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. 

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.

Busy Sunday

This morning, I woke to a nice coolish day; which is a change to how the days have been lately. After going out for the paper and eating my pancakes, it was time to get in and do some gardening before it started to rain again.

The lawn got a good mowing and I pulled out the weeds that had wrapped themselves around some of the pot plants in my shade area. Then, I did my edges and threw all the bits and weeds in the bin. After putting everything away, I locked up yard again and washed my hands. The garden looks less like a jungle and more lovely - and the birds can get to the lawn grubs better now.

Once inside, I ate the rest of the fruit from breakfast and drank my coffee, packed up all the dishes on the sink and pulled everything out from under the sink and onto the counter again. I thought to put the really big Lazy-Susan under there so the washing up detergents can fit better. I also found that I have more than I need in the way of cleaning up things... so I won't be buying so much at my next shop. This is good!

I took the smaller, home-made lazy-susans upstairs and put them under that sink. They house the some of the cleaning detergents there on the bottom shelf and the containers of refiller soaps on the top shelf and some shampoo that my visitors would use. This has cleaned up some of the shelf space in my vanity. It looks so much better now.

I still have so much more to do in the way of cleaning out bags of paper work; but that can wait for another day. This has been something I've wanted to work on for some time - and now it's all done, I can move onto bigger things to tidy up. In my last post, I have shown you a link to a youtube video on how to make lazy-susans yourself... they're not expensive and fun to do. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Wow! What a Weekend!

This weekend past has been huge! 

On Friday, I washed the car and began to pack it for the upcoming market. As I pushed the back seats down,  honey bee zipped in and started pollinating the back window... I'm really not fond of bees. I think it's from my Dad being a beekeeper and him being around the little things for most of my life that I don't like them.

But anyway I got a neighbour to help me get the little worker out of my car so I could finish on packing my car. However, the bee wasn't too happy about being handled and so I headed inside and prepared my lunch for the next day. 
About an hour later, I was outside again and working on the packing again. It didn't take long and pretty soon, the car was ready to go, my lunch and snacks were in the fridge and all I had to do was pack my esky, fill the thermos and take off.

Saturday wasn't busy. But at around 10am, I was quickly packing things and getting my shit together to go. And seeing there wasn't that much to pack, I was going to be okay about everything that day.
I arrived early, unpacked my stuff, found a good park down the road and stuck around until the doors opened and then - seeing I was an hour and half early - I was able to set up without rushing. Yep, my stall looked great! However, on packing up at 6pm, I realised I had forgotten all my medication. So, I rushed it and smacked myself in the head with my large folding table (yeowch!). 
I ended up being 40 minutes late for my medication and copped a very sore forehead. But I got in an unpacked the car and put everything away while I was thinking about it - as it was Father's Day the next day, and I didn't want to be stuck with the unpacking in the morning.

So, I kicked back and didn't do too much but some colouring in with 'The Secret Garden' while 'Supernatural' played on in the background. Yeah, I was very tired and couldn't wait to get to bed.

Sunday morning was good. I got the paper, made some really great pancakes and called Dad for Father's Day. Then, I organised to take some food over to Mum and Dad's place to make a morning tea for them. On the way over there, I went to Bunnings and bought Dad two $20 vouchers and packed in a bottle of chocolate coated nuts and saltanas (the latter being an old favourite of his). I arrived at around 9:30-10am after telling a little fib that I'd be there at 11am... he was surprised and they said they hadn't eaten breakfast yet.
Oh well... I got to feed the wild birds, read a bit of my 'Good Reading' Magazine and have something to drink while I was waiting for them them to have their breakfast. 
Anyway, Dad loved the vouchers and bottle of goodies. He said he hadn't had those for years; and loved it that I remembered he likes them. It's always the simple things that make people the happiest. Well, he loved the morning tea as there was three types of cheeses, three types of biscuits, cashews, dried cranberries, blueberries, grapes, carrots and other goodies too... he was so pleased I had organised it all and brought it to him; and said they might not need lunch, there was so much food.

It was nice we could kick back and enjoy the day for what it was... and it was a such a lovely sunny day. I didn't stay all day, though, I came home around 2pm as I could see Dad wanted to have a nap before getting in and doing other things around his place - and I had stuff to do at my place too.

It was a great weekend.

Then, on Monday, I had my Craft Day. I'm learning needlepoint... it's been a challenge, seeing I'm not a needlepoint kind of person. But, I am getting it. It's all practice and counting the threads in the tapestry. I just hope I get to do more than scissor keepers... I have asked if it'd be a bad thing to look at pin cushions - not big ones, just small ones - and my teacher said that it'd be great to get into working on them. She's really happy I'm looking at doing them, it means my mind isn't stuck on doing just tiny things, I want to do bigger things too. 

Well, that's my last few days. They were big, full-on and busy. And last night I didn't sleep well for some unknown reason; but I'm catching up with the rush and work of the weekend I guess. Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Jump In And... Go!

Cars are fun!

Seriously... they are!

