Today was a 3 hour zoom call with The Gypsy, followed by a 30 minute phone call with Number One Son.
I spent the majority of the day in bed and continuing my fasting.
I started the day with warm lemon water, soursop tea, lots of filtered water, chicken bone broth, more water, more soursop tea and finishing with water.
I’m feeling better. Not great, but definitely better.
I made the others a creamy lemon garlic chicken and vegetable concoction for dinner.
Nite all.
A lawyer shows how one sentence freezes ANY government letter and why almost no citizen knows it exists …
1. He spent 18 years in administrative law and said citizens panic because they think every letter is an order. He wrote down one sentence: “Please provide the legal basis for this request, including the specific statute and clause that obligates my response.” That single line turns compliance into hesitation, because the burden flips back to them.
2. Offices survive on procedure, not speed. When asked for the statute and clause, the whole process halts until legality is verified. Most letters rely on habit, not law, so internal teams scramble through archives before answering, exposing how much of bureaucracy runs on assumption.
3. A family once got a “submit in 5 days” notice. They sent that sentence. The reply came 46 days later, and the demand vanished. Time pressure dissolved when legality had to be proven. The lawyer said it’s not rebellion, it’s precision — and systems freeze under it.
4. A small business faced a fine for missing “updated records.” Same method, same outcome. The agency paused penalties because no clause backed the demand. Inside offices, people fear signing off without a statute number; that fear is your shield.
5. His closing line stayed with me: bureaucracy eats those who rush, but it stalls before those who request proof. What slows the machine isn’t emotion, it’s paperwork logic you can trigger with one calm question.
It’s Sunday and I’ve been in bed all day feeling quite poorly.
I took Harley out to play this morning and I cooked a vegetarian dinner for the team tonight.
I made a fresh pineapple, mint and coconut water juice for my dinner adding a quarter of a cup of pineapple/ginger kombucha.
My gut is the worst it’s been for some time so I’m trying a liquid fast for a few days.
Adoring Husband took on Harley play duties this afternoon while I prepared dinner.
On Saturday, BGWLBH and I attempted to win $500,000 at the big golden ticket promotion at the RSL. Sadly, we were unsuccessful, but BGWLBH was the fifth name drawn and won $1000!
I was a big fat loser.
It was loud and busy and full of people, so there were no poker machines available and nowhere to sit.
The whole process was poorly organised, with the golden ticket holders (with their +1) herded into a very small area where nibbles and champagne was provided, however, by the time the 50th person had their golden ticket checked, there were no nibbles left.
It took a whole 15 minutes to draw the one ticket holder who got to choose from 100 envelopes. The envelope that she selected contained $10,000. Then, five more names, the first of whom won $3,000, followed by 3 x $1,000 prizes..
The MC used very few words. There was no fanfare. The whole shebang was pretty underwhelming. Those of us who dressed up and drove a long way to attend, were pretty disappointed.
The draw started at 4.10pm and we were in the car making our way out of the carpark at 4.30pm.
Ho Hum.
It’s now 9.10pm on Sunday and I’m ready to sleep.
Let the healing begin!
Nite all.
Two long days in the bay and another happening tomorrow.
I’m too old for all this gadding about!
I need to sleep because I feel depleted.
Nite all.
It has been a quiet, uneventful few days.
Meditation on Tuesday was a small class, but inspiring and spiritually educational.
The Gypsy had a hair appointment afterwards, so we didn’t get to catch up. We organised two different ZOOM meetings, but due to circumstances beyond our control, both had to be cancelled.
The stars will align for us eventually.
My health has been a bit challenging this week, because my diet has been a bit slack, so I’m back on the bone broth, extra filtered water and fresh fruit. I’ve added some of this to my regimen …
It’s for gut health, liver health, balancing moods, joint health, maintaining energy throughout the day and providing antioxidants for stronger immunity.
Today was my first day, so I can’t really give an honest review yet. I’ll try to remember on Friday.
The weather has been warm.
Harley has been playful.
Adoring Husband has been working in the yard.
BGWLBH has been arting.
I did some washing today and caught up on my reality tv shows.
For dinner, I prepared roast pumpkin, spinach and pine nut salad to go with turkey meatballs in sweet spicy sauce.
I received a Wednesday Waffle video from Vegan Chickie, which was lovely.
That’s about the long and short of my week so far.
The next three days will be busy busy busy, so I need sleep!
Nite all.
My brother finally responded. He is safe and well, although he has received more than 100mm of rain in 24 hours.
We have also received some good rain in the last 24 hours. 52mm in our gauge.
Today is Sunday and while this rainy day would have been perfect to spend in bed, I thought I should give some time to Adoring Husband.
I squeezed some play time in with Harley before the rain set in, made my breakfast and joined AH in the lounge room where we watched a couple of Hallmark Christmas movies and started to watch the latest series of Spicks and Specks.
I made a chicken drumstick and vegetable casserole for dinner.
It was too wet to play with Harley this afternoon.
After dinner, we played trivia before catching the Big Brother first eviction.
Still no wiser on the Hitchcock fly situation but there were no new recruits today or this evening thank goodness!
I’m now watching golf live from Dubai and hoping McIlroy can gain a shot on the final hole to join the lead.
There’s still some rain about so we’ll probably fall asleep to the sound of water on the roof.
Nite all.
My brother did not text me back last night.
I texted again tonight.
He has not responded.
This is not unusual for him, so I am not overly concerned. Hopefully he will respond within the next 24 hours.
There is no point phoning him because, like me, he doesn’t answer.
Today was a great day.
