White Choc Mac Cookies

It took a while for me to fall asleep last night, but once I did, I slept soundly for 6 hours.

Even though the weather was looking ominous this morning, BGWLBH and I decided to drive into the Bay. This meant that we drove through some heavy rain and had to slow down to match the conditions. I wish I could say the same for other drivers!

Groceries, meat, juice AND I was verbally attacked by a drug addled woman. If not for her minder (who looked like a security guard!), I would have been physically attacked as well! She raised her arm, but the minder stepped in quickly and redirected her attention.

All I was doing was sitting in a seat outside the bakery, resting my weary legs. She sure got my heart racing that’s for sure! I moved pretty quick after that haha.

I purchased a number of these white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies from the Jam Jar Cafe when I ordered my juice. They are ‘to die for’ delicious!

The weather was much clearer on the way home so the drive was much more pleasant.

Harley was happy to see me home and he always calls out “Hellooooo” at least six times when I walk in the door. I love him so much.

I unpacked the groceries and started on dinner straight away, which meant we ate at 4.30pm. I made two salads - wombok and garden. I heated a fish and vegetable pastry for BGWLBH and a GF pie for Adoring Husband, both of which took almost an hour.

I watched a couple of episodes of Aust Portrait Artist of the Year and then came to bed to watch The Traitors.

We are off to The Bay again tomorrow, so I’m hoping for a solid 8 hours of sleep.

Nite all.

Celebrating SL

Extra info about Covid vaccine

I slept well last night. Two solid 4 hour blocks only separated by the need to pee!

It was meditation day and unfortunately (for The Gypsy) but fortunately (for we, the mini class), there were only two of us in attendance. It was fantastic and our discussions were deep and full of epiphanies. The last two classes have been over and above the usual amazingness and I have gained a lot from them.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend time with The Gypsy to discuss further because I was committed elsewhere.

I hopped on my trike, did a small grocery shop, picked up the mail and rushed home with 5 minutes to spare before the live streaming of The Motivator’s Mum’s funeral.

Dear Sexie Lexie passed away from dementia at the ripe old age of 84. We became close pre-dementia and even played pokies together, but the last time I saw her, she didn’t know me. 

Pre-dementia, I found Lexie to be warm, generous, kind, welcoming, hilarious and sharp as a tack. She warmly welcomed me into a family gathering and fed me as an Italian Mama (just as she was described in her eulogy) would. She did everything to make me feel comfortable.

Her demeanour did not change even with dementia. She was still warm and welcoming with a huge smile on her dial.

Hearing her story today, straight from the mouth of a grieving The Motivator, had me weeping at her unbelievable strength and resilience. For all of her struggles through life, she did not hold any bitterness or resentment. She was simply filled with love and gratitude for all that she had … her family in particular.

Thanks to The Motivator, today we all got to know Sexie Lexie just a little bit better and because of that we love her a little bit more.

RIP Sexie Lexie.

I remained in my bedroom for the rest of the afternoon. I just needed quiet alone time.

I got up at 4.30pm to make fried rice and stir fried vegetables for dinner.

7.30pm bedtime for both Adoring Husband and myself AND Harley.

Now I’m ready for sleep.

Nite all.

Golfed Out

Another night of broken sleep, although I think I slept for longer periods last night.

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the rules, point system and placements for the FedEx Cup. I had it very wrong and believed that some of my favourite players were ‘out’ for the next round because they fell outside the top 50 in this tournament, but the point system creates a safety net for many top players so they are still in the running for the top prize!

Here I thought golf was a simplistic game, but nah.

I was awake at 8am but didn’t get out of bed until 10am.

I started with Harley play, added a bit to my patch working, cooked some brunch, made a chocolate milkshake for Adoring Husband and I, watched the golf that I had missed while I slept, watched my quiz shows, fit in another Harley play, red curry chicken and rice for dinner and watched a couple of episodes of the new season of Portrait Artist of the Year Australia.

Now I’m inspired to try art portraiture again - although I didn’t get to try it last time round. 

BGWLBH worked today.

The ‘pool guy’ visited today.

Tomorrow is meditation day, so I’ll enjoy a good nights sleep and early start.

Nite all.

Nil Productivity

I didn’t do ANY of the things that I hoped.

I slept and woke on and off all night watching snippets of the golf, so my energy levels were pretty low all day.

Harley got his morning play.

My breakfast was a dip of avocado, tuna, lemon juice, spring onions, salt and pepper which I dipped my beetroot crackers into. Adoring Husband bought me a latte from the shops.

I sat down and watched a Netflix movie called “The Incredible Jessica James” starring Jessica Williams and Chris O’Dowd which I enjoyed very much. I followed that up with an old movie that I’d seen a few times before “The Perfect Date”.