I love the fact that I can just jump in my little green machine and go anywhere I please at a moment's notice. 

Today, I was here at home in the morning doing chores after eating a breakfast of pancakes with fruit and lime with sugar - yep delicious stuff! Then, after midday, I got offline and thought to grab my camera and phone and get my butt out of the townhouse complex and go for a Sunday Afternoon Drive somewhere.

Where I went didn't matter... what mattered was that I ended up at a park.

I went to Lancaster Park at Waterford West; this place is better known as The Rose Garden. It's on the corner of two main roads and is such a pretty place. After taking a lot of photos of the roses and flowers there, I was off to see if Mayes Cottage was open - however it wasn't. So, I kept on driving (yeah, didn't get out of the car) until I got to Springwood Park where every man and his dog was enjoy the warm Summer-like day - even the birds were having a wonderful time in the trees eating the flowers.

I took plenty of photos of the flowers there. I took so many photos because I'm doing a themed month for my 365er's page next month; and Springtime flowers is the theme... very nice, eh?

Well, I ended up at my parent's house for a few hours and ended up feeding the birdies and then coming home at around 5pm where I made myself a delicious salad and cleaned the kitchen... the whole kitchen (well, okay, except the floor!). 

So, that was my Sunday. Busy and a great day out. 

Still... I love driving my car... no matter how far I go in it. It's so much fun.

Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Logan Car Show

Today I was off to the Logan Car Show.  It was amazing!  At first, I thought not to go, all because I didn't know anyone there; but then, I wanted to see the cars.  It was only $5.00 entry and Triple M was sponsoring the show (strangely enough, I hadn't heard it on the airwaves of it being advertised... weird that). 

Anyway, I dressed myself up and got going to the place and - wow! - it was filled to the brim with cars of all sorts. From vintage Taxis to an old hearse or two, this show had it all.  I saw rides, craft stalls and food stalls, there was a stage which rocked a couple of bands to keep the crowds entertained... and there was even a pizza-oven there too!  

But I loved the cars.

So many cars!

I even found a 1958 Plymouth Fury - a red one - which looked just like 'Christine'.  Actually the first words out of my mouth, when I came across it was: 'Oh my god!  Christine!' the people sitting next to it laughed telling me that the owner might not call it that, but yeah, it was a '58 and a duplicate - and that he owned a blue one at home!

Just before I left, I went by to drool over the Fury again, and found the owner there.  He and I had a good chat about the car and he let me sit in her!  Man, it was creepy and beautiful at the same it!  I never thought I'd be able to be anywhere near such a gorgeously creepy car as this, but I was.  And it's much bigger than you'd think.  I got plenty of photos of this car, and had photos of me in it and standing next to it too!  What a car, and what a day!  I was so happy to have see a car such as this!

Well, after leaving the Logan Car Show, I was off to my folks' house to see them.  Mum said it would be great to see me too.  So, I showed up and they were happy I had a good time there.  I showed her the photos on my phone and they were both amazed at the cars and how close I got to the Plymouth Fury.
Then Gabe and Kat showed up and I showed Gabe, he was happy I had gotten to meet a 'Christine' in my lifetime, and gotten photos of it too - as well as sit in the driver's side of it.  

Too soon, we were all on our ways home.  It was then, they all noticed how sunburnt I was.  I hadn't felt it or noticed it, but Gabe noticed it first, then Kat... I hadn't known about it really until I got home and put the Banana-Boat After Sun Gel on.  I'm so glad I have that in the fridge.  It really worked a treat.  At around 6pm, I took a nice long shower and worked on the sunburn with an in-shower moisturiser and then rubbed in a rich moisturiser to help it along.  Before going to bed tonight, I'll be rubbing in Nivea Night Cream to give it more moisture as I sleep. 

Tomorrow is Craft Day.  Two ladies won't be there... pity, so much has happened.  Oh well, it'll give me so much more to do I guess.  Might take along my hand-sewing instead of painting tomorrow... it'll be a difference in my work.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Not Long Now.

We have about two weeks until Christmas and I'm looking around my place and finding gifts which still need completing and wrapping... yeah, I'm hand-making some this year to save money.

I've also come down with the worse sinus ever...I know it's sinus because when I'm here at home, my nose runs like a tap, but when I leave the house, it stops.  So, it's the dust around the place which is causing my problems.  I've been doing some major cleaning to remedy this problem today and the other day too.  Now, I'm feeling better.

This week, I'll be doing a quarter shop for groceries.  I know that sounds weird, but I will.  There's things I won't need until I return from the coast.  So, I don't see the point in buying up big if I'm not going to eat much of it.  So, I'm doing a small shop and making sure I have enough non-perishables and then take a few things down the coast with me that I want to have, then come home and know I'll have some things to eat in my house.  I've always done this with my house when I'm on holidays; and it works out the best.

