Arty Farty

It was a busy morning in the shop! Much busier than our average Saturday morning for quite some time!

The Motivator was running a "paint pouring" workshop in the training room which was sounding like a lot of fun from where I was working.

Later in the morning, when things had died down, Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour appeared. Bubbles did some shopping in The Happy Abode and then they walked to the supermarket to get coffee for Adoring Husband and I.

While they were gone, the workshop participants finished their pieces of art and had all left, when The Motivator asked "Do you want to come make some art with me Roz?"

"Do I??!!?? ABSOLUTELY!"

So she took me into the training room and began explaining what we were going to do, when Bubbles and KISA returned. Bubbles was invited to join us and KISA offered to take AH's coffee home to him.

Just as The Motivator began explaining again, her friend, Purple Fairy arrived at the shop! She too was invited to join us and she accepted.

Meanwhile, the shop remained open for the next two hours while we played arty farty games.

These were our results ...

Mine

Bubbles

Purple Fairy

The Motivator

I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. Not a single customer came through the door during that time, so we got to totally focus on our art. I think we were all pretty happy with our work.

It was really nice of Purple Fairy to give Bubbles a lift home because it was a stinking hot day, and I rode my trike home.

We arrived to find the four corner posts of the Bali hut in place! AH and KISA had been hard at work while we were being arty.

We've organised for four burly men to help us construct the rest of the hut tomorrow (Sunday) morning. I'm a bit excited.

Everybody but me went for a swim late this afternoon.

Tonight we enjoyed an early dinner of fish and chips from the cafe. It will be closing on Monday for twelve days, so we had to fit in a takeaway splurge before it was too late.

That was followed by a mean game of twenty questions before exhaustion set in for AH and he headed to bed. KISA chose Netflix as his companion of choice for the remainder of the evening and Bubbles was on her phone the last time I looked.

Me ... watching 'Pretty Woman' for the umpteenth time and still loving it while writing this blog post. I've put the psychotic dogs to bed and now it's time for me to sleep.

Nite all.

They Beat Us

We knew that the flight was delayed and that the plane would land in The Bay at least 30 minutes late, so we left the house 30 minutes later than originally planned.

Long before we got to our destination, the plane, flying low in the sky, flew over our car and quickly disappeared as it landed at the airport.

Of course, as Murphy's law would have it, we got every red light and every slow vehicle and every line of traffic preventing us from making right turns - Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour had disembarked and were greeted by no-one. By the time we arrived, they were waiting for their luggage to come through the conveyor belt.

It was great to see their smiling faces, but these are the faces they gave me when I said "Show me how happy you are to be here!"

We lunched at Aquavue, I bought an amethyst rock and a citrine rock to put in my crystal bowl by the pool. We grocery shopped at Coles in Stocklands, made a stop at Dr Dans, I got a buddha from King Kong, we took a slight detour so that we could buy some pineapples from the truck on the back road, checked our mail before we finally headed home to face the psychotic dogs.

Ruby and Colli seemed to remember Bubbles and KISA very well, but Jack was suspicious and took a long time to settle. This is very unusual because he and Bubbles have been besties for 14 years. It was the end of the day before he decided they could be besties again.

After we unpacked the groceries, we all sat down together and opened our Christmas gifts, which was fun.

Of course the pool got a workout this afternoon and we spent about an hour under the shade of the umbrella, the girls floating and the boys sinking.

I cooked up a giant batch of crispy skinned chicken with potato chips for dinner. The kids had a bowl of raw carrot and snow peas before dinner was served. I made a big batch of fruit whip for dessert.

After dinner, we played a game of Twenty Questions. Bubbles won the first game and I won the second. It's a game that KISA gave us for Christmas and we love it! Good choice.

I'm working in the morning and it's already after 11.30pm so I'd best sign off and get to bed.

Nite all.  

Any Minute

Tomorrow (Friday) is the day that Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour arrive!

We are ready!

Aside from one more small load, I have caught up with all the washing ... you know the things that you rarely use and they require some special kind of cleaning like hand washing or dry cleaning or separate washing or some pain the butt, time consuming cleaning ritual that you just keep putting off, so you leave it in the bottom of the basket for a year?

No?

It must be just me 🤪

Well, one more load and I will have a completely empty basket - for the first time in a long time.

In my mission to declutter the house, I still have to do the back room - which I call my ironing room - but in reality it is also a junk room, a storage room, a craft room and a 'just chuck it in there' room. I also have to declutter our bedroom and wardrobe.

I look forward to the day that it's done.

I made turkey meatballs for dinner with a chilli, ginger, tomato dipping sauce. I didn't make enough sauce and next time I'll add more chilli.

Adoring Husband returned all of his SES paraphernalia to the shed this evening.

It's now almost midnight. I need sleep.

