Interrupted Pleasures

I was awake very early this morning, so I left the house not long after 7am, bought my coffee, visited the boys at the boat ramp and then reluctantly pedalled to the new boat ramp to check it out.

I had been stopped by about six people, all singing the praises of the new boat ramp. The boys at the Seat of Knowledge were raving about it and four people stopped at the seat to discuss the benefits and the beauty of the new area.

So, before I came home, I rode to the Lions Park to see what all the fuss was about. During the months of construction, as my own private protest, I did not go there to check out the progress the way everybody else in town did.

I admit that I had a negative preconceived idea .. and nothing that I saw today, changed my mind.

The Lions Park and it's surrounding area was THE spot that Adoring Husband and I fell in love with, nine years ago, during our first visit to this town. It's rustic charm delighted our souls and was one of the key reasons that we sold everything in Sydney and moved here eight years ago.

Until they began work on the new boat ramp a few months ago, I visited the park every day, just to sit for a couple of minutes and enjoy the view over the river.

Six years ago, Adoring Husband and I chose that very spot to be married in front of 50 friends and family.

Almost four years ago, the park was my place of therapy after the trauma of the tornado.

I have hundreds of photos of the beautiful sunsets with the glorious natural backdrop, taken directly from the tip of the park.

Now it's surrounded by a massive dark asphalt carpark big enough to accommodate 45 single cars, 3 disabled spots and 48 car-trailer parks. There are concrete paths filling any area that the carpark misses. A huge rock wall juts out from the end of the park, followed by the boat ramp itself and then a long floating pontoon.

The toilet block that was once painted with tacky, but charming pictures of pelicans and sea life and for me was a symbol of the simple life that we chose for ourselves, has now been painted over with dull grey paint.

The barbecue areas and other seating, that were once painted in varying shades of blues and cream are now a dull grey. The shrubbery that once separated the park from the carpark area has now been removed and concrete path has replaced it.

It makes me sad and angry to see it and nothing will convince me that it has value.

This town now has four public boat ramps. According to the Fraser Coast Council website,  two of the existing boat ramps (Ross St and BH Rd) will be monitored, and depending on their use, a decision will be made as to whether or not they remain open. The caravan park also has a boat ramp that is classed as 'public use'.

My opinion means little and there is nothing I can do about it now, except to accept the changes and listen to everybody rave about it. Progress can't be stopped. Trees will be chopped. Grass and dirt will be concreted. Waterways will be manipulated. Landscapes will be altered. Strangely enough, humans look on in admiration and marvel at the changes.

I don't get it.

Anyway, once I recovered from my momentary distress, I pedalled home and retreated to my desk where I enjoyed some very successful website creating time.

Unfortunately, I had to shut down before 2pm because I was due at Chef Pat's house for some eating, drinking and laughter.

In this photo, Mrs Bucket asked me to hold her neck to hide her double chin!

I remained alcohol free for the day and was accidentally fed gluten, which meant an unpleasant evening at home for me and no dinner so that my body could recover.

Considering there were only five of us there for most of the day, it was very noisy! My ears hurt and it was difficult keeping up with all of the conversations as people competed for 'talking time'.

As always, Chef Pat provided delicious food, and her hospitality was warm and welcoming. She's a lovely lady and I always enjoy time spent with her.

Tonight, Adoring Husband and I watched the Aust vs NZ rugby league game that was played in Perth. It was a good game - especially because Australia won!

Now, I am heading to my desk to continue building my website! It seems to be never ending! But I am enjoying it very much!

Nite all.

 

  

A Bit Bumpy

So far, this website stuff has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride!

A good day is always levelled off with a bad day and just when I think I know what I'm doing, something happens to bring me right back down to earth. Two steps forward, one step back .. which is much better than one step forward and two steps back!

Still, after a crappy day at the computer, I got to spend some time with lovely friends at the Bowls Club and then return home to a delicious dinner with Adoring Husband.

In need of an early night because he has a big day of SES training tomorrow, he was soon in bed, so I took the opportunity to come into my workspace, hoping that my luck had changed, and attempted to continue with the site.

Thank goodness the internet gods were much more relaxed tonight and allowed me to fix today's mess. I achieved some positive results with the 'home' page and the 'about me' page ... except it's a bit too late at night to think of an inspiring summary of myself and the website.

Here I am rushing to write the Friday night blog post, so that I can go to bed and dream up something brilliant to write about me, tomorrow.

I recently bought a small box of inspiration cards for myself. I'd sent the same cards in a care package to BGWLBH and I liked them so much, I returned to 'Tinkerbells' to buy some for me.

Today's card read

"Imagine"

Clearly visualise the life you want.

Feel it in your heart and soul and so it will come to be.

It was the perfect card to push me to the next level.

Speaking of inspiration, I just have to Congratulate Vegan Chickie for her semester results of High Distinction AND her invitation from the University to join the 'Honours Program', which is only available to the top 7.5% of students.

