A Watery End

The usual Tuesday morning coffee date saw 5 of us at the table this morning.

Aggie, The Blonde Bombshell, The Welsh Wonder and Maid Marian sat with me over coffee until just after 10.30am. Drs appointments and other commitments sent everyone scuttling a little earlier than usual.

I picked up the mail and took it to the shop. My calendars arrived and these are a few of the photos ...

While I was there I washed the last of the paint buckets full of cups, cloths and paddle pop sticks that had been sitting in the shop kitchen for over a week 😳

I got home well after midday and Adoring Husband was busily clearing out our hot garage so that he could store even more crap in there! I prepared a nibbly lunch and gave him a little assistance before we sat down to eat.

I got some washing done, partially cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the toilet and then spent the afternoon in the pool. After about an hour, The Motivator joined me and we floated, stretched, swam some laps and chatted for another hour.

The water was perfect and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

Dinner was leftover corned beef with a big fat salad, which was the easiest thing I could come up with because I didn’t come in from the pool until 6pm which is when we are usually sitting down to dinner!

So all in all I had a very pleasant day.

I plan on meditating tomorrow because it’s the final session for 2019, so it will be an early night for me.

Nite all.

A Bit Productive

On Sunday, Adoring Husband asked me what my Monday plans were.

My reply was “To live my best life”

My best life included

• staying in bed until 11.30am
• creating 3 pieces of art
• transferring my clothes to the new dressing table
• putting up the Christmas tree
• cooking corned silverside with white sauce, cabbage and sweet potato for dinner

I’m afraid that cleaning the bathroom was not part of me living my best life today.

Maybe tomorrow.

Maybe not 😳

No swimming today because those dreadful strong hot winds make being outside damned uncomfortable!

That’s my Monday in a nutshell.

Nite all.

Tricked

Adoring Husband tricked me into getting out of bed for a swim this morning.

When I reached the pool, the conditions were gale force and the water was a little on the cool side, so I did an ‘about face’ and returned to bed for a couple of hours.

I did not get much from my ‘to do’ list done today.

I got some washing done, had a very brief swim because the conditions really did not improve. My dressing table is still empty, my bathroom is still in need of a clean and my art is still waiting to be created.

My ‘to do’ list will still be there tomorrow.

I bathed psychotic dog Ruby and prepared a meal for Adoring Husband for dinner tonight, while I ate half a fresh pineapple. It was so sweet and juicy!

Now, it’s not even 8.30pm and I’m ready for bed.

All worn out from doing nothing much at all.

Nite all.

Working Not Working

I had paperwork to sort through at work and wanted to get that job out of the way, so I was up bright and early, rode down for a very quick visit with the boys at The Seat of Knowledge before unlocking the shop door right on 8am.

It took me an hour to finish the first stage of the paperwork trail and about 20 minutes for the second stage.

In the middle of all that, The Motivator arrived for work and opened the shop.

It was a very quiet Saturday as far as customers and sales are concerned, but that gave TM and I an excellent opportunity to catch up. We had a LOT to talk about and time passed so quickly! Four hours felt like two!

I rode off as TM was closing the shop at 1pm and was welcomed home by three very large Santa Clauses on our front lawn.

AH had spent the morning setting up our outdoor Christmas lights and decorations.

Tomorrow we’ll set up the indoor decorations and the tree 🌲

I prepared an easy lunch and baked a chicken for dinner, which we ate with salad.

I think we are both ready for bed now. I feel like I’ve really filled my day, but I’ve achieved very little in the second half of the day.

My other plan for tomorrow is to fill the new dressing table with my ‘stuff’.

I want to swim.

I want to do some art.

I want to do some washing and clean the bathroom.

What I WANT to do and what I ACTUALLY do, are always two completely things! 🤪

Nite all.

Fab Friday

It was a great day at the shop with lots of interesting people and they all made purchases!

There were many conversations about photography and art and shared experiences. Tawny Frogmouths were the most popular subject and I may have a buyer for one of my photos.

I even received a few hugs along the way!

At 3pm, The Motivator and I had an appointment in our shop with a bookkeeper who spent almost 90 minutes with us and was incredibly helpful.

The Motivator gave me a lift home after our appointment and Adoring Husband cooked an early dinner.

That was my day in a nutshell!

