Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Been Cleanin' - What About You?

I've been one busy little person.  I've been working on my next stall of the Creative Markets over the weekend.  Organising myself of what will be new there, what will be seen as a regular item there and what I can do there as something to do sometimes.  And then, I organised something for the table cloth to make it look light, pretty and just right for every month.

Today, it was shopping/grocery day.  I went out and worked on looking at what I could use in the new and improved market stall of Crafty Pegs in February to keep people coming back.  
At Officeworks, I bought 2 business cards holders and they look great.  They're black metal mesh and so will be durable for the times ahead.  Then, I scored myself a 6 litre plastic box to put everything for the stall into - that's to prepare the table and easel with; to make it look good.  This is so there's not so many trips to the car and back, and I don't have to carry too many things myself.
At Coles, I purchased some paper lunch bags and thought it would be cool to pop the pegs into something old-fashioned and fun and basic instead of plastic bags - even the pencils would go well in them too.  This is until I get myself a set of bags with my own emblam on them - that will take time and a little bit of looking around.

Anyway, I had a good day shopping.  I bought what I needed to buy.  The groceries were good.  I found out the post office across the road was held up yesterday by a nut case with a machete.  The good thing is that nobody got hurt, but the bad thing is that the nut case got away with money.  I hate that... and I live so close to the damned place.  Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Busy Week of Finding Things

I've been busily working away at organising my house - and it's been fun to do as well.  I have found so much while doing it; mainly space.  I found the top of my credenza, the rest of the top of my kitchen counter and some of the top of the piano too.

How cool is that?

I also found out how long Kingston Road is!  It's really, really, really long!  Anyway, I only found out how long this road is because I went to a writer's group yesterday and it was a long way from my place but off Kingston Road.  I used the GPS for the first time and found it was really good - so long I removed it from the windscreen before getting out of the car and put it away so it didn't get stolen.

But I have been finding a lot of things lately.  I found a lot of old receipts behind my food processor, some coin purses, pens and even found some hand/skin cream that came from New Zealand I put there and forgot about (or it got buried amongst stuff - most likely that happened) and I also found a whole lot of other stuff around the place too.
I am becoming more organised.  It's becoming easier to cook in my kitchen - by far!  I could actually open a recipe book and follow the recipe without getting food on it last night.  This is something I totally loved seeing I have more space to use.  And now, I have stored away the fishtank, I've got more space than I ever had before.  

The good thing is that I'm used to storing away things in places where I have to make things fit tightly, so when I open the storage facility, there's still room in there to put things; and that's good.  However, I have the wardrobes to empty out and organise this time around to see if I can fix up totally to they can be used to better maximise their space better and use them for something better than computer equipment that I'll never use as is quickly goes out of date.  

As all this goes on, the hall table I'm hoping to buy is being saved up for.  It's going to be ordered from a furniture store and I'm hoping it'll be just as lovely as I envisage... as I really want it to be something proper and real.  The one I bought from Sams Warhouse was utter crap, and the instructions were impossible to follow.  Well, that's what I've gotten done, what's going to be done, and my plans for the next few months.  I hope to get it all fixed up and my promises to myself completed.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Friday, January 24, 2014

I Found The Kitchen Counter!

Yep... I found it!  My kitchen counter has been hiding under a whole pile of junk for years and today and tonight, I found it!

What happened was that I lost power while I was online this morning.  Fortunately, it was after I did two loads of laundry, saw the skies and pulled it all in from outside and put it all on the clothes horse.  Then, two lots of electricians showed up to check on it and it turned out to be something really expensive that had to be done; as half the unit complex had power and the other half didn't... damn!

Anyway, in the two hours I had to myself, I cleaned up the area near the fish tank, and put away a lot of stuff next to the pantry, photographed my Crafty Pegs stuff and put that away.  Then, I put all the photographs on the set of drawers I have sitting at the top of stairs that I'm using as a hall table right now (as I'm saving up for a real hall table).  
I spent around 3 - 4 hours painting; even after the power came back on.  I just got into a groove and didn't wish to leave it. 

Well, before long, it was time to take a break and so I sat down and did some proof-reading for the romance group I'm taking part in tomorrow and took some notes for it.  Then, I was back at it for a little while and made a pizza dough for dinner.