She also received amazing feedback from her teacher acknowledging her brilliant work.

I am a proud Mum.

Well, it's rapidly approaching 1am so I really must end here and get some sleep.

Nite all.



 

Progress at Last!

I feel that I have moved ahead in leaps and bounds today!

A wonderful young man from Melbourne created a step by step video, which he shared on Youtube, teaching the clueless (that's me) how to create and build a website.

I play some of the video, pause it, follow the instructions, play some more of the video, pause it again, follow the instructions etc etc etc. It has taken me three hours to get through one hour of the video, but I have achieved so much in that three hours!

He provides four websites that give you access to free stock photos. He provides a website that gives you computer codes for every shade of every colour and it allows you to try different colours together to see how they work. He also provides a website that tells you the psychology behind each colour, so that you can choose appropriately - whether you have a business site, a food site, a health site etc etc.

So I achieved more in three hours today, than I achieved in the last seven days!

I will go to sleep tonight feeling both satisfied and eager to wake early tomorrow and get started on the next stage of the process.

Yes, I banished Adoring Husband and the psychotic dogs from my workspace, so AH decided the next best thing would be to remove an old hose reel and replace it with a new one on the outer wall of my room.

The other distraction for the morning was the water pressure in our sprinkler changing so suddenly and with such force, that the water sprayed through my window, drenching the side board, along with my scarf curtains, two framed pictures and my timber box of essential oils. Oh and my yellow dream catcher. It just missed my salt lamp.

Luckily I was in the room and closed the window fairly quickly. I hate to imagine the disaster that would have been, if I was in another part of the house when it happened!

It has been a beautiful day, but it seems the weather is changing and there is some nasty stuff coming up from the south. This is a good thing because the delicious strong breeze is wafting through the bedroom window.

For a change, it is just after 11pm and I am off to bed!

Nite all.  

The Girls

Ours was an extended coffee date this morning.

There were nine of us in attendance, which meant LOTS of people talking at once, which meant plenty of noise and also meant it was difficult to focus on single conversations! But we had lots of fun and plenty of laughs. Beauty handed out lovely holiday gifts to us all and it was almost 11am by the time the last of us said our goodbyes.

A visit to the butcher and a stop to pick up some egg cartons before heading home to make an early lunch for Adoring Husband.

I fried up some onion, garlic, shredded cabbage and fresh asparagus, then added some chicken broth, mashed pumpkin and some leftover beef curry sauce. I cooked up some beef sausages and then added them to the mix.

It was quite delicious and AH enjoyed it.

The chicken bone broth was ready, so I filled the storage containers and loaded them into the freezer and then I had some more time in my workspace to work on the website.

This did not last very long. I think I need to lock my door and banish all psychotic dogs and Adoring Husbands from the website creation area! I CURSE my easily distracted brain and it's poor ability to focus for extended periods!

Here are some of my purchases from Office Works on Tuesday ...

I confess that I am feeling overwhelmed with my 'to do' list for getting the website up and running. I keep finding more elements that I need to take into consideration and extra components to improve the effectiveness of the site.

If only I had more tortoise-like attributes and less of the hare's - this challenge would seem less intimidating!

I just need to breathe.

There is no rush.

I've set a date of 1st December - THAT is the date that I hope to be finished.

There! I've said it! Now I have to be accountable!

Nite all.  

What Did I Do?

We all know how dangerous it is for me to step foot inside 'Office Works'.

All I wanted was a small set of coloured calligraphy pens. Instead I bought one black calligraphy pen (because they didn't have any coloured ones), two packets of coloured felt tipped sketching pens, two sketch pads of differing paper types, an A5 sized 2017 diary, a small purse sized 2017 diary and a large packet of AA sized batteries.

I'm not even going to tell you the cost of that little bundle, but it was quite shocking!

We'd already spent a small fortune at the Go Natural store.

After that we spent another small fortune at Coles in Stocklands.

We were home by midday.

I unpacked the groceries.

I chopped up a whole pumpkin and put it in the pot to cook, so that it will be ready to make the dog food tomorrow.

I put two of the six organic chicken carcasses in the slow cooker with carrot, onion, celery, garlic and ACV to do a batch of chicken bone broth.

I hung out a load of washing and put another in the machine.

I thawed out a big container of beef curry sauce (from the last time I made curry) and then chopped up and added two big grass fed steaks to the sauce and slow cooked it on the stove for dinner.

I unpacked my Office Works goodies and sat at my desk doodling and attempting to create a logo design. So far, not successful.

I added some more to my 'Welcome' blog post.

I watched a few episodes of 'Big Bang Theory' with Adoring Husband (he'd bought the latest series on DVD today).

I hung out the second load of washing.

I made some cauliflower fried rice to go with the beef curry.

We ate dinner and AH cleaned the kitchen.

