Amazeballs!

Who'da thunk that both semi finals of football would be decided by just one point?!

Amazing football = Amazeballs!

Very exciting for we footy fans.

I've had a pretty great day all by myself.

My alarm went off at 4.15am - I was Adoring Husband's back up if he slept through his own alarm, but he was already up and about when mine sounded - so I went back to sleep, only to be woken again at about 4.45am when he kissed me goodbye (not complaining about the goodbye kiss).

THEN I was woken AGAIN when my permanent alarm went off at 6am *sigh*

At 7am, I dragged my sorry butt out of bed and made my hot lemon water and my broth, then I cooked up some bacon which I ate with some toast.

It looked like such a beautiful day, so I made myself presentable and rode to the river (without my camera) ...

... it was indeed beautiful!

I was listening to my music and couldn't help but sing and dance with my trike as I pedalled, winding all over the rode. Luckily I have rear view mirrors to see if anyone is coming behind me!

I pedalled to the beach and walked into the water, up to my knees, where I danced for a while and then did my Superhero pose and I told the Universe exactly what I want in my immediate future. The Universe twinkled and nodded in agreement with my wishes, so I know my future is looking pretty rosy!!

After I'd soaked up my share of Vitamin D and finished grounding with the salt water and the sand, I realised that it was well after noon, so I bought myself a coffee and did some grocery shopping before making a quick visit to The Motivator at the shop.

We talked business and had a quick catch up before I helped her close the shop and I scooted home.

I had big plans for housework today, but I chose instead to start a new diary, do some study, watch a new series on Netflix, ordered some new snap jewellery for the shop, created our ad for the newsletter  and then watched the football.

I'll work on that housework tomorrow!

Meanwhile ...

Now it's time for sleeping. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Oh! Here is that top that I ordered the other day! I showed the girls at morning tea, so they know what it really looks like ... NOTHING like this!!

Nite all.

Pushed It

I had made plans to go into The Bay with Adoring Husband today, but I really wanted to cancel and stay in bed all day.

BUT ...

I pushed myself to get moving and we had a lovely morning together in The Bay.

Our 'to do' list included stopping at Office Works, MBO Office Equipment, Gypsies Tramps and Thieves clothing store, Go Natural, Bunnings (ugh) and Beacon Lighting.

From Office Works, I bought some stationery for the shop.  AH ordered some office stuff for SES from MBO Office Equipment.  I bought two beautiful tops from Gypsies Tramps and Thieves. Go Natural supplied us with organic celery and ginger, organic macadamia nuts and almond meal. We selected some colours to paint the outdoor kitchen in Bunnings and we picked up our outdoor fan for the pool gazebo from Beacon Lighting.

We were home before 1pm, in time to make some lunch before AH had to be at the SES shed to prepare for their big weekend on Fraser Island.

I pedalled down to visit The Motivator at the shop and to buy a cucumber for dinner - which we didn't even use - then returned in time to make myself presentable for my usual Friday night at the club.

It was our unluckiest night so far! Nobody won a thing... except Lady Lynn who won $50 on the spin and win but wasn't even there to accept her prize! All of us who were in attendance left the club as LOSERS.

Very unusual.

Adoring Husband's footy team, Cronulla Sharks, won their semi final match against Penrith Panthers tonight by just one point. What a game!

My thumb has improved somewhat. It still looks disgusting, but the pain has eased considerably. Don't get me wrong, it still hurts, but nothing like the last couple of days. I wish I had the guts to stick a needle in it to ease the pressure, but I'm hoping my body will fix it over time.

This is me, ready for the club, wearing one of my new tops (which you can hardly see anyway) and showing off my new evening bag that The Motivator gifted me from Bali! Nice!!

Now it's time for bed.

Nite all.

Misery Guts

That's me.

Misery guts.

I have an infected thumb - caused by some torn skin ...

I know right?! Pretty gross hey?

My apologies if you are currently eating your breakfast or drinking your first cup of tea. That's not a pleasant sight so early in the morning.

I'm coating it in colloidal silver gel every couple of hours, drinking lots of filtered water and taking probiotics - I sat in the sun this morning to get some Vit D to help my immune system and did some 'grounding' along the beach for about thirty minutes.

It's tight and swollen and throbbing BUT it hasn't deteriorated during the day. Hopefully, that's a good sign.

It is, however, probably contributing to my feelings of lethargy and tiredness. I've spent the afternoon in bed reading and resting so hopefully, tomorrow will see some renewed vim and vigor!

I definitely feel a bit run down.

The beach was beautiful this morning with the tide rising and a few people soaking up the sun as they fished, walked, sat and metal detected! There was a woman around my age walking along the beach in a bikini and I smiled a good morning with admiration in my eyes and wondered if I would even be brave enough to do that in my own back yard.

After I'd grounded myself, I pedalled very slowly along the river and noticed how many boats were moored in the water. When my morning routine included sitting at the boat ramp, there were about 23-24 boats always moored, but I counted 29 boats this morning. I wonder if it's the weather bringing them in for safety?

I took a little video of the duck family on my way home, which I hope I can remember to share tomorrow night - my phone is flat and charging right now.

Adoring Husband spent more time painting in his outdoor kitchen and we had our main meal at lunch time because he is at SES training tonight. Lamb cutlets and salad was delicious.

It's just after 8.30pm and I'm hoping some solid sleep will help my body heal itself.

Have a fabulous Friday.

Nite all.

Oh the Pain!

Meditation was marvellous ... as usual.

I spent a couple of hours debriefing and bringing The Motivator up to speed on the last twelve days that she hasn't been at the shop.

She told me all about the retreat and some of the things that she learned, as well as a few things that she saw and experienced in Bali. It sounded fantastic and amazing.

I booked in with The Gypsy for her 12.15 appt, but went in about twenty minutes early.

Every nerve, every muscle, every joint was tender and tight and sore.

