Looking Up

We arrived at the shop right on 9am today! That’s the 2nd time I’ve been so late.

I was dragging the chain because I got too involved in a book this morning and the idea of a one week cleansing mono diet. That means aside from starting each day with warm lemon water followed by a glass of straight celery juice, you choose from a list of highly nutritious, healing foods and eating only that one food for one week straight.

The idea of it is to reduce inflammation in the gut, starve any pathogen that has made its home there and cleanse your gut of bugs, mould, fungus, heavy metals, candida and other interesting damaging things. Eating the one food makes digestion easier on the body which is restful and healing while still providing enough vitamins, natural salts, sugars and goodness to keep you energised and fueled up to get through the day.

It’s especially good for people with food allergies, intolerances and undiagnosed gut issues.

So I might give it a go next week.

I had the best day of sales for the school holidays so far.

The steady sales made the day pass quickly and in between customers I finally installed the updates on my iMac. That took about 45 minutes.

I sent an important email to the financial adviser, priced and displayed some new stock, filed some paperwork, ate my prawns for lunch and had an interesting conversation with a small human being - he was about 7yrs old and obviously on the spectrum. 

He promised to come visit me next time he’s in town, informing me that he would be an adult next time, but he would remind me of the turtle that he bought from me today.

Sadly, I probably won’t have the shop in another 11 years, but you never know.

The Artful Dodger, who had her first vaccination yesterday, is now in bed very ill … will be interesting to see how long she’s out of action. So far I only know one person who hasn’t been flattened by the jab.

All of the shops in town now have the QR code at their entrance for scanning.

I don’t have it because I don’t fit the criteria for mandatory scanning …

On the way home from work, my water bottle leaked all through my handbag! Luckily I had only cleared the bag out on the weekend so there was no damage done. It was just annoying

I have another Friday night party to attend this week. Of course it’s hardly partying hard when it starts at 2pm and is done and dusted before 7pm, HOWEVER, it’s still a bit of fun!

I’m in bed watching the footy but will switch over to the tennis shortly because the Aussie Ash Barty will be playing her semi final match.

I’m feeling prematurely smug about the football because I’ve gone against the masses and tipped the Canberra Raiders over the ‘in form’ Manly team. Canberra are currently winning by 14 points. Of course anything can happen with 25 minutes still to play … which is why I used the term ‘prematurely’.

Enjoy your Friday!

Nite all.

Clearer

Both the weather and my understanding of Quickbooks is a little clearer.

Today, when I logged into my QB account, it looked completely different to previous days, and it actually made sense to my brain! I was able to do some work, input some data and categorise my bank transactions for tax purposes. I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn, but at least my brain doesn’t feel like it’s going to explode!

Meditation was low in numbers this morning, but still inspiring. We discussed ‘stillness’ - the ability to be anywhere, doing anything while feeling the peace and stillness within.

The Gypsy stayed for about 45 minutes afterwards and even though it’s only been a week, there was still so much to catch up on.

Sales were good today - still not as good as school holidays should be but good for my morale.

I chose the art technique that we are going to try on Saturday and then posted it in our private messenger group.

I had a visit from Aggie parading her new ‘do’ which convinced me to try the new guy at the hair salon in town.

The Artful Dodger visited while she waited for her lunch to be prepared at the cafe.

Adoring Husband ran some errands in town and picked up the FROG box on his way home. He also bought me some fresh prawns which I’m looking forward to munching on for lunch tomorrow.

For dinner tonight, AH cooked some snags on the barbecue while I mashed some yellow sweet potato/white sweet potato/regular white potato and threw in some raw chopped spring onion. Broccoli and cauliflower on the side and home made onion gravy.

We watched Farmer Wants a Wife and both headed to bed.

I’m watching Wimbledon (the Djokovic quarter final) but my eyelids are heavy so I may be asleep very soon 😵‍💫

On that note, here is my little Hazie again …

Nite all.

Busy Busy Busy

The town is busy busy busy but I am not not not!

It was a nice morning tea with Aggie, The Brains Trust and Bombshell today. For a change, I got to hear most of the conversations because the shop was not busy at all.

The Happy Hippy did some dusting and stapled some biz cards to my carry bags. I’ve been trying to get that job done for days so I was very grateful that she was prepared to do that for me.