Now, I've been tidying up the house, cleaning it up, so I can take off and make sure I come home to a lovely clean home... let's hope that works out.  However the garden won't be so easy... it'll be something I'll be hoping to get into order when I return.  The grass has been growing so much since the rains have returned - not to mention the storms.  And I'm hoping that my Large Leaf Jade puts off more straggling bits for me to plant and I can sell them soon... it'll be a sideline for me to show at the markets, for people to buy.  I hope to have enough to sell by June next year, then I'll start again.

Anyway, I've gotta go soon.  I have some books to organise for my holiday reading.  Yep, in My Reading List, there's the Summer Fun Even 2014 I've begun again.  It ought to be great.  And seeing I have a car now, I'll be driving around around the Northern Rivers area looking at bookstores and places, taking photos of those places for you to all see... not a bad idea for a nice little road trip.  You know, a day out with my Little Green Machine and the GPS... yeah, sounds great.  Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Busy, Busy Non-Stop Weekend

This past weekend was one of early mornings, all day work and staying up way, way past my bedtime curfew.  

On Saturday morning, my alarm woke me at 5:30am; not the most wonderful time to get out of bed on a weekend, but then, I had markets to be at by 8:30am all the way over at Murarrie State School.  So, I thought to get up early and be able to take my time, than wake late and rush through my morning routine.

Well, I was on the road by 7:45am on the dot!  I had to go to the bank and plug into the GPS the address and then?  Well, I on my way!

It didn't take me long to get to the school - actually, a shorter length of time than I thought it would, so I thought to slowly set up and then take a walk around the school and photograph the animals and other parts of the place to show off where I was for the day.  
After buying myself some coffee and a cupcake for $5.00 I returned to my stall to find the wind was picking up and it had already tossed over my easel.  Some of the other stall owners had been good enough to pick it up for me and put the magnets back on the sheet of metal.  But the darned thing wouldn't stay.  So, I had to lower it and sit next to it.

For the whole day, other things kept on blowing shut, or falling down.  But I put up with all of that just to make myself a bit of money.  It was good to enjoy the day there; it could have been worse - we could have had rain (then I would have packed up or had to put down plastic to protect my goods).  But then, I found out that some people just packed up and left because of the wind, whereas I didn't.  And you know, it was after midday I made the most of my money and profits; very cool!

Well, by 2pm, the people and crowds left and we were advised that it was okay to pack up if we wanted to.  One of my friends had arrived and he offered to help me pack up; and I didn't say no to that.  Geoff could see how tired I was too.  I drove to Mum and Dad's place and showed them the photos and told them about the day, all the while patting Jay the wonderful doggie... yeah, Gabe and Kat had gotten them to care for her for a few days.

Before long, I was off home, vegging out in front of the television munching on a snack.  I didn't want to be eating anything too heavy before crawling under the covers of my bed at around 10pm.  

Sunday was my brother's 43rd birthday.  He had had a costume party the night before... a very cool alien costume party; which was fun for everyone.  And so, I missed out due to being exhausted and Mum and Dad went to see Ahn Doh at the Logan Entertainment Centre.  They totally enjoyed themselves... it was great. 
Well, I spent the day surfing the net and stuffing around online and pretty much not doing too much.  I was just too tired; plus my right foot wasn't feeling too hot.  I had tripped down a tiny step the day before and turned it.  But seeing I didn't feel anything on Saturday, I didn't thing anything about it.  Then, Sunday morning came around and - woah! - the pain kicked in!  

And Gabe wanted to go out to dinner.  So, I asked Dad if it was sprained.  He looked at it, and thankfully said no, but it's been strained pretty badly.  So, take it easy, and put a hot face washer on it before bed to keep the bruising and swelling down.  I did that and on Monday it was far better than it was on Sunday.  But yesterday, I had to just slow down and take it easy, no fast turns or twists on that foot.

Today, it's better than ever... I still have a twinge of pain in it, and it's a little swollen still, but it's not as painful as it was on Sunday.  So, it's getting better as time goes on.  However, my chiropractor will think otherwise.  Also today, the past three days of me going out has finally caught up with me.

I've been out to the bank to pay for the rent on my last stall rental.  Then, I went to the post office to check the mail, then I came on home... yep, that's all the driving I'll be doing today.  So, how was your weekend?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Birthday Weekend

Yesterday was my birthday.  I slept in after I received a phone call from my folks and then, decided to walk to the service station to buy a paper.  When I stepped out onto the footpath, I saw a motorcade of old, fixed-up cars, trucks and motorcycles coast past!  They were gorgeous!  So, out came my camera and I took some photos of them driving down the road... what a sight!

Once I had the paper and was home, I made pancakes, and ate them while reading the paper a bit; and jumped online for an hour or so.  However, that time got away from me and before I knew it, I was running late... it was past midday!  So, I jumped in the shower, dressed, put on my make up and packed the car.  I was going to Gabe and Kat's place for lunch; and to celebrate my birthday with family.

It took me around half and hour to get there - and when I arrived, Gabe said he had called my place to see if I had left, and when he had gotten my machine, he knew I was on the road and didn't called my mobile (knowing I'd not pick up while I was driving).  I said I never touch my mobile when I'm driving the car, and that it can wait until I get where I'm going.  He agreed.

