East Coast Bush Fires

Okay, by now, you've all heard about the huge bush fires which have been terrorising us up the east coast of Australia from the back of Sydney, up the North Coast of New South Wales and the Gold Coast and around the back of Noosa and around the back of Ipswich, Logan City and further north here in Queensland.

Anyone who knows me personally as a good friend, I'm here to let you know: I'm fine. Stressed out to nothing else, but fine. I hate natural disasters like nobody's business, and get to the point where I lose sleep and suddenly bust into what I call 'stupid tears' but it's a way of dealing with the stress. 

But I'm okay otherwise.

I'm knitting like nothing else. I made a long beanie in 3 1/2 days - and that's fast for me; as it normally takes me 2 weeks. I needed something to do to keep my mind off what was going outside. I've been decluttering day and night so I have tidy house to clunk around in during the smokey and hazy days - which are no fun because I cough during them.

We're going into our 2nd day of smoke haze; which causes Brisbane to have worse air quality than Hong Kong, Tokyo and Beijing. On Monday, I wore a mask while I drove my car. You see, I hate having my window up when I drive because I like to be able to hear the other vehicles around me; and not be locked inside my car by my window and be deaf to the world. So, I wore a mask while I drove and scored a lot of people staring at me - mind you, they were all cocooned in their cars with their windows up and in their air-conditioned comfort. Yeah, good for them, wait until they park that vehicle and have to get out and walk around without a mask on. At least I had that covered.

Am I scared about the bush fires being this close? Yes, I am. I'm as scared about them as I was when we had the Brisbane floods in 2010/11 and the news was banging on about how many roads were cut, how much water there was around the place, how much food there wasn't in shopping centres... how much fuel we should have.. how much... what we should do. Emergency kits. And speaking of, I've even had my mind playing tricks on what I should be packing if we do get told to move (which is most probably never going to happen if it rains tomorrow - which I hope it does). 

Anyway, Just letting you know, I'm okay. The smoke haze is coming back today, and I'll have to close my windows here in my home office so my computer doesn't get stuffed up by it. But you know, I washed my car two weeks ago, and it's got a fine coating of soot on it... I keep washing it off, but it keeps coming back. I'm not washing it again until this is all over! Well, anyone I know out there, I hope you're all well, you're all going okay. Take care in this and keep in touch. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

A Few Rough Days

Over the past week or so, I've had a bit of rough time. It's been tough getting along into this new year without Hannah in it; but it's even harder to wait out the Writer's Block I have too.

So much is going on this year, and I'm so happy with how fast this year is going so far.

Thus far, my air-conditioner in the home office crapped itself and Dad and I pulled it out and put in a screen to let the air flow through again - and it's been great during the night to have that nice cool air upstairs.

I'm on the fund raising track again for the World's Greatest Shave - and this year, I'm shaving off all my hair and donating it, just like I did 4 years ago. So, by this time tomorrow, I'll have no hair, and it'll be on its way to Melbourne to be made into toupee's, wigs and fringes. 

Today, I was out and about catching up with things and doing small errands around the place when I found a little bird - kind of like a sparrow - sitting on concrete outside the post office. Well, it wasn't looking too happy, panting away there, and I picked it up and decided to look at it.
When it screamed at me but didn't bite me, I knew something was wrong. And when I found there were no fleas on this bird at all, I knew there was something really badly wrong. Fleas - you see - are the one thing which love blood flow. They feed off an animal with blood flow. And when the flow of blood is really low on an animal, they go elsewhere for their food. So, to find no fleas or mites on this bird was a red flag for me. This bird was sick and coming to the end of its life - actually when I looked closer at the bird, I realised it had suffered a huge stroke and was waiting to end its life. 
I made the decision to stay with the bird and make it comfortable, by keeping it cool. When birds have a stroke like this, they can't keep themselves cool, because they don't sweat. So, when we as Humans do this for them, it helps them comfortably die - I know this sounds morbid, but it's not. It stopped panting and I thought to move it into a tree. I couldn't leave him/her alone though. So, even though I put him/her into a lower-most branch, I stayed until it died. You see, it was blind; and so I stayed by so it wouldn't hurt itself. The stroke had blinded this poor little bird completely - as most strokes in little birds do. 
And it's been so hot lately, that a lot of little birds are really suffering from heat stroke and they're suffering from massive strokes too. It's a sad thing to realise this in my busy day of running around, but it's something to keep in mind.

I knew what to do with this little bird because my little budgie suffered a massive stroke in 2012, and I stayed by her until her last moments. It hurts to see a little bird leave this planet, but it does show us Humans that we must make sure we're here in the present moment to help the little animals - to see the smaller things in life - and not to ignore them; which so many people did when I was tending to this tiny bird.