Apparently, my liver, kidneys and spleen are struggling at the moment (as they were previously), which is why I'm so sore everywhere, so I have a list of foods that I should eat to help ease the stress. I also have some stretching exercises to help release and cleanse the sludge from my adrenals and to loosen the tightness in my 'bits'. I will do more meditations at home, do some walking on the flat sand of the beach and when the pool is complete, she will give me some more gentle exercises to do with buoyancy.

I could have stayed on that table for another hour. It bloody hurt, but at the same time, I could feel it doing so much good as everything loosened up.

I pedalled straight home, made some lunch and then parked my butt on the couch.

At around 5pm I had to lie down because I couldn't keep my eyes open and I fell asleep immediately and didn't stir for about an hour!

Adoring Husband reheated last night's leftovers because I wasn't hungry for dinner and now, at 10.30pm, I am ready for some more sleep. I'm thinking that a warm bath with Epsom salts would have been helpful, but sleep is more of a draw card for me right now.

I'm looking forward to some time off to relax and take care of me.

It all starts right now.

Nite all.

 

Terrible Tuesday

Here are the reasons that Tuesday was terrible ...

I didn't fall asleep until 3am.

I was woken by an emergency that sent the adrenalin pumping at 5am.

I couldn't go back to sleep after that.

It was busy in the shop, but only two paying customers.

The white top that I ordered online arrived and it's the most disgusting item of clothing that I've ever laid eyes on!! My Tuesday morning girls can confirm that!

I had a huge mess to clean in the training room (self inflicted) in preparation for meditation on Wednesday.

I had to vacuum the shop because it hadn't been done for over a week.

I couldn't find a box big enough to finish packing the stand for the editing screen.

I spilled lots of little pieces of paper/plastic out of a binding machine AFTER I had vacuumed and packed everything away.

It's bin day and I had to empty all the bins in the shop and take the sulo out the front - groan - I was soooooo tired by this time.

While I was bringing in the flags at the end of the day, a huge gust of wind swept up the driveway and lifted my top almost over my head!!

I was so tired by the end of the day, my body was aching and I couldn't think straight.

Here are the reasons that Tuesday was great ...

Morning coffee with the girls.

I met Ivy - I don't know how old she was but she earned her first dollar in 1934!

I'm going to be in bed before 9pm.

Nite all.

Mondayitis

I had a bit of Mondayitis today.

I felt a bit discombobulated and my energy was a bit low.

I think it's the change of season.

It was good to see The Motivator appear after lunch. She had a big smile with sparkly eyes and was obviously feeling pretty amazing after her Journey retreat in Bali. She will come back to work on Wednesday.

Business in the shop was pretty normal for a Monday and there are a few new holiday makers here for a couple of weeks. There were also a couple of people come in for a final bit of retail therapy before jumping in their cars to head home - more often than not, South.

Lots of men - husbands, boyfriends, brothers and fathers in today so I'm feeling that the females who were with them will return later in the week on their own, as is the usual pattern. A female's biggest money block is almost always a man.

The Gypsy had a full day of bookings so we didn't get to chat as much as usual, but we did sit in the seats outside the shop in the warm sunshine for about twenty minutes in the morning before her first appointment which was nice.

Adoring Husband had SES duties this morning but then returned home to help Kiwi Bernie do some more work on the outdoor kitchen which is coming along nicely.

I stood in the back yard with AH trying to picture the image that I've created in my head - but it's easier to see it in my head than it is to visualise it in my back yard. It feels like the pool is still a long way off! Time goes so slowly when you want it NOW.

Most of my girls are away tomorrow, so I don't know who will be having coffee with me in the morning. I think it will be a small and intimate coffee date!

It's rapidly approaching midnight, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Gratitude

So I found my old 'Gratitude' journal!

I haven't written in the journal since July 2017.

I have written many words of gratitude in many other places, like my diary, facebook, other journals (of which I have MANY), scrap paper and here sometimes, but not in the journal which I have for that specific purpose.

I've been thinking about all the things that I have felt grateful for in the last year and am sharing them with you in this post.

I'm grateful for ...

*  An amazing business that brings happiness to my life.

*  A business partner and friend whose strengths and weaknesses balance out my own strengths and weaknesses and between us, we make a great team that has built the amazing business that I just mentioned.

*  The perfect peaceful workspace that has a wonderful atmosphere that people comment on all the time - in a good way.

*  A supportive community who appreciates the services that we provide.

*  Beautiful friends who support me, not only through their retail therapy at the shop, but also with their words of encouragement, advice and emotional support. Our coffee mornings are one of my great loves.

*  My photography skills that have brought extra income to the business from selling my work and through the workshops.

*  Adoring Husband, who is our constant strong support and who, without question, pitches in as the best 'Personal Assistant' that a girl could want.

*  My strong relationship with The Motivator as we grow our business together. It's a noteworthy achievement to create a successful business with so many extra branches while still maintaining a friendship that was strong, yet young, at the beginning of this process. We often announce how proud we are of ourselves and each other.

*  My friendship/connection with The Gypsy and her meditation classes that have provided me with many 'aha' moments, adding a calmness to my life while helping me release lots of negative stuff.

*  The painful physical suffering that my body inflicts on me when I've strayed too far from my health goals and my will to get back on track when I realise my blunder.

*  The shared excitement with AH as we create/design/imagine our new leisure space in the back yard and as we get closer to the pool build.

*  My admiration for AH as he takes on his new role within the SES with such a positive outlook. I know that he struggles sometimes with the symptoms of Parkinson's, but he doesn't allow that to hold him back and he always seems to find a way to balance his health needs with everything else that he loves and needs to do, in a responsible way.

*  My kids, who are as healthy as they can be considering their choice of diet and lifestyle (I know they are rolling their eyes as they read this) and for being strong independent creatures - depending on how you look at it, I can take the credit or the blame for that haha. I absolutely love them all and admire them from a vast distance.

*  My beautifully perfect Chicklet - there are no words.

*  My life that is full of ease and comfort and the freedom to choose what's right for me and what makes me happy.

*  Adoring Husband (again) for empowering me and teaching me that my choices are important, that I should never feel guilty for doing what's right for me and for supporting my need to spend all day Sunday in bed doing whatever makes me happy!

