Rained out again!

The alarm woke me at 5am this morning.

I reluctantly climbed out of bed and gazed out the window into the darkness trying to determine whether there had been any rain during the night, but it was still pitch black outside.

I looked at the sky trying to see some stars but there was not a twinkle to be found up in the blackness.

I put my woolly slippers on and made my way out the back door into the darkness to stand in the back yard and feel the air.

It was mild.  No rain.  No wind.  No stars.

So I made an executive decision.  Get ready for the markets.

Knowing the forecast was for cold weather, I found some warm clothes and some knitted boots and for the first time in three years, dressed for Winter!

I packed the basket of my trike with all of my goods for the stall and sent a text to Aussie H to let her know that I was going to attempt the markets if she wanted to join me at 6.20am.

As daylight struggled to find it's way through the heavy clouds, and just as I was going to leave, a light shower passed over my house.

There was one dark cloud and then the clouds coming behind it looked light and not the slightest bit menacing or threatening.  I waited for the rain to stop and then pedalled off on my trike.

As I arrived at the markets, it began to rain, ever so lightly.  

All of us setting up outside stalls, looked at each other wondering who would fold first.  All of us, very slowly, continued to set up.  As we did so, the rain got heavier until there was a light but steady rain falling.

A couple of stall holders began to pack up in preparation to leave, while I stopped and sat down to watch the rain and try to predict how this weather would pan out.

Adoring Husband arrived with my take-away coffee, so we sat down to enjoy it as Suzy, the border collie, arrived with her owner and Aussie H arrived on her trike.

We all sat around discussing the weather and the markets for about twenty minutes, when I decided to pack up and go home.

The rain got steadily heavier, so Adoring Husband packed most of my goods into the car and I threw a rain poncho on over my clothes and pedalled home with Aussie H.

As soon as I arrived home and took my wet poncho off, I changed into my warm slippers and wrapped my big white fluffy dressing gown around me, plonked myself on the couch and prepared to spend the day watching more of the 'Friends' dvds.

We are up to the final show in Series Three!

The party tonight turned into a very quiet affair.  Luckily, it was held in the local hall, so the rain wasn't an issue but most of us were reluctant to go out in the rain tonight to attend the party.

Lots of good food, good friends and family who had travelled a long way to be there.  Balloons, kids, cake ... what more do you need for a good family party?

Unfortunately Adoring Husband has been ill with chest problems of late, so being out in the damp weather, irritated that problem and we returned home a bit earlier than originally planned.

So here I am, exactly as I was this morning after being rained out of the markets, wearing my slippers and dressing gown and lazing on the couch.

Katy Perry - Firework Lyrics HD

Day 15 - A song that describes me

The Snoring Echoes echoes .. echoes ... echoes ....

OK ... so the roast pumpkin soup didn't get made today!

BUT ... I DID make the banana, date and walnut cake, vegan style.  I prefer it to my old faithful and original banana and walnut cake which isn't vegan!  The vegan one is much more moist and delicious!

I also got a recipe today, off a nice old bloke, for a flourless orange cake ... good for coeliacs, which I hope to try out over the weekend some time.

If it's nice enough, I will share the recipe with a coeliac friend of mine ... who knows who she is ***waves hand frantically*** Hi Kaz!!

I'm pretty sure it will be nicer than a certain batch of gluten free pikelets that we tasted last week!!  UGH!

Tomorrow, if the rain holds off, I should be setting up my stall at the local markets.  I can only pray that the weather is a little warmer than today.  I even wore tracksuit pants today!

Also, tomorrow night, Adoring Husband and I have a party to attend.  It's a special occasion, so I will be taking my camera and I hope to get some nice photos that could even possibly be posted here.

After returning to Toot's and Doch's house today (for the third time in a fortnight!) to finally set up their computer/internet/email properly and with the correct device, I am decidedly worn out tonight.

I usually like to wait until Adoring Husband's snoring has passed beyond breaking the sound barrier, to a steady rhythm that lulls me to sleep, before I go to bed, but tonight I'm going to kick him in the ribs and just tell him to ... well I don't want to start using bad words in my posts so ... 'Be Quiet!'

My take-away chinese dinner has also upset my tummy a little, so, as the snoring echoes through the house, I will sign off for now and get some beauty sleep before my big day tomorrow!

Have a great day!!

Taylor Swift - Love Story

Day 14 - A song that no-one would expect me to love.

Another One Bites the Dust!

This morning, I completed another item from my 'fifty two things to do before I turn fifty two' list.

I got up at dawn and Adoring Husband drove me down to the beach to take photos of the sunrise.  It wasn't as spectacular as the last few mornings, but I got a couple of nice photos.

The moment just before the sun peeks over the horizon!

The weather forecast is not good for the next few days, so I doubt that there will be any more sunrise/sunset photos for a while!

