Living the Dream!

I have had a most enjoyable, self indulgent day.  When I think about it, most of my days are enjoyable and self indulgent!  That's exactly why life is good!

My 'chores' consisted of making the bed, hanging out a load of washing, cleaning out the refrigerator, feeding the chooks all the food that was ejected from the refrigerator and doing some grocery shopping.

My self indulgence consisted of morning coffee from the bakery, then sitting with my boys at the Seat of Knowledge for a bit over an hour discussing my week away and catching up on the local gossip.

I spent about ninety minutes wandering around the park by the river and practising the things that I learned in Maleny with Bob (the camera) and got a couple of nice shots in the process.

I found this most beautiful flower and even though I have investigated online to discover it's name, I've come up empty, so if there is anybody out there who knows it's name, I would appreciate the education!

What am I?

Reluctantly, I came home and did my chores before sitting down with my laptop and Bob.  I checked out my photos, then uploaded some to my Flickr Photostream, spent a couple of hours going through my discs of old photos and put a couple of them onto Flickr as well.

I caught up with my emails, had a look at facebook, sent my pic of the day to Vegan chickie and my daily photo to my photo group.  I then enjoyed five episodes of 'Friends' before preparing tonight's dinner!  Here I am, finishing my day with a blog post!

There is really only one thing missing in my life and if I had this thing, my life would be spot on, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!  This thing is ... the ability to eat all the food that I love in large quantities without it affecting my weight or my health.

Yes, I know.  If that's all I've got to wish for, then I'm doing exactly what all those bumper stickers say and I really am LIVING THE DREAM!!

Equal Air Time

Number One Son has now requested equal air time and I promised that I would fulfil that request tonight.

After a very tumultuous and traumatic start to his youth and then struggling through to adulthood, he joined the Air Force at the age of twenty, learned some self discipline and became an Avionics Technician which set the foundation for a promising career and future.

He is now 29 yrs of age.  He left the Air Force just over a year ago and has been a single man since about November last year.  He recently made a bad error in judgement.

As a result he had an EPIPHANY!

Suddenly, he can see his future more clearly and he has set himself goals. He has a plan.  His 'error in judgement'  may end up being the best thing that ever happened to him ... if his plan comes to fruition!

I must say that I have heard many of Number One Son's plans in the past and at the end of those conversations, I knew that the plans were ideas in his head that would never eventuate.

This plan, however, seems to have quite a bit more conviction behind it.  There is a change in his attitude and a confidence in his voice that I haven't heard before.

He has quit drinking alcohol.

I can sense the seed of change has been planted and I'm looking forward to watching it grow.

Number One Son is also quite a talented artist.  He has recently picked up his pencils and began to draw again after putting his art on the back burner for a few years.

He is a big fan of the Copic Markers at the moment!

So, being the lovely Mum that I am, my goal for Number One Son is to encourage (insert 'nag') him to quit smoking, help educate (insert 'nag') him about healthy eating,  set an example (insert 'nag') about having an active lifestyle and remind (insert 'nag') him to drive, drive, drive and get his driver's licence.

None of my children, who are aged 31, 29 and 26, have their driver's licence and nor do I.  None of us have learned to drive!!  Strange, but true!!

So, I can end this post by telling Number One Son - I love you.  I'm proud of how far you have come since those tumultuous teenage years and I am looking forward to watching your new life journey unfold.  There are no limits to your potential!  

There is your equal air time - now get cracking so that I can brag in future posts about your progress!

   

One Birdie ALL Day!

No!  Not me!  Adoring Husband did it of course!

Today, we played eighteen holes of golf at the Hyatt Regency Coolum, which is where the Australian PGA is held.  Adoring Husband was so excited about this, that his enthusiasm rubbed off on me and I was excited too!

We drove up the long driveway to where the concierge opened the car door for me.  We dropped off our golf gear while Adoring Husband parked the car and then made our way to the pro shop.  This is where we checked in for our game and were issued instructions about the carts and where to tee off.

Considering how expensive it is to play on this course, I was very surprised by how busy it was.  Carts were queued up at the first tee and they were sending people off in groups of four, which meant that Adoring Husband and I were paired with another two people.

Bob and Peter were our golfing buddies for the day.  Bob had just bought into a pre-existing membership, and told us that it entitled him to 40-50% off his games.  I'm guessing he was in his late sixties and he was a very tall, fit and strong man.  He was about three inches, at least, taller than Adoring Husband, who is six feet tall.

He was a lovely old bloke who was very helpful explaining each hole and where the tricky parts were and he was very patient with my game.  He was encouraging and funny while I had the WORST game EVER!

His son, Peter, would only have been in his early thirties and was even nicer than Bob.  He quietly told me to relax and enjoy the game and not worry about them being there ... after I had told him that I was feeling a bit under pressure playing with three big-hitting males.

The course is VERY tough, which is why they have the PGA there.  All three men lost, on average, about a dozen golf balls each.  I lost four!  There are water hazards on all but two holes and a couple of them are almost impossible for females to hit over.

Adoring Husband played the best hole of the day with his birdie.  Even though the other men were BIG hitters, they weren't very accurate, HOWEVER, they made a tough day of golf much more pleasurable and I thanked them for that when we parted company.

This afternoon, as exhausted as we were, the Noosa National Park beckoned us and we drove out there with Bob (Bob, the Canon camera, in case you forgot).

