Not Myself

I felt a little 'out of it' today.

I haven't slept well since I left home, so lack of sleep is not helping.

We four girls have been together for 6 days.  Living in close quarters with three other people, dealing with their habits and taking their individual needs and wants into consideration, compromising and cushioning and sacrificing .. well it can be quite draining.

We've done very well with meals so far. We are preparing our meals in the unit. Everything has been gluten free and we all pitch in together with the preparations. The food has been delicious and satisfying, however, I REALLY miss my own food and my pantry full of special ingredients that I can call on for all of my favourite recipes.

I miss my town and my house and my routine and my Adoring Husband.

Just a little glitch in the middle of a long holiday.

Tomorrow, I will feel better and more myself.

Meanwhile, some photos from the trip so far.

I'm yet to find a Sunbird to photograph.  I've found LOTS of nests, but no birds. That is my mission tomorrow! I've also set my alarm and Di and I are waking early to catch the sunrise over the ocean and the infinite pool in the morning.

The click-clack sofa has been set up in the lounge room for me to attempt to get some sound sleep tonight. The single bed isn't cutting it for me.

A quick pic with the phone tonight at 'wine o'clock' ...

... and now I will watch the last of Big Brother and then hopefully doze into slumberland.

Nite all.

Bay Hopping

Woman of Many Talents and The Reality TV Queen left early this morning, intending to do a decent trek through the mountainous bushland, by following a walking trail to Arcadia.

Mrs Bucket and I planned on catching the bus later and meeting them there for a swim at the beach and morning tea. So the two of us had a leisurely morning at home. We had breakfast, did some washing, ironing and a little housework.

At 9am, we were sitting in the bus waiting for it to leave the depot, when the girls phoned to let us know that they were actually at Horseshoe Bay .. which is quite a bit further than Arcadia.

You have to realise that any walk over the island is a 'trek' because it is rugged and mountainous and not easily navigated.

To hear The Reality TV Queen tell the story of their trek this morning, is hilariously funny and even though she has told it three times already today, I still laughed just as loud the third time, as I did the first time.

They are both regular walkers and both very fit, so to hear how difficult this walk was and how it affected their bodies, made me grateful that I didn't join them!

I planned on doing a walk or two through the trails with my camera, to hopefully get some bird and wildlife pics, but I am quite hesitant now that I've seen the terrain.

So, Mrs Bucket and I eventually met them at Horseshoe Bay, where we enjoyed a smoothie and I bought a gluten free strawberry cheesecake tart for later. We did a short walk along the main thoroughfare, and then found our way to the bus stop, planning to bus it to Picnic Bay, which is across the other side of the island.

It took a while to get there, and Mrs Bucket left us when the bus reached Nellie Bay. We looked through the shops and little art gallery, took some photos of the big old trees and the bay itself, then went into the pub for a drink.

Woman of Many Talents bought some take away lunch and by 1pm we were on the bus heading back to Nellie Bay.

At one stop, there was a large number of back packers who boarded the bus and very soon, the bus was so full that there was standing room only.

It was heartening to see, that every time an elderly person boarded the bus, a young person, without question, stood up and offered their seat to them. It must have happened eight times and I have to admit that I felt quite emotional and surprised by so many respectful gestures.

Eventually, the fully loaded bus arrived at Nellie Bay and the girls and I made a quick trip to the supermarket to get some supplies for dinner.

We made a great team this evening. Mrs Bucket made her famous fried rice. The Reality TV Queen made kale chips with roasted pumpkin. Woman of Many Talents fired up the barbecue and cooked the chicken that I had marinated earlier in the day and I made a garden salad.

It was all very delicious and we washed it down with a couple of glasses of wine before settling down in front of the TV to watch 'X Factor' and 'Winners and Losers'.

It's been a very grey day, as far as the weather is concerned, but all in all, it's been a fabulous day.

I did take a few photos .. not a lot because I didn't think the greyness of the day did justice to the beauty of the area, but I will take more as the holiday wears on. If I have time to go through them tomorrow, I will share some here tomorrow night.

Now, hopefully, I will have better luck falling asleep tonight than I did last night!

Nite all.

Wish You Were Here

First full day on the island and we are having a lovely relaxing time.

Today is Mrs Bucket's birthday, so we started the day with a "Happy Birthday" song and a small gift, then went for a long walk.

Mrs Bucket and I then stopped for coffee and juice at Peppers Resort, while the other two went on their marathon walk. The two of us had a lovely long chat about all the things that have been happening in our lives lately .. it was a pleasant way to spend the morning .. before heading back to our unit.