I watched X-Factor and the movie 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'.

It's now rapidly approaching midnight, so I feel the need to sleep.

Coffee morning with the girls tomorrow.

Nite all.

Bed Sitting

Not really.

I'm actually sitting up in bed writing this blog tonight.

I brought my laptop into the bedroom and placed it on the bed while I tidied things up in the lounge room, but as I walked out of the bedroom I heard a crash and turned to see the laptop on the floor! Heaven knows how that happened!

I picked it up and the screen was black. I touched a few keys and the touch pad, but nothing happened. The light was still on where the cord was attached, but that was it.

I did what we always do when something is not working - I turned it off and then back on.

That was a relief! Except for that blue screen that first appeared and reminded me of the blue screen of death on the old PCs!

Obviously, my laptop is still working.

I spent most of today learning more about setting up websites and began writing my welcome page. I'm still a long way off completing the site and I'm glad that tomorrow I will have a day in The Bay away from my desk. I need some space to clear my head and will press the 'reset' button for my brain on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, I have to create a logo! I have to find that little seed of creativity that has been lurking beneath the surface and come up with something that represents the wonder that is me! I have the beginning of an idea, but I'm not sure where to take it yet.

I also have to build an image library specifically for the website.

Even though my brain hurts from the intensive learning process, I really am enjoying this little challenge and I can't wait until it's done so that I can share it with you all! Don't hold your breath though! I'm taking my time and I'm doing it properly, but once I'm finished, you will be the first to know!

Oops! It's just about to hit midnight! I'm off!

Nite all.

Slow and Steady

That is my new mindset while creating the website. Slow and steady.

I usually go at things like a bull at a gate and I always want everything finished 'yesterday'. I have little patience during long detailed learning processes, but in this case, I have to make an exception. There are no short cuts if I'm going to do this on my own and do it properly!

I didn't get to spend much time in my work space today because we had a lunch date with Mrs Bucket down the road.

We were supposed to take our own food because she doesn't cater to anyone's dietary requirements. I planned on taking some marinated chicken wings and some devilled eggs with crab, but then I decided that I wanted to spend what little time I could, working on the website and NOT in the kitchen preparing food that everybody would eat.

Instead, I chucked the chicken wings in the oven and cooked them early, so that we could eat our lunch BEFORE attending the lunch!

So we attended the lunch empty handed - aside from half a bottle of wine that I had in the fridge.

It turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon. I really enjoyed catching up with Woman of Many Talents and The Reality TV Queen's BFF, Care Bear. The rest of us had some good laughs over nibbles and drinks.

We returned home at about 3pm, in time to feed the psychotic dogs and in time for Adoring Husband to watch the end of the Bathurst car race.

I spent a little time in my workspace,

but after that half a bottle of wine and a couple of bites of food that doesn't usually hit my tummy, I was left feeling well and truly 'done in', so I caught myself a short nap in bed until it was time to prepare a quick bite for dinner.

I hope to spend the entire day at my desk tomorrow and hopefully will have achieved something worth bragging about here!

In the meantime, I think I'm ready to continue that nap.

Nite all.

Brain Explosion

So ... I'm attempting to build a website.

I think my head is going to explode.

I spent the morning at our local markets. I like to support our local stall holders, but always get carried away, spending way too much money.

This month, I decided to go with minimal funds. I intended to buy a couple of home-made cards and a hanging stained glass animal (I buy something from this lady every month).

Unfortunately, I have no self control and unfortunately, some stalls use eftpos machines. Two necklaces, one bracelet, two notebooks, five cards, a hand towel, a stained glass owl and a 'no fracking' sign later ...

After all that spending, I had to withdraw money from the supermarket ATM so that I had cash to buy the sand crabs that I had ordered from The Motivator!

From The Motivator's house, I had to rush to the chemist to pick up Adoring Husband's script and while I was there, I found a beautiful little box of note paper with a meaningful quote on the box. Of course, I had to buy it!

By the time I arrived home, it was lunch time, so I reheated some Hainan Chicken for Adoring Husband, and for myself, I stood at the kitchen sink shelling my sand crabs and filled a container with the meat. I took that and a bottle of kombucha to my workspace, where I spent the entire afternoon learning how to create a website.

There was one short interruption when Mrs Bucket came for a visit. She was actually next door having a social afternoon, when she decided to pop in and see Adoring Husband and to confirm that we were attending her lunch tomorrow (Sunday).

I returned to my workspace and spent more time frowning at my monitor, trying to understand the website jargon that the course teacher was describing. By 9pm I decided that it was in my best interests to remove myself from the room and have a long break until tomorrow.

A rested brain and a fresh start tomorrow might help.

Nite all.

How Many?

Some days there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day.

Admittedly, I didn't get out of bed til 9am. I washed and blow dried my hair, pedalled to the shops for my coffee and to pick up some meat that I'd ordered. I visited The Motivator and she did indeed, motivate me. I left there at noon and came home to put my duck broth into containers to freeze.

