Barren Box no-go

BGWLBH worked hard today, at the top of a ladder, cleaning the top part of the walls and inside the top shelving of her built-in wardrobe.

I did very little today, besides taking photos around the garden and then sitting at my laptop editing them.

A moment in the garden.

It could be a Willy Wagtail nest or a Wren or a Finch nest.
They seem to be the most prolific around the house.

Late in the afternoon, we decided to drive out to Barren Box Swamp.

If we had researched adequately before we left, perhaps we might not have gone, because apparently there is no public access to the area unless you get permission from Murrumbidgee Irrigation, who own the area.

http://www.mfn.org.au/barrenBox.html

So even though it was disappointing that we couldn't get close to the swamp, there were some little treasures along the way and we will definitely drive out to the area again, just for the bird life along the way.

I don't know what this bird is yet.

Grey kangaroos - two with a joey in the pouch!
I love the colours in this one - real Aussie colours.

I think this is the male Nankeen Kestrel.
He was being chased by a Willy Wagtail.

These beautiful hawks and kestrels just sit quietly on the posts along the road, but we didn't notice them til we were so close that we scared them off.  We missed about five opportunities along the way ... we are slow learners lol.

I saw some Herons and Kites and Parrots too, but Barren Box information site lists many many more birds in the area.  Oh how I would LOVE to get in there and capture just a few of those birds with my camera!

So we might just contact Murrumbidgee Irrigation and find out how difficult it is to get in there .. perhaps we can park at the gate and hike our way in!

We need to check out Hermit's Cave up on the hill - I think it would be nice there just on, or after sunrise.

Anyway, it's time for me to sleep .. just a bit earlier than usual :D

Nite all.

Wouldn't it be nice?

Wouldn't it be nice if everything just fell into place beautifully?

Wouldn't it be nice if the Real Estate Agent correctly predicted time frames so that our plans could move as smoothly as we'd hoped?

Wouldn't it be nice if one of the houses that is available immediately, was perfect for BGWLBH, and we could move in on Monday?

Wouldn't it be nice if we could be on our road trip before the end of next week?

Wouldn't it be nice if life was that simple?

Of course, the painters are taking longer than expected to paint the house and then the carpet cleaners have to come in after that, so days are now being added to the end date that we were looking at and the moving drama continues.

Today, we again went to the movies.  This time we saw "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close".  It was heart wrenching and exhausting to watch.  I knew that it would be sad, but I thought it would be sad in 'parts' ... not for the entire movie!

We left the cinema with a heavy heart and couldn't even have a conversation in the car on the way home.

We did manage to have a bit of fun before the movie ...

... and there were others that were not quite as successful as we'd hoped, so we have some ideas for the next time we go there, and I will show you those results at a later date.

I am missing my Adoring Husband and Vegan Chickie and my lovely little Chicklet, who is growing up fast while I am away.

Today is my sad day ... tomorrow will be better :o)

Wouldn't it be nice if I had some chocolate - that would help!

Nite all.

Win Win

As we left this morning, BGWLBH noticed a Hawk sitting on the water tank, so we stopped and I climbed out of the car with my camera and tried to get a couple of shots.

The original Hawk flew off before I could get a good shot, but BGWLBH noticed the other one perched at the base of the tank near the rusted hole.

Apparently they nest inside this tank.  I wish I could climb up there to see if there is a nest inside.  I imagine that there might be because these two hawks are constantly hunting out in the open fields beside the farm.

We started with brekky at Maccas.

We played bingo and I won twice!  I took a photo of the two ladies with whom we sit.  'A' and 'F'.

They gave us a detailed description of the habits and traits of quite a few of the people who play bingo regularly as well as the bingo caller.  Clearly, they don't like the current bingo caller.  They liked the old bingo caller better.

'F' is a very nice lady whose 11 year old son was murdered in 1984 - the year we came to live in this town.  She talks openly about it and she struggles every day with the memories.

Thankfully, the guilty man was caught, so she has some closure, but my heart aches for her and I can't imagine having to live with those kind of memories.

She is now a very proud Great Grandmother and also brags about her other grown son who has a successful career in the Army.