There, in the wild, perched high in a eucalyptus tree, was this gorgeous little fellow ...

Neither Adoring Husband or I, have ever seen a Koala in it's natural habitat before.  We've seen them in wildlife parks and zoos and we've even held one, but this was more exciting for us than any of those experiences!  How amazing!

We've had a great day!  There was only one birdie all day ... and a koala :o)  

Life is good!

  

Full Stop, no Returns!

I'm in trouble.  That should be trouble with a capital 'T'.  I'm in trouble with my youngest daughter, Bubbles.  It was Knight in Shining Armour's (her boyfriend's) birthday today.  The date sneaked up on me and I didn't send his birthday gift.

I am also in trouble for not mentioning them in any of my blog posts so far.  I tried to explain that I only mention people if I have actually spent time with them and shared some kind of recent experience with them and now I have been ordered to visit them in Sydney, so that I will have something to write about!

So, we talked on the phone and I took my punishment like a good mother and mother-in-law should - by making jokes, blaming my age and pleading stupidity.  I think that I'm forgiven and we are all still friends but they rubbed it in by telling me that they are sending MY birthday gift in the mail tomorrow!

I am a bad mother/mother-in-law ***sad face***

It was very nice talking to them though.  ***happy face***  We always have a good giggle.  But we don't talk often enough.

Bubbles lived with me until she was twenty four years of age.  She moved out on her own just before we moved to Queensland. She didn't want a long distance relationship with Knight in Shining Armour.  The things we do for love!

I hope she is happy.  She is a bit like me.  Quite stoic.  She doesn't let her feelings show (except when she is angry!) and it's difficult for us to keep up with each other's lives, because we live 2000 kms apart.  Facebook is our friend :o)  She works long hours.  Like I said, we don't talk often enough.

Bubbles and her lovely Mum (that would be me!)

I love you Bubbles :o)  blah blah blah full stop and no returns!

PS  I DIDN'T forget ... it just sneaked up on me 'all of a sudden-like'!!!
PPS  Am I forgiven?  I have finally introduced you to the world!!
PPPS  Adoring Husband owes you a big favour, because I had a special blog aimed at him tonight - you saved him (for now!)

Exhausted but happy!

Thank goodness the rain stopped during the night and golf was able to commence on time today, without any hassles.  To our delight, we woke to a beautiful sunshiny day and hundreds of lorikeets screeching across the sky!

Our lovely driver, Jamie, arrived at 7.30am with his bus and trailer to drive us to Twin Waters Golf Club.

We wondered why he was taking so long to get out of the bus to unlock the trailer for our golfing gear, and when he finally hobbled around the corner, his leg was bandaged and he was on crutches!

Golf, apparently, is a very dangerous sport.  He bent down to pick up a ball and snapped his achilles tendon.  Another friend of ours bent down to put a ball on a tee and slipped a disc in his back.  I think we had best take it slowly this week ... who knows what might happen!

It took a good thirty minutes to drive to the club.  We were directed to our cart, which was part of the package deal, and were sent to the tenth hole to commence our game behind the last of the veterans who were playing their comp day.

The veterans were very slow and were obviously playing for solid gold golf balls today, because they were taking a very very very long time with their putting.  Needless to say, Adoring Husband and I, spent a lot of time waiting around for them to finish each hole, which created a bottle neck of other players behind us.

Apparently, veterans don't have to wave people through, so it made for a bit of a frustrating and longer day than expected, for me anyway.

Adoring Husband was uncharacteristically calm and relaxed through it all - probably because he was having such a good game.

Perhaps he needs old blokes slowing things down so that he has time to think about his game!

Ahhhh, it all makes sense to me now!

The grounds were quite lovely.  A bit wet and slushy in parts.  There was lots of wildlife and bird life, beautiful big ponds with flowering lillies,  fish jumping everywhere, little mini rain forests scattered about and a lovely girl in a shiny red cart who scooted along the paths selling refreshments.  How cool was that?!  Although selling beer at 8.30 in the morning didn't seem quite right to me!

After it was all over, we found our way to the club house and ordered some lunch and drinks.  Salt n pepper squid with salad for me and a Thai Beef Salad for Adoring Husband.  Once again, DELICIOUS!  We have been very lucky so far with our food choices.

Thirty minutes in the bus home was just enough time for every muscle and every bone in my body to sieze up.  Even though we had a cart, I still tried to walk as much as possible, as long as it wasn't going to slow us down too much for the people behind us.

We had planned on walking this afternoon and going in the opposite direction to yesterday to check out the local shopping, but I just wasn't up for it, and needed to rest up a bit.

Adoring Husband seemed quite put out by this.  He informed me that we were on holidays and he didn't want to spend all day at home in the apartment.  Of course, I then reminded him that we had just spent almost 8 hours away from the apartment!

"Well" he retorts "I'm going for a walk!"
"Excellent!" I reply "Could you please bring me home a take-away skinny cappuccino?"
"I'll see if I can find a place that sells them", he says.

With that, he walked into the kitchen,  made himself a sandwich and plonked himself down onto the couch.  He ate the sandwich, finished the beer, lay down on the couch and promptly fell asleep!  I'm so pleased that he's not wasting any of his precious holiday time!

I'm looking forward to going out for a nice dinner tonight and hopefully a good night's sleep will ease all the bits of my body that are complaining so loudly.

Despite Adoring Husband's obvious need to fill every waking moment with activity, we are exhausted but happy!

