which was Butter Chicken with Rice and Naan bread (for the kids).

It's been a relaxing evening watching the football and planning on our lazy, sleeping in start to Sunday.

It has been a good day, but it was long and we were all very happy to get home.

We will all sleep well tonight.

Nite all.

A Quiet Friday

Just a quick update.

It was a very quiet Friday. I think we were saving our energy for tomorrow.

It will be an early start for a big day. We'll be driving to the Sunny Coast for a day at Eumundi Markets and then a quick visit to Vegan Chickie and Chicklet before heading home.

Bubbles came to the club with me tonight, but we were not lucky in any of the gambling events. Not Keno, not pokies, not lotsapots, not the raffle.

I am two from two with this week's footy tips. It's a good start .. let's hope it's a good finish too!

That's it!

So I'm off to bed for an early night .. we will be up with the sun tomorrow morning.

Nite all.

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.