Time For A Change!

Well, if you looked in on this blog today, you may have noticed more than a few things were different about it... like the title.  When I first began writing it, I gave it working title and that was 'The Book Craze - Not Just About Books' and thought I'd change it later.  But that sort of stuck; for about two years!  And so, I thought today would be the right day to give this blog a nice new face, template and flower on front.  And the title change was going to happen anyway; I just didn't know when.  

So, what do you all think?  I'll be writing about all the same stuff:  books, art, my ventures into the world and everything else in between, but this blog will be under the new heading of 'My Book-Crazy Life...'.  I hope you like it as much as I do.  I still have the old photo titled 'Looking Up' from last March that I took at New Farm Park (I'd never get rid of something as lovely as that) and so, once the seasons change again and Spring comes around, I'll probably put it back up there and change the background to a Spring one to keep it looking lovely.

I'll be putting up other new things onto this blog too like new photos I wish to share with you and other stuff as well; but it'll all be to show you more of what's going on in my life.  So, until my next post, keep warm, and stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

What A Day!

Today was so long and I started it so early... I thought it would never end.  I was still under the covers of my duvet when I heard my neighbours have a fight in their carport... and their loving terms of endearment to each other.  He calls her 'Oi!' and she calls him 'What the eff do you want?'... charming, eh?  And at 6:30am, it wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear while still trying to have a bit of snooze until my 7am alarm was about to go off; and yet I did.  

I was out of be by 7:30, dressed and ready to face the day.  Little Miss Stevie was fed, the curtains pulled open and I had put on my first load of washing: towels.  Then, I made breakfast.  But the milk was sour!  Not a pleasant experience, and yet, it wasn't off bad enough that it made me horribly ill, just left a bad taste in my mouth.  Yuk!  So, after my towels were hung out and the hand-washing was done and was in the spin cycle, I went out to get some more milk at the service station.  While there, I spotted a hot Chevrolet!  And there I was without my camera -for once - and so I asked the owner how long he was going to be there and ran home to get it.  After I took about a dozen shots of the gorgeous automobile, I got one of him with it too!  And wasn't it worth it, or what???

Well, by this time, I had to collect the milk and the mail, check up online my internet mail and Farmville and then get my last few things into a bag for a day out with Mum.  We went to the Logan Central Library on Wilbur Street to see Annette Sims talk.  

There must have been about a hundred people show up to see her.  Her husband Bill was there too and she talked about how she had hit rock bottom about her weight and what she did about it; ditching her yo-yo dieting and eating properly and exercising by just walking around the block each day.  It was inspiring to know she had done this all on her own.  And today I got to meet her in person and she signed all three of my first edition recipe books; which she was impressed I owned (and also happy that they were used to having a little food on them).  I said that her books were my starting point in eating healthy and that I now have my own little lot of recipes that I use on a regular basis.  She asked me to send her some of them so she could have a look at them; I promised I would (and I will).  The one thing I didn't do was get a photo with her with my camera; bummer!

The Logan Central Library is where the old Bi-Lo used to be; and it's impressive.  As you walk in, you're greeted with the lift which is surrounded by a huge column of books all arranged by colour... very artistic!  I had to sit on the floor in a corner to get the full affect of this photo.

Then, once inside, you see around four or five columns of books surrounding the front desk which also has books curving around underneath it!  Isn't it amazing what they've done with the old books from the old library?  I love the artistic side of the whole affect.  And seeing how much more space they have now, they can have more arty stuff to spread out with.  The decor and really speak for how the people of Logan are now, instead of how it used to be in the past.

Next door to the Library is a Supre Outlet; which unless you're a pixie, you'll never be able to fit into anything!  So, we looked and thought: Nah, I'll stick to Life Line.  Otherwise it was a good place to see... big, but good.  On the other side was a bookstore which was open on Saturdays from 9am til noon.  Pity, it would have made a killing it was open every day.  So, that was my day... I got home at around 1pm, and I pulled in the laundry by around 2pm because it was all dry... and seeing we had gotten two massive downpours while at the library, I thought it would have been soaked, but it was bone dry.  And just tonight, it's begun to pour rain; which shows that I got all my laundry finished just in time for the weekend!  How's that for timing?  Until my next post, stay safe, keep warm and remember, I'm always here.

