Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Thursday, March 3, 2022

Released

So Pfizer have released a 38 page document which lists the adverse events from their initial shipment of vaccines sent out between Dec 2020 - Feb 2021. I posted some snippets and screen shots from this document a few months ago, but this is the entire document.

The number of vaccines has been redacted so we have no idea how many were shipped out. The graph showing the adverse events has been redacted as well as a few other bits and pieces.

Meanwhile, there are 8 pages of “adverse events of interest”.

Eight pages 😳

Surely, for people to give informed consent to receive the vaccination, they need to be told about these adverse events?

Anyway, if you’re interested, the document can be found HERE.

We’ve just enjoyed a very heavy downpour from a loud, but not vicious, storm …


There may be a bit more heading this way and apparently tomorrow’s weather will also be volatile.

I had a (almost) four hour zoom chat with The Gypsy this morning.

Boy did we need that catch up! So much to talk about! So much to discuss! It was great to see her face and to hear about her last couple of months.

By the time I appeared from my bedroom BGWLBH had put together a delicious platter of goodies for lunch, which was so lovely. She doesn’t think it’s much but to me it is a LOT and I appreciate her efforts. All of her efforts.

Tonight is barramundi and salad for dinner.

Now that the storms have passed, I may even slip into the pool for a quick swim before dinner!

I imagine that trivia will be on the cards after that.

It is currently 5pm so I am nice an early today!





Nite all.

Pretty Breezy

It was a breezy kind of day.

I put a load of washing on - and I realise as I type this, that I forgot to hang it out 🤪.

BGWLBH and I enjoyed some quality time in the pool.

The midgies seem to like the taste of her, so after a while, she retreated to the house and I swam some laps, floated, sat in the sunshine and then swung in my egg chair while watching the previews of “The Batman”.

We threw together a quick lunch and followed that with an afternoon of trivia.

I added to last nights leftover Tuscan chicken and we ate that with grilled zucchini, sweet potato smash, carrots and broccoli. It was delish!

After dinner, Adoring Husband and I watched Gogglebox and BGWLBH joined us in the lounge room for the MAFS dinner party which was juicy!

Now it’s rapidly approaching midnight and I need to sleep because I have an appointment on zoom at 9am tomorrow!

Speaking of tomorrow, be prepared …


Nite all.

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Why?

Why did the Bureau of Meteorology not predict last week’s weather?

They even got it wrong every single day of the weather event, predicting that the rain was going to ease the following day.

People cannot take steps to minimise the risks and ensure their own safety without accurate forecasts.

Higgins Storm Chasers predicted this weather days in advance and during the event were pleading with their followers on Facebook to spread the word. They were sending out alerts and warnings every hour and were completely on the ball.

They barely slept during the event and even though it was scary, I and all of their followers and subscribers felt empowered by the knowledge and forecast that they shared.

However …

They have approximately 240,000 followers and that does not cover the entire population of Queensland, or even south east Queensland, so there were many many people who had no idea what was coming and they were blindsided. 

The Govt and the BOM have a lot of questions to answer.

Here are some interesting ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots of the floods …



Today, I spent some time under the Bali hut with BGWLBH. The water, believe it or not, was too cool for me to take a dip so we sat around and talked for a while.

I had a roast lamb and salad sandwich for lunch and afterwards, we watched a couple of Ryan Reynolds movies. “Red Notice” and “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard”.

It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

I prepared Tuscan Chicken for dinner which was bloody beautiful served with sweet potato and potato smash and garlic asparagus.

While the potatoes were cooking, I set the timer for sixteen minutes, tested the pool water and decided it was perfect so I slid into the water, saved a bee, swam 6 laps, floated for a minute, returned inside to change out of my wet bathers and was back at the stove 3 minutes before the timer went off.

We played trivia for 90 minutes before MAFS.

Tonight I’m remembering the 43rd anniversary of my first baby, Jamie’s, death.

