Wednesday, November 30, 2011

November's Something Different!

The beginning of this month was uber-busy!  After Halloween was done for another year - and I didn't get a single Trick-or-Treater - we had the next day to contend with.  And the next day was Melbourne Cup Day.  Mum and I placed our bets at the TAB and then we made our way to the Logan Entertainment Centre where we had lunch at Limelight with about 20 other people.  It was a great day of eating, sweepstakes and watching the famous Race That Stops A Nation.  Mum and I won some money as our bets won us a cool $50 or so.
The next day, Mum and I were off to the Epilepsy Symposia at Southbank; nice and early.  We took the bus into the city and walked there and found it was a good morning, and lousy afternoon.  The morning was full of debates and funny stuff while the afternoon was full of too much information given in such a way that we didn't have a clue what was going on.
Then, on November 4th, I was rudely awoken by my body... yep, it was doing something I didn't expect it to do.  At 2.45am, I suddenly woke up and didn't know why... so I wandered off to the toilet (thinking that's what I needed to do).  When that was a failure, I stumbled back to bed in the dark, curled up on my side and was almost asleep when I felt an awful cramp in my left side.  I thought it was gas (you know when you got air in your guts from eating too fast?) so I changed my position on the bed... but that didn't work.  So - of course - I changed it again and I felt worse!  Turning on my reading light, I tried to sit up but doubled over as the pain worsened yet again.  It was time to call my parents... I didn't want to, but I had to.  By 3:30am, they were here and had called an ambulance on the way over.  By 4am, they ambos were here and I was trying to smile politely while I was scrunched up in a ball on the edge of my lounge.  Soon, they had me in the back of the bus and had morphine in me to kill the pain.  I had always wanted to see the sunrise, but not from one of these things!  By 7am, I was discharged from the Mater Hill Hospital with the diagnosis that an ovarian cyst had ruptured.  Wow!  If that's how it's going to be, I really need something done to make sure it doesn't hurt so much the next time it comes back (which it will as this one comes back).
After this visit, I went and got an ultrasound done and visited my doctors. This took a couple of weeks.  The technicians were great.  They could see this cyst has been one which returns and ruptures by the scar tissue it's begun to leave behind... however the doctors don't see it that way.  They said that now it's gone, they'd like to see what happens next.  What happens next is that the stupid thing will grow back and cause me more pain... that's what happens next!
During this month, I found some great photos from when I was a kid.  Now, there was a reason for my trip down memory lane; and it was from a news article where things were being Dumbed Down for this generation of kids.  There's too much technology out there at everyone's fingertips and everything is too easy to get.  Gone are the days where it took forever to get from point A to point B, where we didn't have mobile phones, didn't have the net or anything computerised to keep us occupied.  Nope... we didn't have a choice, we had to get outside and play with the neighbour's kids.  So, I went and had a look at some photos of my childhood to see how basic it was back in the early 1980's... and boy!  Was it basic!  We had so much going on outside, that the only time we were inside was to have a bath, eat dinner and go to bed.  So, the few posts about the history of the area I live in are to show how far Springwood has come in around 30 years; and it's a long way.
Over the last few months, I've barely had a weekend to myself.  And last weekend was no different.  On Friday, I was out to lunch with family and then off to CRS.  Then, Saturday was a day out with some 365er's around Capt. Burke Park at the Storey Bridge here in Brisbane.  That night Gabe and Kat brought the fish over for me to care for.  Then, on Sunday, Mum and I went out with the Logan Art Gallery Volunteers to Bribie Island to see some arty places and have a lovely lunch at the Bribie Island Bowls Club.  And the day out was great, hot and sunny... but the bus felt as though we were inside a steamer!
Well, that concludes my month of highlights!  The great places I've been to, things I've written about and fun times I've had this month.  It's been great.  And next month will be better... with Christmas just around the corner!  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Favourite Photos Time - November!

Wow!  It's that time again, for my favourite photos that are stored up on my computer!  Some have been seen on my Facebook page, some on my 365project page, while others haven't been seen on either.  So, sit back and enjoy the sights of what I photographed this month.
I love this kind of effect on photos; and did this one on Picnik.

This was for Remembrance Day.



My Uncle Reg at his daughter's Baby Shower a few weeks ago.

Brisbane's Storey Bridge.

I just took it; and it worked out well.
A City Cat full of Santa Clauses... that's where they all go for lunch?

A Frangipanni bloom opening up near the Brisbane Jazz Club.

What all the volunteers received this year from the Logan City Council.
One of my neighbour's gardens.  Just gorgeous!

Took a series of the sun emerging from this cloud... looks amazing!

What happens to all the used Westfield Vouchers?
 Well, I hope you enjoyed my favourite photos for this month.  I have loved taking them.  I can't wait until next month when I'll be putting up more of what I've photographed.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Hot Crazy Days of Almost Summer

Yep!  Summer's almost here and already it's boiling hot, the nights are still, unbearable and unsleepable; and yet, we're surviving on cool drinks, cold showers and salads already.  And it's only the last days of November.  Today, it's supposed to be raining, and as I look out of my window, there's plenty of blue sky with a skittering of clouds.  The air-conditioner is rumbling away there keeping this room cool - and computer too - and the rest of the house is opened up enough to let some air through.  
This morning, I got stuck into the sheets, kitchen towels and hand-washing.  However, I didn't get very far into it when the clothes line snapped!  The day was heating up to a nice simmer when I found all my nice clean towels laying on the ground attached to the clothes line when that line was supposed to be suspended up in the air.  I was not impressed.  So, I called Dad and he came over and fixed the problem by tying a knot in the line as a temporary fix until we can get in and fix it properly.  The way we have it now, with the bits of plastic running through isn't going to work; as the steel is cutting through it all, and that means it's cutting through the clothes line itself just as quickly - if not quicker.
So, after he fixed that, I got Dad a glass of water and started on the rest of my hand washing and got it hung out.  Now, it doesn't look much, but it finishes up the rest of my laundry - except for three pairs of socks that were missed out on two days ago.  I'm happy to say that at least I've got clean clothes for the next week now.
When Dad arrived, he said hello to the pets first - after me - and asked how the fish were doing.  You see, Gabe and Kat dropped off Riley's fish for me to mind over Christmas and New Years; until the end of January.  Seeing I'm not going away anywhere, I don't mind looking after them.  Yesterday, I went to Pet County down the road and found that they were closing their doors after 33 years of being one of the biggest and best pet stores around the area.  So, they're having a Closing Down Sale; which I took full advantage of.  I bought enough fish food to last the goldfish until the end of their - and maybe into the next goldfish - lives.  Then, I spotted a castle along one of the isles and found it was only $9.00 down from around $14.00.  But it was only around an inch tall... not a very exciting thing for the fish.  So, I kept looking and found a larger one for the same price but it was around ten times bigger!  I spotted a toy for Little Miss Stevie that I've been looking for for the last few years; and so I picked that up too.  The lady at the pet store gave me a large container to put the fish food in - for nothing - and so I came home with more than I expected and the fishies got more than they expected in their tank.  Now, they're happy little things; swimming around the castle and hiding behind it all the time... very cool!  They're getting around more and aren't as bored as they used to be; and that makes me happy too.
Well, it's just on midday.  I've checked the mail, had the clothes line fixed, got my hand-washing done (and hung out), washed up from last night and this morning and Dad's visited... all before lunch.  Yep, it's been a busy morning.  I've still got the rubbish to sort out for the bins this week, the laundry in my bedroom to put away and the bed to make up and the bathroom to clean up too.  Since it's become hotter, I'm trying to get as much done before 10am as possible - before the day becomes too hot and I can't do anything - and then when the afternoon comes around, I get in and try to do more things again.  It's hard to work around the hottest part of the day; but I do try.  Well, until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