Rain, rain, go away!

Well, here we are, Adoring Husband and I, at Noosa, in a lovely self contained apartment, all ready for our week of golf which should commence tomorrow morning at 7.30am.

We spent the morning browsing through shops in Maleny, then visited Andrew at his Gallery in Montville, where we got to see some more of his work and spent an hour chatting with him and learning just a tiny bit more about photography.

After we left Andrew, we had a delicious lunch at a lovely restaurant with views that took in all of the rolling green hills, mountains and all the way to the ocean on the coastline.  Just spectacular on a perfect sunshiny day.

The drive from there to Noosa was about an hour long and uneventful.  We were pleasantly surprised when we stepped over the threshold of this lovely apartment and after we unpacked, we went for a walk along the Noosa River which was a hive of activity.

Kayaking, houseboats, jet skis, charter boats, ferries, private boats, surf skis, in fact the river was busier than the main road!  We then walked back on the opposite side of the road where all the restaurants displayed their menus, and we chose a couple that we will return to later in the week.

It was still quite early, so we decided to go for a drive to the National Park, where they have bush walking trails that were recommended for good photo opportunities.

The first place that we stopped was just so busy, I couldn't imagine it being peaceful anywhere along the track, so we left there and drove in the opposite direction and came upon about 20 kite surfers all in the water having a marvellous time weaving in and out and between each other.

It was a spectacle, so Adoring Husband and I made ourselves comfortable on a bench seat and sat observing them for about an hour.  We both took lots of photos, some of which I will add here after we get home next week.

We could see lots of big black clouds building up in the West and expected to witness a spectacular sunset, but it kind of fizzled out to nothing.  By now, it was getting late, so on the drive home, we decided to order Thai takeaway from a menu in our information booklet.

It was delivered to our room less than an hour later, and we both agreed that it was the BEST Thai that we had ever eaten.  Absolutely delicious!!  A perfect way to end a most enjoyable day...

... until the rain came!  It has been pouring rain for over an hour now and doesn't look like letting up!  Will it stop before morning?  Will it be dry enough to play golf?  I love the sound of rain at night and I think that we will both fall asleep happily listening to it ... but we will be ecstatic if the rain would just go away before morning!!

Education, Relaxation and Feeling the Love!

I've spent the whole weekend with fourteen other camera lovers, including the teacher, Andrew Goodall, who owns a gallery in Montville called 'Nature's Image Photography'.

He is a great teacher who uses simple language,  is willing to answer any question (no matter how stupid it seems) and shares his knowledge and experience freely.  He talks about the composition of photographs and how to get a great shot, instead of telling you to take any old shot and then fix it in photoshop (of which I am not a big fan).

This weekend, I have learnt a lot about my new camera and even more about photography.  I now look at the photos that I thought were pretty good and see that they are pretty average!  It's time to start again and aim for much better results!

I am inspired!

If you are interested in doing a workshop, checking out his work, or visiting his gallery, here is the link:

http://www.naturesimage.com.au/

I highly recommend him as a teacher and even as an all round nice person!  Very talented and very down to earth.

The other great thing about this weekend is that it was in a little town called Maleny, which is up in the mountains on the Sunshine Coast.  Rolling green hills, lush healthy rain forests, waterfalls and lakes, streets lined with craft stores, cafes and restaurants that cater to all tastes including vegan and vegetarian.

It's a town wrapped up in a welcoming warmth and the hippie in me feels very comfortable and happy here.

I spent an hour in the markets this morning before my lift arrived to take me to the course.  It was set up in a hall across the road from the pub where I am staying.

I bought a lovely silk/wool blend scarf in deep purples and greens and a lovely purple beaded shell necklace.  I could have spent LOTS of money there, but I think that I controlled myself pretty well!

Lunch, today, was spent with two other students.  Gail, about my age, who is a Psychologist with her own private practice and Summer who would be in her late twenties and is a Supervisor with a mining company.  Both lovely women, intelligent and very interesting to talk with.

Tomorrow, Adoring Husband is coming to pick me up and we are going to spend the morning in Maleny and then drive to Montville, where I will visit my teacher's gallery, before we head to the coast to check into our motel for the week.

We plan on spending every morning playing golf at different courses and every afternoon sight-seeing and finding photographic opportunities.

It's going to be a fabulous week and I am very excited to be spending some time with Adoring Husband with no obligations except to have a good time together and feeling the love!

A Year of Wedded Bliss

This month, Adoring Husband and I will be celebrating our first year of marriage - and as I type this, he is poking his tongue at me across the room.  I have another nickname for him.  Sheldon.   In honour of the 'Big Bang Theory' character who is a genius with Asperger Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

We rarely watch that show on television, so it's not like he developed these traits from regular viewing.  It's quite possible that the character was modelled on Adoring Husband!  This nickname is mostly used as a term of endearment .. and sometimes, a term of frustration hehehe.

So I've decided, considering the limited time available to me today, as I check off my 'packing' and 'to do' lists, to show you some photos taken over the last year.

Early morning sun peeping through the clouds at Surfers Paradise.

Just before sunrise - the view from our motel room at Surfers

Spectacular sunrise from the motel room at Surfers

"Hullo!" from Cairns.