Nite all.

Woeful Wednesday

What a horrible start to the day!

Instead of pressing 'snooze' when my alarm went off at 6 this morning, I accidentally turned the alarm off and fell back asleep until 7.30am!! When I opened my eyes, I looked at my phone to find a message from The Gypsy to say that she wasn't attending meditation!

This totally put me into panic mode because I'm always at the shop early enough to open the doors and let everyone in. It gives The Motivator leeway and depending on what she's got happening, she can choose whether to attend meditation or not.

I knew that with only 15 minutes to get ready, I would not make it to meditation this morning or get to the shop on time to open the doors, so I quickly messaged The Motivator to make sure she could get there.

Having a full house for meditation over the past few weeks, I felt sick to the stomach that I was letting the team down and my brain went into 'scramble mode'. The Motivator, at such short notice, was going to have to run the meditation class on her own.

😳

Not that it's a problem, because she has done it before and is good at it, but having had all those lovely days off, it's horrible to have to come back to work and face this semi stressful situation before the day even begins.

I sent through the song that she needed to end the class with and then my brain shut down, I fell into denial and I hibernated for the morning so that I didn't have to face the world in any way, shape or form.

Totally the opposite of how my meditation mornings usually leave me feeling.

After lunch, while Adoring Husband was clearing out one of the bedrooms, I washed some clothes, took some dry washing off the line, folded and put away - such a tedious job. When will The Jetson's laundry service come true?

Jetsons chores

I prepared dinner early because we had to attend trivia tonight. We picked up The Blonde Bombshell on the way and we were the Fab Five again.

There were 16 teams and we surprisingly came 6th - I say 'surprisingly' because our scores were pretty bad tonight. I won a bottle of wine for getting the 'Who Am I?' answer which was Leonardo Di Caprio. In six rounds, we usually get a perfect score for one of them, but not tonight.

Ah well, at least we got a few snorts of laughter from The Brains Trust - that's always how we measure a good time!

Now it's well after midnight and I am going to sleep away the terrible taste of this morning and wake up to a new day tomorrow. I hope it will have a more calm and positive beginning.

Nite all.  

  

Fun and Frivolity

My morning was a bit of a struggle I have to say.

My alarm went off at 6am but I kept hitting snooze ... for two hours!

Panic set in as I stepped into the shower and realised it was already well after 8am!

The weather was looking ominous and I knew that Adoring Husband would drive me to work, so that would give me a few extra minutes to get ready.

I was 'time efficient' and we pulled out of the driveway at 8.40am. He dropped me off to get my morning coffee while he took my very heavy bag to the shop and began opening up for me before I arrived.

Yes, I know. He is a good man.

The only hiccup for the morning was the number of ants at our front door. It seems that they had built a nest under the the metal strip in the doorway and there were tens of thousands of them swarming over the carpet and on the concrete out the front. It was like a horror movie!

I remembered that ants hate peppermint, so I grabbed the peppermint essential oil and sprinkled it where the ants were. Within 30 minutes all the ants were dead or gone. This afternoon when we picked up the doormat, there was a carpet of dead ants underneath it.

Success.

The girls began arriving at the shop for our coffee morning just as AH left.

It was a fun morning! A few extra snorts of laughter than usual and Lady Lynn attended for the first time in a few weeks which made it more special. It was almost 11.30am when the last of the ladies took her leave.

The last customer came through the doors at about 12.30pm and Woman of Many Talents came in to pay for her spot at the next Paint and Create workshop, but not another soul came near the place after that - except The Motivator who made a brief appearance.

I registered for all the gift fairs that we'll be attending in Sydney - just like me to leave it to the last minute!

I took a phone call from someone registering to attend my next photography workshop and another phone call to request a specific item in one of our orders while we are in Sydney and finally, a phone call confirming that we are donating to the Easter Fishing Classic this year.

AH arrived with coffee at 3pm and we closed the shop, bought some meat for dinner and drove home.

I got the washing off the line, hung out the washing that I'd put through the cycle this morning and then loaded the machine one more time.

I put together a fresh batch of coleslaw with my home made garlic mayonnaise. AH cooked the lamb chops on the barbecue and I made a light salad to go with them.

MKR and Married at First Sight got my attention tonight and now I'm ready for bed.

Swimming in the pool will be on my priority list tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will be kind.

Nite all.

Surprisingly So

Even on the days when I think it's terribly quiet, after chatting with the other business owners, I discover and realise that we are doing comparatively well.

This is especially surprising, taking into consideration that we are a gift shop - so we are not selling necessities like the butcher, the baker or the supermarket.

Between the few customers that came through the door today, I did some dusting, rearranged the display on one table, posted on social media, created an event for the photography workshop and edited some photos.

The afternoon went very slowly.

