30 and Fabulous

The thirtieth birthday party is a SUCCESS!

Just quickly - we left home at 5.30am, stopped at Sexie Coffee for 30 minutes where we had coffee and breakfast then drove on to Eumundi markets.

Shopped at the markets for three hours and then drove through to the Gold Coast.

After we checked in to our room, we went to Harbourtown, which is only about ten minutes from our motel!  We shopped there for almost three hours and then drove back to our room where we got ready for the birthday bash.

Here is the view from our balcony ...

We hope to get a nice sunrise in the morning from the opposite direction to this photo.

We got downstairs to meet up with all of Jovial Son's friends and family and waited for Jovial Son to arrive, at which point we all shouted 'SURPRISE!' (and he was!)

It was fabulous night.  Caught up with people whom we hadn't seen since his wedding and generally had a good time.

But now, it's almost midnight and I can feel the pumpkin thing happening, so it's sleep time.  Catch up tomorrow!

Nite all.

SMILE- Michael Jackson

Day 22 - A song that I listen to when I'm sad.

Weekend to Party

I have to be awake at 4.30am tomorrow.

One of Adoring Husband's sons turns thirty tomorrow and is having a big party which we are attending tomorrow night at the Gold Coast.

So we are leaving very early in the morning and stopping at the Eumundi markets on the way.  We expect to be there for at least a couple of hours and will then drive on to the Gold Coast.

The restaurant where we are attending the birthday party is attached to a motel and that is where we are staying, so at least we don't have to worry about catching taxis anywhere and we can safely stagger home from the party any time we want to leave.

I don't enjoy the drive down there, but once we arrive, it should be a good weekend and we usually have a bit of fun with Jovial Son and his newish wife.  They have a good bunch of friends and a close family, so there is lots of love to be spread around.

Speaking of lots of love ... I have some new photos of Chicklet to share with you all today.

This looks like the beginning of a raspberry to me!

Cutie Pitootie

Adorable little doofus!

She has had a massive growth spurt this week and for me, there is a noticeable difference in her size and shape.  She seems more grown up to me as well.

So that's it for me tonight.  I don't know if I will be able to post anything tomorrow night.  We'll see how the day and evening pan out.

Nite all

James Blunt - Stay The Night [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

Day 21 - A song that I listen to when I'm happy!

Bad Moon Rising!

I wanted to capture a beautiful moon-rise this evening.

Yesterday, at 5.30pm, on the bus ride to the pub where we watched the football, we saw the moon low in the sky, large and beautiful and glowing against the darkening sky.

I decided then, that I would make my way to the beach the following night to watch it rise out of the watery horizon.

So, at 4.15pm today, I hopped on my trusty trike with my camera bag and tripod in the rear basket, and pedalled down to the beach.

I chose the beach at the mouth of the river which had the widest ocean horizon because I wasn't sure exactly where the moon was going to rise.

For over an hour I watched the horizon and waited for the telltale glow to begin peeking over the horizon.

While I waited, I photographed kids playing on the beach, men fishing, birds walking on the sand, dogs running along the water's edge and boats motoring into and out of the mouth of the river.

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

At 5.30pm when there was still no sign of the moon, I figured that it must be rising further around the beach and that I would have to go to a different beach tomorrow night and try again.

I began packing up my camera and folding my tripod.  As I went to put the tripod in the basket, I glanced up at the beach and there, to my amazement, was the shining glow of the moon's edge just about to peek over the horizon!

UGH!

As fast as I was able in the low dusk light, I reassembled my tripod, attached my camera and began taking photos as the beautiful golden orb slowly climbed into the sky.

It was difficult in the low light to get the settings correct in the short time it took for the moon to rise just high enough to be less than spectacular.

Pink sky just before sunset

The golden sky right on sunset

The beautiful golden moon rising over the watery horizon

I then had to pedal home in the dark.  The batteries are flat in my headlight on the trike, so it was a little tricky maneuvering the trike over the rough gravel road until I found the footpath to follow.

I think it was worth it in the end, but it was a very bad moon waiting til I was half packed before making itself seen ... which reminds me of the that song ... 'Bad Moon Rising'!

Nite all    

Daydream Believer The Monkees

Day 20 - A song I listen to when I'm angry (it makes me happy!)

Congratulations to Adoring Husband (and all you other Blues supporters)

State of Origin football - game two - was played tonight.

Adoring Husband and I got all dressed up in our supporter's colours and went to the pub where we met up with eight of our friends, ordered pizza and watched the game in the main bar.

Unfortunately, the NSW Blues team won the game and my team lost.  So now, it's one game all and the decider will be played in three week's time, on 5th July.

It was a great night and mostly it was a happy and fun crowd but there is always one, who is a bad sport and tries to stir up trouble.

So ...

Thumbs down to the Queensland Maroon's supporter who mouthed off in a very 'unsportsman' - like manner at the end of the game and tried unsuccessfully to spoil the Blue's supporters moment of exhilaration!

Thumbs up to all of the Blues supporters, who ignored his arrogant, rude rantings and didn't take the bait or try to fight him!

Every year I enjoy being at our 'local' for State of Origin.  Steve, the publican, is a cool guy (even if he is a Blue's supporter) and always puts on a fun night.

There are raffles and then finger food at half time and pick the score.  Most people dress up in their favourite team's paraphernalia.  There are flags and posters and blow-up footballs hanging from the bar.

