Wet Day Working

This morning, I woke at around 7am to rain.  It was a nice pitter-patter on the roof and I needed to get in and feed the chickens, Jay and then myself without getting too wet... nothing worse than wet clothes on a day of rain, where nothing dries.

Well, I pulled on my Wellies and trudged down the back in a waterproof jacket of my brother's, and fed the 'girls'.  They were running into each other, all over each other and jumping on my shoes to get to the food; but it got done... funny little critters!  I checked the coop and there was only one egg there, so I thought to leave it and wait until this afternoon when I let them out to check for more.

By the time I returned to feed Jay, the rain had begun to fall harder; so I waited until later in the day to take her for her walk... if it was going to back off.  Fortunately, a few hours later, it did.  Jay and I took a walk out in the back field and returned about twenty minutes before it poured rain again and the temperature dropped about ten degrees!  

Well, I made myself lunch and something to drink and went to work with my new line of pegs and things in the cottage where I'm staying.  This was at around midday... now it's almost 4pm and I've been working hard out there on a few things.  The cold and wet weather has made drying times longer.  So, I went out to the car and grabbed the suitcase I bought yesterday and decided to give it a good clean-out... and it looks ten times better now!

Anyway, the chickens are out in the yard now, they laid two more eggs and Jay's been fed today too... it's been a quiet day because of the rain and cold.  Tonight, I'm going to make some pasta... yummo!  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

House-Sitting Again!

Well, here I am at Brighton in Brisbane, house-sitting my brother's house again.  I arrived yesterday around lunch time and today was my first full day out and about in my Little Green Machine doing what I needed to get done before the rains came for the weekend.  

Gabe and Kat did have breakfast here with me, packed the Kombi and then took off... leaving Jay the Wonderdog in my care; and I went out about an hour later, hoping to get everything done that I wanted to get done... and I did!

Mind you, it did take a good part of my day to get everything I needed; including buying toilet paper and getting some milk.  But I didn't want to get stuck in the rain around these parts... so I thought today was the best day to get things done.

I searched high and low for the vintage suitcase... but couldn't find one until a lady in an old-fashioned shoe shop told me about an antiques store at Deagon and photocopied a map of this area for me, high-lighting the roads I needed to take - what at great help!  I found the place, pulled in and found this antiques store brilliant, filled with all kinds of goodies and then asked the owner about suitcases and he pointed out two... one was a lovely blue and white one for $12 and the other looked very, very well-traveled.  This second one had stickers hanging off it, half its skin tarnished and yet it was still holding together quite well!  So, I asked what its story was, and he happily told me that he had had it since the 1960's; and had bought it off Rudyard Kipling himself in India!  Talk about the WOW factor!  He wasn't going to part with that one for any more than $120... and personally, I don't blame him.  So, I bought the $12 one and said he was very lucky to be in possession of such a greatly traveled suitcase which was owned by such a brilliant writer!

Otherwise, I spent most of my day walking around Sandgate Township Common; with Little Green Machine safely parked uncover... and only just made it back in time for the 2 hour parking limit to be up... *phew!*.... I walked around the place looking into all the charity stores and asking about the suitcases and trying to find 'The Book Shack'.  Nobody had suitcases, and yet it seemed there were two answers to 'The Book Shack':  either nobody had ever heard of it, or they didn't know where it was because they didn't live in the area, but they took a wild guess where it might be!  

By the time I arrived home with the suitcase, a couple of crazy ties, the milk and toilet paper, I was stuffed!  But I had to take Jay for a walk and let the chickens out for their wander around the place...  yep, it was around 3pm.  So, I did that, fed Jay and - before long  it was time to feed myself!  It's only 10pm and I'm ready for bed!  I haven't done much, just searched for a bookstore and an old suitcase.... never knew it would take so long... hehe... well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

A Busy Weekend

This past weekend has been busy... and you guys know I love to keep myself busy, now I have a car of my own.

On Friday night, Winter came to Brisbane - not to mention the rest of Australia - very abruptly.  We copped a big storm and then the temperatures plumetted!  So, over the weekend, we had freezing temperatures to remind us that the chilly season was definitely upon us.  On this day, I was at Mum and Dad's place to get a pair of jeans hemmed up by Mum.  We spent the afternoon hanging out and laughing.  I was expecting Mick, a new man who I've begun seeing, to come over for dinner that night.  However, he texted me and said he wouldn't be able to make it.  So, I had the night to myself.  Mum asked if I minded.  I was a little let down, but I knew I'd see him at some point after he got his work finished from that week.
We went to Aunty Heather's house to drop some things off and she saw my Little Green Machine.  She loved it, saying it was just gorgeous!  Before we knew it, it was getting on a little, Mum and I were back at her place, I was on the kitchen table being sorted out for the jeans, and there was a storm brewing over the back... those few hours flew by!  But I had to get the car home and under cover!  And as I pulled in, I got it under the car port with 10 minutes to spare... phew!... how was that for timing!

Well, that was Friday night.  

Saturday was cold.  I stuck around the house, stuffed around on here and did some washing up, tidying up and put things away.  Then, after dinner, I locked up the house and Mick was there on Facebook and he asked if he could pop around ... well, yeah of course he could.  It wasn't late and we had missed out on dinner, so he wanted to catch up that night. 