Adoring Husband dropped me off, came home to get ready for golf and then returned to pick me up.  

I'd also like to introduce another local ...

Suzy recognised me as she ran along the beach and excitedly ran to me, wagging her tail.

This is Suzy, the border collie.  She is a sweet natured, friendly dog owned by a lovely local lady whom I bartered with today.

She gave me a pumpkin out of her garden and a lovely hand knitted scarf that she made herself, in return for a dozen eggs from my lovely laying chookies.

It's a regular morning ritual.

Suzy's owner was one of the first people I met when we moved here and she made me feel very welcome.

So tomorrow, I'll be making roast pumpkin soup and I really MUST use those blackening bananas to make the vegan banana, date and walnut cake before they have to be tossed out!

Hopefully it will be a rainy day ... perfect cooking weather!

Tonight the Bare-chested Chef did home-cooked pizzas.  He makes the BEST pizza crust in the universe!  My pizza had artichoke, capsicum, mushroom, zucchini, beans and cashews.  Bloody bewdiful!

The boys washed the dishes while Vegan Chickie and I played very raucously with Chicklet.  I'm not sure who, out of the three of us, were the loudest!  But there was lots of giggling and teasing and shrieking and singing going on!

Now I am going to focus on one of my favourite TV programs ... Grey's Anatomy.

Nite all! 



 

  

TOM JONES - Kiss (1989)

Day 13 - A song that is a guilty pleasure.

Ugh! Hate Those Meeces to Pieces!

There is currently a mouse plague in New South Wales!

I will be in New South Wales for two weeks next month and I'll be staying in a farmhouse on a farm in the middle of nowhere.  Right in the middle of the mouse plague!  Ugh!

In 1982, I lived in Cootamundra in New South Wales and there was a mouse plague happening around the time that I gave birth to Number One Son.

He slept in a bassinette which rested on a chrome frame with wheels, in our bedroom.  I could wheel the frame around the house while he slept, so it was portable and convenient.

The mice were so bad in this plague that I had to cover the bassinette with a big sheet of mosquito netting and I used a large piece of elasticised lace to hold the netting tight around the bassinette. 

Some mornings I would wake up to find mouse poo on top of the netting!  Ugh!

One morning as I opened a box of cereal for breakfast, a mouse jumped out of the box and onto my hand!  Ugh!

They are so tiny and so fragile, I don't understand the reasoning for disliking them so strongly, but they send shivers up my spine.

My step niece had a pet rat once.  It was just like a giant mouse.  Ugh!

Anyway, my post is brief again tonight, but I will add a couple of sunset photos from tonight.  There was too much heavy cloud to get a spectacular sunset, but I got a couple of interesting shots.

It only lasted momentarily, but the pretty pink on the horizon was too nice to miss!

Just as the sun was about to disappear, a crack appeared in the clouds and let some light bathe this yacht.

Do you think that the people living in those boats on the river would be safe from mice?  Rats desert sinking ships.  Do you think they swim out to floating boats?  I must ask a boatie!  

Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK Studio Version

Day 12 - A song from a band I hate.

Today!

Today, we are up to disc two of 'Friends'.

Today, I missed getting some good sunrise photographs because I had to go to water aerobics, but Adoring Husband jumped in the car, drove down to the river and took a few shots before having to leave for golf.

Today, I went to water aerobics and had a fill-in teacher because our usual teacher had a sick child to tend to.  We had a real workout instead of the usual gentle exercise.  I enjoyed it!

Today, seven of us met for morning tea at the bakery and sat outside in the sunshine drinking coffee and catching up. It was lovely.

Today, I had some quality time with Chicklet (Yes, any time with Chicklet :o) is quality time!).

Today, I took some photos of Vegan Chickie and Chicklet to possibly be published in the ABA (Australian Breastfeeding Association) calendar for next year.

http://www.facebook.com/abacalendar

We got lots of good shots, but thanks to the Bare-chested Chef, these smiley ones are some of my favourites!

Today, I get dinner cooked for me by the Bare-chested Chef!

Today, I had a terrible chocolate hangover from the half block of chocolate that I ate yesterday.  I tossed and turned all night,  slept poorly and woke with a very fuzzy head, but I felt better and better as the day wore on.

Today, I found a magazine with one hundred different beading projects inside.  Then I realised that I must complete module one of my studies before starting something new!

Today, I remembered that ....

Today has been a good day!

Queen - Seaside Rendezvous

Day 11 - A song from my favourite band. (I don't have ONE favourite band, but Queen is one of my many favourites!)

How much chocolate is too much chocolate?

Oh how I wish I'd had my trusty camera with me this morning at golf!

In the fifteen minute drive to golf, all the paddocks along the road had a soft mist suspended over them and the sun was shining through the tall trees so that the rays were highlighted through the foliage.  It was so pretty!

