Rain!

I woke this morning to an overcast day and cool breezes... what a wonderful change to the humid, hot days we've been experiencing over the last few weeks!

I went outside after my shower and found it had been raining for a few hours before I woke up... how wonderfully refreshing is that?

Okay, I can't do the laundry, but I'm not complaining in the least because the garden really needs it.  And it's saving me doing the watering by hand today... and even now, looking outside, it's raining yet again after stopping only 20 minutes ago.  And I do love the rain.

It's lovely thing to keep us all hibernated indoors watching movies, reading books or listening to music... or just simply catching up on lost sleep.  Like this morning, I just didn't want to get out of bed; and when I found it was raining, it made me want to stay in bed all the more.  And do you blame me?  I mean, Summer is just around the corner, and we get to have a nice cool day in the middle of a week of boiling hot ones... yep, it would have been ideal to just hide under the sheets and snooze for another hour or so.  But I got out of bed instead and went outside and photographed the garden inbetween showers of rain and eating breakfast... hahaha...

Anyway, I'm not sure what I'll be doing today.  I am hoping to get in and clean out a set of drawers in one of my wardrobes for my art/craft bench next year.  Then, I'll be also looking for a few things around my bedroom that I've been searching for the last week (and can't find).  And then, I might re-read my last chapter of 'Angel Love' to get my head around what is going to happen next... which is?  Well, I don't know because I don't plan my books.

Well, there's my day.  I'll also get my head back into 'The Watcher' too... it's been a while since I plugged into it and read a bit of it.  And being a wet day, it's a good day for it.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

One Busy Morning

This morning, I was out the door before 9am and off to Mum and Dad's place. I had to drop off some pieces of the old Singer Sewing machine from my place to theirs for when I go to their place on Saturday.

I was there for a bit - well until Mrs Dickenson showed up - and then I was off again.  I went to Suncorp to get some money out and then to Bunnings where I picked out a large pot for the garden and a plant to replace the one which had been destroyed by the possums in the halfpot on the fence.  
Before going to either place, I had to fax one bank and then return to the post office again to check the mail.  You see, I've won a book by John Connolly.  His publisher was supposed to have sent it to me by the end of last week.  But it never arrived.  So, I called up the place I won it from and they helped me out... wonderful people!  They told me that it should be here by the end of this week.  It's Thursday, and it's still not arrived - but still, there's one more day left in the week.  I'll give it until Monday morning and then I'll really get impatient.  I mean, how hard is it to post off a book?

Anyway, I bought the pot and the plant, and came home.  I was hoping to go to Super Cheap to buy a steering wheel cover - because that darned thing is beginning to get hot! - but I wanted to get home and do some serious gardening.  But I thought that, seeing I had checked the mail at 8:30am this morning, it would make sense to check it again a few hours later.  After all, they would have finished sorting the parcels.  
So, I was on Kingston Road, checked my mirrors, saw a large old ute (and I mean it was a Dodge pick-up... old kinda thing) and I indicated at the right time, slowed down... and that damned Dodge pick-up was right on my arse!  He had been coming in from Randall Street and didn't see me!  Crap!  He very nearly side-swiped me!  Of course, he blasted his horn at me as though I was in the wrong, and I wondered if he did clip me.  I pulled up in a spot as fast as I could and looked my car over... nope, no marks.  Yes, he was that close to hitting me, it wasn't funny.  

But it wasn't my fault either.  I did all the right things; and he was coming into a main road from a side street, and should have looked where he was going, watched what people were doing.  And most of all, not been in such a hurry to get where he needed to go.  I wasn't speeding - seeing I had a large terracotta pot in the boot of my car - and I didn't want to be in an accident all because some idiot didn't look where he was going.

Well, I checked my mail box and there wasn't anything there... okay, fair enough... then I was on my way home.  Once home, I was right into the yard immediately moving the chair out into the recycling area of the unit complex, and moving the tiles I had in its place for the feet of it.  Then I placed the pot in its place and potted up the new plant in the halfpot on the fence... so that was part one of the revamp.  Part two will happen either this week or next pay; more likely the latter.  

So, how has your day been so far?  Mine's been most of the 31 flavours of crazy... but then, some days are like that, right?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

A Day In the Life...

For those who don't know what it's like to have a medical condition and medication every day, I thought to write a post about it.  

6am - First alarm goes off.  It's time for my Epilum.  Grab the phone, turn off the alarm, take my purple pill, go back to sleep.

7am - Second alarm goes off.  It's time for my Topamax.  The sun is just peaking over the roofs of my neighbours and it's cold.  Turn off my alarm take my pill and doze until 7:30am.

7:30am - Third alarm goes off and I turn that off and take my Tegritol.  The neighbourhood Islamic kids run off to school past my house talking to each other.  I wait another half hour before I get up.

8:15am - I get up, strip the bed, get dressed in my painting gear and take the laundry downstairs with my phone, glasses and anything else I remember to take in the laundry basket and put on the first load of laundry - the sheets - then put on some porridge for breakfast.  After the pot is on the stove, I open all the curtains and let in the sunlight for the day.

10:45am - all the laundry is finished.  I've washed up a fair bit of stuff, put away the Dutch Oven from last night and scrubbed the wooden board I usually use every day and it's sitting on the back of the stove drying out.  
I've taken photos of my newest line of products as I go.  There's a few new pegs I painted up last night with cracking medium and put two totally opposite colours together - and they worked! - then there were the two coathangers I hoped worked; and they did!