Sunday was a cooler day.  We got up, ate nice hot pancakes for breakfast and both of us had our own outings to go to.  I had been invited to Gabe and Kat's place to show them my car - and Riley was there - and Mick had to go and take his niece out for the day.  So, we said our farewell's and were on our way.  
I picked up the GPS at Mum and Dad's place where Dad thought I had forgotten how to use it - which I hadn't - and lectured me about how to find an address on it.  Then, I was on my way.  It took me about 40 minutes or so of steady driving to get to their place and I followed the directions to the letter!  And once I arrived, it was really cool.  They all loved the car.  Gabe photographed it with me next to it, and me not next to it.  And after we had a quick coffee, we were off... to a gem show, where Gabe drove the car because I didn't know where the show was.  
He loved it, saying it was a sweet ride and had a lot of life in it.  The gem show was cool.  I had around $30 to spend and I spent every penny of it on some very cool things.  I scored a bag of Zebra Stones for $5.00, two thinly sliced pieces of stone for $5.00 a piece, rummaged through a box of .50c stones and found some really pretty ones and bought two expensive Zebra Stones that had been polished up really nicely so I could make them into pendants.  Yep, we had a great day there before driving back to their house for another lunch and coffee... then I was off just before Riley headed off to her Mum's place.

It was a good drive home.  The traffic wasn't horrible and I had a nice drive without any cross-winds this time - unlike drive up there.

Today, I was out at my craft group.  Anne wasn't there, but Nell was.  And a few of the ladies saw my little car and they loved it!  They thought it was a gorgeous shade of green and thought it was brand new - until I told them it was second-hand - and they were amazed at how well-cared for it was.  
I got two magna-pegs painted up, ready to have magnets stuck to the backs of them.  And I had six other pegs all readied up for designs to be painted onto them.  We had a birthday today too; of Gloria, who is in her late 80's.  She brought along a Hazelnut cake to share with us.  
So, there was my weekend and today's things that went on.  What did you get up to?  Was it a fun weekend?  Or was it a lazy one for you?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember I'm always here.

Rainy, dull Saturday

This morning, at around 6:30am, I was awoken by the great escaping black chicken. She was urgently clucking around the door of my room loudly, making sure I didn't forget her or her friends in the chook pen at the bottom of the yard.  By 7am, she was still hanging around my door, so I got up and readied myself to go outside... and you know, she was out there on the lawn waiting for me.

But today was the day where I seriously got myself packed and cleaned up the house.  So I cleared the lounge of my painting gear, put away my external hard drive and 'Aloha' pencilcase - with all its bits in it - and then I packed all my stuff out of the pantry, my vitamins and my medications into my milk crate. Then I put the freezer packs into the the freezer so they were ready for tomorrow.
My bag was next. I repacked it neatly and then put all my electronics into my Bookcrossing briefcase.  I still have a few things to go in the way of packing, but it's all last minute stuff to put away tomorrow morning after I get up.  It's mainly the sheets I have to strip from the bed and the duvet I borrowed from Gabe & Kat over the last week. The sheets are mine and I brought them with me, and I'm glad I did as we have had some pretty cold nights.... not to mention some just-as-cold days here.  But I've recovered quite well over the last week; and am feeling better as each day passes.
I am able to walk faster, sleep without painkillers, never lost my appetite, and got back into cooking within 4 days of getting out of hospital... so I was itching to get myself back on my feet again and not lay about the house, and this is good.

Also today, I've been without a computor. I'm typing this post up on a Samgung tablet - and it's driving fekkin' nuts as it's so slow to type anything on this; you're a fast typist normally.
Anyway, the reason I am without a computor is because the one I wascusing here at my brother's house started playing up on me on Wednesday, and by Friday night I found it was making strange whirring and beeping noises... and seeing my last few computers went out making those noises, I thought to save any big problems and turn it off - also they won't lose anything on the hard drives either. So, it's the tablet I'm using and this thing is frustrating.... so many darned typos which I have gone back to fix.

I am also itching to get home to my new bed, my huge collection of books and my internet system....aaaahhh, yes, no place like home. So, how has the first week of the school holidays been for you? Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm, and remember, I'm always here.

A Day To Pack

Today, I woke to a dull day, but I got up, fed the chickens and found that it wasn't getting any cooler or warmer than it was going to be for the day... so the cloud cover from yesterday afternoon had stuck around and kept the temperatures down for the day.

But today is going to be used to packing everything.  It's not going to be necessarily be busy, just fiddly.  I'll be packing up my clothes, computer gear and painting stuff.  Then, I'll make sure I'll have all my bathroom gear and then pack up any food I can and be ready for tomorrow; to go home.  I just hope it doesn't rain too much.

I'm looking forward to going home, mainly because I can move around more easily than I did when I arrived here.  My surgical stitches have healed really well and the dissolving stitches are gone now... just have to wait until the sticky strips fall off and make sure I'm healing okay properly and then get back into my yoga to get my muscles stretched properly again and back into my walking again; as I'm really out of shape and have slowed down.

But today, I'm cooking up a nice cannelloni for dinner... a big one.  I'm making enough for Gabe and Kat too, for when they arrive home so they don't have to cook anything, just put it in the oven and heat it up and eat it, and it'll be ready to eat.  Very nice!  Oh, and the one I'll be making is on the Recipes label on this blog, in case you want to have a go at it.  It's a great recipe to have up your sleeve in winter and when you have plenty of pumpkin of sweet potato in your crisper.  And you don't have to have just that, so long you get the herbs right, you can put anything in cannelloni shells.

Anyway, I've done a little bit of work this morning and am looking at doing more this afternoon and then, there's just a bit more tomorrow morning then I'll be home by tomorrow night.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember I'm always here.

