Blue Rock

Adoring Husband and I left home at 8am.

During the drive into The Bay, I wrote our 'to do' list.

First stop was Tinkerbells where I purchased this ...

It's a blue kyanite rock to go in the garden with the rose quartz rocks and I intend to get a couple of selenite towers.

I'm looking for a large shallow bowl approximately a metre in diameter, perhaps 30cm deep, to partially fill with sand and then strategically place my crystal rocks. Something like this ...

From there we

• restocked our raw nuts supply at Nana's Kitchen
• made a stop at Office Works which we left empty handed (unheard of right?!)
• visited HBW where AH was hoping to acquire some work related items but was unsuccessful
• stopped at Stocklands for a haircut, optometrist appt and food shopping
• looked for a mini outdoor coffee table at the clearance centre - where the 50% off prices are more expensive than Harvey Norman's full priced items
• Harvey Norman was next, to price their small TVs because the one in our outdoor area has had the royal order. No purchase was made.
• the final stop was at the butcher and Foodworks at home 
• it was rapidly approaching 4pm when we finally arrived home

We unpacked the car and packed everything away, fed the dogs, then just as we sat down to put our feet up, The Friendly Truckie pulled into the driveway. I had forgotten about the invitation I offered him when he needed help with some settings on his community Facebook page.

We showed him the pool and chatted for a while before we got down to business. This Facebook lesson took all of ten minutes, but by the time he left, it was time to cook dinner.

I made some sweet potato/pumpkin fritters which were delicious and we had them with lamb rack and coleslaw.

It's now well after 11.30pm so I'd best get to bed. I'm exhausted! I thought we'd have all our errands complete by midday, so it was a much longer day than I expected.

Happy Friday to you!

Nite all.    

Oh My Day

I thoroughly enjoyed my day, from beginning to end ... even though I'm not quite at the end yet.

I woke up at 6am excited to go to meditation and again there was a full house. Everybody was feeling the love and willing to share and there was laughter as we all related to each other and our stories. In the final meditation of the morning I felt myself sitting in a glowing golden light. The perfect way to finish the class.

I had booked myself in with The Gypsy for a treatment immediately after meditation.

Sorting through all of that paperwork in the back bedroom and in the drawers of the side cabinet, gave me a repetitive strain in my right shoulder. The pain was in it's second day today and I wanted to get rid of it before going to our lady's lunch.

The Gypsy did an amazing job and I felt no pain all day. It began to twinge a bit this evening so I did the stretches that she suggested and will do them again before I go to bed. She's a little marvel.

I got home from the treatment with just enough time to have a quick shower and get dressed for lunch. The Old Speckled Hen was picking me up at 11.30am so had an hour to play with.

Lunch, at Goody's, just fifteen minutes from here and with a beautiful view ...

I ordered GF salt and pepper squid with sweet potato fries and salad served with a spicy aioli. It was a huge meal and try as I might, I could not finish everything on my plate. I wish I'd taken a photo of the food!

Even though I was full and unable to finish my main meal, when they brought the dessert menu and it contained one GF option, I lost all self control and ordered it! It was a huge warm chocolate brownie swimming in a hot chocolate sauce with side serve of pouring cream.

I ate half of it and it was divine! It was my first off-paleo meal for the year and even though it tasted so delicious, my body was not enjoying the after affects of so much sugar and other less healthful ingredients.

Sometimes it's difficult to weigh up the benefits - is it worth the ten minutes of pure pleasure against the hour or two of discomfort that ranges from mild to intense?

I was home before 2.30pm and I made my way straight to the recliner and lay back to stretch my body so that the food had an easy pathway during the digestive process.

I watched a movie.

Adoring Husband was cooking a lamb rack on the barbecue for his dinner, so I made him a salsa salad and he had leftover coleslaw with his protein.

I declined dinner but just before 8pm I ate a mango and a handful of blackberries.

I texted my sister, Squirt, to find out how wet she was up in Magnetic Island. They've had 360mm this week - but only 78mm today.

The other big news in town was an accident last night where the Care Flight helicopter had to land in the Lions Park carpark to take an injured man to Brisbane. He had been hit by a car driven by his mother - the TV news claimed that she had dropped him home after a party and as she did a U-turn to leave, he jumped in front of the car.

He is in a critical condition.

He was living in the house next door to The Happy Abode and helped me carry our heavy sign a couple of times. He seemed like a nice friendly guy - rough around the edges, but nice enough.

Very sad.

Right now, I'm worn out after a great day. Adoring Husband and I have plans for heading into The Bay early tomorrow, so an early night is on the cards.

Nite all.  

Half On. Half Off.

Not a lot to talk about today.

Morning coffee with the girls was fantastic and the last to leave, The Brains Trust, walked out the door at 11.15am.

I only worked until 12pm so I had just enough time to change some payment information with our bank account and then create a quick flyer for my photography workshops.

The Motivator arrived right on time and we chatted for ages before I left for home. I rode up the driveway at 1.20pm and Adoring Husband announced "You're early." as I walked in the door.

"Actually, I'm late because I told you I'd be home before 1pm!"

Doofus.

I mashed up an avocado and took a punnet of blackberries out of the fridge and headed straight to the lounge room to park my butt on my recliner chair and kick back and relax.

AH was busy at his laptop doing SES business while sitting at the dining table.

I found a movie, "The Guardian" and put my feet up to enjoy Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher.

Adoring Husband left a bit after 3pm to attend an SES meeting in The Bay, so I watched my recording of 'Married at First Sight' pausing it every so often to prepare dinner.

I made a different version of Hainan chicken which was so delicious that I had to have some myself!

That's it for my day.

No swimming today. No decluttering. No washing. No studying. No stripping the bed.

They are all the things that I planned on doing before I arrived home, but my brain switched to 'shut down mode' as soon as I walked through the door.

It's already 9pm and I think I'll go to bed for an early night so that I can rise early for meditation on my day off.

Nite all.

Productive Day Off

I wasn't productive ALL day because I stopped in the middle for a swim and a relax and lunch around the pool.

Adoring Husband brought my morning coffee into the bedroom at around 8am.

I attempted to print a small booklet on our printer, but unfortunately a paper jam meant that I had no choice but to get out of bed to get that sorted.

I figured that while I was up, I should make a start on decluttering the back bedroom in preparation for Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armor's visit next month.

It't the room that AH likes to hoard every piece of paper that comes into the house. You know, when you have to clear an area quickly, so you pick everything up and dump it in another room 'temporarily'? Well that's the room where all our paperwork lands.