Cooling Off

This morning, I woke to overcast clouds and a cool breeze.  Normally, it warms up to a nice hot day and windy weather; however, today it has stayed overcast and there's been a few drizzly showers and rain.  It's good reading weather.  

But I'll start with yesterday.  I was tired again; but not as bad as Sunday.  I got reading 'Legacy' by David Suzuki and read up to page 40 of 'Baudolino' by Umberto Eco (I'm getting through a lot more of it than I thought I would).  They're both good books.

the kitchen got a good clean up as I washed up everything and put away a lot of other stuff.  I also wiped down all the counters and cleaned the stove.  Then, I moved onto my bedroom.

This room has been ignored for the last three months... now that's dreadful; but true.  I attacked it yesterday.  I put away all my clothes I wanted and put the clothes I didn't want into a bag for the next charity store run.  All my bath towels are put away as are my jackets, dresses and clothes that Mum gave me last year in her clean out.  I have also taken the laundry basket downstairs and put it back where it's supposed to be - and hasn't been in the last three months.  Then, I tidied up the reading area next to my bed so that the books I'm currently reading are closest to my bed and the ones I've got next in line are not too far off

These are books I find a challenge to read; or are reference books.

This took about two hours to do and I found it very much worthwhile.  I threw out three or four plastic bags, put away an X-Ray that had been sitting around, tossed out a belt that broke and can't be fixed and put away about seven pairs of socks, all my undies and found my favourite belt (which I bought from at the Queen Vic Markets in Melbourne) and also found a place for an Oroton purse I had purchased a few months back too (bringing my collection to around 15 handbags or so).  

Once this room had been fixed up - and I found the chair we had put into it - I was pleased to know how big it actually is.  The next room I'll be attacking is the home office.  I've left this one until last because I do spent a lot of time here and I need to find out exactly what I need in here; and what I don't... and that doesn't mean getting rid of my books.  There's other crap in here I need to get rid of and storage room which needs to be utilised. Until my next post, take care, keep safe and remember, I'm always here.

Long, Tiring Weekend

I'm very tired today; and for a good reason.  Yesterday, my next door neighbours began their laundry at the ungodly hour of 5am!  These are the same people who have been keeping me awake until late with water hammer and not getting anything fixed while it destroys my house.  I have told my landlord and Body Corporate knows about it, and yet nothing is done to make them change their plumbing back to what it was.

I have been told a few things about these people.  They are from a plumbing background.  I have been told they owned a plumbing shop and sold it... that's nice, but really they should have gotten a plumber in to work on the place and not undertaken this thing themselves.  They did work that was supposed to be passed by the Body Corporate committee and wasn't; and yet they keep on saying it's their house and they should be able to do what they want there.  Which they can, unless it interferes with the next door neighbour or surrounding neighbours.

Then, I'm told today, that my neighbour has been known to say that there shouldn't be any rental people in this unit complex at all; it should be all owners, no matter how long you've been here, you should own the place and kick out the rentals.  And seeing I rent, she thinks she's above me and so won't go to the rules and regulations to make my life easier.  This is why she ordered me to leave last November if I didn't like living here... ahem... but I have been living in this unit complex since 2002.  And she's been where all that time????  She and her husband moved in at this time last year and thinks she can push and shove everyone around like we're cattle, telling us what to do.  Then, she's the noisiest person around here, slamming her doors, having tantrums, screaming at her husband (about things we don't want to know) and tearing around here in that god-awful loud car at all hours of the night breaking the speed limit in here.  And if she hits somebody in here, what then?  If it's a child, all hell will break loose because they're so young.  But if she hits an adult, it's going to be war.

Before these people moved in next door, it was very peaceful.  Not much went on.  Now, because she moved in, there's one drama after another; one fight after another happening in here all the time.  Personally, I don't want them here.  They are a hateful, dreadful and downright distrustful couple who just invaded here and didn't think to mix in with anyone.  Her plan was to make us go to her plans and rules; when in reality, she has to melt in with the rest of the community when it comes to unit complexes.  Her wrath of pain and childish behaviour is coming to an end very soon as Body Corporate isn't going to put up with her; and I'm not going to try to talk to her again (as last November had me yelling at her at 5am in the morning; not a good look for me).  So, what will happen?  I'll keep you all posted as things develop.