I don’t even recall what I did for the rest of the day but time passed quickly!

Sales didn’t quite reach my minimum required number but I have high hopes for tomorrow!

Journaling was almost a write off because we talked about everything BUT journaling!

Duck breast with roasted cauliflower and capsicum and a giant mushroom stuffed with butter, onion and LF cheese was our dinner.

Meditation tomorrow morning so I need some sleep.

I shall fall asleep to the sound of tennis balls bouncing off tennis rackets but I won’t be awake for the Aussies Ash Barty vs Alja Tomljanovic match because they don’t play til about 2.30am.

There is an icy breeze coming through the bedroom window and my sheets are icy too, so I’m going to snuggle under the doona and wait for my body heat to lull me into a deep sleep.

I hope your Wednesday is amazeballs!

Nite all.

Oops! What?

I don’t know what happened last night.

I was certain that I posted here, but I must have been too caught up with learning about Quickbooks.

The bedroom was my office all day Sunday, but I achieved very little because I do not understand QB at all. I understand it well in theory, but putting it into practice and getting all my info into my online registration has completely stumped me.

I got nothin’

Desperate situations call for desperate measures and I think I’ll have to pay someone to set it up and teach me how to use it.

It was well after midnight when I turned out the light for sleeping, but I had done all the calculations so I know where I stand with the shop.

Today, I had no choice but to get out of bed early because Best Cousin In The World was arriving to pick up all our old bedding, which included doonas and covers, pillows, sheets, pillow cases etc., all for her dogs because she breeds working dogs.

I expected that she would stay for an hour or two but one of her bitches appeared to be in early labour when she left home, so we agreed she should return home as soon as possible. I haven’t heard any news about new babies yet.

While I probably should have done some QB study, I found a series on Netflix called ‘Down to Earth’ with Zac Efron and Darin Olien. They travel around the world looking for healthy sustainable ways to live and so far, I want to move to Iceland, France, Costa Rica, Lima and Sardinia!

It’s a great series and apparently a 2nd season is in the making.

We had an easy dinner of soup with crusty bread.

After watching ‘Farmer Wants a Wife’, I’m ready for sleep.

Nite all.

Perfect

The perfect way to wake up this morning was to the sound of that beautiful steady rain.

I have to say that it was difficult to get out of bed because I just wanted to stay there all day.

But I made the decision and jumped out of bed with a burst of happy adrenaline because I wanted to start my day on a positive note!

I expected to have zero sales because I thought ‘who wants to come out shopping on a day like today?’, but I had a few customers pop in to make a purchase or two.

It was enough to make it worth getting out of bed.

While it was quiet, I did some more research on the current Covid stats, seasonal flu stats and vaccination stats. They were very interesting, but I left the info in my desk at the shop, so lucky for you … I can’t share them today.

However, I CAN share the first video that I watched of people in USA who experienced adverse effects from their vaccination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp_zNSEW1wc

I found a couple of YouTube videos showing how to set up ‘Quickbooks’ accounting system online, so that’s how I’ll be spending my Sunday in bed. I’ll set it all up ready for the accountant.

Adoring Husband arrived to help close the shop and we were heading down the driveway a couple of minutes before 1pm. 

When we arrived home, I got changed and stripped my bed, then remade it with my bamboo sheets. Since it will be my office all day on Sunday, I want it to be lush and comfortable.

It’s Super Saturday for footy this arvo, so we are all settled in for that.

There are also lots of Aussies playing at Wimbledon tonight so I might get to see some good matches after the footy.

Barramundi and salad for dinner. Nice and easy.

It has been a few hours since I started this blog and now I’m sitting up in bed watching the tennis.

The bamboo sheets were crisp and cool to slide between and I put my thermal balancing mattress topper on the bed for the first time, so I’ll let you know how effective it is.

Except for the pool, this my favourite part of the house 🥰

I’m looking forward to my Sunday in bed. I hope your Sunday is delicious too!

Nite all. 

Tumbling Down

It has been raining steadily since 1pm.

It doesn’t look like stopping any time soon.

It’s lovely!

My sister Squirt and her fiancé both received a negative result from their covid tests.

This leads me to ask “If the traveller had the most contagious strain of covid (Delta which is also the most resistant to vaccines) and she spent 2 hours in a busy restaurant on Magnetic Island, and NOBODY caught it, then what the hell is going on???”