Otherwise, I've been busily working in my garden, thinking of what else I can do for the birds and animals around the area to help them in the heat and during this year. I potted up more new herbs to see me through the Winter (as the other lots had gone to seed) and then? Well, I refilled the water platter for the birds, and thought I might get in and save for a nice one to put in the garden for the birds and animals, one closer to the ground and in the shade. Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Rain

Over the past week, it's been raining a lot... and we really do need it! But after the first 48 hours, I really became bored with it all.

My lawn grew 10cm in what seemed overnight, and I found I could only do laundry in small lots - because I only have the clothes horse to use to dry my clothes. Yep, the rain is starting to interfere with my life.

But I've been looking at what paintings can be done next; writing down the titles of them in a book I've got sitting in my living room; and making sure it all sorted out for the next few months. I'm really looking forward to making my exhibition of works about Brunswick Heads really worthwhile. 

NaNoWriMo is coming up in the next few weeks, and I have to clean up the home office and put away anything I'm not currently using around the place. This means, making the place messy before it gets tidy again... which isn't a bad thing, so long I follow through. And in this dreary weather, I find that kind of hard to do.
Well, I'm also cleaning up the living room so I can chill out in between the time I'm writing and anything else I need to get done in the house during November. I won't be much of a social butterfly - not that I'm one now - and I'm hoping to work on my next book easily, now I have done some research and have my books near me too.

The good thing is that I'm not worried over the garden anymore. Yeah I was concerned that it wasn't going to grow much because we weren't getting any rain. But now, we've got so much rain, it's all growing so fast! I'm pleased with how it's going, and now we just need some sunshine to make the photosynthesis to work properly - yep, the circle of life to work out! And the best thing is that my first crop of Black Cherry Tomatoes have been harvested today.

Over the next week or two, I'll be cooking up large batches of food and freezing meal-sized containers of them. This is so next month, I can just defrost one and not be worried about cooking something when I've been writing for a good part of the day next month. It'll be good to have it all on hand and ready to eat.

Otherwise, I'm hoping to get myself a new stylus for my turntable soon. It's going to work out in the next week or so, hopefully. I can't wait to get back in and play vinyls again as I really do miss playing them. The radio isn't much fun - there's way too many adverts on it. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Rainy Days

I love rainy days... and also rainy nights.

During the days, the overcast clouds cool down the days and tune down the feel of the day; there's no glare, no sunburn, no feeling of boiling in your own sweat - it's a sedate way of spending a whole day doing whatever you do wherever you are.

And rainy days seem to last forever! They take so long to get going because of how they carry on, and they just seem to keep going on all day with the hubbub of the rain hitting the roof, gurgling down the down the downpipe and into the storm water drains... cleaning our gutters, streets and making the lawns and gardens green and healthy again.

Yes, I do love the rain so much I could just go on about it.

A good week of rain for Brisbane is a great way to spend time around the house. It's lovely to catch up on the reading, or to sleep the night away. Personally, I love to get in and watch a few movies... I know that's so cliche, but really, it's just a great way to while away the good old wet day here, while Mother Nature is taking care of my garden for me.

We have another few days of this rain - rain which is so badly needed around Brisbane - and I'm not complaining about it. It's going to be great to catch up with sleep, cleaning and anything else I need to do around the house. What do you do on days like this? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

A Stinker Of A Time

Over the past week or two, it's been so hot that I haven't been able to do too much around the place. But I have been getting in and decluttering bits and pieces of my house - which is a good thing - and doing smaller loads of laundry as well.

On Sunday just gone, we had a huge, violent storm hit Logan City and it destroyed a lot of places, knocking out a lot places - including mine - for over 12 hours. Fortunately for me, and my neighbours, my power was back on just before dawn on Monday morning. So, we didn't lose any food in our fridges. 

But there are people out there who are still without power - even today.

The heat has become something which has hit us really badly here in Australia and we're hoping it disappears fast for us to enjoy the sun, but not the heat so much. Yeah, we need to enjoy the outdoors without our gardens dying on us.

Well, with this heat, I'm reading again, and have been working in the home office a bit more with the air-conditioning on, but really, I just wish it wasn't so hot and sticky. There are things I'd like to do around the place - like wash and clean my car, mow my lawn and weed my garden - without collapsing from heat exhaustion. But I guess those things will have to wait until it cools off. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Another Year On...

It's 2018 and already my art classes have recommenced. All those great photos I took at Brunswick Heads before Christmas - from all angles and at all hours of the day and night - have become something of a wonder to Aaron (my art teacher). He loves the different areas and colours I found there; and how much I love the place comes through those photos. He's impressed to say the least... and has said to me that he has to teach me to paint faster if I want an exhibition next year.

This is something I can do - I know I can.

The heat has been getting to everyone - especially those poor people in Sydney and Melbourne. It's been horrible there! And we've been getting some really sticky here in Queensland as well, but not as bad as our southern friends; who are melting in the heat.