Well!  They were ready for me and I had taken my new esky with me I had bought for myself for my birthday with my cake inside it.  It was so cool!  We had spring rolls with rice paper - a make it yourself thing... where you soaked the rice paper in hot water and it softened and then you picked out what you wanted to eat from the buffet on the table; delicious!  We listened to some great music and had some good laughs too.  While I was there, I got Gabe to shorten the necklace he gave me for my birthday; and once he did, he said he forgot how incredibly short I am... hehee... yeah I am quite short; only 5ft nothing.  

Before we knew it, it was time for Riley to pack to go home to her Mum and I had to start making tracks home myself; to beat the traffic.  I had given Riley her birthday gift; but she didn't want to open it until her actual birthday, so that's okay, up to her.  She just knows it's going to be something really cool (as she told me that I always give her cool stuff for her birthday and Christmas - how cool is that?).  Well, I came home and made it here in about half an hour - the traffic was pretty good getting there and coming home.  
But I was expecting a friend of mine to visit and I had arrived around 4:30pm.  It got later and later and he still didn't show.  At around 7pm, there was a knock the door and one of my neighbours I barely speak to said that he had texted him to ask me to call or text him on his number.  I thanked him and did... and what do you know?  My friend had been at my place at about 4:30pm and I wasn't home - at the time when I was just pulling into the driveway.  He said we must have just missed each other... don't you hate that?  I do.  Oh well.  Next time.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Full Weekend!

Sooooo, how was your weekend?  Full like mine?  Or was it just busy around the house - like mine?  Yeah, a bit of both for everyone I think.

Well, on Friday night, we all went out to dinner to celebrate my future sister-in-law's birthday - Katrina - and had a ball!  Yes it was freezing cold!  But we all totally enjoyed our dinner, gave her gifts and loved the music at the Arana Hills Sport Club, just down the road from where they used to live at Keperra.

On Saturday, I had a full day out and about.  First off I was late for my Sci-Fi Writer's Group at the Hyperdome, but only by around 20 minutes... yeah, ran myself late.  Silly me!  It does happen, but not often.  I slept in by accident and that's why I was late.  Anyway, we all got chatting, Debbie Behan commented that Renee and I both definitely dress like writers and we all had a good giggle about it.  Before long, midday had arrived and I couldn't join them for the lunch at the food court because I had to do my volunteer work at the Logan Art Gallery.

Well, once there, I found the place was set up for an afternoon of a demonstration.  Donald James Waters was showing up to demonstrate the way he does paintings.  Seats had been lined up and plastic laid down ready for him to use the space.  It was great. Once he arrived, I made him a nice, strong cup of coffee and had set up his stuff ready to go.  People came in late and he was happy to see everyone... then he started on a blank canvas!  Well!  What a wonderful thing it is to see an artist at work!  I took a collection of photos to see how he went about making a painting, and found it was filled with just imagination, lines and he took it in all kinds of directions and kept on turning the canvas around to see where he could take the painting!  

By 5pm, the whole thing was finished, the money was done and signed for and I was ready to go home.  It was the end of a busy day... and I made pasta to eat for dinner once I arrived home.

Today, I made a stack of thin pancakes and scoffed them all down - I must have been hungry - while reading the paper.  Then, I jumped online and sussed out my flash fiction to see who said what about it; as I had uploaded it last night.  People loved it, as I had hoped, and I suggested they looked at the other one I did last week - as it still hadn't had anyone looking at it.  A few of them have looked at that one, but not many.
Then, I made a move on cleaning up the home office.  It was a pigsty.  I moved all the synthetic bags into the bedroom and pulled all the books down off the saggy bookcase to go through them all.  I am giving away a bag of books I'm not going to read; a lot of them are thrillers by James Paterson, Mills & Boon romances and other types of books I've simply lost interest in.  Then, I just restacked the books and made them sit better on the bookcase.  And to make it better and easier to see my books, I changed the Mt To Be Read by the door into a book stack like the ones around the room.  It looks good too!  There's still a lot of work to be done about the books, but I'm happy with what I've done with them.  They're going to be put into the car tomorrow and taken to my craft group to be given away.
However, I wasn't done.  I had the synthetic bags to work through.  So, seeing I had over 10 bags sitting around, I went through them all and moved any of the stuff that seemed like little, small stuff into one bag.  All my knitted stuff went into one bag, the bag with my life history stuff went into one bag too... now, it's all just 5 bags of stuff lining the front of the bookcase I have to work through and throw out.  This won't take long seeing I'm good at doing this now.  There is still a fair bit to go on this room with charity bags and rubbish, but this is a good start - a big start - but a good one.

Tomorrow, it's craft day.  I have to take the car to Mum and Dad's place to get the oil looked at then I'm off to the Queen Beez Craft Group up the road at midday... I have a lot of work to get done in those few hours.  I hope to get it done.  My Tie Cushion is coming along well, and I'm happy with it.  I still hunt around for good ties - nice ones with funny stuff on them - but I'm working on it bit by bit.  And I'll have it finished in time for Christmas.  Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Groovy Sunday Afternoon

Well, it's a normal Sunday afternoon.  

