Day Three of 2017 Road Trip

We checked out of our Toowoomba motel earlier than expected because even though they put us at the back where we would miss the noise of the main road traffic, the upstairs neighbours were stomping around before the sun rose and then the shop behind the room, even though it isn't open on Saturdays, decided to start machinery and move furniture at about 6.30am.

Needless to say, we were wide awake and ready to leave much earlier than originally planned.

Our idea was to drive until we found a nice looking cafe for breakfast, but we were in Warwick before ANY kind of cafe came into view!

The Cherry Tree was our cafe of choice.

It was right across the road from the park where the local markets were being held and where the crowd was building for the Remembrance Day Ceremony.

We did a quick lap around the markets, but there was nothing different there from any other market ...  we are pretty selective about the stalls we support and are not impressed by markets full of plastic rubbish from China.

The cafe was incredibly busy but I found them to be very efficient, even though the young girl accidentally overcharged BGWLBH by a few dollars and THEN brought her a big breakfast instead of plain old bacon and eggs!

I ordered bacon, grilled asparagus and avocado with a green smoothie and a latte. Delicious and very filling!

On our way out of the cafe, it was almost 11am, so we stopped on the fringe of the crowd that had gathered and respectfully observed the minute of silence before climbing in the car and figuring out which way to exit Warwick.

We began to take a side road to Killarney and Queen Mary Falls, but we've seen Killarney before and we weren't sure how far we would have to walk to find the Falls. We decided that the round trip would add at least 90 minutes to our day, so we reluctantly turned back to highway that would lead us to Tenterfield.

The road entering Tenterfield ...

I downloaded the song 'Tenterfield Saddler' and as we drove through the very quiet main street of Tenterfield, played the song through my JBL Flip 3 portable speaker at full volume (like I'm sure THAT'S never been done before!), which I held out the window!

Our next stop was Ballendean where we spotted a fruit van selling cherries and apricots. While we were purchasing our punnets of cherries, a man pulled up and walked across the parking area wearing a kilt! We asked him politely if he would mind having his photo taken with BGWLBH ...

... he was lovely!

The other highlight of Ballendean is the Triceratops (aka Fruitasaurus) on the left hand side of the road which tried to eat our travelling companion, Wilbur Herbert.

We were pretty excited to find Wallangarra, which is a tiny border town between QLD and NSW.

There was a little craft cottage which we simply had to stop at. I bought a padded scissor holder and a yellow kitchen hand towel.

Across the road from there, was another little gift shop that sold an array of different and interesting bits and pieces. We walked in on the shop owner being 'read' by a passerby who happened to be a clairvoyant. The shop owner was a little emotional at that point and after the clairvoyant left, she talked to us about the experience.

She also told us about how much she loves her little shop, so we shared our love like two mothers comparing babies as I told her about my shop too.

She was very nice, as was her shop, but her coffee was pretty ordinary and we ended up tipping it out at our next stop.

Our second last stop for the day was a little town called Deepwater. We stopped to have Wilbur Herbert's photo taken with the menagerie of concrete animals standing on the footpath outside of the shop ...

Tonight, we are staying in The Acacia Motel in Armidale. It's a nice little motel in the back streets so there is no street noise and no shops nearby and no top floor. Fingers crossed that we get a peaceful morning sleep!

I think I need to sleep right now. It's been a big day.

Nite all.

Day Two of 2017 Road Trip

So, here we are at the end of day two and still, we are only 5 hours from home!

We took it really easy this morning, checking out of the motel before 10am but leaving our car in the carpark while we walked to Cotton Tree for breakfast.

The weather was looking ominous and the Motel Manager offered us an umbrella ... just in case ... we accepted her offer, but luckily, we didn't need to use it.

This fabulous little cafe called Raw Energy sat on the corner welcoming us as we crossed the road to the main Cotton Tree shopping area and I enjoyed a breakfast 'to die for'!