When we arrived at golf, the freshly mown grass was glistening with dew and looked like diamonds twinkling all over the ground.

The long shadows of the trees stretched across the glistening grass and the water hazards were like mini lakes with lilies lying flat on the mirror-like surface and the soft mist was rising above them.

As I played my game, I was imagining all the different angles that I could take the photos - which would explain, to some extent, why my game was a bit off!

When I arrived home, and after some lovely cuddles and a stroll through the garden with my Chicklet, I settled down on the couch with Adoring Husband, to begin watching the complete series of 'Friends',  of which the boxed set arrived in the mail today!

I grabbed a family block of Limited Edition Tropical Pineapple Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate out of the pantry and proceeded to eat half of it!!

My favourite flavour out of the Cadbury Snack chocolate has always been the pineapple and for more than twenty years I have wished for a whole block made with just pineapple!

Last week I walked into our local supermarket and lo and behold!!!!  There on the shelf was a whole block of Limited Edition Tropical Pineapple!!

I thought all my christmas's had come at once, so I bought a block, not realising at the time that it was 'limited edition'.

The following day, Vegan Chickie and the Bare-chested Chef returned from a grocery shopping trip and handed me six family sized blocks of the same chocolate.  **drool**

About an hour after eating half a block of chocolate today, I began falling asleep on the couch and eventually had to concede defeat and lie on the bed for a nap.

Ninety minutes later, I dragged myself out of bed feeling no better than before the nap!

So I'm thinking that I MAY have eaten too much chocolate in one sitting!  I'm thinking that perhaps one row of this chocolate may be the limit for each sitting!

A comment was made that I looked stoned!  Yes, chocolate is my drug of choice!

What I'd really like to know is, how much chocolate is too much chocolate, and does it vary from brand to brand or flavour to flavour??

**********

These photos were taken thirty minutes apart!

Sunsets change so quickly.

The colours are amazing.

 

    

Norah Jones - Sunrise

Day 10 - A song that I can fall asleep to. (Anything by Nora Jones relaxes me enough to sleep)

Love Doing Nothing

My favourite thing in the world is to do absolutely nothing.

When somebody asks me what I've been up to, the answer is generally 'nothing'!  And sometimes I feel bad, like I SHOULD have been doing something more interesting.  But really, I prefer to do nothing.

Instead of sweeping the floors, I would rather lie in my hammock in the Winter sunshine.

I prefer to sit on the couch looking at photos on my laptop, than working in the garden.

Sitting on the park bench seat by the river watching the comings and goings is my choice over hanging out the washing.

When I go away on holidays, I like to spend an afternoon in the motel room instead of taking a hike or a guided tour.

Ordering take-away and eating in is a much easier option for me, than dressing up and going to a restaurant.

If Adoring Husband travels to Sydney to visit his Mum for a few days, I like to spend my time locked away in my lounge room watching movies alone and eating junk food.

Adoring Husband, on the other hand, likes to DO everything and anything.  He has so much energy.  When he chooses to do something, he puts his whole heart and soul into it.

At home, there is always something to be done ... no time to be sitting down!  A few hours in the garden to clear the weeds, prune the fruit trees, clean the chook pen, mow the lawn, cut the edges, water the pot plants and wash the car.

When we're on holidays, he has to try a different restaurant every night, take the guided tour, find the closest markets, trek through the rainforest, go to the cheese factory, find the art gallery, visit the alpaca farm, jump on the steam train, experience the theme park and learn all the local history.

I'm exhausted just writing the words!

He uses up so much energy that when he sits down, he falls asleep in less than ten minutes!

Between the pair of us, it works out quite well.  He forces me to do more exciting things when we are on holidays and I force him to sit down and relax at home sometimes.  We balance each other out.

Sometimes, I need to direct his energy towards something meaningful and sometimes he has to give me the motivation and energy to do something more important.

It's his energy that keeps our friendships with others alive.  I choose a lot of friends with a high energy level because they get me moving and stop me from stagnating at home.

A regular exercise routine with friends keeps me motivated to continue with it every week.  A regular weekly social gathering pushes me to dress up and turn up.

If it was purely up to me ... I would love to do absolutely nothing!

Another fiery one ... tonight's sunset taken from my front garden.

Chubby Checker - Let's Twist Again - 60's

Day 9 - A song that I can dance to.

Foggy Winter Morning

How interesting to wake up this morning to find thick fog blanketing our town!

Shags leaving the river mouth in the fog.

At 7.15am, Adoring Husband and I grabbed our cameras and headed down to the river.  We rushed around taking as many photos as possible, fully expecting that the fog would lift before 8am.  How wrong we were!

A beautiful cobweb above the rocks on the bank of the river.

It was almost 10am before it finally lifted, so we had lots of opportunities right along the bank and then out to the beach to get some interesting photos.