So, these days, she has much joy in her life with a close and loving family.  What a blessing.

She always gives me the longest, warmest hug when I come to town.  It's nice :D

After we left bingo, we went to the movies.

At the last minute, we changed our mind and decided to watch 'The Hunger Games'.

Excellent movie.  As Vegan Chickie rightly states ... "It's so nice to have a strong female character in the lead role for a change."

There are a few movies that we would like to see over the coming days.

'The Avengers'
'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'
'Battleship'
'The Lucky One'

and coming soon ...

'Dark Shadows'
'The Five Year Engagement'
'Men in Black III'
'Snow White and the Hunstman'
'The Dark Knight Rises'

Anyway, it's been a Win Win kind of day today.  Got a couple of good photos.  Won a couple of prizes.  Watched a good movie.  Cooked a delicious dinner.

Time for bed.

Nite all.

A Productive Day

'To do' list for Wednesday

Bathroom cleaned
Spare bedroom walls washed
Oven cleaned
Inside of all windows cleaned

Small steps ... we are getting there.

As a reward for so much hard work today, we are going to the movies in the morning to see 'The Avengers'.

We are actually doing that because we have run out of milk, so we'll have breakfast in town - at Maccas, and I have found a list of Maccas food that are gluten free, which includes their scrambled eggs, sausage patty, breakfast steak and bacon, but I really love McCafe coffee :D

I have been incredibly strict with my diet for a month now and **oh my goodness** the wonderful difference being free from gluten has made in my life!

Just for a test, I tried a tiny bit of vegemite on some gluten free bread - that was a whoopsy!  Won't be doing that again!

It's so nice to feel normal again.  It's been more than 9 months since my body began to violently reject 'something' in my diet.  Now my body feels calm again.

I haven't taken any photos for two days now, so here are a couple from Sandra's garden on Sunday ...

I'd love to see her garden in Spring.

A sunset shot that has nothing special about it except for the colours - untouched by human hands.

I'm quite exhausted after my productive day and my body is seizing up with old age, so it's time to rest my weary bones.

Nite all.

A Touch of Winter

BRRRRRRrrrrrrr

It is currently 11C and the wind is blowing and the rain is falling.  The wind rips right through your body, settles in your bones and seizes up!  Ugh!

It was cold BEFORE we went to the movies tonight, but after the movie when we stepped outside, it had been raining and even 'I' put my coat on.

We saw 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' with Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Maggie Smith.

Excellent movie with great actors and being based in India, a visual feast for the eyes.  Loved it.

After we did some shopping this morning, I worked on some photos from Saturday night.

I wish I'd taken more photos.  But these will be great reminders of my birthday dinner.

It was my old friend and boss, Di's, birthday today.  She would have been forty eight years of age.  Far out, she was so young.

One of her sons posted this on her RIP facebook wall today ...

There was magic in mum's touch,
And sunshine in her smile.
There was love in everything she did
To make our lives worthwhile.
We can find both hope and courage
When looking in her eyes.
Her laughter was a source of joy,
Her words were warm and wise.
There was a kindness and compassion
To be found in her embrace,
And we see the light of heaven
Shining from mum's face.

Happy Birthday Mum

I miss her ... especially while I am here.  We always did lunch together whenever I came to town and she was always so excited to hear my news.  She told me that she lived vicariously through me and that I gave her hope for finding Mr Right in her future.

Di Beer 24/04/64 - 13/11/11

Well, now that we have a taste of Winter, it might be time for me to climb into bed under my doona and blankets, between my fleecy sheets and get all toasty and warm for sleeping.  

I need to prepare myself for a 4C morning and a cool, cloudy day.  Cleaning and packing should keep us warm!

Nite all.

Change a'comin!

I'm snuggled up in bed as I write this, listening to rain on the roof top.  Unexpected rain!

The weather bureau told us that the temperature was going to drop to 4C overnight and that our maximum would only reach 18C tomorrow!

My suitcase of clothes does not make allowances for that kind of weather, so I may have to stay in pyjamas all day!

The weather was glorious today and BGWLBH, knowing that I was missing Adoring Husband and my little family, made my birthday very special.