*  The Universe for supporting all of my positive choices, for helping me manifest so much happiness (both physical and spiritual) and for bringing me more of what makes me happiest.

  
The smallest things, like expressing gratitude really do make such a huge difference in your life.

It's only lunch time Sunday as I write this and now it's time to erect some signage at the shop, so I must get out of bed and make myself presentable to the world.

Afternoon all.

Zawsted

I have not been taking good care of my health during this last couple of weeks.

My water intake and my food intake has been minimal. I haven't put enough nutrients in my body to support the hours that I'm working and I'm feeling very tired.

Self inflicted.

At least I recognise my mistake and am taking steps to remedy the situation. It'll take a few days, but I'll focus properly and get myself back on track.

I was up early this morning and arrived at the markets a little after 8am where I found my jewellery lady and picked up my three new freshwater pearl bracelets.

Then I got a little carried away. In the short time before I had to open The Happy Abode, and because everyone was up for a chat, I only got to visit two stalls, but I bought up big at both of the stalls and bought lots of jewellery - because I don't have enough of that already *insert sarcastic tone here*

At five to nine, I gasped as I realised how much time had passed and I needed to be somewhere else! So I pedalled as fast as my little legs could go (into a strong head wind!) and made it with a minute to spare.

I thought I would be able to close the door for five minutes and go buy my morning coffee, but the customers arrived early so I had to wait almost 30 minutes before I had a chance to do that.

As soon as I returned with my coffee, customers came thick and fast!

Adoring Husband arrived with my broth at about 10am but it was after 10.30 before I could stop to thank him and say good morning because the shop was full and busy. I think there were about a dozen people in the shop at one point, which was a bit intimidating for me serving all by myself. But I managed perfectly well.

It was busy until about midday and the final hour of the day was quiet enough for me to tidy up a few loose ends, but I was so tired by close of business, I didn't do any of the things that I'd planned, like vacuuming and tidying up the training room which is full of packaging and the carpet is a disaster.

Adoring Husband and I are going to erect one of the signs on the fence tomorrow (Sunday) so I'll take the opportunity to make the shop more presentable then ... even though I'd rather do this ... 

AH helped me close the shop and we did some grocery shopping before heading home.

I chopped up the fruit - watermelon and pineapple - that I'd bought to make slushies on Sunday, bagged them and put them in the freezer.

Watermelon, pineapple, lime and mint slushies. Yum.

Then it was time to sit down, put my feet up and relax for the afternoon.

Dinner was salted, maple chicken thighs with sweet potato mash and stuffed zucchini. Pretty quick and easy. 

It's only 8pm but I think I'm going to get some sleep now. I may watch some of the Sharks vs Roosters game before I go, but I won't last long.

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday.

Nite all.

Ending The Week

What a game!!

The first final between Melbourne Storm and South Sydney Rabbitohs was an absolute blinder tonight and was decided by just one point. Melbourne won 29 - 28. I'm happy to say that I tipped Melbourne, as did Adoring Husband, which puts him two points behind the leader of the tipping comp!

Anything could happen!

It was a beautiful Spring day which brought lots of people out and about and made for a nice steady day at the shop. There is a big 70th birthday coming up for someone in town (I have no idea who) and a number of customers came into the shop looking for a gift for that special person.

AH and I spent the afternoon trying to package up a big Cintiq editing screen to send safely in the mail on Monday. It was a tough job and luckily there was lots of cardboard, foam and bubble wrap at the shop to assist us in this task. Fingers crossed that we've done a good job.

The local markets are on in town tomorrow and I need to go there before I open the shop to pick up some jewellery that I commissioned a lady at last month's markets to make for me. She sent me a text today to advise that my order is ready.

It was a lucky night for everyone at the club with lots of raffle wins for our table and a win for me on the pokies.

Now I need to get some sleep.

Nite all.  

Beeby Ducks!!

You have to say the word 'Beeby' in a very high pitched squealy voice.

Beeby duckies!!!!

I was riding home from work this afternoon when I happened across this gorgeous little family of ducks on somebody's front lawn.

So I quickly rode home, dumped my work bags, picked up my camera bag and hightailed it back to where I saw them.

Apparently there were originally nine ducklings (according to the man in the house whose yard they were accommodating), but today there were only eight.

It was a great day in the shop and here is the framed Tawny Frogmouth photo that I sold to a very happy customer.

It looks so good, I want the same sized photo framed and hanging on my wall at home.

My flights and accommodation have been paid for the wedding that I'm photographing on Melbourne Cup weekend, so I'm all set for that one.

The owner of Cenzoni came to the shop today. A very young, tall and solid Indian man with whom I shared an animated conversation about Muslims. He was so interesting and I wish he'd had longer to spend here because I could easily have chatted all afternoon! He was a very nice young man.

It's almost 10pm and I need to sleep now.

Nite all.

I Told You So!!

I sold another photo today!

Go me!

This one ...

... I've sold two of that photo in the last week, so I've printed three more and will have one of them framed. The one I sold today was framed.

Today, I had a giant Tawny Frogmouth photo framed for a customer, which Adoring Husband will pick up for me tomorrow ...

It's my most popular photo to date.

I'm happy to have sold four photos this week. That's pretty cool.

I dropped twenty one photos off at the framers to be framed with mat board, one of them will have a proper frame as well. It's time to switch the photos that have been in the shop for too long

It's all happening in the world of photography!

It was another slow day in the shop. Only two paying customers all day, but they spent very freely, so sales were good.

The weather was wet and windy, which is probably what kept people away.

The Gypsy was in house so we started the day with meditation. Her first appointment was at 9am and her second appointment postponed, so we spent a LOT of time chatting/discussing/analysing as we do.

The new signage for the shop arrived, so now it's time to get them where the world can see them.

The sales rep for Cenzoni phoned to make an appointment for tomorrow so that he can show the new range of leather goods - that should be exciting.

We had a fabulous night at trivia tonight and came in around 4th or 5th. It's always a lot of fun with some snorting laughter and The Blonde Bombshell returned to our table tonight, for the first time since the car accident about 6 months ago. It was good to have her back!

