Finals Weekend

I sit here on my couch watching the AFL grand final as Hawthorn is annihilating West Coast Eagles. Hawthorn already lead by 43 points and there is still ten minutes left of the second quarter. A disappointing game so far, but games have been known to turn around when you least expect it, so I continue to watch with eager anticipation!

The expectation for tomorrow's NRL grand final is for a much closer game, however, because there are two Queensland teams playing, I really don't mind who wins. Being a Bronco's supporter, I would like them to win of course, but I wouldn't begrudge a Cowboys victory.

I've made an observation over the past week. I seem to have had a more social week than usual and have spent time with a LOT of different people. I've had conversations with at least 60 local people, sometimes one on one, sometimes in group situations.

Something I've noticed, is that few people actually listen when others speak. I don't specifically mean when "I" speak, but when others, in their company, speak.

I've noticed that people mostly wait for a pause in the conversation, so that they can tell their comparable story, all the while, not actually listening to anything but the voice in their own head telling them how to relate their own tale.

Some people don't even wait for a pause. They simply interrupt with a loud forceful voice, making sure that they will be heard above everyone else.

I've also noticed that there are some people who will speak even louder to prevent the other loud person from speaking above them! Then there are those who simply go silent, knowing that they will not be heard if they continue .. or knowing that nobody is really listening to what they have to say.

When this happens to me, I feel empty inside, so I try really hard not to do it to others. I don't know how successful I am because I'm always in group situations and rarely one on one with my friends, but I do try.

There are times when we really need to share 'stuff'.

When it takes a long time to find the courage to share something important, there is nothing more demoralising than being cut off part way through your story, by someone who thinks that sharing their own experience is going to miraculously bring comfort and closure to your problem.

Sometimes we don't need advice or suggestions or a solution. We want to say it out loud and not be judged or compared to or laughed at. We just want to be heard.

Listening seems to be a dying art. I wonder if the death of 'listening' has anything to do with the increase in depression and anxiety in this world?

One of the most sincere

forms of respect 

is actually listening 

to what another 

has to say.

- Bryant McGill

I also found this quote today and wanted to share it ...

 To laugh often and much: to win the respect of

intelligent people and the affection of children;

to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure

the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty;

to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better

whether by healthy child, a garden patch or a

redeemed social condition; to know that even

one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yesterday, one of the Tawny Frogmouths finally sat on the nest that I was watching grow bigger each day. I was VERY excited to see it!

Today, I looked at the nest and it was empty!!

A Tawny Frogmouth was perched alone on a branch nearby and there on the ground were the remains of an egg or two.

I figure one of two things may have happened.

1. They did a crap job building the nest and the eggs fell out (Tawnies are renowned for poor nest building).

2. Something has happened to one of the Tawnies and the eggs have been tossed because one Tawny cannot take care of them alone.

I hope that number one is the correct answer and that they have the opportunity to repair the nest and try again.

Fingers crossed.

Anyway, that's enough of my philosophical post for today. It's not even 5pm but I guess it's close enough to ...

Nite all.

Guilty as Charged

All of us who own dogs understand that cower of guilt that dogs display when they know they've been caught out doing something naughty, so I thought I would share this with you. You will smile and at the same time feel sorry for each and every one of these naughty canines.



It's 10.30pm and I am definitely ready for bed, so this is just a short post.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Nite all.

De-cluttering Time

My only real plan for the day, was to change the bedding, including the quilt cover to bring some new colour into the bedroom.

Big mistake!

This led to clearing out the linen cupboard.

I threw away three bags of linen.

Old white sheets and pillow cases that had miraculously changed their colour from white to yellow. A cane picnic basket that has been stored there for 7 years and has never been used in that time. Some old oven mitts. Hand towels and t-towels. A bag full of light globes that don't fit any light fittings in our house. Computer cables that are now living in the 'man shed'. Tote bags and eco bags that have NEVER been used.

I got half way through the cleansing process when I had to stop to make lunch. The laundry and hallway looked like a disaster area!