Breakfast was made and awaiting my arrival at the dining table this morning, along with a few choice gifts beautifully gift wrapped.

Wilbur the Turtle, a beautiful moonstone ring, a chunky gold and black cross with shiny sparkly dangly things on it
and a necklace to pull apart and use the bits for other jewellery that I make.

I was not allowed to clean up after breakfast and was made to sit down and relax, so I sat with my camera and laptop all morning playing with photos and chatting in facebook.

She then made my lunch, attempted to do my ironing (but I put my foot down on that one), took me into town for a lovely afternoon tea with the fellow teachers and then made dinner tonight.

The Girls & Co

It has been a lovely day, but I have missed home and my family a lot today.  Tomorrow will be difficult because it is our second wedding anniversary and I won't be there to share it with my Adoring Husband.

I'll just have to keep myself busy packing and cleaning so that I don't have time to think about it!

Packing and cleaning should also keep me warm if that cold change is a'comin!

Nite all.

Lazy Sunday

I didn't even surface from my bedroom til after 11am.  I was awake from about 8am, but chose to have a lazy morning.

I wasn't hung over, because I'd only had two alcoholic beverages at my birthday dinner and then a cup of peppermint tea!  But I was tired from sitting up til 2.30am and I needed to regenerate.

When I finally went looking for BGWLBH, she too was sitting up in bed reading the paper and I said to her "Don't you love lazy Sundays in bed?"  She agreed that they were great and then offered me the paper to read.

I asked her which paper it was and she replied that it was todays.  I then asked her where she got it and she said "At the shops after I came out from church".  I exclaimed "You've been to church and I didn't even know you'd left the house!?"

Unbelievable!

After a very late breakfast, we made a list of all the things that we still needed to do around the house before we move out ... and then, instead of doing any of the things on the list, we played trivia :D

We made spinach tarts for lunch, played some more trivia and then drove out to Lake Wyangan again to visit Sandra's house.

She had invited us out to see the hedge, which, she said was now vibrant red .. I wondered how it could be any redder than when I had been there a few days ago .. and it wasn't.  She must not have seen it that day because she was so busy preparing lunch for us all.

Then I decided to try to get a 'silhouette' shot for the next monthly flickr group challenge.

Sandra has the lovely little jetty over the water in her back yard, which I thought would be the ideal location for a silhouette in the late afternoon.

I was wrong.

Absolutely no hope of a silhouette, however, I got some fabulous shots of BGWLBH.  I picked twelve that I really liked, but she, being very self critical, only liked two.  My compromise is three ...

It is a floating plastic head of a crocodile ... so don't be alarmed lol.

Such a nice spot for photos.  Apparently, Sandra often allows weddings in her garden and it's easy to see why.

Well, it's after midnight, which means I am now 52 years of age.  Happy birthday to me!

Nite all.

Happy Birthday to me!

Well, ok, it's not actually my birthday yet, but what a great birthday dinner I had tonight!

There were nine of us.  Old friends from way back.  First time gathered together for about five years and my friendships with them spans twenty five years.

Some of them have been friends for much longer than that.

I couldn't believe it when everybody who I invited turned up, and what's even more amazing, is that every single one of them turned up on time!!  THAT has never happened in twenty five years!!

So many good belly laughs.  So many memories.  It was just like old times and like no time had passed at all.

I felt the love and I felt grateful and I felt lucky.

The Gang

It was such a lot of fun.

After dinner at the club, we all drove around to Miss Iconic Eighties's new home, where she provided tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages while we all discussed everything from nostalgia, to current local events, world economy etc etc etc.

Sometimes there was language flying, sometimes the music got too loud, sometimes the laughter bellowed and sometimes the debate got heated.  None of it mattered.  It was like our own little safe area where we could air our views and share our news without judgement.

Life has so radically changed for us all in the last ten years.  Some of us have lost family and friends, some of us have married, had children, moved in together, built up businesses, led protests, fought for justice, built homes, travelled the world, changed careers and developed addictions.

But tonight, all of that was forgotten and we were a bunch of friends mucking around just as we did in our twenties.

The only way it could have been a better night, is if Adoring Husband had been by my side.  That would have made it perfect.