11:30am - I've been online for a bit now.  I've checked my e-mail, talked online with a friend and uploaded a photo on to 365Project (a photographic site where you put up a photo of something you do each day - it goes over a year - but I've been doing mine for 4 years now).  Anyway, I've take a photo of my Dutch Oven I bought years ago in Epsom, Victoria as it's a cool little thing, and put it up there.

1pm - I'm back at my craft table.  I have to get working on some normal pegs again.  There's plenty of cracked decor stuff to start the new line of products, now to keep going with the other lines I already have going.  It's good to know I have so much work to keep me busy for this month's markets.  Over the next hour or so, I get in and paint as much as I can, then I put out the rubbish and the recycling in the big bin at the back of the complex, and finally, I get myself out the front - where the sun is nice and warm - and get my nose into a book for the first time in a few weeks.  

3pm - Jeez I'm hungry!  First check the laundry... yep, most of it's dry.  Pull in the sheets and anything else that's dry and leave the rest for the sun to get until 4pm.
I take the sheets upstairs and make up the bed - moving the glory box first - and then put away any clothes that need it.  

4pm - make a pizza dough and put a towel over the bowl.  Set my iPod timer for an hour and pull in the rest of the laundry - it's still a little damp - so I pull out the large clothes horse and hang up the rest of the stuff overnight; it should be dry by tomorrow.

5pm - the timer goes off, I have all the ingredients ready for the pizza and oven turned on and ready for it too!  The television is on and the curtains have been drawn for around 45 minutes now to keep in the warmth from the day.  

6pm - time for my Epilum... I take it just as Family Feud starts and I'm sitting on my lounge eating my dessert of kiwi fruit, grapes and yoghurt and a little bit of dark chocolate.  I've made myself a nice pot of green tea too.  

7pm - time for my Topamax... Neighbours has just finished and I'm putting on a dvd of one of the seasons of 'Supernatural' as I pick up my sewing.  I'm making a hand-stitched piece for the Secret Santa deal at my craft group... it's a Tie Cushion... it's a whole lot of men's ties all tied up and stitched on to a large cushion and then their stitched to each other side to side and at their bottoms (so it gives) and then you use it as a proper cushion once the stuffing is put back in.  It's very cool... and almost finished. 

7:30pm - time for my Tegritol... sometimes I miss this by around 15 minutes, but not by long as I feel its affects pretty quick if I do.  I take this and drink my tea as I stitch more. 

9:40pm - the 4 episodes of 'Supernatural' are finished.  I've finished stitching up one tie and started on another and I'm tired.  I put away the dvd and turn off the television.

Sometimes I'll finish off the washing up, sit on the computer for an hour or so, or just head off to bed and read before turning out the light.  But I do have days where it's more busy and I'm out in the car - like my grocery days - but this is my average day at home where I do my craft work for a good part of the day and have a lot of waiting around to do for things to dry.

My medical condition hasn't always been this easy to control or medicate.  It took over a decade of tests, doctors and traveling to Melbourne and back to Brisbane to find the right doctors to get me into the right medications to finally set my Epilepsy right.  i was born with this disease (it used to be a medical condition; but has, in recent years, upgraded to a disease because of what it does to the human brain over time) and we found out over the last few years that my Epilepsy is genetic as well.  This is the reason why I don't have children.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Afternoon Tea With Mum

Once in a while, Mum and I have afternoon tea together at my place.  It's nice to sit down, drink plunger coffee and eat sinful food from the local Springwood Bakery and just natter about everything in our lives.
You see, I don't have any sisters, so my Mum is the closest person in my life to be a sister.  In recent years, she and I have become closer and I don't want to lose that connection - so having afternoon tea, and sometimes dinner together - is the one thing that keeps us connected and talking together.

My house was clean, tidy and organised - not as usual, but better than it has been in a while.  I had pushed the lounge up against the piano to make more space and moved the coffee table into the middle of the room.  This makes the lounge room look bigger and makes it easier for everyone to get around.  I hadn't considered this until I did this one day while cleaning and found it did look better... so I did this today and it looked great.

Mum loved the terrarium and how it looks.  She said it's surviving well, seeing it's been working for over 3 months.  She and I drank some coffee, ate apple turnover with fresh cream and talked and laughed, then I took her upstairs to show her the hall table and my newly organised home office.  
You see, I had borrowed the money from her to buy the hall table and am currently paying her back.  She looked at it and loved it!  She reckons it's money well-spent!  Then, she looked around the rest of the place and said I was getting my shit together... so nice when my efforts to clean up goes noticed by family.  

I still do have a long way to go, but at least it's getting there; and Mum knows I'm doing well.  She said that the Glory Box will make a great difference to how I store things too.  Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

All Day Outing

I was out from around 10am until 3:30pm today... but it was worth every moment.  I took my time doing everything I needed to do... which was good.

The first thing I did was give Little Miss Stevie's blankets and cuttlefish to the RSPCA World at Springwood.  It was the second time I've been there, and I made myself go this time and not leave until I took the bag in.  Well, I ended up walking around the place with the bag in my hands for about half an hour... I must have looked like a bag lady, but I still ended up at the counter with it, crying my eyes out trying to let them know I wanted to give the covers away.  But the longer I hold onto them, the harder it will be to give them away - I know this.  And I know they will be going to the shelters for a puppy or a kitten to curl up on this Winter.  And the cuttlefish will be scratched on by a parrot who really wants something to chew on.  I felt so sad and when I got back to the car, I felt so lost because I thought I had let go of the last of my bird... I haven't.  