Adoring Husband arrived just before 3pm to help me close the shop.

He had been very busy spring cleaning at home and earlier in the day, before I had even left for work, he had discovered what he called "an infestation" of "giant" red back spiders in the bottom of our pantry.

Translation: he found a couple of insects that were possibly spiders and maybe even red backs 🤪

I can imagine him sitting in his lounge chair reading this with steam coming out of his ears because I am doubting his red back infestation story 🤣🤣🤣

I'm just having a go.

He is arachnophobic, so it really was a big deal ... and the fact that he didn't come running into the bedroom asking for my assistance, means a lot!

The last time he found a spider in an unexpected place, he came running out of the bathroom naked and protecting his 'bits' either from my eyes or from the dangerous fangs of the spider in the shower recess and it was my job to be the hero and save him from that creature!

It was nice to come home to such a clean house today and I did a load of washing and then gave psychotic dog Ruby, a haircut.

Tempting though it was, we did not go for a swim today.

Chicken and vegetables - roasted sweet potato, pumpkin, capsicum and brussels sprouts for dinner. The usual dessert.

Now it's almost 11pm already!

Sleep time for me.

Nite all.

Torrentially Yours

My sister, Squirt, lives on Magnetic Island, which is 15kms from Townsville, which is where this horrendous weather event is occurring as we speak.

Between 31st January and the 2nd February she had emptied 950mm of rain from her gauge.

In the last 24 hours she has emptied 390mm from the gauge.

Townsville airport is now closed.

Townsville is about to be inundated with extra water that's being released from the dam and the flooding will worsen.

The area has been warned of possible tornados and Squirt tells me the winds are swirling and gusty sending the rain in all directions.

Boulders have fallen and landed on the winding roads on the island. The usually trickling waterfalls now have some power behind them and they are making thunderous sounds as the water gushes down the mountain. Roads have turned into rivers. Businesses have temporarily closed their doors.

Now it's a waiting game.

I'd be going stir crazy by now. No sunshine and relentless rain causing damage all around me. Ugh.

The first photo is of the street that leads to her street and the other is self explanatory.

Meanwhile, our Sunday included a few short sharp showers, but Adoring Husband and I still spent some time in the pool this afternoon, even through a light shower.

Our dinner was oven baked chicken pieces with sweet potato (thank you to The Garden Guru and The Brains Trust) and coleslaw. I made a delicious gravy with all the juices from the chicken. Dessert was the usual, but I coated the toffee nuts with melted chocolate. What a delicious feast that dessert was!

The remainder of my day was filled with photo editing, study, reading, washing clothes and TV.

It was quite enjoyable and a little, but not 'too' productive.

Did I announce yet that Adoring Husband has quit the SES? He is no longer an active member, so he has not only left the higher position that he recently took on, but he has left the organisation altogether.

He's now free to take on life as he sees fit. I hope he has a positive outlook and finds joy in the days to come. I hope he's excited about the possibilities.

His decision has my full support 👍

We've go this.

Nite all.

Kicking Back

Thanks for another 'average' Saturday morning in the shop.

Thanks for allowing me to close on time - with Adoring Husband's help.

Thanks for giving me quiet time to put my feet up and relax.

Thanks for the perfect afternoon for swimming in the pool.

Thanks for delicious food - duck breast, coleslaw, roast pumpkin & spinach salad, blueberry/pineapple/banana fruit whip with toffee nuts - to nourish our bodies.

Thanks for a great evening for movie watching - The Book Club.

Thanks for a comfortable bed to welcome a long Saturday night of sound sleep. 

Thanks for a whole bunch of fabulous quotes to fill my blog post so that I can go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Nite all.

Fab Friday

I had a slow start to the day and didn't even get out of bed until 7.30am.

'Time efficient' is a good way to describe how I spent the hour to get ready for work and I was pedalling down the driveway at 8.30am.

This gave me plenty of time to stop and buy a take away coffee before going to work and the doors were open and I was ready for customers before the clock struck nine.

It was a steady day and sales were the best for the week.

I had a visit from The Brains Trust who delivered some produce from her garden.

I had a visit from The Motivator before she embarked on her camping trip. She was looking very relaxed and chilled.

I had a visit from Adoring Husband after he returned from The Bay, with stories of his purchases, which included a big bowl for the garden and my crystal rocks. Photo tomorrow.

I had a visit from a couple of ladies who attended the lady's lunch last Wednesday.

I had a visit from another local business owner who needed a special gift for a special person.

There wasn't a lot of spare time to complete any chores.

Adoring Husband returned to the shop at 3pm to help me close the doors and bring in all the paraphernalia so that I could leave on time.

I sat for half an hour to relax and unwind before getting ready for the usual Friday night at the club.

I had a lucky night on the pokies and only one other of our group had a win.

