Laying Low

It’s been a very quiet couple of days with absolutely nothing to report or share.

I’ve been nowhere and done nothing apart from playing with Harley and parking my butt on the couch watching Olympics results, football and live Olympic action.

I was happy to see Djokovic win through to the tennis final, so he will take home a guaranteed silver or possibly a gold medal. He plays the very talented and strong Alcaraz, so while I think Djokovic is capable of winning, I believe that Alcaraz has youthful energy, speed and strength on his side.

Sometimes it takes Alcaraz a couple of sets to warm up and because the Olympics tennis is best of three sets, he doesn’t have the luxury of time to warm up. That could play into Djokovic’s hands.

Djokovic has never won an Olympic gold medal (only bronze) so he’s very motivated.

The Aussies are doing ok at the games, especially the females. Only 2 of our 12 gold medals have been won by males.

We still have high hopes in water polo, hockey, 3x3 women’s basketball, men’s beach volleyball, road cycling and track and field.

I watched 2 movies on Netflix. “What Happens Next” with Meg Ryan and David Duchovny and “Destination Wedding” with Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves.

I had set my alarm for 3am so that I could watch the Djokovic semi final so by 2pm I was in need of a nap. Harley and I snuggled and slept on the couch together for about an hour.

Adoring Husband painted the bamboo fence around the pool with stain, so he’s feeling very sore and sorry for himself this evening.

I made a delicious puff pastry spinach/potato/tuna pie this morning and then offered it for ‘fend for yourself’ dinner. AH accepted my offer but BGWLBH had other plans.

There are leftovers for tomorrow.

I had an unlucky night with my footy teams. The Broncos lost badly and are now out of the running for finals football. Carlton lost to Collingwood by 3 points and have dropped down to 7th position on the ladder.

Now I need to sleep.

Nite all.

Not Much

Professor Ian Brighthope on Covid Vaccines

Pfizer’s Secret Report

Not a lot happening here.

Plenty of Olympic events to watch on TV.

It’s too bloody cold to get out of bed early - although the southerners will be laughing at our 3°C when they are enduring -6°C and -7°C.

I would stay in bed until lunch time if I didn’t have Harley. The fact that he needs to pee and play and eat means that 9am is about as late as I can remain under the covers in the mornings.

Wednesday was a very quiet day spent mostly in front of the TV watching a series of Great British Sewing Bee and the Olympics.

Today was a day in The Bay.

Breakfast at Salt, shopping at Spotlight, Eureka Furniture, Choice, Farmgate, Newsagent, Butcher, Coles and Su Jus.

I found this outdoor setting to replace our sad, old ripped and faded setting under the Bali hut. 

I loved it as soon as I saw it and the bonus was that it was comfortable under the butt! The best part was getting an extra 12% off the already 50% off!

They must make a LOT of money on furniture.

It was almost 3pm when we arrived home so we unpacked the car, put the groceries away, I played with Harley for about 30 minutes and then found my recipe book so that I could start cooking the lamb tagine that I’d planned.

I read it through and discovered that I needed at least 3.5 hours preparation time, so I canned that idea.

Leftover frozen lasagne for Adoring Husband and a GF meat pie for BGWLBH both served with salad.

We watched the footy tonight.

I have a photo shoot tomorrow so I’d best get some sleep.

Nite all.

Life Goes On

Monday was a day in The Bay.

Nana’s Pantry, Office Works, Rivers, Big W, Newsagent, Butcher x 2, Farm Gate, Coles, Bakery and Su Jus.

It was Adoring Husband’s turn to cook dinner and he decided to barbecue our choices of protein and serve with salads. When it was too late to do anything about it, he realised that he had forgotten MY protein.

😡

So I had to make my own dinner while fuming mad and as a just punishment, I refused to play trivia.

I got to bed just in time to watch the tennis at the olympics - Djokovic vs Nadal - it was an easy win for Djokovic, even with the crowd strongly supporting Nadal.

So I was a bit late getting to sleep and had to rise early for meditation this morning.

Thank goodness AH turned on our heating (for just the 2nd time in 16 yrs) because it was 3°C and I was struggling to get out from under my warm covers.