A Few Hours Out & About

Today, it's been nice.  But the sun has vanished on us here in Brisbane, replaced by the cold breezes and Winter lows of the day.  
This morning, I got in and did some laundry while the sun was out, however by the time I was onto the second load, I noticed the cloud was coming over and moved it from the clothes line and onto the clothes horse under the deck.  I had plans to go out for a few hours today and didn't want to have my clothes wet if it rained while I was out.

Well, I did end up going for a walk late this morning - at around 11am - and I went to Electea Coffee House on the corner of Queens Parade.  Normally, this place is about 10 minute's walk, but it took me a good 20 minutes to get there and back.  But I did stay there for a good look-see for a few hours and for something to eat as well before I returned home.
While there, I shared a table with a lady and her daughter, Emily.  Emily wasn't shy in spreading herself out as she ripped open a new pack of children's cards and spread them all over the tiny table our coffee and food sat on.  She was funny.  The lady told me about a home business she was starting up called 'Nourish 'Em' where it was about feeding children - especially hers - organically-grown, fresh food and not packaged stuff.  I told her that I ate food that I made from scratch; which takes me hours to make... and it does help to not have a full-time job to really make it work out.  But having the time to work on the dinner really does pay off.
After the lady and her daughter went to the park, I had a good look around the store to find a few good things to buy.  I picked up a book called 'Waiting' and a vinyl with songs on it about NYC from the 1970's.  Then, I spotted a tea/coffee set in a corner where a mother's group was chatting away.  So, I excused myself and had a look at it; and found it amazingly beautiful... and I bought it for Gabe and Kat!  It was an Albanian Tea/Coffee set and the owner wrapped it up and bagged it for me.  After I paid for it, I thought it would be a good time to get in and have some lunch - so I did, ordering some eggs with spinach on Lemon Sour Dough bread... yummo!  And to add to that, I had a hot chocolate.  Very delicious.
By this time, the place was packed with customers who were trying to keep out of the cold and they were struggling to find places to seat them all comfortably.  So, by the time I finished my meal, another couple of customers were waiting to be seated.  I thanked the people who served me and the owner and was off on my way back to Nathan Street. 
Once back here, I wash up the tea/coffee set and have set it up on the end of the dining room table, so Gabe and Kat can see it when they arrive home on Saturday.  I can't wait to see what they say about it.  Well, that was my day out... and I'm really tired from all that walking. Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Kicking Back

It's been a week since my surgery at Greenslopes Private Hospital and I'm recovering well here at Brighton.  My brother's house is nice, big and quiet; and  his chickens are cheeky, funny... and there's always one which gets out in the morning, so I'm woken at around 7am by an urgent clucking outside my door.  Yes, she knows where I am.

Today, it's on the cooler side, and windy, but I'm not worried.  So long I keep myself rugged up, I'll be okay.  
Last night, we had the moon - a full moon - the closest to earth this year.  It's called a Wolf Moon and it also means it'll be the brightest it'll be for over a year.  The tides will be very high today and over the next day or so too.  An amazing thing this Wolf Moon, don't you think?  I took a few photos of it, and found it lovely.
Also last night, I made myself a pizza from scratch.  It was great... right up until I realised I forgot the yeast!  Oops!  Oh well, I added it in with a bit of water and it rose.  Then, I cut the dough in half, wrapped on half up and put into the freezer and rolled out the other half and made a nice pizza with it.

I've been taking it easy here too; and yeah, feeling a little guilty about it too.  I wish I had more energy to get out and about, because I do want to go to Electea Tea and Coffee House - about a 20 minute walk from here - but I know it'd be wrong and too far for me.  But it's just such nice weather and if I took my time, it'd be worth it... really it would.  
Anyway, I might do that on Thursday; I'm not sure yet.  Tomorrow, I have to go and get some milk, vegemite and a pen or two (as the ones I brought along aren't working)... and so, I'm hoping to be able to get to the coffee house at some point and enjoy myself there.
I've been knitting up a storm too.  I began a scarf at home - a nice brown, fluffy one - and it's almost finished, as I've had plenty of time to just sit here and knit while watching a movie during the day.  I know that sounds lazy, but really, it's the doctor's orders to do nothing all day and rest... sounds boring really.

But this week - already - I've done some laundry, the washing up is done in the morning, my bed is made and chooks are fed.  And, until around 3pm, when the chooks are let out, I don't have to do anything but read, knit or paint; unless I want to have a shower... but that's just to keep warm.  So, yeah, I'm just kicking back right now.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Back At Brighton

Well, I'm here at Brighton, minding my brother's house again; resting up after my  time in hospital.  There's the chickens to look after, and one single cheeky chookie who gets out whenever she wants at 6am every morning and takes a wander around the yard all day... she's the one Gabe and Kat have given up on trying to get a handle on.  They just let her go and do her own thing.

Today, I've been to the corner store.  On their way out, I asked if they could drop me off there and I'd dawdle back... of course they could.  So, it took me around 15 minutes to get back here which normally took me 5 minutes at a brisk pace.  But then, Kat asked me to put out some laundry for her.  This was put on at around 8am, and I've only just finished hanging it out bit by little bit... as I'm exhausted and sore still.

However, I've been sitting on the net not doing all that much.  I brought along some knitting and peg painting to get done here as well as some reading too.  So, I have some good stuff to get into; and I've also brought along all the food I'd need to eat with me from my grocery shop from last week.  There's absolutely no need for me to go to the store unless it's for milk - but that won't be for the next few days.  But by then, I'll be a little more able to move around, and more rested up.