Except for Harley play and preparing two meals for myself, I spent the day in bed.
Firstly, I finished reading my friend’s book and then sent her a lengthy positive review with a hearty congratulations.
I journaled.
I played Texas Hold’em.
After cooking my early dinner at 4pm (honey soy prawns), Adoring Husband and I watched two Hallmark movies on Netflix, followed by an episode of the Australian version of “Portrait Artist of the Year” on ABC iview.
When I returned to my bedroom, I discovered that my ceiling had 18 big black flies congregated above my bed. This was very off putting because I hadn’t noticed them at any time during the day.
THEN I walked into my ensuite, which I hadn’t entered since 8am, and like an Alfred Hitchcock movie, there were more than 60 big black flies stuck to the walls, ceiling and glass walls of the shower!
I have no clue where they came from. I checked the bin and there was nothing in it to breed nasties.
Manned with my fly swat, I spent 20 minutes swatting every single one of them stone cold dead! Some I squished against whatever surface they were upon and others I swatted in mid air. In the bedroom, I climbed on my bed to reach the buggers that were on my ceiling.
I wish I knew where they came from! There was a Weis Bar wrapper in my bedroom trash bag, but it wasn’t touched so I really am clueless. Could there be a dead creature in one of the drains??? I shall investigate further tomorrow.
I think I’m ready for sleep now. I hope I don’t have Hitchcockesque nightmares!
Nite all.
My brother is currently fishing on the Maroochy river and stuck in the middle of a hail storm.
This is not good.
He will text me when it’s over 😳
On Wednesday, I spent a delightful 4 hours in the bay by myself while BGWLBH did volunteer work at the art and craft shop where she sells her art.
I can’t even describe how much I cherish solo time. It happens so rarely.
I browsed a stack of shops. I sat in 2 cafes and enjoyed a cup of herbal tea in each, just sitting for about 30 minutes people watching. I love people watching.
For the last hour, I hit the RSL club and played the pokies and Keno. I took $100 out of the ATM and left with $150! Very satisfying.
BGWLBH had a successful and enjoyable afternoon in the shop and picked me up at 4pm.
Adoring Husband had dinner prepared when we arrived home which topped the day off beautifully.
The only blemish for the day was yet another close call on the road. Close enough to make BGWLBH yell in fear and left both of us shaking our heads in disbelief that we escaped a possible 3 car collision that would definitely have resulted in at least one death.
We survived.
Thursday was morning tea with the art girls.
I spent some of that time telling our resident author how amazing her writing is. Just a small example of her work …
‘Olivia, one month shy of her 2nd birthday, looked like an angel with her halo of chestnut hair that like spun toffee, floated around her ears in a whisper of soft curls.’
How do words like that appear from a person’s imagination to a page in a story? I spend so much time rereading sentences and creating images in my head. It’s not just reading a book. It’s experiencing another world in the most beautiful and descriptive way.
It was a 2 hour visit where we caught up with all the news and gossip ending with another planned gathering in two weeks.
I pedalled home, stopping at the supermarket for some ingredients for our dinner menu.
Sausages with a garden salad and a broccoli and strawberry salad.
Today is Friday and I spent the day again in the bay. It was a cooler albeit still muggy, showery day. We visited most of our usual haunts, but came home with little to show for it.
Harley was happy to see me home. AH had news regarding his broken coffee machine. We all made our own dinners (even though it’s not ‘fend for yourself’ night) and I came to bed at 3.30pm where I read some more of the book, journaled, watched TV and played Texas Hold’em.
It’s now 10pm and the movie “Suddenly 30” is on TV, but I think I’m ready for sleep.
Nite all.
After a great meditation class, I left five minutes early to meet Adoring Husband in the car park and we drove into the bay.
He was picking up his new glasses from the optometrist and we had a list of errands.
We ran into our rear neighbours at Stocklands and chatted briefly with them.
Harley was in need of beef bones so we drove to Pialba butchers, but as we left, some dickhead drove straight out of the chemist carpark driveway without even looking. If not for AH’s quick reflexes, we’d have been involved in a serious accident.
The other dickhead realised his error and slammed his brakes completely blocking the road and the only way to avoid him was to swerve around him which meant driving onto the other lane, which luckily had no oncoming traffic at the time.
There was no space for us to brake. We would have slammed into him.
While it was excellent driving skills by AH, my back has been sore ever since. The jerking action as he swerved around the other car was quite aggressive.
I swear my life flashed before my eyes!
We were home before 1pm. I had been awake since 3am, so I’ve been feeling a bit the worst for wear all afternoon. I snatched a 30 minute nap on the couch, but it didn’t help.
I prepared chicken salad for BGWLBH and AH’s dinner.
I came to bed at 7.30pm and I’ve watched a couple of my reality TV shows but I’m definitely ready for sleep now.
Nite all.
It’s been a while.
There just aren’t enough hours in the day sometimes!
These past few days have been filled with time in the bay, lunch at the local bowls club with Adoring Husband, reading the book that my friend wrote, watching lots of sport including the rugby league ashes test and the Abu Dhabi golf championship, cooking, playing with Harley, enjoying some rain and catching up on all the reality tv that’s on offer at the moment.
Life is pretty relaxed and lazy, but still full of things that keep me happy and fill the hours.
My niece had a baby boy last week …
He’s all squishy and new 💙 and healthy. My niece’s partner gave birth and there were a few complications, but they all came through it and are moving forward as a new happy family.
Tomorrow, I have meditation AND a trip into the bay with AH, so I need to sleep.
Nite all.