When the others arrived back, we all decided to go to Peppers for their lunch time special which cost $25 per head and included a main meal, dessert and a glass of wine, beer or soft drink.

Two of us had salt and pepper calamari and the other two had beer battered fish and chips. Dessert was the choice of pavlova or trio of sorbets. I had the sorbets and it was delicious. The whole lunch was delicious.

Here we are just as we arrived ...

We have a pool on the roof, so after lunch, Mrs Bucket and Woman of Many Talents headed up there for a swim. I did some photo editing while Reality TV Queen lay down and watched some telly in her bedroom.

Right now, it's 'wine o'clock', so we are kicking back with a glass of vino and are definitely in holiday mode.

Yesterday afternoon as we were settling into our unit, we were briefly entertained by a wedding party having part of their photo shoot on the helipad across the water.

The view from our room ..

Now I'm off to enjoy my wine.

Nite all

Food for Thought

Not much time for blogging again, but today we shopped til we dropped.

I got some new swimmers (or togs as they call them in Queensland), a pair of shorts, two tops, some junk jewellery, a new bag, a phone case and a couple of singlet tops.

We came back to the room for a one hour rest stop, then got ready for the casino! We all played the pokies for a little while, then had an 'all you can eat' buffet for $42 per head. I think I ate three plates of seafood and then a big bowl of dessert. We ALL pigged out big time!

Home by 8pm and now ready for a good sleep before we hit the markets bright and early tomorrow morning.

We catch the barge over to the island at lunch time.

Here is the view from our room in Townsville .. the Holiday Inn.

Please excuse the quality of the pics .. they are taken with my phone.

Time for sleeping.

Nite all.

Brief Blogging

I'm just here to say that I'm alive and having a good time!

It seemed like a long long long trip from Mackay to Townsville today, but we finally made it safe n sound.

We spent the evening at the Cowboys Leagues Club tonight, which was very crowded with Cowboys supporters for their semi final game, but unfortunately they lost by one point.

The club was pumping right til the end and then it suddenly went silent, and people left in droves. A sad end to a great night.

We waited for an hour and twenty minutes for our meals tonight, but the meals were worth the wait. Delicious!

While we were waiting for our meal, there was an elderly gentleman looking for somewhere to sit, so the 'Reality TV Queen' invited him to sit with us at our table .. which had the only spare seat in the house! He welcomed the invitation and then introduced himself as one of the directors of the club.

When our meal took so long, he spoke to the kitchen staff to move things along and then organised a free drink for us, which was lovely.

So now, at 10.25pm, we are home and ready to climb into bed.

There are markets on the street outside out motel room tomorrow morning, so we will be up bright and early, ready to spend money :)

We have a whole day in Townsville tomorrow so the Casino will also be on the cards.

Anyway, just thought I'd touch base with any of you who care. Can you tell that I've had a few wines tonight??

Nite all.

Kitchen Antics

I calculate that I spent 8 hours cooking in the kitchen today - preparing meals to freeze for Adoring Husband to eat while I'm away.

Curried Sausages x 2
Chicken & Vegetable Curry x 2
Bolognese Sauce x 2
Savoury Chicken Mince x 3
Potato Bake x 3
Cut and seasoned vegetables bagged x 6
Coriander Lemon Chicken Meatballs x 35
Roast Chicken x 1

I did some washing.

I cleared over one thousand emails.

Wednesday is now available for me to be productive, so I have a list of chores to do, as well as packing.

I enjoyed a lovely morning tea with the girls today. It's good to have Maid Marian back in town .. permanently. I feel as if we are 'complete' again.

It was also nice to have a good coffee. I missed my coffee while I was away.

Tomorrow I plan on making some sweet treats for Adoring Husband. Chocolate cupcakes. Banana and walnut muffins. Chocolate bark.

I guess I'll be doing some photo editing while I'm on holidays! Lot's of Chicklet photos to play with :)

Once again, it's after midnight. Time to sleep.

Nite all.

In Between

Home safe n sound and now preparing for the next leg!

I've unpacked, done my washing and now planning, in my mind, everything that needs to be done before I leave on Thursday .. considering Wednesday is no longer viable for me, I have to do everything tomorrow!

I need to make a list! My time management skills will certainly be stretched.

It was good to see Adoring Husband but it feels weird to be leaving so soon and I'm not sure about spending two weeks away from him. I hope he will be ok. I hope I will be ok!

Despite those concerns, I'm looking forward to having a break. Between my studies and everything else that has happened this year, it will be nice just to 'be' and regenerate, rejuvenate and come back ready to take on the world!