Adoring Husband and I watched two games of footy and “Robin Hood Prince of Thieves”. I adore Kevin Costner.

It’s ’spaghetti Sunday’ but I didn’t have any bolognese sauce in the freezer so I had to move my butt into the kitchen and cook everything instead of just reheating. I made enough for two more meals so I’m good for next week.

Harley got an afternoon play between rain showers.

BGWLBH did the ironing, including about ten items of mine.

That’s it for my Sunday.

Nite all.

Start Stop Procrastinate

BGWLBH invited me into the Bay today, but after being awake for half the night watching the golf, I decided that my energy levels weren’t high enough for a Bay day, so I declined her offer.

After putting it off for weeks, for fear of stuffing it up, I finally made a start on the patch working on my jeans.

However, I DID get distracted part way through and repaired two bracelets, THEN started searching through old shop stock for nothing in particular lol, so I didn’t get much done on the jeans at all. At least I made a start! 

I think the result will be quite different to my original sketch, but there will be some similarities too.

At least I was a little more productive than usual.

Harley got four plays today.

Fend for yourself dinner was prawn laksa soup for me. Leftover tomato soup for the others.

I washed a lounge coverlet and hung it out.

That was all pretty good considering I only slept a few hours! More golf tonight, so I’ll see how I go.

Football has been on all afternoon and evening. My footy tips have been abysmal, but so have everybody else’s, so my standing is still 2nd place and just 2 points behind my sister. Third place is 10 points behind me, so I have some breathing room.

Tomorrow’s plan is to reorganise my wardrobe and tidy my dressing table … it’s getting a bit out of hand. After that, if I have the energy, I’ll do some more patch working.

Nite all.

Souping the Tomatoes

This is my original tomato sauce recipe …

I didn’t have all the listed ingredients here, so I substituted and added different ingredients to make soup instead.

A mixture of Roma, cherry and grosse lisse tomatoes, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, chilli, maple syrup, black pepper, sea salt, 2 cubes of goats cheese, 1/4 cup of lentils, 1cup chicken stock, enough water to cover everything in the saucepan, 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar.

Chop everything (except goats cheese which goes in later) roughly and put in a large saucepan. Bring to a low simmer, turn down to 2 and simmer for an hour. Use tongs to lift out the tomato skins which should have separated from the tomatoes during the hour. Wait for it to cool and put it in a blender with the two cubes of goats cheese and blend until smooth and creamy.

Adoring Husband cooked some lamb chops on the barbecue, chopped them up, put them in a bowl and poured tomato soup over the top.

BGWLBH had hers in a bowl and dunked chunks of sourdough bread into it.

I cooked some king prawns and put them into a bowl of tomato soup with a small handful of coriander. OMG to die for!

I didn’t take one photo of any of our meals!

After Harley play this morning, I did some rebounding for just 5 minutes. I’ll build it it up over time, but five minutes is hard work the first time round!

I put the soup on and then made myself some sourdough toast with beautiful fresh ripe juicy slices of tomato and a cup of soursop tea.

I watched two movies. “Tortilla Soup” with Hector Elizondo which I enjoyed very much. “The Man From UNCLE” with Henry Cavill which was better than I expected. I was a fan of the original series so I had low expectations for the movie.

Harley got to play this afternoon.

Now we’re watching the football. I was happy that the Roosters won last night! The Dolphins are currently beating Manly, which for me, is a good thing. Everybody in our tipping comp has picked the Dolphins so the result will have no effect on the leader board.

The FedEx golf was interesting on the first day, with the number 2, Rory McIlroy finishing in 68th position which is second last! He has some work to do in the next three days to lift himself into the top 50.

Needless to say, because of the golf, I had broken sleep. I will have broken sleep again tonight and all weekend.

Tomorrow, I plan on getting some of the patch working done on my jeans.

Today would have been my Dad’s 86th birthday. He’s been gone 29 years. I can’t believe it’s been that long. 

Nite all.

Some Solo Time

A solid 8 hours sleep last night. Gotta love that.

Coffee with the art girls was postponed until next week.

I woke at 7.30am but didn’t get out of bed until after 9am and took Harley straight outside to play for 30 minutes.

Adoring Husband was ready for golf and came out to join us. BGWLBH was working today and had left early.

When we’d finished playing and I’d watered my vegetables, I remembered that I had 1kg of diced beef in the fridge so I decided to do a type of stew in small casserole dishes with a pastry topper.

Onion, tomato, garlic, thyme, broth and diced beef.

I tossed the beef in seasoned corn flour, browned it in olive oil and set it aside, fried the onion with garlic and thyme, added the diced tomato (fresh from the garden), added 1cup of chicken broth and then added the beef. A very low simmer on the stove for 2 hours. It was a bit salty so I added some more stock and a tablespoon of brown sugar which took the edge off.