Well, I've been helping out the poor wild animals around my garden by feeding the possums - as it's been so dry here - and a young little mickey bird landed on my window sill yesterday calling out. I don't have a container for water on hand - but I will look around for one after this, just so they can run around and jump in it in the shade. 

Yes the heat is really bugging a lot of the animals here. I hope you do your part and help them.

Otherwise, I've been decluttering my home again, trying to read (rather unsuccessfully) and I'm also working on making sure I save more money (yep, like I promised last year). Anyway, must be going. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Boxing Day - aka: Christmas Recovery

Yep... this is what Boxing Day is really all about: recovering from eating and drinking so much! Well, did I eat! 

On Christmas Eve, I had most of the day to myself. All of my presents were wrapped, in a box, and ready to be loaded into the car. The Cranberry and Blueberry Christmas Cake was ready to go as well as a gorgeous fruit salad (of 3 mangos, 4 bananas, 4 yellow nectarines and 5 bunches of red globe seedless grapes and the juice of a whole lemonade tree lemon - OMG! Yummo!). Yes, my work for Christmas was done and dusted on 23rd, December... so I could chill out on Sunday for most of the day in the air-conditioner of my home office.

At around 3pm or so, I turned off the internet and the computer and got myself ready... had a shower, dressed in a dress my ginger-sister, Tutasi, brought from the USA and did my hair then loaded up the car and the eskie and headed on over to my folks' house to car pool with them to Kate's house. 

We got there around 5:30pm and grazed on nibbles... but we at outside and not inside simply because it so much cooler. We didn't wander inside until it was time to eat... or until we couldn't see outside anymore... whichever came first. 
Dinner was wonderful! There was so much food... and dessert was just gorgeous! Blueberry Trifle, Pavlova, and fruit salad (which somebody took a look at and left the lid off of while it was in the fridge), then we were all too full to do anything; and nobody really wanted to give out gifts. So, I volunteered, and the kids got a lot of gifts from a lot of people. 
Soon, though, Mum, Dad and I were off - along with Gabe and Kat - to Gabe and Kat's place to open pressies there. We arrived there and got in and opened presents together and found that they didn't put up a tree, tinsel or anything (they're not really into Christmas; but that's them... not us, or me. I love Christmas) 
Well, Riley loved her Obsidian, and was stunned that I bought her something as strange as that. Gabe took a look at it and said it was purple, no blue, no hang on... purple.. no... well, we weren't sure about the colour, but it's cool! Riley then opened her two other gifts and found I had bought an art piece by Marnie Linger and framed it... she loved it! And then, she opened her third present and found I had bought her a fold-up table easel; and loved that she could take it everywhere with her! 
I knitted Kat a towel, and she loved that it was so well-done... and soft. I said that once it wears out, she can just throw it in with the other rubbish and it'll break down in land fill as it's made from cotton, and that's a natural fibre. She was thrilled about that!
Gabe received a framed AC/DC 'Back In Black' vinyl I had spent 2 months working on... it was a right bitch trying to find the right frame for it; then realising I had to paint the brown frame black, and then work on the backing board too... it took 2 days to pull together.

Everyone loved their goodies - and all of them were either from op-shops or hand-made. This was a great plan of mine; and I'll be doing this more often in future.

The next day, was Christmas Day... I had a light breakfast, washed up, packed the car and closed up the house completely to make sure if a storm hit during the day, no rain got in while I was out.

I headed over to my Aunt's house to pick up my eskie - as I had left it there the night before - and then to my folks' house to open presents. We had a great morning in the nice cool air-conditioning for a few hours.
By around midday, I was off to Crestmead where I had been invited to a Christmas Lunch by a great friend of mine, Tutasi, and her husband. This was their first family function and I represented her side of the family; as she was meeting his side of the family (well, part of it) and this was going to be a big day.
I helped out with serving up a delicious tuna dip that Tutasi had made and then set out some of the meals as well. Then, people started to show up. Tim, Tutasi's husband pulled out a large ham from another relative's box of mangoes and accidentally dribbled oil and fat all over the white table cloth, and I helped out cleaning that off the cloth - and by the time I was finished with that, it looked like nothing had happened at all; well almost nothing. 
The day went on, and became hotter. Tutasi made sure we had plenty of nice cold bottles of water and attended to Tim's Uncle - as his Uncle is the head of the family. Blessings were said, prayers as well and a song sung by the family - in their own wonderful language - and then we all ate! Oh man, so much food! Then, there was dessert. The adults sat outside, in the heat and the children sat in the living room in the air-conditioning (lucky them!), but it's how Tim's Uncle wanted it for the day.