After I had a cry in the car, I got going to Mum and Dad's house after the post office and paid some bills, watered some plants and emptied some things out of the fridge... I also wrote down some messages and stuck around the place in case the birds came to visit for a feed.  But they didn't... so I left and went about my day.

The next place was over at Woodridge.  I had some things to get done at K-Mart.  I put in some photos to get developed and then looked around Woodys and bought some sheet music there for $2.00ea.  Then, seeing I was sticking around for a bit, I thought to have some lunch at Venus' Cafe and look at some stuff at the 'Dollars & Sense' place before going to the chemist and then picking up the photos and finding some things to use for my clean up around the house.  
After Logan Central Plaza, I went to Endoes and donated three bags of stuff I didn't want anymore from my house.  It felt so good to let go of my stuff that I no longer needed but it was good to use.  Then I was off to the Art Gallery and I had a look around there and chatted to the ladies there.  

I looked at my watch and it was almost 3:15pm!  Wow!  Where did the day go?  Well, I jumped in my car and took off home.  It was time get the things I had bought home and get dinner under way.  

And tomorrow?  Well, I have some cleaning out and phone calls to make after I go to the post office to send something off to Toowoomba to a good friend of mine, who doesn't have the net.  Such a pity, because it'd be easier to keep in touch with her.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Thursday's Day Outing

It's been a huge day out with my Little Green Machine, a terrarium and me behind the wheel following the directions of a Tom-Tom all over Brisbane city... and what a gorgeous day for me to be doing just that!

First off, I received a phone call from my folks, on holidays, that Mum needed some things she forgot to pack.  No probs!  I dropped over there to check on the place as well as do this little thing for Mum; only to get locked out of a bank account they have control over... damn... so I couldn't post the things she needed off and left them on the kitchen table all folded up and ready to go.  

I hate that.

Well, it was time to leave, so I jumped in the car, drove to Spotlight at Upper Mt Gravatt and looked around for a tapestry I could do... a nice simple one that didn't cost the Earth.  However, there's no such thing as nice and simple anymore, and they all cost the Earth.... sooo, I'll have to rethink my approach to my cushion design for the Secret Santa this year at my craft group.

I left Spotlight with a wooden 'kitchen' word to paint up for my stall and organised myself with the Tom-Tom to take me to Bardon where I had to get the cork for the terrarium.  

Well!  What a drive!  I knew where I was going right up until it took me off on to Moggil Road and got me totally lost!!!  I had no clue where it was taking me until I found myself about 5 minutes from the Mt Coot-tha Lookout.  And so much has changed there that I used the Tom-Tom to  get me up there.  This is where I took a well-earned break and sat down in the restaurant there to just have a coffee and ended up staying for lunch.
I mean, who wouldn't want to?  I had a near-perfect view of Brisbane City, Archerfield Airbase and could just see Moreton Bay.  And all the while I was eating pumpking gnokki - a pasta that was made with pumpkin and flour then boiled in rolling water for only a few minutes (or until it floated) and it was put with parsnips crisps and blistered cherry tomatoes... mmmmmm.... yummo!  It was delectible!  Such a gorgeous meal and it sounded like it should have cost the universe, but it only cost me $20... okay, $24.00 with my latte on top of that.  Pretty good for a five star restaurant on top of a mountain, don't you think?  And I mean, I was there for around an hour, taking a break from driving, with around 50 other people!  The place was packed with sight-seers who just wanted to see this great city from afar!  I live here, and I wanted to see my home city from afar too... such a pretty little city; and it's growing so fast.

Before I knew it, I was on the road again.  Little Green Machine took the twists and turns of the road down Mt Coot-tha so well!  And I nearly got stuck on Milton Road - but found my way to the Wesley Hospital through Eagle Terrace (where I used to live with a horrible man years ago) and then onto Coronation Drive and onto the freeway... traffic wasn't too bad all the way to Logan; actually it was pretty good.
I got off at Springwood, drove straight to the large Bunnings store at Underwood and bought 3 plants, some sphagnum moss and stones for my terrarium.  I already had the rest of the stuff at home.  While I was there, I ran into Kym Foxx, who used to live in my unit complex, and I showed her my new little car.  She was so please I got something so cute!  And said it must be great on the fuel.  I told her where I had been today and she was amazed that it was going so well, then I told her what I needed to get and what for.  She loved that I was making a terrarium; and thought it was the best thing for small houses.  

Well!  I got home, unpacked everything, cleared a space on the coffee table and organised myself to get the terrarium working!  Within the hour, my little garden in a bottle was planted out, decorated and watered in... err, had a little spray from the bottle... and then?  I put the cork on it and took photos!  It's such a cutie!  I looked around and wanted to do another one immediately!  Yes... I'm hooked on these things.  
But after the day I've had, I'm tired.  Mum phoned me before, letting me know that she's unlocked the account needed to let me in.  I pick up my hall table tomorrow and post off Mum's stuff to her on the way too.  I can't wait to get home, move some furniture and get the hall table looking great!  That will all be done in the morning... so I have the rest of the day to myself.  And then?  It will be the end of a very, very busy week!  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Fiddly Thursday

Yep... there's always one or two days a week there, you get in and do fiddly things around the house.  You know, the annoy crap nobody wants to do... like paying the phone bill or cleaning the bathroom and toilet... fiddly stuff that you'd rather ignore than do.

Well, today is that day where I do those things.  And I've already begun on the short - yet fiddly - list of things I need to get done.

So far, I've washed the car (as I do every Thursday).

Half the washing up is done.

I have organised with Aunty Helen to share some of the veggies in Mum and Dad's fridge with her.