There were many mixed piles on the bed, so I sorted through each one and made new piles.

• SES paperwork
• Business paperwork (Grass Converters)
• Barry's medical paperwork
• My paperwork (surprisingly little)
• Our joint paperwork
• A pile of paperwork with ??? (meaning I wasn't sure whether to toss it or keep it)
• Junk pile to definitely chuck

I cleared other stuff from the room as well, so it won't take much to set it up for the kids.

I rewarded myself with a swim in the pool and then lay on the lounge in the shade of the umbrella while AH cooked steaks on the barbecue and served it with the leftover home made coleslaw. He followed that with sliced watermelon and mango.

Perfect.

We returned to the house and I watched four episodes of the Marie Kondo decluttering show on Netflix. I was disappointed. All of the people in the show got rid of a lot of stuff, but they still had a lot of stuff cluttering up their homes and not once did I think WOW what a difference!

I do decluttering better 🤗🤩🤪

So I turned off the TV and made the decision to start small and clear out the four drawers in the side cabinet. There was a LOT to throw away and now the drawers each have very little in them.

I didn't overdo it and I think it was a well balanced day with plenty of self care in the mix.

Dinner was beef casserole out of the freezer, so it was easy. That's enough red meat for the week, that's for sure!

MKR started it's tenth season tonight - looks like another interesting series. I've recorded 'Married at First Sight' to watch later.

I work for half a day tomorrow and then I'm off for 2 1/2 days! I expect to get lots of decluttering and lots of study done - except when I'm at the lady's lunch on Wednesday!

Anyway, enough of this frivolity. I need an early night.

Nite all.

Sleepy Sunday

It was not a sleepy Sunday for me, but I probably could have had a nap at work if I'd wanted one.

Even though there were not a lot of customers, I got quite a bit done as far as tidying and cleaning go.

Lots of dusting and rearranging and display changing and jewellery cleaning, so by the end of the day I felt like I'd been productive enough.

I closed the shop a little after 1pm and bought my coffee for the day before pedalling home.

Adoring Husband arrived a little after me and we sat down and ate a big bag of green grapes together while watching the remaining episodes of Grace and Frankie.

Dinner was prepared very early because it was too late for lunch and we were both starving. I did maple/thyme chicken drumsticks with coleslaw and sweet potato salad. I think we sat down to eat at about 5pm.

I made a fruit whip ice cream with frozen pineapple, blueberries, papaya and I added banana and mango, coconut cream, maple syrup and Himalayan salt.  I also did up a tray of toffee nuts.

After we filled our bellies and before the tennis started, I changed into my swimmers and slid into the pool. I mostly just floated around for about half an hour and as darkness fell and Adoring Husband complained about getting eaten by mozzies (he didn't come into the water), we decided to go inside.

The tennis had already started, but it finished pretty quickly! Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal very easily and very quickly. He was my pick, but I expected Nadal to put up a much better fight than he did.

Now I'm watching Netflix.

"Tidying Up with Marie Kondo"

I've lost count of how many people have recommended Marie Kondo's book and TV series and she's even recommended in the course that I'm currently studying. So I've just switched her show on and now I'm leaving you so that I can focus.

I hope she can perform miracles and teach me how to declutter with a vengeance and keep my life uncluttered.

Not like this ...

On that note ...

Nite all.

Oopsie!

I'm not sure how it happened, but I forgot to post here yesterday!

It has certainly been a very quiet week in our town and surprisingly, the caravan parks have not filled for the Australia Day long weekend. The Happy Abode will be open every day over this weekend so let's see if we can manifest a successful and profitable few days.

In my attempts to declutter the house, I have been tossing at least one thing every day. Even if it means opening a drawer and removing something that I haven't used for a long time - if I can't remember the last time I used it, then I don't need it.

I have a pile of clothes and bags that I'm going to send to a friend who runs a business called 'Rethread the Earth' and she makes crossbody and satchel bags from recycled materials, fabrics, bags and belts.

I already own three of her bags and I've been stalking her lately to purchase another. Her prices have increased quite a lot since my last purchase but her bags sell like hotcakes at the markets and I love her hippy/nature loving style.

So if I don't have time to do a big declutter, just tossing one thing at least keeps the momentum going.

Oh, I just remembered why I forgot to blog!

My sister, Squirt, and I video chatted for two hours! It was almost 11pm when we ended our call and I had to work this morning so I headed straight to bed.

We don't catch up very often but when we do, it's usually a long call.

I did a bit of study yesterday and did the usual Club routine.

Today (Saturday) was fun at the shop. Even though it was quiet as far as sales go, The Motivator and I had some good talks and some good laughs and made some good life decisions. I enjoyed the day very much.

I did some more study this afternoon. Some in the lounge room. Some by the pool. I tested the water and it was very warm so I chose not to go in. Adoring Husband, on the other hand, loves it when it's warm, so he went for a swim after dinner.

We had salmon steaks with sweet potato salad and coleslaw - both prepared with my home made aioli. Dessert was a mango for me and a large plate of sliced watermelon for AH.

I've just watched the Women's final in the Australian Open Tennis and my favourite, Naomi Osaka from Japan won. She won the US Open last year in September, but got a raw deal when Serena Williams stole the show with her controversial tantrum on court and the media totally focused on that instead of Osaka's success.

I think I'm going to annoy AH and go to bed now to do some study beside him while he attempts to fall asleep, although I'm pretty certain he'll be snoring before I even get in there!

I hope you all enjoy your long weekend.

Nite all.  

Listening Carefully

I had a number of options this morning.

• Get out of bed and begin decluttering one of the rooms.
• Get out of bed and go swimming.
• Stay in bed and edit the remaining wedding photos.
• Stay in bed and begin the new live round of Money Mindset course.
• Stay in bed and listen to my new book "The Universe Has Your Back".
• Stay in bed and begin creating my online course.

I made a choice based on the fact that the painter was here painting the ceiling in our family room/kitchen - finally - after the ceiling repairs that happened before Christmas.

I didn't want to get changed out of my pyjamas unless it was into my swimmers and I didn't want to come face to face with the painter and have to be introduced.

I had already chosen the room that I wanted to declutter but Adoring Husband wanted us to declutter a different room.

My brain wasn't quite open enough or alive enough to handle doing the course or creating a course.

My laptop has a problem with an internal chip which causes distracting lines to fill my screen and that makes editing difficult.

So ...

I chose to listen to the book.