Now, it's late, and I have to get to bed as I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.  I have to learn to program the Tom-Tom to get me to Waterford tomorrow; and back.  It's going to be an experience.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Lots of Work on a Stinking Afternoon

This afternoon, I got a lot done.  After I turned off the computer, I decided to get some Crafty Pegs done, but found I was sitting next to a furnace of a breeze.  So, I quit that for a few hours and went about what I was hoping to get done tonight.

And thank god I did it this arvo!  It's just too hot tonight to do anything!  

I pulled out everything from the credenza and sorted through it.  After pulling the shelf out, I knew I didn't need it.  Then, I threw out 2 rubbish bags of crap that I just looked through and realised I didn't need... wow, that was easy.  I searched for a whole lot of my 'Good Reading' Magazine and found a good percentage of them then found out I had a lot of Yoga Australia Magazines and 'Collectors' magazines from 2009! Well, into the charity box they went!  I then found two perches I had bought from a pet store for Little Miss Stevie which she saw me pull out of my bag, gave me a foul look - and made a foul sound - when she saw them, and I never put them into her cage (instead we found some real tree branches and she loved them instead). 
Then, I started on the lounge and found out exactly how many receipts I had stuffed down the back of the lounge cushions!  Yes, I'm one of those people!  I also have way too many plastic bags to count!  Those were thrown out along with crap I didn't need, boxes without things to go inside them and old television times from last year... oh dear, they were left on the lounge too!

Man!  By the time 3:30pm had swung around I had been cleaning out the living room for 2 hours!  I put away Little Miss Stevie's cage - and that took me half an hour to do.  This brought me to tears; as though she had only passed away last week... and so I took down her feed and water dishes, her ladder and folded up her towel and put them all in the corner of the cage, closed up the door and brought it upstairs and put it into the wardrobe in the spare room.  It's a horrible feeling to have to put away this kind of thing... but I will have another little birdie in a few years' time when I can afford its vets bills.  

Well, at around 4pm, I sorted out dinner of a pizza and put the two bags of rubbish in the bin and then sat down and watched television for a bit until it was time to put the pizza in the oven.  
It's still very hot tonight... from all accounts it's still over 25 degrees and so it's going to be a very uncomfortable night for us all here in Brisbane.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

It's Hot! Hot! Hot!

After the huge heatwave that's been cooking our nation and destroying our sports across our coasts, it's finally reached our east coast.  Today, it's going to reach around 36 degrees Celsius (that's around 90 or so for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere).

So, today, I vowed to myself to stay home and get some serious work done inside my home, where it's nice and cool.  This means, I'll be organising, sorting through and arranging things and making sure I throw out what I no longer need today... yes, today is going to be a big day of work.

So far, I've gotten three loads of laundry done, the washing up is finished, I cleaned the counter and I put away the work I did yesterday afternoon and last night for Crafty Pegs (so my table is ready for more work today.  I also fertilised the garden with slow-release fertiliser and watered it in and now, I'm hoping to get in and look around for a hall table in a few weeks' time.  I want to save up for it and see if there's a good one around at garage sales or if I could order a new one in a furniture store around the ridges.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there right now.  It's another piece of furniture I want/need for the house and for Crafty Pegs and for my house to feel and look like a home as I clean it up, make it look better and I get some photos all fixed up and ready to be hung.  And yes, it's part of the Peter Walsh organising thing he's got going on Facebook this year; which I'm sticking to.

It's only Tuesday, and I'm hoping to get in and work more on my promise to have my house organised by the end of the year.  It's looking promising, as I'm working on it each week and it's been looking good little by little.  
So, what have you been up to lately?  Seeing it's been very hot, do you get up to much?  Or are you kicking back and drinking a lot of water and cool drinks?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

A Lot Done In One Day!

It's Saturday, and I thought it was going to be a lazy day... but boy, was I wrong!  I was out of the house by 10am and off to Mum and Dad's.  I had their mail to drop off and they were happy to see me; besides, we had to get the code into the radio.

Well, on the way there, I bought 2 boxes from Sam's Warehouse to keep on organising my home.  One was for the party stuff and the other was for Halloween gear.  Anyway, I bought some milk and was off to my folk's house where the birds were hanging off the kitchen screen the remind my parents they were still around... how cute can ya get?
We tried to make the code work in the car, but it didn't go in.  Weird but true.  So, we're taking it in to the manufacturers to get the code on Monday.  Strangely enough, the day I took it in, the guy didn't notice that the rego on the papers and the rego on the car didn't match...hmmmm... not very observant.

