Filled the Day

What a day!

This has been a pretty epic kind of day.

This is how it started …

1.5 million people protesting in Canberra. A farmer even opened the gates to his farm for people to park and camp. I’ve received pics and videos all day from my tribe who travelled down there on Wednesday. They are beside themselves with positivity and enthusiasm and I am envious.

This was followed by a fantastic day of sales at the shop. It was flat out and the shelves are looking much emptier.

At 1pm Adoring Husband and BGWLBH arrived to help close and pack up for the day.

AH dropped us off at Traviston Park for the Burrum Heads “Know Your Rights” rally where we set ourselves up in the shade of a tree.

We arrived just in time for the proceedings to begin.

There were six speakers, all knowledgeable, articulate, passionate and full of positive ideas on how to make change and create a better future for ourselves despite what’s happening right now.

BGWLBH and I were very impressed and each speaker held our attention for the entirety of their speech.

As I expected, so many people from our town, Hervey Bay, Maryborough and surrounds were in Canberra, that only 50 were in attendance at today’s rally and I only saw three familiar faces.

We arrived at 1.30pm and called AH to pick us up at 4pm. The time flew!

Another very surreal circumstance happened while we were there.

The local One Nation Party member for Hinkler, Zak Menhennett was in attendance.

In the 80s, I was in a relationship for almost four years with a guy who’s surname was Menhennett - it’s an unusual name. That guy passed away in 2013 (I mentioned it in a blog post some time ago) so I went online to checked his obituary and sure enough found Zak mentioned as his nephew.

While Zak was speaking, he mentioned that he was from the south east coast of NSW, which happens to be from where my Menhennett came from.

So after he spoke, I found the courage to go ask him.

“Is your Dad’s name Brad?”     Yes

“Did you have an Uncle named Tony?”    Yes

“Is your Grandma’s name Brenda?”    Yes

I told him who I was and how I loved his Uncle all those years ago. He was so happy to hear my story and gave me a warm hug. Then he asked if I knew that Uncle Tony had died and while I told him yes, my emotions got the better of me and he hugged me again as I shed a tear. He was lovely.

We chatted for about ten minutes and he handed me his card and asked me to keep in touch suggesting that I might like to share some old photos if I had any. He looks so much more like his Uncle than he does his father and he loved that I pointed that out.

Such an unexpected encounter and also very nice.

BGWLBH and I walked on the beach for short distance before calling AH to pick us up.

Paleo pizzas for dinner and then an early night in bed - not that you can tell because it’s almost 11pm!

Anyway I’m exhausted and need to sleep because I’ll be working tomorrow (Sunday) and Monday.

Speaking of Sunday … HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Chicklet who turns 11 on Sunday! She’s having a birthday extravaganza on Phillip Island with surfing lessons and a special cake baked by her new grandma. I wish I could have been there and I miss her so much but I’m certain she’ll be having a blast.

Nite all.

The Lucky Country

I found this today and really liked it …

AUSTRALIA: AN AMERICAN VIEW...

Interesting set of observations from a visitor from the other side of the Pacific. ‘Value what you have and don't give it away.' There's a lot to admire about Australia, especially if you're a visiting American, says David Mason.

More often than you might expect, Australian friends patiently listening to me enthuse about their country have said, ''We need outsiders like you to remind us what we have.'' So here it is - a small presumptuous list of what one foreigner admires in Oz.

1. Health care. I know the controversies, but basic national healthcare is a gift. In America, medical expenses are a leading cause of bankruptcy. The drug companies dominate politics and advertising. Obama was crucified for taking halting baby steps towards sanity. You can't turn on the telly without hours of drug advertisements - something I have never yet seen here. And your emphasis on prevention - making cigarettes less accessible, for one - is a model.

2. Food. Yes, we have great food in America too, especially in the big cities. But your bread is less sweet, your lamb is cheaper, and your supermarket vegetables and fruits are fresher than ours. Too often in my country an apple is a ball of pulp as big as your face. The dainty Pink Lady apples of Oz are the juiciest I've had. And don't get me started on coffee. In American small towns it tastes like water flavoured with burnt dirt, but the smallest shop in the smallest town in Oz can make a first-rate latte. I love your ubiquitous bakeries, your hot-cross buns. Shall I go on?

3. Language. How do you do it? The rhyming slang and Aboriginal place names like magic spells. Words that seem vaguely English yet also resemble an argot from another planet. I love the way institutional names get turned into diminutives - Vinnie's and Salvos - and absolutely nothing is sacred. Everything's an opportunity for word games and everyone's a nickname. Lingo makes the world go round. It's the spontaneous wit of the people that tickles me most. Late one night at a barbie my new mate Suds remarked, ''Nothing's the same since 24-7.'' Amen.