After lunch, I lost all motivation and it took me more than an hour to build up my care factor and finish the job.

My status update on facebook, which declared my achievement of linen cupboard clearing, brought comments from a few people, one of whom introduced me to something called the KonMari method of de-cluttering, where you hold the item (clothes, shoes, knick-knacks, photos etc etc) and ask yourself if this item brings you joy. If you have to think about it, the answer is no and you should toss it.

I am going to look further into this process because I'm feeling somewhat inspired to completely cleanse and de-clutter my life!

The pantry is next on my list, then all of the wardrobes in all of the bedrooms, and of course my office/work area which will probably be the scariest part of all!

Meanwhile, I found this little family on my way home from coffee a few mornings ago...

I also found a Butcher Bird nest with babies in it, but Mrs Butcher Bird is very protective, so I don't think I have much chance of getting a photo. I will don my suit of armour tomorrow and make an attempt.

Post-de-cluttering sleep is now required .. which can also be described as pre-de-cluttering sleep, if I can make another start tomorrow!

Nite all.

Lousy Lunch

Lady's luncheon was quite disappointing today.

Luckily the company was good, because the food was not. Mine and Mardi's only GF option was steak and salad. The salad consisted of quarter of a tomato, a slice of onion, two small lettuce leaves and three pieces each of grated carrot and beetroot.

My steak was as tough as boot leather and I asked for medium rare but it was delivered well done.

I asked for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and was given a $15 bottle of wine that required 4 mouthfuls for the taste buds to adapt.

The company was good and there was a lovely breeze blowing through the beer garden where we were seated. We definitely gained plenty of attention from the 'regulars'.

We were home before 3pm.

Today is the deadline for the flickr challenge and I've submitted this photo ...

It won't win because there are 22 entries, some of which are pretty darned good, but that's ok because I won last month and I'm happy with that.

The theme is 'Beach, bush/forest, city or outback'.

I cooked up some lamb shanks in the slow cooker before I left for lunch, so I didn't have to worry about putting too much effort into dinner tonight.

Now it's almost midnight and there is rain coming ... although, as it gets closer to town, it seems to be petering out. That's pretty typical. We are desperate for rain.

I'm off to bed, hopefully to fall asleep to the sound of rain.

Nite all.
  

Longest Morning Tea

I saw my boys at the Seat of Knowledge before heading off to morning tea with the girls today.

The river was clear and blue and it was a gorgeous Spring morning by the water.

I met the girls at 8.30am for coffee and didn't leave to return home til after 11am!

I made a zucchini slice for lunch.

Watched the movie 'Crazy Stupid Love' for about the 30th time .. I just can't ignore Ryan Gosling in this movie. I also love Emma Stone and my favourite parts are the 'photoshop' line and when he does the Dirty Dancing scene with her. He's just a bit yummy.

There was a huge line of storms heading in our direction from the West this afternoon, but as usual, they separated and skirted around us. Just briefly, there was a rumble or two in the distance, but no rain for us, unfortunately.

I enjoyed my social Tuesday very much and tomorrow is lunch with the ladies, so it will be a social Wednesday!

I have a good life :)

Nite all.

Going Going Going Gone

Adoring Husband had an early start in the garden today.

He picked all of the sweet potatoes out of the back corner raised garden bed. We now have a bucket of very spindly looking vegetables. I haven't looked closely at them, but at a glance, we probably won't get too many feeds out of them.

He also picked all of the cherry tomatoes and I used them to make a big batch of tomato sauce, which I put into 200ml batches and froze all but one. I ended up with about 1.5 litres of sauce.

While he was in the garden, I rode out for coffee and another unsuccessful search for Tawny nests.

I stopped to buy some crabs from The Motivator, who arrived home after a few weeks in Sydney and then spent about 45 minutes standing at the kitchen sink, removing all the meat from them.

Today may be a momentous date because it seems that we have sold our camper van. We feel a bit sad about that, but we've owned it for three years and only used it once.