A Very Full Weekend

Wow!  What a full weekend I have had!  And it started on Friday - not Saturday.  I went out to lunch with my family at the Springwood Hotel where we ate up big and talked and caught up with each other.  But I couldn't stay as I had an appointment with CRS at 2pm to look for work.  It took only an hour and so I arrived back at Mum and Dad's place by around 3:15pm.
There were more of us, but this is what was left after a few hours.

A Santa Clause Party... right on the Brisbane River!


A weird picture I took of tree roots
On Saturday, Mum and I went out to a 365 Project Meet-Up.  This is where a group of 365er's get together to chat, hang out and photograph and swap stories.  Well, this was for the members around Brisbane.  About 8 people showed up with 6 of us being the photographers of the lot.  Much photography and fun was had - including a few funny photos and interesting ones.  Like the one I took of around a dozen Santa Clauses on a City Cat having a party!  They call out and I called back and they waved!  How cool is that!
Well, the hours zipped by quickly and soon, we took a stroll along from the Thornton Street Ferry terminal to the next one down.  I used to blade from Dock Street to Horton Street Ferry Terminal; then return to Southbank, and then blade back to Dock Street.  This took 2 hours.  Since that time - it's been years - a lot has happened, a lot has been developed and I'm pleased to say if I went and bladed along now, I'd be able to arrive at the Storey Bridge without having to remove my blades.  How cool is that!
Well, we all took a break before going our own ways.  Before long, it was time to return home and find out which photos worked and which ones didn't.  So, Mum and I boarded the Thornton Street Ferry - heading for Eagle Street Pier - and found our way to Elizabeth Street to catch a bus home.  Just before Garden City, I pulled out my Go Card and almost got off the bus; forgetting we were staying on until the Springwood Bus Station... oops!  Goes to show how used to my own routine I am.

Today, Mum and I were out again to the Logan Art Gallery's Christmas Party for 2011.  The day started out hot as hell and - by the time I had gathered together my little esky and my drinks - it was going to become hotter and stickier.  By the time we had our photo taken and were on the bus and got going, we found out the air conditioner wasn't working; thus making our day out very warm indeed!  So, when I pulled out my drink and guzzled it down and then my bottle of water, I found it was lovely and cold; and I thought to offer Mum to put her water bottle into my esky to keep it cool.  Just as well I did!  The day turned into a right boiler and the bus made every water bottle on board undrinkable; except the ones Mum and I had in our little esky.
The bus took us to Bribie Island where we enjoyed ourselves at a craft market which was situated next door to the Matthew Flinders Art Centre.  I hadn't been to a market in ages; so I gave the art centre a miss and jumped straight into the market and looked around in the heat of the morning.  It was lovely.  There was so much to see; and I didn't see it all!  I found some great coffee from Byron Bay - which I bought some of for $8.00 - and then I bought a cake of lovely Lemon Myrtle Soap for Mum for only $2.00 which was made from all natural ingredients!  Its scent was delicious!  I also tracked down some Neem Soap.  this stuff is made in India from a tree which is a noxious weed; however, they can use every last scrap of it - from the roots to the flowers to the oil, to the leave and the bark... the whole tree is used.  In comparison to something here, it's the same as our Camphor Laural; grows everywhere and anywhere, and yet, not matter how much they cut them down, they seem to have more.
The Bribie Island Bowls Club - a great place to eat!

What we all received as a thank you this year.

Trips the Cat????

Trips The Cat - as he usually appears.
After the markets, we were on board the bus by 11:45am to be taken to lunch at the Bribie Island Bowls Club.  And after such a warm atmosphere on board the bus, this place was an oasis of cool!  The air was lovely, the drinks were well-received and the service was brilliant.  I found the Ladies' toilet to freshen up only to return to find a delicious vegetarian dish already waiting for me at the table.  I didn't have to line up like everyone else.  And the dessert of Bread'n'Butter Pudding with freshly whipped cream was just superb!  And yet, I was served up a bowl of ice cold, fresh fruit salad... which I couldn't eat, so I shared with Geoff, Viv and Mum.  After we drank our drinks and had our coffees (I made mine an ice coffee due to the heat), Annette, Chelsi and Marsha handed out the gifts of a pen in a wooden case.  The pen was wooden as well!  How beautiful!  I loved it!  This is something I will definitely use.
Well, we didn't wish to move from the bowls club - actually we were all ready to have a siesta.  However, the day had to move on; and so did we.  Our organisers gave us the option to get on the bus or walk to the next destination. Mum and I thought to walk to the Seaside Museum along with a few of the other volunteers.  It was a lovely day and the sea breeze was a lot cooler than the air on the bus; and a lot fresher too.  Along the way, we walked past a carnival for Christmas where a school band was playing, a radio station was working live, people were there with their pets and there were farm animals as well; it was great!  
Finally, we arrived at the Seaside Museum and we were greeted by lovely cool air-conditioning.... and Trips the cat.  He wasn't a real cat, he was a stuffed one - a replica - of Matthew Flinders' cat.  He laid there on the front counter where everyone could pat him; or not if you don't like that kind of thing.  Well, one of the ladies picked him up and we found the base of him looked like a frisbee!  It was hilarious!  I found this place wonderful and every interesting.  I took plenty of photos and we all ended settling down and colouring in too until it was time to go back to the hot bus.
Unfortunately, it was so hot on board the driver opened some of the windows for us - cooling the interior down a bit - and we had a reasonable trip home.  However, the air-conditioning really wasn't doing us any favours.  Once home, I had a nice cool shower and ate some dinner.  And I'll be off to bed soon; as it's been a very long three days. 

