The Year of the Pig

Well, by the way I'm throwing things out and donating things to charity stores, you'd think the opposite with me.

I'm making sure my house is cleaner this year. I'm not buying as much at charity stores either. In this past week, I spent only $9.00 when I normally would have spent over $20.00... so that's a good thing.

Anyway, this cleaning out thing has rubbed off on my Mum. She's seen how much I've tossed out through my photo albums on Facebook and wants to join in the big tossout. So, I'm helping her out soon.
Today, I've seen the first signs that the huge dry spell we've been suffering through is breaking. Townsville is flooding and now, it's Brisbane's turn to get some well-deserved rain... and man, I'm looking forward to it!

This year is a big one for me. I'm saving money, painting more and am looking at working towards getting another car. Well, okay not a car per say, but a van so I can travel around the paint what I see. It's a project I want to do as an ongoing thing in my life. It will be something which will make me happy - I know it. 
But it's not a 6-month idea, it's a long-term idea. This will take a couple of years to work on, and it's because I have to make sure I save my dosh and get myself and my life pulled together properly. 

The Big Clean-out this year is the biggest one I've ever done; and it's something which is going to make me really look at what I've got and push me to either keep or toss exactly what I want or not want in my life.
You see, over the past 6 months, I have had a turn of such clarity in my life. It's hard to explain it. I very suddenly know what I want in my life and - dammit - I'm going for it. I'm painting faster than I've ever painted. I'm cleaning out my house faster, and with better decision-making than I ever did. And I know exactly what I want to do in my life too.

In this month, I'm hoping to get in and finish some paintings, start another few. Then, save up big for my next vehicle, work on cleaning out the house (and seeing most of it has been done over the past few years, I don't have far to go). I'm also hoping to keep my opshopping to a minimum - only purchasing what's needed around the house and that's it. 

This year will not be without its challenges, you know, as I'll have the World's Greatest Shave in March where I'll be shaving all my hair off, then first year anniversary of the death of my dear friend, Hannah, I'll be seeing if I can sell some paintings to get myself a few other exhibitions. There's going to be other things going on in my life which I have yet to plan for. But isn't that the fun of life? Being spontaneous? Sure it is. I can't plan everything in my year... well, not yet, anyway. 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. 

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.