Now I’m off to bed for another early night - I have to say that I slept like a log last night for seven hours. No interruptions from any psychotic dogs between 9.30pm and 4.30am. It WAS a psychotic dog that woke me at 4.30am but after 7 hours of sound sleep, I wasn’t bothered.

Let’s try for a repeat performance. Wish me luck!

Nite all.

It Has Arrived!

As I suggested yesterday, I DID get out of bed early and I DID go swimming before work!

The water was perfect and I didn’t even have to ease my way in. I swam some laps and did some exercises for about 30 minutes. It was a great way to start my day.

Adoring Husband opened the shop at 8.30am while I got my coffee and then he rushed home to wait for our furniture delivery.

Which arrived just before midday!

He put the dressing table together by himself so it was beautifully displayed by the time I got home.

I love it.

The shop was pretty quiet today, although I had visits from a couple of acquaintances who were in for a chat and the lovely Aggie dropped in too.

I took delivery of two boxes of new stock this morning and had it almost all priced and displayed by closing time.

We did a decent sized meat purchase from the butcher because he’s closed for renovations for 4 days starting Friday. The only trouble was that there was no room for the meat in the fridge, so my first 20 minutes at home was spent doing a long overdue clean out of our fridge.

Gross me out.

I put together a nice concoction of chicken, mushroom, onion, sweet potato and tomato for AH, which I served with broccoli and carrot. I had two bites of chicken with half an avocado, a mango and a tablespoon of my home made coleslaw.

I’ve consumed 2 litres of water today. I must be pretty dehydrated because I haven’t needed to pee all day at work! Note to self ... ‘Drink more water’

It’s 8.20pm and I’m in bed with AH snoring loudly beside me. My eyelids are feeling very heavy so I might be asleep myself very soon!

Thank God It’s Friday.

Nite all.
 

J.P.A.

J.P.A. = Jewellery Purchasers Anonymous.

That’s the new organisation under consideration in this house!

Our new dressing table is finally being delivered tomorrow, which meant I had no choice tonight, but to clear the old dressing table so that it could be moved out in preparation for the new one.

My jewellery fills these two cases ...

... and this case is absolutely packed tight with jewellery ...

... and there is more hanging on hooks in the w/i robe.

It took me about an hour to pack it all away and none of it is even sorted properly - that will be done before it goes to the new dressing table.

My red leather case, which is now 16 years old, is broken and needs replacing. A good jewellery case is hard to find!

So yes, I’m on a mission.

Meanwhile, today was a good day in the shop.

Our second last meditation for the year was a full house and full of fun as well as full of insightful discussions.

I created and ordered my 2020 calendar.

There were some lovely customers in for a chat too. Regular holiday makers as well as locals.

With an early start and a busy evening, I’m all done in and ready for bed. I might get up early for a swim before work tomorrow. That will be a fresh way to start the day!

Nite all.

Time Poor

Today, I felt like there weren’t enough hours to do all the things.

Adoring Husband was kind enough to open the shop and man it for the first 30 minutes while I enjoyed coffee with the girls.

Only four of us this morning with one feeling unwell and everyone else out of town, but as always, we enjoyed each other’s company and I was disappointed to leave early.

I had cleared off all the tables in the training room before morning tea and while I was out, AH folded them up and slid them into their storage positions.

Between selecting and editing photos for my 2020 calendar, taking delivery of some rugs and serving customers, the day was quite busy and I had to close a few minutes early to be able to make it to hooping classes.

AH had a Dr’s appointment so he couldn’t be his usual helpful self. Speaking of which, his tests came back clear of anything sinister, but we have a couple of minor issues to deal with. Nothing serious.

Hooping class was fun and I felt some of the golfing muscles twinging during that hour, but I wasn’t the only class member there today so it was giggly fun while the other lady tried to make up for missing two classes.

AH was home with time to spare so that he could collect me from hooping and we did some shopping  before driving home.

Before my body decided it had had enough for the day, I went straight to the kitchen and we were eating dinner by 5.45pm.

Tomorrow is an early one because of meditation and it’s already 10.30pm so I’d best move my butt to bed!

Nite all.

What Muscles?

Oh! ALL the muscles!!

Adoring Husband and I hit nine holes of golf this morning.

We hired a cart so it wasn't as strenuous as it would have been if we'd walked the course, but even climbing in and out of the cart approximately 50 times over that distance used muscles that haven't been used that repetitively for years ... if ever.