Anyway, I was at my folks' place for a while and ended up at Centro for a bit to buy some birthday presents for my second cousin, Arabella.  Her birthday party is tomorrow and she loves My Little Pony stuff... well, seeing I don't have children, I'm a little out of touch with what kids like.  But I found a cute little lunch box with learn to read books inside.  I also bought a container of 50 colouring pencils... very cool.  Mum wanted her to have the My Little Pony gear, whereas I wanted to get her something a little more original... and have added a couple of my hand-painted pencils to the colouring pencils.  It think she'll like them as they're pink and purple with gold on them too.

When I arrived home, I got organising again!  I used the boxes for their intended purposes and found they looked great - and I'm using the cardboard box which held my Halloween stuff as a charity box. 
Well, to start off that box, I went through my utensil drawer in my kitchen!  And I have so much crap in that drawer... like 4 sets of measuring spoons!  How and why I have this many sets is beyond me, but it's funny how one collects something like this without actually knowing they've done it!  I also have 2 pizza cutters - one works, while the other doesn't.  And I have an ice-cream scoop which I don't use; and I don't think I ever have used since I bought it.  I also found 3 tea-strainers of varying qualities!  Again, amazing how somebody gets to collect things like this, don't you think?
Well, I kept the tea-strainers and the measuring spoons (they're funny to keep) and then, I tossed out one of the pizza cutters, the ice-cream scoop and a few other items out of the drawer and into the box, and hey!  I can find everything in there!  How cool is that?  And I only spent the very famous ten minutes looking through that drawer!  I'm so proud of myself!  So, what did you get up to today?  Organising your house or was is a cool Saturday to hang out and chill at your place?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Busy At Home

Today, I've been busily working away at things that I thought would be done during the week or weekend.  However, I'm glad to busy.

Yesterday, I had a visitor - Jeremy - a gread friend of mine who is from the Gold Coast who dropped in for the day to help me with my computer (and why it keeps on crashing on me).  He's doing an IT course and programming course and loving it.  And so, he looked at my hard drive and said that one of the drives needed reformatting, and yes, 1GIG was far too small for what I need it for - but to save up for a great hard drive, not just a good one.
Then, we had lunch of a home made pizza.  I made the dough and made the whole thing from scratch, and he hadn't eaten a pizza like that before; and was amazed at how deliciously sweet and soft the base was.  He loves meat on his pizzas and yet when I made a vegetarian one, he said didn't seem to matter what was on the top, it was the base that made all the difference; nice and soft in the middle, and crunchy on the outside... yep, that's how it's supposed to taste.

Then, we took the horrible white hall table back to Sam's Warehouse back.  Well, they were amazed at how badly designed it was.  The lady said there were broken bits on it and I told her that they were like that, and I had to glue some things to make them work, and the drawer guides were all broken too.  I got my money back and they wondered how it all worked if the drawers went in the back the whole thing wasn't flush.  Even check-out guy could see it was totally wrong when he looked at the instructions, then back at it.  He agreed that it couldn't possibly be fixed up as the holes drilled into it were in the wrong places.  I'm so glad that went without a hitch.

Well, I looked at my watch and it was almost 3pm!  Wow, where did that time go?  Oh well.  We drove back here and hung out, chilling until Jeremy's lift came to pick him up.  We chatted in the back yard and he had a few smokes and he said that my place looked nice.  However he did comment that there were a few red ants around, and asked if we had Fire Ants around.... I told him I didn't think so as they're pretty aggressive.  My back neighbour does have very long grass and a lot of weeds - which I have complained about the sight of - but the landlords haven't done anything about.  So, if there's Fire Ants in there, it's a big problem that I didn't bring on.

Anyway, before long, Jeremy had to go.  He picked up all his gear and I walked him to the gate and saw him off.  I had to check my letter box anyway to clear out any junk mail in it.  
Once he was gone, I had some rubbish to put out, tidying up to do and other things to fix up around the place.  And the best thing is that the computer works better than ever!  

This morning, I wanted to get the sewing machine out and do up a hem on some Calico I bought this week for the stall next month.  However, when I put the bobbin, it jammed... I have looked it up online, and I think I put it in wrong.  So, I'll look at it again soon, and see if I can work on it again.  Then, I have all the varnishing to wrap up for the markets.  And hopefully, I'll be finished and ready to start over again by the time school starts next week.  
So, how was your week?  Busy?  Slow?  Readying the kids to get off to school?  All three?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe, and remember, I'm always here.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

New Priorities

This year, I've got myself into the organising mindset.  Yep, it started with the new boxes for the Christmas Decorations, then I organised how the extra books were arranged in my office, now, it's time I looked into getting a hall table.