There was just enough room on the bus for me to squeeze in to come home.

AH had the usual dinner ready when I arrived home and we watched a silly movie.

Now it's time for bed - because work tomorrow!

It's going to take me twenty minutes to clear all the shoes, shoe boxes and clothes from the bed - I made a bit of a mess getting ready for the club. 🤪

Nite all.  

Blue Rock

Adoring Husband and I left home at 8am.

During the drive into The Bay, I wrote our 'to do' list.

First stop was Tinkerbells where I purchased this ...

It's a blue kyanite rock to go in the garden with the rose quartz rocks and I intend to get a couple of selenite towers.

I'm looking for a large shallow bowl approximately a metre in diameter, perhaps 30cm deep, to partially fill with sand and then strategically place my crystal rocks. Something like this ...

From there we

• restocked our raw nuts supply at Nana's Kitchen
• made a stop at Office Works which we left empty handed (unheard of right?!)
• visited HBW where AH was hoping to acquire some work related items but was unsuccessful
• stopped at Stocklands for a haircut, optometrist appt and food shopping
• looked for a mini outdoor coffee table at the clearance centre - where the 50% off prices are more expensive than Harvey Norman's full priced items
• Harvey Norman was next, to price their small TVs because the one in our outdoor area has had the royal order. No purchase was made.
• the final stop was at the butcher and Foodworks at home 
• it was rapidly approaching 4pm when we finally arrived home

We unpacked the car and packed everything away, fed the dogs, then just as we sat down to put our feet up, The Friendly Truckie pulled into the driveway. I had forgotten about the invitation I offered him when he needed help with some settings on his community Facebook page.

We showed him the pool and chatted for a while before we got down to business. This Facebook lesson took all of ten minutes, but by the time he left, it was time to cook dinner.

I made some sweet potato/pumpkin fritters which were delicious and we had them with lamb rack and coleslaw.

It's now well after 11.30pm so I'd best get to bed. I'm exhausted! I thought we'd have all our errands complete by midday, so it was a much longer day than I expected.

Happy Friday to you!

Nite all.    

Oh My Day

I thoroughly enjoyed my day, from beginning to end ... even though I'm not quite at the end yet.

I woke up at 6am excited to go to meditation and again there was a full house. Everybody was feeling the love and willing to share and there was laughter as we all related to each other and our stories. In the final meditation of the morning I felt myself sitting in a glowing golden light. The perfect way to finish the class.

I had booked myself in with The Gypsy for a treatment immediately after meditation.

Sorting through all of that paperwork in the back bedroom and in the drawers of the side cabinet, gave me a repetitive strain in my right shoulder. The pain was in it's second day today and I wanted to get rid of it before going to our lady's lunch.

The Gypsy did an amazing job and I felt no pain all day. It began to twinge a bit this evening so I did the stretches that she suggested and will do them again before I go to bed. She's a little marvel.

I got home from the treatment with just enough time to have a quick shower and get dressed for lunch. The Old Speckled Hen was picking me up at 11.30am so had an hour to play with.

Lunch, at Goody's, just fifteen minutes from here and with a beautiful view ...

I ordered GF salt and pepper squid with sweet potato fries and salad served with a spicy aioli. It was a huge meal and try as I might, I could not finish everything on my plate. I wish I'd taken a photo of the food!

Even though I was full and unable to finish my main meal, when they brought the dessert menu and it contained one GF option, I lost all self control and ordered it! It was a huge warm chocolate brownie swimming in a hot chocolate sauce with side serve of pouring cream.

I ate half of it and it was divine! It was my first off-paleo meal for the year and even though it tasted so delicious, my body was not enjoying the after affects of so much sugar and other less healthful ingredients.

Sometimes it's difficult to weigh up the benefits - is it worth the ten minutes of pure pleasure against the hour or two of discomfort that ranges from mild to intense?

I was home before 2.30pm and I made my way straight to the recliner and lay back to stretch my body so that the food had an easy pathway during the digestive process.

I watched a movie.

Adoring Husband was cooking a lamb rack on the barbecue for his dinner, so I made him a salsa salad and he had leftover coleslaw with his protein.

I declined dinner but just before 8pm I ate a mango and a handful of blackberries.

I texted my sister, Squirt, to find out how wet she was up in Magnetic Island. They've had 360mm this week - but only 78mm today.

The other big news in town was an accident last night where the Care Flight helicopter had to land in the Lions Park carpark to take an injured man to Brisbane. He had been hit by a car driven by his mother - the TV news claimed that she had dropped him home after a party and as she did a U-turn to leave, he jumped in front of the car.

He is in a critical condition.

He was living in the house next door to The Happy Abode and helped me carry our heavy sign a couple of times. He seemed like a nice friendly guy - rough around the edges, but nice enough.