I savoured a 'Dragon Bowl' with GF muesli and for a drink, I selected an 'Eenie Meenie Greenie' which contained banana, avocado, spinach, kale, parsley, celery, apple, pear and spirulina. It was seriously the best breakfast I've ever eaten and I felt full of energy all day!

We walked back to the motel and didn't leave Maroochydore until after 11am.

We had no idea where we were going, only that we wanted to find somewhere to head inland. The motorway was busy and fast and full of risk taking drivers. We wanted to get away from that.

Of course, we got a bit lost and probably drove for an hour getting absolutely nowhere, finding our way through Buderim, which was crazy busy, but we finally found the road we wanted and took the inland road via Beerburrum and Woodford.

There was a small town after Buderim where we stopped for our first coffee of the day. The coffee was delicious and we both bought a piece of hand crafted jewellery made with semi-precious gems from a small stand on the counter.

We sat outside at a tall table in a shaded area and chatted over our delicious coffee.

From there we found our way to Woodford, which was a lovely, quirky and friendly little town. I bought a yellow bowl from a little secondhand dealer for $5 and further up the road, we found another little shop where we found some REAL bargains! This was my selection...

Just in case you're wondering, it's a silver ring.

The shop was called Rescue Recycle Reuse

The weather got darker and darker as we approached Esk and the decision was made that our final destination for the evening should be Toowoomba. We stopped for fuel in Kilcoy and I phoned ahead to book our accommodation for the night.

We are at the Downs Motel on Ruthven Street which was a very good price and we were given the last room at the back corner of the motel, so we are furthest from the traffic and the motel is situated just 1.5km from the Golf Club where we stayed the last time we were here.

The price of the room at the golf club was $15 dearer than last time, which we thought was a bit too high for our tight budget this time round, so we found this one for $70 less.

We did eat at the golf club though and their grilled chicken and veg with red wine jus was absolutely beautiful and really hit the spot.

It is very cold here in Toowoomba and also very wet!

The rain began this afternoon around 3pm and the temperature is currently 14C. Very nippy. I wore a COAT to dinner!! Yes!! ME wearing a coat!

Now it's time to sleep.

Nite all.  

Day One of 2017 Road Trip

What a hilarious start to the day!

Here is our travelling companion for the trip ...

Wilbur Herbert is back!

Firstly, BGWLBH made a rule.

The rule was that we could have half of the boot of the car each and half of the back seat each and we weren't allowed to encroach on each other's half! Then she said "I know that I will be the first one to break the rule!"

Which she DID!

The first massive bag that she put into the boot, encroached on my half of the boot. So I yelled at her.

She laughed hysterically at me.

THEN she filled MY half of the back seat with ALL of the communal travelling gear, such as the giant cold bag with the food and the wine cooler which was filled with essential oil blends and health supplements! So I yelled at her again.

She laughed hysterically at me.

My luggage included a large suitcase, my small laptop bag (which is the size of carry on luggage and has wheels), my large backpack full of camera gear, a green bag full of 7 pairs of shoes, and finally, a body pillow.

The reason for so much luggage is because the weather down south is freezing. So we are travelling from warm and humid to cold and in some cases, snowing!

Adoring Husband was terribly sad that we were leaving this morning and was feeling stressed and emotional. He hovered around us while I added the final pieces to my packing and then lurked around the car while we packed everything into the boot and the back seat.

BGWLBH and I decided to delay our departure for long enough that he would get frustrated and tell us to HURRY UP AND LEAVE!!

So we got into the car and put our seat belts on and I said loudly "Wait! I've got to get my *insert something unimportant here* out of the back!"

I climbed out of the car, rummaged around in the back seat, then returned to the passenger seat.

Then BGWLBH said "Wait! Where is my *insert something unimportant here*?"

She turned to face the back seat and rummaged around for a minute.

I said "Wait! I've left *insert something unimportant here* in the boot!" I got out of the car and then said "Oh no it's not. It's in my handbag." I returned to the passenger seat.

This continued for about fifteen minutes until Adoring Husband finally, in frustration, said "Will you two just GO *insert actual profanity here*"

By now, we were giggling so hard, I almost had to go to the bathroom before we left!