Now it’s almost midnight so it’s time for sleep.

Nite all.

Monday, February 28, 2022

Big Trip

We took a big trip today!

All the way to Howard!

Lotto tickets and food was the order of the day and we followed that with a drive around Pacific Haven which I had never seen before.

It was not what I expected.

I was under the impression that it was a new estate on the outskirts of Howard but instead we found an outlying area of town with large blocks of land holding old, mostly decrepit houses and lots of junk including old cars and machinery, dirty shells of caravans, tyres, rotting timber and rusting tin, unkempt yards and fallen fences.

Every so often there was a nice house with a lovely garden but they were few and far between.

I was disappointed.

We returned home and I made a bit of a grazing platter for lunch, which we all grazed over and then went our separate ways.

I watched the constant flood news on TV. I don’t know how there hasn’t been more deaths and the future days are not looking good with storms due in the flood areas on Thursday.

We had leftover roast lamb with salad for dinner.

No trivia.

MAFS.






Bed time for me.

Nite all.

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Prepped and Settled

Taking into consideration all of the flooding down south, this morning, the three of us decided to prep for the next couple of weeks by grocery shopping.

We expect that food deliveries will be sparse or nonexistent for a while so we made a list and shopped locally.

There will be no FROG box this week because the majority of that produce comes from the Sunny Coast which is inaccessible due to flood waters.

We are counting our blessings. We chose this town to settle and it seems to be situated in a fairly safe zone.

The tornado in 2013 was an unlucky one-off event, but otherwise, our river isn’t prone to bad flooding, the 168mm of rain in 24 hrs proved we are not prone to flash flooding, the surrounding bushland is not dense enough to threaten the town in a bushfire, plus Fraser Island and it’s eco and weather system tends to steer hairy weather away from us.

I feel safe here.

Last night I watched the movie “ConAir” which finished around 1.30am. This meant that I slept until 9.30am and didn’t get out of bed until 11.30am!

Half the day was gone but we managed to fill the second half nicely.

Grocery shopping. Lunch. Trivia. Roast lamb dinner. MAFS. Bed.

It’s almost midnight and I’m feeling weary so it’s sleep time for me.






Nite all.

Saturday, February 26, 2022

Flood Watch

My goodness!

Mother Nature is certainly stamping her authority on Queensland at the moment.

There are too many flood zones to mention them all but Gympie and Maryborough are once again under water and the Mary River hasn’t even peaked yet.

It’s predicted to reach record levels and Best Cousin in the World is preparing to evacuate her house and drive their camper van up onto the ridge. This is a once in 100 yr event and takes a hell of a lot of water for the river to reach her house.

It’s very worrying.

So many people have been evacuated from their homes and thankfully a lot of  businesses had enough warning to clear their stock before the water rose … but it’s only been a month since the last flood. It must be so discouraging for them and I imagine it would be hard to motivate yourself enough to keep going.

We were lucky enough to only have a few light showers today. It was enough to deter the walkers and the swimmers in the house.

BGWLBH drove me to our local shops where I shopped for some delicious recipes that I’d found online. 

The first one was Coconut Lime Chicken which we had tonight with garlic butter asparagus and char grilled zucchini. It was perfect sprinkled with coriander which seemed to balance out the lime flavour.

You can find the recipe here if you want to try it. I should have taken a photo!

Tomorrow will be a lamb roast. Monday will be Mediterranean Chicken.

It’s nice to be back in the kitchen, especially with two guinea pigs in the house!

We had nachos for lunch and Adoring Husband and I spent the afternoon watching replays of old Gogglebox shows and the football.

No trivia tonight. Lots of footy to watch.



Here’s hoping all the people remain safe tonight as the rain continues to fall and the rivers continue to rise.

Nite all.

Friday, February 25, 2022

Overflowing

168mm of rain in 24 hours.

The pool was overflowing and creating a small sink hole at one edge of the pool.