Very sad.

Right now, I'm worn out after a great day. Adoring Husband and I have plans for heading into The Bay early tomorrow, so an early night is on the cards.

Nite all.  

Half On. Half Off.

Not a lot to talk about today.

Morning coffee with the girls was fantastic and the last to leave, The Brains Trust, walked out the door at 11.15am.

I only worked until 12pm so I had just enough time to change some payment information with our bank account and then create a quick flyer for my photography workshops.

The Motivator arrived right on time and we chatted for ages before I left for home. I rode up the driveway at 1.20pm and Adoring Husband announced "You're early." as I walked in the door.

"Actually, I'm late because I told you I'd be home before 1pm!"

Doofus.

I mashed up an avocado and took a punnet of blackberries out of the fridge and headed straight to the lounge room to park my butt on my recliner chair and kick back and relax.

AH was busy at his laptop doing SES business while sitting at the dining table.

I found a movie, "The Guardian" and put my feet up to enjoy Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher.

Adoring Husband left a bit after 3pm to attend an SES meeting in The Bay, so I watched my recording of 'Married at First Sight' pausing it every so often to prepare dinner.

I made a different version of Hainan chicken which was so delicious that I had to have some myself!

That's it for my day.

No swimming today. No decluttering. No washing. No studying. No stripping the bed.

They are all the things that I planned on doing before I arrived home, but my brain switched to 'shut down mode' as soon as I walked through the door.

It's already 9pm and I think I'll go to bed for an early night so that I can rise early for meditation on my day off.

Nite all.

Productive Day Off

I wasn't productive ALL day because I stopped in the middle for a swim and a relax and lunch around the pool.

Adoring Husband brought my morning coffee into the bedroom at around 8am.

I attempted to print a small booklet on our printer, but unfortunately a paper jam meant that I had no choice but to get out of bed to get that sorted.

I figured that while I was up, I should make a start on decluttering the back bedroom in preparation for Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armor's visit next month.

It't the room that AH likes to hoard every piece of paper that comes into the house. You know, when you have to clear an area quickly, so you pick everything up and dump it in another room 'temporarily'? Well that's the room where all our paperwork lands.

There were many mixed piles on the bed, so I sorted through each one and made new piles.

• SES paperwork
• Business paperwork (Grass Converters)
• Barry's medical paperwork
• My paperwork (surprisingly little)
• Our joint paperwork
• A pile of paperwork with ??? (meaning I wasn't sure whether to toss it or keep it)
• Junk pile to definitely chuck

I cleared other stuff from the room as well, so it won't take much to set it up for the kids.

I rewarded myself with a swim in the pool and then lay on the lounge in the shade of the umbrella while AH cooked steaks on the barbecue and served it with the leftover home made coleslaw. He followed that with sliced watermelon and mango.

Perfect.

We returned to the house and I watched four episodes of the Marie Kondo decluttering show on Netflix. I was disappointed. All of the people in the show got rid of a lot of stuff, but they still had a lot of stuff cluttering up their homes and not once did I think WOW what a difference!

I do decluttering better 🤗🤩🤪

So I turned off the TV and made the decision to start small and clear out the four drawers in the side cabinet. There was a LOT to throw away and now the drawers each have very little in them.

I didn't overdo it and I think it was a well balanced day with plenty of self care in the mix.

Dinner was beef casserole out of the freezer, so it was easy. That's enough red meat for the week, that's for sure!

MKR started it's tenth season tonight - looks like another interesting series. I've recorded 'Married at First Sight' to watch later.

I work for half a day tomorrow and then I'm off for 2 1/2 days! I expect to get lots of decluttering and lots of study done - except when I'm at the lady's lunch on Wednesday!

Anyway, enough of this frivolity. I need an early night.

Nite all.

Sleepy Sunday

It was not a sleepy Sunday for me, but I probably could have had a nap at work if I'd wanted one.

Even though there were not a lot of customers, I got quite a bit done as far as tidying and cleaning go.

Lots of dusting and rearranging and display changing and jewellery cleaning, so by the end of the day I felt like I'd been productive enough.

I closed the shop a little after 1pm and bought my coffee for the day before pedalling home.

Adoring Husband arrived a little after me and we sat down and ate a big bag of green grapes together while watching the remaining episodes of Grace and Frankie.

Dinner was prepared very early because it was too late for lunch and we were both starving. I did maple/thyme chicken drumsticks with coleslaw and sweet potato salad. I think we sat down to eat at about 5pm.

I made a fruit whip ice cream with frozen pineapple, blueberries, papaya and I added banana and mango, coconut cream, maple syrup and Himalayan salt.  I also did up a tray of toffee nuts.