That 'once' was a fabulous month long holiday that provided us with wonderful memories, but no matter how hard we try to make arrangements for another holiday, circumstances always lead to us cancelling at the last minute.

AH has organised any number of week long trips that never eventuated, so I think the universe has been telling us for a while that we needed to sell up.

We know that it's going to a good home where it will be loved and enjoyed and used to it's full potential, so all going well, we will say our final goodbye in a week or so.

We also spent a couple of hours watching a few episodes of the last season of The Big Bang Theory. I love that show.

So that was the extent of my Monday. Quite productive really!

Nite all.

Easy Breezy Sunday

I knew last night that I wasn't going to be productive today.

I only had two glasses of wine last night, so it wasn't alcohol that kept me inactive.

It was 1.58am when I climbed into bed, but I had already asked Adoring Husband to buy my coffee if he was up early and buying his own, so I knew that it would be a lazy start to the day.

I woke a bit after 7.30 and saw my coffee sitting on the bedside table, which brought a smile to my face.

I sat in bed reading until almost 9.30am.

Adoring Husband invited me into The Bay because he had a few errands to run and also wanted to buy a new pedestal fan for our bedroom .. our old one is on it's last legs .. and I started to get ready, but then lost all motivation, so I declined his invitation and he headed off on his own.

I had a quiet three hours at home and watched the movie 'Speed' and then a few episodes of 'Friends'.

I also started a batch of chicken broth in which I've used some pasture raised organic chicken drumsticks, organic vegetables (celery, garlic, onion and carrot), and then tonight for dinner, I removed the meat from the drumsticks and put the bones back into the broth where I'll leave them for another twelve hours.

In a large saucepan, I melted some butter and added onion and garlic, then sliced mushrooms, grated sweet potato, thinly sliced zucchini, a cup of broth (from the slow cooker) and a third of a cup of pure cream. When the vegetables were tender, I added half a teaspoon of paprika, a teaspoon of himalayan salt, a pinch of black pepper and then the chicken meat that I removed from the drumsticks and shredded.

I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure if AH enjoyed it or not. He didn't say, but he ate all of it, so that's got to be a good sign.

I also roasted some chicken for lunch, with the chicken that I won on Friday night, and served that to AH with a salad for lunch.

So it hasn't been a totally wasted day.

Actually, I don't think lazy days are wasted days! I enjoy lazy days! There is no rule or law that says you have to fill your days with productivity! My forte is 'lazy'!

The weather has been patchy and unpredictable today. There have been water spouts out off Fraser Island and there have been storms brewing up and down the Queensland coast all afternoon.

Luckily, they all skirted past us, although we DO need some rain.

I headed out on my trike late this afternoon, hoping for an interesting sunset with all the storm clouds around, but when I arrived at the river, a big black cloud loomed above me and the thunder was rolling and clapping, then rain began to fall, so I got the shivers and high tailed it home before the lightening decided it wanted to strike me!

The sunset turned out to be a fizzer anyway, so I didn't miss anything.

I have three days to get a photo of 'Beach, bush/forest, city or outback' for this month's flickr challenge. Could be tricky!

Nite all.

Kid's Karaoke

This afternoon, Adoring Husband and I, along with 19 others, caught the Burrum River Cruise boat across the river to Walker's Point, where the Woodgate Bowl's Club courtesy buses picked us all up and drove us to said club.

It was supposed to be for dinner and some live entertainment.

Once there, we signed in, bought ourselves a drink and then sat in the outdoor area to chat for a while before ordering dinner.

I had blue swimmer crab, oysters and king prawns, followed by a GF strawberry tart. It was delicious.

Adoring Husband had steak and salad, followed by a GF strawberry tart. His steak was full of gristle and he was disappointed.

A few of us then made our way into the poker machine area, while others found a table near the stage where the entertainment was supposed to occur.

It was karaoke.