By around 5pm or so, I could see storm clouds gathering down near Beenleigh and coming up towards Brisbane, I said that I better get going; if I wanted to beat the storm home - and I had to drop by my folks' house to pick up my presents as they were left there for the day. I thanked them all for lunch and that it had been a pleasure meeting them all, wishing them a Merry Christmas. And then, I was on my way... it didn't take long to get back home, after picking up my presents. 

By the time I got them inside and took a shower, it was really dark outside and thundering with rain! Yep, I left at the right time! But man, I didn't eat anything for dinner, just mineral water and a bit of chocolate, and fruit... that's all. Well, that was my Christmas. How was yours? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Chilly Old November

It's around the time we're supposed to be warming into Summer, and here in Brisbane, we're using our duvets and jumpers still.

Now, how strange is that?

It's raining instead of lovely sunshine, we're still eating our stodgy, winter food and hot cups of coffee instead of cool salads and glasses of mineral water. And yet, we're heading faster and faster towards Christmas... and it doesn't feel like it.

I haven't sent out any Christmas cards - yet - and I'm hoping to have plenty of presents by that time. Actually, I'm secretly working on one for my parents and I hope they like it.

However, I do hope the weather does warm up more by the time December shows up... all my Summer gear is just sitting around waiting to be worn; but the chilly weather seems to be holding out on us all. 

Oh well, it just means the Summer will be hotter and more disgusting than ever! This is something none of us like - right? And the all-famous thunderstorms Brisbane gets copped with are going to be more powerful and amazing than ever before as well.
I do have a love-hate relationship with those storms. They're great for letting the pressure off the day they seem to accumulate, and yet they're freaky as hell. 

Well, I have been looking at my garden and trying to keep it from drying out - but with the showers we've been getting, there's no problems with that. The cooler nights are keeping the temps nice and low enough for us all to sleep and I'm working on NaNoWriMo too; which is always fun. Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Cyclone Debbie Fallout

It's been a really weird week. 

Really weird.

We had Cyclone Debbie hit the coast up north and then after it devastated the Queensland coastline, it turned into a tropical low and came to Brisbane, drenching us in rain, wind and thunderstorms.

We had a whole month's rain in 48 hours - that's over 300ml! 

The day of the rain, I found I had run out of breakfast cereal and took off to the shops to pick up only what I needed to see me through until today... and just as well I got to the shops at 8:30am because by the time I left at 9am, the undercover car park (where I had parked) had cars trying to get in, lining up outside, vying for the best spots out of the worsening weather.

Once home, I unpacked the car, turned on the radio and settled in and readied myself to have either the power go off in the first 12 hours and lose all my cold food or to be flooded out of my home. Yep, I charged up my phone, tablet and made sure I had my mp3 player working. The torches around my home had fresh batteries in them and all the candles in my home were within reach as well. I was thankful (as I always am in weather events) that I have a gas stove and hot water system; because then when/if the power goes, I can still have a hot shower and cook a meal.

It got dark early - I mean around 4pm - and the rain really came down hard. The wind came from the front instead of the back and the unit complex was dead quiet. I ate dinner, washed up, moved things out of the way and made sure I had a torch with me all the time once the sun went down. I don't like being caught out in the dark - as nobody does, it panics me.

Anyway, I managed to watch all of my television viewing and get my tapestry done, have a shower and stayed off the computer in case there was thunder and lightening around. The latter of which worried some of my friends on Facebook, but I told them later on I was okay.
The next day, I went out and checked all the storm drains around the place to make sure they were all clear from leaves and other things, as the rain was going to get heavier and those drains needed to let as much water through as possible. 

I didn't go out again until the next morning; and even then, it was on foot. 

Today, though, I was out in the car to Moorooka to pick up something I was interested in on Gumtree. While I was driving around, I found so many trees had fallen down from the wind and also the weight of the water on the leaves. I found I was driving a lot slower because I never knew what was around the corner on the roads with all the trees overhanging them.

Logan City and Beenleigh are still recovering from the deluge. Yatala Pies went under and are going to have to clean up big before they reopen, as well as the Rum Distillery and the drive-in movies not far from Yatala Pies. Anything low-lying around Logan and Beenleigh is still underwater. Roads are destroyed and a lot of people are still without power or running water everywhere (not just here in Brisbane, Logan and Beenleigh). 

I'm hesitating going to the Logan Artists Association in case some of the roads I have to use to get there are underwater... or the car park out the back is; and I can't park anywhere else.

So, do be careful out there my friends here in Brisbane. There's still a lot of cleaning up to do around our areas. Don't go swimming in floodwaters or near the storm drains. And if you do see a fallen power line, call the right people and don't go touching it yourself - it'll be the last thing you'll do. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 

It's Been A Week

I've been meaning to write something for over a week now, and then something up came up; and I couldn't write for another reason... then the next thing I knew I had a whole weekend flit by and now, it's Wednesday (a hot and horrible one, where we are now waiting for a storm to cool us off) and still I haven't written a damned thing.