We took the long way out of town so that I could see the new Bali Flags outside The Happy Abode, which had arrived in today's mail and they are the perfect colour but didn't come with pegs/sticks, so they are sadly attached to a very short stick until we can get something better.

We stopped for coffee and then stopped for fuel.

I began to tell BGWLBH a story just before we reached the service station and when we pulled up at the bowser, she said "Wind the window down so that you can continue telling me the story while I fill up."

I wound the window down and began to talk, but the wind carried my voice in a different direction and she yelled "What???"

So I opened the door of the car so that I could lean out and talk to her.

Just as I started to speak, the petrol pump made that clunking sound that indicated that the tank was full! We only needed $20 worth of fuel!! Ugh!! This tickled BGWLBH's fancy and again, we both burst into fits of hysterical laughter.

She paid for the fuel and when we finally finished laughing at ourselves, I told her my story, which wasn't funny, but our moods by now were so ridiculous, it became funny and we laughed hysterically all the way to Torbanlea!

We drove to Gympie, where we stopped and parked in a carpark on the side of a hill (everything is located on the side of a hill in Gympie) and we had to walk down a very steep inclination to reach one of the main shopping areas.

We needed sustenance, but were distracted by some OP shops which were full of little treasures. It took a while to find some decent food, but we enjoyed it very much and then started the dreadful walk UP the inclination to our car. Exhausting!!

By now, it was already 2pm so we decided to head to the Sunny Coast and find a motel in Maroochydore, so that we could go to the movies and relax for the afternoon.

We found a great little motel with a room containing two queen beds. We unpacked the car, freshened up and then checked our options.

Unfortunately there was nothing that we wanted to see at the movies, so we took the 4 minute walk to the Maroochydore Surf Club where we spent a leisurely couple of hours.

We considered eating at the Club, but our GF options were quite costly and being budget conscious at the beginning of our trip, we didn't want to pay $30 for a meal, so walked the streets until we found a nice little cafe where we paid $9 for a take away GF burger.

Back at the motel, we had some fruit salad in the fridge, which we'd brought with us from home, so we had that.

I received a phone call fromVegan Chickie and we chatted and laughed for an hour.

Now I am feeling quite weary, so it's sleep time for me.

Nite all.

Cup Day Over

Our Melbourne Cup day was a great success.

Because of our poor planning, we had a small group band together for our day, which worked out well, because they were our favourite people who enjoyed some great belly laughs and a couple of snorts too!

We had a bit of a stressful start when we discovered, very late, that there is no antenna on the roof (the previous Tennant obviously took it with them), so our big screen TV wouldn't work. After much grunting and moaning and huffing and puffing, we finally gave in and set up my iMac monitor to live stream 7live via my portable speaker for great sound.

We also opened my laptop to the same live streaming, but we didn't need that.

Stephanie, the LeReve consultant, dressed up in Melbourne Cup finery, including her lovely handmade fascinator, and set up all the LeReve products on the table. We asked that she not do a presentation but just be available to answer questions and take orders if necessary.

We ran 3 sweeps. A $5 and two $2. I was lucky enough to win our $5 sweep AND the $5 sweep being run by the cafe down the road! Obviously, sweeps are more profitable for me than actually choosing a horse to win!

There were only eleven of us in attendance, but we had some good fun. The food was good. The alcohol went down a treat. Almost all of us won something in the sweeps. I wore a dress!! First time in seven years!

I wish I could show you the photos, but the damaging storms that we've had in the area, has affected internet connection and I can't load photos or change pages at the moment. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and I'll share the pics then.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the day and now that we've held our first Melbourne Cup day, next year will be bigger and better.

It's taken me 90 mins to get this far, so I'm giving up and heading to bed!

Nite all.

Cup Day

I'm off to bed.

Tomorrow is Cup Day! Melbourne Cup Day, to be precise, and The Happy Abode is having a 'gathering' for champagne, nibbles, sweeps, essential oils and stopping for the big race.