There were about 20 children in attendance ranging from about age 4 through to teenagers. They all well and truly hogged the microphone. A couple of them had wonderful singing voices. Most of them sounded dreadful.

The words to some of the songs are highly inappropriate for young children to be singing, but they didn't even realise the meaning behind the words.

We left the club at about 9.45pm and only about 3 adults had been up to sing, none of us, I might add. The staff advised that no children were allowed in the club after 10pm, but of course, we had to leave before then to catch the boat back to our town.

So half of us watched the football (yay for the Cowboys defeating Storm .. now it will be an all Queensland Grand Final), and half of us watched the karaoke. Some of us enjoyed the karaoke and some of us just wanted it to be over!

Finally, the football was over and we all climbed into the courtesy buses and headed back to Walker's Point boat ramp to catch the boat home.

It was quite chilly out on the water but I had Mardi and The Leggy Blond on either side of me, which kept me warm and snug for the trip. I gave my wrap to The Leggy Blond because she was freezing. She needed it more than I did.

She and her husband, who I shall name Carl Fredricksen (From the movie 'UP') gave us a lift home.

Of all our trips across the river to Woodgate Bowls Club, this one was probably the most disappointing for us. It was a long night and we were pleased to get home.

It's well after midnight and I am sitting here at home watching an old movie made in 1961 (when I was one year old!) called 'The Parent Trap' with Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith. I remember watching and loving this movie as a child of about 10, and I am still enjoying it tonight 45 odd years later!

That's it for our day. It's almost 1am.

Nite all.

Winner!

I won a meat pack tonight in the club raffles .. the first win for me in about 6 months!

Somebody won the membership draw tonight too. It was up around $700, so a very happy lady jumped up to claim the money!

The best win of all was my NRL team, the Brisbane Broncos defeating Sydney Roosters 31-12, making them the first team to qualify for the Grand Final!! Wahoo!!

I did a happy dance in my lounge room :)

These nine photos are being sent through with the town presentation for the competition ...

Let's hope these photos (and the photos that he is has contributed as well) present a good enough picture of our town to help us win the competition!

Time for bed.

Nite all.

A Little Progress

Does this make you want to come visit? I have found 85 photos representing our town and this is just a small selection of them. 

It has just occurred to me that the last thing I want, is for more people to come here to our town! School holidays are the worst because there are so many people here being noisy and disrespectful of our beautiful river and beaches.

Perhaps I should reject the Progress Association's request for photos!

An early sign off tonight! Only 9.30pm!

Nite all.

Very Busy and Important

I remembered my photography date with Tweedle Dum this morning and spent a most enjoyable hour in her garden taking photographs of her orchids and other garden beauties...

Just as I was about to check the photos and start some editing, I received a phone call from the community Progress Association asking for some photos.

Apparently our town has reached the semi finals of some competition and I've been asked to provide some photos which will be included in the finals presentation.

So I'm obviously very busy and important right now!

Tomorrow morning I will get up early to get a couple of extra photos of the river at high tide and then some shots of people enjoying coffee on the sidewalk.

That's my news for the day.

I have other photos from today to share here in the coming days, but for now, at midnight, I'm off to bed.

Nite all.  

Birthdays Galore

There are two months of my year that seem to be full of birthdays. They are May and September. I know a lot of people whose star signs are Taurus and Virgo. I wonder why that is?

Today was Mrs Bucket's birthday. A year ago, today, we were on Magnetic Island celebrating her 65th birthday and since then, she has endured a separation, a divorce and major surgery. It's been a tough year, but she seems happy now. I hope she's happy.

I spoke to her on the phone this morning while I was having morning tea with the girls. There were only four of us this morning, but it was an interesting morning with lots of news and crazy discussions. It seems that the entire universe is going deaf!

We missed Lady Lynn this morning who is off galavanting around Brisvegas for a week. I do hope she is enjoying herself!

I saw my boys briefly at the Seat of Knowledge. It was a glorious Spring morning and the sun was divine. I hope tomorrow is the same because I have a date with Tweedle Dum to take photos of her orchids and her beautiful golden retriever dogs in the morning. She is one of my memory lapses from last week.