Now, the first time, initially, backfired big time... but I've learned about that and I'm going to get my butt into gear and find a new one that doesn't look like it's going to fall down when I sneeze near it.

I went shopping today - grocery shopping - and I had to buy a few things that weren't normally on my shopping list. 
So, I gave Life Line a quick look, but that's all I did... just look.  I didn't buy anything.  Then, I went to the fabric shop down the way and bought 3 metres of Calico for my stall for $4.95 a metre... which was pretty good.  What I'm going to do is hem it, iron it and make it a cloth for the table and then put the nice fabrics I bought years ago for a summer skirt (which I didn't buy enough of at the time) and drap those pieces over the top to give the stall a little bit of character and colour.

After going to the fabric store, I didn't go to Woolworths - as I already have chocolate.  I went to the car and drove to Super A-Mart and looked at their hall tables.  Now, I did go online first but it said they didn't have any instore... what rot!  They did!  And there were 4 different styles, heights and widths.  But I loved the most basic, two-drawer one they showed me first which was $209... but I had to order it in.  This is something I don't mind doing as I'm going to look at my money and how I spend it over the next few months; and over the next year.

You see, my priorities have change since last September when my hobby business - Crafty Pegs - started up.  I'm working harder at creating pieces for the Creative Markets next month (which are on 23rd, February for those who aren't on Facebook) and I'm hoping to have more than enough stock to sell by then.  
Also, I'm trying see if I can get a second-hand desk for my craft area so I can put away all my gear over the next year.  I want to be able to put away all my sandpaper, pegs, tubs of paint, notebooks and other things as well, so when I go to bed each night, the desk I work on is clear and clean of everything except of the items drying overnight and the things I have to work on the next day.  It makes sense when you think about it.

Anyway, that's how it's hopefully going to work for me this year for Crafty Pegs.  But it will take time, and time is something I have plenty of.

I'm also working on organising myself and my house so it's tidier than it was last year.  I want everything to have a place and a place for everything... and this isn't an impossible thing, but it's time-consuming.  And so far, I'm going well at it; as I've slotted into my life bit by bit.  I've made sure my life has become a little more organised as each day and week passes by... and I'm proud of myself as this is something I've wanted for so long.

Anyway, how has your week been going?  All good I hope.  Busy like mine?  Or more relaxed?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Monday, January 13, 2014

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly of Flat Packs!

Today, I was on a mission to find a good hall table... I looked around online and found a pretty one at Fantastic Furniture... but it was almost $300!  So, I went to Sam's Warehouse and found one there for $50... and believe me, that's all it was bloody well worth!
I got the flat pack home, took it upstairs - as that's where the finished product was going to be - and spent 3 1/2 hours putting the damned thing together.  After I did, I found the top didn't go on properly, the drawers were being installed backwards, the whole thing wasn't flush (so the drawers didn't sit straight anyway) and when I took it apart again, the top of it fell apart (so I had to glue the top a little! 

What a piece of crap!

The worse thing was that I couldn't find the receipt!  Damn!  Oh well... I tried to turn the drawers around and fiddle with it, but this made the whole thing worse, so I fixed it the best way I knew how, struggled it into position and then looked at it... from a certain angle, it looks okay - if you don't look at it too closely - but then, I guess that's what you get for $50 from a crappy place like Sam's Warehouse.

I'll be saving up for the $299 one at Fantastic Furniture... it looks lovely, is very pretty and actually has a good feel to it.  And I'll see if I can get them to put it together (even if it costs me a little extra).  

But really, for $50, and in a flat pack, should a piece of furniture actually perform well no matter where the store gets it?  I meant they're all made in the same place, aren't they?  But if they don't go together properly, what's the point of selling them to the unsuspecting public?  And after I do get the next hall table, I'll be throwing this crappy-arse one in the recycling bin as it's shit; and I wouldn't want anyone else trying to use it.

So, have you ever tried to put together a flat pack and have it go totally wrong on you; even after you did follow the instructions to the letter?  This is the first one where it did for me, and boy, was it frustrating!  But I followed those instructions closely, and didn't vere from them.  So, I didn't know what went wrong.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

A New Phone

I have a new second-hand mobile.  This one came from my older brother's friend who was looking at getting another phone. 