We didn't score on a card but kept track for each hole. Despite the fact that all the water hazards were almost completely dry, we both lost a couple of balls, but considering that I haven't played for six years and AH has only had a couple of rounds in that time, we both played pretty well!

We might make it a regular date.

Right now, however, I'm struggling to get in and out of the lounge chair!

When we got home, I changed into my swimmers/togs/bathers and jumped in the pool. I spent about an hour swimming a few laps and floating and afterwards relaxed on the outdoor lounge for about an. hour.

The weather was glorious with a nice breeze. A perfect 'laze by the pool' kind of day.

I prepared a late lunch and we watched some telly until, at 5pm, a live webinar about Art that I booked in to watch started. That went for an hour, but I wasn't very impressed.

For dinner, I had a salad of broccoli, micro greens, strawberry, onion, pear, cucumber, beetroot, mango, avocado and dressing. It was very nice and I think I might make that one more often.

Work tomorrow,  so I'm off for an early night and hopefully the muscles will settle by tomorrow afternoon when I have my final hoop dancing class for the year!

Nite all.  

Sabotage or Distraction?

For a Sunday, I was out of bed quite early.

It was around 9am!

I checked the pool water, but wasn’t inclined to enter for a swim.

The studio was calling to me but even though I entered with a few ideas, my heart wasn’t in it, so I got some fruit out of the fridge and sat with Adoring Husband in the lounge room.

My favourite Aunty on my Dad’s side, Jackie, lost her partner of 23 years to cancer yesterday and I had arranged to call her at noon, so I sat outside and gave her a call. She lost her beautiful 14 yr old dog last week and now her man.

She is 76 yrs young and while we have had regular contact through Facebook, this is just our 2nd phone call in 14 years. We last saw each other at my Mum’s funeral.

Today we talked about the possibility of her catching the train from Brisbane and visiting us next month. I really hope that this happens because we have the kind of relationship where time and distance means nothing. Our bond is strong and I would love to be the recipient of one of her bear hugs.

We chatted for about 45 minutes and reluctantly ended the call, to be continued another day.

At 2pm I had to go to The Happy Abode to meet one of yesterday’s workshop participants and hand over her artwork so that she could take them home to Brisbane on Monday morning.

She was so grateful for my willingness to accommodate her needs, that she brought me a lovely hand made gift to thank me!

Here are some photos of yesterday’s efforts ...

They turned out pretty well I think!

Tonight’s meal was chicken with mushroom sauce accompanied by carrot, broccoli and cabbage.

Adoring Husband and I are planning a round of golf early tomorrow morning so I’d best get some sleep.

Nite all.

Another Day

We rocked up at the shop at 7.20am to set up the art room.

It took us 40 minutes to set up so I had a whole hour to kill before I could even open the shop! I was way too ambitious with my timing!

There were only two participants in the class and we created two pieces of art each, plus we dipped a canvas onto our excess paint that dripped on the table. I have no photos to show you in this post, but I should have some for tomorrow’s post.

For the first time in months, the class filled the entire 3 hours and the ladies were very happy with their outcomes. I even received a text tonight, thanking me for an enjoyable class. That feels good.

Adoring Husband and I sat down to a plate full of healthy nibbly goodness. I had guacamole dip with cucumber, pear, pineapple, mango, fresh mushroom, onion and cabanossi.

We watched a silly movie then spent an eternity changing the bedding and rotating our enormous mattress.

AH did some washing.

I cooked up some pork medallions filled with garlic butter for dinner and we had broccoli and carrot on the side.

It’s been quite a tiring day for me and I’m ready for bed.

Nite all.

Friendship

It was a lovely day full of wonderful friendship moments.

While I was having my usual relaxing morning in bed, Adoring Husband kindly reminded me that I had arranged to visit Lady Lynn to drop off her birthday gift before she left for her trip away! So I jumped out of bed, sent her a text to be sure that she was still at home, made myself presentable, grabbed the gift and jumped on my trike to pedal quickly part way round the block see my lovely friend.

She is a sweet, kind, generous and humble human being with so much love in her heart. I used her birthday card to express how I felt about her and her friendship which made her quite emotional.

Soon, after some hugs, tears and a firm confirmation of her ‘obvious to everyone’ wonderfulness, we said our goodbyes and I pedalled off back home.

During our conversation, Lady Lynn had asked me if I was going to have coffee with the girls this morning. What I thought she was going to ask was “are you clubbing with the girls tonight?” So I answered her question before she’d finished speaking the words.