I've set an alarm on my phone so that I don't forget tomorrow!

I finally finished the photos for BGWLBH and emailed them off. I hope she's happy with them. I'm a bit disappointed, but the circumstances were not really conducive for putting the time and the love into getting great images, so my 'average' effort will have to do.

I'm only going to share one pic. It's Unka Polly Waffle and Lulu ...

He was my favourite because he looked after BGWLBH the best.

It's heading fast towards midnight, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Short Term Memory

Not only is my short term memory horrible, but so is my short term memory! (haha)

I have forgotten many things over the last couple of weeks.

I have also shut myself off from the world, or forced myself to get 'out there'. It's such hard work to be 'out there' that my brain goes into auto pilot, which means that it doesn't absorb everything that it should.

I haven't contacted a particular person about some photos that I said I'd take Wednesday week ago. I also missed a date to take photos of orchids last week. Adoring Husband and I BOTH forgot an important appointment this morning.

I'm struggling a bit and I don't know why.

My ability to procrastinate is at it's peak and I just can't find the motivation to do anything that I should be doing.

Not sure how I'm going to overcome this little hiccup, but I guess the fact that I recognise and acknowledge this problem is a good step in the right direction.

While Adoring Husband and I were waiting for our appointment with the financial advisor this morning, first we had coffee and then we browsed through the ABC book store where we found this book with great photos for clear identification of Australian birds and Adoring Husband bought it for me.

Now I'm keen to get out with my camera and find some new bird species in the area, so that I can use the book!

At the end of our appointment, we were offered an invitation to a luncheon where the Brisbane Broncos Coach, Wayne Bennett, will be the special guest, which I eagerly accepted!

Tonight, co-incidentally, I watched an interview between Gus Gould and Wayne Bennett. Wayne really is an inspiration. He's an incredible human being who has earned the respect of so many people, from the footballers he has coached, footballers that his teams have played against, football fans, other coaches, sponsors, kids and so many others from various charity organisations.

Football has been his life from a very young age, but more importantly is his love of charity work and helping others who need it. He instils this ethic in his club and in his team members and that's what adds to the character of these players and gives them an inner strength and self respect that other teams lack.

I'm even more excited about the luncheon now!

It's almost 11pm. Time for sleep.

Nite all.

 

Easy Sunday

I've taken it pretty easy this lovely Sunday.

I spent an hour at the Seat of Knowledge with the boys.

Bought my coffee.

Cooked up a big breakfast for Adoring Husband and myself.

Clipped the chook's wing feathers because they either keep escaping the fenced off garden and coming into the house for a visit OR jumping/flying over the wire fences into the new garden beds to eat the young shoots coming up that AH planted.

We had a lot of fun chasing the chooks around the garden. Helen was very calm and well behaved, but the others were crazy and didn't want to be caught. Happy was screaming what sounded like "HELP!!" "HELP!!" as AH grabbed her with both hands. Harriet was the most difficult to catch. She was very fast and very determined to not get caught.

AH did more chasing than me. I tried, unsuccessfully at times, to block their escape from different corners of the garden. There was a lot of laughter happening and it took us about 30 minutes to catch and trim four chickens.

We spent the rest of the day watching dvds.

This afternoon I had some drinks with Woman of Many Talents before she heads off on her Tasmanian holiday this week.

Cooked dinner.

I edited some more of BGWLBH's photos. I hope to have them finished tomorrow. My laptop seems to be working very slowly at the moment. Quite frustrating at times!

Watched X-Factor, the final of the Peter Allen series and then the deciding Davis Cup match between Australia and Great Britain. The Aussies lost.

Now it's well after midnight, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

No Happy Ending

The Sharks lost their game tonight. Perhaps I can rephrase that. The Sharks were annihilated in their semi-final game tonight and therefore lost to the Cowboys. The final score was 39-0.

Very disappointing. Maybe next year.