This means that I have to be up early to prepare some of the nibbles before work starts and still be at the shop for coffee with the girls nice and early.

For the first time in 7 years, I'll be wearing a dress! For the first time ever, I will be wearing a fascinator!

There is still much to do in preparation and I need to be on the ball, so a solid night's sleep is a must.

All of you lovely local ladies who read this, and haven't been advised ... consider this your invitation!

Be there, wearing a fascinator, at 1pm. The remainder of your attire can be as casual as you please. We will play until about 4pm. You will be surrounded by friends.

I'll see you there!

Nite all.

A Little Better

My back has improved enough, after a nice back rub from Adoring Husband and about ten hours of sleep.

It's still tender and I feel a niggle, but it's much better than it was.

AH had SES duties this morning, so BGWLBH and I drove into The Bay to have some photos printed. I accidentally copied the wrong photo onto the USB stick for BGWLBH so unfortunately, she didn't get her photo.

My large Tawny photo printed beautifully.

We had a few hours to kill while we waited for the print, so we spent some time at the RSL Club which was a bit of fun.

After we picked up the print, we grocery shopped for the Melbourne Cup 'do' that we're having at The Happy Abode.

I know that I haven't told you about The Big Bash yet, but I just need some quiet alone time to really sit down and write - alone time seems to be a distant memory - there is ALWAYS something that needs to be done with alone time OR there is always something else that I WANT to do with alone time.

It won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

I'm still tired, so I'm off to bed for another early night.

Only two days of work left before the big road trip ... although I will need a day to prepare, so we will probably head off on Thursday. It's getting close!

Nite all.

Woe is Me

My whole body aches, but in particular, my back.

I've not felt anything like this before and the pain is difficult to describe. It feels more about nerves than muscle or bone and it's making me feel nauseous.

It is 7.50pm and I am in bed!

Adoring Husband rubbed some 'muscle recovery' oil into my back and I've even resorted to Panadol for the pain!

So that's it from me. I am going to sleep the pain away.

Have an amazing Sunday!

Big warm hugs.

Nite all

Busy Business

We had a busy day in the shop with lots of customers and steady sales.

Most of those customers agreed to have their photo taken for our Facebook page to go into our draw for a $20 gift voucher, but it's surprising the number of people who HATE having their photo taken and simply refuse on that basis. Some people do not want to be seen on Facebook under any circumstances. Some people are only in town for a brief visit and don't plan on returning, so they decline our offer.

Some people don't want to photograph their face, but are happy to photograph their hands holding their purchase ... strange, but true.

BGWLBH and I went to the club tonight without Adoring Husband.

One of our psychotic dogs ... Colli ... had a seizure today. This was a first and in the presence of BGWLBH who took good care of her during the ordeal. BGWLBH and AH took Colli to the vet in Childers to have her checked out and everything seems to be ok.

The vet wondered if Colli had been bitten by a snake, but we doubt that.

We hope to have the results of the different tests soon and will continue to hope for the best.

Needless to say, BGWLBH was in need of a drink by club time!

I have an early start tomorrow so that The Motivator and I can attend Howard markets early to check out our snap button jewellery competition. Some of our customers have told us about this stall, so we are going for a look. It needs to be an early start so that we can be back in time to open the shop at 9am.

As it's rapidly approaching 11.30pm, I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

All Done

Tomorrow morning will be 'farewell' time as the kids head off to the airport to return to Sydney.

It's been a nice relaxing time, with lots of game time and a few fun outings, but mostly just being together.

The Motivator very generously allowed me to take extra time off, even though I'll be away for 6 weeks soon. She's a good egg.

This morning, we left early to attend the Maryborough markets. It wasn't as good as I remembered, but I got some Himalayan salt and some fresh fruit and veg while we were there.

I wasn't feeling the best, so our plan for ten pin bowling was set aside and we drove to The Bay to eat some food. Aquavue was our choice of cafes and I had GF pancakes with banana, bacon and maple syrup, which was quite tasty, though the pancakes were not as soft and fluffy as I'd hoped.