The garden here is looking just lovely.  Winter in Australia is just wonderful.  In some parts, it snows while in others it gets really cold, frosty and plants that flourish in the cold, really do come into their own.  So, I'm seeing this happen around my area and around Brisbane right now.  
I arrived here in Brighton, Brisbane, last night, and it got really, really cold.  Mum insisted that I brought along my own flannel sheets; and I'm glad I did!  It was so very cold in the guest house and I had on 2 duvets there and it was cold this morning until around 9ish when the sun warmed up the area.  But even now, closer to lunch, if you're out of the sun, it's quite cool.

I'm hoping to keep myself occupied this week with a few activities.  There's my knitting, painting, reading and other little things that will be relaxing too.  I brought along all 7 seasons of 'Supernatural'  with me on dvd to watch... and then, I've got my books too - traditional ones as well as my e-books on my iPod that I nab for free off iTunes.  So, while I'm healing up, I'll get myself through a few scarves, some Crafty Pegs and quite a few chapters of some books I'm plugging through - no worries!  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

A Week Away

Today, I woke to lovely sunshine and looking forward to going away to spend a week at my brother's house at Brighton.  This is to help me recover from my surgery; and all I'm going to do there is knit, paint pegs and read... and most definitely sleep.

This ought to be a good thing for me as the place is nice and quiet.  And it's a good area too.  I'm going to take a lot of food with me and enjoy the time alone to get over my surgery scars - which aren't hurting as much as they did when I arrived home on Tuesday.
The sticky strips are going well and wounds aren't sore anymore and aren't red either.  But I'm making sure I eat plenty of good food and get as much sleep as possible to help with the healing.
The only problem I have is a sore throat and a runny nose; but that from the change of season, and I'll be okay once that gone too.

Seeing this is going over the Winter School holidays, I'm sure this will work out well.  I also hope to see my niece too - but if not, that doesn't matter - so long she has a good time during these school holidays.

So, what are you up to this school holidays in this part of the world?  And if it's Summer where you are, what are you doing with yourself?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm, and remember, I'm always here.

My Last Day In Brighton

Last night it rained.  Just before midnight, I put some pot plants out from under a cover and the way of the rain and just minutes after I closed the door to the guest house, I heard the rain pour from the dark night skies.  

How's that for timing?

Not long after, I climbed into bed, read a few pages of 'The Wastelands' by Stephen King and was off to sleep.  The rain kept on falling all night and I had to close the large sliding door so it didn't wet the carpet; the night cooled right down.

This morning, I woke to my alarm at 6am and heard a strange bird outside in the garden.  On looking out the window, I found one of the black chickens strutting around the lawn trying to look as though she was blending in with the scenery; and failing miserably.  So, I went out there in my pajamas and led her back to the chicken run, grabbed a leaf off a plant they all love and bribed her back inside.  
By the time I fed them, took some photos and was about to have my breakfast, I had to put her back into the run again and find out how she got out.  It wasn't hard, to find the hole she had pushed up... so I blocked that with a piece of wood and weighed it down with a paver and went about my day.  There was packing to begin doing.

I folded all my clothes and repacked my bag, sorted out the blue trolley, put the lids on the spray varnish (which never got used) and the mozzie repellent and put them both into the milk crate.  Then, I put away quite a few things in my Bookcrossing bag and organised myself well enough to survive the day.  In the kitchen, I found everything I needed to be able to grab it and pack it later tonight.  The mineral was pulled out of the fridge outside to warm up and the cranberry juice was left out as well so it could also warm up and I could pack it.  The dark chocolate was moved from the freezer to the fridge - right next to the cheese - and I made sure that I washed up everything tonight and vacuumed the whole house this afternoon while the repeat of 'The World's Biggest Losers' was on (exactly why channel 11 is putting that on every afternoon is beyond me, but it seems to pull an audience).  

Anyway, after I watched my usual shows tonight, I packed up my painting kit for the pegs, put away everything else that needed putting away, washed up everything possible, cleaned my stuff out of the bathroom and made about 4 trips to and from the house to get my stuff here into the guest house and ready to go for tomorrow morning to leave early.

I'm excited about going home.  I'm also very excited about picking up my television set from Panasonic.  You see, guys, I've had the biggest problems with reception on it.  But when we got it there, they couldn't find anything wrong with it and didn't bother telling me.  So, they were going to make me wait another month until they replaced something in it that didn't need replacing... stupid really.  Well, I can pick it up tomorrow and take it home.  The guy said it looks like it's the antenna; that we'll have to either get a bigger or stronger one, or that we'll have to get one where it's positioned higher and strapped down - seeing my house is situated lower down than most people's in the unit complex.

Well, there's still a few things to get done, but those jobs can wait until tomorrow morning.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.

Packing Day

Yep, I'm packing today... I'm also doing my last lot of laundry too.  It's a day of of cleaning up, tidying up and making sure everything I brought to the house is with me in the final sweep on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. As much as I've enjoyed being here, I can't wait to get home. 

However, there's also the account of my television too.  I put it in to get repaired on 5th, March and it's still waiting on parts to show up.  From what I've been told by the phone lady at Panasonic, I'll be waiting for it to be fixed until 15th, April!  Since when were we living in the 1960's?  I do believe in keeping the customer happy; and if you can't fix a television in 2 weeks, well, you replace it.  I told her this in a much more pleasant way and she agreed with me and told me that she'd get in contact with the repair guy... who has yet to contact me today about what's to be done.  I hope I'm not stuck without a television for too long.