It's one of the great things about Queensland.  Everybody gets involved.  Shops fly their favourite colours in the form of streamers, balloons and flags.  People decorate their houses.

Adoring Husband and I each have a large flag flying at the front of our house.  Blue on the left, maroon on the right.

When we lived in Sydney, there certainly wasn't the same enthusiasm for State of Origin down there and it was difficult to find a pub or a club that provided any entertainment for the night, so we are really enjoying the positive energy of Origin time here in Queensland.

So, it's all over for another three weeks.  Congratulations to Adoring Husband and all the other blue's supporters, including Number One Son, Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armor.

I hope that on the 5th of July, you will all be congratulating me and Queenslanders will be celebrating six years in a row of winning!!

Nite all!

Bella's Lullaby (Twilight Soundtrack Version Official )

Day 19 - A song from my favourite album.

Joke of the Day

I can NEVER remember jokes!

Almost every morning at the 'Seat of Knowledge', one of the guys, Raymond Claude, tells a joke.  

He is a brilliant joke-teller!

Everybody stops to listen.  

People pause as they walk past, asking him if he has a joke to tell.  

His jokes are always funny and mostly clean.

This means that I hear at least four jokes every week from Raymond Claude and over a period of two years that adds up to over 400 jokes!

I cannot remember a single one of them!

I have this one joke that I heard twenty or more years ago on television ... it may have been Glynn Nicholas on Humphrey B Bear and it goes something like this ....  

The goldfish swam into a wall. He said ... 'Dam!'

Nite all :o) 

TRHPS "Sweet Transvestite"

Day 18 - A song that I wish I heard on the radio

Another Failed Study Session! (AKA Another Successful Friends Marathon)

I tried to do a little studying today while watching 'Friends', but as usual, I got sleepy and ended up having a couple of catnaps (no, not even long enough to be called nana naps!)

My achievements for the day were very few.  A trike ride to the bakery for coffee, thirty minutes at the seat of knowledge, nine holes of golf, some washing, watching season four of Friends, cooking dinner, washing the dishes and now at midnight, attempting to post a token treasure on here.

About the best I can offer is some new photos of my little Chicklet with her favourite toy, Plonker Foot (I hope I spelled it correctly!)

She's my little 'Cutie Possum'.

Adoring Husband is still fighting off his flu symptoms and we have to attend his son's thirtieth birthday party at the Gold Coast this weekend.  Which reminds me ....

It was suggested today, to try 'ivy leaf', to clear up a cough at the end of a flu.  You know that cough that hangs on and just doesn't want to clear up for weeks after a cold or flu??  Apparently 'ivy leaf' does the job.  Must try to get some while in The Bay tomorrow afternoon!

I'm off to bed now because I can't find any toothpicks to keep my eyelids open and besides, I need to be up bright an early for aqua aerobics.

Nite all!  Sweet dreams!!

The Fuifui Moimoi Song

Day 17 - A song I hear often on the radio

My First Kiss

Do you remember your first kiss?

My first kiss was in 1971, when I was not yet 12 yrs old and with a boy named Terry Drew who attended my school - Sunnybank State School in Brisbane.

Having spent about five years travelling around Australia in a caravan, my family and I finished our travels at Seven Trees Caravan Park in Sunnybank and I think by this time, we had been there for about a year.

I can't remember what time of year it was, but my Dad got a new job in Perth, so we had to sell the caravan and move to Western Australia.

My boyfriend at the time was Terry Drew.  It was one of those relationships where you never spend time together, but send notes via friends that read "Do you love me? Yes or No?" (circle your answer).

We girls would sit at the edge of the sports oval and watch the boys play football in the lunch hour, all the while giggling and hiding our faces every time he looked in our direction.

On my last day at that school, which was a Friday (sports day), my friends and I were all sobbing knowing that we would probably never see each other again.  There were goodbye presents and cards.

The teachers were very understanding and there was not a lot of sports played that afternoon.

Near the end of the day, I received a note from Terry, passed on by one of Terry's mates, which read "Can I kiss you goodbye this afternoon?"

You can imagine the mixture of fear, terror and excitement that I felt!  Of course, I replied "Yes" and it was arranged, with notes, for us to meet beside the girls toilets after the last school bell.

The thought of kissing a boy was terrifying for me, so I had to use every ounce of courage that I could muster to make the long walk to the girl's toilets.

I don't know how I did it.  I think it was because I didn't want to look like a coward in front of my friends, who, along with Terry's friends, were standing some distance away waiting to see some action.

So I walked around the corner to find Terry standing there waiting for me already.  My heart leapt into my throat and as I looked at him and choked a "Hi", he leaned forward with tightly puckered lips and planted a quick hard kiss on my unprepared mouth!

He turned and ran so fast that he was gone in less than a blink of an eye!

THAT was my first kiss with a boy.  I can picture it as clearly as if it just happened and as pathetic as the kiss was, I will never forget it or the name of the boy it was with.

The most embarrassing part of the whole experience was that the commencement of my Dad's job was postponed by a week and I actually had to return to the school the following Monday.

There was absolutely no interaction between Terry and I that week and not a tear was cried by anybody the next Friday when I left for the final time - because I don't think anybody really believed that I was going anywhere!

I wonder where Terry Drew is now.  If you're out there Terry .. thanks for my first kiss :o)

Pilot - January (1975)

Day 16 - A song that I used to love but now hate.

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.