After we filled our bellies and before the tennis started, I changed into my swimmers and slid into the pool. I mostly just floated around for about half an hour and as darkness fell and Adoring Husband complained about getting eaten by mozzies (he didn't come into the water), we decided to go inside.

The tennis had already started, but it finished pretty quickly! Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal very easily and very quickly. He was my pick, but I expected Nadal to put up a much better fight than he did.

Now I'm watching Netflix.

"Tidying Up with Marie Kondo"

I've lost count of how many people have recommended Marie Kondo's book and TV series and she's even recommended in the course that I'm currently studying. So I've just switched her show on and now I'm leaving you so that I can focus.

I hope she can perform miracles and teach me how to declutter with a vengeance and keep my life uncluttered.

Not like this ...

On that note ...

Nite all.

Oopsie!

I'm not sure how it happened, but I forgot to post here yesterday!

It has certainly been a very quiet week in our town and surprisingly, the caravan parks have not filled for the Australia Day long weekend. The Happy Abode will be open every day over this weekend so let's see if we can manifest a successful and profitable few days.

In my attempts to declutter the house, I have been tossing at least one thing every day. Even if it means opening a drawer and removing something that I haven't used for a long time - if I can't remember the last time I used it, then I don't need it.

I have a pile of clothes and bags that I'm going to send to a friend who runs a business called 'Rethread the Earth' and she makes crossbody and satchel bags from recycled materials, fabrics, bags and belts.

I already own three of her bags and I've been stalking her lately to purchase another. Her prices have increased quite a lot since my last purchase but her bags sell like hotcakes at the markets and I love her hippy/nature loving style.

So if I don't have time to do a big declutter, just tossing one thing at least keeps the momentum going.

Oh, I just remembered why I forgot to blog!

My sister, Squirt, and I video chatted for two hours! It was almost 11pm when we ended our call and I had to work this morning so I headed straight to bed.

We don't catch up very often but when we do, it's usually a long call.

I did a bit of study yesterday and did the usual Club routine.

Today (Saturday) was fun at the shop. Even though it was quiet as far as sales go, The Motivator and I had some good talks and some good laughs and made some good life decisions. I enjoyed the day very much.

I did some more study this afternoon. Some in the lounge room. Some by the pool. I tested the water and it was very warm so I chose not to go in. Adoring Husband, on the other hand, loves it when it's warm, so he went for a swim after dinner.

We had salmon steaks with sweet potato salad and coleslaw - both prepared with my home made aioli. Dessert was a mango for me and a large plate of sliced watermelon for AH.

I've just watched the Women's final in the Australian Open Tennis and my favourite, Naomi Osaka from Japan won. She won the US Open last year in September, but got a raw deal when Serena Williams stole the show with her controversial tantrum on court and the media totally focused on that instead of Osaka's success.

I think I'm going to annoy AH and go to bed now to do some study beside him while he attempts to fall asleep, although I'm pretty certain he'll be snoring before I even get in there!

I hope you all enjoy your long weekend.

Nite all.  

Listening Carefully

I had a number of options this morning.

• Get out of bed and begin decluttering one of the rooms.
• Get out of bed and go swimming.
• Stay in bed and edit the remaining wedding photos.
• Stay in bed and begin the new live round of Money Mindset course.
• Stay in bed and listen to my new book "The Universe Has Your Back".
• Stay in bed and begin creating my online course.

I made a choice based on the fact that the painter was here painting the ceiling in our family room/kitchen - finally - after the ceiling repairs that happened before Christmas.

I didn't want to get changed out of my pyjamas unless it was into my swimmers and I didn't want to come face to face with the painter and have to be introduced.

I had already chosen the room that I wanted to declutter but Adoring Husband wanted us to declutter a different room.

My brain wasn't quite open enough or alive enough to handle doing the course or creating a course.

My laptop has a problem with an internal chip which causes distracting lines to fill my screen and that makes editing difficult.

So ...

I chose to listen to the book.

While listening to the book, I was able to get in and enjoy the pool and I moved part of our outdoor lounge under the shade of the umbrella and lay there with my earphones in and the volume up as I attempted to drown out the sound of lawn mowers and leaf blowers in the neighbour's yards.

There was a nice breeze blowing so the temperature wasn't hard to handle.

I did stop to cook lunch after the painter left and the house now has the smell of fresh paint permeating throughout.

I stopped for 30 minutes when Princess Anne arrived for her afternoon rehab swim. We discussed starting up aqua-aerobics on a weekly basis in the pool and she provided a printout of the exercises she used to do in a previous life.

Watch this space.

Anyway, I finally finished the book at about 5pm and I loved the entire book until the last ten minutes. It's not that the last ten minutes were bad, I'm just not sure that I agree with her sentiments. Otherwise, every chapter had me hungry for more and I loved her ideas, her practices, the exercises and activities that she offered and all the thought processes along the way.