I've uploaded some work I got done onto Crafty Pegs FB page.

That was this morning's chores done... it doesn't sound like a lot, but it was all done in around two hours.
Now, this afternoon, I have a fair bit of work to get done, and it's fiddly as hell.  There's a lot of work I have to get done in the living room to get the lounge cleared.

Clear out the Green Bags filled with filing.

Pay my phone bill.

Wash up everything and wash the kitchen floor (these go hand in hand as it's in the same room).

Critique some work in time for Saturday's writer's meeting.

Stack books away in my office that need to stacked (the place looks like a fire trap at the moment and less organised than it normally does).

Clean the bathroom.

Put away all the laundry.

Well... that's about it for the day of fiddliness... yep, today is something I don't want to get into, but yet it will be filled with stuff that's fiddly and needs to be done or it'll turn into some thing bigger and bigger; then it'll never get done because it's just too big for me to get done.  Have you ever done that?  Left something for so long that you've turned around one day and found it sitting there in a big pile and realised you've been a big dork and should have done that sooner rather than ignored it?  Yeah, me too; and it got me nowhere.  Now, I make sure I get things done when they need to get done - not matter how fiddly they are - because if the job is done when it's small, it'll be easier than if I leave it.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Easter Long Weekend

Tomorrow is Good Friday and there's plenty to do as I ready my presents for my family.  As I posted earlier last month, I'm not giving chocolate to anyone this year, instead I'm giving plants or presents to them.  So, Mum and Dad are getting an Italian Cookbook I thought they'd love (as Dad loves his meat), my brother and his partner are getting a plant I've got in the garden and Riley, my niece, is getting a gorgeous pendant I bought at Brunswick Heads over Christmas.  

Now, I normally give chocolate, but after finding exactly how much Palm Oil we all do use in our lives, I think it wasn't right to give the milk chocolate eggs and stuffs I normally gave.  And when I bought the dark chocolate goodies for myself, I read all the ingredients on the packaging and made sure the ingredients were right... and they were.  

I'm hoping to go to my parent's house tomorrow or Sunday and give them their Easter pressies.  I hope they love it.  By then, they'll have Jay the Wonderdog there... yes, Kat and Gabe's dog there. I hope to see this wonderful woofy as I haven't seen her in a long time.

Well, today is going to be busy - unlike the rest of the week.  I thought this week was going to be busy, but it wasn't.  So I stayed home, read a bit, wrote a bit and basically just hung around the house enjoying the Lunar Eclipse and doing a few things around here.  Otherwise, this Saturday, I'll be varnishing what I've done, cleaning up the craft area and putting everything away and then, I'll make sure it's all ready for the markets on 27th, April.  Next week, is my week off from working - as usual.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Rain

Brisbane is getting one hell of a huge downpour of rain over the next few days.  I'm glad it's happening, but it's also very dangerous out on the roads - or is it?

This morning I was out there driving an it was a matter of me taking my time, keeping my distance between the car in front of me and my front bumper and keeping the car under the speed limit a bit.  And I had to make sure I wasn't in any hurry to be anywhere - and I wasn't.
I had research to get done for my next book; and so I was off to the Logan North Library to find books on Angels.  This wasn't something I normally read up on, but it was worth looking into as it's something of interest to me as well personally.

After that, I drove to Browns Plains and checked out their books on the subject and found they had a number of books on Angels and I picked up one that covered on Archangels by Doreen Virtue.  However, there is an encyclopedia of Angels - which covers all of the Heavenly Hosts including their rank, what they do, how they work, right down to the colour of their halos and wings.  This is the kind of book I was looking for; but the bookstore at Browns Plains didn't have it.  So, it looks like I'll be looking for a brand new copy of it around the ridges of heading off to the other bookstores I know of around the inner city to search for this particular book for a second-hand copy.

I returned home just in time.  Within the hour, the rain really began to pour from the already grey skies over this city.  With the markets on Sunday, I'm only hoping it doesn't keep the crowds away... well, it shouldn't if people really want to attend.

Well, it's Thursday.  I still have a few things to get done around the place before the big day.  What has your week been like for you?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Windy Old Thursday

It looked like rain today, but I did the laundry anyway.  By around 1pm or so, it was all dry because the wind snapped the towels, underwear and other clothes like flags, and the sun played peek-a-boo between the threatening grey clouds.

While it was all out there there drying, I vacuumed the house, dusted the piano, credenza and the entertainment unit.  Then, I washed the kitchen floor - which only got sugar all over it again because I'm clumsy.  
While the floor was drying, I put out the recycling and put some money across for tomorrow's outings.  Yeah, I have some things to do while I'm out and about checking the mail, collecting a few things for a Bookcrossing Valentine's Exchange thing and basically just making sure I drive safely.

Then, I sat down and put in an hour or so to do some Crafty Pegs.  While I was there, I heard some Kookaburras giggling around the place, so I grabbed the camera and looked for them.  They were on the guttering across the way out the back door.  One was sitting there, while the other was skimming the underside of the guttering for food; talk about cute!  So, I took some photos and the two Kookaburras watched me watching them. Hahaha... funny as!

At 4pm, I got in and made two pizza doughs - one that worked, one that didn't and got thrown out.  The one that worked tasted delicious!  I'm wondering what happened to the one I stuffed up.  Oh well, it happens; and after around 8 or 9 months of making pizza doughs, this is my first stuff-up.
I worked on more Crafty Pegs gear while Supernatural played on dvd - until around 10pm - before locking up the place and turning off the lights.  Then, I'm now sitting up here and writing this blog.  It doesn't sound like I got all that much done, but really I did.  