I guess John Lennon had it right: 'Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.' 

Boy did he hit the nail on the head! 

But really, I haven't had a day to myself in almost 3 weeks. Two weeks ago, I finished fixing up my Great-Grandmother's wash table and brought it home... so it's all done and dusted (except for the back and the arms). Then, Dad came around to look at my kitchen tap and the side car port door - which needed fixing in a big way. The tap took only a few hours, but the door took a longer time. 
Then, in between all that, I had volunteer work at the gallery, shopping bills to pay and other things to work on around the house - like my grocery shopping to do, laundry and washing up as well as putting away laundry when I could. 

It's been getting hotter as well... man the weather has been weird. First freezing cold, then boiling hot... and it's only Spring! 

The Melbourne Cup was amazing! One of my horses came in 3rd and so I didn't win much money. Oh well, next time. At least I won something.

Then, Dad finished up with the door and I started watering the lawn twice a day as the weather turned really hot... and if it's going to be this hot now, it makes me wonder just how much hotter is it going to get? Not too much hotter I hope... it's going to hit almost 40 degrees Celsius this week; and that's our Summer normally.

Well, I'm doing NaNoWriMo this month and I'm clocking along with that really well this time around. My book this year is a time travel one - kind of like Jack Finney's way of writing - and so I hope it works out well enough to be looked into by somebody. I have been going to NaNoWriMo meetings this year, as there's some going on around Logan this time - as most years, they're around Brisbane city and not on the outskirts. I hope to work it out better and work on some serious writing at my next meeting. Well, that's what I've been up to lately. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Long Weekend Starts October!

This weekend starts October and ends the school holidays. It started sunny and ended raining. It started with me not wanting to do any type of house work for money, and ended with me ironing for my Mum (which is something I absolute detest) and cleaning out my tupperware cupboard completely.I also watched 'Pompei' with Dad we found that main enemy in it just wouldn't die... and I kept calling Corvus (who was brilliantly played by Keifer Sutherland) a cockroach - for the obvious reason that no matter what happened to him, he just seemed to get back up and keep going; just like a cockroach. Dad found this hilariously funny and loved it that I had a name for characters like him in movies - and I said I called them that name in books too; because they just won't die.

Otherwise, I've been working on a couple of paintings, doing more needlepoint for my next markets and looking at some of my finances quite seriously. I'm also looking at finding a part-time job very soon to plump up my bank balance. All of this will be coming up to something that I don't want to make public - not just yet. It's something I'm working towards that needs to be looked into by me which will mean a big step outside my comfort zone - bigger than me being a Life Model (which was something I never thought I'd be in my life, but yet, I do this work now). 
Yes, I'm keeping a surprise from you all... but don't worry, like all surprises, it's worth it. And you'll love it when you find out. And only a few people in my immediate circle know about my project. Anyway, it's a slow process right now; which I think will speed up very quickly once the wheels are in motion. 

Otherwise, I've been busily looking around the garden and tidying that up before the rain hit today. Then, this morning I went to put some dropped palm fronds from outside my house into the green bins at the back of the complex when I found that somebody had shoved their recycling stuff into those green bins instead of the big recycling bin. You gotta be blind to not see the industrial-sized yellow-lidded bin sitting to the right of the bin bay... but then, I ended up putting everything from those green bins into the recycling bin - otherwise the green bin guys won't touch it. 
Once home, I washed my hands and got right into the washing up and cleaning up and put my coffee on - yep, I hadn't eaten breakfast as yet. So, once I ate that and kicked back to listen to the radio, it was then the skies started to look as though it was going to pour rain. I got a lot of the washing up done, put some of the plants out in the rain and then made my second ice coffee for the day and have come back upstairs... yep, it's a good internet day, as the rain settles in. I hope you had a great weekend.

I mean, the Western Bulldogs won the AFL Finals on Saturday - after a 62 year drought. I earned some money doing some ironing for my Mum, watched a very cool movie where a volcano blows it top and destroys a city and all who lives in it during the Roman Empire... then, I do out my Tupperware cupboard, cutting its contents in half. It's been a pretty good weekend... until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Other Plans And Life

Things have been really happening around here. I'm busily writing a new book - offline in a notebook I bought last week. I'm finding it easier to write it this way, instead of on the computer somehow. I don't know why, but I am.

Then, Spring sprung onto us. We've all changed our bedding onto our Summer sheets and put away our winter clothing as the temperatures changed almost overnight. Speaking of night-time temps - they are still a bit coolish, but they're nice. And we're getting rain again too.

I'm still working on pin cushions seeing a majority of mine are at the Logan Art Gallery. I can't wait to see them in the store. I hope to sell plenty of them over the next three or four months... and I also hope they become something of a permanent thing there.