Now it's just about to tick over to midnight and I have to work tomorrow, so I'd best get some sleep.

Nite all.

Out of Sorts

I felt 'out of sorts' from the second that I opened my eyes this morning.

I didn't want to feel that way, so I tried a few different things to snap myself out of it.

I did some deep breathing exercises.

I guzzled some cool water.

I listened to some uplifting music.

I had a shower.

I consumed my morning hot lemon and chicken broth.

I cuddled my psychotic dogs.

I decided to wear bright colours to work.

I thought of all the things for which I feel grateful.

I remembered that it was coffee morning with the girls.

I couldn't snap out of it.

When I got to the shop to buy my morning coffee, somebody asked me how I was and I screwed up my nose and told them "I'm feeling very 'out of sorts' today and I don't know why!" She replied "Well, we all have days like that sometimes. Don't worry too much about it."

That actually helped.

I've been feeling so happy and vibrant lately, I guess I was due for a less than vibrant day. So I stopped worrying about it and just accepted it.

Morning tea with the girls was great and helped lift me somewhat.

A customer picked up and paid for her photos that she had paid a deposit on last week.

A large order of stock arrived (and we all know how much I love it when new stock arrives!), so I spent the afternoon checking the invoice, pricing and figuring out where to display it.

I had to tidy up all of the packaging and prepare for meditation in the morning + it's bin night, so I emptied all of the bins in the shop and filled our sulo to the brim before wheeling it out to the footpath.

I visited the butcher to buy meat for dinner, but got a bit carried away and bought meat for the next four days!

It was about 4pm when I arrived home and I was STILL feeling somewhat out of sorts.

I made dinner of leftovers for Adoring Husband, served with a salad.

It's now 7.30pm and I'm seriously considering a very early night to bed.

I hope that my mood has improved by morning and that tomorrow I'm not feeling so out of sorts.

Nite all.

Hello? Hello?

Hellooooooo?

Is there anybody out there?????

I left the shop three times today to see what was happening on our street.

All of the shops at our end of the street were closed - they've all decided to close on Mondays now - although I think the hairdressing salon is open for a few hours, I'm not sure.

Four of the five shops at the other end were open.

Needless to say it was VERY quiet in The Happy Abode today.

The Gypsy only had one appointment booked, so we spent a lot of time chatting and analysing each other. I love our conversations. They always lead us in the strangest directions and we almost always learn something new about ourselves and each other.

I found my jewellery-making tools and had a brief attempt at weaving some wires, but I didn't get any extended period of free time to focus on the job at hand, so I brought it home to try again, but I'm not in the mood tonight. I'll leave it all at home and wait for the right time - my psyche has to be in just the right place for creativity!

For lunch I mashed up an avocado and added red onion, lemon and salt, then dipped, what the package claimed to be GF, seaweed rice crackers. It was delicious until about 20 minutes later when I had that familiar uncomfortable sickening feeling of gluten intolerance.

Even though the package stated 'gluten free', the ingredients list clearly had 'wheat' listed!

How can they do that?

I've emailed the company. We'll see what happens.

The weather was looking ominous as I rode home this afternoon and there were a couple of cold wet plops on my arms as I rode along, but nothing more than that.

The psychotic dogs were uneasy and a bit whiny this evening and as I walked into the back yard, I could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance, so I was expecting a bit of a storm. Nothing eventuated, but there is some wet weather forecast for this week, so hopefully we'll get some much needed rain.

I recruited my first participant for the next photography workshop today - hopefully the first of many, but not too many. I like my workshops small and intimate.

It's almost 9pm and I think I might climb into bed and do some meditating before sleep.

Nite all.

Secret Sunday

I only did two things outside of the bedroom today.

I made my breakfast to take back to bed with me and I did my washing.

While in bed, I listened to some of an audible book.

Worked on 'the second coming' of the business course that I began earlier this year.

The rest of my day was a secret, so I can't tell you anything!

I can tell you about dinner - I was feeling incredibly lazy, so I put butter, olive oil and crushed garlic on the bottom of a pan. Lay boneless thigh fillets skin side up in the pan. Ground some pink salt over the top of the skin, poured pure maple syrup over the top of the skin and then shoved the pan in a 180C oven for 40 minutes.

I made a guacamole by mashing 2 avocados, squeezing lemon juice into it, grinding pink salt and then adding finely chopped spring onions.

For an added ten minutes, I put the oven on full heat, which crisped up and browned the skin on the chicken.

So, chicken with guacamole as a side, followed by boysenberry ice-cream with strawberries.

Oh and I raided my jewellery making paraphernalia and am going to attempt to decoratively wire a gemstone. I would have started it today, but my tools are at the shop, so depending on how busy it is tomorrow, I might try to start it while I'm at work.

I've watched a few instructional youtube videos and I think I can do it.

Adoring Husband and I watched our respective teams win their final round games of the season. The finals begin next week and both our teams will be fighting to remain in the running for the grand final.

AH is still right up there in second place for the footy tipping competition.

I guess I should now head to bed and get a good night's sleep in preparation for a big record breaking week at The Happy Abode.

Welcome to Monday!

Nite all.

Father's Day Flop

As you read this, it is Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the people who fill a 'father' role in their lives!

We stocked up on male oriented products especially for this big day. We still have at least two thirds of it on the shelves. We sold:

• "Gone Fishing" sign
• 2 wallets
• 3 leather wrist straps with snap buttons
• A metal motor bike
• A pen
• A 'Dad's Garage' sign

That was not today, but over the last three weeks. So I'm thinking that Father's Day is not much of a 'thing' around here OR it's a much bigger thing than we can provide at The Happy Abode. I'm pretty certain that Bunnings, Dan Murphy's, Super Cheap Auto and Lowe's had much better sales than us.

It was another steady Saturday morning where we made higher sales than the number that I predicted on my notepad this morning. I'm practicing the art of manifesting!

It's exciting that my photography is selling well and I feel pretty chuffed knowing that there are houses all over the world with my photos framed on their walls.