I did a load of washing and then Adoring Husband arrived home from his visit to the SES shed. While he began to peel a giant bucket load of onions, I put chicken wings in the oven for lunch. I spent forty minutes in my workspace doing 'my new thing' and while I was waiting for the chicken to finish cooking, I assisted AH peel those pesky onions.

AH used the food processor to slice the onions and we bagged them so that he could take them back to the SES shed ready to use at the markets tomorrow.

While he tidied the kitchen, I made a fruit salad with papaya, blueberries, apple, watermelon, banana and lemon juice.

We ate lunch (chicken wings followed by fruit salad) - by this time it was about 2pm I think.

I got ninety minutes in my workspace to do some more of 'my new thing' until it was time to get ready for the club!

It was very busy at the club tonight, which made it really LOUD. Noises always make me uncomfortable. Sensory overload. I'm looking forward to the club's renovations, which will include a raised roof and hopefully the acoustics will be much more conducive to friendly conversations.

We almost didn't need to catch the bus home tonight, because there were actually enough giant mosquitoes to lift each of us separately and fly us home to our respective addresses. The bus driver had locked the bus, so we had to stand outside waiting for him and it was a most uncomfortable experience with those nasty scotch greys.

Sadly, football season is over, so there was no game to look forward to tonight and we had to search long and hard to find something on our hundreds of TV channels to watch. We settled for a movie, an oldie but a goodie "The Untouchables" with Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro and Sean Connery. Can you believe that movie is 29 years old?!? It's still a good movie today.

Here we are, once again, well after midnight so I'm off to bed. Tomorrow will hopefully be more productive in my workspace and I also hope to nab some delicious fresh crabs from The Motivator.

Nite all.

A Focus Day

Sleep came to me much easier last night.

Adoring Husband woke me at about 5am as he leaned over the bed to kiss me goodbye. He had an appointment in Brisbane with his specialist today, so he was catching the early train.

I was wide awake at 7.00am but stayed in bed for an hour making notes and checking my emails.

It was a glorious day outside, so the ride to the shops for coffee and checking the mail was very pleasant. I didn't know at the time, but the box that I collected from the Post Office contained Adoring Husband's Mum!! I'm sure that she enjoyed her ride home in the trike.

On the way home I dropped in to see The Motivator who was on her way out. This was probably a good thing, because it meant that I didn't waste any creative hours.

I came straight home and decided to make bone broth with the carcass of the duck that I cooked yesterday. I also made a big batch of Hainan Chicken which was easily reheated for AH when he arrived home late this evening from his day in Brisvegas.

I spent a few fabulous hours in my workspace learning a lot and being creative.

Then I remembered that the FROG box needed to be collected, so I sent a text to The Blonde Bombshell and asked if she would be kind enough to drive me to the pick up spot which is half way between here and The Bay. Thankfully, she agreed to do this big favour for me, so she and Molly arrived at 2pm and we enjoyed a leisurely drive and a friendly chat.

Molly sat on my lap and caused a hell of a ruckus with the farm dogs when we arrived - the farm dogs are normally so calm and disinterested!

So a big thankyou to The Blonde Bombshell and Molly.

It was good to have Adoring Husband arrive home safe n sound at 9.30pm and he is now tucked up in bed sound asleep. Which is where I am headed right now. The psychotic dogs are telling me it's time!

Nite all.  

Over Active Brain

I think I over-used my brain on Tuesday.

It took forever for the thoughts in my head to wind down and it was after 2am when I finally fell asleep. I slept restlessly and I was wide awake at 7.15am. It didn't feel like enough sleep.

Luckily, my first commitment for the day was to meet the girls for morning coffee. They always forgive me when my brain doesn't function at full speed. Thanks girls.

Mrs Bucket is in town. It's been 9 months since she was last here, so she is catching up with all her old mates, including us this morning.

There was kind of a tag team operation going on. We started with two, which increased to three when I arrived, then a fourth turned up, then one had to go, then another turned up, one more left, then two more arrived.

It was 11am by the time I returned home.

I had taken a whole duck out of the freezer for dinner and I've never cooked a duck before. Pinterest is my site of choice to find all manner of recipes, so I found my iPad and began my search. I quickly found the perfect recipe.

Who knew, that it takes four hours to cook a whole duck????

There is piercing and scoring and salting and turning and basting involved.

I was very happy with the outcome. Crispy skin and tender meat and a bowl full of duck fat to use in my future cooking.

While the duck was cooking in the oven, I watched the final of the seven episodes of healing autoimmune disease, which was fantastic. I began a short online course which I hope to complete tomorrow.

I remembered that I had committed to a trivia night with Tweedle Dee and The Blonde Bombshell, so it was time to prepare Adoring Husband's dinner and get myself ready for the evening.