Otherwise, I'm still cleaning out, cleaning up and working on my place - as usual. I bought some nice Corning ware from Vinnies and had to clean out the kitchen cupboards to make it fit. Otherwise, I'm happily making sure I have all the things I want in my kitchen and home now. 

Just recently - as recent as two weeks ago - I have been here for 14 years. I feel as though my life has been in two places at the same time in this time. I'm either standing still or going forwards; either way, it's something which keeps me thinking about what I wish to do with the rest of my life. I know I'm not a spring chicken anymore, and yet I'm not so old that life has gotten away from me.

So, what to do with myself? I'm still working on Crafty Pegs and getting in new things which may - or may not - work at the markets. And I'm hoping to get in and sell some of my work next year. Otherwise, this year has been busy with me figuring out what I want to do in the next three or four years of my life.

This week has been busy, though. I've been catching up with laundry, making pin cushions and watching the results of my garden since I fixed it up during Winter. It looks wonderful! I can't wait to see it in Summer at its height. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

It's Back!

My voice, not the laryngitis... and it's so good to be able to talk to people and go out! I had no idea how social I've become since owning a car; and man, I missed driving and getting out and about after a few days stuck at home.

Besides, I didn't really feel all that social when I couldn't talk; I mean, how would I ask for something when all that came out was a whisper - or nothing at all.

So, yesterday was my first big day out to do things - and I made sure it was a good time. I went to the gallery to look at my work on the walls and chat to everyone. Jillian thought I might be contagious, but I'm not. But I didn't stick around for long; I had places to go and things to do before the weekend was out.
Then, I off to Arndale to pick up some pens (write a book in longhand with) and a few paint brushes. I happened to pick up some other things too while I was there. Once home, I set up the house as a studio and worked on a painting I've been working on since Monday for about 3 hours before putting it all away and watching 'Paper Moon' - a movie I've never seen before - and then got myself some dinner.

It really started to get cold as I put on a dvd and I got into my knitting and watched a few episodes of 'Orange is the New Black' Season 1. My neighbours gave me Seasons 1 and 2 to me saying that they got them all on blueray and thought I'd like them - and I do. It's a great show. I got to bed around 12:30am... and it was freezing! 

This morning, I was away early to the Rochedale Fruit Markets to buy milk, cream and the paper as well as some mushrooms and pumpkin and a plant... it was nice to get those things so early.

Once home, I put on a load of towels in the machine and made coffee and breakfast of pancakes.  It's been a good day, but cold. I'm hoping to warm up more soon to get back into my artwork for the afternoon. Until my next post, take care, stay safe, and remember, I'm always here.

Big Weather Event - Again.

This weekend, the east coast of Australia is going to be hit again with more rain; and maybe thunderstorms.

I thought to go on Facebook, but thought this would be better. I would like to let my friends know that I'm going to be okay. I'm probably going to be online for a good part of Sunday, as the rains will get worse, but otherwise, I'm staying home for that day.

This rain has been coming across our huge country from Western Australia and dropping huge amounts of rain onto drought-affected areas of our country. This is good for the farmers and bad as well. It means we might get some flash flooding - as it was a big thing for us a few weeks ago; and people are still recovering from what happened then. 

I don't want anyone to worry though. 

If Brisbane floods again, it doesn't mean Logan City will. Parts of Logan will, but I'm nowhere near those parts; and I'm safe. So, I'd like to say that I hope you all stay safe over this very wet and wild weekend. If it's flooded, don't attempt it and take a different way home. Stay safe people... make sure your insurance is up-to-date and if you don't have to go out onto the roads, don't. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

May Already?

It's quickly becoming cooler and the days are shorter, and I'm busier now than I have ever been in Summer. 

Isn't that always the way when you lose track of time? 

The garden is beginning to go through its Winter changes. I've been repotting plants and upgrading the cuttings into largers pots. This is going well seeing Brisbane has had some great rainfall lately; but it's brought out the midgies and mozzies - which made a right meal out of my feet last week! And just today, the itching has stopped without the used of the medicated 'Soove', so that's a good thing. 

I've been hanging out with a great artist friend of mine and today we had lunch at Springwood... and this morning, I freaked out thinking he might drop me at my house, expecting to hang out at my place - and I realised I had let my living room become so messy (this happens when I don't get regular visitors) and I raced around and cleaned it up, washed up and was in a panic! But then, he ended up not coming in... phew! Oh well, my place is nice and tidy now and I'm going to see if I can keep it that way.
This afternoon, I did two loads of laundry, cleaned the coffee pot and put it away and sorted through more sewing stuff to put into a new sewing box I bought on Wednesday at Spotlight while it was on sale.