We did some grocery shopping at Go Natural, ran some errands for the shop and we were home by lunch time.

I still wasn't feeling very good, so I lay down for a while ... which turned into a 3 hour nap! The entire afternoon completely gone, but I felt so much better when I woke.

We decided on an easy dinner of fish and chips, but our idea of eating at the park was soon changed because of the strong winds near the waterfront. Instead, we brought it home and ate at our table.

Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour formed a team against Adoring Husband and I for Trivial Pursuit and they pipped us at the post! Good game :)

That's it for our day.

It's almost midnight and I have to work tomorrow, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Early to Bed

It's almost 8.30pm and I'm posting early so that I can head to bed.

I'm feeling very weary.

All this socialising and working and living and negotiating is wearing me out.

So there will be no photos tonight from the party, and no story telling about the party.

I came home reasonably early this afternoon, but Bubbles and BGWLBH were still out. They finally got to see the movie that we tried to get to yesterday. They enjoyed it very much.

We had a big nosh up of crispy skinned chicken, baked potato and sweet potato with a big salad for dinner. For dessert, Knight in Shining Armour made a Devil's Food Cake, but for some reason, even after an extra 20 minutes in the oven, it didn't completely cook in the centre.

He was very disappointed, but everybody loves gooey cake mix! I was happy with the outcome.

The Motivator offered me another day off tomorrow to spend with the kids, so we are all (except for BGWLBH) going to Maryborough to attend the markets and then go 10pin bowling.

We'll be leaving early in the morning, so I'm off to bed now.

Nite all.

Final Frenzy

We are having our final frenzy of fun with the kids before they return to Sydney.

I took today off work and we (the girls) drove into town to do some shopping, repair some glasses, return a faulty purchase, sit and eat breakfast and go to the movies.

While we did the first four things on that list, time got away from us and we missed the movie!

It was a very enjoyable day together and we arrived home in time to decorate the front yard, dress up in our wedding dresses, put on our Halloween make up, fill the scary bowl with lollies, make the Margaritas, arrange the outdoor chairs and we were sitting outside awaiting the first trick or treaters.

Our neighbour from across the road also joined us and she was dressed up too, bringing with her, a big bowl of lollies to offer the kids.

We had about three rounds of kids. The early birds who arrived before 5.30pm. The middle group who arrived around 6pm and then the late comers who arrived after the sun set.

It was a bit of fun and some of the kids were a bit surprised by our outfits, some even hesitant to come forward for lollies!

We had a rustic barbecue dinner and then played pub trivia ... I'm a winner, winner, chicken dinner!!

Now it's 10pm and I'm off to bed. Feeling worn out after two Margaritas and a naughty lollypop!

Nite all.

Mondayitis

It was a great day today.

One lady entered our shop to make some serious enquiries about our treatment room and how we were going to use it and promote it.

Other than that, not a single person entered our doors all day.

That's another first!

Three other shops in the shopping complex nearby remain closed, so we are wondering whether that is keeping people away.

JATOE is now closed permanently until sold, Jenny's Craft shop is closed until Wednesday and 'A Taste of Burrum' is closed until Thursday.

It gave The Motivator and I a good chance to catch up on all our news, both personal and business, so  we thoroughly enjoyed that.

This evening, I have edited a few more photos ...

... and I hope to have tomorrow off work, instead of Wednesday, to go to the movies with Bubbles and BGWLBH and spend some time with them before Bubbles leaves on Friday.

This afternoon, BGWLBH and I walked and rode to the beach, while Adoring Husband, Knight in Shining Armour and Bubbles drove and met us there so we could walk along the beach.

The tide was high and the wind was strong and the beach was short! So we walked as far as we could and then returned home. I had two chickens in the oven and did roasted veggies and gravy to have with them. It was quite a delicious meal.

Afterwards, we played pub trivia. The boys beat BGWLBH and I by 3 rounds to 2, however, when adding up all the points for the rounds, we defeated them by 6 points. Haha.