I've just received the new Study Smart format for my study site, so I began exploring that and methodically going through the steps, but time has passed so quickly that I now notice it's almost midnight! I've been in bed with lights out before 9.30pm for the last 3 nights!

Thank you to my lovely Chicklet family for a great 3 days *LOVE* Little Chicklet wore me out again .. but the 90 minute walk this morning was the killer!

So here I end my post, once again without photos. Where does the time go?

Nite all.

Another Visit Over

When will I learn? Walking around in bare feet on a tiled floor all day is NOT good for your back!! Ugh!

I think that if I wore a pedometer while playing with Chicklet all day, it would be interesting to see how many steps I take.

Between my bare feet on the tiled floor and running around with Chicklet, I feel like I've run a marathon.

I got some more photos today of Chicklet with a clean face, but I'm afraid you will have to wait, because my laptop seems to be heating up more than usual and I'm not going to risk overheating it.

Tomorrow, I am heading home again. It's been a quick three days and it feels like it's flown by. I will be sad to say goodbye again to my Chicklet family, but looking forward to seeing Adoring Husband for a few days before heading off to Magnetic Island with the girls for 2 weeks of fun and frivolity.

I also hope to catch up with The Nikonian before I leave tomorrow!

I've now yawned 5 times in the last 5 minutes so I think that's my cue to turn out the lights and lay my weary head upon the pillow. Yup 9pm and I'm done.

Nite all.

Still happy.

Well my little Tassie Devil lasted approximately 20 minutes in my bed!

We did our usual story time and read 6 books. She had her own blanket and pillow in here and lay down to attempt sleep. Tossed and turned. Asked me a few questions. Asked if she could play the muppet game on my iPad and when I told her "No. It's sleep time now." she replied with "Can I sleep in the big bed with Mama?"

And that was that.

Small steps lol.

I took lots of photos today and had intended putting some on here tonight, but because every single one of them has a very messy peanut butter face, they are going to take a bit of work to clean up.

Note to self - clean Chicklet's face before taking 200 photos.

So, instead, I will share a photo taken yesterday, with my iphone, of Chicklet taking a break on the path that we took through the bush.

It's just after 9.30pm and I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be woken up early tomorrow morning by a smiley face planting kisses along my arm, so I'm off to get some much needed sleep.

Nite all.

Happiness is ...

Well, after another late and restless night at home, and after 3 hours of sleep, I was awake at 4am preparing to leave on the train for the Sunny Coast. Taking into consideration the other restless nights I've had this week, and how I'm no longer used to that kind of broken sleep, I am feeling decidedly tired tonight .. even though I had a nana nap this afternoon!

This is my new bed and bedding at the new house - it was very comfortable this afternoon, so I anticipate a good night's sleep tonight.

Little Chicklet wanted to sleep in bed with me tonight .. and that's the reason I chose a double bed, specifically because I hoped she would want to do that .. but knowing how restless she is, and knowing how desperately in need of sleep I am tonight, we made a deal that she could do it tomorrow night.

It's been a good day. Chicklet has been like a mini Tassie Devil and it's been difficult keeping up with her, but it's great to be here. The new house is lovely and set in beautiful bushland surroundings that have walking paths, so they couldn't ask for a nicer environment.

It's 8pm and I am about to settle into an exhausted sleep.

Nite all.

A Joyful Day

Retail therapy is always fun.

Today, we bought a bed for me to sleep on at the Chicklet family house on the Sunny Coast and it's being delivered there tomorrow. Then I got to choose some bright colourful bedding, so I'm really looking forward to my first night at the new house.

It's only been a month since I saw the Chicklet family, but it feels like forever! I can't wait to see my little Chicklet. I miss her.

I planned on getting a pedicure today and I can usually walk straight in to any nail salon without an appointment and not have to wait, but today, the first two salons that I tried couldn't fit me in for a couple of hours! I didn't want to hang around, so I declined both of them and then found another salon where I least expected and luckily got straight in.

The young girl was brilliant and she massaged my calves and feet beautifully, in between the pedicure and painting my nails. The chair had massaging vibration in it, which gave me an almost deep tissue massage as I sat there.

It was heavenly, it took almost an hour and I was only charged $35! Bonus!

This afternoon, we 'Island getaway girls' had a meeting with a bottle of wine to discuss departure times and plan our drive up north which will be happening next week. I think we are all getting very excited as it draws closer.

So it seems that I have a very busy and full month ahead of me!

It will be football grand final time when I return and my little sis will hopefully be popping down for a visit for grand final weekend.

It will also be time to start the next stage of my studies!

So much happening!

I'm exhausted just writing about it!

There are so many exclamation marks at the end of all of my sentences!