Busy Day

It was a rainy cold day... but before it turned into that, I had plenty of time to get outside and fix up a few things.

I did the laundry - which was put onto the clothes horse and then brought inside just in time for the first lot of showers!  Then, I checked the mail, paid the phone and gas bills over the phone, fed Little Miss Stevie, put out the rubbish, pruned the two shrubs out the front and put the off cuts in the green bins at the back of the complex.  Once back home, I fixed a paling on the back fence and then, made my drink, turned on the computer and jumped online... yep that was my morning.

This afternoon was just as busy.  I got offline around 3pm or so; around the same time one of my dear friends was being laid to rest in Bundaberg.  Rest in Peace, Norm Clark.  You're a true friend.  I went downstairs pulled apart Little Miss Stevie's cage, got her onto my shoulder and washed and scrubbed it on the washing machine.  For the whole time, she ran around on the side of it trying to crap on me... she thought it was fun to do that.  I washed all her stuff inside the cage too... her swing, her mirror and bells too.  Once it was back together, I found she just loved making a mess of it again.  Then, I went for a walk to the front of the complex and checked my letterbox and found no junkmail and came home where I grabbed a book, a cushion and my reading glasses and cordless phone and read for about an hour.

By this time, it was almost 4:30pm.  I closed up the house and dropped into unit 16 for a chat.  It didn't last very long... but it was nice.  I got home, made dinner and watched 'What Dreams May Come' with Robin Williams in it.  Now it's late and I'm about to go to bed as I'm really tired.  

Tomorrow, I have to wash up, send Little Miss Stevie off to Mum and Dad's and then get myself ready to go to my friends' house for dinner.  It's going to cool.  I'll be taking my camera - of course.  Until next time, take care, keep safe and remember, I'll always be here.

Thrift Shop Joys

Don't you love it when you go out to buy one thing and come across something else you've been looking for?  I do.  I went out this morning - before it poured rain - to buy some medication I had forgotten to buy yesterday and decided to go to the Thrift Shop just to browse.  Now, this can be a dangerous thing; and this time, I was being good.  I found I looked at the handbags and didn't find a single glow mesh or Oroton.  They've been a little thin lately and I do have a very good collection anyway; so I'm not complaining about not having enough.

But I did find a good thick book.  It's a hard cover of 'Baudolino' by Umberto Eco; and it's big!  I was delighted to find it still has its dust cover and is in good condition - even if the dust cover is a little torn (that's what they're for; to protect the book itself and take the damage).  I took that out to the store and put it on the counter while I looked through the coin purse area and found two little coin purses.  Now, people throw out the most delightful things.  And I found there was one old one that smells like somebody put either lollies in it or a sniff of perfume inside it.  Either way, it smells very sweet; but clean.  There was a stain on it that I got off with a gentle scrub of bi-carb and water with my old toothbrush; and it has a little brass Kangaroo in one corner.  Very nice.  The other purse is red and has dragonflies on it and the zip does up on an angle.  These things cost me only $2.00... I thought it was going to cost me more.  What a deal!

While I was walking around the Argonaut Centre, on my way to the Thrift Shop, I went past the old Argonaut Skating Rink.  It had been there since I was a kid and I learned to roller skate there; achieving my patches for my tracksuit.  It was operating as a skate rink until around six years ago when a church bought it and turned it into a house of worship instead of a place of skating and inline hockey.  It was so much fun to go there when I moved here as it was only down the road and easy to get to... such a pity it's gone now.

For the rest of the day, I checked my mail - which I had none - I chatted to a friend of mine and hung about the net.  Then, I edited some work of mine (mainly vampire stories) and now, I'm going to get my nose into a book and do some reading.  So, until my next post, take care, stay dry and remember, I'm always here.