Heart of Gold picked me up so that we didn’t have to ride our bikes in the icy cold weather.

Meditation was great - I’ve missed the last 3 weeks because of my health and then The Gypsy’s health - so  I really enjoyed today.

I returned home early because everybody else had somewhere to be and I made myself some tea and breakfast and sat down to catch up with the overnight Olympics results.

BGWLBH did our ironing while AH put some stain on the Bali hut posts.

I posted some important packages and AH bought me some flowers.

My turn to cook dinner and I attempted a recipe that BGWLBH had found online. Chicken with Spinach and Mushrooms in Creamy Parmesan Sauce. I wasn’t fussed on it but the other two enjoyed it.

We played some trivia tonight before settling in for some Olympic viewing.

Now I’m pretty weary and the temperature is dropping so it’s time to snuggle under the covers and get warm.

Nite all.

Festival Day

Adoring Husband and I had our first date together since he’s been able to safely drive on the highway.

We left at 7am to make our way to Childers for the cultural festival.

The closest carpark opens at 7.45am and we pulled into that driveway at exactly 7.45am being the second car to park there.

We had to rug up because the weather was quite cold! AH wore his Dryza Bone and I wore long sleeves with a knitted poncho and jeans! Unheard of!

We’d barely stopped at a dozen stalls before AH took our first bag of goodies back to the car.

Our list of goodies included:

• A turquoise and blue poncho
• A pottery heart
• Honey
• Duck and Juniper Berry salami
• 2 dresses for Hazey
• Jalapeño and raspberry jam
• Pineapple and chilli marinade
• A big soft fluffy sloth
• Some CBD pet oil and CBD cream for Harley
• 3 coffee mugs
• 6 x GF donuts
• Pulled pork nachos
• Pad Thai chicken
• Green smoothie
• 2 x coffees
• Honey and habanero chilli crisp

I think that’s all. 

We sat down with our food to listen to the 10am entertainment. His name was Austin Mackay and he was very good and we stayed for 45 mins listening to him …

He is also on instagram https://www.instagram.com/austinmackaymusic?igsh=YmphOXBkbW5tdGhk

We were only there for 3 hours, which is pretty standard for us. By 11am the crowds become unmanageable for us so we shuffle our way back to the car and head home.

By this time, the traffic coming into town is always slow and bumper to bumper. People are parking 2 kms from the festival and walking into town. Ugh.

We were home before midday.

I made myself a cup of tea and sat down with 2 donuts to watch some Olympic results, catch the start of an AFL match and then settle in for 3 games of NRL.

Home made lasagne with salad for dinner.

I’m feeling pretty worn out after such a big day that began quite early.

Nite all.

Double Post

Friday and Saturday have been quiet, relaxing days.

BGWLBH and Adoring Husband have been doing their own thing and I’ve enjoyed peace and quiet around the pool and in front of the TV watching Netflix movies with Harley.

Harley has also been enjoying time outside following AH around the yard and in the shed while he works.

On Friday I had a 2 hour zoom meeting with The Gypsy. She gave me a reading with Tarot cards and Oracle cards - the gist of my reading being about my art space and me getting back into my art - which was weird because I had spent the previous 2 days trying to convince myself to do just that.

Even if I don’t create any art, I need to sit in there, meditate, listen to music, touch the brushes and paints and just get the feeling for it again. Eventually (hopefully), I will be inspired.

I had a lovely 30 minute phone call with Rebel Mardi. I was under the Bali hut when she phoned, so I was in the fresh air and throwing the ball for Harley while we chatted. AH was with me for the first 5 minutes but didn’t recognise her voice, so he escaped to the house to give me privacy.

Today (Saturday) I had some more alone time. I watched Moneyball on Netflix and enjoyed it very much.

This afternoon was footy and again I’m still doing very poorly in the tipping.

I did NOT watch the Olympic opening ceremony but by the sounds of it, it was very disappointing and regarded (on social media) as possibly the worst opening ceremony ever!

I’ve been flipping channels to catch some swimming and diving and the beach volleyball is about to start.