What a handsome specimen - from the bird park in Cairns

Sleeping koala in the wildlife park in Cairns

A happy Willy Wagtail splashing around in the bird bath in our back garden

A Kiwi duck (New Zealand)

A beautiful frog hanging out in the peach tree in our side garden

A mushroom growing under the clothes line 

Sleepy wombat at the wildlife park in Cairns

It occurs to me, as I type this, that I have had such a busy year!  It started in Surfers Paradise for a week with my best friend, to our fabulous wedding here on the river,  to Sydney where we moved Nellie the wonderful mother-in-law into a nursing home (where she is doing very nicely), to Cairns, where I walked The Best Cousin in the World down the aisle on her wedding day, to New Zealand where I witnessed the birth of my little sweetie possum, Chicklet and will end with a week in Maleny and the Sunshine Coast!

I can't believe that we fit so much into a year!  Our first year of wedded bliss :o)  Time flies when you're having fun!

    

Procrastinator or Photographer?

I'm off to Maleny this weekend for a two day photography course.

My goal is to learn a lot more about my new camera and to get some fabulous shots around this beautiful area.  The mornings will be spent in the classroom and the afternoons will be spent outdoors practising what we learnt in the morning!

I'm excited that it's in Maleny, especially after all the rain that we've had.  It should be lush and green and very tropical, with lots to inspire fifteen students all looking to become brilliant in an instant, and all looking to find that perfect shot!

This is a great opportunity to meet some different people and learn something new ... and there is always something new to learn about photography!

Imagine having unlimited funds and spending a whole year doing photography workshops all around Australia!  All around the world!  There are so many workshops and courses available and so many talented and experienced professional photographers willing to share their expertise.

The possibilities are endless!

Anyway, I have a lot to do before I leave, so I should stop procrastinating and get my act together.  It's time to write my mandatory packing list and a 'to do' list so that my house is in reasonable order and I don't forget to pack anything important.

It's the only way to stop my brain from scrambling, because I leave it all until the last minute and even though I do my best work under pressure, a list definitely helps!  I have just over twenty four hours to get everything done, because we are busy tomorrow night and I leave at 6am Saturday morning.

So much to do, so little time!  Procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate.  Magic wand where art thou?

I must admit ... I am a talented and gifted procrastinator.  The photographer in me still needs some work!

********

I wonder if I could commit to completing a Diploma in Photography????

I've done a little research (as has Adoring Husband).  The Best Cousin in the World is also researching at the moment and is keen to do some kind of course to help her start a business.

Adoring Husband has been dropping hints about me applying for an ABN and starting my own business - perhaps I should follow Vegan Chickie's advice and start thinking of all the reasons why I SHOULD do it, instead of all the reasons why I SHOULDN'T!!

I believe that I will take this week to seriously consider my future in photography.  A weekend in Maleny doing this photography course and then a week at the Sunshine Coast should be enough to clear my head and let me look at it objectively.

Hmmmm thinking ... thinking ... thinking.

A Morning Journey

My day started at 'The Seat of Knowledge' with my boys, which is my favourite way to start the day.  Laughing and joking and constantly making fun of each other.  The youngest one here is 68 yrs of age.

While we were all having a laugh, a friend of mine poked his nose in to say hello, and I must say he was looking decidedly handsome today!  I LIKE TURTLES :O)

I decided to pedal around town to look for photographic opportunities.  I stopped at this beautiful flowering tree and while I was snapping away, a little visitor popped in the frame!  What a pleasant surprise!

I stopped and talked to some tourists for a little while and the gentleman who was the same age as my Dad would have been, had he lived, had also spent time in New Guinea at the same time that Dad was there.  We didn't find a connection but had an interesting chat!

I pedalled past the tree where the Tawny Frog Mouths often sit and there were three little ones on a branch.  They aren't the same ones I photographed last year because they are too small, but one of them opened his eyes and looked down at me while I was snapping away.

Beneath the tree,  gleaming in the sunlight was a beautiful spider web and if you look closely, you can see the spider sitting in the centre.

There, hanging in the tree amid the green foliage was a perfect golden heart!  Lots of love from Mother Nature :o)

I then bumped into the lovely Aussie H and invited her to dinner tonight.

This afternoon I've been invited to a friend's house for drinks, which suits me fine while Adoring Husband is obsessively building the back shed.

It's been a most satisfying morning journey and there is still another half of the day to enjoy!

Where do I start?

In exactly eighteen days, I will turn 51 years of age.

I've decided to make a list of 52 things that I would like to do before I turn 52.  That will require checking one thing off the list every week, until my 52nd birthday!

They don't need to be 'awe inspiring' things, in fact, they will probably be fairly simple things, because I'm not the adventurous or inquisitive type.  I'm more the arty, farty creative type.

So, over the next couple of weeks, I will make my list,  then post it here and check off each item as I do it.  I already have half of my list complete.

One important item on my list, which I won't be able to do until later in the year when the competition actually opens, is enter the Canon EOS Photo 5 competition.  This idea was inspired by Vegan Chickie, who entered it last year and had so much fun being creative.

Another idea is to invite five people from outside my usual circle of friends for a morning tea at my house and do all the baking myself.

I would also like to invite couples to have free photo shoots, so that I can get some practise with portrait photography, both indoors and outdoors.

I think I need to have on that list ... 'get to bed early a couple of nights in the week' because I am feeling decidedly tired tonight and quite uninspired!