4. Free-to-air TV. In Oz, you buy a TV, plug it in and watch some of the best programming I have ever seen - uncensored. In America, you can't get diddly-squat without paying a cable or satellite company heavy fees. In Oz a few channels make it hard to choose. In America, you've got 400 channels and nothing to watch.

5. Small shops. Outside the big cities in America corporations have nearly erased them. Identical malls with identical restaurants serving inferior food. Except for geography, it's hard to tell one American town from another. The ''take-away'' culture here is wonderful. Human encounters are real - stirring happens, stories get told. The curries are to die for. And you don't have to tip!

6. Free camping. We used to have this too, and I guess it's still free when you backpack miles away from the roads. But I love the fact that in Oz everyone owns the shore and in many places you can pull up a camper van and stare at the sea for weeks. I love the ''primitive'' and independent campgrounds, the life outdoors. The few idiots who leave their stubbies and rubbish behind in these pristine places ought to be transported in chains.

7. Religion. In America, it's everywhere - especially where it's not supposed to be, like politics. I imagine you have your Pharisees too, making a big public show of devotion, but I have yet to meet one here.

8. Roads. Peak hour aside, I've found travel on your roads pure heaven. My country's ''freeways'' are crowded, crumbling, insanely knotted with looping overpasses - it's like racing homicidal maniacs on fraying spaghetti. I've taken the Hume without stress, and I love the Princes Highway when it's two lanes. Ninety minutes south of Bateman's Bay I was sorry to see one billboard for a McDonald's. It's blocking a lovely paddock view. Someone should remove it.

9. Real multiculturalism. I know there are tensions, just like anywhere else, but I love the distinctiveness of your communities and the way you publicly acknowledge the Aboriginal past. Recently, too, I spent quality time with Melbourne Greeks, and was gratified both by their devotion to their own great language and culture and their openness to an Afghan lunch.

10. Fewer guns. You had Port Arthur in 1996 and got real in response. America replicates such massacres several times a year and nothing changes. Why? Our religion of individual rights makes the good of the community an impossible dream. Instead of mateship we have ''It's mine and nobody else's'. We talk a great game about freedom, but too often live in fear.

There's more to say - your kaleidoscopic birds, your perfumed bush in springtime, your vast beaches. These are just a few blessings that make Australia a rarity.

Of course, it's not paradise - nowhere is - but I love it here. No need to wave flags like Americans and add to the world's windiness.

Just value what you have and don't give it away.

David Mason is a US writer and professor, and poet laureate of Colorado

Sleep time for me.

Nite all.

 

Dwindling

With stock dwindling, so are sales.

Today there were a lot of tyre kickers but not a lot of sales.

I passed my happy minimum, but my happy minimum isn’t really good enough with only five days left of trade. Hopefully it’s just a little hiccup.

It was nice to get a visit from Aggie today! Now that she’s a working girl and a dog carer, she’s a busy girl.

My first priority when I arrived home this afternoon, was to jump into the pool, swim a few laps, position myself in the direct sun and sit in my egg chair for a while. It was an enjoyable 45 minutes.

From there I changed into slobbadog clothes and lay around for an hour before starting dinner.

Chicken thigh with all the delicious BGWLBH salads for dinner. I had leftover chicken rissoles chopped up in mashed potato with BGWLBH salads.

We continued the trivia game which BGWLBH won!

I thought MAFS was on tonight, but I was wrong so we watched some of the Winter Olympics until Adoring Husband fell asleep. I nudged him to go to bed and then wasted a stack of time before coming to bed myself.

I can’t believe it’s now 11.30pm!

Nite all.

Done and Dusted

No changes will happen before I close the shop.

The rally in ACT will be rolling, building and continuing into next month.

Nuremberg 2.0 will take way longer than I’m prepared to wait.

QLD is way behind other states and is now claiming deaths of people “with” Covid as dying “of” Covid so they are still attempting to instil fear into everybody by ramping up the numbers.

Every man and his dog has had it including all of Adoring Husband’s family on the Gold Coast.

In the last month, I’ve only had two customers tell me that they are happy to be fully vaxed with boosters. Others tell me they are ‘over it’ and not willing to get boosters. It is a conversation had many times a day with many different people.

Today, two members of my like-minded tribe have joined the rolling convoy headed down to ACT. There are five buses travelling from Cairns and picking up people at designated spots along the way. My tribe tell me that they had no idea how big this convoy was going to be and it’s so big they can’t even count the number of vehicles.