This morning, I didn't want to get out of bed.  It wasn't because it was cold.  It was I'm a bit more than disappointed about something that happened last night.  

Never mind... I won't go into here; it's too personal, and I promised that this isn't a personal, private, put out my dirty laundry kinda blog... and besides, you don't want to know.

So, once I did get up this morning, I was off to the service station to pick up some milk, toilet cleaner and a paper.  And so, once home, I made pancakes and read the paper.  But soon enough, it was time to get my butt into gear and work on the place again (as it will be soon to do this arvo).
I went outside and tipped over the sun-loving Bromiliad.  It was time to uproot the mother plant and pull the pup off it.  I had to repot it now, or this plant would never work itself out next Summer.  So, I did and now, the mother plant is in the huge recycling bin up the back of the complex - with a bit of help from one of my neighbour's friends.  I had to warn him that the leaves were razor sharp... and he looked at them and nodded.

Well, once I got that done, I found a spare bucket in the cabinets outside, washed it out and picked up some cleaning gear for that bathroom and toilets.  I'm going to work out what I need in the way to clean the bathroom and just keep that bucket handy to be the cleaning bucket - and that's it for both upstairs and downstairs... and not have two of everything.  I buy one lot of toilet cleaner and spray'n'wipe and that's it to clean both toilets.  There's one pair of gloves... you get the idea.  I'm not spending money I don't have; and thus I'm saving money in the longrun.

Then, later on this afternoon, I'll be going through the first part of my wardrobe.  I'll start really small and go through my socks and delicates; and throw out what I don't need and give away the socks I don't want or use.  It's the best way I know how to start on cleaning out my bedroom of clothes.  Then, it'll be easier to put things away after doing the laundry or getting changed.

These things won't take long...  and it's a start on it all.  So, what are you doing this weekend that's different?  Being a long weekend, are you doing something with family?  Or are you just hanging out at home?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 

A Catch-Up Weekend

Wow!  I've had a busy old week, which I've happily left behind me... and now, I have two days to myself - totally to myself.

What the hell am I going to do?  

Okay, I've done some laundry, and hung it up on the clothes horse - as I don't trust the weather today.  It said showers on the radio and it rained all night, so I don't think I'll be hanging it outside seeing my arthritis is playing up today.

I need to catch up with my reading... and have a few books to read today and tomorrow.  So, they're there to look into.

And I have some housework to jump into as well.  You know, clean the bathroom, vacuum and dust... it's all very basic... but it's gotta be done.  
Then, tonight, it's Movie Night here... and 'Bed of Roses' is next on the list in my massive index book of dvds.  I watched this around Christmas Time, but I will watch it again because Christian Slater is in it (mmmm... yummo!).  Otherwise, it's a nice little chick-flick movie and not too hard on the senses, and it's about love too.

Anyway, besides all this, I've finished up my work for The Creative Markets and now I can have a week to look at what I need to get done around the place... like the shopping, going to the chiropractor and attending my writing group as well as my volunteer work next week - yep that's all next week.

Sooo, what's on your plate for the weekend?  A lot or not much?  Do tell.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Mother's Day

Yesterday was a huge day... so I've waited until tonight to write about it, as it's the first time I've had to sit down and do anything about writing about it.

It was a lovely, warm, sunny day; and yet we were supposed to have rain.  I had made a huge garden salad, and Mum had made a Wong Bok Salad, and we took them over to my brother's place at Brighton where we were meeting up with the rest of the family.
Traffic wasn't too bad, and we had a good run.  Gabe had the pizza oven going, hot and music playing when we arrived.  A stray chicken had made her escape from the coup and was running around the place... but we didn't worry about it, as nobody tried to catch her.  Soon after we arrived, we exchanged gifts, grabbed ourselves some drinks and the pizza making started up, along with the salads.
Around 8 pizzas were cooked up - one after the other - and they were devoured just as quickly.  The salads vanished too.  Almost two thirds were gobbled up as we all sat down and ate lunch... it was wonderful!  I'm so happy they all enjoyed my improved 'Cee Salad'... as most of the ingredients started with the letter 'C'... hehe.  
Soon after the salads were put away and everyone felt like taking a nap out on the lounge outside, coffee was made and Gabe baked some chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies in the pizza oven!  Well!  They vanished as quickly as he put them out!  These things didn't have time to cool off as we snatched them up, still soft and hot from the oven... yummo!  the chocolate was melting and the nut chips were hot... delicious!  And did they go well with the plunger coffee!  
Before long, it was 4:30pm and it was time to take off.  We had enough coffee and food in us to tide us over for the night and the trip home.  And when I arrived at my place, I forgo making dinner as I was still full from lunch... by around 10pm, I was in bed writing in my journal and reading a book.  It had been a long day for me.
However, I had given Mum a lovely 3-pack of organic relishes.  They were in a box with the word 'Organic' scrolled across the lid and a white ribbon tied around it.  I had found it at 'The Big Apple' down the road for $12 or so and thought it would be perfect for Mum as she loves this kind of thing... and Dad would enjoy eating them too.  They were sealed properly and looked gorgeous.  Mum loved it!  I'm looking forward to knowing what they taste like. 