Ok, so not ALL OVER THE WORLD, but New Zealand, Hong Kong and England count as PART of the world! I know for certain that they are hanging in four different states of Australia too and I think that's pretty special.

I am a legend in my own lunch box.

Our new Happy Abode signage should arrive next week. I paid for it all today, so I'm thinking delivery should happen around Thursday. Wahoo!

Adoring Husband finished lining the fence with the bamboo sheets today. This photo was taken yesterday of the first section that he did ...

Kiwi Bernie finished as much of the kitchen as he can until the electricians complete their work ...

It's all coming along nicely.

I'm looking forward to having a quiet Sunday. There is 'stuff' to do and while I have some big jobs that I want to get started on - like a massive decluttering of my clothes and shoes - I'm going to play it by ear and see how I feel in the morning.

I haven't been sleeping very soundly lately, but last night I used my 'Sweet Sleep' essential oil and slept like a baby, so I'll try that again tonight.

By taking some big risks with my footy tipping this weekend, I have ruined my chances at winning a prize, but Adoring Husband is doing very well and is currently sitting in second position. Still a few weeks to go and you never know what will happen!

The pressure is on!

I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Quietly Does It

I actually did some housework this morning before I left for work.

Unheard of!

Adoring Husband beat me to the shop and opened up for me by setting out the flags, signs and chairs, then he collected the mail and bought my morning coffee.

Yes I know.

He's a good man.

It seems to be a common occurrence where people go for a walk empty handed, see our signs so come for a look. Today was one of those days - lots of empty-handed potential customers.

More often than not, they return later that day or the following day, so I expect Saturday morning will be busy for me.

I photographed a few pieces of the lovely new jewellery ...

In between visitors, I did some solo dancing around the shop to my favourite tunes and I don't mind admitting that some singing happened too.

Adoring Husband spent the day working in the yard while Kiwi Bernie continued his work on the 'outdoor' kitchen, which is actually more like an 'indoor' kitchen. It will be Adoring Husband's domain and I'm keen to see how the final product looks.

AH lined the western fence with bamboo sheeting and it's looking great.

It's very exciting watching everything slowly come together.

My evening was spent at the Club where I won a Bakery voucher, so there will be morning tea available at our Tuesday coffee morning.

While I was enjoying a beverage or two at the club, Adoring Husband was busy at home preparing a delicious dinner of roast lamb with baked potato, sweet potato and onion. He prepared some broccoli and when I arrived home, I made gravy with the flavoursome juices that came from the lamb.

It was absolutely delicious and I savoured every last mouthful!

Thank you Darling.

I am feeling incredibly tired tonight, so I'll be in bed before 10pm to get a good night's sleep before work tomorrow.

As you read this, it will be the first day of Spring!

Have a lovely day.

Nite all.  

Officially Huggable

As you know, Adoring Husband has been a member of the SES, in some capacity, for about five years now.

He applied for the position of Local Controller for the Fraser Coast and had an interview a couple of weeks ago. Today, it was confirmed that he won the position.

Wahoo!

Congratulations Darling. Best man for the job.

At The Happy Abode, it was a fairly slow day, but we decided to accept some beautiful jewellery from an interstate artist, to sell in the shop. I wish I'd taken some photos to share here - I'll try to do it tomorrow. They are truly lovely. Vibrant and colourful and obviously made with love by a very nice woman who deserves success.

I sold two photos today!

I need to get mat boards on the photos that I printed last month because stocks are getting low at The Happy Abode.

Most of today's visitors were people waiting for their fish and chips to be cooked and they were not the slightest bit interested in spending money on anything other than food, but they DID enjoy browsing and made lots of nice comments about the shop.

The Motivator is, as we speak, boarding her flight to Bali!

Kiwi Bernie was here today and started the build on our outdoor kitchen by the pool area, so the back yard is looking quite the disaster at the moment.

Tweedle Dee (new name yet to be announced) came to the shop for a quick visit and a hug today, which was nice because our coffee morning was cancelled this week and we all missed out on our weekly hugs.

Another long hug was given to a lady who works for an Aged Care facility. One of the men she cares for passed away two days ago and she was so affected, she took the week off work. She came to us last week asking for a donation for their fund raising raffle, so I've only met her once before, but she really looked like she needed a hug so I wrapped my arms around her and she shed a tear.

Adoring Husband received a long hug this morning too.

It's been a bit of a huggie kind of day!

Now I need to go fix my MacBook Pro because it has black lines across the screen and I'm going to try all the suggestions that my Google search suggested!

Happy Friday to you all!

Nite all.    

Out of Time

It's almost 10pm as I write this and once again, I have been sucked into the television screening of "Pretty Woman"

I've lost count of how many times I've watched this movie, but I think it's the connection that it gives me to my mother - she loved it and every time her favourite line is uttered "Cinderf___inrella", I can picture her face telling me about it after she first saw the movie herself. It's the only time she ever said the "F" word out loud.

The movie never gets old for me. Even if I watched it last week, I just can't bring myself to change the channel this week.

This morning I attended meditation class, followed by the most perfect massage ever. My neck has been playing up for the last couple of days, even causing me to feel a bit dizzy at times, so The Gypsy worked hard on that part, but all of my body seemed to be very tense and many of my muscles were tight and needed work.

She told me at the end of the massage that I would feel sore and sorry because she worked so hard on me, but I feel pretty good tonight. She gave me some more exercises for various parts of my body - I feel that I need to set an early morning routine to stretch everything before I start each day because as I get older, all of my muscles (the few that I have left) are feeling kind of seized up.

I needed to rush home to get ready for my movie date with Adoring Husband, but everybody that I know in this town was in my path this morning and by the time I stopped to chat with them all, I had ten minutes to get ready when I finally reached home!

Luckily, we had a smooth run into town and even the roadworks didn't hold us up.

AH got our tickets and I got our chips. Our favourite seats were still vacant when we entered the cinema and the previews had just begun when we took our seats.

The movie was "The Book Club" and it was full of famous names, all over the age of 60, the oldest being Jane Fonda who turns 81 this year! I loved it.

After the movie, we picked up some things for the shop, priced a bar table in Hervey Norman ...