There are people travelling from Tasmania, Western Australia and I assume all of the other states as well.

HUGE.

Our local rally is this Saturday starting at 1pm at Traviston Park. The numbers will definitely be down because a big group from The Bay have headed south too, but that’s ok, we have to start somewhere.

Today the shop was less busy than the last 6 weeks but sales were still excellent and lots of stock left the building!

I started packing more stuff into boxes to bring home.

It was an enjoyable day with visits from The Motivator, Beauty, Madame P, Roxy Music and LavenDeb.

We closed on time and I rested for an hour before cooking duck with spicy orange sauce, mash, broccoli and grilled zucchini for dinner.

The new trivial pursuit arrived today and we played that straight after dinner.  There are a LOT of American questions about local sports stars and local advertising campaigns which we have absolutely no idea about.

Tonight’s game will be finished at another time.

I’ve watched MAFS and I am ready for bed now.

Nite all.

It Has Begun

Nuremberg 2.0

I mentioned this trial about a year ago and it has taken this long to gather all the evidence, witnesses and experts ready to embark on what will be an interesting outcome. This is the opening statement by Dr. Reiner Fuellmich.

Today was another busy day of sales and as I rearrange stock, I’m leaving a lot of empty shelves as I attempt to fill the main shelves with the remaining stock.

It’s great to see the stock dwindling and it means I’ll have less to worry about by next Monday.

D-Day is looming 😳

I made chicken rissoles with a spicy dipping sauce and BGWLBH had earlier prepared a stack of salads.

A couple of big soursops had fallen from the tree in the back yard so I deseeded them and used the flesh in a slushy - soursop, pineapple, banana, coconut cream, maple syrup and a pinch of salt. That’s what I had for dessert.

It was delicious.

We finished our last game of trivial pursuit and I only just won! I was winning by a long way but BGWLBH crept up from the rear and almost took it from me!

Apparently we have a new version of trivial pursuit arriving on Friday.

Now I’m watching MAFS and feeling ready for an early night.

PS So much for the early night - it’s now 11.45pm 😳

Nite all.

I Like Mondays

I gave myself an extra day to get rid of the stock by opening today (Monday).

It was much busier than I expected and was serendipitous because a large group of ladies came in and between them, spent a LOT of money. They are leaving town tomorrow morning so if I had opened my usual hours, I would have missed those sales and they would have missed out on all the lovely stock that they purchased.

At various stages, I had half the Foodworks staff shopping too.

It was a good steady day of sales which totalled a big number and reduced the stock noticeably, so I’m pleased that I did it.

Through all of that, I was feeling decidedly unwell with a churning tummy and had to sit down a number of times to calm myself. It was unpleasant.

When I arrived home, after catching up briefly with BGWLBH, I climbed into bed and slept for almost two hours.

For dinner, I cooked barramundi and veg for Adoring Husband and BGWLBH. I heated up some chicken broth for myself - to be gentle on my unhappy tummy.

No trivia tonight, but I watched MAFS.

Now it’s time to sleep again.

Nite all.

Rest and Recuperation

I had a good relaxing day.

In the morning, I went a bit deep into the rabbit hole of research and on the advice of BGWLBH, I pulled back and gave myself the rest of the day in a peaceful state.

The good news out of my research confirmed that Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, UK, Norway, Finland and Ireland have all dropped the covid/vaccine mandates completely.

All three of us spent most of Sunday in separate rooms.

Adoring Husband sat in the lounge room watching the Winter Olympics.

BGWLBH lay on her bed watching movies and TikTok.

I lay on my bed playing Words With Friends, journaling, Facebooking and drinking tea.

Lunch was ‘fend for yourself’.

Dinner was fried rice with vegetable shish-kebobs (BGWLBH’s idea) done on the barbecue.

We played trivia until 7pm when MAFS called to me.

We all had a relaxing day of self caring and tomorrow is Monday, but I’ll be at the shop giving myself an extra day to move/sell stock. This is my final week.

Historically, the week school goes back is a quiet one for me, but hopefully 50% off will continue to draw people in.

Nite all.

If Only

If every week was like this week, I would be a very wealthy woman!

The week finished on a high and I can see a difference in the shop and the lack of stock, although someone did comment today that there was still a lot of stock there.

I am actually still hopeful of the mandates being dropped within the week.

I am okay if it happens and I’m okay if it doesn’t. 

I still haven’t given notice on the lease and am holding off until the very last minute - even if it means paying an extra month for nothing.