March Is Something Different

This month was a big month of getting in and doing fun things.  I began cleaning up the unit and putting things away.  The washing has been getting done on a regular basis and the floors are swept.  I'm folding my laundry and I enjoy having the whole kitchen table to myself on Sundays now I can actually see it!  

But then during the first week of March, I had some serious fund-raising to do for the World's Biggest Shave.  It was a lot of fun.  I went out to Vivienne's 30th Birthday party and had a ball.  We enjoyed the night; even though it turned cold and poured rain.  I met a few people I hadn't met before and we all ate too much food... but could sleep it off by midnight.  I also scored a very cool book from Bent Books at West End titled 'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller.  I'm finding it hard going, but interesting.

A few days later, I bussed it into Brisbane City; my first trip in since the floods.  And I was amazed at how much has changed.  There's bus routes that have been changed around because a lot of the streets were left undriveable by the buses and then if that wasn't bad enough, it poured rain all day!  I had a good day of looking around for a book, had a gander at a vinyl store and then bought a New York-style pizza slice; and loved it.  About an hour before I left to go home, I dropped into Gloria Jeans at Borders on Elizabeth Street and had a coffee and watched the rain.  It was so nice to know I only had to cross the road to catch my bus; but such a pity that Borders wasn't going to be around for much longer.  I also took photos of the city and had a good day.  I got home by around 2pm or so.

On 12th, March, I attended a free event put on at the Centro at Springwood to colour or shave my hair.  I coloured my hair and had to register at the place and wait my turn.  It was great.  Riley was there; as was Mum and Dad.  Mum took the photos and the MC was really good; getting people to donate as they walked past.  He ended up getting a cop to get his head shaved as well as his legs; and the cop wasn't planning on getting anything shaved off... just dropped by to watch on.  But somebody in the audience paid for his legs to be shaved and his head, then he had to get up there to do it.  The main problem I had with my hair colour was that the blue stained my shirt and underwear, took three washes to get out and then when I soaked the shirt, it transferred from the back to the front.  Once I decided how to get the colour off that, I sprayed it with Preen and gave it gently scrub with a soft brush and all the gold came off my shirt!  Aaargh!  I couldn't bloody win!  So, I have a nice brown shirt with a white transfer instead of a gold one.  Bummer, dude!

During the week of St Patrick's Day, I had the Tuesday afternoon to myself.  It was a lovely hot afternoon, my laundry had been done, washing up finished and I didn't want to waste my time online.  So, I grabbed three books I was reading and went out into the carport and read for four hours... and it felt good to get through between 25 - 40 pages of each book.  It kicked me along in them and helped me with their plots; giving me a reason to keep on reading them all.  Little Miss Stevie was out there with me, taking a bath in her drinking water and talking and singing to all the birds around the place as she enjoyed the breeze that came through from the back of the place.

Then, on Friday, 18th March, Mum and I took off to Garden City to go to Angus & Robertson to watch on as they sold off the rest of the books there at a 75% off sale.  Well, I really didn't mean to buy anything; but I did.  Mum?  Well, she had to pick up a book from there.  I ended up buying five books for $24.00... not a bad deal when they were priced at around $27.00 each.  And I've read one of them already... a Stephen King one which was really creepy.

Last week was a dreadfully long week... and last Saturday; only because I was at Mum and Dad's from around 9am due to a Body Corporate meeting here at the unit complex which included my next door neighbours.  And seeing I didn't want to be in her firing line when it finished, I decided it would be a good idea to stay away.  So, I went to Mum and Dad's for the day and greeted Gabe, Kat and Riley when they arrived and we snuck around to sign the card for Dad and gave him his coffee grinder as a retirement gift.  It was wonderful to see Dad so happy over it.  Gabe showed him how to use it and then Dad made some coffee for everyone and he went back downstairs to his lathe and Gabe showed him how to use that too.  Riley and I hung about and we had lunch, Riley did some of her homework, practiced her French Horn and we enjoyed an ice block and then we were about to go to Target when Mum put on 'How to Train Your Dragon' (a movie I didn't have any interest in seeing; but she tried to get me to watch anyway) and we wasted about an hour looking at that.  Anyway, we got to Centro, where I walked to Rockaways and said I'd meet them back at their place.  Well, twenty minutes later, the place closed!  I couldn't believe it!  I walked back to their place with only vinyls under my arm of 'The Glen Miller Story' and 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtracks and I had to wait another hour until the rest of them got home.  Then, Dad brought me home in the Rolls Royce Limo he had driven that day to a wedding.  You should have seen the reaction from the neighbours!  It was absolutely priceless!