There's more to be done... more decluttering and more cleaning.

And until I blog about those, and until I upload a photo album about that, I hope you're working on your projects successfully like I am.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Working Hard This Week

It's Thursday and I've been working very hard this week on Crafty Pegs, on looking at getting rid of the old bedroom suite and trying to clean up my house.

Well, okay, most of this is getting done.

It's a pay week and so I got the grocery shopping done, went and bought myself a bum bag for the markets and a cheap-arse calculator (so I can figure out the change for people the at the Creative Markets at the end of this month) and then, I worked out which boxes I'll be taking with me, so I don't have to buy another box.
Then, I figured out which table cloth I wanted to use for the display; as well as the table.  However, I thought I had to buy another table - or borrow one - and Mum offered up a spare one at their place.  She's impressed at how organised I am right now, and happy that I'm working very hard at my stock.  I'm making sure I have a lot of work done before I need to varnish anything, then, once it's all dry, I wrap it all up in celophane and then I'm back at it again... working again to get numbers of items up again.  I'm not doing certain sets right now, just getting as many pegs painted up with designs, then varnish them and then, after that, I'll sort out the sets when I'm ready to pack them up.  It makes more sense that way. 

On Tuesday, I gave work a rest and went out for Melbourne Cup Day.  Mum, Dad and I went out and had fun at a friend's place where we enjoyed a sweepstakes.  I made a bet at the TAB before arriving at my folks' house and then, we had lunch at their place (our friend's place) and the race was on!  My horses came in first and second!  Yay!  I won $48 a piece at the the sweeps and at the TAB!  However, I only won once at the latter... oh well, at least I won something there.  How did you all go on the Melbourne Cup?  Win anything?  If not, did you make a bet to begin with?  If not, oh well, maybe you're not the betting type.  I only make one bet a year, and it's usually on this race.

Anyway, I had a couple of early nights and am back into working my Crafty Pegs with more vigor than ever!  If you follow my Facebook Page of Crafty Pegs, you'll see my stock is improving and getting bigger!  I'm getting faster at painting everything and once the day of the market arrives, I'll have more than I'll ever need for it... well, hopefully.  I'm looking forward to it.  And I hope to have everything organised by then. 
So, how's your week been? Busy?  Slow? Interesting?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Next Week...

It's been a little while since I last pottered around my garden, fixed something in my house, replaced an item and threw out an old thing or did something big to make my house work better.  Well, okay, it's only been since last Saturday, but it feels as thought it's been forever...  and this makes me feel lazy.

I have until next Thursday or so to buy new things.  These things are going to be a new folding 2-step ladder for the kitchen, a couple of metres of Muslin and an Easy-Step Matt for the back door.  Now, in the process, I'll be putting money away to save up for something the back yard I found at 'Barbeques Galore' at the Home-Maker Centre which will look great!  It's a two-seat outdoor setting, which is white, rust-proofed and very pretty; and you all know I've been looking for something like this for a long time - and I have tried looking online, through the free sites and on The Trading Post too - and so actually buying one is my best bet.  I'm just looking forward to having my house fixed up by the time Mum and Dad come back home next month.  And you know, that month will zoom by!  

Today, I did major, heavy housework for the first time in 2 months - since my Tennis Elbow!  I have been able to move heavy furniture and actually clean up the living room, dust and wash the kitchen floor!  The house looks and feels clean!  How good is that?  It's wonderful!  I feel great!  Now, that's downstairs done, I'll get in and do upstairs tomorrow morning before it gets too hot.  Might even get out and buy that Easy-Step Matt while I'm out at my folks' house checking on it.  

There's still things to get done here - as you all know - but I'm working at my own pace.  And I'm hoping to get everything I want to get done soon.  One thing I did get rolling is the plumbing report to my neighbour's landlord.  It's been very quiet next door for the last day or so... not a single sound at all has come from there for the last 48 hours.  So, I don't know if they're home or not.  But I am hoping the plumbing gets fixed up completely soon and that the water hammer is remedied; and that I don't have to live with it anymore.  This is so when we do wish to sell my place, it will definitely sell, and sell easily.  Well, until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Just Quickly...

I was up nice and early today, stripping the bed, getting the laundry ready and hanging out my 2nd load by around 9am.  By 11am, I had my 4th load out and the first sheet pulled in to make space for the rest of the laundry on the line.

There were things to do, and I had been up since around 8am organising myself and making phone calls to get myself organised.  Phone calls because my next door neighbour's landlord has accused me of 'defamation of character' and that I should refrain from doing so.  I'm still hearing water hammer after 3 years of trying to get it fixed from the neighbour's side; without success.  So, I have been forced to call my plumber and ask him if he could help me by writing a report (again - because this has happened before) and get something done about the mixer taps next door from making a horrible noise through my pipes.

After the phone call and laundry was done, I found my computer's hard drive had crapped itself - again!  This is the 4th time it's done it.  I had to get it to repair itself and restart... knowing now I have to get a new 1 terrabyte hard drive next week - sooner than I expected.  So, I thought to go to Game Dude at Springwood and price one.  The guy told me to bring in my hard drive and he'd look at it; I said that I'll bring in the whole tower as I don't have a clue how to open my tower as it's brand new.  Well, he told me that he could get me one for $79!  How cool is that?  I'll be getting a new hard drive next week.
While I was out, I dropped into Mum and Dad's house to pick up two boxes I had left there while they were away - in the hope I'd be staying there while they were on holidays.  Unfortunately, with all the roadworks going on, I can't so I'm beginning to pick up my stuff and organise their house over the time left.  So, I picked up these two boxes and brought them home in readiness of getting my new cabinet for the art area.