Seeing I've been kind of slowing down with my cleaning up and my friend has kick-started me into it again, I'm hoping to get into working on the lounge room and seriously tossing out what's not needed and what will be worked on sooner - rather than later - is the rest of the wash table for my bedroom. It's been far too wet lately to get in and do it. After that, I have to get in and door the chest that I picked up as well and redo the whole veneer on it because it got wet at some stage and it's all peeling. I'll need Dad's help on that one in a serious way. I'll be storing valuable things inside it - things that are going to be held for a later date... things that nobody will know about it. So, I'll be putting a few boxes inside it with things inside it that I have had for a long time. This box will be a special box - to me anyway.

Well, I'm hoping to save more money soon... sooner rather than later... to finish up the garden in June/July. There's still a lot of repotting to do and I need to get in and do it, one pot at a time. Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.   

Autumn Has Arrived!

Last night, I was chillin' out in front of the idiot box when I heard the wind chimes at the back door of a breeze approaching. I hang them there to musically announce if there's a nice breeze or if the rain's coming in when we've got some of Mother Nature's water system happening from the skies. And last night, I felt the chill of the long-awaited Autumn evening show up. I didn't think much of it until I found myself reaching for the socks I had pulled off earlier thinking I was in for a warmer night.

It's so lovely to know we're going to have the warm days and cooler nights coming our way. So, I've been getting myself out of bed earlier to get my laundry done and into the garden as well. I'm looking forward to Winter this year as it's been three years since I gave my gardens a good big facelift - and this year is the year I'll be getting in and doing a major repotting! Very cool. 

The two pots out the front are in to be replaced by bigger pots (so the plants will have room to move) and I'll use the pots from them in the back yard. The Frangipanni out the back is needing a bigger pot - much bigger - and so that'll be replaced as well. This will take time as I'll be hoping to buy those pots from Bunnings one at a time. 

I'm still cleaning out the house bit by bit... I'm in my forth or fifth year of decluttering my house. But you do get to a point where you can only declutter only so much before you can't do anymore. I'm up to the small things in my house. Mum's decluttering her place, and she's starting right at the beginning - and I'm so proud of her, as she's letting go of so many things. However, I have noticed she's stopping on the things she wants to keep and looking through them. I have given her the advice that even though it's nice to look through the stuff she wants to keep, put it off to once side (the Keep Pile) and look at it afterwards and don't lose momentum on the cleaning out process. 

Well, that's all there is to report right now. It's getting easier to sleep at night, and I'm looking forward to cooking the lovely comfort food I love to eat every Winter (yes, I'm a Winter person, not a Summer person) and get in and read some good books over this time of year as well. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Some Like It Hot

It's been a long hot Summer. But over the last few days, Brisbane and Australia has seen one of the worst heatwaves it's ever been through since around 2000. Today, we hit 38 Degrees Celsius (that's 100.4F for you guys in the States and Europe and the UK). We have been sweltering through the nights and really hanging out anywhere there is air conditioning.

For me, it's my home office where there is a window air-con which has been going since around 10am this morning on the refrigeration mode. And do you really blame me? I've quit eating anything because I sweat like you wouldn't believe when I do eat anything; and I've been having 3 showers a day instead of 3 meals a day - just to keep cool.

So, I hope you're all keeping an eye on your loved ones and pets (yep, pets are your family members who can't tell you how hot they are). 

Make sure any elderly friends or neighbours are okay.

Drink plenty of water. And if you're sick of water, drinking Cranberry Juice diluted half with mineral water is a wonderful thing to do; as it's great for your liver and kidneys. And it'll keep you hydrated better than any of those fizzy drinks you're currently drinking (aka: Fanta, Lemonade, Coke, Pepsi). And Pepsi-Max and Diet Coke are included in the bad things to drink in this weather.

Stay cool. Even if you hang out in your shower or bath tub filled with water. I have a public pool (but have never swum in it as it's just not clean! I have seen people bathe in it; so I'm not swimming in that!). So, I'm having cool showers and keeping wet handkerchiefs nearby to put around my neck, wipe my arms and face with and just to keep myself cool with.

Eat when you feel like it, not because you have to. You may not feel very hungry in this heat - and that's understandable. I have eaten breakfast and now I'm not going to eat anything until I'm ready to. The heat makes me feel disgusting and if I was to eat at this time of day (at the hottest time of the day), I'd be sick as hell. Only eat what you feel like and when you feel like.

Rain dancing... okay, this sounds like a weird thing to do. But I've been waiting for the rain to happen. When it does, I go out into it (no matter what time it is of the day or night) and run around in it. For one thing, it's wonderful to have nice cool water from Mother Nature on your face. And if you do it at night, it's nice to go back to bed without having turned on the shower. But wait about 2 minutes before you do this so the first lot of pollution hanging around the air is flushed out... if the rain goes away within that time, well, hit the shower and cool off that way. Yep, I've gotten up and had a 2am shower just to get some decent sleep. 