Why isn’t anybody questioning this?

I had a good day of sales as customers came in between rain showers.

I paid all my bills - it has been a heavy couple of months for stoopid bills 💵 so I’m happy that’s behind me now.

At 1pm, The Artful Dodger arrived at the shop because we planned on going to the party together at 2pm.

Adoring Husband helped close the shop and was kind enough to drive us because even though the party was just around the corner, the rain by this time, was quite heavy.

We were not the first to arrive.

Our hostess was dressed to the nines and looking fabulous!

The kitchen counter was spread with all the healthiest food and tasty delights.

The photos of us all under the age of 5 were spread on the table. My photo was the last remaining after the guesses - nobody picked that it was me.

We drank slushies made with Ruby Riccadonna and strawberry sorbet, normal Riccadonna with passion fruit sorbet. They were delicious and very easy to drink.

We played Charades! It was freaking hilarious!

I was home before 7pm. Five hours of fun and frivolity was quite enough for me.

It’s now rapidly approaching 1am. How the hell did that happen?

Sleep time for me.

Nite all.

Still Doin’ It

Tax stuff.

Because yesterday was the last day of the financial year, I spent most of today finalising all the paperwork and bundling it up ready for the accountant.

I am pleased with the figures.

Even though my morning was very busy, I only reached my minimum happy number in sales, which surprised me.

Time passed very quickly and I had a visit from Aggie which always adds a sparkle to my day.

At 2pm Adoring Husband closed up the shop for me so that I could spend 90 minutes with The Artful Dodger practicing our sketching skills …

This is by no means finished and I doubt that it will ever be finished. It will go into the folder with all of my other unfinished art.

We really enjoyed our art time. It’s one of those things that goes on the bottom of the priority list, when it really should be close to the top in the ‘self care’ category.

The Artful Dodger dodged death (hence the name) when she survived a massive heart attack about 18 months ago. As a result, she has weak lungs, a weak heart and trouble with her kidneys. Art has been very therapeutic and has helped considerably with her rehabilitation.

She is also a member of the journaling group and boy does she have a story to tell!

There is a party happening tomorrow (Friday) afternoon with our art group. One of the girls who lives on the waterfront is making the most of her alone time while her husband is fishing. I think it’s going to be a crazy afternoon with lots of alcohol, lots of laughter and plenty of silliness.

We are all taking with us, a photo of ourselves under the age of 5, so there will be a guessing competition to pick who’s who. THAT will be interesting!

Meanwhile I’m disappointed that I didn’t stay awake last night to watch Kyrgios finish his match against the french player and number 21 seed Humbert because he won 9-7 in the final set.

I saw his first couple of games and believed he would lose because he was not playing well, so gave up, rolled over and fell asleep.

Which is what it’s time for me to do now!

This funny pic was created by my friend in Toowoomba who has been playing around with digital art. She is also a photographer and has many creative, artistic abilities. I really love this one …

Nite all.

The End

The end of the financial year!

That last six months passed quickly!

Meditation this morning was worth the early start and the discussions about ‘self talk’ and ‘internal dialogue’ was very timely for me. I got a lot out of it.

I got to spend about an hour with The Gypsy afterwards. We never seem to run out of conversation and it’s always meaningful.

The Happy Hippy stayed after meditation to do the cleaning and seemed to enjoy her hour, singing along to my playlist music.

It was quite a slow day for sales and I guess the intermittent showers probably kept people indoors.

It gave me time to do some paperwork - there is always something to be done - and tomorrow I’ll pay some bills.

I’m enjoying the new layout of my office area.

Adoring Husband and I made hamburgers for dinner tonight. Something very different for us and we thoroughly enjoyed them.

We watched Stars of the Silver Screen - one show about Jack Nicholson and one on Paul Newman.

Now I’m in bed watching Wimbledon. There are a couple of young Aussie males playing at the moment and Kyrgios plays tonight but I’m not staying awake to watch his match. I need my beauty sleep.

Speaking of which …

Nite all.

It Strikes Again

Covid that is.

They wait until you’re feeling safe …

… and then BAM!!

How can they allow a receptionist from a covid ward to go on holidays without first conducting a precautionary covid test?