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Dirt Poor Vs Stinking Rich

Today, I was out and about doing my shopping and found myself having a great conversation with Leigh in 'Make-it Fabrics' at Logan Central about how happy or sad people are when it comes to money.  He said that the more money people have, the more they want; and the poorer people are, the less greedy they tend to be.  I totally agree with him.
Since I lost my full-time job at RACQ about 15 years ago, it took me a long time to adjust to not having any money.  I went from having a job, lots of money and being able to afford pretty much anything I looked at, to me living on only $900 per fortnight (to date) to cover my food, rent, bills and travel expenses.  This doesn't include how much I put away into my savings accounts for other things I wish to save for - which is a lot for somebody on a pension/welfare - but I do live below the Poverty Line when it comes to the averages; but you wouldn't think it by the way I eat.
I make sure I eat well.  Forget about where I need to go out socially; so long I have the right food in the fridge and pantry, I'll always have my health.  And this is the most important thing which will make me happy.  I don't care if I'm dirt poor... so long I can sit back, read a good book, listen to a vinyl on my stereo system and sleep in a bed a bed under a roof at night I'm happy.  So what if I live in one of the poorest areas of Brisbane and Logan City?  So what if I don't have the most up-to-date fashions or a car?  It's not money that will make me happy, it's family, friends and so long I can pay my bills with what little money I've been allowed to have by the Australian Government that does.  It's the little things that bring me the most joy.  It's the song of my budgie; and her love, her cuddles, her funny moments and little kisses on my nose that I find joy in.  It's the moment when I know I have finished a painting to best of my abilities - and the last 3 - 4 months of sitting in front of the same painting has really paid off - that brings me happiness.  It's knowing that when I take a card off the K-Mart Wishing Tree each year, I can make another person's life that little bit better because - even though I'm dirt poor, just like them - I can help them believe there's somebody out there who cares enough to give of themselves.
If I was ever in the position where I had all the riches beyond my wildest imaginings, I really wouldn't know what to do with it.  Besides publishing my books, improving my environment a thousand-fold and traveling a little, I'd probably end up investing a good lot of it and living off the interest because that's how I've been brought up:  you don't spend it all, you save it like crazy because it might all vanish on you in a minute.  
Even though I'm from an Upper-Middle Class background, I'm doing my best to be who I am.  I'm alone, and yet not lonely.  I have no money, and yet I'm rich in my own way.  Life hasn't always been great to me, and yet I've had a great life in other ways.  So, where do you stand on this scale?  Are you stinking rich or dirt poor; or are you somewhere in the middle (there's nothing wrong with being there either)?  And how do you feel about the separation of the classes being this way?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

That Christmas Feeling

I've been noticing that the Christmas season has come around yet again; and I've yet to go out and do some of that famous Christmas shopping - yikes! - again!  Yeah, I've left it a little late this year.  Even my Christmas cards aren't out yet.  I wanted to send out a bit of a news letter to some of my friends but it's not working out the way I thought it would... might yet put it onto a disk and pop it into the mail with some photos on it too; like I did last year.
However, I do love this time of the year.  Despite the heat and the storms that lurk around this part of the world I enjoy the family aspect of it all.  It's something we don't get to do very much; only do at this time of the year.  Most of the time, my friends only hear about what I've been up to at this time of the year and realise how busy my years are becoming as each one passes.  
And this year has been particularly busy - with next year becoming even busier.  Have you noticed that some years, Christmas just doesn't feel like Christmas... there's something about it that it doesn't?  I have and I think it's because I normally don't have enough money to buy the gifts I'd like to have to purchase for my family, or go out to the places I'd like to go to without having to rely on my family so much.  It's not until the big day that I feel that Christmas Spirit of giving to everyone it starts to kick in; and I don't know why it happens that way.
This year, my Mum's been baking Christmas Cakes for everyone - it's as though she's taking orders like a real bakery; everyone just loves them.  However, they're disappearing faster then she can make them.  For me, my money's disappearing faster than it's going into the bank.  I'm hoping Triple M does the big survey it did last year; and hands out the $100 Westfield Voucher (and I tell ya, that really did help me last year; even if it didn't show up on time, I did end up buying exactly what I needed for this year including my calendars, diaries and other bits to kick off this year... and still had a bit of money left over on one of the cars).  This year, I don't have all that much money in the bank as I've been saving up big to go overseas.  Yes, this year is my first year of saving to go to America; and I've gone above my expectations of $500... I've hit the $600 mark instead!  How great's that?  So, I'm a hundred dollars ahead of my goal already which means it can only get better.  But it also means that sewing machine I received for my birthday will be getting a workout as I'll make a few book baggies for my family and back off on Christmas spending on them.  It'll be another year of hand-made goodies; just like a few years back when I knitted a few things for them.
I do hate it when that Christmas spending rush doesn't do it for me; when I wish I could spend more on my family than I actually can.  But it's the family togetherness I cherish more than anything now, the food my brother cooks and the laughter that we really should be enjoying more than anything else - not how many presents we can accumulate over the Christmas period.  It's family that makes it all that much more special and the bond that holds us together that makes us work as well as we do.  For me, I think about the poor people around this time; the people who don't have anything at all.  I think about them more than anything.  It's because I have a more than they do and - at times - I feel horrible about that.  So, I give to the K-Mart Wishing Tree each year now so somebody out there is given something for Christmas - so they don't miss out - and they can say they received something lovely from somebody who thought about them.
So, what about you?  What do you do to keep the Spirit of Christmas going on in your family and your life?  Do you give to a charity?  Spend more time with your family, who you don't see, over the Christmas period? Enjoy your time with your kids?  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Growing Up In the 1980's - Holidays