... ordered a photo print, bought the winning tickets for this week's lottos, bought an outdoor fan for our pool pergola and finally headed home.

There was no time to rest because the dog food needed to be made up and having sat in the fridge for a couple of days, couldn't wait another day to be prepared. Then I had to cut up a giant pawpaw that had been sitting on the kitchen bench for a couple of weeks. The Gypsy had given it to me when it was completely green and after two weeks, it was looking a bit dodgy. After I peeled it and cut it up, it was good enough to freeze in packs for smoothies.

THEN I had to batch up my chicken bone broth which had been simmering in the slow cooker for the last 20 hours.

It was after 6pm when I finally got to sit down and by that time, my tummy had started to play up (perhaps it was the chips at the cinema?), so I wasn't in the mood for dinner. AH cooked his on the barbecue.

Gogglebox was our TV show of choice this evening. I recorded, then watched The Bachelor and now it's almost 10.30pm and I'm ready for some sleep. I'll be in the shop by myself for the next couple of weeks so I need to have my game face on!

Nite all.

Spontaneity

While I was having my lazy start to the day, I was surfing the net, looking at outdoor lounge settings.

It seems that we've been doing that for days now and not having much success.

You've seen one outdoor lounge setting, you've seen them all, and the wicker look is all the rage at the moment. The idea of black Burrum dust filling all the cracks of wicker furniture doesn't thrill me much and I wanted something more sleek and a bit different.

The reason that I had this time to spare, is because Adoring Husband realised last night that he had an SES meeting early today, so we had to postpone our movie date.

Anyway, I found this great outdoor lounge and excitedly sent the link via email to AH, then got up, dressed, and was just about to walk out the door to get my morning coffee, when Adoring Husband suddenly appeared. His meeting was much shorter than expected so I suggested that we drive to Bundaberg to view this fabulous furniture.

He changed out of his uniform, we stopped to get my morning coffee and off we drove north to Bundy.

It was a beautiful day and not much traffic on the road, so we made good time. Driving through Childers, we agreed to stop on the return trip so that I could check out the wonderful shoe shop. It's probably been about 2 yrs since I got to visit this lovely shop because we always seem to be in town outside of opening hours.

We got to visit quite a few furniture places in Bundaberg, but the original lounge that the trip was for, was our final choice and we purchased it while we were there ...

The service was fantastic. It was fast and efficient and friendly. We left the store feeling happy and satisfied.

As agreed, we stopped at Childers and while AH ordered a couple of takeaway coffees, I rushed across the road to visit shoe heaven.

Wouldn't you know it, the universe conspired against me today! On Tuesdays, the shop closes at 2pm. It was 3pm so once again, I missed out.

Ugh!

By the time we arrived home, it was nearing 4pm and neither of us had eaten all day. I was famished! While I prepared the vegetables, AH cooked the steak on the barbecue and we ate our dinner before 5pm.

Here we are at 9.30pm and I am definitely ready for bed. While I have tomorrow off work too, I want to attend meditation early in the morning and then I have a 9am massage booked. After that, AH and I are going to the movies and among other things will be printing some photos that a customer has ordered. So it will be another big day.

Have a lovely Wednesday.

Nite all.

Happiness

Today has been one of those days when I felt amazing from the second that I opened my eyes.

You know, the kind of amazing when you sing along to every song and dance to every tune and raise your arms and punch the air just because you feel so good and you don't even care who's watching you?

I didn't have to be at work until midday, so I slept until about 7am. Adoring Husband brought my warm lemon water to me, followed by my bone broth while I selected upbeat, happy music to put onto a playlist for the shop (yes another playlist).

This time I selected the 60s decade for some fabulous tunes, added the sound track to "The Greatest Show On Earth" and then a few others just for good measure. My playlist is almost six hours long! The perfect length for a day at The Happy Abode!

I have spent the afternoon singing along and dancing through the shop and continuing that feeling of fabulousness.

The Motivator and I swam in some money.

She sold her old car, so we lay the money on the floor in the training room and both rolled around in it and pretended to swim through it and giggled ourselves silly like a pair of teenagers.

THAT was fun!

As you read this, it is the 28th August, which means that The Happy Abode is ONE YEAR OLD!!!

Happy birthday to us!

We will have birthday celebrations a month late because The Motivator will be out of the country for a while and I have a photography workshop coming up, so after that, we will party and celebrate.

I have a couple of days off again now and I have so many ideas about how to fill my time, but I can't do it all, so I need to be selective and I guess there is some housework and stuff to fit in there too *insert sad face here*

So it's the end of this beautiful Winter's day that had me feeling super happy and now it's time for bed.

Before I go, we had a storm on Sunday afternoon and this is the result ...

Nite all.

Thank You Mother Nature

Thanks to Mother Nature, I was not required to do the dirty work today.

Adoring Husband's foot has much improved - thanks to my essential oil cure of Frankincense mixed with fractionated coconut oil.

Yesterday, he was limping badly and unable to put any weight on his left foot. He wondered if he may have broken a bone. There is a hard lump underneath his foot, well below where the crow bar hit the top of his foot.

I rubbed the essential oil on his injury twice yesterday - the last time, just before he went to bed.

Frankincense is supposed to cure everything except death!

When he woke this morning, although he was still limping, he was walking much easier than last night. I've added the oil twice again today and as the day wore on, his walking got better and better. The hard lump is still there and some bruising has started to appear around the injury, but he seems much better.

Let's see what tomorrow brings!

It was a rainy, stormy Sunday, so no dirty outside work was done and I got to spend my day in bed.

I listened to the last three chapters of the book "You are the Placebo" and wrote lots of notes, then downloaded three meditations from the author.

While doing that, I discovered, much to my disappointment, that the author is running a five hour workshop in Melbourne two days BEFORE I arrive!

Then I discovered that he was running a five day retreat on the Sunshine Coast in October!! I got so excited and thought THAT would be perfect!

Unfortunately, the retreat is sold out and the 300 long waiting list was filled and now closed.

How disappointing.

I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe next time.