They had been into The Bay today to see the movie "Geostorm" which they all left feeling totally disappointed with. I hope tomorrow does not see a repeat of that feeling!

It's now fast approaching 10.30am so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Weekend End

Here it is... 11pm on Sunday night.

I have a couple of photos to share from Adoring Husband's party, but once again, I don't have time to give a detailed description of the party tonight. I promise that I will, at some stage, tell you all about it.

I will attempt to find the time to edit a few photos each day and share them here, but I'm just not going to get the time to do it all in one hit.

So here are a couple of photos...

I had a very early night last night and was in bed by 9pm and asleep very soon after that. Adoring Husband was kind enough to wake me at 6.30am on my Sunday morning sleep in, by noisily placing my coffee on the bedside table.

He woke me from a very angry dream which made my day begin on a bad note.

BGWLBH, Knight in Shining Armour, Bubbles and I attended the Village Voices Celtic Concert in the local hall this morning.

It lasted for about two hours and was quite entertaining, although Knight in Shining Armour declared that he now knows that this type of entertainment is not his cup of tea and he wouldn't attend another!

BGWLBH sang along with most of the songs and clapped very loudly at the end of each set. She had a lovely time!

Afterwards we all got coffee from my favourite coffee haunt and sat outside while we drank it.

We returned home for some quick nosh up lunch and then played some board games until 3pm when Adoring Husband and I walked to our rear neighbour's house to have a drink for AH's birthday. Unfortunately, they were called away at the last minute to attend a sick relative, so they couldn't come to the party last weekend as planned.

It was a pleasant way to spend 2 hours and we had some good giggles.

It was an easy barbecue dinner with some baked potatoes and salad and then another game of Trivial Pursuit, which BGWLBH, Bubbles and I won as a team.

They all have a big day planned for the movies tomorrow while I'm at work. I hope to have Wednesday off work to spend some time with the kids before they return home to Sydney.

Right now I need to get some sleep. I don't want to start the working week sleep deprived. I hate that!

Nite all.

Living Life

As I was informed this evening ... my life is completely full!

There simply has not been time for blogging.

I think I've watched about 2 hours of TV in the last 8 days and that was to catch up with The Bachelorette which I had recorded.

Every afternoon and evening is full of cooking and laughing and trivia and games and planning and catching up.

It's both exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.

Meanwhile, the shop is powering on and we have a steady flow of new customers on a daily basis. I took delivery of a huge box of new snap jewellery yesterday and it literally took me all day to cross check it and then rearrange stock so that it could all fit in the display cabinets and in the storage drawers.

We are still receiving lots of positive feedback and great support from the town locals, including other business owners.

We've introduced a 'sale table' which has brought great delight to a few customers ... the ones who returned to the shop to buy that purse they admired last week ... and discovered it on the 'sale table'!

We've also introduced a monthly draw. When customers agree to have their photo taken and then allow us to post that photo on our Facebook page, they go into the draw for a $20 voucher for The Happy Abode.

A lovely elderly gentleman won the first draw for October.

The numbers in our Facebook page are slowly increasing, which is also good to see.

We've had some pretty lousy weather which has caused our river to become an ugly brown colour and this is how it looked yesterday...

Strong gusty winds so bad that I really struggled against a head wind while pedalling to work. I almost hopped off the trike and wheeled it!

Later ...

I just had a call from my sister Squirt.

So much for my early night and writing a lengthy blog post ... a 2.5 hour phone call certainly put an end to that! It's now heading towards 1am and I am, once again, exhausted.

Nite all.

Lady's Lunch

Another late night and another short blog post.

I got the day off work today and spent my time on a day trip across the river to Woodgate for lunch at their local pub.

The GF options in the pub were limited and I had a choice of steak and salad or seasoned calamari and salad. It was a small meal and not very satisfying. I had to pay $9.60 for my vodka & tonic too, so I only had one drink.

Here are the only pics that anyone has shared so far ...

Now I am off to bed.

I hope to write a longer post tomorrow with pics from the big bash. Wish me luck!

Nite all.