Last Saturday was also Purple Day for Epilepsy.  This is a day where you wear purple to remember people who have this condition and know it's not a thing that will go away like a cold, but a permanent condition that affects a lot of people in many different ways.  Last Saturday was also Earth Hour; which I also did.  I turned off all my appliances - except my fridge - and sat in the dark with my candles and drank my tea and ate my chocolate and wrote in my journal.  A nice way to spend Earth Hour.

Sunday was a typical Sunday.  I read the paper, ate my breakfast and sat online for a good part of the day editing my erotica books and began looking at my vampire stuff.

Yesterday, I was having a normal, ordinary day.  Then, I opened an e-mail from a friend's nursing home to find he had passed away the previous morning.  Norm Clark was a dear friend who was past 90 years of age; but had gotten himself onto the internet to keep up communications with friends like me.  Last year, he had to be moved into a nursing home because he had a fall and couldn't get up; and stayed by his letterbox until some kids walking home from school later that day found him when he called out for help again some hours later.  He kept up with the times, was a great poet and wrote ballads too.  I will miss his weekly installment of 'The Good Mail' in my inbox horribly.  Rest in Peace, mate.

So, that was my month of differences.  I had some fun, parties, met people and lost a great friend to the Pearly Gates.  I hope you had a great month of differences like I did.

Tribute to Norm Clark

This morning, I turned on my computer, jumped online and opened my e-mail to find that one of my dear friends had passed away.  I have known Norm Clark for almost twenty years; since I was attending The Logan Writers' Guild and we got to know each other there.  He wrote poetry and ballads and enjoyed hearing my banter about things of the world.

Norm hard a sweet little dog called Poppett he had to put to sleep some years ago because the poor little thing had had a massive stroke.  And this little dog was such a character; a little dog I was so fortunate to meet and enjoy when Norm was living at home on Blue Gum Drive at Marsden.  However, when I lost the use of my car, I found it harder to get to his place and didn't get to see him all that often.

Just last August or September, he had a fall and was placed in a nursing home by his family.  It was something he wished he didn't have to do, but needed to.  The move was smooth and he started enjoying himself there; however, his internet took so long to get hooked up.  He was offline for a long time and only just online in the New Year.  And now, just yesterday morning, the world has lost a lovely, sweet man who knew how to cook with a slow cooker (I do remember a lovely lunch I had at his house once; and it was delicious!).

During his time with us, he travelled overseas to Canada and met a wonderful woman; who he fell for.  However, he couldn't stay.  He had his dog and family here to come back to.  But when he returned, his health turned bad and he couldn't travel again; and he was kept from his lady love.  I'm not sure what happened with them, but I know he felt heartbroken that he couldn't return to Canada.  I felt sad for him as he had found the woman for him; but thousands of kilometres separated them, and that's just not fair.

I'm very sad that he's gone from our lives and he will be sorely missed.  I will miss receiving 'The Good Mail' column in my Optusnet mailbox each week and I do hope he went peacefully and without pain.  I know he's with his little dog now somewhere happy and peaceful.

Earth Hour

On Saturday night, we had Earth Hour.  I spent it in the dark writing in my journal by candle light.  I had unplugged all my appliances and made myself a pot of tea by boiling some water in a pot on my gas stove.  It took a lot longer than it usually would with the kettle and so it made me realise how much I relied on the modern conveniences of everyday things.  With the television and radio switched off, I found the house settled into the silence very quickly and it felt nice to have nothing to have to watch or listen to for this one hour; and so I sat down, opened my journal and wrote in it for about half an hour and sat drinking my tea and eating my chocolate for the other half.  

It felt lovely to just sit and not worry about anything.  And it's not often we get to do just this; and we should all do this more often; not only to save ourselves money in our power bills but to just listen to our world around us.  