While listening to the book, I was able to get in and enjoy the pool and I moved part of our outdoor lounge under the shade of the umbrella and lay there with my earphones in and the volume up as I attempted to drown out the sound of lawn mowers and leaf blowers in the neighbour's yards.

There was a nice breeze blowing so the temperature wasn't hard to handle.

I did stop to cook lunch after the painter left and the house now has the smell of fresh paint permeating throughout.

I stopped for 30 minutes when Princess Anne arrived for her afternoon rehab swim. We discussed starting up aqua-aerobics on a weekly basis in the pool and she provided a printout of the exercises she used to do in a previous life.

Watch this space.

Anyway, I finally finished the book at about 5pm and I loved the entire book until the last ten minutes. It's not that the last ten minutes were bad, I'm just not sure that I agree with her sentiments. Otherwise, every chapter had me hungry for more and I loved her ideas, her practices, the exercises and activities that she offered and all the thought processes along the way.

Definitely worth my time.

It's only 8.30pm and I'm tired from all that fresh air and sunshine. I swam quite a few laps today, including some butterfly which takes some effort! Pretty sure I won't be doing that again lol. I did my usual exercises and some underwater laps strengthening and increasing my lung capacity.

Then I bragged to AH that I love my life ... so much!

I'm watching Nadal thrash the pants off the young Greek Tsitsipas in the semi final of the Australian Open. It's been short and sweet. Nadal is playing like a true champion - better than I've ever seen him play - so confident and strong and mistake free.

I don't think anyone will beat him and he's gotta be the favourite to win - although I am a big fan of Djokovic and I suspect he will be his opponent in the final.

Anyway, enough of this frivolity.

Nite all.  

Whacky Doo Wednesday

It was a whacky doo Wednesday with both The Motivator and I in attendance.

It began beautifully enough with a fabulous meditation class - another full house - and there was plenty of love in the room when it was all over.

The Motivator took The Gypsy's first appointment for the morning. The Gypsy was booked out for the day so I didn't get to chat with her - however - The Motivator and I had plenty to talk about and we didn't shut up for most of the day.

It was another quiet one for sales, though it was the best day of the week so far. It was nice to spend a quiet day at our desks just chatting.

At 2.54pm I stood up to begin closing the shop, when a customer walked through the door. She walked around for twenty minutes and eventually spent $4. That was a little bit annoying because I wanted to get home to prepare for a visitor.

I stopped on my trike to buy mangos from the man who lives across the road from The Motivator's house. He has fresh mangos in a wheelbarrow and boxes at the front of his house with an honesty tin to pay. They are the best mangos that I've tasted for a long time and I could eat them til the cows come home. So I bought seven! I had bought 5 two days ago and only have two of them left.

I have two days off work now and probably won't be going past his house, so I had to stock up - they will be my sustenance for every meal and in between!

Princess Anne had attended meditation and for the second week in a row, was suffering with back problems, so I suggested that she come spend some time in the pool to take the pressure off. I think she said it was a slipped disc.

Anyway, she arrived at 4pm and we spent thirty minutes in the water talking all things health and diet related. She and I have very similar views and Princess Anne is just lovely so it was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

After she left, I stayed in the water for another 45 minutes swimming some laps and doing some exercises. The water was lovely and I had music playing in the background. I would have stayed in longer, but I had plans for dinner so I removed myself and made the kitchen my destination.

I roasted pumpkin and cauliflower to put with baby spinach and semi sun-dried tomato drizzled with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled roasted pine nuts. That was served with lamb rack.

Fruit whip ice cream and toffeed nuts for dessert.

All totally delicious and satisfying.

I was all settled in to watch the Djokovic vs Nishikori quarter final tonight in the tennis, but Nishikori sustained an injury in the first set and was unable to finish the second set before retiring hurt. That was disappointing.

The Aussie, Sam Stosur is playing in the doubles right now, so I might head to bed and watch it in the bedroom. I slept well last night, but I'm feeling weary right now.

Nite all.

Tantalising Tuesday

I set my alarm for two different times this morning.

Because I watched tennis until almost 1am and by the time I'd done the pre-bed routine and settled down to sleep, it was almost 2am.

I had my usual alarm at 5.55am and another for 7.10am.

Usually I would hit snooze three or four times, but I knew that I might need a second stint of sound sleep, hence the second alarm.

I enjoyed that extra hour of sleep.

I still got to the shop before 8.45 and had plenty of time to grab my coffee and open the shop before the girls arrived for morning tea.

They were a rowdy bunch this morning! Lots of laughter and snorts coming from TWO of the girls instead of the usual one! Plenty of medical discussions and dog talk while sharing photos. It was a good two hours of silliness and some of them enjoyed a little retail therapy before they headed home.

The morning was quite steady with sales but very quiet in the afternoon.

I restocked the snap button trays.

I emptied the bins ready to take the big bins out to the footpath for collection.

I stapled our cards to some paper bags.

I cleared almost 7000 emails (yes seven THOUSAND).

I posted on our social media pages.

I made a sign for our window to give our customers warning about our closure at the end of February.

I watched a training video on the secret functions of my camera.

I watched part of a video from DDT re the next live round of the Money Mindset Bootcamp. I still haven't completed an entire round of this course yet - there are live rounds of it every six months. I have good intentions for the upcoming round. Let's see if I can manage it this time.

It was almost 4pm when I pulled everything inside and locked the doors.

After doing some grocery shopping for Adoring Husband, I pedalled home feeling pretty worn out.

Thankfully, I had prepared a huge beef casserole on Monday night (enough for 4 meals), so all I had to do was add some greens when I heated it up and AH had a nice piping hot bowl of meat and vegetables in time for me to sit down and watch Ash Barty lose her quarter final tennis match.

Nadal is now thrashing his opponent so it could be a sign for me to have an early night.

I'm looking forward to meditation in the morning and there should be a good crowd. It seems there are many people looking to improve their relationship with themselves this year and we've already had some amazing feedback. It gives me the warm and fuzzies!

I hope you enjoy Hump Day!

Nite all.

  

Fabulous Start

I had such a nice day!

It was very quiet as far as sales go, but The Gypsy was in and she had two appointments booked, so we got to chat between those appointments.

It's like she is feeding my soul and I feel so full and so nourished and so enlightened after our talks.

I'm not baring my soul or discussing problems and issues. We are discussing all of our strengths and how we can build on them and use them, with love, to bring clarity and peace and contentment to our lives. How to not buy into our own or others' weaknesses and be affected in a negative way.

I have learned so much from her since she came to The Happy Abode.

In the last two years, I have focussed on certain things to improve myself and I have felt a huge swing on the positive side of my life ledger.