Definitely worth my time.

It's only 8.30pm and I'm tired from all that fresh air and sunshine. I swam quite a few laps today, including some butterfly which takes some effort! Pretty sure I won't be doing that again lol. I did my usual exercises and some underwater laps strengthening and increasing my lung capacity.

Then I bragged to AH that I love my life ... so much!

I'm watching Nadal thrash the pants off the young Greek Tsitsipas in the semi final of the Australian Open. It's been short and sweet. Nadal is playing like a true champion - better than I've ever seen him play - so confident and strong and mistake free.

I don't think anyone will beat him and he's gotta be the favourite to win - although I am a big fan of Djokovic and I suspect he will be his opponent in the final.

Anyway, enough of this frivolity.

Nite all.  

Whacky Doo Wednesday

It was a whacky doo Wednesday with both The Motivator and I in attendance.

It began beautifully enough with a fabulous meditation class - another full house - and there was plenty of love in the room when it was all over.

The Motivator took The Gypsy's first appointment for the morning. The Gypsy was booked out for the day so I didn't get to chat with her - however - The Motivator and I had plenty to talk about and we didn't shut up for most of the day.

It was another quiet one for sales, though it was the best day of the week so far. It was nice to spend a quiet day at our desks just chatting.

At 2.54pm I stood up to begin closing the shop, when a customer walked through the door. She walked around for twenty minutes and eventually spent $4. That was a little bit annoying because I wanted to get home to prepare for a visitor.

I stopped on my trike to buy mangos from the man who lives across the road from The Motivator's house. He has fresh mangos in a wheelbarrow and boxes at the front of his house with an honesty tin to pay. They are the best mangos that I've tasted for a long time and I could eat them til the cows come home. So I bought seven! I had bought 5 two days ago and only have two of them left.

I have two days off work now and probably won't be going past his house, so I had to stock up - they will be my sustenance for every meal and in between!

Princess Anne had attended meditation and for the second week in a row, was suffering with back problems, so I suggested that she come spend some time in the pool to take the pressure off. I think she said it was a slipped disc.

Anyway, she arrived at 4pm and we spent thirty minutes in the water talking all things health and diet related. She and I have very similar views and Princess Anne is just lovely so it was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

After she left, I stayed in the water for another 45 minutes swimming some laps and doing some exercises. The water was lovely and I had music playing in the background. I would have stayed in longer, but I had plans for dinner so I removed myself and made the kitchen my destination.

I roasted pumpkin and cauliflower to put with baby spinach and semi sun-dried tomato drizzled with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled roasted pine nuts. That was served with lamb rack.

Fruit whip ice cream and toffeed nuts for dessert.

All totally delicious and satisfying.

I was all settled in to watch the Djokovic vs Nishikori quarter final tonight in the tennis, but Nishikori sustained an injury in the first set and was unable to finish the second set before retiring hurt. That was disappointing.

The Aussie, Sam Stosur is playing in the doubles right now, so I might head to bed and watch it in the bedroom. I slept well last night, but I'm feeling weary right now.

Nite all.

Tantalising Tuesday

I set my alarm for two different times this morning.

Because I watched tennis until almost 1am and by the time I'd done the pre-bed routine and settled down to sleep, it was almost 2am.

I had my usual alarm at 5.55am and another for 7.10am.

Usually I would hit snooze three or four times, but I knew that I might need a second stint of sound sleep, hence the second alarm.

I enjoyed that extra hour of sleep.

I still got to the shop before 8.45 and had plenty of time to grab my coffee and open the shop before the girls arrived for morning tea.

They were a rowdy bunch this morning! Lots of laughter and snorts coming from TWO of the girls instead of the usual one! Plenty of medical discussions and dog talk while sharing photos. It was a good two hours of silliness and some of them enjoyed a little retail therapy before they headed home.

The morning was quite steady with sales but very quiet in the afternoon.

I restocked the snap button trays.

I emptied the bins ready to take the big bins out to the footpath for collection.

I stapled our cards to some paper bags.

I cleared almost 7000 emails (yes seven THOUSAND).

I posted on our social media pages.

I made a sign for our window to give our customers warning about our closure at the end of February.

I watched a training video on the secret functions of my camera.

I watched part of a video from DDT re the next live round of the Money Mindset Bootcamp. I still haven't completed an entire round of this course yet - there are live rounds of it every six months. I have good intentions for the upcoming round. Let's see if I can manage it this time.

It was almost 4pm when I pulled everything inside and locked the doors.

After doing some grocery shopping for Adoring Husband, I pedalled home feeling pretty worn out.

Thankfully, I had prepared a huge beef casserole on Monday night (enough for 4 meals), so all I had to do was add some greens when I heated it up and AH had a nice piping hot bowl of meat and vegetables in time for me to sit down and watch Ash Barty lose her quarter final tennis match.