In patches, the back yard was ankle deep with water.

Lots of long low rolling thunder and a couple of loud claps that scared the pants off us.

There has been a storm sitting stationery out at sea all day so we’ve been hearing thunder all day, but it seems to be breaking up and moving south now. The thunder seems to have stopped.

We may be in the clear.

BGWLBH and AH sat in the outdoor area and watched the rain while I remained in bed until 9.30-ish and then joined them. 

When there was a break in the rain, BGWLBH and I decided to head out to check the damage in town, but we only made it round the block - she was walking and I was triking - when it came tumbling down again.

After lunch, we played trivia.

AH received a call out for a leaking roof at the shops, so BGWLBH and I watched the movie “Stand By Me” from our list.

Being Friday night, it was AH’s turn to cook chicken wings for dinner.

While BGWLBH busied herself with the stress of the distant storm, AH and I watched the football.

Now it’s time to sleep.

I can hear it raining again! It’s not heavy though. It looks bad down south and Best Cousin in the World is on high alert as the Mary River rises and approaches her home. I hope she’ll be ok.



Nite all.


Thursday, February 24, 2022

Little Power

I won $42 on Powerball.

Nowhere near the $120 million that I was hoping for but that’s life.

For some strange reason, I woke at 5am today, but I fell asleep again at 7am and woke at 9.10am. Very strange.

I swam 14 laps this morning. My arms were a little bit tender from the 30 laps that I swam yesterday but not too bad. If the weather allows it, I’ll step it up again tomorrow.

BGWLBH put together a grazing platter for Adoring Husband’s lunch and I had a cup of tea.

I found a catalogue book of different suppliers of bags, clothes, home decor, clocks, candles, jewellery and other goodies so I browsed through it writing down websites so that I can check out the products before I order … IF I order.

Still undecided.

Even though the mask mandates will be gone in a week, the “emergency” order has been extended for 6 months which means they have something else planned and I don’t think I want my business to be involved.

I spent an hour in front of the TV before making dinner.

BGWLBH made skewers full of devils on horseback which AH cooked on the barbecue. I made fried rice and there were salads.

We played trivia - no winner yet.

The new series of First Dates started tonight so we watched that.

Now it’s almost midnight and I’m ready for sleep.



Nite all.

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Cancelled Date

Kind of lucky the my date with The Gypsy was cancelled because I didn’t get to sleep until 3am!

I woke at 7am and got out of bed at 9am and went straight to the pool where I swam 30 laps. That’s 240 metres which is almost the equivalent of five lengths of an Olympic pool. I wonder if my arms will hurt tomorrow?

When I came inside I roasted some pumpkin to make a pumpkin, spinach and pine nut salad.

For my lunch I made a tuna and avocado dip and crackers. It was light.

Then I needed to lie down and rest. I was very tired from my lack of sleep so I napped. It was quite blissful and there were a few scuds of light rain during the afternoon.

We had an early dinner of salmon steak with salads.

We finally finished the game of trivia and I won! Wahoo!

MAFS was again entertaining.




Sorry about that last one haha but it’ll be here before you know it!

I think I will attempt to catch up on my sleep now.

Nite all.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Jam Packed

I woke at 8.30am.

Adoring Husband had arranged for somebody to come quote for a carport, so I decided to get up and join him for the appointment.

Unfortunately, the guy giving the quote was a Manly supporter so I told him we wouldn’t be accepting his quote (only joking). He will email the quote through in the next couple of days, but he seemed very knowledgeable and confident about his job and was also very engaging so unless his quote is astronomical, we will probably go with it.

It will take 19 weeks to complete! 

They are so busy that they can’t even start building a shed until November!

After he left, I joined BGWLBH under the Bali hut and I jumped in the pool for a swim. I was in the pool for so long, I got sunburn on my forehead, cheeks and nose.

We came inside at midday and prepared lunch. Fish bites and salad and crackers with avocado dip and fruit.