So!  Enough of this frivolity!  I need to sleep and I can hear the pillow calling my name.  I'm sure that after a solid seven hours of sleep, my mind will, once again, find it's creativity and I will know exactly where to start and where to finish my fabulous list!

Two Days With Bob

Saturday morning I awoke to greet my eleventh day without a camera (but who was counting??).  Honestly, it was like being without one of my limbs.  My camera is a part of me.  I photograph everything that happens in my life and in this town.  I use my camera every single day!

Parties, functions, picnics, barbecues, gatherings, boats, the river, the beach, wildlife, flora, Psychotic Dogs, morning teas, dinner parties, anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, Easters, Australia Days, ANZAC days, festivals, babies and children, gardens, sunrises, sunsets, storm clouds, markets, tourists, locals, wineries, sea shells, marine life, insects and happy hour just to name a few.

People even come to me and ask if I have photos of events that they were involved in two years ago or more.  I've only lived here for two and a half years, so people know that I probably have a photographic record of whatever they are looking for.    

So being without a camera was a real struggle for me and on Saturday, I was praying that my new camera would arrive on Monday morning and put me out my misery.

Well, Saturday 2nd April, turned out to be my lucky day, because we received a phone call from Karl, to let us know that the dream camera (+ accessories) was waiting to be picked up 'at our convenience'.

Stoic 'me' found it difficult to contain my excitement and Adoring Husband even commented about the size of the smile on my face when I knew that my new camera would soon be in my hot little hands!

I didn't go into The Bay with Adoring Husband to collect the camera.  I knew that I would open the box and have everything strewn all over the car and with the movement of the car, be feeling nauseas while trying to read all the paperwork.

So, I patiently sat at home, counting the minutes, calculating how long he should reasonably take and waiting for his phone call to advise that he was on his way home.

Finally, I heard him pull into the driveway.  It was here!!  Wahoo!!  Wahoo!!

He came rushing through the door, his arms laden with boxes and bags and plonked them down in front of me.  "There you are Darling!  One new camera!"

It was like Christmas!  No, it was BETTER than Christmas!  It was heaven!

It took a good hour to open,  assemble and attach everything.  Another couple of hours to charge the batteries, load all the information from the discs onto the computer and read the very basic instructions.

The instruction manual for the camera is 270 pages long **groan** and then the flash has a 56 page manual.  I fall asleep after reading five pages, so it's going to take a very long time for me to read everything.

The camera itself, weighs over 2 kgs.  My camera bag with everything loaded into it, weighs 4.8 kgs!  Add the weight of the tripod and I'm carrying over 7 kgs.  There surely needs to be a health and fitness requirement for photographers!

Anyway, here are a few of my efforts so far, with little knowledge of my genius camera, which, from here on in, will be known as 'BOB' - because he cost a bob or two (which probably only means something to people over 50 years of age haha)

A new leaf unfurling on our Fern Tree

Our beautiful Hibiscus after the rain

Helen, the hen-pecked chook!

Glass boat of shells

Hopefully, you will see a marked improvement as time goes on, but I'm pretty happy with my efforts after two days and I do believe that Bob and I are going to be very happy together!  :o)

New Bestie

Helen, the hen-pecked chook has been shunned by her two house-mates and is now living alone in her own little pen and in a separate part of the garden.

Adoring Husband has decided to punish and torture the other hens by allowing Helen to roam the garden for extra hours in the day, while they watch from behind the closed gate.

He goes out every day and has long conversations with Helen while he feeds and waters her, collects her egg and cleans her sleeping area.  Then he lets her out and she follows him around the garden while he continues to chat with her.

This relationship is perfect for Adoring Husband, because some days, he really loves to hear the sound of his own voice, and of course, Helen makes the appropriate quiet 'clucking' sounds in response. While he works in the shed, Helen wanders around his feet and looks up at him with love and admiration.

I do find this relationship entertaining and amusing, but now I think Helen is taking it one step too far!

We have large sliding doors opening on to our alfresco area, from our house,  which we leave open just wide enough for the dogs to get through if they need to get outside to do their doggy 'business'.

Helen has now discovered this opening and has decided that she wants to be with Adoring Husband INSIDE as well as OUT!

Three times in the last two days, I have looked up to discover Helen quietly sneaking across the family room floor, while the Psychotic Dogs all stand together looking at her,  at each other and at me, trying to figure out if they should be chasing her outside, calling me for help or welcoming her with open paws.

The first time was amusing, and even the second time got a giggle, but I am no longer amused and have told Adoring Husband that if he can't keep her out of the house, then HE will be spending all of his time outside in the garden with his new bestie!

If I wasn't a vegetarian I might even suggest roast chook for next Sunday's dinner!

I know that Adoring Husband is reading this and feeling genuine shock in his heart, not only at the thought of Helen sitting on our dinner plate, but also at the thought that I would ever suggest such a thing, especially in a blog post for all the world to read!!

***Evil Wicked Witch Laugh***

Snakes Alive!

Yesterday afternoon I walked out the laundry door to get clothes off the line and as I reached the clothes line, I heard this rustling sound, a bit like the sound of scrunching cellophane wrap.  I looked down and saw the tail of a brown snake about a foot away from my feet!!  The rest of it's body was going behind a large potted plant that was nearby.

At the same time, my three little dogs all rushed to the pot to investigate, which, of course, frightened the snake which lifted it's head ready to attack.