Anyway, this morning, I was cleaning out the chicken's coup when I found a small Cane Toad in their water... so I picked it up and tossed the whole thing over the fence into the garden.  Well, I wore the water and let the toad out too!  Yuk!  And I was wearing clean jeans as well!  I grabbed the rake, found the toad, and flung it over the back fence so it didn't hurt the chickens. 
As I grabbed the feed for the chickens, I turned and found the damned toad had escaped the toss and was sitting on a length of wood near the top of the fence.  So, out came the broom and I killed it.  now, I had to clean it up... I found a brush and dustpan and made sure it was over the back fence this time nowhere near the chickens.  I cleaned out where the chickens slept, the laying box and gave them clean hay.  They're happy chickens now.
I did all this before eating any breakfast myself... and I still hadn't put on the radio or opened the house when I returned from the back of the yard.  I also put the jeans that were wet on for a wash (and anything else that needed a wash too) and also began packing a few things away for my trip home.

I have enjoyed being here at Brighton, but I really do miss my house at Logan.  I'm looking forward to getting back onto my computer, reading the books in my collection and getting back into my yard (particularly seeing it may need a mow badly) and that I will have my stereo system and turntable to play with too... yay!  Can't wait!  
But what I find when I'm on holidays is that I always return with new things.  This time, I have come home with a teapot, a vintage suitcase, a bag, half a paua shell and a vinyl.  Not too bad in the way of souvenirs if you ask me; and they're all second-hand too.  And I'm going to take care of them all and give them a second life in my house.  I have made sure they will all have a use in my life; and not just sit around and do nothing but gather dust.  

Well, I'm hoping to make up an album of what I've been doing and gotten up to here at Brighton this time around so you can all see it soon.  Until I do, I hope you have enjoyed reading my posts about this fortnight here.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.

This Weekend

It's not yet gone midday and I've gotten a lot done in my day.  I've got 4 loads of laundry done, the chickens have been fed and patted (to make them lay more eggs) and I've been to the store up the road to buy a paper and a few little essentials and milk.  The laundry was finished by around 10am and I'm glad it's turning out to be a hot day; as it's going to dry nicely.  I've also done a few bits of my own laundry so I don't have to do any when I get back home.

But it was yesterday that was the busiest day for me. I had a day full of visitors and they were my parents.  I haven't had people around here since Geoff and Vivenne came here with Little Zoe for dinner the week before; and so it's been very quiet here.
Dad got in and went to mow the lawn, but found there was no petrol or oil for the mower or whipper-snipper... this frustrated him as they really should have kept it up.  And the lawn mower he found didn't work properly, so he pulled the one from under the house and it worked but the catcher was small and he had to stop every now and then to empty it.  So, the job that was supposed to easy turned out to be something hard; this made him really impatient.  And really, I don't blame him.
But they were impressed that I have kept the house as clean as possible.  But the bathroom wasn't as clean as they expected.  I said I have been trying to keep things as tidy as possible by sweeping up, wiping down the counters and washing up as much as possible.  Mum told me a few home truths (which I can't put here as it's not right) and I said that I'm doing what I'd only do at home; she's pleased I'm keeping up with it all too.
By the time I did the World's Greatest Shave event at Redcliffe, and then had some lunch, Dad thought to have a shower and we wanted to have a cuppa... so we jumped in Mum's Pajero and I showed them Eclectea - the tea and coffee place I went to the other day.  Well!  They loved it.  It was full of stuff that Mum loved and Dad got in and remembered a lot of the things he used to see when he was young.  Then, the shop keeper turned around and remembered my name from my Facebook entry on their Facebook wall.  Mum was amazed the lady remembered so many people.  We got a coffee going and something to eat and sat outside in the nice cool breezes and drank our our coffees... it was lovely.  And seeing we were the last customers for the day, the owner got to kick back a little and talk to us too.  She loved my hair (as I hadn't washed the colour out yet) and she thought it was a good cause to support.

But today is going to be a hot one.  So, I'll be just kicking back here and enjoying my Sunday.  I've read the paper and had breakfast.  Might just surf the net and hang out and do nothing in particular... yep, that sounds good.  What are you up to on this St. Patrick's Day?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Morning Walk and Great Coffee

Today - this morning - I made a plan.  I wanted to get a few chores done before I went out to a coffee place on Queens Parade.  Seeing I didn't know how far away it was, I thought to get in and do my chores, pack my bag and make sure I had enough money to get home by bus.  
Well, by around 9am, the chickens had been fed, their laying box was turned the right way up - with hay in it - and I had swept the floors, washed up, put away anything I needed putting away and readied myself to go out.  My new Bean Pole bag had a broken clip on it, so I taped that up and it worked well (for now) and I grabbed my sun umbrella and was out the door after I turned off the radio and locked up the house.

The walk to Eclectea Vintage Tea Shop was lovely; long, but still lovely.  Queens Parade is a long, flat road that comes off Nathan Street and it's full of WWII  homes that have been looked after well.  They're small, pretty little houses with tiled roofs and picture-perfect front gardens and medium-sized fences that line a busy road.  Back in the years they were built, this road would have been a quiet little street full of families during the war.  Now, it's an old area full of families but they're renovating the houses to either look bigger or keep them looking the same as they did when they were in their heyday.