Nadal is now thrashing his opponent so it could be a sign for me to have an early night.

I'm looking forward to meditation in the morning and there should be a good crowd. It seems there are many people looking to improve their relationship with themselves this year and we've already had some amazing feedback. It gives me the warm and fuzzies!

I hope you enjoy Hump Day!

Nite all.

  

Fabulous Start

I had such a nice day!

It was very quiet as far as sales go, but The Gypsy was in and she had two appointments booked, so we got to chat between those appointments.

It's like she is feeding my soul and I feel so full and so nourished and so enlightened after our talks.

I'm not baring my soul or discussing problems and issues. We are discussing all of our strengths and how we can build on them and use them, with love, to bring clarity and peace and contentment to our lives. How to not buy into our own or others' weaknesses and be affected in a negative way.

I have learned so much from her since she came to The Happy Abode.

In the last two years, I have focussed on certain things to improve myself and I have felt a huge swing on the positive side of my life ledger.

It all started with the Journey work in 2017. Those retreats melted away so many blocks in my psyche and cleared issues that I'd unknowingly held on to for years. My heart and mind were suddenly open and I felt like I was finally in charge of my own life.

I do journeys on myself whenever I feel like something is holding me back or when I know an old memory is affecting the way I approach situations. I forgive the people who hurt me or restricted me in the past and I remove the old thoughts and replace them with new improved positive thoughts.

This was followed by learning how to manifest. I had my doubts, but remembering how my vision boards since 2003 had brought to my life Barry, a home by the ocean, improved health, repaired teeth, fun road trips, financial freedom, education, a new camera and so much more, what did I have to lose?

I spent months manifesting The Happy Abode. When The Motivator and I wanted the space once known as JATOE (Just a Touch of Everything) but weren't prepared to succumb to the owner's unreasonable conditions, I manifested like a crazy person. That shop was for sale at the end of March 2017.

I dedicated a journal to The Happy Abode - I don't think we had chosen that name yet - I wrote stories about how we would find the perfect space to create our dream business. I wrote stories about the beautiful things we would have available, the workshops and courses that we would provide, the way it would become the hub of the community and a destination place for visitors.

I also had a big art book and I drew up signs of affirmation that our vision would become a reality and that the universe would provide for us. That it would absolutely, without a doubt happen soon, declaring that it was our destiny and the perfect space would fall into our laps.

I wrote little notes and posted them all over my home office, so that it didn't matter where I looked, I was reminded that our space was coming.

The Motivator and I talked all the time about it happening and agreed that when the time was right, it would all fall into place.

It took four months.

We all know what happened from there.

My next successful manifestation was the pool. In reality, that kinda took ten years, but only one year from when I got SERIOUS about it and believed that it was possible.

So I've learned that with a consistently positive mindset, life takes you on on a whole different track  and dreams can come true.

I plan to continue manifesting The Motivator's and my big goals and ideas for The Happy Abode and hopefully watch it grow into something bigger and better with every passing year.

Finally, meditation.

If you'd told me, even 2 years ago, that meditation would play such an important role in my life, I'd have shaken my head and laughed. I had no idea how powerful or how life changing it could be and I can't imagine my life without it now.

While it's an ongoing process and I am always learning something new, Meditation has brought a lot of clarity to my relationship with myself. I work on and practice everything that I learn in the classes and I keep my own cup full so that I have plenty of love to share with the important people in my life.

I've mentioned before that I meditate at least once every day and that helps me stay focussed on my strengths. As I said before ... life changing.

So the Journeys, Manifestation and Meditation have added incredible value to my life, to my peace of mind and to my happiness. I'm excited for what 2019 will bring!

I'm off to meditate!

Nite all.

Feeling Rested

It has been a lovely restful Sunday.

I stayed in bed, pool hair from the day before, reading and studying and chatting with BGWLBH via text until about 11am. I took the photo laying down ... because you know, relax some of those morning wrinkles (ok so they're there noon and night too ... not just morning!) and I used a filter and it took 16 attempts to get a reasonably straight smile.

My plan was to make lunch our main meal for the day - that roast that I'd planned last night? Well, I had cooked the chicken last night, ready for today, so all I had to do was cook up a tray of vegetables and make the gravy from all the delicious juices.

In between big jobs, Adoring Husband stopped for an hour to eat his lunch. He had a busy day ... certainly not a day of rest for him.

At 2pm, after I watched Ash Barty win her tennis match, I heard the pool calling me so the next two and a half hours were spent there.

I love our pool.

At 5pm I threw together a nosh up dinner for AH and we sat down to begin watching Grace and Frankie. I'm about to watch episode 7 before I head to bed.

It's very tiring having such a restful day!

Have a great Monday!

Nite all.