Fair enough... so long this thing works is all I care about.

So, it's a little Samsung Galaxy; and it's so cute!  We sorted out a new number for it and it's on the Vodaphone network; which I don't mind.

However, I lost all my numbers from my old sim card... oh well... thankfully I have all the numbers I need on my landline phone to put back onto my mobile when this happens.  But Gabe helped me out with it and I'm so glad he did, as my old phone was making phone calls without me, texting without me and my friends and family were wondering what the hell was going on with me.

Now, I've taken some cool photos of my pegs and I have a nice photo on my phone's wallpaper to make it look cute and very personalised.  
I still have a lot to learn about my 'new' phone, but it's still something to enjoy while I think about getting a brand new one in the next year or so.  I've just learned how to get rid of and edit contacts (as I added my Aunty Helen three times by accident and only needed her once..hehee).  There's so much I still have to learn about this new phone and I do enjoy getting these smart phones and using them when I have the chance.

And I'm organising things still. 

I spent ten minutes under my kitchen sink organising the box under there.  I found out that I have more than enough steel wool, green scourers and I found my Pledge Duster and a bag of duster refills!  And Mum had bought me some re-washable Jiff dishcloths... so I'm set for the next month or so for cleaning products too.

Are you still on your New Year's resolve?  Or has it lost its shine?  For me, I'm getting in and doing this until my house is organised properly.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Ten Minutes

That's all it takes each day to work through a drawer or tiny bit of space in your home... to make it look and feel better.  And if you do this each and every day, you can get in and work through your home throughout a year and get yourself organised.

I did this to clean out the house.  And it worked.

Now, I'm doing it to organised my house.  I'm also following - and have 'liked' Peter Walsh's Facebook page.  He's got some wonderful ideas on how to keep your home from becoming something you hate, and something you wish you could live in without rummaging through so much crap.

Now, it kind of started with last year when I put away the knitting yarn into matching boxes to store them over Christmas.  And presently, I put the Christmas Decorations into the wardrobe in their own plastic boxes in the the office wardrobe waiting for next year... nice!

I do have the smaller stuff to work on now... there's the kitchen and bathroom sinks, the living room and storage area and also the craft area always needs upgrading (and the most important part; as I'm looking at getting a proper work desk for that place with drawer for it and to use the card table at the markets).  

So, are you going to start with ten minutes every day?  Are you going to work on getting in and making every day count on knowing which things are important to you and which things aren't?  With the things that you don't neet, remember, there's people out there who don't have anything, and would love to have the things you don't need anymore.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Let's Get Organised!

Yes!  I'm back at it again with my house!  But I'm taking on a different take with it!  Now, I've cleaned it within an inch of its life, I'm now on an organising binge... I'm working on organising things so I can find them, throwing out old things I no longer need and replacing them with nice things that serve a better purpose.

I started with the Christmas Decorations and how they're stored.  Now, first off, last year, I put them away in a large plastic storage container and put them away in the wardrobe.  This sounds great, right?  Then came the day when I wanted to put them all away and so I went out to Sam's Warehouse and bought two more plastic, clear boxes of different sizes and put soft decorations in one and tiny decorations in the other.  This worked out so well; and chopped my de-decorating of the tree in half... I also threw out 4 cardboard boxes!  Yay for me!

Today, I wanted to put away the tree, lights and the Christmas Wreath in a huge box.  I found one mammoth box at Dollars and Sense at Logan Central Plaza for $17.99!  What a steal!  But only the top of the tree fitted... never mind!  I put the bottom of the tree in the original box (giving it plenty of room to move in it) and then I organised the lights on their spindle, put their power board in there too, and the Wreath and its hanger and - there ya go! - done!  Now, all five boxes are put away neatly in the wardrobe... nice and neat.

I'm hoping to get rid of the set of drawers in the hall and put a nice hall table in its place... something with plenty of space on it and a long drawer in the front for some of the things inside the drawers.  I'll be putting most of the things from there into the other bedside table in my bedroom.  But I want to put more photos on a the hall table and on the wall there too... so it creates a little nook of a family album for all to see.

Yes, this year is the year for me to get organised.  Last year, in the last half of the year, I pulled my gardens together, worked on Crafty Pegs and gave a few things away... this year, it's time to get my butt into gear and get organised!  What about you?  What are you doing to motivate yourself into doing what you must?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Monday Blues

I've been home a few days and I've had all kinds of things happen to me that I didn't want or expect.  It started on Friday, when I was on the bus coming home...