On the way home, I dropped into Aunty Heather's place to see how she was doing after knee surgery and she's been doing well.  She has been going to physical therapy once a week and has a set of exercises to do at home as well.  She looks great too.  However, I stay a little long and she didn't tell me when her lunch time was.  We did chat about Mum and Dad on holidays and my last sms from them and had some laughs too.  She is in good spirits, and I did say that Mum would have my hide if I didn't visit her at least once or twice while she was away on holidays to see how she was doing. 

Anyway, I came home and organised a few things, saw the laundry hasn't dried yet and now, it's mid-afternoon, I had better go and have a look at it soon to pull it in before the dew settles.  I still have some work to get done on my Crafty Pegs order and then I'll see how many I can get done today.  I have 8 or so finished and once all 12 are finished up, it'll be time to spray-varnish them and deliver them early next week.  Well, until my next post, take care keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Busy Warm Days

I've had a couple of busy days and am very tired.  Since Tuesday, I haven't slept well, but then I've also had a lot of things running through my head as jobs and chores to get done too.  

Since the front garden has been completed - and still looks great! - I thought to get in and begin my back garden; so it looks like my own little universe and I feel as though I'm a world away from the rest of the world and can escape from everywhere and everyone when I want to.  
So far, I've acquired some second-hand pavers from Gabe and Kat's friends and laid them along the back fence to help me know when weeds are coming through from my back neighbour (as she doesn't do any gardening at all; let alone go out in her back yard).  Then, I had to wait until this pay to do anything else.  I had two bags of potting mix and that was it.
Today, I was off to Bunnings with some money in my pocket and an idea to find some good pots and 2 more bags of potting mix.  And so, instead of going for the first set of pots I set my eyes on, I looked over all the pots in all the aisles and found out which ones were worth the money... and the two I picked out were the cheapest in the longrun.  I saved $12 - $15 all up buying plain terra cotta pots and two bags of $6.30 potting mix.  So, once home, I backed the car into the carport (knocking over some bins in the process; I mean, come on people, bin day was yesterday!  And they were picked up at 7am!) and then unloaded all my gear into my backyard.  Then, i was going to leave it all until tomorrow... but I found I wanted to get it done before the weekend.  So, I turned the car around and parked it nose in (so it wouldn't get hot), locked up the front of the house, grabbed the cordless phone, gardening gloves and headed out to the backyard and began working on uprooting the Aloe-Vera from its position with a shovel.
All up it took me around an hour to get it all done.  My right arm was killing me and I felt sick in the guts from the pain, but I'm happy it was done.  I even repotted the Gloxinia in the smaller round pot to give it more room to move this Summer... very nice!  And it'll be able to stay in the pot for a few years; as it was in its original pot for around 15 years.  
Next fortnight, I'll be looking around some cheap shops for garden statues to sit in my garden... nothing over $25... something like a sitting Buddha or something like a metal rooster or something fun which will be hidden amongst the potted plants.  I'm not sure what I'll get yet as I have to see what's out there.

Tomorrow, I have to catch up with my housework.  There's a ton of washing up, laundry, vacuuming and dusting to do.  Then, I have to pull the rake over what looks like a lawn but it's not, but I'll be getting into that on Sunday as I'll be dropping over to Mum and Dad's place on Saturday morning or afternoon while I'm in the area.  
Like I said I'll be over my folks' way on the weekend, and this is because I'll be at a workshop at the Logan North Library for a couple of hours during the day.  It's sci-fi month in all Logan Libraries and so I'm attending a workshop on how to build and create worlds and keep them... I can build worlds, but have problems keeping them in the minds of my readers; and in my imagination.  When my worlds are based on real places, it's not difficult because they're based on fact, but when it's imagined, it's more difficult and I find it hard to communicate it across.  I've always had this problem from the beginning; and I seriously need the help with it. 

Anyway, that's what my week has been like so far... busy as hell, but fun and a little painful.  But tonight, I cracked a few knuckles on my right hand and I felt and heard my elbow joint - where I have tennis elbow - pop and crack, a lot of pain went away!  This was good!  I think it's a sign of my arm getting better in some way - I hope.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here. 

Taking It Easy

It's the 4th July and I'm still more than a bit sore from yesterday's excursion out and about shopping; even though I took it very easy and didn't rush.  And it wasn't because I didn't rush, it was because the bags were a little too heavy when I got home.  

Now, that's just something I've had to learn and deal with.  My stomach hurt last night and I didn't feel like eating, but I did.  I was also tired early and could barely keep my eyes open - and I'm still tired today.  But I had to go out and do my fruit and veggie shopping at The Big Apple.
And just like yesterday, I didn't rush it.  I had breakfast before I left home, walked nice and slow and took my time getting there and back.  I didn't want to hurt myself.  And it's a lovely day for it too.

I also scored some great photos today too!  An Egret (I think that's what it was) was as the creek looking for his late breakfast; and he found it, caught it and scoffed it down as I took photos of him.  And he was just lovely... and I mean lovely... as he tried to hide from me behind all the weeds and greenery.  Cheeky guy!  But I got a lovely lot of photos.  Then, I turned around and found a fairy circle!  These are rare!  It was a big one too.  It was a massive circle of mushrooms laid out on the grass!  What a great sight that was!  I haven't seen a fair circle since my Grandma was alive!  But when I mentioned it to a lady who saw me photographing it, she didn't seem to know what it was... I said I hadn't seen one in ages.  They are wonderful things when you find them - especially of this size!

