To Market

BGWLBH and I left reasonably early this morning for the markets.

We needed lots of fruit and vegetables, so Urangan Market was our ‘go to’ destination. We wanted to beat the crowds but there were no parking spaces close by so we had to walk a fair distance to reach the stalls.

We purchased enough goodies to fill two bags and I got some GF donuts and a knitted poncho type thing that I thought would be great for our whale watching trips in Winter.

BGWLBH walked to the car while I sat with our heavy shopping and she drove to pick me and our shopping up, which was great for me!

We had planned on having breakfast at Salt Cafe but it was very busy so we selected The Spotted Goat instead. I chose a cold pressed juice for breakfast - pineapple, mango, passionfruit and coconut water. BGWLBH had her usual poached eggs and bacon with a pot of tea.

There were a few showers to contend with, especially on the drive home …

The butcher, supermarket and Su Jus were also on our itinerary.

It was about 1.30pm when we arrived home and because I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, I was feeling pretty tired.

AH unpacked all the food and I got changed and took Harley out for a play before making myself comfy on the couch.

I started to watch the original version of Father of the Bride with Spencer Tracey and Elizabeth Taylor and as much as I was enjoying it, I fell asleep part way through it.

In between three footy matches, I made honey garlic chicken with fried rice for dinner.

Now it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Change of Plans

Our new washing machine was being delivered this morning.

The only way to get a washing machine IN or OUT of our laundry, is to take the sliding door off its rails to make a space big enough. The sliding door is the entry point from outside the laundry.

Quite ridiculous that anyone can plan/design/build a house that can’t fit a washing machine through any entry point to the laundry without pulling the house apart! How the hell did that even happen?

I won’t even go into the drama that ensued from 24 hrs beforehand 🥴

So BGWLBH and I decided that it would be an excellent time to EXIT the house.

You may have read yesterday that we paid for the delivery and installation of the new machine plus the removal of the old machine.

Well Adoring Husband decided that the lads shouldn’t have to wait around while he replaced the sliding door (which he had to do before installing the machine), so, much to my chagrin, he sent them on their way.

Definitely time for me to EXIT.

Our plan was to attend Maryborough Markets, but when we got to the turn off, it was pouring rain and when we checked the BOM, the rain was settled and stationary over Maryborough, so we changed our plans.

We drove to Salt restaurant for breakfast.

I enjoyed a king prawn omelette and a sunshine bliss fresh juice while BGWLBH ate bacon and eggs with a pot of tea.

Afterwards, we browsed through the gift shop attached to the restaurant and I bought myself a new key ring.

From there we walked next door to Luxe. I must have tried on a dozen tops while BGWLBH was invited into the secret basement art area! 

She described it as beautiful art in a smelly, mouldy, unpleasant space.

We drove over to Urangan where I bought some crab meat, which meant, of course, that I needed fresh bread, because you simply can’t have fresh crab without fresh bread.

I needed a few things from the supermarket.

We browsed a few more shops and unusually so, neither of us found anything that we wanted to buy! It felt weird coming home with no goodies..

Our plan for dinner was to have salad with the leftover meat patties that I’d made last night. That was until we discovered that AH had put them in the oven while he was cleaning up in the kitchen and then forgot about them, so that’s where they stayed for about 15 hours. Seems to be a recurring theme.

So, change of plans. BGWLBH made a salad and AH cooked snags on the barbecue. I ate crab sandwiches.

My plan was to watch the football with AH, but I could barely keep my eyes open so at 7.30pm I headed to bed… yet another change of plan.

There is now 20 minutes remaining in the game and I’m ready to sleep. I tried.

Nite all.

Pastelly Birthday

The coming tsunami of mNRA medicines

This one page from the above link …

BGWLBH and I drove into The Bay today to pick up her final birthday present which I ordered 3 weeks ago through click and collect at Office Works - a tray of pastel pencils.

Of course we had to purchase the winning Powerball tickets while we were in town. Paid bills and grocery shopped.

Home made hamburgers for dinner.

Now I’d like to sleep.

Nite all.

Tuesday is Back

This is the delicious lemon meringue pie that I made for BGWLBH’s birthday …

This is BGWLBH over full on dinner and cake …

The Gypsy is back on track and meditation, along with qi gong, restarted today.

Wahoo!

Both classes were brilliant with quite a few new faces, which is excellent for business.

Afterwards I had a ride in her new car and we visited Heart of Gold for a couple of hours.

There was lots to catch up on because we hadn’t seen Heart of Gold for a couple of months while she travelled and The Gypsy and I hadn’t spoken face to face for a month while she sold property and set up her new home in The Bay.

Heart of Gold served us tea and healthy rice paper rolls which we enjoyed on her deck.

At 1pm we said our goodbyes and The Gypsy dropped me home.

There I discovered that our washing machine had finally, after 15 years, died.

Adoring Husband wanted us to drive into The Bay to buy a new one and suggested that we get the same machine. This one had served us well without any problems over those years.

I, in turn, suggested that if we know what we want, why not just phone them and make the purchase that way.

So we decided on the same brand (LG), same machine but the most recent and bigger version. AH purchased it over the phone and paid extra for delivery, installation and removal of the now dead LG.

Much easier than going all the way into The Bay.

This was followed by receipt of the itemised bill for AH’s surgery this month.

It’s a costly and hopefully worthwhile and successful business.

Gosh, it’s almost midnight! Sleep time for me.

Nite all.

Another Birthday

BGWLBH turns 62 on 6th May.