There are currently 200,000 people protesting on the steps of old Parliament House.

The men leading this peaceful protest are Graham Hood (x-QANTAS pilot), John Larter (x-Senior Paramedic), Christian Marchegiani (Reclaim the Line spokesperson), Ricardo Bosi (former Special Forces Officer) and a couple of other support people.

They are amazing humans and true leaders who are backed by a few of our parliamentarians, senior lawyers, specialist doctors and scientists and people who are experts in Aust Commonwealth history and political history. 

There are waves of people continuing to head to Canberra over the coming week from all over Australia.

Graham Hood has been invited to address parliament this week and I couldn’t think of a more fitting advocate for our rights. It’s a huge responsibility and he carries the hopes of millions on his shoulders.

By next weekend, they are predicting between 2 & 5 million people to enter the ACT.

It will be an interesting week and I would love to be there!

We enjoyed Chicken Laksa for dinner tonight.

I’m looking forward to my Sunday off and I think I’ll work on Monday to give myself an extra day to get rid of stock.

It’s 9.30pm and I’m feeling a bit peckish. I might make myself a cup of sleepy tea and climb into bed.

Nite all.

Consistently Consistent

What a week it has been!

Sales have been consistently high and, like a slow leak, the stock is disappearing out the door.

I had a LOT of visitors today. Friends and acquaintances coming to witness the final death throes, but at least they contributed by purchasing and removing some of the stock.

There were a couple of returnees who have already spent up big this week.

I also have a lot of stock packaged behind the counter waiting for pick up!

Earlier in the day, before it got busy, I emptied out a couple of drawers - discovering even more stock! There couldn’t possibly be any more stock hidden away!

Surely!?

I reorganised the stock so that it still looked presentable and more spread out.

Adoring Husband had a coffee date and afterwards he bought me a GF toastie from the local cafe. For some reason I was starving! Unfortunately, it got very busy and I didn’t get to finish it. By the time I got back to it, it was cold and GF bread is not nice in that state. It turns very rubbery.

The day passed quickly, as it does when it’s busy and we closed right on time.

BGWLBH and I had a cup of tea and chatted about our day before heading in separate directions until dinner time.

AH cooked the usual Friday night fare and we played a bit of trivia.

I watched the movie “Hope Floats” while AH slept on the lounge beside me. I love that movie.

Now it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Bigger and Better

After two really big days in sales, I expected that today would be quiet.

It wasn’t!

Today was bigger and better than Tuesday and Wednesday, which was GREAT because the shop is emptying at a very nice pace and I continue to rearrange everything and spread it all out so that people can find what they want.

I met a high energy woman with the same name as mine and she was also very like-minded. We had a great conversation about you-know-what.

There were quite a few conversations today that were affirming and interesting. It feels like the tide is turning and some people who were once complying and believing the narrative are seeing the truth and are not prepared to continue with the mandates and injecting themselves every few months.

Some people are drawing the line.

Yesterday, I decided to take advantage of the last of my wholesale access and purchase some Mexican silver jewellery. Two bracelets, a bangle and two pendants for myself (because I really needed more jewellery haha).

It arrived today!

That was quick!

I also received three new pairs of leggings, so I now have a very good collection ready for my impending retirement. I will live a comfortable lifestyle!

We closed on time today and I was not greeted by BGWLBH because she was having nap time.

For dinner, she topped up the salads and I cooked crispy skinned chicken. It was delicious.

We finished that epic game of trivial pursuit and Adoring Husband won!! It’s his first win in two years!! 

I’m now watching MAFS (Married at First Sight).

It’s raining again and I might fall asleep to that lovely sound again.

Nite all.

Late Finish

At 1.40pm, two customers walked into the shop.

I thought they were together, bu soon discovered they were not.

One of them completed her purchase (which was big) at about 2.20pm but the other was having a lovely time strolling through the shop eyeballing absolutely everything and loading up the counter with more and more items.

At 2.30pm she asked if we were getting ready to leave, but we told her that we were in no hurry and she could take her time. She wandered around for another ten minutes and then decided to pay for her items and return tomorrow because there was just too much to see and she didn’t feel like she was finished yet.

Her spend was even higher than the previous customer so it was a mighty finish to another fantastic day of sales.

Fantastic sales and fantastically exhausting!

The displays are looking sparse and I’m feeling better about moving the stock before 14th Feb.

I had a great conversation with a like-minded individual today who provided me with information that even I wasn’t aware of. She was an interesting character.

We were home just before 3pm.

BGWLBH had prepared a number of different salads for dinner so all Adoring Husband had to do was cook the lamb chops on the barbecue. I had the remaining prawns and we were sitting down to dinner at 5pm.