I have felt very 'out of sorts' today.

Lethargic and unmotivated.

I stayed in bed til late. Rode out to get coffee.

Attempted to finish off some photo editing, but my brain was completely fuzzy.

Adoring Husband wanted me to take some photos at the SES shed, of the group doing some training and other SES stuff, but the idea of spending a couple of hours trapped up there left me feeling totally freaked, so I rejected his request.

Instead, I sat in my lounge room with the blinds drawn and waited for the day to pass. I pedalled down the road for another coffee mid afternoon, but aside from that, my day was pretty blah.

I only drank two glasses of wine last night, so alcohol was certainly not the issue.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a brighter day.

The weather has been pretty ordinary with strong winds all day, which made my trike rides very difficult with a fierce head wind in one direction that had me struggling to get to where I needed to go.

However, on a happy note, that wind is blowing through our bedroom window, so I will enjoy another breezy sleep tonight.

It's Saturday night, and I will be in bed before 10pm!

I made a delicious Curried Cabbage with Cashews to have with our duck breast tonight. Adoring Husband went back for seconds. It was quick and easy.

1/4 cup of butter
1/3 cup raw cashews
3 Tablespoons of minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon of cumin seed
1 small cabbage thinly shredded
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon coconut sugar
1 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
At the end before I served it, I also added 2 rashers of bacon finely chopped and fried crispy.

In a large frying pan, over a medium heat, melt butter. Add cashews, ginger and cumin and cook stirring often  until cashews and ginger are golden and fragrant (about 2 minutes). Add cabbage and turmeric, cook, stirring often, until tender (about 10 minutes), then sprinkle the coconut sugar over the cabbage and stir through. This balances the flavours nicely.

Mine got a little dry and the pan began to burn the spices a bit, so I added a little water to dilute the spices off the pan, which very slightly steamed the cabbage. I stirred the bacon through before serving.

This amount is supposed to serve 6 - it actually served two in this household!!

I didn't think to take a photo.

Anyway, I'm off to bed before the clock strikes ten.

Nite all.

Fabulous Friday

This is just a short post.

For a change, I have NOT had too much wine, but after a fabulous day of retail therapy, I am feeling quite weary and am off to bed before 10.30pm.

Today, I treated myself to a pedicure, bought a three tops, five bottoms (3 of them at half price), four dvds, some vitamins for Adoring Husband, two pyjama tops, a couple of books and a trolley load of groceries.

I received my colloidal silver generator in the mail and made two batches of colloidal silver. I'm very happy with it and Adoring Husband and I have already had half a glass each. I've poured some into the dog's water bowl and also into my vase of dying flowers .. they are already rejuvenated and looking fresh and new!

That's my story for the day.

Nite all.

Slow Morning

I woke up at 6am, looked at my watch and thought to myself 'hmm another hour of sleep', then rolled over and fell asleep until 8am!

I lay in bed reading until 9am.

What a fabulous start to the day!

I pedalled down to the Post Office to pick up my parcel, bought some 'grass fed' beef from the butcher and some distilled water from the supermarket, as well as a coffee for Adoring Husband and myself.

The distilled water will be used to make colloidal silver when my generator arrives in the mail (hopefully tomorrow). I expected it to arrive today, but was disappointed. The Best Barista at our local shops lent me her book 'Everything you need to know about colloidal silver' so I'll be reading up on that and will share some info here in the coming days.

One of the psychotic dogs received a partial grooming today. It took me about 30 minutes to give her face cleanse and trim the hair on her head and her butt. Afterwards, she ran around outside for 5 minutes then promptly jumped through the door and ran all over my clean floor with her dirty wet feet!!

Ugh!!

So I mopped the floor ... again ... and locked her out til she dried properly.

Next job was clearing the fridge so that it was ready to fill with our FROG box order.

Adoring Husband had an SES meeting in The Bay tonight, so I cooked him an early dinner and before he arrived home after the meeting, I prepared a bowl full of blueberries and strawberries and the special chocolate cream that he enjoys so much.