I spooned the mixture into single serve casserole dishes and covered them with GF puff pastry, pierced holes in the top, brushed with milk and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Cooked in a hot oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

I then did stir fried vegetables. Beans, snow peas, broccolini, carrot sticks, onion and mushrooms fried in garlic butter and right at the end, drizzled with a little honey and added quarter of a cup of water. Served with a scatter of crumbled goats cheese and toasted pine nuts.

The plates were bare at the end of the meal.

While the beef was simmering I watched the Netflix movie “Song Sung Blue” with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. I didn’t realise that it was based on a true story! It was full of both shocking and very sad moments. I enjoyed it very much and thought that Hugh and Kate did a great job. I recommend it.

After that movie, I watched “A Walk in the Woods” with Robert Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson. Great movie with some big names scattered in there.

AH had a great day at golf.

BGWLBH had a quiet sales day, but a big people day needing a nap this afternoon.

Harley enjoyed an afternoon play around the pool.

I picked 6 ripe Roma tomatoes from the garden.

Did a little tidying up.

The golf FedEx Cup starts at midnight tonight but I’m not sure if I can stay awake to watch it. Perhaps I can sleep early and wake up later to check it out.

I’m watching the Panthers vs Roosters NRL game on telly and the Roosters are winning 8-0. If the Roosters win, I will only be 2 points behind my sister in the footy tipping. Sneaking up from the rear! Fingers crossed.

Time to snuggle under the covers.

Nite all.

Smokey Start

Sleeping was easier for me last night, although my solid sleep was only 5 hours.

My alarm sounded at 6am and I snoozed it until 6.30am, which gave me 45 minutes to get ready for my trip into the bay for the Urangan Pier markets.

We stepped outside under a suspended umbrella of smelly, choking smoke. So we were pleased to be heading into the bay, away from it!

Nope. This was the view of the Bay as we got closer …

It took us 40 minutes to arrive at the Jam Jar cafe, but it wasn’t open yet, so BGWLBH purchased her morning coffee at the nearby bakery, and we sat at their outdoor table until she left for her nail salon appointment.

I wandered through BigW and bought 2 lipsticks and a mascara.

Because we were planning on buying our fruit and veg at the markets, I found a cool little granny trolley for just $23 in BigW.

From there I carried my goodies across the road to the other shopping centre where I updated my lotto tickets. I was feeling pretty peckish by then but couldn’t find any breakfast food nearby so I returned to the Jam Jar cafe and selected a toasted chicken, avocado and onion sandwich with a green day juice.

Before I’d finished my food, BGWLBH returned with her new nails, which looked fabulous.

We drove to the Daymen St bakery and got two loaves of sourdough bread then straight to the markets from there.

Unfortunately, there were no fruit and veg stalls, but lots of other great stalls.

I bought two singlet tops, three bracelets, 6 GF donuts and a pearl ring.

There was more that I would have liked, especially in the clothing, but I restrained myself. I sat for a while listening to the fantastic live music on offer though and thoroughly enjoyed it.

By that time, the breeze had picked up and blown away all the smoke, so it turned into yet another perfect winters day and view across the calm blue ocean was beautiful (but I didn’t get a pic to prove it).

We then did a Coles shop, Choice and the butcher and drove to Eli Waters to Farm Gate for those elusive fruit and veg.

 I met a lady from Perth who was waiting patiently for her husband who was talking “shop” with the Farm Gate owner. Their lives were spent owning and operating a number of fruit and veg shops in Perth and they have now retired.

I think the fresh seafood place has closed down. That would be sad.

Tomorrow is coffee with the art girls, so it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Animated Meditation

My sleep was very light last night so I didn’t feel rested this morning.

I set my alarm for 6am but when it sounded, I continually hit the snooze button for more than an hour!

I left myself 35 minutes to get ready for meditation.

What was worse … before heading to class I had to go to the ATM for cash to pay for class!

I ordered a coffee and had to wait a couple of minutes for that, then I was pulled up by a neighbour for a chat and even though I extracted myself quickly, it still made me 5 minutes late for class.

The class was fantastic today. One of the best we’ve had that inspired deep conversation and we were animated and connected as a group.

Afterwards, I met The Gypsy at the Lions Park and we chatted for 2.5 hours. It was another perfect Winters day and a pleasant way to pass the morning.

It was such a beautiful day, I decided to go for a long ride before heading home, so I was, once again, exhausted by the time I did get home!

Straight to bed for resting, where I stayed all afternoon, even dozing once or twice.

I made chicken and vegetable pastries for dinner and served them with home made pickled tomato, cucumber and onion plus 1/4 of a fresh avocado on the side.

Then straight back to bed!

Off to the pier markets in the morning and BGWLBH has an appointment at the nail salon, so I need better sleep tonight.

Nite all.