It was delicious! I could feel all the goodness surging through my body!

Afterwards we attempted to finish yesterday’s game of trivia, but after two hours we STILL hadn’t produced a winner! We were all pretty hopeless tonight.

I watched MAFS tonight and then fell into bed. It’s already 11.30pm and I’ll be falling asleep to the sound of rain on the tin roof. Just lovely.

Nite all.

Countdown

Two weeks.

That’s all I have left until my current role in the community comes to an end.

The time has passed quickly and while I feel very hopeful of a positive future, I also feel a real emptiness because I successfully built on an already solid foundation to create my perfect space, doubling the income and providing a hub that brought people together as well as a safe space where women could visit and vent about whatever life was throwing at them.

Being a community hub was my main aim and to bring like minded people together to learn something new and form lasting relationships and friendships. That is my greatest achievement and I’m proud of that.

Through the photography classes, art, journaling and meditation, I learnt so much about myself, pushing through insecurities and fears and finding strength and confidence that I knew was deep inside me.

I still love my shop and I wish things were different, but every time somebody walks through the door wearing a mask and I look into their eyes and listen to their muffled voice, I know this is the right decision for me.

Today was another big day of sales and I only had the last 30 minutes without customers, so it was pretty exhausting. No time for lunch but I did get to drink half a cup of tea!

It was a quick and easy close and we were home by 2.10pm - even though somebody attempted to come in  as we were leaving.

After a quick catch up with BGWLBH I decided to lay down for a rest. Two hours (!!) later I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed ready to make dinner only to have BGWLBH tell me that it was already prepared!

She filled the table with cold meats and salads. All I had to do was shell my prawns 🦐 

I felt very grateful.

We played trivia before pausing to watch MAFS. Adoring Husband and I are neck and neck for the win, while BGWLBH is very surprisingly lagging behind us. She will probably speed past us to win so we won’t get too cocky just yet.

It’s almost 10.30pm so it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Retail Therapy

BGWLBH drove us into The Bay this morning.

We started at Tinkerbell’s…

I bought a blue aqua aura bracelet to go with my heart pendant, an amber pendant to go with the ring that BGWLBH gave me for Christmas and a raw clear crystal pendant designed by Tinkerbell’s owner.

We made a quick stop at Go Natural before heading for Stocklands.

Vitamins, shoes, books and fresh fruit in that order.

I found some lovely inexpensive journals, so bought four of them and a spell book for ‘Love Happiness & Success’.

We stopped for some fresh seafood at Craignish and we were home by 12.30pm.

We unpacked all of our goodies, threw together a quick lunch and BGWLBH headed out for a swim, I landed in bed and AH planted himself in front of the TV.

Dinner was a delicious lamb roast with baked potato, sweet potato and pumpkin, steamed snow peas, carrot and broccoli smothered in home made gravy. I ate a large plate full!

“Married at First Sight” started tonight.

Now it’s 11.30pm and I’m weary.

Nite all.

Poolside

I wasn’t in a ‘stay in bed’ kind of mood today so at around 10am I decided to face the day.

I prepared tea and toast for breakfast and headed out to the Bali hut to join BGWLBH who was in her favourite spot reading her giant book.

We chatted over our beverages and I changed into my swimmers before sliding into the pool, which was delightfully refreshing and swam a few laps, floated for a bit and sat under the hut again.

There were a couple of short sharp rain showers which didn’t deter us.

After a while, BGWLBH headed inside to prepare some lunch.

I stayed outside by myself reading, playing, singing, swimming, floating, meditating and day dreaming until about 4pm. It was a great way to spend my Sunday.

I made soft GF tortillas with spicy chicken mince and coleslaw for dinner followed by a fruit slushy made with frozen banana, pineapple and mango, coconut cream, coconut water, a splash of maple syrup and a pinch of salt. De-bloody-lishus!

We finished the last game of trivial pursuit (which I won) before going our separate ways. BGWLBH to her bedroom to finish her giant book. Adoring Husband and I to the lounge room to watch I’m a Celebrity final night - I was pleased that Dylan won.

Now I’m watching The Greatest Showman - which is weird because last night in my dreams, I was in a relationship with Hugh Jackman and we were trying to solve a crime, searching for clues and people, running through city streets and dining in fine restaurants and laughing at each other’s jokes and kissing!

I’m sad to say that the kissing was a little disappointing.

It was a good dream and I woke up feeling happy and energised - I imagine anyone who spent an entire night with Hugh would feel the same way!

Now it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.