The first time the fog attempted to lift, it provided this beautiful white arch touching the water.

The fog tried to lift two or three times during those three hours, but just as we caught a glimpse of the blue sky, the fog closed in again!

 After the fog closed in for the second time.

There were a good number of people out and about with their cameras, so sometimes it was difficult to take a clear shot without other photographers in view.

A mother kangaroo and the joey in her pouch.  Always an exciting find! 

I think our favourite moment of the morning, was finding this kangaroo with a joey in her pouch.  Unfortunately, the grass was so long that in most shots, it obscured our view of the joey, but I was lucky enough to get a couple of clear-ish photos.

So that was a lovely start to our day.  We finished the day by having a few drinks with friends around a bonfire on an empty block two houses away from us.

It's a very cool night and the fire was great (who doesn't enjoy sitting outside around a fire on a clear, starry night?) but even I began to feel chilled after a couple of hours, so I snuck home and found my warm slippers to thaw out my icy toes!

Now it's time to curl up in bed for some more sleep and I hope that tomorrow brings some more interesting photographic opportunities.

I could possibly spend some quality time snapping away at my Chicklet, instead of relying on Vegan Chickie to take all the great baby shots!

I might just stay snuggled up in bed if it's another foggy Winter morning!

  

Gilligan's Island Theme Song

Day 8 - A song I know all the words to. (Gilligan's Island theme song)

Briefly ... before I turn into a pumpkin.

It's late.  I'm tired.

I've had things to do, people to see, places to go, photos to take, modules to study, baby sign language to learn, sick Adoring Husbands to tend to, programs to install and granddaughters to cuddle!

It was a nice evening with friends at the Bowls Club tonight.  I won $160 on Keno.  We had our own personal taxi service in the Bare-chested Chef, who made himself available to take us there and then unexpectedly have to pick us up.  He's a good man.

I'm looking forward to placing my head on the pillow tonight and drifting off to attend to some sweet dreams.

I apologise for this token effort and I hope to make up for it tomorrow, but it's after midnight and I feel myself turning into a pumpkin!

Good night to all and to all a good night :o)

Mac Davis -- It's Hard To Be Humble

Day 7 - A song that reminds me of a certain event. Mac Davis - It's hard to be humble (Dad's favourite song played at his funeral)

The Age of 'Planking'!

The first time that I heard the term 'planking' was on facebook a few weeks ago, when somebody complained about a young man being arrested for 'planking' on a police car.  I had to Google it!

I found this description.

The lying down game (also known as planking, or face downs) is an activity, popular in Asia, consisting of lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location. The hands must touch the sides of the body, and having a photograph of the participant taken and posted on the internet is an integral part of the game. Players compete to find the most unusual and original location in which to play. The location should also be as public as possible, and as many people as possible should be involved.

Personally, I can't see the attraction, but in my youth, I probably would have joined in.  I don't think there is any harm in it as long as they aren't putting themselves or others in danger.

Planking on balcony rails, train tracks or light poles is probably, in my opinion, not such a good idea.

Last weekend my 77 yr old male friend, whom I shall call Tweedle Dum (for the obvious reasons), went on a day train trip with a bunch of other locals.  The tour included morning tea and lunch and it was a good, fun group that went along.

Somehow, a conversation sprung up about 'planking'.  During the course of that conversation, one of the ladies dared Tweedle Dum to 'plank' NAKED, on the 'seat of knowledge' at the boat ramp.

Knowing the lady who made the dare, I can just imagine how this conversation transpired.  She is loud and colourful and funny and full of laughter.

I wonder how many strangers were on the same carriage and had to listen to the raucous laughter from the group!

Anyway, Tweedle Dum wholeheartedly accepted the dare, and it was agreed that he would 'plank' NAKED on the following Tuesday morning.

(I agree!  Naked planking does NOT conjure a pretty picture!)

He made the announcement to all and sundry on Monday morning and I suggested that I cancel my water aerobics so that I could attend the 'planking' with my camera to take the photo, which I would then post onto facebook!

He agreed.  I warned that if I cancelled my aerobics and he chickened out, that I would be very upset and he would be in big trouble!

He promised that he would complete the dare!

I didn't believe him.

I went to aerobics.

He DIDN'T complete the dare AND he blamed ME because I wasn't there!

I wasn't even part of the original deal!!

So now he refuses to reschedule the 'planking', saying that we had our chance and we blew it!  The other ladies are desperately trying to change his mind.

Perhaps I can convince him that he will create a new record by being the oldest 'planker' in the history of 'planking'?

If you have any ideas, please let me know.  If we can convince him to finally complete the dare, I will provide tasteful photos to prove that he completed it.

It is the age of 'planking' and we are working on 'planking' for the aged.      

Hush - Glad All Over

Day 6 - A song that reminds me of somewhere (Cross country event at high school 1975 and our group of friends all singing this together)