It all started with the Journey work in 2017. Those retreats melted away so many blocks in my psyche and cleared issues that I'd unknowingly held on to for years. My heart and mind were suddenly open and I felt like I was finally in charge of my own life.

I do journeys on myself whenever I feel like something is holding me back or when I know an old memory is affecting the way I approach situations. I forgive the people who hurt me or restricted me in the past and I remove the old thoughts and replace them with new improved positive thoughts.

This was followed by learning how to manifest. I had my doubts, but remembering how my vision boards since 2003 had brought to my life Barry, a home by the ocean, improved health, repaired teeth, fun road trips, financial freedom, education, a new camera and so much more, what did I have to lose?

I spent months manifesting The Happy Abode. When The Motivator and I wanted the space once known as JATOE (Just a Touch of Everything) but weren't prepared to succumb to the owner's unreasonable conditions, I manifested like a crazy person. That shop was for sale at the end of March 2017.

I dedicated a journal to The Happy Abode - I don't think we had chosen that name yet - I wrote stories about how we would find the perfect space to create our dream business. I wrote stories about the beautiful things we would have available, the workshops and courses that we would provide, the way it would become the hub of the community and a destination place for visitors.

I also had a big art book and I drew up signs of affirmation that our vision would become a reality and that the universe would provide for us. That it would absolutely, without a doubt happen soon, declaring that it was our destiny and the perfect space would fall into our laps.

I wrote little notes and posted them all over my home office, so that it didn't matter where I looked, I was reminded that our space was coming.

The Motivator and I talked all the time about it happening and agreed that when the time was right, it would all fall into place.

It took four months.

We all know what happened from there.

My next successful manifestation was the pool. In reality, that kinda took ten years, but only one year from when I got SERIOUS about it and believed that it was possible.

So I've learned that with a consistently positive mindset, life takes you on on a whole different track  and dreams can come true.

I plan to continue manifesting The Motivator's and my big goals and ideas for The Happy Abode and hopefully watch it grow into something bigger and better with every passing year.

Finally, meditation.

If you'd told me, even 2 years ago, that meditation would play such an important role in my life, I'd have shaken my head and laughed. I had no idea how powerful or how life changing it could be and I can't imagine my life without it now.

While it's an ongoing process and I am always learning something new, Meditation has brought a lot of clarity to my relationship with myself. I work on and practice everything that I learn in the classes and I keep my own cup full so that I have plenty of love to share with the important people in my life.

I've mentioned before that I meditate at least once every day and that helps me stay focussed on my strengths. As I said before ... life changing.

So the Journeys, Manifestation and Meditation have added incredible value to my life, to my peace of mind and to my happiness. I'm excited for what 2019 will bring!

I'm off to meditate!

Nite all.

Feeling Rested

It has been a lovely restful Sunday.

I stayed in bed, pool hair from the day before, reading and studying and chatting with BGWLBH via text until about 11am. I took the photo laying down ... because you know, relax some of those morning wrinkles (ok so they're there noon and night too ... not just morning!) and I used a filter and it took 16 attempts to get a reasonably straight smile.

My plan was to make lunch our main meal for the day - that roast that I'd planned last night? Well, I had cooked the chicken last night, ready for today, so all I had to do was cook up a tray of vegetables and make the gravy from all the delicious juices.

In between big jobs, Adoring Husband stopped for an hour to eat his lunch. He had a busy day ... certainly not a day of rest for him.

At 2pm, after I watched Ash Barty win her tennis match, I heard the pool calling me so the next two and a half hours were spent there.

I love our pool.

At 5pm I threw together a nosh up dinner for AH and we sat down to begin watching Grace and Frankie. I'm about to watch episode 7 before I head to bed.

It's very tiring having such a restful day!

Have a great Monday!

Nite all.

Sweet Day

It was a nice easy start to the day and I arrived at work with plenty of time to go grab a takeaway coffee before The Motivator arrived and we opened the doors together.

It was a typically quiet Saturday morning - it's almost enough to consider not opening on the weekends at all. Luckily, our workshops are making up for the slack in weekend sales!

My photography workshop was cancelled at the last minute, but the workshop in February is looking pretty healthy at this point in time.

We made some design plans for the training room.

I created some posts for our Facebook and Instagram accounts.

We talked a lot about nothing and everything and something and anything.

We each have our own little projects for the shop that we work on from time to time and we did a bit of that too.

Right now, we are organising our trip to Sydney for the gift fair. The Motivator has booked our accommodation and we'll book our flights next week.

Adoring Husband arrived right on 1pm and had finished his flood boat training much earlier than expected. That was our cue to close the shop and head home.

AH and I did some team building and cleaned the toilet, bathroom and laundry before collapsing into the pool at around 2.30pm.

There was beautiful music playing through the sound bar and the umbrella created the perfect amount of shade for protection from that stinking hot sun that seemed to cut right into the skin. The water was the perfect temperature for cooling our work weary bodies down and while AH behaved like an unsupervised ten year old, I behaved like a sick and tired Mother of a ten yr old. There was much eye rolling to be had.

At about 3.30pm The Motivator arrived for her invitational swim and we had a lovely time lolling about in the water and talking about rubbish and laughing and giggling - we even slipped a couple of serious subjects into the mix.

At 5pm we both removed ourselves from the water because we had planned on doing roasts for dinner. She was doing lamb and I was doing chicken. We hugged goodbye and I changed out of my wet swimmers and headed straight to the kitchen.

I decided to bake two chicken Marylands with sweet potato, pumpkin, red capsicum, zucchini, onion, carrot and cauliflower steaks. I lay them all on a bed of baby spinach and drizzled balsamic vinegar over them. It was yummy.

While I was cooking all of that I lay macadamias, cashews, slivered almonds, pecans and pistachios on some baking paper, drizzled some maple syrup and sprinkled some salt and baked them in a hot oven for 15 minutes. When I took it out to cool, the maple syrup turned to toffee so I could break it all up and sprinkle it over our fruit whip dessert.

After I took all of that out of the oven, I put a whole chicken in there to bake ready for tomorrow's lunch and dinner.

Tonight I'm watching the tennis (instead of Grace and Frankie) because there are a couple of Aussies playing. Bolt lost his match in three sets and the other young 19yr old, Popyrin, is two sets down and playing a tie breaker for the third.

It's after 10pm and I think I'm done for the day. I'll be falling asleep in bed with the tennis on a timer.

Nite all.  

G&F is Back!

Grace and Frankie is back!!