I will fall asleep with it on in the background because AH and I are leaving early in the morning for the Childers Cultural Festival so I need sleep.

Nite all.

Almost Normal

Wednesday was quiet and restful.

BGWLBH went to The Bay, Adoring Husband spent quality time in the yard working on his “to do” list and I triked to Heart of Gold’s house to give her the castor oil that I’d forgotten to give her on Tuesday, then rode to the shops where I bought meat for dinner and a few groceries from the supermarket.

It was Adoring Husband’s turn to cook dinner but he had no ideas so I suggested shepherd’s pie. He did a great job and we each enjoyed our own little casserole dish of pie.

I’ve been sleeping soundly at night and napping lightly during the day so my body has been healing nicely.

Today (Thursday) I even did some housework and a few loads of washing.

I washed Harley’s bedding and almost made a whole new Harley with all the dog hair on the carpet and in his bedding!

I packaged up a parcel of goodies to send to my Melbourne family.

I counted $46 in 5c, 10c and 20c pieces from a money tin in my wardrobe.

I finally bagged the pile of clothes that I’d decluttered from my wardrobe weeks ago that had been sitting on the floor all that time.

It was a solid 3 hours of housework, after which I cooked myself some GF dim sims for lunch and then planted my butt on the couch.

AH had driven into town to lodge his final health care claim for the DBS surgery. It took 8 weeks and 6 phone calls to get the neurologist’s office to email the final invoice. Yesterday’s phone call was the last straw and AH let out all of his frustrations at the receptionist.

Within the hour, he had the result he’d hoped for.

I made large lamb curry puffs for dinner …

… accompanied by rocket, pear and haloumi salad. They were delicious and everyone went back for seconds, even me!

We played trivia for an hour.

Now, I am absolutely beat.

Nite all.

Heart of Gold

At 10am, Heart of Gold pulled into my driveway to pick me up for our planned play date.

Because we are so well known in our community, we decided to drive over to Howard for coffee at the Naughty Coffee Cafe, so that there would be less chance of being interrupted by well meaning locals.

Unfortunately, we arrived to discover that the cafe was closed!

So we drove up to the supermarket to visit an old friend (who used to work at our local post office) who haven’t seen for a year. She was very busy so we didn’t get to chat for long, but I left with a tentative lunch plan for some time in the not too distant future.

We decided to head over to Bambooland for coffee.

It’s so lovely there. The sound of wind blowing through the bamboo plants, the birds singing, the water features trickling away and the sunlight filtering through the tall bamboo.

We found a table in partial sunlight and sat with our chai and tea chatting away for an hour or so.

From there, we did a quick stop at the op shop in Howard and returned to the supermarket to purchase the CoYo dairy free ice cream that I’d spotted earlier.

When we arrived at home, Heart of Gold came in to check out the big bag of shoes that I’d decluttered from my shoe drawers. She selected 4 pairs, all of which I’d only worn once and also accepted a beautiful black evening top that I offered.

It was a lovely morning but it left me feeling drained. Two weeks of illness has taken its toll and my body has pretty low stamina right now. I’m too old for this s#@t.

Home made pizzas for dinner tonight. Easy and quick.

Two mentions for tomorrow.

Bubbles is celebrating her 40th birthday in Sydney with her BFF. I can’t believe my baby is 40!

I know she’ll have the best time with her BFF. They have a strong connection and unbreakable bond that is hard to find in friendships. They are lucky to have each other.

Happy birthday Bubbles.

The second is a celebration of life for The Duchess.

I was hoping to be well enough to attend that celebration with Best Cousin in the World but there’s no way I could manage ten hours of travel as well as a couple of hours of high emotion.

Instead, from afar, I’m sending my love to her family, letting them know that they are in my thoughts and I feel sad that I can’t be with them. Warmest hugs to you all.

Nite all.

Shopped

Drove into The Bay.

Shopped til we dropped.

Nothing interesting, just food and necessities.

No meditation tomorrow because, unfortunately, The Gypsy has come down with a bug.

Now I’m tired. I would like to snuggle into this bed …

Nite all.