I created a playlist via Apple Music, full of happy, upbeat songs that I can play in the shop - even some Country music!! I don't know what's wrong me!! Just feeling the love.

Twice I got out of bed.

Once to make lunch - chicken and vegetables in creamy garlic and white wine sauce.

Secondly, at 6pm to make a salad to go with Adoring Husband's steak and to make a fruity, chocolate ice-cream for dessert.

I stayed up the second time and now it's almost 11pm so it's time to return to my favourite place.

I don't have to be at work until 11am tomorrow, so I can sleep in and take my time welcoming the day.

Nite all.

There You Go

Sadly, my position on the footy tipping ladder has already dropped to third place.

Adoring Husband has caught me and we are equal third together. We are two points behind second place and four points behind first place.

There is still a slight glimmer of hope.

My team is playing right now and I've tipped against them. I'll be happy if they lose. If they win, yet another tipper will catch AH and I on the ladder!

Adoring Husband damaged himself today.

I think we need to set up a camera to record his activity in the back yard over the next two months, because his story about today's injury sounded very much like Wile E Coyote attempting to set up his 'ACME' equipment to catch the Road Runner, which is then followed by the domino effect of disasters!

He lifted the frame of the chook pen to move it, realised that he wasn't going to be able to do it so he dropped it, forgetting that there was a six foot long crowbar on the ground (which he had used to lever the frame up). The frame then landed on the crowbar, flipped it in the air and the crowbar landed on AH's foot.

AH, whose career included many years as an OH&S trainer was NOT wearing protective work boots, just some canvas shoes. He also lucky that the crowbar didn't land on his head!

This afternoon, he has been unable to put any weight on the foot and it's in quite a deal of pain. It's slightly swollen but as yet, there is no bruising. He sat with an ice pack on it for a couple of hours.

This is very inconvenient because he still has some work to do 'on' and 'in' the shed before Kiwi Bernie begins construction next week. I guess it means that the onus is on me to GSD on my Sunday off.

*Sigh*

*Groan*

*Whinge*

*Bitch*

*Complain*

*Mumble*

You get the gist.

It was a very quiet Saturday morning at The Happy Abode. Lots of people, but most wanted to chat or just browse while they waited for their fish and chips.

I decided to try manifesting. I chose from our stock, an orange and purple Cenzoni backpack and wrote it down on a piece of paper. It's value was $128. I said out loud "somebody will come into the shop today, fall in love with this bag and buy it".

A little over an hour later, two ladies walked into the shop together and spent quite some time browsing and pointing out all the things that they loved. After about twenty minutes, one of them left and the other remained in the shop for another ten minutes or so. She picked up the orange and purple Cenzoni backpack and brought it to the counter. She announced "I just love the colours in this bag. I have to own it!"

And WAHLAH!! Manifestation successful!

I'm going to try that trick every day!

I doubt that my Sunday will be relaxing or peaceful, but I guess that's the price I have to pay for manifesting my pool!

I hope YOU all have the perfect Sunday.

Nite all.  

A Good Friday

MORE stock arrived today!

Between the many customers who entered our premises today, I unpacked the new Serenade stock and went through the process of checking the invoice, pricing and displaying all the lovely products, then cleaning up all the mess that was left behind.

Yet another local came through our doors saying "I didn't know you were here! How long have you been open?"

I wonder if, in five years time, there will still be locals uttering those famous words?

By the end of the day, I was feeling absolutely exhausted - but I think it was the prawns that I bought for lunch that did that to me. I've noticed that when I eat shellfish, I have an overwhelming feeling of physical tiredness a couple of hours after eating it. Shellfish don't have a very good filtering system in their bodies, so toxins tend to accumulate and effect we humans - and some of us are more sensitive than others.

I still found the energy to attend the Bowls Club for the usual Friday night raffles and socialising, but I was a big loser. I think everybody in our group won something except me!

The first football match of the evening did not go my way so I have slipped slightly on the footy tipping ladder. I still have one more chance to return to my second spot this weekend because the leader has chosen one more different team to me.

Fingers crossed.

I just looked at the clock and can't believe that it's already well after 11pm! Gotta work tomorrow, so I'd best get some sleep!

Oh and I just thought you would like to know that there are just 123 days until Christmas!

Nite all.

Hi Ho Hi Ho

It's off to work we go.

It was a steady day in the shop.

Somebody, who I met many many months ago ... probably about ten months ... and who I ran into at the hairdressers last week, came into the shop to order a large photo from my sunset collection.

We sat in the lounge area and had a great conversation which lasted about thirty minutes before her illness began to take it's toll and she had to leave. She is pretty amazing and it's a bit sad that her illness prevents her from spreading her laughter and joy through the community because she could bring happiness on a daily basis!

There are still quite a few holiday makers in town and some of our regulars/locals came into the shop knowing that we had lots of new stock arrive last week. There will be more tomorrow and we have to order some more hemp hats because we are running very low.

I left work at around 3.20pm because Kiwi Bernie was at our house to discuss the build and landscaping in and around our planned new pool.

Adoring Husband had already shown him the plan that I had sketched, so he had a fair idea of what I had in mind, but he still had some questions to ask and it was interesting that he brought up some necessary things that we hadn't considered so our expenses may be a little higher than we originally thought. Having said that, I think we both expected that there would be costs that we hadn't thought of.

Obviously, this is not to scale and we haven't firmly decided on the pool shape yet, but this is a rough idea of what I have in mind ... aside from this, Adoring Husband has an outdoor kitchen planned to the right of the pergola which will be built into part of the existing shed. You can't see it in this plan.

It will be interesting to see how it pans out!

The pool still seems like a long way off and the reality of it hasn't really set in yet.

I must remember to take a photo of the next stage now that the trees, fence, chook pen and passionfruit trellis is gone and the timber has been removed from the raised garden beds. Adoring Husband has been working very hard and is well ahead of his planned work schedule/time line.

It's now 11pm and I'm feeling a bit weary, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Day of Ms

It was another day off work for me and it started with Meditation, which, as always, I enjoyed.

Meditation.