I haven't watched any of it yet because I want to be able to binge watch the entire season. Saturday afternoon could be my aim!

My day was reasonably productive - I cleared the stockpile of 'stuff' that I had gradually built up on the dining table over the last couple of weeks and the other 'stuff' that I had laid all over the lounge in the family room.

I decluttered some of the old recipe books and magazines from the book shelf as well as some old novels and wedding books. I removed about 30 items, just to make a start.

I got all my personal washing up to date.

I cleared some emails.

I did a reading out of one of The Gypsy's books.

I swam and exercised in the pool for about 45 minutes before making myself presentable for the club.

It was a losing night for me and our group at the club tonight - no lotsapots, no pokie wins, no keno wins, no raffle wins no membership draw wins.

They were the quotes that tickled my fancy this morning. I think I'll get an early night - or at least go to bed to watch the tennis. I'm watching the young Australian girl Birrell play against the number 2 player in the world. I don't think she has a chance, but it will be a good experience for her and she will learn a lot.

Work tomorrow.

Nite all.

Feels like Saturday

I know it's Thursday, but it feels like Saturday!

I studied a bit today and I read a bit and I swam a bit and I watched tennis a bit and I edited photos for a bit and I cooked a bit.

I can't believe that it's already after midnight and I'm not in bed yet!

Since I have nothing to report, how about this ...

Have a fabulous Friday and I'll see some of you tonight!!

Nite all.

Bright Start

Meditation today was ... there are no words to describe it.

For the first time, we had a full house.

There was something special about the way The Gypsy delivered the meditation this morning.  It was a room overflowing with emotion and wonderment. She was emanating love and I could physically feel the glow.

The new ladies spilled tears as emotions overwhelmed them and afterwards they left the shop raving about how much they needed this and were looking forward to attending every week.

I actually felt emotional myself and shared a lot of hugs all round.

It was another perfect start to the day.

It was also another quiet sales day, although it was a big improvement on yesterday!

There was time to do other stuff like pay some bills, decide upon our new insurance provider and sign up for a new policy, find the email that I couldn't find last night and verify that our ad would be in the newsletter,

We began making plans for our trip to Sydney and the gift fair, pricing the accommodation and air fares.

The day passed quickly and I was home by 3.30pm. I got to watch the Australian girl Kimberley Birrell play her final set to win her round two tennis match in the Australian Open and then I tried on all of my new swimmers, chose one of them and headed out to the pool.

Adoring Husband and I spent about an hour in there cooling down, but eventually had to get out for dinner.

I did a quick nosh up of pumpkin cubes, onion, mushroom, zucchini, baby spinach, chilli, onion salt, chicken broth, coconut yoghurt and chicken. It was quite delicious.

For dessert I did another fruit whip accompanied by the toffees pecan pieces.

It's almost 11.30pm and I have the day off tomorrow. Sleeping in will be very nice indeed.

Nite all.  

Oh Crap

It seems that the Universe decided to spend the entire day testing me - only in very small ways - but they were noticeable - to me.

My morning with the girls was the highlight of the day, especially when The Motivator joined us near the end ... even though it was her day off ... even though she came in and worked her butt off in the back room for about three hours lol.

The back room looks pretty fabulous with the new cube cupboard against the wall and it helps keep most of the art and craft stuff tidy and out of the way.

There were probably ten customers through the door today and only one paying customer.

We had a power failure at around 12.30pm and the power wasn't restored until 3pm. No customers walked through during that time - oh actually, one lady came in to ask if there was room for her to attend meditation tomorrow!

I took the two avocados that Adoring Husband picked from our tree over a week ago, for lunch, because he reckoned the skin was lifting itself from the flesh and they must be ripe. They were not ripe and even though they felt soft to touch, they were actually very hard inside and impossible to cut or mash the way I like them. This meant that I had to go buy an avocado from the shop.

I walked to the Butcher to buy meat for dinner tonight, but they closed early due to the blackout.

When I returned to the shop - and by this time, I had pulled everything inside, closed the blinds and put the 'closed' sign on the door - a young couple decided to ignore all of that and pushed the door open to came inside. Even the lights were out, but they chose to wander around for a look even though I was standing there with all of my paraphernalia to go home!

They said they would return tomorrow and possibly even attend meditation. We'll see.

As I pedalled up our street, I was frantically trying to open the garage door with the remote which I have dangling from my handlebars for easy access and a smooth entry into our garage. Adoring Husband had not reset it after the power was restored, so the door would not open.

This meant that I had to park my trike halfway in the garden and carry all my stuff through the side gate, through to the back of the house and then spend ten minutes team building with Adoring Husband while he figured out how to reset the garage door.

😳

I took a curry out of the freezer for Adoring Husband's dinner and put it into the oven to thaw and heat. When it was ready, I attempted to lift it out of the oven and tipped it quite sharply so that a LOT of the curry sauce spilt all through the oven, onto the oven door and onto the floor.

Ugh.

I didn't even have the energy to go for a swim this afternoon!

I realised that today was the last day to get our ad submitted for the local newsletter, so I spent part of the evening designing that.  When I emailed it to the editor, she informed me that an invoice was emailed to us on 5th January to be paid by 12th January. I searched through my emails, but have not received any invoice - perhaps it was sent to The Motivator? A job for tomorrow.

So you see, lots of little things, but I feel like the universe must have been overwhelmed by my gratitude yesterday and decided to test me today, just to see how genuine my gratitude is.

I know, I'm just a whinger lol.

At least our temperature was only 29C today, and not 46C like in Griffith. I feel for everyone in the southern states who are suffering through such intolerable conditions. I remember weeks in a row of 40+ temperatures when I was living in Griffith, but I don't recall it ever being 46C.

Anyway it's 10pm and I need to be up early for meditation tomorrow so ...

Nite all.

Lucky Me

I have always felt lucky.

Even through the toughest of times, I felt lucky.

Through every horrific or violent or heartbreaking or devastating or soul destroying or terrifying life changing episode/experience/challenge in my life, I could find something positive and a reason to feel lucky.

Some examples ...

When Mum died, it was lucky that she didn't suffer and appeared to die peacefully.

I was lucky that my brother-in-law was with me when I found my baby dead in his basinet, because I honestly don't know what I would have done if I'd been by myself.

I was lucky that my Dad worked for such a great company that they paid my airfare from Griffith to Brisbane to be with him in his final days.

As a family, we were lucky to be on the same page when it came to making the decision to turn off Dad's life support system.

Living in Griffith as a single Mum with three kids, 1500kms from family, I was lucky to have supportive friends that I could rely on when things got really tough.