AH and I picked up The Blonde Bombshell from her home and he dropped us at the club just after 6.30pm. I knew quite a few people there, which surprised me, so I got to chat with a couple of old friends whom I haven't seen for quite a while.

The trivia started a little late and our team 'The Fab Five' began with a flourish! We were in the lead for every round until the final one when we were pipped a the post! Bugger.

It was a good night. We had some good belly laughs, even without alcohol, and we all contributed in a positive way to the answers. We were home by 9pm.

Unfortunately, due to some major renovations about to commence at the Bowls Club, trivia nights have been suspended for five months, so it will be March before we have the chance to play again.

It's now well after midnight .. I've been catching up on the TV shows that AH recorded for me tonight. You'd think, after only five hours sleep last night, that I'd have been ready for bed well before now!

Really gotta get some sleep!

Nite all.

New Routine

Today was the first day of my new routine.

Well, it's not actually new. It was my old routine that I've let slip over the past year or so, but I've decided that I need to get back into it.

Getting out of bed earlier. Riding my trike in the sunshine. Fetching my own coffee. Starting the day with lemon water and broth. Putting some small semblance of structure into my days and getting more hours of 'stuff' into my day.

Every so often, I will still remain in bed until lunch time ... because I can.

This morning, I got my coffee, dropped the repaired and printed photos to a customer and then visited The Blonde Bombshell before coming home and preparing a big pot of curried beef which Adoring Husband and I had for lunch.

I spent a few hours in my workspace being creative and learning and writing and planning, which was incredibly satisfying and uplifting.

This afternoon was our monthly barbecue near the water. It was our final gathering at Traviston Park because the Lion's Park barbecue area will be reopened this month and so we will return to our old stomping ground.

Even though we were almost carried away by swarms of extra, extra, large scotch grey mosquitoes, it was a very pleasant evening and it was nice to catch up with good friends. Adoring Husband got to boast about his winning football team and everyone got to congratulate him. I think he loved that part the best.

I didn't drink any alcohol tonight and instead, took some ginger kombucha to drink out of my wine glass. I also didn't feel like eating after my big curried beef lunch, so the only food we took was the leftovers of said curry for AH to enjoy.

That's the long and short of my day.

It's almost midnight, and you know what that means.

But before I go, I wanted to share a few fond memories ...

1927 - If I Could

The Beach Boys - Kokomo

Jimmy Soul - If you Want to be Happy

Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton - You Don't Own Me

My Best Friend's Wedding - I Say a Little Prayer

Nite all.

You Little Beauty!

How amazing!

Sharks won their first ever premiership last night!

It was a nail biting finish and Adoring Husband and I were standing beside each other in the lounge room, just feet away from the TV screen, hands clasped tightly and arms linked, screaming at the Sharks to TACKLE!!! Willing the final 20 seconds to pass without incident!

SO NERVE WRACKING!!

When the siren finally sounded, Adoring Husband and I turned to face each other, threw our arms above us and screamed in celebration! We wrapped our arms around each other, jumped up and down on the spot, gasping for breath, with tears of pure joy and happiness flowing freely.

Then came the emotional phone calls with fellow Sharkie fans and family. AH could barely get the words out. He played the Sharks theme song and his friends sang it loud and proud as he answered his calls.

We watched the emotional scenes of celebration at the ground and then we watched the replay on Foxtel - much less stressful the second time round!

I'm so happy for AH. He has been a proud Sharks supporter his whole life - even when they gave him little to be proud of! He has worked at Shark park and attended many many games over the years.

I will always remember that feeling last night - seeing the joy on his face and expressing that raw emotion. His reward, at last, for being a loyal and dedicated fan.

I'm glad that he changed his plans (he was going to attend the game until a few weeks ago when he decided to cancel his flight and accommodation) and I got to share this moment with him at home.

What a moment!

What a feeling!

What a rush!

Up! Up! Cronulla!

I've spent the afternoon editing the final photos from Rebel Mardi's family shoot. I thought I might share a couple more here ...

The Rebel Mardi family have been very understanding and very patient, waiting almost 2 months for their photos! Thank you my lovelies xo

Tomorrow, I only have one very small task to complete and then I get to embark on my new venture! I'm excited!

Nite all.

The Big Day

It's Grand Final day!

Adoring Husband's beloved Cronulla Sharks are about to play, so I need to focus on giving them some positive vibes.

We've been sitting here watching all the preliminary rubbish ... drives me to distraction ... JUST GET ON WITH THE GAME!!!

I've spent the afternoon editing photos for the lovely Rebel Mardi and her wonderful family. Here are just a couple...

Now, the Sharks need my support.

Nite all

Today is the Day!

Today, I made a decision.

It's a new beginning.

You will be the first to know when I'm ready to share more information, but I've spent three weeks researching, brain storming, soul searching and finally, actually making the decision. This is what I wrote earlier today ...