In the 1980's, it took a long time to get anywhere.  Seeing there were no highways or tollways to take us places - to cut the times in half - we had to take the long way to get anywhere.  It took almost an hour to drive into the city driving through Logan Road and other back streets.  A day trip to Grandma and Grandpa's started at 8am and finished after dinner; and it would take us around 45 minutes to drive home, instead of the 20 minutes it took from Tarragindi.
The first time we decided to travel further than Tallibudgera we were in for a big shock.  We had heard about this great little holiday destination called Brunswick Heads; and Dad was told the fishing was fantastic, us kids could have some fun, but the water was undrinkable.  Well, we decided to go.  We hooked up the Chesney van to the Kingswood and took off down there; with no clue how to get down there.  We drove through the ranges.  This took us an hour or so out of our way; and with a van on the back and a boat on top of us, made it very dangerous and heavy.  We also got lost!  We arrived down there around midnight and set up as quietly as we could... right next to the Pacific Highway!  It felt as though the traffic was driving right through our annex when it zoomed by on the road day or night!  The massive trucks made the van shake and most of our nights were rendered sleepless because Dad snored.  Some holiday!  To top it all off, most of the caravan park became physically sick from drinking the water by accident; and forgetting to boil it first.  I was throwing up out of being worry that I was going to drink the water by accident because Gabe drank it (yeah, I was one of those kids!).  And Mum and Dad thought this was going to be a holiday.  At the same time, Mum weened me off my medications for my Epilepsy; this was the year I had grown out of my childhood Epilepsy.  I barely noticed I was going off them.  By the time I went back to school, I was an ordinary kid who had gone on holidays to a new holiday destination.
Over the years, the trip to Brunswick Heads has been refined to a fine art.  We know what to take, what not to take and what we can get down there.  The drinking water situation has been fixed up so it can survive the tourist season and we can drink the water from the tap.  However, we've survived some really big things down there.  
One time, the whole town went without water for about three or four days.  None of us showered; and we had to ration our water.  It was dreadful, but the little kids didn't seem to mind at all.  And Dad showered at the surf club (the only place with running water).  The only drawback with that place was that it had cold water showers only; not our idea of a clean shower, just another way to freeze our butts off in the Easter Holidays. 
We've seen some really wet holidays where there was nothing to do but plays games, read books and watch the gutters fill with water.  But then, that rain could also be very destructive.  Like the time I was down the coast and it poured over Christmas Day Night, Boxing Day and the day after that.  Right in the middle of those three nights, I was very tired and crashed early to the lovely thrumming of the rain on the annex roof; when at 3am or so, I hear a loud CRACK which woke me from a dead sleep.  It was pitch dark when I called out to Dad - and when I didn't get an answer - I went back to sleep.  At 6am, I woke to my alarm, turned over and found that the flouro above me appeared very close to me, until I reached up and found that it actually was very close to me!  I laid there calling out to my parents who were sleeping soundly inside the van while I heard the annex roof creaking under the strain of all the water it had gathered in the three hours it had collapsed above me.  Dad spent the day - a public holiday - looking around for a camping store in Mullumbimby to be open.  Fortunately the owner of the biggest one around forgot his wallet and had returned to his store and sold Dad exactly what he needed to keep our annex from doing two things:  1. becoming a microwave oven and making everything boiling hot during the day and a steamer after rain, and 2. becoming a water tank again.  I tell ya, I was very hesitant about sleeping under that annex that night; after all it was raining again that night and I really didn't want to sleep there again.
Another thing we've seen at Brunswick is flooding and evacuation.  When Gabe and I were younger - well before they built the by-pass - I remember watching the Brunswick River break its banks and everyone in the Massey Greene Caravan Park (as it was called then) being ordered to pack up and leave three days before they were supposed to.  Some people had another week or two to go; and they were packing up without being told.  Us?  Gabe and I could only help until a certain point, then wait until Mum and Dad had the van hooked up.  But on this day, I remember standing up on an unpowered site (they're all powered now) and watching the river in turmoil.  The tide was coming in as the river was trying to empty itself; and the water kept coming up.  I found it an amazing thing to witness up close - a river attempting something that was going to partly destroy it; and yet we couldn't do anything to help it.  It made me feel more than a little helpless.  And the trip home was amazing!  It was a huge convoy of holiday-makers taking the one road through the ranges to Brisbane with their trailers, caravans and cars, utes and 4X4's full to the brim of their wet camping gear.
The next time we were evacuated in that manner, I was driving a car.  My Celica played a major part in the packing of Dad's fishing gear and my stuff too.  I folded down my back seats (one of the main reasons why I loved the car was because of the extra space I could make in it through these seats; and that I could sleep in it if I needed to) and we packed it full.  My car became part of the convoy on that two-way highway up through the ranges; being hit by a hubcap on the way through.  When we decided to pull up in a vacant car park somewhere, I asked one of my cousins to help me and I found that my license plate had been bent back by the force that the hubcap hit my car.  No other damage was done to my car thankfully.  That drive was particularly tiring at it had taken so many holiday-makers to long to get home - again.
But over the years, since our first trip to Brunswick Heads, we have become a local family who holiday there.  I have grown up in that town over my holidays and seen things come and go, people come and go and our van site move from the highway to being as close to the river front as we have it now (which is about 5 or 10 metres; how nice is that?).  It's a lovely place to stay; quiet and pretty and the smell of the salt is so wonderful to inhale - so much different to heavier scents of a city.
So, what places did you go on your holidays when you were young that you remember?  Did your family return to one place in particular year after year?  Or did you travel everywhere; never staying in one place for more than a few years? Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Growing Up in Logan City