Well, I arrived home and found I had a message from Mum on the phone.  But first, I had to call the Logan City Council about the unfortunate fate of a cat out the front of the unit complex.  Yeah, this morning, I found a poor cat had been hit by a car - or most likely a truck - and chipped in its last 8 lives; poor little thing.  So, once I placed the call and let them know it had to be picked up, I returned the call to Mum and Dad... I just hope the cat isn't one of the ones from over the back fence because it was grey.  
Once my groceries were put away and got myself a drink, I was running pretty well on time for myself.  However, the hours have zoomed by and I've been just cruising around on Facebook and other sites I'm a member of.  Yeah, I'm taking it easy.  I moved my chiropractor appointment to next month - as I don't think my body will appreciate me getting another person pushing and pulling it right now - and I want to make sure it's fully healed before getting my chiropractor looking at my back.  They understood when I called up and told them what's been happening and moved my appointment for me.  Well, that's me for today... until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Busy Morning

Today, I've been busy; and it's not yet midday.  This morning, I woke to my third alarm (I have three because of my medications to keep me on track) and once I turned that off, I thought to stay in bed.  I have no real reason to be anywhere to go anywhere today.  It was nice to stay in my new bed and just look around and knew this was my new bed; now lovely.
My sore muscles aren't as sore anymore and I do love the feel and look of my bedroom suite.  All my things are easy to get to and I'm not running around my room looking for what I need; it's all in the tallboy waiting for me to pick and choose.

But this morning I was busy.  I went and checked the mail - and there wasn't anything there - and then I walked to the service station next door and bought some milk and a roll of duct tape.  I arrived home, opened the side door and taped up the old bed I've got up on bricks next to my house in the carport properly to keep the rain out.  And the tape's holding.  If it doesn't, well I have more than enough to wrap the whole thing up!  
Then, I turned around, pulled out my old pocket knife and cut up all the cardboard boxes and put all the plastic and Styrofoam into three garbage bags.  The bags when into my wheelie bin and the cut up boxes went into the recycle bin up the back of the complex.  However, I had make room in that first.  So, I opened the lid up and pushed down the cardboard from the bedhead first, but it wouldn't go any further.  This was when my neighbour's Dad noticed I was having problems and he came and helped me.  He pulled out the large pieces and folded them down and pushed them into the bin, then he helped me put the other cut down boxes into the big bin and closed the lid up for me.  I thanked him very much for helping me and he was happy, so was I.  I thought I was going to be out there longer.  

I then, came back home, waved goodbye to him and then jumped online and checked my mail.  It's pretty quiet on here today.  I got a bit of mail, but nothing really urgent.  And I found out that somebody out there in cyberspace has been bullying somebody who's running a great page on 'Supernatural'.  This person is spreading rumours about Dakota (the page admin) where they say that she doesn't give credit to any of the artists who put in their art on the page.  This is total rot.  I've never seen her not do that since I've joined the page.  So, Dakota put out a statement less than an hour ago of what's been happening over the last few days and she's hoping it gets around to push this Tweeter out of existence and to make them stop.  There's nothing worse than a cyberbully who doesn't know the facts of a site; or one who doesn't like somebody just because they don't like them.

Anyway, I have a list of things to get done before Saturday night is gone.  I have to clean up the living room and wash the kitchen floor.  It's not really much when you think about it, but it's just fiddly stuff as a lot of stuff gets put away.  This is preparation for next week when I'm going into hospital and Mum's going to take care of me for a few days.

Now, for those who know, the Wesley Hospital is where I'm supposed to go, but I may not be getting my operation done there as it's not currently open.  My doctor has yet to contact me about getting me into another hospital... fingers crossed it's still going ahead on Tuesday, eh?  And I'm in private health insurance, so it doesn't matter which private hospital I'm in, so long the operation goes ahead.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here. 

Bargains Galore!

Everything seemed to be on sale today.  But I wasn't really looking for a sale; instead, I was looking to return a leaking kettle that I bought only yesterday to K-Mart Logan Central and then head off to Garden City and find a few things I needed to ready myself for my bed to arrive next week.

So, I left home at around 9:40am and saw some poor guy get arrested across the road by the cops.  They were parked outside the house up the road from the bus stop and I had just crossed the road when they drove off.  But it made me think:  would they stop to charge me for J-walking or not?  No, they didn't.  This was weird, but I guess they had bigger fish to fry this morning.  Anyway, when I got to the stop, one of the people there and I had a laugh about what we were both thinking with the police and if they were going to stop and charge me.  But seriously, I should have waited for them to leave before going across the road.

Anyway, the bus came, we all hopped on and it took us to the Logan Central Bus Station where most of us got off and I walked to K-Mart and got my money back when I told the lady what happened to the kettle.  She was amazed it leaked as much as it did and happily gave my money back to me.  Then, I was off to catch the next bus to Garden City and do the rest of my shopping - well the majority of it anyway. 
I went to the bank first and pulled out some money and walked around to find a kettle first.  Well, do you think I could find a nice kettle which didn't cost the Earth?  Nope.  It was annoying.  I went from Robin's Kitchen to Harvey Norman and then to K-Mart and there wasn't anything I was happy with.  And on the way to Harvey Norman, the ramp escalators going up, stopped working.  There were too many heavy things on it and it shuddered to a halt; and anyone with a shopping trolley had to either wait for it to get going again or kick up their front wheels of the trolley to make it work.  Not a good thing.  So, seeing it wasn't going to work after we all got off it, I walked into shop and reported the problem to them; asking them to get maintenance out to look at it.  They weren't surprised about it and got onto them straight away.  By the time I was coming out of Harvey Norman's 10 minutes later, it was working again.