I sit here at my desk eating my home-made liver pate with some disgusting GF crackers (that were left over from a recent dinner party) looking at the email that contains the link that will transport me to my exciting and creative, yet unknown future.

At the same time, I'm looking down at the 'to do' list on my desk which I made last night, that contains eight items.

Dilemma.

I know that if I click on that link, the eight items on my 'to do' list will be buzzing around my head like annoying flies and that will be detrimental to my focus on the new venture.

IF I don't click on that link right now, does that mean that I am procrastinating? Does it mean that my doubts and fears are already sabotaging my exciting new plans?

Alternatively, if I complete the 'to do' list, it will give me a fresh, clear head to focus completely on the job at hand AND it will be good practise for my future 'to do' lists, which I expect will be numerous!

...

So I decided to complete my 'to do' list.

But in the middle of all of that, I received an email which led me to a live stream seminar regarding my new venture. Ugh! The seminar lasted for three hours! Ugh!

It was very interesting and I learned a lot.

Upon it's completion, I returned immediately to my 'to do' list and eventually ticked off six of the eight items. This means that I only have two items remaining and I'm certain that I can knock them off before lunch tomorrow.

After that, the fun begins!

Two years ago, Adoring Husband planted the top of pineapple in a pot. We knew that a pineapple takes between 18 months and 2 years to bear fruit and for this guy, the two years was just about up. I had given up all hope and was preparing to throw the plant away, when suddenly, out of nowhere and without warning, this appeared!!

I'm not sure how long it will be until it's ready to pick and eat, but I'm so excited!!

At the end of our lady's lunch on Wednesday, I took this photo of The Designer and her close friend Organika ...

They are both lovely ladies. Quite beautiful inside and out. Organika is new to the group and expects to be attending more of our luncheons in the future.

It's time for me to sleep. I have a big day planned for tomorrow AND the NRL Grand Final is being played tomorrow evening. GO SHARKIES!! I need to find my very old, very large Sharks shirt to wear for the occasion.

Nite all.

Down with Wine

Episode 3 of the Autoimmune Disease Solution movie (you've only got til 11am)

Never thought I'd utter these words, but ... I'm giving up wine. In effect, this means that I'm giving up all alcohol because there is nothing else gluten free, sugar free or dairy free that I like.

My body has become increasingly angry with me on Friday nights, even after only two glasses of wine. The monthly lady's luncheons are the same. So my body needs me to remove the toxic alcohol from the menu.

I don't know how long I will need to do this. Possibly forever.

I'm not bothered by it.

This is short and sweet (well maybe not so sweet) because it's after 1am and I really need to get to bed.

I have a 'to do' list a mile long for tomorrow and I'd like to be on the ball for all of it.

Nite all.

Day of Rest

Today was my allotted day of rest.

No commitments. No responsibilities. No deadlines. No appointments.

I did nothing. I stayed in bed until midday! Adoring Husband had SES duties, so he bought me a coffee and delivered it before disappearing for the morning.

I cleaned up my emails. I had over 3,000 unread emails!! I now have 275 unread emails, which I hope to clear tomorrow.

I finally got to the dog food and made up sixteen days of food for them.

I did two loads of washing.

I sat down to do some photo editing, but got two phone calls one after the other, which used up an hour of my editing time, so that was put back on the 'to do' list. I have a free weekend, so I should be able to finish them! Woohoo!

It rained for a good part of the day. Nice, soft, steady rain until this evening when I watched a nasty black storm approaching on the BOM. It had me very concerned, but not long before it hit us, it weakened. It only lasted five minutes and the lightning and thunder was pretty amazing ever so briefly. The rain pelted down for about two minutes and then it was all over!

There are waves of storms approaching from the north, so we may have an interesting night - not as interesting as poor South Australia at the moment who are copping some horrendous weather due to cyclonic storms in a huge low pressure system. The weather is lasting for days (not like our five minutes!) and I think I'd struggle if I was having to deal with it for that long.

It's now 1am - there are a series of seven movies that are only available to watch for free for a 12 hour period each day. They are about autoimmune diseases (arthritis (all forms), thyroid, lupus, psoriasis, MS, mental illness, dementia etc) and the differences between conventional treatment and functional treatment. Most importantly, they delve into 'gut health' and how crucial that is to the immune system and healing the diseases.

I just watched the second of these movies. It's available until about 11am Friday. The first is locked and can't be viewed now. Here is the link to watch episode two and then you just go back each day to get the next episode. Very interesting.

I guess I should get to bed before the sun rises!

Nite all.

8 Ball Meat Balls

From behind the eight ball yesterday, I eventually found my way to the front of the eight ball and everything fell into place today, very nicely.

Even with my relaxing start to the day, I was able to get almost everything done.