I soon arrived at the corner crammed full of shops - from a butcher, dog-groomer, hair-dresser, organic juice shop and then, the massive store of Eclectea which took the whole corner up as its own.  When I first walked in, I thought the place was two separate entities; but I was mistaken as people walked through to the coffee house section and were greeted by the owners by name.  Their faces lit up when I walked up with a vinyl I had found in their collection - and wanted - as I was a new customer.  I asked for an ice coffee and they recommended a bottled one without a label called 'Cleanskins'.  I was curious at how good it was and so tried it out at their recommendation.  I looked around and wondered where to sit; and thought to grab a seat outside... where I could see the world go by for a while.  
The tables and chairs were all vintage living room furniture and everyone who arrived and had their morning brew lounged around happily taking in the morning sun and the nice cool breeze as they watched the traffic zip by.  Here within the boundaries of the coffee house, time seemed to stand still or slow down.  Everyone didn't want to leave; and we weren't encouraged to either, which is a good thing.  It made me feel good that I wasn't rushed away by anyone to make more room, or forced to order more just so I could stay longer... and isn't that nice when you're allowed to kick back and enjoy a place just because you want to?  
Well, I went back inside to return the bottle to the owners and found a lovely two-tone teapot hiding behind a sign.  I asked how much it was to buy and it was a good reasonable price of $10.  So, I bought not only that but some munchies for my folks too when they come to visit tomorrow and mow the lawn.  I'm looking forward to seeing them.  

So, that was my morning walk.  I totally enjoyed it.  What have you been up to lately which has been noteworthy?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.

A Tad Homesick

If yesterday is anything to go by, I really wished I was closer to home at Logan City right now.  Shopping yesterday was a train wreck and I hated it.  
As I pointed out, Life Line was a complete rip-off; as their prices were dreadfully high for a charity store.  And the things they were selling cheaply weren't supposed to be sold at the cheaper prices, but a little elevated.  The clothes - no matter how nice - should have been discounted more so to be competitive with Target and K-Mart not their equal.  I could have walked into Rivers and bought two dresses for the price of one dress in Life Line here at Sandgate.
And Woolworths was disgusting.  Because they have monopolised the town centre, they have the last say of who buys where.  So, they can put the prices up or down and people have to pay them.  This is very wrong.  Now, what they need to do is put a Coles in nearby and the competition would be equal and people would have a choice.  Sandgate Town Centre would grow and they wouldn't have to cut any bus services.
Yeah, you read right... they're cutting buses here.  They have a few of them running around the area and they are cutting one bus - 310 - and a train to Toombul Shopping Town.  Now, the latter is being cut for 6 months, but that's a long time if you don't have any other way to get to Toombul.  And they're not going to put in a connecting bus service between here and Toombul Shopping Town; which really is bad.

What this area needs is a collection of shops to connect everything together.  There are spots of shops and cafes, but they are in little clumps where nobody goes, buses can't get to them and nobody can just walk to them on a whim.  I spotted a cafe in a clump of shops I wanted to look at, but I can't get there unless I catch a bus - and time it right - and I really, really want to, walk home.  This will suck badly.  So, what they need to do is make it worthwhile to get there.  This place is too spread out, with everything too far from each other and not enough people talking to each other.  I haven't spoken to a single neighbour since I arrived here over a week ago; not even to say hello, and this makes me feel very isolated.  But if I was at home, I'd have plenty of people to say hi to in a morning or afternoon.  

In the last few days, I had a big problem with ants.  They had invaded the guest house and were making themselves right at home.  I fought them off and used cinnamon sticks and vinegar to keep them out of this place.  But getting rid of them initially was hard.  I was going to spray them with insecticide but there wasn't a single can of the stuff in the house.  I knocked on a neighbour's door across the road, and he wasn't home.  However, I found that most people weren't... so I wondered how I'd get rid of them until I found the above remedy online.  
This invasion has really bothered me though.  I don't like the idea of having to battle something on my own when I can't lay my hands on a can of surface spray... even I have some of that stuff sitting around my house just in case I need it.  I've even got Ant Sand for the bigger nests of ants; but not here.

But I have been homesick because of all the above things.  I'm so used to having a green grocer down the road all the time.  It's so good to know that if I ever need anything at home, I can just take a wander down to The Big Apple and all I need is right there for me to pick up.  I've missed eating at 'Rocky's Bakehouse' too... yeah, I really have.  I miss the bus ride to Logan Central to do my shopping where everything is very cheap and I can walk everywhere and catch a cab home that is under $15. 
Most of all, I'm really missing my place.  I miss books, vinyls, kitchen, garden, piano ... everything about my place... in particular, my bed!  There's something about having your own place that really makes it real.  I don't mind living like this; but if there was a green grocer and a few things that were of interest nearby, I'd have more fun being here.  However, there isn't.  It takes money to get anywhere... whereas I could walk to a thrift shop or across the road to the post office or just 10 minutes to the chemist or 5 minutes to buy the Sunday paper.  It takes much longer here.  Well, it's just homesickness... and I hate it.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.

A Shopping Day With A Difference!

This morning has been really full-on!  Honestly... it has.  I've been up since 7am and only sat down at around 11am as that was when I stopped running around like the chickens here at Gabe & Kat's house when feeding time is on.

When I woke this morning, I had noticed it had rained a little before dawn, so this place was nice and cool.  I organised the corn and feed for the chickens as well as myself for a morning out shopping.  
After I ate breakfast, washed up and got myself ready to walk out the door, I locked up and headed off to the bus stop, and only had to wait a few minutes before the 312 WIZ showed up to - well - whiz me off to Sandgate Town Centre.  For a good part of the bus ride, I was on the bus on my own until an elderly lady got on and we both got off about two stops before Town Hall, where she showed me where the Life Line was.  I had wanted to have a look at this place for a while now, and today was the day I went in.
This place looks very small, but on the inside, it goes a long way back.  And I found lots of wonderful things here.  Their stock is great; however, they didn't have much in the way of handbags or coin purses, but clothes!  Wow!  Their clothes were lovely.  The only downside to the clothes were the price.  Their dresses were around the $25 mark and I find that too expensive for a charity store; especially when people go to these places and they don't have much money on them.  I could have gotten a better dress in Target for less.