When I left she told me to offer her apologies for not coming to coffee.

My weird brain put 2 and 2 together and I realised that there was a coffee date happening that I wasn’t invited to, but which I’d said I was attending! 😳🤪

So I figured I should invite myself!

I sent a text to Rebel Mardi asking if there was a coffee date and she very generously and very immediately invited me. She picked me up and we picked up The Brains Trust from work and drove to our usual coffee haunt.

Thank goodness The Brains Trust was happy to see me too! There was just the three of us and it was sweetest two hours spent with two of my favourite people. It’s been a long time since I spent such quality time with Rebel Mardi and I thoroughly enjoyed the morning.

In between my visit to LL and my coffee date, I dropped in to see The Motivator to let her know that AH and I would set the training room up for the art workshop so she didn’t have to do it.

She was very busy with The Fisher King rearranging her work station. Quick hugs and a short chat before I rushed home to get ready for my coffee date.

Later, on the way to the club, I stopped in to the shop to see if I’d left a handbag there last week. It was after 4.30pm and TM was still there! More big hugs and another quick chat and after I’d pointed out that in my blingy platform shoes, I was taller than her 😁, I rushed off to the club arriving twenty minutes late.

It was a good night with a win on the pokies for me and lots of hugs with friends and some loud conversations in a noisy environment.

Luckily for me there was a single seat on the bus for me to come home at 7.30pm and AH had prepared dinner for us.

So it has been a really great day full of friends and hugs and conversations and laughs and tears.

I have to go into the shop super early in the morning because I never did get back to set the room up for the art workshop.

I’d best get some sleep!

Nite all

Party Time

Today was pretty full on.

 Created a terrible piece of art ...

... I actually attempted to rescue it by trying a couple tricks, but they didn’t work so I scraped the paint off the canvas and into the bin.

I did a couple of loads of washing.

Adoring Husband and I went swimming this afternoon. The water was actually warm so AH was in his element.

I made a big fruit platter for the party tonight.

The evening was pretty special with a great group of friends gathered together, all providing food for the table and celebrating a couple of birthdays. There were about 25 of us filling a small space.

It was especially nice to catch up with old friends who are visiting from the Sunny Coast. Rebel Mardi with her sparkling smile and The Lifesaver with his ever so humble demeanour!

We were the first to leave after about 2.5 hours. I had pedalled the trike there, about 5 houses away, because we had to carry 2 folding chairs, an esky with our drinks and the big fruit platter. Most of that fitted into the trike basket.

I changed straight into my pyjamas, folded all the washing and then parked myself on the lounge while AH made himself some dessert.

I think I’m ready for some sleep now.

Nite all.

Over and Done

I spent almost the entire day in bed.

Reading, playing, studying, writing etc etc etc.

I had to get up at 2pm to attend a 3pm appointment that lasted for 2.5 hours.

It was a most interesting session and I look forward to the next one.

One day, I might share the experience here.

Thank goodness I put a corned silverside in the slow cooker before I left so I fried up some shredded cabbage with honey and steamed some broccoli and carrot to go with it.

Tonight, I've created this ...

... ready for the weekend workshop.

I'm going to play in the studio tomorrow before getting ready for the big birthday bash in the late afternoon.

So there's not much to report for the day and now I need to sleep.

Nite all.

Done In

I’m sitting in my chair yawning my head off.

I’m totally done in and I’m ready for bed.

We had early coffee this morning, so I was there before 8.30am.

Nine of us were making a lot of noise so it was quite a rowdy morning. Almost everyone had appointments to go to so gradually, over the following 3 hours, our numbers dwindled until at 11.30am there were only three of us remaining.

I grabbed a couple of groceries before popping in to see The Motivator at the shop and we chatted for about half an hour before I pedalled home to have lunch with Adoring Husband.

By now it was after 1.30pm and I considered doing some art but realised that I had hooping class at 3pm. I didn’t want to have to rush through a piece, so I sat down to watch some cake baking on TV and then the beginning of A Star is Born.

Hooping was a heavy class with just me again. I like having the one on one attention but I would be so much better if I bloody well practiced! I always have good intentions, but the week goes so fast and before I know it, it’s hooping day again!

We practiced a few routines and just as I was getting into the groove and having some success, the class was over.