It was about then, that my brain registered that we were all in danger and it was time to act!!  So I yelled at the dogs, who thankfully recognised the fear in my voice (the same fear that I have in my voice when they go too close to a toad!) and all stepped backwards looking at me.

The snake, thankfully, took that opportunity to escape through a small gap in the fence and disappeared in the direction of the empty block of land next door.

At this point I heard the loud flip flopping sound of Adoring Husband's footsteps coming through the house towards the laundry door and then the sound of his worried voice asking what was happening.

In my slightly pathetic and frightened shrill voice I said "It was a brown snake under the clothes line!" which caused him to yell "Get inside and take the dogs!"

The snake was already gone but Adoring Husband wasn't going to take any chances.  He climbed up on one of the outdoor chairs to look over the fence but couldn't see any sign of the snake, which was probably more frightened than all of us put together and had long since disappeared to a place of safety!!

We are all probably more paranoid than the normal person about snakes because my father died from a brown snake bite, which is a story for another day, so this little experience would have been quite entertaining from an outsider's point of view, had they seen it.

The clothes are STILL on the clothes line ... I think I will gather the courage and attempt to retrieve them again today.

Adoring Husband (who was once a first-aid trainer with Railcorp) has now put together a snake bite kit and placed it in an easy to access spot in the house, just in case.  He gave me a lesson this morning on how to apply a pressure bandage and the correct order in which to apply first aid for snake bites.

Now, and until the fresh fear subsides, we are paranoid about being in the back yard or entering  the shed or collecting the eggs from the chooks - although the chooks would be making a hell of a noise if the snake went anywhere near the chookhouse!!

Ya gotta love Australian wildlife!  It certainly has a way of keeping you on your toes!

Happy Birthday Little Gnome!

The man I spoke about in my 'Brief Note of Sadness' post a couple of weeks ago, is doing ok.

Seventy seven years of age on April Fool's day!

My little gnome (a name given to him by one of his lady friend's daughters) from the boat ramp is having a birthday today!

He hasn't been down to the boat ramp since he came out of hospital because he has a sore ankle and weakness in one arm which prevents him from driving or walking.  I have been to visit him three times but I pedalled straight past because he had numerous visitors already there.

He is a well liked, respected and popular man in town.

Many ladies in town have baked cakes, cookies, casseroles and soups and delivered to his doorstep.  His grandson bought a dozen containers of takeaway Chinese food to freeze.  A roster of ladies have been to his house to clean, cut his toe nails, wash and iron.  Mates have driven him to appointments and dropped in at various times of the day and evening to keep him company and check that he has everything that he needs.

This is what I absolutely love about this community.  When the people see somebody struggling, they all move as one to either fix it or at the very least, ease the pain.  They step in and provide whatever is needed and they wrap their combined arms around the family or person in need and give them a massive hug filled with warmth and love.

Another single parent family in town, over a year ago, almost lost their 14 yr old son and brother when his heart collapsed.  He was placed on top of the emergency donor list and was kept alive by machines until a donor heart was found.  This required months of hospitalisation in Melbourne (2000 kms away), which in turn, required the added costs of transport and accommodation for his mother.

She had three other children to care for, as well as pets, a house and a local job.

The community gathered together and raised funds to help towards the financial burden this family was carrying.  They formed a roster of people to fill the mother's job, so that she would continue to get her wage and so that her job would still be waiting for her upon her return.

People stepped in to care for their pets, mow their lawns and maintain the home.  They did this for a year while the boy recovered from this very serious condition.

How amazing is that!?  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

So, back to the birthday boy... I know that the ladies are all making cakes and slices and cookies and birthday comfort food for him today, so, to counteract all that processed sugar, I decided to put together a big box of fruit, nuts and plain popcorn for him to munch on over the next few days.

I found a shiny green box, lined it with yellow tissue paper, filled it with fresh fruit, bags of sultanas and nuts and packets of microwave popcorn.  I wrapped it in shiny clear plastic, tied it with yellow ribbon and then tied two big green and gold 'Happy Birthday' balloons to it.

By the time I delivered it to his doorstep at nine o'clock this morning, he'd already had eight visitors and three phone calls.  He was exhausted!  While I was there, his x-wife and her partner arrived (they are all friends) with a birthday cake and gifts.

A group of us are taking him out for dinner tonight to the local Bowls Club and I'm wondering if he is going to have the energy left to attend his own birthday dinner!!

Anyway, he is doing ok.  He looks tired.  He needs to get out in the fresh air and he needs a good feed of fresh vegetables!  I'll work on that.

Happy Birthday my Little Gnome :o)  

  

Clever little house-husband!

Adoring Husband is currently on his hands and knees on the lounge room carpet with a wet rag and an iron!

We have moved the pool table (which only gets used at parties) out to the shed for the time being and the dining table has moved from the lounge room to the family/kitchen area, where the pool table was previously.

The carpet in the lounge room has marks indented into it from where the dining table has been positioned for almost 3 years.

So, sometime in his life, somebody has taught Adoring Husband this little trick that takes the indents out of the carpet!!

It's quite amazing!  I've never seen it done before, and you can't even tell that a table was ever there!

When Adoring Husband sets his mind to a new idea, it becomes an obsession.

A couple of examples ... when we lived in Sydney, he converted half of the double garage in the back yard to an art work studio for me.  He did it all himself and it took about six weeks from beginning to end.