When the tornado hit town and the neighbours house landed on ours, we were lucky that we had, at the last minute, changed the layout of our house when we built it or our bedroom would have been where all the damage happened and we'd be dead right now. We were also luckier than our neighbours whose house was completely destroyed in the tornado.

We were lucky that my brother wasn't wearing a seatbelt when he had his car accident and was thrown clear, otherwise he'd have been crushed to death by the car engine which ended up in the driver's seat.

When my son was assaulted and the doctor declared that one more kick to the head would have ended his life ... I felt lucky that the 'one more kick' did not happen.

... and so the list goes on.

I don't know where I learned that - perhaps my parents who never allowed me to feel sorry for myself  - telling me to 'grow up' or 'get over it' or 'if that's the worst thing that ever happens to you, you'll be doing ok' or 'that's nothing compared to ....'

You know the drill.

I've kind of repeated the mantras to my own kids.

Sorry kids.

I was also taught to not talk about my good fortune - that it was bragging OR making other people feel less fortunate.

I've learnt that it's important to talk about your good fortune. To feel gratitude for the good luck and good things that happen. To show people that there is always the chance that good things will happen for them, that 'things' change, that sadness passes, that life goes on and there can always be something amazing around the next corner and to never give up.

Life before Adoring Husband and life with Adoring Husband are absolute poles apart.

I feel like I've stepped into a parallel universe and every day, I feel so lucky for the wonderful life that I have.

I know I've mentioned it recently and if you think I'm harping on it a bit, stop reading here, but I've gotta say that it's kind of overwhelming and I feel like the Universe needs to know that I don't take it for granted and I'm not being complacent.

Twenty years ago, I could not have imagined this life.

I could not have imagined being with a man who loves me and respects me and empowers me the way AH has.

I could not have imagined the circle of wonderful women who support me so completely with all of my many and varied projects and challenges and ventures. They fill my heart with happiness and appreciation for their existence in my world. You know who you are and if you are wondering whether you are one of them ... then the answer is 'yes you are'.

Through those horrid teenage years when my imagination foresaw all manner of dreadful outcomes for my children, I could not have imagined the way they have grown into strong, independent decent human beings who make me feel proud to be their mother.

As a public servant dedicated to her stressful job and painfully striving to be the best worker on the planet, I could not have imagined creating something as wonderful as The Happy Abode or ever coming to the realisation that life is what you make it and that stress is a learned and unnecessary feeling that can be banished in favour of more productive feelings and emotions.

I couldn't have imagined that a mismatch like The Motivator and I could form such a strong foundation for a relationship that combines business and friendship so successfully. I'm sure there are times when we could both forehead slap each other, but overall, we are an AMAZEBALLS team and have the potential to conquer the world!

I could not have imagined that my friendship with BGWLBH would still be going strong. Our history shows that we have struggled but strengthened our bond through some tough and some fabulous times but our relationship has stood the test of time and I am proud of us for not giving up on each other. I love our friendship and I look forward to what the future holds for us. The best is yet to be!

I could not have imagined this beautiful home that is still standing in spite of the neglect that AH and I pile upon it! There is plenty of love to keep the walls strong, it sits in a fabulous neighbourhood inside a wonderful community and we've created a perfect little haven that caters to all of our needs and desires. It is our sanctuary and we love it.

I could not have imagined being this happy or feeling so overwhelmingly lucky to be in this position at this stage of my life.

Thank you Universe for providing all of this for me. Your generosity has not gone unnoticed and thank you for showing me that it's ok to feel like I deserve this! I am worthy.

I am also tired.

Nite all. 🤪

We're Ba-ack!

What an exhausting but fabulous trip!

This is "Anne's Place" on Main Street in Montville.

A beautiful home perched on the edge of the mountain with amazing views ...

... including a guest house, an art studio and a gallery for sales of her beautiful pottery.

Anne and her husband were warm and welcoming and very accommodating - especially regarding our dietary requirements and the guest house had everything we needed, was very comfortable and we could easily have stayed there for a week.

There were no TV stations, but there was a good selection of DVDs in the cupboard to keep us amused for hours.

It was only half a kilometre from town, so after a delicious breakfast overlooking those views, and purchasing some of Anne's wares, we made our way to the Main Street of Montville early on Sunday and began our little shopping spree.

A pair of shoes, a bracelet, another birthday gift later we were trying to decide whether to leave for IKEA or have an early lunch ... when we remembered that Anne had told us about the Waffle House that served GF waffles and that they had received rave reviews.

The Motivator and I have been following our fresh food policy for twelve days and were hesitant to break it, but ... WAFFLES ... so we found the little gem of a cafe and each ordered a GF waffle with bacon, banana and maple syrup.

OMG ... TO-DIE-FOR! I would take a day trip to Montville just to sit down to those waffles again.

From there, we had made appointments with a Tarot Reader, so The Motivator went first while I wandered through the shops. I bought a top. I wandered through the Landscape Photographer's gallery, found a jeweller who designed and created his own pieces and ALMOST ordered a pendant ...

... but I need to ask for something a tiny little bit different to this.

By then it was time for my appointment with the Tarot Reader, whose name I cannot for the life of me remember, but The Motivator has her card and details.

She told me lots of stuff that I wanted to hear and some things that I didn't want to hear - nothing bad though - and she was a fabulously wild and energetic and enthusiastic and flamboyant and a beautiful mature woman in her 60s. So glad that we had the readings!

From there we really wanted some fresh juice, but surprisingly there was nothing available in Montville, so we jumped in the car and drove in the direction of Northlakes and IKEA. It took an hour but it was a good run and thankfully there was a Boost Juice in the shopping centre near IKEA so we grabbed a Mint Condition juice each, got side tracked by Skechers shoe store where I purchased ANOTHER pair of shoes and eventually made our way into IKEA.

We hadn't left ourselves much time so we rushed to the sections that we needed, had a short browse in a couple of other sections and as we wheeled our giant trolley to the checkout, the announcement came over the loud speaker that the store was closing in 15 minutes.

We had a momentary panic attack when we realised that we hadn't taken any notice of where we'd parked the car - but thankfully, between us, it didn't take long to figure it out and once we found it, we very efficiently folded the back seat down and packed everything in beautifully.

It was another easy run home and I must say that it's exhausting being a passenger!!

We arrived home at 8pm. I had put all of my bags of shopping in one section of the car, so it was easy to unpack. I did end up with a couple of The Motivators shopping bags, but I'll deliver them to her tomorrow.