Now it's time to sleep.

Nite all.

Done and Dusted

It's OVER!

The exam is finished and that officially puts an end to my first semester.

Hear my audible sigh of relief!

I would like to apologise to anyone reading this who got sick and tired of my incessant study chatter.

I would like to apologise to my friends and family who I'm sure got sick and tired of my incessant worrying and stressing over my inability to retain information.

I would also like to apologise to Adoring Husband who has been living in a silent world for 6 months, wearing headphones while watching television and spending lots of time out of the house while I crammed.

Now that I know what to expect for future studies, I'm sure that I won't stress so much and it will be much easier for all of you! Thank you for your tolerance and patience and support and encouragement.

Feel the love!

The exam wasn't too difficult. I feel like I may not have given as much detail as they were expecting, so there may be some points lost for my brevity, but I 'think' I will pass .. fingers crossed.

Now I can think about, plan, and look forward to other things like visiting my little Chicklet family and then an island getaway!

Meanwhile in Tawny Frogmouth world .. there is a new nest! This is the same bird that made such a flimsy nest last year that all of the eggs fell to the ground.

This nest looks much more secure, and is in the perfect spot for me to get some good shots of chicks when they hatch. It's quite low in the tree, so let's hope she has better luck this year and we get to see some babies!

Adoring Husband and I went for our barefoot walk along the beach this afternoon. The tide was way out and it was a beautiful afternoon. We only walked half the distance that we planned, because the sand was quite soft as we attempted to walk to the 2nd marker and we were fast sinking deep into the sand, almost up to our knees!

The further we walked, the more broken shells there were, and other partially buried debris to navigate, so we decided not to take the risk

By the time we returned, we were both feeling leg weary!

Anyway, it's been a great day and now I can sleep with peace of mind.

Nite all.

Last Time

This is the last time that I will complain about my studying for the big exam .. tomorrow is the day .. go hard or go home!

By mid afternoon tomorrow, it will all be over and I can relax for a couple of weeks.

If I fail, I only have my old brain to blame .. because I have studied with a vengeance .. it just seems that no matter how much I cover, there seems to be more and more that I haven't covered!!

Today, I looked on YouTube for study hints and ways to remember stuff for tests. Surprisingly, there were quite a lot of videos to watch and I wasted 90 minutes learning to do stuff that I am already doing and which I feel isn't working for me.

HOWEVER ...

One of the teachers on one of the videos described perfectly how my brain is working at the moment and how it feels to me like all the information is flying out of my brain as quickly as it comes in. He said that once I sit down for the exam, I will be surprised by how much my brain has actually retained.

I can only hope that he is right. It gave me the boost that I needed to keep powering on regardless of my doubts.

I think I'll be studying late into the night and then I will squeeze in some more for a couple of hours before I sit the exam tomorrow.

I know that I will be able to say, that no matter what, I tried my best, and have given myself the best chance possible.

On that note ..

Nite all.

Signs of Spring

I always know that Spring has arrived, when the Tawny Frogmouths appear.

This guy was very low on a branch and alone .. which usually means that there is a nest nearby .. so my next trick is to find the nest!

Then there was this pair .. no nest yet for them ..

There is one other, but I don't have a photograph of him yet because he was high in a tree and well obscured by foliage, but I'll keep trying.

By the time I get back from holidays at the end of the month, there should be chicks to photograph!

Still studying. Ugh!

Nite all.

Under the Weather

So I was a little under the weather last night, hence, no blog post.

I just discovered this on youtube and thought I'd share it. It's an oldie but a goodie!



YouTube can be so much fun sometimes! I get lots of study information in YouTube too .. you name it, YouTube has it!

Speaking of study, I squeezed in a few hours of study today, but I'm still feeling a little panicked over the exam on Tuesday. I hate exams! Don't we all?

So, obviously, while I'm studying so voraciously, not much else is happening to share with you.

Nite all.

Counting Down

Five more days of study left til the exam.  Feeling pressured.  Brain won't retain the information long enough!  So much to remember!  Ugh!

I wish there was a way to change my brain from being a reflective surface bouncing all the information back to where it came from .. to a sponge soaking up and retaining everything that I need to know.

Ageing brains are not our friends.  Well, not mine anyway.

I actually did some cooking today too. A chicken and vegetable stew, a roast chicken and some honey and lemon chicken wings.  I planned on making an apple tart this evening too, but then a very long phone call with 'best cousin in the world' put an end to that idea.

Adoring Husband had some SES training tonight, so I had a few hours at home alone, but a very unproductive few hours!

Once again, it's after midnight.

Sleep is my friend.