He built a bedroom at the back of the studio as a guest room, a little kitchenette at one end of the studio room, laid carpet in the bedroom and tiles in the studio room, gyprocked the walls and painted them.  He installed floor to ceiling glass sliding doors at the front.  It was a beautiful area.

However, he was so obsessed, he would get up in the mornings at about 7am and go straight outside to start work. Not once would he even think about food, so he would go without breakfast and lunch unless I took it out to him or called him inside to eat.

He forgot that there was a world around him (or a wife or animals or friends)  He continually lost his keys, mobile phone, wallet and glasses and the only time he left the work area, was when he needed a tool or piece of equipment and had to drive to the hardware store (Bunnings actually!) to get it.

Don't get me wrong, he did an amazing job, but he was obsessed from start to finish!

Since we've moved to Queensland, he has had a few small obsessions like creating the six vegetable gardens in the back yard,  landscaping the side garden, lining the walls and building the shelving in the shed,  building the chook pen out the back, landscaping the front garden and more recently setting up his boat for safely fishing outside the river .

His new obsession has now become apparent.

Vegan Chickie, Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet are moving back to Australia and will be staying here for a period of time until they can get back on their feet and get their own place.

Adoring Husband is now obsessed about making the house and bedrooms as spacious and as comfortable as possible for us all for the duration.

Furniture is being moved and bedrooms rearranged.

He has that look in his eye that says "I'm a man on a mission, get out of my way!"

All I can think is "Be afraid.  Be very afraid"

Thank goodness, when he gets these obsessions, he doesn't involve me and does almost everything himself!

He really just wants everyone to be happy.  I'm lucky to have such a clever little house-husband!

Nonfiction/Reality v Fiction/Fantasy

Obviously, anything that I say here is anecdotal and based on my own personal experiences.  Your experiences, of course, may be very different!

I've talked previously about my enjoyment of Reality TV and how I like to observe real people reacting and responding to the unusual or unfamiliar situations in which they are placed.

I think I could have been a good observer for anecdotal research.  I'm not a 'facts' girl.  The information between the facts is much more interesting to me.  If my interest is piqued, I can be quite intuitive and sensitive to information that others miss.

A favourite pastime of mine is sitting quietly for hours in the corner at a party,  in a busy airport terminal,  or even at night in a club or pub and just observing the people.  Each individual is incredibly intriguing the way they interact with the different people they meet.

If you put ME in a new situation with a large group of people, I will be very quiet, hold myself back, observe everybody, figure out where I fit in with the group and then slowly slide into the spot where I think I fit.

Depending on the group, I could be a leader or a follower, a confidante or a clown, an analyser or a teacher - one of many different roles - but I can adapt to most roles (good adapting skills gained when changing schools seventeen times in my childhood - see post dated March 9th).

Most people I know, already have a 'role' imprinted in their 'being' and enter a group to fill that role.  If the role is already filled by someone else, then they soon leave the group and subconsciously go looking for new groups until they fit somewhere.

But once again I digress .... I do that a lot don't I?!

So, you see, I am a people analyser and I yearn to understand humans and why they do the things that they do.  They intrigue me and psychiatry would have been an interesting career for me if the study didn't involve so many facts!

Anyway, Adoring Husband, Number One Son, and most males that I know are very much into Fiction/Fantasy.  They have no time for Reality TV and get very bored observing people at parties, airports or clubs.

In those situations, they either want to disappear into a Fiction/Fantasy book or get involved in the party by mingling, dancing, drinking, laughing and 'being'.  Automatically filling their subconscious roles, not noticing other people's roles and not giving a rat's about roles.

Adoring Husband is almost obsessed with Star Trek, 'V', Dr Who, Star Wars etc.  He watches them religiously and loves to get lost in the weird and wonderful fantasy world of the characters.

These shows bore me to tears (although I did quite enjoy the hilarious acting prowess of David Tennant in the last Dr Who series).

I just can't understand where the interest lies in a story line that is not possible and that could never happen in real life.  I would, however,  be interested to meet the person who wrote the story and analyse his/her mind!

So, there in itself, is another analytical dilemna for me to study and question.  Why does he like Fantasy and why do I like Reality?  At what point in our lives was that decision made in our brains?  How can we be compatible, when we are drawn to such different genres?

I have my own theories of course.  Adoring Husband is a very complex and unusual (and by 'unusual', I mean 'strange' lol) individual and I know he will provide years of analytical heaven for me ... but don't get me started!

While I've been writing this, I've discovered that Fantasy really does have a role in my life, because Adoring Husband has been deeply involved in an episode of 'V' that he recorded earlier, and has left me in peace to write!  Hah!

I guess this proves that it doesn't have to be Reality v Fantasy and the two can be compatible after all!!

Vegan or Not to Vegan ... THAT is the question!

Just as a matter of interest, I've been trolling the internet for information on veganism and I found this great little website.

It provides extensive information about vitamin and nutrient requirements, vegan meal plans, results of  research that shows how a vegetarian and/or vegan diet has affected the health of people with medical conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, blood pressure etc.

It gives information about food allergies, vegan diets for children, teens and pregnant women.  It also has book recommendations and much more.

So here is the link and I hope that you learn something new and interesting!

http://www.veganhealth.org/

I am considering taking my vegetarian diet a step further, but I'm not sure that I can go completely vegan.  I do know how much better I feel, physically, since removing meat from my diet (I still have a little seafood two or three times a week),  and I would like to take the next step.