After coffee in bed, I showered and rode down to meet the girls for more coffee. It seemed like forever since we'd spent any quality time together and it was especially nice to catch up with Lady Lynn, Rebel Mardi and Maid Marian. Everybody had lots of news to share and the time passed so quickly, that before we knew it, we all had to rush off to different commitments.

I rode home with enough time to cook up the meatballs, find a recipe and cook up a delicious spicy dipping sauce, figure out how to transport it all, pack my drink cooler with wine, ice and a glass, organise my camera gear and make myself presentable for lunch.

I didn't have time to make up the dog food, but Adoring Husband made a suggestion that helped me postpone that until tomorrow. Thanks darling.

My ride arrived a little bit late, but I was the first of three to be picked up. I thought I had a LOT of gear to fit in the car, but crikey!! The other two were loaded up with a big esky and bags of goodies that had to be loaded in the back of the ute.

A big thank you to The Blonde Bombshell's husband 'Oscar the Grouch' (who really isn't as grouchy as he tries to make out), for dropping us off and picking us up from the luncheon.

There were quite a few ladies already perched and drinking at The Designer's house when we arrived. The Designer's home was stunning and the outdoor area where we gathered was spacious, comfortable and beautifully decorated. Everybody had brought at least one plate of food and there was a table set up in the middle of the area to hold it all.

We served ourselves and then sat at the huge table at the other end of the room to eat.

Luckily, I made my gluten free meatballs, because the only other food that was GF, was The Speckled Hen's avocado dip. I got to enjoy half a dozen of my meatballs, but not the devilled eggs that I'd made because my tummy is no longer 'egg friendly'. I'd also like to add that everybody pounced on my meatballs and devilled eggs and they were the first plates to be emptied!

Aside from the food situation, it was a really enjoyable day. I got to spend time with quite a few of the ladies and met a new young woman who has recently moved to the area. I had a very interesting conversation with The Designer who told me all about her home and how it came to be as it is today. She is certainly a talent.

I took a few happy snaps and one group shot, which unfortunately was taken after a couple of the ladies had already left.

There were sixteen of us (I think) and we all had a very nice time. I'm glad that I made myself go, because for a little while, I was considering staying at home.

The Speckled Hen failed to tell everyone to bring their togs (swimmers), so she was the only one who actually went for a dip in the pool. Two other ladies took their togs but chose not to go in.

It was about 3pm when we all offered our sincere gratitude and bid our farewells to The Designer.

Oscar picked us up and drove us to his and BB's house, where we all had another drink to end the day on a tipsy and jovial note. Just as I was about to phone Adoring Husband to come pick us up, Oscar offered to drive us home. What a good man :)

Needless to say, I was a bit peckish by the time I arrived home, so crispy skinned chicken and salad was the quick and easy way to go for dinner.

It's almost midnight, so you know where I'm off to now?

Nite all.
 

Behind the 8 Ball

I put myself there. Serves myself right.

During the week that I returned home in the middle of my babysitting gig, I was given the details of our lady's luncheon, which would be held two days after my permanent return.

Usually, we attend a cafe or restaurant or bistro within a 30km radius of town. This month, however, we've been invited to one of our lady's homes, on the outskirts of town. She hasn't been able to attend many of our luncheons this year due to parenting responsibilities. Circumstances have changed in her world and it means that she is free to attend on Wednesdays again, and we're all happy that she will be back in the fold.

The deal is, that we all take a plate. I very vigorously, almost aggressively, selected marinated chicken wings as my plate of choice. It's a paleo recipe that I love and which is easy and quick to make.

Anyway, Adoring Husband and I spent the morning in The Bay doing our grocery shopping, and not once did I remember my commitment to lunch.

It was 3pm when I realised that tomorrow is the luncheon and that I did NOT have the chicken wings!

We jumped in the car and drove to the local butchers. Unfortunately, he had JUST used the last of his chicken wings to make mini cutlets.

Now what?

I told the butcher my tale of woe, not that he could do anything about it, and I also told him that I expected, in the future, for him to be more intuitive and to KNOW when I would be making these requests. Next time, I advised him, I expect him to have exactly what I require!

He promised to try.

I decided, instead, to make chicken and pork mini meatballs with a dipping sauce. For good measure, and because we have a glut of home grown eggs, I also decided to make devilled eggs.

I boiled the eggs when we got home, and then at 8pm, I opened the kitchen for service. I winged it, and made the devilled eggs, not from a recipe, but from my imagination. I mixed up the mince with a bunch of other stuff and made 50 mini meatballs, which are now in the fridge waiting for me to cook them up tomorrow morning.

I cooked 4 of them for a taste test and they are ok, but will definitely require a nice dipping sauce.

My other chore tomorrow morning, will be to make up some dog food! I've cooked up the pumpkin, so it's a matter of blending all the other goodies and then mixing it all with the raw meat and packing it into containers.