It's now after 11pm and I have to work tomorrow, so it's bed time for me. Being out of my bed last night, and even though it was very comfortable at Anne's Place, I did not sleep well, so I'm feeling very weary tonight.

Welcome to Monday!

Nite all.

We Made It!

It was a quick and easy drive to Montville - says me, the passenger!

We found our accommodation easily and our hosts are super friendly and super lovely. The home is amazing. The guest house, where we are accommodated, is divine. The view is breathtaking. Anne’s little gallery, full of her pottery pieces, is delightful. Anne’s studio where she creates her art is wonderful.

I so wish I’d brought my camera. Already, the photographic opportunities have captured my imagination and I will have to resort to the phone camera. I’ll take photos in the morning and post them here tomorrow night.

We arrived after 6pm and by the time we were given the tour and chatted with Anne and Tim, it was well after 7pm and we decided to snack on the nuts and fruit that we’d packed instead of going out for dinner. We should be famished by morning!

The Motivator ran a great paint pour workshop this morning and I manned the shop. Sales were very slow until the last hour when it picked up considerably and saved the day.

All in all it’s been a great day!

This is short and sweet - just so you know we are alive and kicking.

Nite all.

A Quick Trip

Adoring Husband and I made what was supposed to be a quick trip into The Bay today.

He needed a new battery for his ride on mower and I wanted a 'golden pig'.

Chinese New Year is 5th February and this year will be the year of the pig. A golden pig would represent abundance and I wanted to place it in the money corner of The Happy Abode to bring us good luck in the Year of the Pig!

No golden pigs to be found!

I tried the Chinese Grocery and Gift store on Bideford St.

I tried Heaps Discounts in Stocklands.

I tried the newsagent in Stocklands.

I tried Mind, Body and Soul on the Esplanade.

I tried King Kong on Islander Rd.

I contacted Tinkerbell's on the Esplanade.

Nobody has any golden pigs.

So I bought two dragon eggs with dragons hatching out of them to put under the tree beside the pool - for a Chicklet surprise when she visits this year.

I bought a doorstop covered in peace signs and the word 'peace' to hold the gate open when we are in the pool so that the psychotic dogs can come and go as they please.

I bought a small sitting buddha to put in the garden near the pool.

I bought a jade buddha necklace.

I bought a new sound bar because mine is at the shop and has almost seen it's last days.

I bought a season of Grey's Anatomy, Mama Mia - Here We Go Again and The Book Club on dvd.

I checked my Powerball ticket and was pleased to see that nobody won my $80 million and now I can win the $100 million next week!

I replaced some make up that I'd run out of.

I bought some groceries - celery, capsicum, cucumber, grapes and paleo bread.

I bought some crystal rocks for focus, abundance, magical luck, knowledge, intellect, vitality and purpose. The crystals were jade, apatite, sodalite, goldstone and merlinite.

I bought two gifts to give for birthday presents this year.

So the quick trip turned into quite an expensive outing and took most of the day.

I did manage to get some washing done, but the remaining housework will wait for another day!

Our table was very lucky at the club tonight with 5 or 6 prizes being won. I didn't get any raffle tickets because they sold out and didn't have any spares to start another book! Unheard of!

I'd best get to bed because it's after 11pm and I have to work tomorrow as well as pack for our road trip to the Sunny Coast. The Motivator and I are driving down to go shopping in IKEA as well as have a quick browse of Montville where we will be staying in an air bnb.

It's been too long since we had some fun together like this and I'm really looking forward to it!

Have a great weekend!

Nite all.

Day of Mental Productivity

Even though it was my day off, I woke up 15 minutes before my alarm - it's permanently set for 5.55am.

I actually got to do some of the 'things' on that list.

I started by reading some of The Gypsy's first book and I completed some of the 'actions' at the end of the first few chapters. Actions are writing exercises, which I really enjoyed.

As you can see, my bed was covered with books, journals and laptop.

I did some journalling and wrote about six foolscap pages.

I got out of bed to cook some food and after I snacked on a couple of pork sausages, I returned to my office (aka my bed)

I flicked through the 'My Shining Biz' work book and wrote a few notes, but just couldn't get into it,

I noticed that Thor was on our bedroom window! So I found a container and thought that I'd be able to catch and release him - until I realised that he was on the other side of the window between the glass and the fly screen.

My hand is still about an inch away from Thor so the perspective still doesn't quite show how big he is.

This meant that I had to tell Adoring Husband about Thor - just in case he decided to open the window and got freaked out. I'm not sure how I'm going to free Thor from his current position - unless I can pull the screen off from the outside.

AH is not happy about sleeping in the bedroom with Thor and doesn't trust that the window is sealed. He strongly considered sleeping on his chair in the lounge room all night, but surprisingly, has gone to bed.

Soon after my re-introduction to Thor, I could hear the pool calling me, so I changed into my swimmers, put a load of washing in the machine, grabbed a towel and some of my books and paperwork from the bed to put into the Bali bed for later and quickly waded into the water.

The water was quite tepid. I swam a few laps, did my 50 jumps, 50 twists, 50 kicks and then perched myself on my meditation seat. Adoring Husband joined me on the seat for a while and after a couple of hours, I lay in the Bali bed and did some more reading, but the music was distracting me so I lay with my eyes closed listening to that instead.

It was 5pm when I came inside to prepare dinner - a salsa with mango, pear, tomato, cucumber, avocado and spring onion with a balsamic vinegar dressing. I put that on a bed of rocket and served ti with crispy skinned chicken thighs.

I made a new fruit whip for dessert - banana, red pawpaw, dragon fruit, pineapple, coconut cream, maple syrup and salt. I made a walnut toffee mix by spreading some raw walnuts onto grease proof paper, drizzling maple syrup over the top then sprinkling with Himalayan salt and cooking in a hot oven for about 8 minutes.

It was delicious chopped and sprinkled over the fruit whip.

Friday is my second day off work and I plan on getting my washing up to date and doing some housework - as long as the motivation levels remain high!

I'm off to bed and it's not even 9.30pm yet! I could make a habit of this!

Nite all.  

Such a Delight

Today was pretty full!

For the first time in a long time, I woke up full of beans this morning and was able to jump out of bed feeling motivated and energised.

It's taken nine days of Paleo eating to finally reach this point. I don't think the withdrawals are quite over yet, but they have eased considerably and I'm feeling lighter and clearer in the head! Won't be long and I'll be dangerous!

So far, the most difficult part has been remembering to drink enough water.