Unfortunately, it’s Labour Day in Queensland, which means everything is shut! There are some cafes and restaurants open but we want more than just an eating experience for her birthday.

This means we have to do something special at home.

I have some ideas for food, some trivia, some art and of course, some gifts.

Today has been a lazy Sunday of movies, Harley play and football. 

I did roast chicken with baked vegetables for dinner

That’s all for today.

Nite all.

Home Again

I am home safe n sound.

I finished it off with a bang by meeting Rebel Mardi for lunch at The Wharf where we enjoyed some delicious GF smoked chicken crepes and we chatted for almost two hours.

There was lots to catch up on and I reckon Lady Lynn’s ears were burning as we talked of her with great affection. Big hugs to you my friend. Thank you for letting Mardi know what I was up to, inspiring her to connect before I returned home.

😘💐🥂

Rebel Mardi was kind enough to drive me to Nambour train station saving me the $65 taxi fare.

We have a low maintenance friendship - we don’t keep in regular contact but when we meet up a couple of times a year, it’s so easy, like we saw each other yesterday. We trust each other implicitly and feel comfortable talking about all our ‘stuff’.

It was a good visit.

The train trip home was not so pleasant. The carriages were full. Some of the passengers were loud and annoying over 2.5 hrs on the move - two in particular right next to me.

The seats on The Spirit of Queensland were very uncomfortable. Plenty of leg room with a mini movie screen on the back of the seat in front, usb ports for charging devices, power points for electrical appliances, fold down foot rests, reclining function … but the actual seats, for me, incredibly uncomfortable.

Thank goodness I wasn’t going to Cairns!

BGWLBH was waiting at the train station for me and it was nice to see her familiar face.

Harley was talking to me through the closed door as we opened the garage door and he was excited to see me after 3 days. He jumped all over me and licked my face. It was a great welcome home!

I suppose I should mention that Adoring Husband was also happy to see me, sealing it with a kiss.

We sat down to our usual Friday night fare of spicy chicken wings.

Then I watched my beloved Broncos get thrashed by Roosters followed by Carlton losing by one goal to Collingwood. A bad sports night for me.

I am VERY happy to be in my own bed and I have already unpacked my suitcase so I’ll need to do some washing tomorrow.

Back to normal.

Now I’m going to sleep soundly.

Nite all.

End of Break

Australia: Weather manipulation 1 

Australia: Weather Manipulation 2

Australia: Weather Manipulation 3

Rainmaking Control Act 1967

Queensland Cloud Seeding

How to make people accept these technologies

This is my last night in Mooloolaba. 

Today, I shopped til I dropped … almost literally … twice I had to find a seat in the boutiques!

I’m not sure, but I think I purchased 8 tops, 2 bottoms. 2 bracelets, a journal and 2 birthday presents.

I only brought a small suitcase …

There is no way I’ll fit all of my purchases in that!

The weather has been wet, wet, wet all day. Steady rain with bursts of very heavy downpours. The people who live here are sick of the constant rain. I think it’s lovely, but I’ve only experienced one day of it.

I had last night’s leftovers for dinner tonight. There is still food left! From Tuesday nights Italian dinner too! What a waste.

I’ve had a lovely few days of peace and solitude. It has passed way too quickly but I know for sure that I will do this again.

That was my view this morning as I sat on the balcony drinking my cup of tea. Before the rain came.

Now it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Time Out

**** When you have $80,000 in the bank and a paid-off $1,000 work truck, people may assume that you're broke. However, if you have $1,000 in the bank and an $80,000 financed truck, people assume that you're doing great. 

It's important not to let material possessions fool you into judging someone. ****

I am here …

Peace and harmony abounds.

The weather is glorious.

The food divine.

The silence is golden.

The view is a winner.

Shopping tomorrow.

The bed is comfortable (but I miss my body pillows).

The shower has great water pressure.

There is no annoying outside noise.

I can hear the waves crashing on the beach.

I’ve eaten Italian and Asian Fusion so far.

Now I sleep.

Nite all.

Making a List

Peer reviewed study from Japan (click this link)

The truth about aluminium foil (click this link)

I’m making a list and checking it twice, because I’m off on a solo mini holiday.

What I’m looking forward to:

• Not cooking every day at a certain time.
• Eating whatever I want, whenever I want.
• Shopping in the Mooloolaba boutiques.
• The restaurants.
• Walking on the beach.
• Sitting on the balcony with a cup of tea and enjoying the ocean views.
• Silence.
• Journalling.
• Catching public transport.
• Finding the Gluten Free 4U shop at Caloundra.
• Good coffee.
• Exploring.

What I’ll miss:

• Adoring Husband.
• Harley.
• BGWLBH.
• My bed.
• My lounge chair.
• My body pillows.

I’ve been considering this solo trip since my birthday 2023, then at Christmas 2023 and again this birthday.

I only decided at 2pm today to get online to see if the stars aligned for me.

I figured that if I couldn’t get a seat on the train at this short notice, it would be a sign - it was easy.

I figured that if the accommodation I wanted was no longer available at this short notice, it would be a sign - it was available AND I was able to get a better price than any of the .com sites (booking, trivago, wotif etc).

The process was so easy and fast and smooth that I think it was meant to be.

It’s been seven years since I enjoyed a solo trip away. I visited Bubbles in Sydney, then flew to Canberra for a Health and Wellness festival and then met up with The Motivator to attend a Journey Retreat.

So I’ve made a list of everything I need to pack and I’ll check it off tomorrow. I’ll be gone for three nights.

Feeling good!

Nite all.