Being the youngest of two siblings meant I didn't have anyone to really hang out with except my big brother.  So, we did everything together.  From riding our bikes, hanging out with the neighbours kids and trick-or-treating (yes, we did that around here when I was young), Gabe and I did lots of things together because our area was quite young.  
It wasn't long after I was born that Dennis Road was still a dirt track and in the mid-70's it was properly fixed up with bitumen.  Our street was always the way is it - minus the massive amounts of traffic it now has.  I remember the massive amount of lawn we had to play on out the front and out the back and how we could see the so much of the street while we ran around with the other kids around the place without our shoes on; and we all arrived home with grass stains on our clothes and our feet black, exhausted, ready for our baths at around 4pm.
Up the road from us was the Springwood Library.  It was literally a five minute walk for me to get up there and after I taught myself to read with my brother's 'I Can Read' series of book from his school port, I went up there on Saturday mornings to continue the fun of reading my way through the Childrens' Section of the Springwood Library. Soon enough, though, I was offered my own library card and found out I could take home books to read and bring them back.  This is where my absolute passion for reading began; aged 4 or so.  And I read anywhere.  This library was moved when I was in high school to the IKEA Centre because it needed more room.  And what a place!  It was closer to the schools, public transport and many other things that made it more popular for people to access it.  It even underwent a new name:  The Logan North Library.  Pity.  The Springwood Library has such a lovely ring to it.  Then, this library was moved again; this time it was moved to Sports Drive next to the public pool.  Now, it's good library, but it's so far away from public transport, schools and anything else, it's not all that popular, unless you've got a car.  And the building where it was originally?  Well, that has been turned into the Springwood Community Centre.
What I loved about where I lived when I was young was the forest behind our house.  The block of land it was on extended to the Service Road next to the South East Freeway, lined the back of the houses on Cinderella Drive, Vanessa Boulevard and the shopping district (what they called it in those days) on Fitzgerald Avenue.  It was a lovely place to run around in, search and enjoy.  We had bon-fires, climbed trees, made a tree house (with the help of a couple of Dads from the neighbourhood kids) and enjoyed the privacy this forest gave us).  I loved the wild birds, lizards and Pheasants that wandered into our yard at odd times during the year; and we learnt their calls too to bring them out of the garden beds so we could see them.  It was wonderful to see the wild life so close to our homes.  
However, as with everything, that type of lifestyle wasn't going to last forever.  We were informed by the Logan City Council that something might be on the cards for that lot of land soon... and so we went on holidays when I was around 11 years old thinking we had time to see what it was going to be when we returned.  However, we came home from Brunswick Heads to a dreadful shock.  The block of land behind us was cleared completely - right down to the Service Road from our back fence!  It was awful!  I remember Gabe elbowing me in the car and I looked up to see the red dirt there, no trees guarding the privacy to our house and then we saw it... the back of our house!  I felt so violated.  I felt as though the whole world could look in on our private world we had created for ourselves over the time we had lived there.  It was terrible; and even worse was when we  drove through our garage and into the back yard, after we opened the back garage door, and saw the view we were going to have to put up with for years to come.  
I never liked changed... and this was a big one.  But when the shopping centre - Mall At Springwood - was built, I didn't like going there.  It was my own little way of boycotting it; of hating it being there in my own way.  Then, parts of the car park began to buckle as the pressure of the creek the council had pushed underground began to bubble to the surface.  To me, this was hilariously funny - a show that nature couldn't be controlled by us humans - and never will be.  However, they fixed the problem, resurfaced the damaged parts of the car park and it never happened again.
Now, I still look out on that shopping centre and sigh; remembering what was once there... my childhood playground.  It may have just been a small piece of forest to some, but to me, it was something bigger.  When you're little kid growing up in a new suburb, everything means something to you; and you become so attached to it all.  So, when it's taken away and you have no control, it's the hardest thing to deal with.  I'm sure, there's a part of your childhood that was taken away from you - something you had no control over no matter what you said or did - and yet, you still wish it was there all these years later.  Until my next installment... remember your history.  Take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Friday, November 18, 2011

History, Never Repeat...!

I love that song from the '80's because it's true.  History doesn't repeat; well not exactly.  Yes we had dreadful floods last Christmas, however they were over 20 years after the infamous ones in 1974.  
The history I'm talking about is the history of where I grew up; and how I remember it.  I have found that history happens differently for all of us depending on our point of view.  We all remember the events of our lives differently - even though we were all there at the same time because how we felt and how we saw things happen and what we thought about those times are all individual to us as people.  I remember growing up in my area as a very interesting time; as well as sheltered time.  My family lived in a PIN House on what once was a quiet street with only a few other homes.  We were only one of four or five houses on the now busy-as-hell, highway-like Cinderella Drive here in Logan City; and it's amazing how quiet it was at night, how silent the streets around Logan became after 9pm compared to today where nothing closes down completely and Brisbane has become a mini-metropolis-like-New-York-lookalike where it doesn't sleep.  I wonder where the time has zoomed by and how it took all the privacy, silence and my childhood with it.
In the last few weeks, I've looked around my old childhood stomping grounds and found not a single thing has survived from when I was young.  Down Thornhill Street - if you walked to the very end (where the townhouse complex is now), there used to be a block of dirt that went right through to Springwood Road to the left and if you kept on walking, it took you through to another dead-end road and onto another street.  This used to cut fifteen minutes off my walk to primary school every day... and when you're a short kid like me, that was a lot of time!  I remember the day I walked that short cut alone.  My brother, Gabe, was sick with a cold (or something) and I was running late for school; and I didn't have a choice but to take it.  Mum and Dad didn't want me taking it, but I did and arrived at school early enough to get to class just on time.  However, on the way through, I had heard some kids riding their BMX's up near the Springwood Road end of the vacant block.  When I hit the halfway mark, they all stopped and watched me.  I found out later, they were boys who were new in my class that day and turned out to be bullies from there on in.  Great, just what every small, redheaded kid needed in their lives... bullies.
However, that short cut isn't the only thing that I've noticed is gone completely.  On the corner of my street and Fitzgerald Avenue is a large block of office buildings.  Now, they've been there a long time; but I remember when they were built.  And I remember before they were built, when there was a vacant block of land there with a track running diagonally through it from the corner of the Skov's house to the corner of the New Springwood Post Office (which we called The Big Pink Elephant... any guesses why?  Okay, I'll save you thinking about it.  The undercoat for the grey paint you see today was a lovely baby pink!  And so, thus the nickname.  Pretty funny, eh?).  I used to walk that track nearly every weekend to buy myself a Bubble-O-Bill ice-cream... and believe me it was my favourite type at the time.  And the bubble gum nose was massive!  It took up most of his face!  And it only cost me .80c to buy!  How cool is that!!!  Now, it's sickly sweet, the bubble gum nose is tiny and it costs around $2.20 to buy; a complete rip off, and yet kids still purchase them.
The kids who we played with in the neighbourhood were cool.  There were the Walker Girls next door on the top side, the Carstens two doors up and the kid across the road who lived on the corner.  Now, I mentioned the Skov's before.  They were great people who had migrated from Denmark and just moved from Mt Isa after they climatised there and learned a bit of English.  They had an original way of talking to us; but inserting curse words in amongst their ordinary speech.  We helped them with how their diction.  For example:  they had a kitten and the kids called it Little Shit.  Gabe and I said it wasn't the proper name to call a cat - asking what they were going to call it when it grew up - and they said, Big Shit (of course!).  We talked them into calling it fluffy.  It was stuff like that we had to get them to alter because it wasn't correct around the city for them to say.  It's turned out that they became some of our closest friends.  Unfortunately, one of their sons died in a horrible car accident and it split up their whole family.
The Skov's house isn't there anymore.  It was sold and moved to another location and the Springwood Wellness Centre was built in its place.  It's been a very lucrative business since it's been there; but I do remember that brick house well and that many families rented it.  However it's the Skov's who were the best remembered out of all of them.
Well, the Carsten's and the Walker's have moved on.  So have the Williams' (the people who bought the Walker's house after they left).  After all these years, we've stayed on.  However, this area has changed so much that I can't put it all in one post.  So, I'll be splitting this up into a few posts over a couple of days.  And I'll find a few more old photos I can show you too.  