We've had some big storms tonight. Lots of thunder and a spectacular light show. Big enough that the dogs became particularly psychotic and needed to go to their 'safe' chair in the lounge room. The rain has been quite heavy for the last hour or so.

There is a deliciously cool breeze wafting through our bedroom window right now and with the sound of the rain on our tin roof, it is the perfect sleeping weather, so I am off to bed right now to take advantage of it.

Nite all.

A Good Start

This morning, I did get a start on my original 'to do' list.

I said that I'm a perfectionist and need to take the time to do the job properly ... well today was a perfect example.

It took me over 3 hours to

1. 'Partially' clean my main bathroom. I cleaned out the drawers and washed the insides of them before reorganising and replacing the contents. I tossed away one and a half grocery bags of out of date or 'I will never use this stuff' stuff. I cleaned the basin, the bench and the bathtub. Mopped the floor and changed the bath mats. I still need to clean the shower recess and dust the free standing cupboard.
2. Vacuum and mop the family room, my study and the kitchen .. then towel dry the floors.
3. Three loads of washing.
4. Roast a chicken to be used for lunch and dinner.
5. Make Adoring Husband's lunch of chicken and salad.

That's it!!

A big bonus was finding my Emu Oil in the bathroom cupboard! I have a jar of the rub and a bottle of the oil, which is great for Adoring Husbands sore muscles.

Because of his tremor, his neck muscles give him quite a bit of grief and sometimes he needs some deep tissue massaging. I've been using Tiger Balm, which is quite effective, but I'm hoping that the Emu oil or balm will do the trick because it's much easier to wash off my hands and it doesn't smell as strong.

Anyway, by the time I'd finished that short list of housework, it was 1pm and I'd had enough.

Is it any wonder that I avoid my 'to do' list when it takes me so long to do so little!

I have to add cleaning the pantry as well as cleaning out all of the kitchen cupboards to my list. It's definitely the time to do it all .. spring cleaning and decluttering .. a fresh start.

I found my little soft cover book 'Speed Cleaning' so I'm going to read that and see if it can give me some tips on being less perfect and more efficient with a regular house keeping routine.

Once I get myself organised with the house stuff, I will feel free to reward myself with time in the kitchen and also out with my camera.

My back garden, this afternoon, has been a hive of activity with bird life. I saw a Peaceful Dove, a Crested Pigeon, two Blue Faced Honey Eaters, a Lewin's Honey Eater, a Wattlebird, two Willy Wagtails and three Rainbow Bee Eaters ... oh and 4 chickens! I almost don't have to leave my front door to get some nice bird shots.

It's 11pm.

Bed time.

Nite all.

Reading the Words

I have another list.

It's a list of books that, apparently, all spiritual seekers should read.

I spend too much time online to actually read, but if I was going to read, these books would be in my top 20 because I'm more of a 'personal growth' and 'self help' kind of girl.

I like to take the bits that I agree with and the bits that I think will help me, discard the rest and then slowly fit all the pieces to the puzzle of my life.

Before I show you the new list, let me give you some examples of books that I have bought, borrowed and read in the last ten years ...

'Just a Little Prick' by Peter and Hilary Butler
'Food is Better Medicine than Drugs' by Patrick Holford
'You Can Heal Your Life' by Louise L Hay
'Crystals and Crystal Healing' by Simon Lily
'On Grief and Grieving' by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler
'The Business of Bliss' by Janet Allon
'Secrets of Longevity' by Dr Maoshing Ni
'The Transformed Mind' by The Dalai Lama
'The Procrastination Equation' by Piers Steel (actually didn't finish that one yet hehe)
'The Journey' by Brandon Bays
'Passage to Power' by Leslie Kenton

... just to name a few AND many many books on Feng Shui!

So my new and short list of books goes a bit like this ...