But then, some people love the heat. If you're one of those people, well, okay, that's great. I hate it. You can't eat anything without sweating your guts out. Feel sick all the time. You can only drink so much water before feeling sick. And you can only take off so much clothing before you offend somebody... anybody. Well, keep cool everyone. If you're in an area of the world where you're under 4 - 6 feet of snow, please send some this way... we really need it. Until my next post, take care, stay cool and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Springtime

It's that time of year again.

Yep, the days are getting longer, warm and lovely. The nights are still on the cooler side and hay fever is playing around with our sinus'.

But I really get into my garden to make sure it works out in Summer - because it's just cool enough some days to make it outside to work on it. And besides, I love gardening.

I do it on a good budget too.

This year, I got in and worked out a plant which will grow in the half-pot on the fence - so long I bought longer hooks for it; which I did at Bunnings. Then, I had to divide up the Agapanthus and put those in their own pots before it got too much hotter. 

There's still a few things I want to get done before the heat really kicks in, but I'm not in too much of a hurry.  Yes, there's a list of things a mile long and the one thing I'd love to do is get more statues into my garden... that's one thing which is really lacking in my place. I have to look into buying statues that don't fall apart to keep around the place, which look great and keep the place looking lovely.
Bunnings have some, but I'd like to have some where they don't develop cracks in them - unlike my Buddha statue... but then I got that one for only $4.00 and it was a deleted stock. So, I guess it was deleted stock for a good reason.

Anyway, I'd like to have some bigger, taller plants to grow along the end fence to give me some privacy and so I can enjoy my garden more. But I guess that'll take time to do - to get the pots, the get the right plants - and like I said, I have time to do this.

Well, at least I have some of the garden done... it does look great; and I'm looking forward to making it into something I want to work on more. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Rain! Time to Relax.

It's been nice and sunny and warm over the last few weeks; and I've been on the go over that time too. However, the rains have come and cooled everything down - thank goodness! - and so it's time for me to slow down a little to keep myself well enough to make it to Christmas.

Yep, I've been busily working on my Crafty Pegs gear for the next few markets, my house (cleaning it out) and the garden too. 

Man, life just hasn't stopped!

Now, it's raining, I feel as though I can slow down and watch the days go by nice and easy while I paint or read a bit. The good thing is that the weather has cooled down a little too - so that's nice for this time of year as well, don't you think?

The garden isn't completely finished, but it's almost there. Earlier this year, I scored some half-finished steps for my garden and stored them at my parents' house to be completed. In the last few weeks, Dad completed them and now they're at my place. They look great! I can fit in another 10 or so plants in my garden and it looks wonderful. Just yesterday, I went out to Bunnings and bought some Mondo Grass and planted it in the half-pot I've been trying to grow something in for the past year. Now it's got longer hooks to hang from, I'm sure it won't be having any problems with the plants surviving.
Then, I divided up the Agapanthus into separate pots. Instead of buying new pots and waiting yet another year, I recycled some pots I already had. They look great! And hopefully, they will all flower this year again too.

This Friday is my Mum's birthday. I went out yesterday - before going to Bunnings - to buy her present. When I arrived home, I found I didn't have any wrapping paper. So, I found one of my book bags I had made for the stall, and thought her Kindle would look great in that, and put her present in that. Very cool. 

I've also been working on Riley's 16th Birthday present. Because it's a big, major birthday, I'm making sure she gets something important and wonderful. Her next one will be her 18th. I just hope she likes what I've made her and bought for her. 

Well, that's all there is from my life. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Antarctic Conditions Arriving to Queensland

Yep!  Winter is certainly going to show its face over the next few days, and into next week - and it's beginning to get cold already and it's only 2:30pm Friday afternoon.

It's called an Antarctic Trough, where a freezing cold blast comes up from Antarctica and freezes us solid here in Australia.  Now, for a sub-tropic state, that's not good if you're not used to it; but we've had this a few times before - and I remember going to work in one of these and thankfully having a great thick parka to wear while I was working at RACQ years ago.

I've just put on some fingerless gloves to make my hands more comfortable - but really it's making typing this post a little harder than I expected. I'm raising my wrists higher than needed so I don't bump any keys by accident I don't want to press... funny, yeah, but I have to slow down my typing to make this right.

Two hours ago, I started the slow-cooker on a veggie soup so it warms up the house.  And sooner than usual, I'll be closing up the house so it's not cold... maybe it's just me, I'm not sure.  But I have felt the cold drift in over the last half hour.

Well, it's heating up overseas, freezing cold here in Australia... we were told about strange weather over the next few years.  But that's Earth for ya... an ever-changing planet. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and warm or cool, and remember, I'm always here.