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Medical Circles

Yesterday I felt as though I was listening to a broken record while I sat talking to my doctor.  However, it took forever to receive the letters for my ultrasounds; as the doctor surgery couldn't get them off the place that did them.  Along with me requesting them twice, the doctors I use currently went and requested the letter a further four times before the fax came through!  How horrible is that?
Well, the news was the same as it was before:  'seeing it's gone now, we'll just wait and see what happens next, okay?' I can tell you what happens next.  The damned thing will grow back and cause me more problems!  This doctor was a different one to the last two I went and saw - who told me the exact same thing - and this is why I wanted a different doctor.  However, now, I'm beginning to think they don't want to help me with this or anyone else with this problem.  So, I'm getting a second opinion and getting this problem fixed; as I don't believe we - as humans - should live our lives in pain, it's nothing we should put up with just because our doctors think we should.
Mum and Dad were as upset as I was when I returned to their place and they found out the results were what I had been told last year and the year before.  So... we're getting another second opinion.  It's very frustrating when this kind of thing happens and you feel as though life just isn't working out the way you had hoped; and nobody is willing to help you.
While I was at their place, I took photos of Mum cooking the third Christmas Cake this year (as she found a great recipe and tried it out as a fruit cake; but then it tasted better as a Christmas Cake when she added booze to it).  So, I stuck around and wiggled my fingers at the fish (they seem to like it; hungry little guys!) and talked to Mum about things.  Then, she had to go to the optometrist to have her eyes tested.  This took a good hour; so I turned on the television at 4pm and watched 'Roseanne' and then 'Family Ties' - two great and funny sitcoms from the late '80's while Dad painted the new extension out the front.  Just as 'Family Ties' was ending, I turned it over to 'Hercule's to watch the credits and write down the protection clause - or what wasn't protected and ended up dying or blowing up - and I wrote it down (in this episode 'Finally the demon Dakah is killed in the production of this program' ... brilliant!).  Anyway, I ended up watching part of 'That 70's Show' and found out that Mum and Dad didn't have any Epilum at their place.  So, when Mum dropped me home, she picked some up and made sure I was okay when I took it. 
For dinner, I had a salad roll and - for dessert - I drank my usual green tea, ginger drink and ate a few blocks of Whittaker's Dark Chocolate with Almonds (Yummo!).  It was still a very hot night though; and there wasn't much on the television.  I watched it until 9:30pm then closed up the house, put the phone on the charger, said good night to Little Miss Stevie and went upstairs.  
I was on the computer until after 11pm before I went to bed; but I couldn't sleep.  I tossed and turned for quite a while before I fell asleep.  I think that it was what happened at the doctors that bothered me.  But I'll find the answers to my newer medical problems; as I believe that in this day and age - with all this technology around - we do have more answers today than we did 20 years go.  And I know there's somebody out there who can help me with my ovarian cyst; as it's such a common problem that there can't be thousands of us women walking around with them without some kind of answer to it all. 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

After A Hot Day...

It's been a very hot day today; and I had to go and get an ultra-sound done.  This is so I can take it to the doctors tomorrow afternoon to see what we can do medically to prevent what occurred on 4th, November ever happening again.  I don't wish to be traveling overseas and end up in a hospital somewhere having to fork out a couple hundred dollars for a doctor to tell me something I already know... so I need to fix this now before anything else.
But today, after the scan, and after lunch, Dad came around to my place to borrow my computer.  He needed it to look at a hard drive that his computer wasn't recognising; and wanted to know if mine would recognise it.  However, my computer wouldn't 'talk' to it either.  So, he took it out and now has the problem of wondering what to do with it; and who to take it to.  While he was here, he also fixed the cold water tap in the basin of the bathroom.  It had been locking up when I turned it on and he could feel how tight it was.  So, he sprayed some lubricant onto it and got it working well; however it does need to be cleaned up properly in the near future to make it work even better.  
While he was upstairs, in the nice air-conditioning, I was downstairs, washing up in the kitchen and cleaning the stove.  It was hot down there while I scrubbed the crap and grease off the plates and off the counter.  However, it was satisfying to look at it and know it was clean and ready for use whenever I needed it.  Then, I made him a coffee with my plunger, sprayed Little Miss Stevie and poured myself a Cranberry Juice from the fridge.  
After he left, I tidied up a little and watched a bit of television then, I made a lovely salad for dinner - it was so lovely and delicious even the really spicy mayonnaise didn't seem so spicy after a while.  Then, I made my usual green tea and pulled the dark chocolate from the fridge and watched a few sitcoms while I knitted and watched my little bird snooze in the hot lounge room while the fan pushed around the warm air from outside.  
It was nice to hang out with Dad.  He enjoyed the coffee; and asked where I got it from.  I told him it was a German mid-roast and I bought it last month and have had a few cups and have forgotten about it until today... oops!  Oh well, that happens.  At least it didn't taste horrible.  Well, I best be going.  I have a busy morning tomorrow.  I'll be getting in and doing more housework before taking off to the bus stop earlier than usual (as Translink has changed the bus timetable and pumped up the prices of catching a bus!  How's that for putting everyone off traveling by public transport?  And seeing I don't have a choice, it's not a good thing to do to me - or others in my position.  Well until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Dumbing Down