It seems to me that it’s always people in authority who ‘accidentally’ allow these slip ups.

Then ‘the powers that be’ put the fear of God into everyone. They play on that fear and they manipulate our emotions and control our every movement.

While we are all struggling financially, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, the Bill Gates’ and Jeff Bezos’ and Mark Zuckerbergs’ and Dan Schulmans’ and Elon Musks’ and Warren Buffets’ of this world have doubled and in some cases, tripled their profits.

They all have their fingers in the Covid/vaccination/isolation pie contributing to our fear and profiting from it.

But don’t get me started 😝

We are at the beginning of the school holidays and so many plans have now been cancelled due to the movements of one young traveller last week.

Businesses are suffering, families are disappointed, huge financial losses from cancelled concerts/festivals/events, people desperately searching for vaccinations and so much community anger directed at the young girl who travelled extensively while contagious.

She spent time on Magnetic Island, where my sister (Squirt) and her fiancé live. The traveller spent 2 hours in the restaurant where Squirt’s fiancé was working. Squirt spent hours this afternoon in a queue to be tested because she’s not allowed back to work in the pharmacy until she is given a negative test result.

The workers shut the testing station before she reached the front of the queue so she’ll return tomorrow morning at 6am to wait for their 8am start.

So the wait begins.

Morning tea was another quiet one with three of us chatting until Bombshell appeared with the grandies and after the girls all left, I had a good day of sales in the shop, with a few visitors to make it more interesting throughout the day.

Journaling class was productive and afterwards we set up the training room for meditation. 

I was too unmotivated to cook the duck and veg that I’d planned, so Adoring Husband got some soup out of the freezer and we had that instead.

We watched the Big Brother finale - no surprises there - but sad that Covid forced changed to the format and prevented some of the participants from attending.

Wimbledon has begun! But I can’t watch it tonight because it’s an early start tomorrow. Bugger.

Speaking of early starts, best get some sleep because it’s almost 11pm.

Nite all.

Much To Do

Our day began on the back foot.

Because of days of cloudy skies and rain, our solar hot water ran out of oomph and we had no hot/warm water for showers this morning.

Ugh. That was annoying, even more so because we left it til the last minute to shower, so we didn’t even have the time to flick the switch and wait for the power to warm it up.

A cold wet washer to clean the bits that mattered 😳

We attended the 90 minute appointment with our financial advisor … which lasted for 45 minutes … and drove around the corner to Su Jus Bar for an early lunch. The wind was cold and gusty in the outdoor eating area but the food was delish. We tried the new ‘Reubens’ grilled sandwich.

Afterwards Adoring Husband took me to the new QBD book store at Stocklands.

That was a dangerous move.

As I was about to pay for my carefully selected items, AH stepped forward and waved his phone over the eftpos machine paying for me. 

It’s not the first time he’s been surprised by the final tally!! He gasped 😮

I wish I had a couple of days off now so that I could spend quality time with my purchases!

We arrived home a bit after 2pm, got changed and drove to the shop to clear the training room of the art tables and we set up for morning coffee and journaling.

The laundry was calling to me and I did a couple of loads of washing before preparing barramundi and salad for dinner.

We were both too tired to even stay up together and watch Big Brother.

So here I am in bed yawning yawning yawning.

Nite all.

Against My Team

I have a confession to make.

I tipped against my team tonight in the State of Origin.

I have no faith in our QLD captain or coach and it’s evident that the opposition is a strong, connected team with the will to win.

It means that I will gain 2 points over my tipping comp opponents because they all tipped QLD.

(Perhaps I should not speak too soon because the game is still in progress and we are 20 points behind with 14 minutes remaining)

Saturday morning was great for sales in the shop and that was followed by a fun afternoon of art. There were only 3 regulars in attendance and 2 holiday makers joined us. Everybody was happy with their results.

I had been awake since 2am. I fell asleep at 9pm and when I woke at 2, I couldn’t get back to sleep, needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of the work day and had another early night on Saturday.

Again, I woke early … 3am this time … but I was able to doze off after an hour or so, then didn’t wake til after 9am.

I feel well rested.

We had soup for dinner and I made some scones for the first time in about 15 years!

We have a big day in The Bay tomorrow, my team is now losing by 26pts, so I’m off to bed.

Nite all.