So, how did you spend Mother's Day?  Was it taking your Mum out to lunch or dinner?  Did you have a picnic lunch?  Or did you have a laid-back affair like we did and enjoy lunch with family at a relative's house?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Lazy Sunday

Today is the first truly lazy Sunday I've had in over two months.  Honestly, I'm sitting here online and it's not yet midday and I'm totally enjoying the quiet of the day before hectic beginning of the working week again.

Yes... it's been a very busy 3 months for me since Mum and Dad flew off overseas; and now I've had time to sit down and take in what I've gotten done, I feel as thought I'm being lazy and almost bad that I'm not doing anything.  Weird, eh?  But really, it's nice to have a day to myself to do what I want.  Then, I can get in and do some pegs and pencils, work on some other wonderful things around here and not have to worry about much else.

But I'm hoping to save up for a few things while I'm taking my time with a couple of things around here.  There's a wrought iron table and chairs set at Bunnings I spotted for $139.00 which I spotted while looking for dolly pegs.  But before I wrote down the price, I searched online for a table and chairs just like it and didn't find anyone giving one away - not on freecycle or e-bay or anywhere - so I looked through The Trading Post online too, there's nothing on there (and besides, people are expecting too much money for their second-hand items).  So, I've begun saving up for the outdoor setting myself.  It won't take long to have the money in my account and in-hand seeing I've got most of my stuff done around the place anyway, and I do have most of my Four-Month Makeover done.  There's just the finishing touches to get done around here.

There's still a few plants I want to get in and repot and a bookcase or two I want to replace around here with sturdier bookcases, but I'm going to concentrate on finishing the garden first, and then see how I go on seeing the details of my project; after all the devil's in the details of a project isn't it?  I do enjoy making sure it's all done up properly and working well.  But if waiting for a particular part of my project to be finished and financed is called for, well, I guess that's just what I have to do.

Gabe asked me yesterday where I got the money for my project, and I said that I had it all sitting in my savings for a while until I got the use of Mum's car.  Once I spent a bit of money, I waited until the next pay, spent more money and then went to cheap stores and spent more... it eventually added up to getting all of what I wanted done. 
I've just checked my iPod for the jobs that need to get done.  And I've checked off the list the art area being cleaned up... now I have only two more things to finish:  the backyard, and the lounge room.  With a month and a half left to go, I'm right on shedule to getting everything done up, finished and tidied up.  I can't wait until my project is complete.

But then, it's not really complete - is it?  There will always be something for me to do here, something to replace, something to get removed... something to make sure I'll have to get put in to make my house feel, look and run better all because I want it to.  Well, until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Twenty-Four Hours

It's Father's Day, and a lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours that has made it a totally different day to what it was yesterday.  Yeah, I know that it's like this every day... each day isn't the same as the day before.  But before we get too philosophical about it, I want to tell you guys what happened to me yesterday; as it really did change my life.  

I went out driving.  I had a few things to get done, pick up and drop off, then I had to check on Mum and Dad's house before I went to the Kingston Butter Factory to see if I could get my Crafty Pegs sold in their shop there.  Seeing my Aunty Lu has two large sections of their store with her craft gear, and she's seen my pegs, she suggested I try their store out.  Even the Logan Art Gallery suggested them.  However the lady who oversaw the craft items sold said no.  She gave me some bull-crap story about the 'economic climate' and that anyone could paint up the pegs.  I told her that it took me 3 hours to do 4 pegs.  She didn't believe me; so I took my nicely wrapped pegs home, unsuccessful in my attempt in selling them.
I was depressed, sad and seriously bummed-out that I hadn't been able to sell anything.  And what really got up my nose was that the lady at the Butter Factory had told me that the weekend markets would be a better place for my pegs.  However, the renting of the stall alone would kill off my prophets and I would never break even.  So, I was back at square one again without even trying.
When I arrived home, I had a headache, it was hot, and I jumped online to tell my friends on Facebook how my day went... I don't often put up anything about how I'm feeling, but this time I did.  Then, one of my friends - a writer - suggested I start a business online with Facebook.  So, I did!  It was so simple!  I created a photo album of the pegs and invited all my friends to 'like' my page and so far, there's 16 likes and 17 people talking about my product!  

This is so very cool!  

And I haven't sold anything yet!

I am back to painting pegs again just last night as my Tennis Elbow has settled enough to let me hold something in my right hand.  I've got 3 set of pegs ready to sell, one of my friends has hinted that her Mum's birthday is coming up and she likes pastel colour (so I'll be starting on those tonight) and then there's another 2 dozen pegs that are varnished and 1 dozen that aren't.  Phew!  I'm ahead of myself, but then, I have to be right now.  So, if I keep myself ahead of schedule, I'll have enough pegs painted and ready for whoever wants them.