'Nature and The Human Soul' by Bill Plotkin
'The Way of the Peaceful Warrior' by Dan Millman
'The Denial of Death' by Ernest Becker
'A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose' by Eckhart Tolle

I'm open to other suggestions of course, and I know a few people out there in my cyberworld who could probably recommend a book or two .. I'm certain that Grannymus could share some titles!

So if I could get my life in some kind of order and under my control (and perhaps one of these books could help me do that!) then I could find the time to enjoy reading again. Also, if I could find a book that could keep me awake for more than three pages, that would be a bonus!

Most of my friends and family are BIG readers. They will certainly contribute to keeping libraries, both big and small, remain in existence for a few more decades yet.

There is something that I know readers really love, and it's the smell of a new book, the scent of an old book and the sweet aroma that emits from a secondhand book store.

We have a floor to ceiling book case in one bedroom that is full of recipe books, self help books, gardening books, travel books, photo albums, autobiographies, Clive Cussler novels, my favourite Susan Howatch novels and assorted other reading matter.

I read my Susan Howatch books every couple of years .. in fact I'm due to read them again this year. They take me back to a past era and I easily get lost in their magic.

If you're interested, I didn't get anything done on my 'to do' list today. Oh and I can tell that you are not surprised!

I spent a little longer than usual at morning tea with the girls and then I got a call from Adoring Husband who was out of town and I had to do a job for him at the shopping centre. After that I was riding around town for about an hour looking for nests, until I realised that I didn't even have my camera with me, so I couldn't take any photos anyway!

I cooked up a late lunch for AH, who was supposed to be out of town for the night, but he changed his mind and stayed home instead. My only achievement for the afternoon was doing a couple of loads of washing.

Sheesh.

So let's have a fresh start tomorrow! It's never too late to try again :)

Nite all.

A Day of Lists

Here is my list of top ten 'Did you knows' for the day ...

1. Toads only eat moving prey.
2. Koalas sleep around 18 hours each day.
3. Camel's milk doesn't curdle.
4. Frogs can't swallow with their eyes open.
5. Giraffes and rats can last longer without water than camels.
6. Hummingbirds can't walk.
7. A dolphin's top speed is 60 kph.
8. A snail can sleep for 3 years.
9. A chameleon's tongue is twice the length of it's body.
10. A moth has no stomach.

Here is my 'to do' list for tomorrow (in no particular order) ...

1. Vacuum
2. Mop
3. Clean the main bathroom
4. Clean out the fridge
5. Tidy my desk
6. Change our bedding
7. Make chocolate energy balls
8. Morning tea with the girls
9. Finish editing photos
10. Make a new 'to do' list for Wednesday

Here's my list of things that desperately 'need' doing but I keep putting off ...

1. Groom the dogs
2. Clear out the middle bedroom to become my office
3. Sort through the clothes in the back bedroom - 'keep' and 'toss'
4. Wash the windows
5. Re-organise the filing cabinet
6. Clean out the linen cupboard
7. Package up my jewellery making gear ready to sell
8. Get a hair cut
9. Back up all of my photos to the hard drive
10. Clear my bedside drawers

Here's my list of things that I 'want' to do, but don't because of the all the things that I 'need' to do ...

1. Spend a day in The Bay by myself
2. Get a pedicure
3. Spend some golden hours outside with my camera
4. Learn how to use my editing tablet
5. Learn some photoshop tricks
6. Go to the movies by myself
7. Romantic strolls along the beach with Adoring Husband
8. Plan some morning teas at home
9. Spend time with friends
10. Have more fun in the kitchen

Here's my list of things that I would like to find the courage or the motivation to do ...

1. Learn a language
2. Learn a musical instrument
3. Design and create with sewing
4. Learn to dance
5. Learn to sing
6. Create a website
7. Learn to paddle board
8. Make a budget
9. Have a housework plan
10. Go to bed earlier and wake up earlier

That's about it for my list making today, because I'm tired and ready for bed and the brain has wound down to a slow crawl.

It's not even 11pm .. this is a good start for number 10 on the last list!

Nite all.