I found a lovely bag and a Paua Shell - a large one - and bought them both for only $12 all up.  Then, I was on my way to Woolworths.  Before I went there, I dropped into the chemist and put in a prescription and then did my shopping.
Unfortunately, the Woolworths here at Sandgate is so darned expensive, I couldn't buy half the stuff I had on my list.  This disappoints me to no end.  Even the other customers agreed with me at how expensive the fresh produce is and nothing was sold; and to make things worse, a lot of it was green and under-ripe.  No way were we going to buy something that wasn't ready to eat today or tomorrow.
I bought a lot of what I needed, and one little luxury item of Nivea body moisturiser in a jar; which will help for when I've got dry skin every now and then, and it'll travel well too.  

I went through the self-serve checkouts, picked up my prescription from the chemist and went and bought myself an ice coffee from The Coffee Club to drink while I waited at the bus stop outside Woolworths.  It didn't take long for my bus - and the same driver, Pete - to show up.  And before long, I was back to the stop down the road... very cool.  Shopping this time only took me 2 hours all up from 8:40am until 10:30am... instead of the confusion that it caused last Friday (which really was just teething problems when you think of it).  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.

Busy Monday Morning

The weather has turned nice and warm around Brighton; and for this, I'm glad as I can get in and do some laundry.  So, this morning, I slept in a little as I couldn't sleep last night.  Bummer... dunno why, I just couldn't.  
By around 8am I was up and had fed the chickens and changed over their water, then made sure they were happy by giving out some pats to a few of them.  They didn't seem to mind.  I programmed the computer in the house to be on Triple M for the day and ate breakfast, washed up everything and wiped down all the counters after I opened up the front blinds and door to let through the lovely breeze.  
It was around 9am by this time and I grabbed all the towels in the bathroom - except the hair towel - and put on a load of towels; then sorted out what needed to be washed from my room, then collected together all the clothes pegs I could find on the deck from the clothes horse (this meant pulling the laundry from last Thursday).

It took me about an hour or so to do all the rest of the laundry.  The sun is out and the wind has picked up nicely; without a single spit of rain coming from it!  How good is that?  What a lovely day for the laundry to be done.

While that was being done, I made sure I had everything on my shopping list on my iPod.  Now, this shopping list app I have is brilliant.  You get it off iTunes for free and it's called shopshop.  You can have up to 4 shopping lists and call them whatever you want.  I have all 4 of them used up, calling them: Garden City, Shopping List, Fruit'n'Veggies and Brighton.  It's a great way to keep my shopping lists separate and working... and yes I have an on-going list too called: List for 2013 which is a list of items I want to get for my house for this year.  Pretty cool, eh?
Well, yeah, I got my shopping list done, the house tidied up and some of the paper read - eventually.  Then, I watched an old classic movie of 'Goodbye Mr Chips' with Pete O'Toole in it - the 1969 remake of the original black and white version; which I like the best.  But O'Toole does a pretty good job anyway.  

For the rest of today, I'll be hopefully getting my laundry dry and keeping an eye on the weather so it does dry in some way.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.
  

Lazy Hazy Sunday

It's a lazy Sunday... lazy indeed.  I've done virtually nothing all morning but be on here since around 9am.  However, I've been up and about since 7am doing chores and walking up to the shop to get a paper that I never returned home with. Silly me, I forgot my $2.00 to buy it.  Oh well, never mind.  I know roughly what's on the tv by channel surfing.  

On the way home, I ran into a young woman who had two Labradors - one golden and one chocolate.  Both these dogs were still in the puppy stage and not fully trained.  While she was trying to text somebody, they spotted me and nearly tripped her up!  Talk about funny.  I did her a favour and patted the dogs while she stood there and texted whoever she needed to so the two didn't wrap the leads around her or take her for an unexpected run somewhere.  They were the friendliest dogs around... unlike the one I came across on the way to the shops.
That one was a large dog, heavily built with a muzzel around his mouth.  The owner pulled the lead short quickly on approaching me and held the dog close as we exchanged greetings.  And as he passed, the dog was clearly not pleased with me being that close as he growled at me.  I wasn't worried; as dogs normally don't worry me if they're controlled like that. 

Well, once back at the house, I was on chicken feeding duties.  The girls were so excited to see me with their corn and lettuce... and then I gave them feed and checked the coup where they overturned the laying box (again!). 
Then, it was my turn to eat.  I opened the blinds and turned on the radio and didn't want to make a mess this morning.  So, I just ate my muesli and listened to the radio for an hour before jumping online to upload some photos.  

Otherwise, it's just gone midday and I'm happy to say, today it going to be a day of doing nothing much. Yep, a lazy Sunday it's going to be... nothin' like one of those, eh?  I have done a few things around the place, like sweeping up the paths and tidying up the dirt the chickens throw around he place.  Since it's turned out to be a nice day, I've got in and done that with a broom and the rake... so the garden looks nice and tidy now, while the chickens looked on in wrapped interest of where they'll dig up next this afternoon.  

As for me?  I'll probably be either painting or reading.  It all depends on what I feel like doing.  I have to also do a shopping list for this Wednesday to get myself into Sandgate Township and back... that will be yet another adventure to talk about.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.

Saturday!