I was reading the paper this morning and found a very interesting piece that I totally agreed with; in more ways than one.  Kylie Lang has it one when I read about how technology is really making us dumb.  And it's not only Twitter and Facebook that's doing it to us; it's also how we have been taking the whole approach to life.  
A great example is how advertisers think that because it's cooked in a microwave - and it takes only 4 minutes - well it must be good for us.  When truthfully, when anything it cooked in a microwave, it's cooked from the inside out, the moisture is pulled out of it and it more or less tastes like cardboard.  This is one reason why I have boycotted these machines from my kitchen from the moment I moved into my own place.  I don't like them; and will never buy one or even accept one as a gift.  I see cooking as something of a challenge and something fun to do; a learning experience and knowing exactly what goes into each meal is something I've been brought up with and it shouldn't be lost.
Now, technology is something else.  If I didn't keep up with the times, I would be lost.  Without the internet and learning - teaching myself - how to use it properly, I'd have no idea what was going on in the real world.  This particular type of technology can be a learning experience or a hindrance.  It depends on how you look at it.  I don't do Twitter... it's stupid, it's lazy, it's one of the worse ways of communicating without actually talking face to face that if you really don't want to talk to anyone, well, you may as well be a bloody hermit and be done with it.  The same with Facebook. I had to be talked into going onto Facebook as my whole family and 90% of my friends are on there.  So, I've kept the personal details as basic as possible.
As for other things such as Wii's, X-Box's and other computer games you hook up to your television?  Well, no I don't have them in my house; and they are not allowed past my front door.  This isn't because of my illness; it's because I value the spoken language much more than I do staring at a screen and acting like an idiot for long periods of time.  Or music.  Would it hurt anyone to sit down at an instrument - such as a piano - and actually play it?  There's nothing better to hear at night than a well-played piano, guitar or saxophone playing away in the darkness after dinner instead of a video game blaring out of the television speakers.
I have a dvd player and use it once or twice a month to play some of my favourite movies; and I do this usually on a Saturday night as everyone around the place is very restless at this point in the week and putting on a dvd doesn't hurt once in a while.  I also play vinyls or cds because there's just utter crap on the television; and I mean it's just rotten television programming.  I don't like - and will never like - reality television.  It sucks and should be gotten rid of as it's destroying how television is supposed to entertain the public.  
And now, I'd like to talk about the amount of information that is right at our fingertips compared with what used to be there before everything zoomed into the Gigi-byte age.  I remember when I was young - at high school - and we had the very first laptops.  They were 3cm thick with a very small screen; and they didn't do much.  Their memory sucked, and so did the battery if you dared to unplug it from the wall.  And the huge amount of colours you had to choose from to type with?  Well, amber on black ... and amber on black and ... jeez... amber on black.  There wasn't any choice, that was it.  Each day we started them up, it took a full 10 minutes for them to get up to the screen we needed and saving anything took about 1 1/2 minutes as it grunted and grounded away there onto a 3 1/2 inch disk.  Speaking of which:  God help you if your disk became corrupt and all your assignments and school work was on it!  Nothing could help you, nobody could pull anything off it because, one day it worked and the next it didn't.  Yes, when I went to high school, technology was just grinding away there as a snail's pace... very, very... very slowly.
Very suddenly, we had the internet.  Dial-up at first; and then it graduated to Broadband, then cable... and then wireless!  All of the information is all right here on the net and it's so easy for us to obtain.  All you need to do is Google it and ... well, that's it.  There's pages and pages of crap for you to peruse to your heart's content about anything you want from books, Epilepsy, Andy Warhole, car engines, surgery (and how it's all done) to medications, gardening, mining in different countries and the history of pretty much anything you can think of.  However, it's how we use this instrument that matters.  Are you sitting there googling crap just for a giggle or are you Googling crap because you seriously want to learn something new?
For me, I taught myself how to use the internet as a social networking tool.  Over time, I learnt how to find reading and book sites, friends I haven't seen in a long time and use two different types of e-mailing accounts as well as Facebook, YouTube and 365Project and a photographic editing program called Picnik.  There's so much out there on the net to learn that a lot of people don't know what we have on offer - what we are paying our monthly fee for - and really if we're not learning anything worthwhile off the internet, we're all going backwards in intellect, not forwards. 

Warm, Fine Weekend

It's been a good weekend; nice and sunny and fine.  However, seeing the days are becoming longer and they are warmer earlier in the mornings, this means I'm getting out of bed earlier as well.  So, seeing my next door neighbours have parted ways and he wants to sell the unit (yep, a lot has gone on that I have ignored purposely simply because it's none of my business; but he told me in the last few weeks that she left him over the fence while bringing in the laundry).  Well, yesterday was supposed to be the Open Day for their unit, so I was up early, dressed and out in my back yard pulling weeds, mowing the lawn and making the place look nice so his place could be sold easier.  I think it's just common courtesy to clean up your yard if your neighbour is trying to sell their house.  This gives the new buyers an idea of what kind of person you are; that you do look after your place and you're a nice person, nice enough to have a tidy yard.  For me, I really did need to get into as I haven't pottered around in my yard in a long time. 
So, there I was out in the courtyard with my push-reel mower at 7:45am, then I pulled out a lot of weeds - including Bindis' - and then I went over to the back fence and pulled out some taller and more hardy weeds and found them a lot harder to dig out; finding I had to work on them more.  I knelt down and really pulled hard and found I was attacked by some green ants!  Little bastards!  My God, it hurt like hell!  I pulled the weeds out and went inside and applied Lavendar Oil onto the bites and took an antihistamine before going back outside to clean up the place.  Once everything was put away and the rubbish bin was closed, I came inside, fed Little Miss Stevie and swept out the front; pulling as many weeds as I could from out the front of my place as I could in one go.  When I had that finished, I was famished; and really needed some breakfast.  So, I went inside and ate my muesli then jumped online for a few hours; knowing I had gotten a good lot of work done for the day.
After I got offline, at around 1pm or so, I decided to do some reading downstairs.  But the lounge was messy and I couldn't stretch out on it fully.  So, I tidied that up, putting things away, throwing things out and finding all the remote controls; as well as taking what needed to go to the kitchen from the previous night there.  It was a good half hour before I could sit down and read; and by then, I was hungry too.  So, I grabbed some wholegrain chips and a book I'm halfway through and enjoyed the quiet afternoon reading for about an hour or so.  By around 3pm, I looked around and Little Miss Stevie was snoozing, a lovely breeze was coming in through the window and the fan was pushing another breeze from the back door.  The house was nice and cool for the afternoon; and I wanted to do some painting; but wanted to wash my hair first.
I sat down to the easel after nice refreshing, cool shower and poured out some paint on to a fresh pallet, picked out a thick, flat brush and then - with the turntable running - I worked on the background of 'Lost Pages'.  It took me about an hour and a half to get the colours anywhere near what I hoped to have them so I could work with them today; but it was worth it.  Later on, after dinner, I worked more on the painting until around 9:30pm as there was nothing worthwhile on the television.
Today, I woke to another lovely, warm day.  Yep, it's a lovely day.  There's a few clouds in the sky; but nothing threatening, the breezes are nice and the sun is beautiful.  What more could we ask for from Queensland?  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Lest We Forget