Nite all.

Sleep and Food

It was a late and slow start to the day.

I had a very late night last night, because sometimes life gets in the way.

Eventually, after coffee and a trike ride, by late morning, I started to study.

I stopped briefly for lunch when Adoring Husband was good enough to bring some delicious fresh sand crab home. I devoured it over the kitchen sink, making a fabulous splashy juicy mess everywhere!

Facebook provided me with this great recipe that I modified (as I do) and had with dinner tonight.

Ingredients:

4 zucchinis quartered lengthways
1/2 cup of grated parmesan
1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried Basil (or 5 fresh leaves finely chopped)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 fresh cloves minced)
salt and pepper to taste
2 T coconut oil
2 T fresh chopped parsley

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.
Line a flat pan with baking paper.
Combine everything except the zucchini, parsley and oil, in a bowl.
Place the zucchini on the prepared pan, drizzle with oil and sprinkle the parmesan mixture over the top.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
Put under the grill for 2-3 minutes until golden brown (be careful the paper doesn't catch alight).
Serve immediately, sprinkled with parsley.

I really loved the flavour of this, except I accidentally mixed the parsley with the mixture and it got a little burnt under the grill .. so I'll leave that out and sprinkle it last next time, like the recipe states!

We had it with crispy skinned salmon, sweet potato chips, snow peas and broccoli.

Dessert was chocolate zucchini cupcake with blueberries, strawberries and cream.

I'm soooooo full!

Nite all.

Study Mode

Yep, study mode again. I was actually quite productive with my study today, so I'm feeling happy with today's achievements.

Morning tea with the girls was a great start to the day and Adoring Husband spent a lot of time at the SES shed, which gave me the quiet time that I needed, to get focused.

We didn't go for our walk along the beach this afternoon because we had gale force winds attempting to blow the town away. If the weather improves tomorrow, we'll try again.

I love these cups ...

... and here are my favourite quotes from Facebook this week ...

Psychotic dogs are a bit restless tonight, so I think I'll get them to bed early.

Nite all.

After my Heart

So ... I've known this woman in town for about 18 months. We have never had a long conversation, but have lunched in a group situation a couple of times and always say hello when we pass in the street or the supermarket. We probably wouldn't even qualify as acquaintances.

Yesterday, I stopped at her house to buy something that she had for sale and we began to chat.

Almost immediately, we discovered that we have a similar dislike for, and mistrust of, doctors, and the conversation became much more animated about our health and the various methods of healing that we use.

Well ... you all know how passionate I am about nutrition and how I find it difficult to control my, for want of a better word, 'enthusiasm' for my recent lifestyle change. I discovered that she too, was equally enthusiastic and showed me a book that she had recently acquired called "Take Control of Your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry" by Elaine Hollingsworth.

I guess she sensed my keen interest, because she hesitantly offered to loan it to me for 'a couple of days'. I accepted her offer and spent yesterday afternoon devouring as much information from the book as I could and took copious notes.

This afternoon, I went to return the book and told her how excited I was to read it and that I would definitely order one for myself from the website. She then offered for me to keep the book for another week! I almost snatched it back from her! So now I am taking my time with long leisurely reads (between my studying sessions of course).

There is so much interesting information in the book. Some of the advice, I have been putting into practice for almost a year already, but there is more information that I wasn't aware of, but which makes so much sense to me. Some of it I will share here during the week.

If you're interested in the book or the website from where I will be ordering it, go here.

Meanwhile, I finally got to take Adoring Husband to the beach for our bare foot walk on the sand this afternoon. We walked for about 50 minutes and it was really nice to have the time together in the fresh air, with time to talk and no distractions like TV or phones or dogs and to feel the sand between our toes and slosh through the puddles and shallow channels.

We've decided to make it a habit.

It's been difficult to get into my studies this week. There are two houses being built behind us and they are at the 'nail gun' stage. The wind is blowing from that direction, straight into our back door, so the sound seems amplified and pierces my tranquility. Every time I feel focussed, there is a sudden series of loud bangs as the builders get on a role.

I'm not sure how I'm going to combat this problem, but I'll work on it.

Once again, it's almost midnight, so I'm outta here!

Nite all.

Perfect Sunday

Today was THE MOST PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL DAY! I took this photo with my phone.

I spent an hour walking along the beach and another hour sitting on the bank of the river, just enjoying the fresh air, the clear water and the blue skies.

I had to come home eventually and do some studying.

Adoring Husband arrived home safe n sound from Marburg after successfully completing his SES training. He's a happy chappy and now in bed snoring his happy little head off!

I am following his lead.

Nite all.