It was supposed to be a simple 3 hour bus trip from Brunswick Heads.  But the drivers changed at Moobil and we got a 60+ driver who knew where he was going until he skipped past the Coolangatta Airport.  Some people onboard made a fuss and he turned around, went to the airport and then... he got lost on the Gold Coast for an hour, trying to find the old highway!  How he managed to do that, I'm not sure, but he did.
By Beenleigh, I was about to get down the front and tell him that I needed to get off at Springwood Bus Station, so he didn't skip past that (which I had a bad feeling about), when a guy from the back went there instead and told him he was getting off at my stop too.  The driver said, that he was going straight through to Brisbane, no other stops!  The guy said that he needed to - and had paid his way until - the Springwood Bus Station, and he needed to get off there.  When the guy found out I was getting off at Springwood too, he told the driver there was another passenger who needed to disembark too.  The driver said he was never told about us.  But then, when we pulled into Springwood, he looked at his clipboard and saw there were two passengers to get off at the Springwood Bus Station... if only he had checked that thing at Surfers Paradise, and he would've been on time.
Well, the guy who got off at the bus station with me had chatted with me and he had been bussing it since Sydney!  What a long time to be getting on and off buses!  Anyway, he and I talked and he wanted to chat more, but I was really needing to get myself home and buy groceries and settled back at my house.  But he had my business card for Crafty Pegs and I said for him to look me up on Facebook, but he didn't have an account.

Anyway, the trip home was good.  I bought all the food I needed - and wanted - and got home, had a shower and got the smell of the bus off me.  Then, I embraced that my bed was huge and I could spread out again... yay!

Over the weekend, it was stinking hot.  I hated the heat on Saturday to the point that I drank so much Cranberry Juice, water and smoothies it's a wonder I didn't turn into one of those substances.  Then, Sunday was hot, but not as bad, seeing there was a nice breeze.
Then, I turned on the computer, jumped on Facebook and found out my cousin's dog - Max - had vanished.  And I don't mean he was stolen... he disappeared at around 4:30am.  And even now, he hasn't been found.  He's very old, a large dog, and he's hard of hearing, can't see much and isn't good on his feet.  But he's a very friendly dog and is suffering from Dementia... poor little guy.  The last time I saw him was before Christmas and he came around to me in Aunty Helen's living room about five times to say hi to me; and he acted as though he'd never met me before.  And even when I was going home, he said hello to me... so he's not well.  
Kate, Aunty Helen and other relatives searched for him all day yesterday.  And so I thought to go and search further afield - seeing I had a 4X4 and it could get places most of them weren't on foot.  So, I took off and didn't even get to Rochedale Road when the radio turned itself off and on and then the indicators were making the needles jump all over the place.  Off went the radio and the air-conditioner and anything else I didn't really need to use and I high-tailed it to Mum and Dad's.  I pulled into the driveway and put up the window after using hand signals to get into their driveway (because they gave out on me only about 100 metres down the road) and the moment the window was up, I turned off the engine.  Then, I tried it again... nothing.  Not even an engine warning or battery light.... wow!  I was damned lucky this thing didn't stop on a main road!
A call to the RACQ was made, and a new battery needed - and a new alternator as well.  Well, by around 3pm, the battery assistance guy showed up and sold me a new battery and it got me home.  And then, he made an appointment for me for an alternator guy to come out to my place to replace the alternator with a new one.  Mum and Dad weren't pleased that they were spending around $400 on the car in one day, but it had to be done.
So, at around 5pm, the second appointment called me and the guy showed up right at my door, I popped the bonnet and left him to his work.  About 45 minutes later, it was done, paid for and he was outa here.  The car works!

But the radio doesn't, and neither does the clock!

So, today, I was off to Mitsubishi to see what was wrong.  They looked up the car on their computers and they can't find the codes to the radio unless they take the radio out... damn.  I told my folks and they insist there's a code at their place I can put in.  Dad cracked the shits at me - screaming over the phone at me not to get the dealers at the radio - in case they break something.  But then, I just agreed to keep Dad nice... boy, he can get really weird sometimes.