At K-Mart, I bought my mattress protector and a nice set of flannel sheets for my Queen Size bed ... and then bought plain set too just to mix'n'match; it's always nice to do that.  Anyway, I went through the self-service check-outs and found I had a lot of things and I was struggling a little with it.  
I hadn't left Robin's Kitchen empty-handed, managing to buy a pizza stone and a cutter while I was there.  Not too bad if you ask me seeing they were both half price and I only paid $12.95 for both of them.  Anyway, I still had yet to buy my kettle and didn't want to leave the shopping complex without it.  So, I went to one more place upstairs and the shop assistant there told me that Big-W was the place to score a great kettle at a good price.  And that's where I found myself... Big-W.  I found a great range of kettles and scored myself a Kambrook dome kettle for a wicked $38!  Now, how cool is that?  And before I knew it, I was at their self-service check-outs and putting my new kettle through to take it home.

But I badly needed a break... a break from walking around, from looking at products, from feeling really horribly tired.  So, I made a beeline to Gloria Jean's Coffee to get myself a nice hot bagel and a hot chocolate.  And you know?  It's just what I needed.  I read a bit of a book on my iPod and relaxed in the place, ignoring the noise of the coffee machine, the people around me chatting and anything else going on at the other tables... I was having some much-needed 'me' time; and that's just priceless to have.  But before I knew it, I had to pack up my goodies so they were able to be stored on a bus and travel-ready... I had another half and hour to go before I arrived home.  And once I did, I was so very relieved to unpack my goodies, open and try out my kettle and look at what I had bought that my disappointment didn't strike until I pulled out the sheets for the Queen Sized bed.  I had one Queen Sized Sheet set and one Single Sized Sheet Set... but do you think I could find my receipt for K-Mart?  I had put it into the bag with the sheets... and the bag had bloody-well ripped.  So, the receipt has been lost, and I'm stuck with a set of flannel sheets I can't use.
Well, I might give these to my niece.  They're purple and if I remember right, this is her favourite colour!  Oh well, can't win 'em all!  But at least I know somebody who'll use them.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember I'm always here.  

A Tad Homesick

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

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

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

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

A Fine Day

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

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

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

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

Hot Day Out Shopping

Today, it's the first of November.  However last night's post got posted today instead of yesterday.  Oh well, that's how late I was up last night... yep, I got into the unclaimed lollies from Halloween; yes I know, very funny of me and I was on a sugar high for a while or until it wore off at around 1am.

Well, today, I looked outside and it was a lovely, breezy hot day.  So, I washed up, threw out the pumpkins from last night (otherwise I'd be stuck with rotting pumpkins) and then readied myself to go out to the computer store on the service road near Springwood.  I caught the right bus and pressed the button for Moss Street, but the driver didn't stop.  I had to tell him him he missed my stop; ironically he had missed the same stop for another person on the bus too.  Well, he stopped for us and we were right outside 'Game Dude', right where I wanted to be - and right where the other guy wanted to be too.  We both went inside and I found what I was looking for immediately as a great price!  
What I was needing was a hard drive caddy/case to hold a hard drive from my old computer so I could plug it into my new computer.  However, I was asked it it was plugged in via ribbon cable or a clip; this was something I didn't know.  So, the lady who served me said it was probably safer to buy one of these caddies which serviced both - just so I didn't have to come back in.  And for $39.00, I have this great little caddy that fits my hard drive in it!  To think!  I was going to buy the same thing from Harvey Norman for $69.95!  I got a great deal!  Well, once bought, I went outside with my Bunnings sun umbrella and looked at how far  I was from the bus station - and it wasn't that far.  So, I walked to the bus station and saw the man who was at the store with me buying his gear.  We chatted and I showed him what I bought.  When he was working - before he retired - he told me that he was right into the computer and programming game; and I had bought well and smartly.  He also told me that laptops were all the rage too; but there are people around the place who still love their desktops - like myself.
Anyway, we said our farewells and I decided to not catch the bus home but to head off to Rivers where there's a sale going on.  I took my time and walked up Fitzgerald Avenue and to the large store to have a look around.  This place is mammoth!  I've only walked past it and this was the first time I've been inside.  I found some singlet tops that were lovely and pretty; but I had go a size below what I am for them to fit - as they were a large make.  But these were also around $8 - $10 each.  I tried on a collection of shirts and only bought two as they were the only ones that suited me and I felt comfortable in.  One is rather thin; so I will have to buy a white singlet to go under it and sew it into the lining of this first shirt as you can see straight through it, and I want to wear this one with a skirt or jeans.  So, I'll see what I can do.  The other one is a peasant top and it's lovely and will match a few skirts and skirts I already have.

Now, I've been at the house for a good few hours and I have - so far  - had 2 ice coffees, a banana, some cheese and biscuits and been online since I arrived here.  And I've taken over a dozen photographs too around the place.  It's around 3:30pm and the breeze coming through the place is nice and cool and I'm looking forward to going  home and finishing up on my washing up.  I did half of it this morning, and have just pots and pans to wash up when I get back there.  The rubbish has been put out from last night - and boy, the bags for that were heavy! - and so I'm just hanging out here waiting for Mum and Dad to return back to their place to nab a lift home from them.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember I'm always here.