Now I'm noticing how my body reacts to dairy and I'm not liking it very much, so I might just remove milk (except for my morning cappuccino), cheese and butter, to see if I feel the difference.

Small steps, I say!

I'll let you know the answer to my 'Vegan or Not to Vegan' question some time in the near future I guess!

If it's Gunna Happen ....

It's been an interesting day.

Adoring Husband gently woke me this morning just after 6am,  with a big smile on his face and invited me to play golf.

My friend, 'Woman of Many Talents', who is my usual golfing buddy on Monday mornings, is away in Melbourne at the moment, so after our successful Friday golfing jaunt, Adoring Husband decided we should do it again.

He came home with the same number of golf balls that he arrived with, but that's only because he found two golf balls that belonged to other people, after he had lost two of his own!

That familiar cracking sound of ball against tree was ringing loudly again, as was the familiar sight of male searching for lost ball.  Again, we had good shots and bad shots and Adoring Husband got a birdie on the 8th hole, for which he received a well deserved high five!

He struggled to finish nine holes with his dodgy back, but we made it intact.

On the way home, we stopped to buy some lotto tickets and while in the newsagents, Adoring Husband surprised me with a couple of photography magazines.  Inside one of those was a competition!  Suddenly I'm inspired to go online and find all the current photography competitions across the Universe!

In the meantime, Adoring Husband drove into The Bay to buy some straw and other such goodies for the Lovely Laying Chookies.  Upon his return, and while tending to the chooks, he accidentally kicked his toe on the wheel barrow and lifted a toe nail.  ***squirm***

Blood smearing all over his thong (once again, it's the thong on his foot, not on his butt) and the toe nail hanging by a thread and all MY nerves rising to the surface and me feeling nauseas, squeezing my eyes shut so that I don't have to look!  Ugh!

So his golf day tomorrow is now cancelled because he can't walk properly!

Now it's time to prepare dinner.  Sushi tonight.  It's the first time we've attempted to make sushi.  I prepared the rice earlier and together we sit either side of the kitchen bench with our sushi roasted seaweed sheets and our bamboo sushi mats and make our own sushi rolls to cut later.

Adoring Husband squeezes Wasabi paste onto his rice in a long thick line from end to end (if you've tasted wasabi, you know what's coming!) and then adds prawns, smoked salmon and avocado.  I use crab meat, avocado, carrot, cucumber and shallots.  Then I make another one replacing the crab with prawns.

Into the fridge they go for a couple of hours and we will cut them just before we eat them.  Let's relax on the couch for a while!  Down he sits and 'bang' he knocks his sore toe on the footrest.  Phwoar!  That takes his breath away!  He wonders out loud if perhaps he has broken his toe!

Two hours later, with a bowl of sushi soy sauce and a bowl of pickled ginger, we cut our sushi and arrange them beautifully on the platter.  Adoring Husband takes a bite of his first piece of sushi and immediately, his eyes and nose begin to water and he coughs and splutters and runs to the fridge for a bottle of water.

Woops!  Too much wasabi on his sushi!

So, I generously offer half of my sushi, but he refuses stating "No!  I made the mistake!  I will eat my own!"  Three bottles of water later, he had eaten over half of his sushi and finally conceded defeat, concerned that he would make himself sick.

I can't even imagine how hot that must have been... but this has been a typical day in Adoring Husband's life and ... if it's gunna happen, it's gunna happen to Adoring Husband!

My Current Favourite Recipe

Having recently changed my diet to vegetarian, I've been trying lots of different recipes and also experimenting with old recipes.  I've been using this one a lot lately and I've passed it on to many other people who are all raving about it.

It can be a great vegetarian meal.  It's safe for Coeliacs.  Men (and we know how fussy men are about vegetables!) really love it.  If you are a meat lover, this is great to have as a side dish with any roast meat.  The really great thing is that you don't have to stand over it or spend time tending to it.  You can go off and do something else while it cooks (such as writing a new blog post!).

So for any of you interested, here is the recipe.  I'm sorry that I don't have a photo to go with it, but I will add a photo at a later date ... after the fabulous new camera arrives!!

Honey Roasted Vegetables


2     large potatoes
1/2  butternut pumpkin
1/2  parsnip
1     turnip
1/2  sweet potato
1     carrot
2     onions
1     red capsicum
1     punnet of cherry tomatoes
1     head of garlic
2     chillies
2     T honey
1/2  Lemon
       Salt and pepper to taste
       Drizzle of olive oil

1. Peel the potatoes, pumpkin, parsnip, turnip, sweet potato, carrot and onions.
2. Cut them into chunky bite sized pieces.
3. Drizzle a little oil into the bottom of a large baking dish.
4. Toss all of the chopped veggies into the pan.
5. Separate the cloves of garlic and toss them in the pan (unpeeled), along with the cherry tomatoes.
6. Cut the capsicum into chunks, finely chop the chillies and add them to the veggies.
7. Season with salt and pepper and give them a stir.
8. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of honey over the veggies and give them another toss.
9. Put the baking dish into the oven at 180 - 200 degrees for 40 minutes.
10. Remove the baking dish from the oven.  Stir the veggies and return to the oven for 30 mins.
11. Squeeze the juice of about half a lemon over the veggies, stir and serve.

 ********

The three rules that apply to this fabulous recipe:  

1   Very healthy.  

2   Very delicious.  

3   Very easy.

Bon Appetit!!