Nite all.

Mother Nature Rocks!

We drove out to the lake this afternoon, hoping for another good sunset.

Mother Nature answered our request.

Firstly we went lakeside, and to the sound of deer mating - yes you heard correctly (there was a male with great big antlers, snorting and grunting while chasing a little white deer around the enclosure), we took out our cameras and snapped away.

As the colour began to fade on the lake, we could see up the hill to the West, where the sun was disappearing, the colour was more intense, so we drove to the top of the rise and this is what I found...

A funny thing happened before we got to the lake.

We were driving along a dirt road behind the lake when I noticed this in a tree alongside the road!  Last thing I expected to see!

So today was filled with some shopping in the morning, some cleaning and repairing this afternoon and then we looked at the outside of a couple of rental houses that have come available.

Even though BGWLBH has a house to move to, she is going to look at these houses anyway, just in case.

Anyway, tomorrow night is my birthday dinner, so I'm having an early night tonight, just in case tomorrow turns into a big one - I doubt it since we are all older and less inclined to party, but ... just in case ... I don't want to be the party pooper ... being the birthday girl and all!

Nite all.

Sunrise/Sunset

I was woken by BGWLBH at the crack of dawn today.

The rains had passed from last night and clouds were parting and it was shaping up to be a wonderful sunrise.

So I literally dragged myself out of bed, changed out of my nice warm jammies, gathered my camera gear in the back pack and off we went in search of the perfect sunrise.

It took a while for the colour to appear, but in the end it was quite special, even if it was only briefly.

We got home about ten minutes before a small storm broke right above the house.  Lightning and thunder and very heavy rain for about five minutes, which produced this!

At the time, the rainbow did not appear to be in our back yard, but this photo shows clearly that it was!

Then a nice little farm related pic...

... and finally sunset.

We walked for a long time hoping for something more spectacular this afternoon.

It was tough going because there is a lot of slippery mud about after the rains and I spent more time skating on it that walking on it.

My body is feeling it tonight.   I must have used a lot of muscles, that I don't normally use, trying to stay upright!

I'm really hoping that tomorrow sees either a cloudless sky or is completely overcast, so that I can sleep in.

Not that I'm complaining!  I love a good sunrise probably more than the next person, and if it was up to me to get up on my own to photograph it, it probably wouldn't happen, so I need BGWLBH to get me moving at the right time of the day.

It means that I am extra tired tonight.  We played bingo today and BGWLBH won three prizes and I won nothing.  We'll try again next week :D

For now, I've completed the sunrise/sunset challenge that BGWLBH set for me and I am getting a reasonably early night to bed.

Nite all.

It's Raining Again

We watched the storm build up this afternoon.

What started out looking like a pretty sunset, was soon swamped by dark clouds, strong winds and patches of heavy rain.

That's the storm building in the distance.

I think there is rain forecast for three days now.

We visited an old friend this morning and caught up over a cuppa.  It was a nice way to start the day.

Then we visited our mate at the Recycling Centre and got some boxes so that we can continue to pack and clean.

He contacted a removalist mate of his for us and organised a date, because apparently there is a long waiting list for removalists after the floods last month.

He and his wife are helping to organise my birthday dinner for Saturday night.  We are going to the Leagues Club.

I doubt if all of the old gang will turn up because their lives are all so different now running businesses, work, family and other commitments.  I know that two of them will and it will be nice to catch up with them.

On Monday, my actual birthday, we are having an afternoon tea with BGWLBH's teacher friends, so that should be fun.

Another Autumn shot from a street in town ...

Tomorrow should be a busy day of cleaning and packing so I should sign off and get some sleep.

Nite all.

Lunch in Paradise

Happy Birthday to Dad W, who turned 72 today but sadly had to spend the day in hospital.  Still, he was in good spirits and his health is rapidly improving so he could be home in a couple of days.

After we left the hospital, we drove out to the other side of town to a beautiful home that belonged to Sandra, a lovely woman who provided the most delicious and healthful lunch to seven of us who thoroughly enjoyed her very warm hospitality.