I got to work just after 7am and opened up ready for meditation. There were eight of us in attendance and it was a great start to the year with the subject of the day being "Be The Change". Hit the nail on the head and was totally relatable.

The Gypsy's first appointment after meditation this morning was filled by The Motivator, followed by one of the new attendees at meditation, then she had a break before I filled her last appointment for the day.

I actually didn't need the massage, but chose to have one anyway. It felt totally different. No painful spots at all and it was freeing and cleansing. I felt almost disconnected from my body as I just enjoyed the good energy.

Between the pool and the change in diet, my body is beginning to thank me.

By the time I'd finished, The Motivator had closed the shop and she left soon after I came out of the treatment room.

I stayed a while longer, did some grocery shopping, picked up our order from the butcher and mailed my sister's Christmas present (yes, just a tiny bit late).

I rode home and yessssssss, I changed out of my work clothes, into my swimmers and walked straight into the pool ... wearing my Apple Watch ... which ISN'T water proof! Ugh! It still seems to be working, but I was a bit annoyed with myself for not removing it with the rest of my jewellery when I got home.

I swam a few laps and then sat in my meditation spot, not meditating, but Facebooking and playing WWF on my phone.

After a while, I got out of the water and sat in the Bali Bed to dry off. I had music playing on the sound bar in the kitchen and the music kind of floated over the water. It was so relaxing and the weather was perfect with plenty of cloud cover.

Eventually I forced myself to go inside and begin preparing dinner. I filled our plates with a bit of everything - shredded rocket, pear strips, tomato strips, cucumber strips, mango strips, spring onion strips, celery strips, avocado strips and some sun-dried tomato. I chopped up some chicken and fried the pieces in coconut oil with some onion powder. Simple but effective.

No dessert tonight.

I have two days off now, so I'm heading to bed at 11pm. I have no solid plans for tomorrow, but you've seen my 'to do' list, so hopefully I can cross a few things off it.

Wish me luck!

Nite all.  

A Great Start

It was a GREAT start to the day having coffee with the girls.

There were lots of laughs - especially when I told the story of THOR - which I will relate here one day, when the story has more depth and a satisfactory ending.

There were lots of medical stories and fitness stories and pet stories and plans made.

Most of the girls had a little shop and our morning was done before 11am.

It was a slow but steady day in the shop with some new young faces in the mix and an unusually quirky young lady from the water who paid me a second visit today and was in for a chat.

I got quite a few chores done including cleaning the back room ready for meditation, some dusting, cleaning the loo, restocking the button trays, sending some mail, emptying all the bins ready for bin night etc.

There are still things on my list that didn't get done ...

Adoring Husband helped me shut up shop but I didn't leave until almost 4pm. My intention was to swim but that didn't happen and then I planned to float in the water at 7.30 to watch some interesting sky action, but the cloud cover put a stop to that.

We had a version of Hainan Chicken for dinner with fruit whip for dessert.

Gotta be up early in the morning for meditation so I'm off to bed.

You may or may not know who you are, but if you're reading this, I'm talking to you ...

Nite all.

First Monday of the Year

The Gypsy returned for her first day back at the shop and between customers we had some more good chats and caught up with our holiday news - of which there was a lot.

The shop was busy in the morning and in the afternoon but very quiet in the middle. Overall, it was a good sales day, but I only got one thing done from my 'to do' list, so I transferred all the 'to-dos' to tomorrow's page.

Nothing else happened today.

I shut up shop right on time because the weather was looking ominous and every other shop except the butcher and the supermarket were closed and the streets were quiet.

I didn't go in the pool - it's been a whole week since I swam! What's going on there? I have new swimmers, so I need to christen them soon.

I made an easy dinner of lamb chops and salads. Fruit whip for dessert.

Adoring Husband has been asleep on the chair for almost two hours and I've been watching The Upside of Anger, but I think it's time for me to hit the hay.

I wonder if I can get out of bed early enough to go riding with my camera in the morning? Time will tell.

I wonder if I can wake up early enough to go for a swim before work? Time will tell.

I AM looking forward to coffee with the girls in the morning 🤩

On that note, I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Remember the List?

Remember the list of things that I posted yesterday?

The long list of things that I had to choose from to fill my Sunday?

How many of those things do you think I did?

Oh you know me so well!!

Not a single one of them.

I woke up late - around 8.30am - and lay in bed Facebooking on my iPad. After about 30 minutes, Adoring Husband entered the bedroom and said "I'm going into The Bay".

I replied "Do I want to come with you?"

He responded "If you want. Let me know when you're ready. No rush."

So up I got, dressed myself to look like a tidy casual holiday-maker and off we drove to The Bay.

AH dropped me at Stocklands while he headed to the dreaded Bunnings. As he dropped me off, I said "Don't rush. Take your time Darling".

What a lovely time I had spending some of my pokies winnings.

There were lots of sales and I didn't pay full price for many items all day but I purchased a pair of flat shoes, 3 bras, 3 tops, 2 t-shirts, 1 lipstick, 1 palette of blush powders, 3 tankini tops (the top part of swimmers), 3 gifts to put away for birthdays, 4 tall plastic cups, 1 pr of 3/4 pants, 2 bling hair bands, a ticket in the $80 million Powerball and a beach towel.

Together, AH and I bought a new set of cutlery to replace the very expensive, but very breakable cutlery set that we bought about 18 months ago. It was a great price. We bought a beautiful melamine dinner set with a serving tray and salad bowl to go into our outdoor kitchen.

It was 2.30pm when we arrived home and after unpacking my shopping, I decided to empty out my dressing table drawers and do some culling. I needed space to put my new swimmers and bras! I tossed a LOT of clothes - none of them were even worthy Op Shop candidates, so they ended up in the sulo. Now I have lovely tidy spacious dressing table drawers.

I browned some lamb shanks and let them simmer deliciously in chicken broth, chopped onion and mushroom. I thickly sliced sweet potato, pumpkin, onion and carrot to bake and brown in a hot oven. When the shanks were ready, I thickened the liquid to make a nice tasty gravy and we ate dinner at about 5.30pm.

Dessert was the fruit whip that I'd made the night before - pineapple, banana, raspberries, dragon fruit, coconut cream, maple syrup and salt in the processor. I served it with blueberries and grated dark organic healthy chocolate over AH's and chopped some blanched almonds over mine.

It's almost 9pm and I am ready for bed. The Motivator has the next couple of days off and I'll be off on Thursday and Friday.

I must print out that list that I wrote yesterday so that I can refer back to it on future days off.

Nite all.