Now, it's been a little over 12 hours since I created Mozette's Crafty Pegs on Facebook and I'm stoked!  I've been accepted by people and I didn't have to leave my home to do it!  And I didn't have anyone making lame-arse excuses about 'economic climates' or that my pegs are 'too crafty' to be sold.  I'm doing this my way and people like my work.

And like I said, it's Father's Day.  I think my Dad would be downright proud of me for not taking no for an answer and digging my business heels in doing what I know is right - and that is going ahead and being the best I know I can be.  So, Happy Father's Day, Dad.  I've begun a small business of my own and it started 24 hours ago.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Sunday's Restful

Last week was busy as hell... and I mean really busy.  With the finishing up of my front garden being done, I'm going to wait until next pay to get my backyard into gear.  While I'm waiting, I've been planning what's going into it... this doesn't take much and doesn't cost me anything either.  And I'll be able to catch up with my reading and writing as well.

So yesterday, I was out - as you know - picking up pavers from my brother and his partner while they were at Mum and Dad's house picking up other things there.  We decided to meet up there and do all the work there.  It was all done in about an hour or so; and I stuck around to help with loading bricks into their trailer.  
Well, today, I unloaded the pavers into my backyard and took photos of the yard to begin planning what will happen next.  I do have a good idea of what will happen, but it will take time.  So, I gotta wait for money to come in.  The first thing that I'm going to do is lay the pavers next week or so; but first, I have to get all the plants out into the car port, clean up the backyard of all the weeds and lay the pavers while the plants are out of the way.  This will probably take most of a morning as I want to attach some of the palings back onto the fence more permanently with wire and not nails so they stay up.  And once I get two new pots and two bags of riverstones, I'll be ready to upgrade two or three plants in the yard.  I can't wait to begin on the backyard... and to begin making it look lovely.

Because it's a bigger area, it will take longer than the front yard - which only took three weeks - and so this will probably take the rest of the time my folks are on holidays.  I hope it to be ready before they return home so the plants will be starting to take again in their new pots.

After I put the pavers out into the yard, I pulled up a section of bindi's, which was starting to take hold under my clothes line, and then I did all the washing up and made my drink.  It was all the major stuff done I needed to do this morning; such a pity I broke a bowl in the process.  Oh well, it happens.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm (or cool) and remember, I'm always here.

'Lazy' Sunday

I've had a good day today; and tried not to do anything too much.  Last week was one where I didn't seem to stop; and I've hurt my right arm.  So, tomorrow I'm off to the doctors to see what I've done to myself.

Today, I was up early and off to get the paper.  It was a nice chilly walk to the service station and the price has gone up to $2.50 for the Sunday Mail... and I remember not so long ago, it used to be only $1.00 to buy.  Damned inflation.
Well, this morning, I washed up a bit, made pancakes, read the paper, listened to some nice music and took it easy until around 10am.  This is when I jumped up and put on the two sets of sheets which really needed washing - both Winter sheets - and they were out on the line before long.  Then, I moved the clothes horse out of the way and pulled out the vacuum and took it upstairs and vacuumed my bedroom and the nice tidy office (which both look great after 2 weeks of nothing invading the floors or anywhere that I've cleaned - that's a record!).  I'm pleased with myself.  
Then, I chopped up some pumpkin and got fruit cooking on the stove to make some of my famous pumpkin fruit cake for tomorrow.  I'm taking half the cake with me.  Yummo!  The ladies at the craft group will enjoy it, I'm sure!  Anyway, it's on the counter now, on a plate, cooling off.  
There has been one little drawback with stove though.  The little clicker thing which lights my oven, stove and grill is broken.  It no longer lights them.  How fortunate was it that I happened to buy a proper lighter for the stove that runs on lighter fluid just last Wednesday just in case it did this again (yep, it did this trick once before, and I didn't want to be caught unawares this time).  It cost me around $10, but was well worth the money.  

Now, the laundry is almost dry - even though there's no sun, and only a gentle breeze - and I've got washing up to get done because of the baking.  Otherwise, I've strapped my arm up because it hurt like hell this morning.  Yeah, I'm off to the doctors tomorrow by the looks of this... darn.  Oh well, at least I'll be able to know what I've done to myself.  And it's feeling better because I've strapped it.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm - or cool - and remember, I'm always here.

I Love Cooking!

Cooking is a big part of my life; always has been.  However it hasn't been until the last few years I've gone out and really bought up big on the kitchen utensils and recipe books to learn to make what I can normally get as takeaway food.  Seeing I can't afford to buy a lot of things, and I enjoy cooking in my kitchen, I also love to learn to cook new things.