Straight after meditation, I asked The Gypsy if I could take her first appointment for the day and I spent an hour on the table enjoying a Zen Shiatzu Massage.

Massage.

It certainly slowed me down for the day because it took me 90 minutes to get ready for the lady's lunch and that didn't even include a shower! I was totally Zenned out!

I can't think of a word that begins with the letter 'M' that describes the lady's lunch!

How about Midday Meal!! There were about 18 of us gathered at the pub for lunch. I ordered Lamb Loin Chop with salad and GF gravy. 'Something' wasn't GF because I spent a good portion of time in the bathroom after I got home.

However, I had a good time with the girls and it was my first lady's lunch for a few months. I'm glad I got to attend this one.

Midday Meal.

Adoring Husband spent the entire day at home waiting for the repair guy to arrive to fix our oven. We've only been waiting for about five weeks for this 'part' to turn up from overseas and it was terribly nice of the guy to turn up at 6.15pm to take over our kitchen - right on dinner time!

$380 later!!

Mad.

At the original service call, he told us that it wouldn't cost too much. His idea of 'too much' and my idea of 'too much' are completely different 'too muches' obviously.

Much.

Now I'm off to bed because I am BACK AT WORK TOMORROW!! WAHOO!!

Makes me happy.

Nite all.

Day of Bliss

After five days off, I had a great return to the shop today.

It started with big hugs from The Motivator, followed by setting up the second attempt at birthday morning tea for Tweedle Dee (new name yet to be announced), then we enjoyed our morning tea with the girls before the day went crazy.

So many customers and so much to do, with all the new stock, some of which is still waiting to find a home, some to be stored out the back until another day, some to be tidied up and some to be rearranged or redisplayed.

We, with Adoring Husband's help, re-organised the the storage cupboard. AH took away all of our empty cardboard boxes that had accumulated over the week with new stock arrivals. We opened up the box containing the brand new vacuum cleaner and cleaned the floors. I did some dusting. We priced most of the new Cenzoni bags, wallets and purses. We selected a new tote bag each from the Ivy's collection.

We had to clear the training room, which had been used to unpack some of the stock, so that The Motivator could run a training session for laptops this afternoon and also for the meditation class tomorrow morning.

It was a little bit frantic for most of the day, but not frantic enough to cause stress.

A gentleman (and I use that term loosely) had been in the shop while I was away and returned to ask where he might find some birdlife in the area for him to photograph.

His main question was "Do you buy your photos?" When I asked him what he meant, he asked "Did you take the photos yourself or do you buy the images from somewhere else and claim them to be yours?"

That's when I knew that I wouldn't waste much time with him and I certainly wouldn't give him any credible tips about where to find birdlife.

Then he asked "How much does it cost to frame your $90 photos?" I replied that I didn't know because I'd never had one of them professionally framed, but probably between $150 - $200. He then said, with an air of arrogance, "So you're selling them at a loss!"

"No" I replied "I sell them backed with mat board, not framed."

"Oh" he said and then turned a walked away.

"And don't come back!" I though to myself!

We left the shop after 4.30pm and even though I have another day off tomorrow, I think I will attend the meditation class in the morning before attending our monthly lady's luncheon. I've missed the last three lunches, so I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone this month.

Here is Monday night's sunset ...

Best get some sleep now.

Nite all.  

I Refrained

It's Monday.

It was another day off for me.

As difficult as it was, I refrained from visiting The Happy Abode.

I stayed in bed listening to my book and continued to have my mind blown.

I made a concerted effort to get out of bed, have a shower and go visit The Blonde Bombshell for the first time since she returned home after her accident.

We did spend an hour or so, standing in the ocean water a few days after she returned home, which was some months ago.

I DID go to her house with all our friends to attend an essential oils party last weekend.

But I haven't been to her house just to visit as a friend, so today was my day to do that.

I met her carer, Shane, for the first time, who obviously loves Molly almost as much as The Blond Bombshell and Grumpy Pants.

Molly ...

Two glasses of wine and a bowl of potato chips later, The Reality TV Queen and I left.

I rode to the beach and took some photos of nothing much ...

It was dusk when I arrived home and not realising that I hadn't zipped up my camera bag properly, I picked it up to hear an almighty crash as my camera fell onto the concrete floor of the garage.

Ugh. (I said a word much worse than 'Ugh')

It still works. (Thank goodness!)

Phew!

I'm going to have an early night so that I can return to work refreshed tomorrow!

Nite all.

Booked it in and did it!

I told you that Sunday was going to be my day.

I spent about five hours listening to my book "You are the Placebo" which is absolutely blowing my mind and I feel like, by the end, it will change my life!

I did get out of bed to make myself some breakfast of crispy bacon and toast to have with the coffee that Adoring Husband brought to me and I took it all back to bed with me so that I could listen some more.

At about 1pm I got up again.

I cut open the 30 passionfruit that had been sitting in a plastic bag on the kitchen bench for a week - some from Best Cousin in the World and some from one of our customers - and put the flesh into a number of small containers to put into the freezer.

Then I mixed up a small batch of dog food. I mixed the 500g of beef mince with an egg, a handful of finely chopped spinach, a handful of shredded broccoli, a small grated carrot, a teaspoon of turmeric, a teaspoon of hemp seeds and some Himalayan salt.

That made up two days of food for the three psychotic dogs.

THEN I watched the second half of the football. Canterbury Bulldogs defeated New Zealand Warriors, which put me in clear second place in the Footy Tipping comp! Of course there are still a few weeks to go, so I could lose that position BUT right now I can brag about it and enjoy the moment!

I drew up a rough plan of the pool and the surrounding landscaping.

I made dinner for Adoring Husband and crunched my way through the remaining crispy bacon before watching one of the saddest movies I've ever seen "A Little Bit of Heaven". My face was very wet at the end of that one.

Monday is my last day off, so I still get to sleep in and I'll probably finish the book.

Before I head to bed, I'd like to wish Adoring Husband luck on this special day. Not that he needs it. I'll expand on this in a few days.

Happy Monday! Have a fabulous week!

Nite all.