I woke to birds outside and a little bit of rain.  But I woke just as my alarm was beginning to go off; and I thought that was cool.  I heard the chickens and wondered if they had found another way to get out, so went down there in my pajamas to check on them and found they were all in the coup.  Seeing I didn't have anywhere to really be today, I went back to bed.

An hour later, my alarm woke me again.  This time I stayed in bed for another half an hour and then decided it was time to get up and feed the chickens and have some breakfast.  
With the FM Classic station going, I ate my breakfast and planned what I had to do today; namely to make sure the house was cleaned up, washing up was done from this morning and to see if my laundry had dried from the other day.  And I wanted to have a shower to wash my hair too; as it was a warm night. 

After I got the washing up done, I swept the floors, put out the rubbish and wiped down all the counters, cupboard doors and fridge and looked at the time.  It was going onto 9am and I had had my shower by this time too.  All my planned chores had been done and dusted... even the chickens were happy; but my laundry was still not dry.  

Tonight, a couple of my friends are coming over for dinner.  I've planned on making a nice dish for them of vegetarian pasta.  I hope it all works out.  We ought to have a good night as I've never had people over here before.  
I'm sure to find some great music on their collection to play - or if all else fails... I'll plug in my iPod and play an album off that instead.  In any case, we ought to have a great time here.  

So, what are you plans over the weekend?  Mine are to paint, read and hang out with friends over dinner.  Sounds pretty sweet, eh?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

The Longest Quick Shop I've Ever Done

Today, I thought it was high time I left the house and took off into Sandgate Township by bus.  This house has been a nice little haven, but I was beginning to need a few things from Woolworths and so, I organised myself this morning after breakfast, after putting Houdini - the forever escaping chicken - back in the coup with the other chickens and feeding them all and then organising some money for myself too.  I checked the time tables and found that the time I wanted to catch the bus and the time the bus actually came were a long way apart; so I decided to walk up to 'My Beads' and have the clasp on my new necklace replaced.  The lady who was there today wasn't the same as the other lady who was there the other day.  So, I had to explain what happened with the necklace.  Fortunately, she understood completely and offered up a few other solutions in the clasp family.  Then she saw how bad I really was with clips and offered up a toggle; and we found this was so much better!
After having a bit of a chat with her, I was on my way to see if Pete's Corner Store had what I needed for the chickens.  However, it didn't.  But it does have a wide variety of books and magazines, two of each I picked out and bought.  Before long, I was outside and found the 311 Wiz bus coming along, so I caught that into Sandgate.  It didn't take long to get there - all of 10 minutes - and I was soon walking in to Woolworths to do my shopping.  

But it was trip home that took far longer than I anticipated.  I went back to the bus stop that I got off at - thinking it would be the one which would also take me home.  Boy!  Was I wrong about that!  I waited for half an hour and it didn't come.  I had some people tell me one thing, then others tell me something else.  Then, one lady came by and she said I was at the wrong stop and it was best if I caught the bus outside Woolworths... and yes, that was right!  The driver who brought me home, was the same one who took me into Sandgate.  And by the time I got home to my brother's house, it was past 1pm.  I had caught the bus at around 11am.  What a day!  The good thing is that I had gotten everything I needed and really wished I had taken in my shopping trolley... well, I'll learn next time I go in that no matter how small the shop, I'll take in my trolley.

When I arrived home - thanks to the driver dropping me off at the right stop when I asked him to take me to the nearest stop to Gabe & Kat's house - I found Houdini out of the coup again!  It was time for me to check the hutch for eggs anyway.  And as I did, I turned and found Houdini squeezing herself under the gate of the coup!  Cheeky little chicken!  I found a piece of timber and lodged it under the gate and this made sure she didn't get out.  

Well, that was my day.  How was yours?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

A Fine Day

This morning, my alarm woke me at 6am; but nearly slept through it.  However, it was until around 7am when I heard a chicken clucking outside my door that I jumped out of my bed, dressed quickly and raced out there and found the new brown chicken looking for me.  As I opened the door to the guest house, it turned around on the deck and looked at me as though I was the one who had been lost all this time.  Silly thing came running up to me for a pat and I asked what the hell it was doing out of the enclosure; and happily put her back with the other girls.
Soon enough, I got their breakfast together of freshly cut corn off the cob and shredded lettuce and plenty of seed; then prepared myself breakfast.  I uploaded Triple M online (as Gabe and Kat don't own a real stereo system like I do) and left the radio going all day.

By around 9:30am, I was trying to upload a photo and found some of the ones I took early this morning were blurry.  So, out came the camera again and I walked out into the garden to find the flowers again.  And who should I see wandering around outside the chicken coup again?  The brown chicken... she's got a cool name, but I renamed her Houdini as she gets out all the time.  For the rest of the day, I walked around the yard and made sure she didn't get out... silly to have to do that; but it's to make sure she stayed put.

This afternoon, I spent time talking to a friend on Facebook who lives down the coast near Dreamworld.  He and I had a good laugh over Neighbours and he kept forgetting where I currently was.  After that, I pulled out the easel and worked on my painting for around an hour and a half before putting it away and watching a bit of television and letting the chickens out - as I'm supposed to - until around 6pm; when they wouldn't go back inside the coup.  Eventually, they did, and I closed up the gate after checking for eggs (we got 2) and then coming back to the house for something to eat. 

Today was a relaxing day.  I spent tonight painting pegs and listening to the rain on the roof.  Yes, it's still raining at night; but the sun was out all day today.  I really should have done some laundry, but didn't trust the weather.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.