When I first moved out, I was into the fastest way to make things.  But when that fell through as quickly as my food was produced, I started looking through my recipe books I already had and learning how to make stir-fry sauces, learning exactly what to put into those stir-fry meals to make it taste like a takeaway - or better than a takeaway.  And I also started questioning where my food came from, how good it was for me and how I could store it to keep it longer.  
I found that not everyone was as curious about food as I was.  So, Mum bought me a wonderful book about food: 'What Food Is That: And How Good Is It For Me?' (or something long those lines).  It's a great reference book on nearly every food possible you'd come across in the shopping aisle and at the veggie market.  It tells you how to take care of food once you get it home, what you can cook it with, how to cook it, where it originates from and what the nutritional values it has.  I'm amazed at how much this book has in its index about food.

However I didn't stop there.  I wanted to know how make different types of food.  When Summer came around and it was stinking hot, I asked my American friends for a good Ice Tea recipe and I got one sent to me through the mail.  It was wonderful!  I loved it and have been making it for almost three years now; and it's so refreshing to have Ice Green Tea in the fridge just sitting there waiting for me to drink.  I even made some last year for my niece's birthday and the two jugs I made didn't last 20 minutes on the table!

And this year, I found a vegetarian bible recipe book where the food in it was amazingly delicious-looking... and when I tried out a cannelloni, it looked just like it did in the book!  And it tasted just as wonderful!  I've perfected the recipe and made it for most of my family and they love it!
Now, I'm onto pizzas... I've bought a book on how to make the base and bought a pizza stone and a proper cutter too.  And my first pizza wasn't anything much - as they are with most first-times with most recipes - but the second time, I had a better idea of what it was supposed to look like and be like... so I had a great dough that rose; and rose well!  

Yes, I love to cook.  I love the mess I make in my kitchen, the amount of flour that gets everywhere, the feeling of accomplishment that comes with serving up something that tastes as delicious as it smells; and then, realising I have to clean up... well, that's a part of cooking!  But it's the fun part to see the pots, pans and bowls and spoons all become clean of the food and spices just so I can use them all over again.  
This is what the passion of cooking is about for me.  It doesn't matter how messy my kitchen becomes, it matters that I love the food I make and others enjoy my meals too.  I love how the recipes can be brought back into basic elements and easily broken down into smaller jobs to do.  

So, do you enjoy cooking?  Or do you find it too much of a chore?  My brother always told me that if you call cooking a chore, you've turned your joy into a job... how true that is of anything.  Well, until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here. 

The Simple Life

Life is supposed to be simple, isn't it?  We are born, we grow up, learn, go to school, graduate (or not), go to college and/or university and then go out into the world and make a living for ourselves and families and live our lives.  

Simple, right?  

Well, not really.  So many things can get in the way, happen and screw up those plans we make for ourselves in the early parts of our lives that we don't realise exactly how complex our lives can become.
In between our health, work, family and paying the bills to keep the roof over our heads, our lives should be a lot simpler than it seems.  Many people have made their lives complicated by taking on a lot more than they can handle; and it's really not that hard to be in the world now and still live simply.

Okay that sounds a bit backwards, but it's not.

For a lot of you, you know me as a blogger, a reader, a collector of handbags, vinyls books and a gardener.  I love to cook and have a major medical condition - Epilepsy - and yet, I live very simply in this world of complex things.  I live from week to week on a Disability Pension - which I manage to put away around 1/3 of each fortnight into 4 savings accounts.  With these accounts, I'm saving for different things, but it doesn't mean I'm dipping into them all the time.  
I don't have a credit card.  I once did when I traveled to the UK, but I filled it up with money and used what was on it.  When I got home, I tried it out as a credit card, but found I couldn't work out the payments, so I had my bank get rid of it and to never send me another - and they haven't.  To date, I have no debt.  I pay all my bills on time, I pay in cash or eph-poss and if I don't have the money, and I want something expensive, I work out a payment plan.  I have been working this way for almost a decade, and it works.  

There's other things that I do to make my life easy.  I cook at home, don't eat takeaway food and, seeing I have my own music collection, I have a huge array of music to entertain myself.  Having my own dvd collection also helps in being able to watch what I want when I want... my movie collection has paid itself off many times over when I've wanted to have a movie marathon over a weekend; and it's been lots of fun.
My life is a lot simpler than most people's.  I'm an artist too, so when I want to do something for somebody's birthday or for them at Christmas, I can find the right things for them in the right places, or I can easily make the thing I want to give them.  

My life never used to be this simple.  I had a lot of stress in it and I found it difficult to live.  But when I organised myself and figured out how to get the movies I wanted to get, figured out what food I wanted to eat and have in my pantry, when I learned to cook different meals for myself, I found that life became easier.  I still struggle with things from time to time, but my life has gotten a lot easier; even though it's taken me a while to get into knowing how to work within my own boundaries and money too.  

So, how do you make your life simpler?  As you all know, I have been cleaning out my townhouse.  This is another way to keep my life in perspective too, and to keep myself from hoarding.  So, even though my house may be messy, everything has a place when I have to clean up... and that's a good thing.  At least I have come this far with my house.  Anyway, until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.