Last night, I called my cousin about dear, sweet Max and she told me that she's sunburnt, exhausted and they didn't find him.  I asked her where she looked and suggested a few places; but she declined looking where I suggested.  I told her I was on my way to her place yesterday when the Pajero broke down; and told her what rigmarol I went through to get it going again.  She sounded happy that I wanted to help.  She really wished her dog would show up, but she thinks he may never be found.  

I really hope Max is somewhere safe.  Until my next post, take care and stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 


UPDATE:  I just got a text message from Mum a few minutes ago regarding Max.  Aunty Helen and Uncle Iain found his body out the backyard in the long grass down the back of their property.  They've now got closure as he's a very old dog.  Rest In Peace you sweet, wonderful dog.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Resolutions Revolution...

It's a really hot day today.  A day to sit around in the cool of my office and think about what the year may bring me and my family.

So, here I am on the net, surfing around, looking at things and then, I wandered onto Peter Walsh's Facebook Page and realised it's exactly what I needed to get in and do... begin looking at my house again.

Yes it's had a few places organised and clean, but not all the places are properly tended to... so what will I do about it?  I'll do what I'm supposed to do:  clean them out, tidy them up, and keep them tidy permanently.

I have problems doing this.

I know I do, but they have to be done.

So, what do you wish to get done this year?  And I mean, what's your whale of a job?  What's your main biggie of thing - the elephant in the room - that needs to be looked at and sorted out?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

It's A Heatwave!

Yep, here in Brisbane - and in fact the whole of Queensland - it's a heatwave! Today, it's supposed to reach over 40 degrees Celcius here in Brisbane alone... while out west in Roma, Chinchilla, St George and other country towns, it's supposed to reach over 45 degrees Celcius!  We're breaking records that have been set way back in the 1940's this year!

And so, today, I was up nice and early at 6am to get the laundry done, swept out the car port and then, put the wiping up away and opened up all the windows of my house... then?  Then, I found it was 30 degrees and only 8am.

Crap!

So, I made my drink, turned on the air-conditioner in my study and have been hybernating in here since.  But I'm still sweating badly even though it's the coolest room in the house.

Wow... eh?

This afternoon, I'm hoping to get my butt downstairs to work on the some pegs when it does cool off a little - well let's hope it does.

So, what are you getting in to do over this stinking hot day here in Brisbane?  And if you're not in this uncomfortable stickiness, and is caught out in a snow storm or ice storm, what are you doing with yourself elsewhere in the world?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and remember, I'm always here. 

And here's some of 'Heatwave' by Martha and the Vandellas to get your toe tapping.

 

Thursday, January 2, 2014

A New Year!

Happy New Year!

Yep, it's been a good few days for me.  My New Year's Eve Party was great... at the Brunswick Heads Bowls Club where we all ate a great meal, and the band was 'Neily Diamond'... yeah, a tribute to Neil Diamond, which wasn't great, but when the guy got out of the sparkly shirts, and into another set of outfits, his singing wasn't too bad when he did other cover songs.

I danced the night away... so did half the place!  Any of the kids there went to sleep on the chairs in the dining area and we all called in the New Year on a John Lennon song... not a bad way to call it in, is it?

The next day was very quiet, as most of the day was a siesta for most people... 

Yesterday, I tried to get a place on the bus to get home.  But on the Premier Buses site, it said there were no seats available.  Bummer!  So, today, we're going to call them and see what's happening with them for tomorrow... or even Monday (or if there's a seat on the weekend sometime, that'd be even better).

Anyway, I'm off to the Tweed Rivers Art Gallery to see if we can look in on the Margaret Otto House which is being built there.  If it's not finished, that's okay, but it'd be great to see it half-finished, and some of her worked there.  

Over the last few days, I've been learning how to work my new tablet that I got off Mum when she bought a Samsung tablet for herself.  She gave me her old one.  There's so many games, jig-saw puzzles and other great little things on it... and I downloaded an app for writing which I've been using too.  However, the battery is so easy to drain, it's not funny... so I'm plugging it in every night to recharge.

The weather has been nice, hot and sunny.  We did get a huge electrical storm the other day, which grumbled on throughout the night, and brought us a nice coolish, overcast day the next day... which was promptly followed by a hot, sunny one.
Unfortunately, unknown to a few of us, Brisbane was thrown a few really stinking hot days while we got the nice cool days.  Not something I wanted to know, seeing I'm heading off up there over the next few days to head home.

So, how did you go on New Year's Eve?  Did you go out and paint the town red?  Or was it a quiet affair for you and your family?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and remember, I'm always here.