I was out and about early today to get myself to Garden City and then back to Springwood before 11:30am.  However, I did get a lot done while up at that particular Westfield Shopping Centre; and nearly lost all my purchases in one foul swoop!
I went to the bank first and pulled out all the money I needed to make buy my cousin a present for her Baby Shower, some paint and a Stephen King book I had on order (and I used my book voucher from QBD I had gotten a few weeks ago so it cost me even less than the price they quoted).  I put all my purchases into the gorgeous Shakespeare fold-out bag Mum bought me from the UK and went to catch the bus to Springwood.

However, the bus service had change all the timetables and the ones at Garden City don't include any buses from Logan City.  So, I phoned up Translink and used up my all my credit (damn!).  By the time I was at the Springwood Bus Station, I stepped off the bus without my Shakespeare bag - then remembered it at that last moment and jumped back onto the bus and grabbed it! - and then walked to the lifts and found it was 11am.  So, I quickly photographed my watch telling the time and paused for a minute of silence.  And then, I photographed my surroundings; so I could tell where I was at that time of the day today.  I grabbed the lift and walked across the Service Road and to Coles where I bought myself a drink, straws and a new freezer bag before walking up to CRS for my job appointment. 
This went really well.  However, I did forget my red folder which holds all my certificates; oops!  Oh well, doesn't matter, I'll take it next time so we can fill in the holes of my resume.  After an hour, and after meeting my new jobsearch person, Melissa, I walked to Mum and Dad's place to chill out for the afternoon.
Yep, today was a right scorcher!  I took my hat with me and I really didn't wish to be anywhere without it.  So, I made sure I did have it on all day until I arrived at CRS and went to the toilet and took it off there.  I should have taken my shoes off; but I didn't think I was going to be at my folks' place all that long.  However I was there for hours.  
When Mum returned home from where she was, I showed her the baby book I bought for my cousin and she loves it; saying how cute it was.  And then I gave her the remembrance badge I bought her at Garden City (which is the same as mine) and she said she had bought hers already.  Oh well, that means I have two!  Doesn't matter, so long my money went to a good cause, that's all I care about.
I was dropped off home at around 5pm or so by Dad as they had to go out for dinner at the Killips' place where they were meeting up with Gabe and Kat.  I enjoyed a nice salad roll for my dinner; and have listened to 'The Blues Brothers 2000'... it's not really my type of movie; but the first one was great.  Little Miss Stevie is in her cage with the pedestal fan blowing around the living room; yeah at last I pulled the fan out of the wardrobe and put it together to cool the place down (as I can pull the feet off it; thus making it easier to store it).  Well, until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember I'm always here.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Friday is the Busiest Day

Have you ever had a week where you thought it was going to be really horribly busy, but it turned out to be something else entirely?  Yep, me too.  On Monday, this week looked like a social and travelling mess.  However by yesterday afternoon, it was little more than a few tiny trips here and there before a nice relaxed Friday out at the CRS for a look for a job.
However, even Friday turned out to be something of a weird and busy day for me by the end of today.  Strange how that came about.  I found that the few things I was hoping to happen, didn't, and the other things that I didn't want to happen, did.  Bummer how that goes, eh?  
I needed to be out at the Imaging Centre at Rochedale today; however my 'monthly visitor' (which isn't all that monthly anymore) showed up after 34 days of being AWOL on me.  I was thinking I wasn't going to get them again for a longer period of time.  But, once I began to make plans to see a doctor, they showed... ironic isn't it?  So, next week it is for both the Imaging place and the doctors to see what I'll be doing next.  One thing at a time.
Otherwise, tomorrow, I'll be catching an early bus to Garden City and picking up Stephen King's new book from QBD.  I have a gift voucher that will pay for about half of it; so I won't be paying full price anyway.  From there, I'll catch a bus to Springwood to my appointment at CRS and spend a few hours with them talking to them about work.  I'm not sure exactly what this appointment will be about; but I'll take it as it comes.  I think it's going to be about what I'm good at and then find a direction for me and work on that.
Otherwise, today, I got a few good things done.  One was the washing.  It was all done - including the annual hand-washing of my teddy bear Amos.  I wash him usually at this time of the year because it's when the weather becomes hot enough that he'll dry on the clothes line and he'll smell nice and fresh too.  I'd love to wash him twice a year; but I can't due to our weather changing so quickly.  
I put out all the newspapers in the recycling bin at the back of the complex after snipping out what I wanted from last week's paper.  Then, I put out rubbish from the kitchen before washing up tonight.  All my handbags that I weren't using were brought upstairs along with all the laundry at around 2pm and then I went over to Greenslopes to visit Ruth and find out about the clothes dryer.  But Dad said it wasn't as new as he had hoped; and we decided not to buy it from Ruth (which means she's going to try selling it on e-bay).  When I returned home, I had to put everything that was originally around the laundry (and I had moved for the dryers to be changed over) back into the laundry.  By this time it was around 4pm... and it was time I planned dinner; and seeing how hot it had been, I didn't want to eat anything too hot.  So I made myself an egg salad roll; and it was delicious!  
So, that was my day.  Tomorrow is Remembrance Day; and also my cousin's birthday.  It's also the day we put down our family dog, Jessie.  She was a dear, sweet woofy who couldn't see or hear us in the end, but her mind was fully intact.  Poor girl.  It was a hard choice, but she was in pain and couldn't walk.  So, it was the most humane thing we could do for her; and I'm glad we did it.  Jessie was almost 14 when we let her got.  She had lived a full and happy life with us; and she had enjoyed a few Freddo Frogs from me (a secret I didn't tell anyone until recently; much to my family's amazement that they didn't kill her as chocolate is one thing that can kill a dog; as well as a budgie) and plenty of marathon walks.  She had a boyfriend - Laddie - who lived one street over in Thornhill Street and he was moved when his owner passed away.  I still miss my little woofy every now and again; but I do have a great little album full of photos of her... and it's great to have those memories.  Well, until my next post, take care keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.