I came home, walked straight out to the pool to test the water, and discovering that it it was absolutely perfect, walked straight in, fully dressed!

I swam about 150 metres, did some stretches and floated for a good while.

I love that pool 💓

For dinner, I decided to make myself home made cream of mushroom soup, which was absolutely delicious. I prepped a salad for AH while he cooked his steak.

Now, I am absolutely exhausted.

I’m off to bed!

Nite all.

Movie Date

It was a slow start to our day, but we eventually got our act together and we left the house at about 9.30am.

We had a few things on our ‘to do’ list. None of them very interesting.

We visited the car yard to make some enquires about a couple of things with our car.

We went to the coffee drive through because it had been 28 hours since I’d had caffeine and my head was beginning to pound.

We went through a car wash. NOT the automated one. Adoring Husband decided to wash the car himself while I sat inside, baking slowly, like a pavlova!

We went to the movies earlier than planned to watch “Last Christmas”.

It was a nice movie with an unexpected twist. They’ve been hailing it as the next “Love Actually” but  I disagree. Even though it had my favourite actors from “Crazy Rich Asians”, it cannot compare to “Love Actually”.

If you’re wondering ... it’s worth seeing.

We came home but stopped at the butcher and the Post Office first.

It was too late to create anything interesting in my studio, but I wanted to do something, so I mixed all the colours for this month’s paint pouring challenge and created this ...

... nothing to be excited about, but when I get some good time in the studio, I know what I’m going to do and have set aside the canvases in preparation.

We had lamb cutlets and salad for dinner which was quick and easy.

Now it’s almost 11pm so I’d best get some sleep. Our coffee morning will be starting early tomorrow.

Nite all.

Slack Saturday

I’m surprised to discover that I didn’t do a blog post on Saturday night!

It was a pretty good morning in the shop on Saturday and on the way home, Adoring Husband and I drove to the boat ramp to check on te fires across the river.

They looked like the wind might whip them up and you can tell by the chop on the water how windy it was ...

... luckily for us AND for the people from Woodgate and surrounding areas whose properties were threatened, nothing happened and AH and I returned that evening to see that there wasn’t even the soft glow of a dying fire across the river.

I got to bed early and slept for 3 hours until 12.30am when psychotic dog Jack woke me up to take him outside for toileting. I was able to fall straight back to sleep until 4am when AH, for some strange reason, decided to have a shower with what sounded like very heavy water!

Back to sleep from 4.30am til 6.30am.

I learnt a lot more about our endocannabinoid system, watching another 3 hours of the docu-series this morning. You’re going to hear about it, but not today.

The pool called to me so I changed into my swimmers/bathers/togs and swam 30 laps, did my exercises, floated and danced for about 90 minutes. I sat on the lounge for a while before coming inside to make lunch.

We watched the movie “Yesterday” which was quite enjoyable.

I cooked a lamb roast for dinner and enjoyed a smoothie for dessert. Cucumber, celery, apple, pineapple, strawberries, coconut water and iced water. Delicious.

It’s almost 10pm so I’m off to bed. AH and I have a movie date tomorrow!

Nite all.

Flare Up

Last night, after I finished the blog post, I took the dogs outside for their final pee before bed and I found this!

It was a little disconcerting and difficult to go straight to bed until I'd checked the QFES updates a number of times to make sure we were not in immediate danger.

This morning, the sky was still very smoky, but the fire was much smaller and here we were, feeling safe and believing that the worst was over.

When BAM!!

The sky became dark with thick brown and black smoke, there were planes with sirens, helicopters and fire trucks all over the place!

The wind had changed direction and strengthened and here we were in the danger zone again.

The Motivator took these photos (she took the video that I put on yesterday's blog post too!)

That lasted for about three hours until the wind changed direction again, which didn't reduce the danger, but DID clear the sky. As of this afternoon, things appear to have calmed somewhat ...

For the third night in a row, we are still with bags packed, ready to evacuate if necessary and we are currently on the "STAY INFORMED" list, which is our best status so far. They are still concerned that conditions could change at any time, so we are not completely in the clear.

While I was waiting for the fire to make a decision about how bad it wanted to get, I decided to do some art. Adoring Husband had to go into town for some medical tests, so I had the house to myself.

I'm quite happy with the results of this one and in this case, the real thing looks better than the photo.

Tomorrow is Saturday and I'll be working at The Happy Abode, so I'd best get some sleep.

Nite all.