Her home was like a little patch of paradise on acreage.  Tall ghost gums among other tall trees that created the most beautiful miniature forest on her front lawn.  It was a haven for all sorts of singing birds, and the colours of Autumn were beginning to show themselves.

The welcoming driveway.

The front garden.

More of the front garden.

The splendour of Autumn.

Inside was warm and welcoming with her kids' old school pictures framed and hanging on the walls.  Her youngest is now 21 yrs old.

A kitchen that anyone would die for, with a giant island bench, masses of storage space, a huge walk-in pantry and top quality appliances including a commercial size gas stove and oven.

Lots of windows to look out into the beautiful garden and to allow all of that glorious filtered light inside.

A very wide verandah that wrapped three quarters of the way around the house that looked out over green lawns and down to a small dam that housed a mini jetty.  So serene and so pretty.

Ye old water tank.

Dam, complete with jetty (and fake aligator head)

The gang, including Trevor, the dog.

She served a dessert of chocolate meringue pavlova with assorted berries and cream, which we took outside to enjoy on the verandah.

Sandra was a brilliant hostess and then kindly allowed me to wander around the grounds with my camera to capture some of the beauty that surrounds her.

I had a lovely time and so far, today goes on my 'top ten' list for my holiday.

How nice it is to finish this post at a reasonable hour!

After a wonderful lunch in paradise, I also get an early night to catch up on some sleep ... what a lucky day for me :D

Nite all.

So Frustrating!

I can't tell you how frustrating this evening has been, trying to get this blog post completed!!

I have had a real problem with the internet connection all day.  The signal has been fading in and out, dropping my connection for at least ten minutes at a time.  Tonight it has been two hours!

I'd get partly finished and the connection would drop.  Ten minutes later, I would regain connection and it would give me two minutes, then drop out again.  This went on for two hours.

Really, I should have given up and gone to bed - but this has now become part of my pre-sleep ritual and I don't think I could sleep soundly, knowing that I had left it not done!

For the first time in almost a week, I was preparing to climb into bed at the more reasonable hour of 10.30 pm so that I could get a solid night of sleep.

My final task for the night was to update this blog.

Oh the cursing that was had!!

I guess that's the price that residents of rural Australia have to pay!  Poor internet service.

Anyway my story for today goes a bit like this ...

So much to do that it's overwhelming!


So ... we've made a plan.  Created a time-line.  (Adoring Husband, before you get excited, the time-line is only for packing and cleaning.  It does not include when we will leave for our road trip!)

Made a 'to do' list, selected our preferred rooms and jobs and chosen the days to complete them.

Today was kitchen day.

We cleaned out the pantry and all the cupboards, packed what we could, until we ran out of storage containers and boxes and re-lined the shelves.

BGWLBH drove into town to run some important errands and while she was there, got some cleaning products for the oven and some gloves, so that we can tackle that tomorrow morning.

Small steps.  We can do it!

This afternoon on sunset, we went for a walk on the farm and the golden colours of the sunset on the horizon were quite beautiful, so I took a shot through those lovely grasses.

There was a hawk way off in the distance searching for food, but he was just that little bit too far away to capture through the lens.  So disappointing.

Tomorrow will be a big day.  We are going to the movies in the morning.  We then have a lunch date with some teachers and then we'll be visiting BGWLBH's Dad for his birthday.  Unfortunately, he will be spending it in hospital.

So finally, despite my good intentions, after such a frustrating evening, I am now off to bed - at the usual 'stupid' o'clock!!

Nite all.

My Day at School

BGWLBH had to go to work today to tidy up a few loose ends before officially starting her Long Service Leave.

So I took the opportunity to wander around and get some schoolie shots.

Those are just a few shots taken in the classroom (obviously not the bird photo) while I waited.

We visited her Mum and filled two bags full of veggies from her garden.  We tried to visit her Dad in hospital, where he was admitted this morning, but they wouldn't allow us in yet.  So we headed out to the Lake to get some sunset shots.

Pretty amazing range of colours for one sunset hey?

I really need to get to bet earlier - these 1.30 am sleep times are beginning to wear me down!

Enjoyed my day at school, saying hi to some of the other teachers who I haven't seen for a while, but it's now the end of my day.

Nite all.