Honestly, I've put myself unnecessarily behind the eight ball and I'm feeling the pressure. Hopefully, it will all run smoothly tomorrow morning and I can enjoy a relaxing lunch with the girls.

Time for bed.

Nite all.

Train Trauma

Yes, I exaggerate a little, but comparatively speaking, it was my most traumatic experience on the train.

If this was my first train trip, it would probably be my last! Luckily, the majority of my trips on QLD Rail have been extremely pleasant, which means that I always look forward to travelling on the train. I must have done this trip thirty times by now, if not more.

Firstly, today, when I joined the train, there was an older woman sitting in the seat next to mine, and on my seat, she had put food, magazines, her handbag, a cushion, a blanket, pens and paper. She was sound asleep.

Rather than wake her and then have to wait for ten minutes while she found homes for her crap, I noticed that the two seats directly across the aisle were empty, so I sat there instead. The conductor, who checked my ticket, told me that I could stay there for the duration of my journey.

The moment I sat down, I was harassed by a male child, perhaps 3yrs old, with green, runny, slimy snot all over his face and running down to his top lip. "Hullo!" he repeated in a very loud voice over and over and over again .. even after I had greeted him with my own smiling "hullo".

His father was on the phone mid conversation and literally demanded to know what station we were stopped at. I politely told him it was 'Cooroy' and at that moment decided to escape and go searching for the club car.

I was travelling on an old diesel train, so the club car was an old dining car, which suited me just fine. Large cubicles with big comfy padded seats and large tables to spread out my belongings.

I had to weave my way through four carriages of school children (bloody school holidays), none of whom were actually sitting in their seats, to reach it.

The dining car was relatively empty. A young 'Goth' girl in full garb was eating a hot meal at one table. A man in his early twenties was seated nearby enjoying a beer and three young girls, maybe in their late teens were sharing the last cubicle. One of these girls spent the entire trip to Gympie complaining loudly.

She complained about how slow the train was travelling, how late it was running (less than ten minutes by my watch), how uncomfortably crowded it was, how expensive the alcohol was at the kiosk ($8.50 for a bourbon and coke) and then when she'd finished finding fault with the train trip, she began, very loudly and very colourfully, relating the tales of woe that had befallen her since her day began.

I felt like she was channelling her mother. I felt like she enjoyed the drama that she was creating with her story telling. I felt such terrible negative energy coming from her every word.

Just as I was tempted to turn around and say ... JUST - SHUT - UP!!! ... she left the train at Gympie.

I'd only been on the train for 45 minutes and it felt like 4.5 hours!

Between Cooroy and Gympie, the train had made up so much time, that we had to wait at Gympie for eight minutes. The passengers were given permission to exit the train for a nicotine hit.

I must say, it's always pleasant to have a wave of people, wreaking of nicotine, board the train and sit in close proximity - NOT.

I returned to my seat before we left Gympie Station. I thought my luck had changed, because the man and his child were no longer in their seats, but alas, he was one of the smokers and soon returned with his loud, tired, sick little boy.

The boy was even louder than before. He was obviously very very tired. He began whinging and that developed into full blown bellowing, while his father remained perfectly calm and uttered "C'mon Axell (he spelled it out for the conductor earlier), you're wearing me out."

Suddenly, there was silence. Axell had fallen asleep on the floor under his father's feet.

Somebody, somewhere in my carriage, had a music box, which played 'happy birthday'. They continuously wound it up and let it play out til it got slower and slower and slower, then stopped, then started all over again. I know where I wanted to put that music box.

When the music stopped, the man sitting behind me whistled the same tune, just softly enough for me to hear. I know where I wanted to put the whistling man.

When we were still an hour from my stop, I noticed that I was in the third last seat on the entire train. I looked out the back and could see the rail tracks trailing behind us ...

Tempting.

I wondered if Adoring Husband would have coffee waiting in the car. He did last time.

We finally reached Maryborough. Less than half an hour til my stop.

The bottom of my seat detached itself from the frame so my butt was sliding and floating with every movement from me or the train.

I discovered that the people who were sitting in the seat before I arrived, were moved because they complained about Axell. Axell and his dad disembarked at Maryborough.

FINALLY, we reached my destination!!

Adoring Husband was waiting on the platform with a big smile on his dial, but no coffee in the car. It was ok though, because we drove straight to Foodworks and bought coffee and food.

Right now, I am sitting exactly where I want to be ... where, during my traumatic train trip, I imagined I would soon be relaxing. My lovely welcoming lounge room, on my comfy sofa, with my feet up, in front of my big TV, watching a favourite movie.

I've unpacked both of my bags and cooked dinner and opened my mail and inspected the new furniture and yelled at the dogs for attempting to jump on the new furniture. I am home :)

I hope that Vegan Chickie has had a pleasant journey home. She should be landing soon and then will still have a few hours before she reaches the comforts of her home. Welcome home lovely daughter. I know your family is very excited to be seeing you!

Nite all.