We decided to continue our trivia game after lunch but soon we realised that there would be no winner so we moved into the lounge room to watch a movie from our list - “St Elmo’s Fire” from the 80s.

Next was a walk along the beach before preparing dinner …





I made a red curry for dinner which fed AH and BGWLBH. I had an orange 🍊 

MAFS was next on the agenda and now I’m watching The Hundred which is a lot of fun.

Tomorrow morning I have a date with The Gypsy at Bamboo Land so I need to sleep before midnight.


Nite all.

Monday, February 21, 2022

A Day of Interest

My day began in the pool and under the Bali hut with BGWLBH.

Adoring Husband took the new trailer into The Bay for some additions and changes but had to leave it there for the remainder of the week.

When we came inside I made a zucchini slice. AH had some for lunch and I served it with chicken and salad for dinner.

I began watching the series ‘The Witcher’ on Netflix. It’s very gory and graphic and violent, which is something I wouldn’t normally watch, but there is something about it that keeps me watching.

After dinner, BGWLBH and I drove to the beach and walked barefoot on the sand for about 20 minutes before returning home to continue our trivia game.


I’m watching MAFS right now and AH is snoring in the chair beside me.

He’s had a big day including a mishap in the pool which could have ended in tragedy, but in true AH style he stopped short of killing himself.

He’s feeling a bit sore and sorry for himself.

I think I’m ready for bed now.


Nite all.

Sunday, February 20, 2022

Area Hunting

It was a late start for me today.

I woke at 9.30am!

A text message from BGWLBH, sent 15 minutes prior to that, was waiting for my response. Did I want to go for a drive into The Bay for some essentials?

I thought it would be a nice chance to have some time together, which we really haven’t had, because 1. I’ve been working. 2. There is nowhere that allows unvaccinated people to attend and 3. Adoring Husband is always around, so I responded affirmatively and jumped under the shower to make myself presentable.

We drove into Eli Waters and shopped in Woollies. I bought myself a lovely bunch of flowers which included three sunflowers 🌻 and some reasonably healthy snacks for AH. I did not take a mask and nobody questioned me.

I must say there were people who made a special effort to speak to me! One worker asked if I needed help when I was searching for something. A customer in a queue suggested I go to the express checkout and pointed me in the right direction. The checkout girl asked me how my day had been so far, commented on how pretty the flowers were and wished me a happy rest of my day!

I think people really enjoy interaction when they can actually see a smiling face and watch a mouth moving in response. In the real world, it’s the way humans are meant to behave and I believe people are really missing that.

It was funny to see the son of our previous town butcher. He saw me and called out. I didn’t even recognise him at first! We had a great chat. He and his family are not vaccinated. His Mum had the first jab and won’t be taking the second which means she’ll lose her job in childcare, which she’s sad about.

They are looking to buy a butcher shop in Dalby which he’s very excited about.

I didn’t get to do any interesting shopping because it’s Sunday and nothing much is open. The little dress shop was closed, as was the jeweller. So my purse full of money remained full.

We stopped at Craignish where I purchased some prawns and a couple of barramundi fillets which we ate for dinner tonight. They were much better than the fillets I get from Coles.

On the way home, we took a couple of detours into the country part of Craignish, the old area of Toogoom and to Raintree Acres. Trees and a wrap around verandah are on top of BGWLBH’s list of desires for her new home, so those areas seem to fit the bill nicely.

This afternoon we spent a LONG time searching for the movie “Always” starring Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus. I finally found it on Apple TV and we all watched it together. Tissues were required and if I’d been alone in the room, more than one tissue would have been required!

We all watched MAFS tonight. BGWLBH only watches the dinner party night and the commitment nights because they have the most drama 🤣

Now it’s time to sleep.

Here is the new raised veggie pod …


2 metres long and 1 metre wide.

Looking forward to planting some seeds!

Nite all.