I ended up going outside for a few minutes just before it finished and looking at the stars.  Without my lights on, or the television blaring, my little piece of the world felt nice and quiet for a while...  even if it was only for one hour.

So, what did you do for Earth Hour?

Long Saturday

Yesterday started out very early... I took off early to Mum and Dad's place to avoid the Body Corporate meeting that was going on early out the front of the unit complex.  I was gone by around 8:30am; very early for me on a weekend.  By the time Mum picked me up, the meeting had begun.

When we got to their place, Mum and I figured out the internet and found out that her part of the modem was unplugged.  But Dad's computer was still chock full of virus'.  So, we shared her laptop for the day.  It was good and she thought it was good that I did all my blogging and stuff the night before; even though I was up very late to get it done.  

Before we knew it, Gabe, Kat and Riley were all there and then Dad came home and we had to sneak around and sign the card for Dad's retirement pressie.  It was funny trying to keep him downstairs for the next half hour to try and sign the card in their bedroom.  So, once it was all done, I wandered downstairs to see if it was going well, and found Dad was getting antsy; wanting to make coffee for everyone.  It wasn't going to be long before we all had our cameras ready.  Well, you'd swear Dad was going to be on the society pages... Gabe, Riley and I took so many photos of him receiving the grinder and he got all emotional about it too.  But it makes good coffee.

We had a lovely lunch and then we all did our own thing.  Riley did her homework, Kat a snooze and Gabe and Dad disappeared downstairs again to work on their own projects.  Then time moved on and Mum put on 'How To Train Your Dragon' to try and get me to watch it; but really I just wanted to go to Rockaway down the road.  I didn't find it a very exciting movie, but Riley loves it because of the dragons in it.  We eventually went down the road; only to have me return within twenty minutes because Rockaway closed at 4pm.  I only go to purchase 'The Glen Miller Story' and 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtracks.  I was hoping to find the soundtrack to 'Paris Blues' as it had the most gorgeous music in it when I saw the movie last week.  I'll keep on looking for it.

By the time I had arrived back to Mum and Dad's place and sat around, read a bit of 'Perfume' by Patrick Suskind and then packed up my gear to come home.  It was getting on a little and Dad had offered to take me home in the Limo.  You see, he had done a driving job that afternoon and brought it home with him; parking it across the street.  So, once Mum, Kat and Riley arrived back, he drove us to my place (well, Kate stayed behind) and took the Rolls Royce Stretch Limo right into the place, through the gate and to my house.  Well, I was surprised he could get it around all those corners.  And when we drove past Lisa's place, we found her family sitting out in the carport all having a drink with their mouths hanging open!  She was on the phone, her Mum, Betty, was trying to get out of her seat and Lisa followed us all the way up to my place.  She was absolutely gobsmacked to see me emerge from the car and couldn't believe it when I invited her up to look at it, telling her that Dad was a chauffeur on weekends; and had been since I was in high school.  Well, she looked inside, was introduced to Riley and Mum and she just loved how it all looked in there; saying she had never seen the interior of one of these cars before... and then I grabbed my gear and, after Lisa went home, she said it was the best thing she's seen in a long time.... we got photos of the car with Riley and Mum and Dad and me in front of it.  This really made Riley's day; to be riding along in a Limo!  And I thought it was very cool to be brought home in the 1984 Limo too.  

After they left, and settled in at home, I closed up, turned on some lights and went to Lisa's place to see how they were for the day; and to see what happened with the Body Corporate meeting.  I had gotten the main ruling of my neighbours; but my Lisa and her family told me that my next door neighbour really wasn't pleased with anything that went on yesterday.  But they said the best thing was when we drove past in the Limo and then I got out of it... it's the most beautiful car!  And then I told them a few things about the car.  

Then, last night, we had Earth Hour... the hour at the end of March each year since 2007 where cities and countries around the world turn off their lights for one hour each year to help save the ozone and cut back on electricity.  This year was no different.  I made my pot of tea on the stove with a pot of water, wrote in my journal, listened to the lovely silence of my house and watched my little bird snooze in the semi-darkness next to the candle I had set next to her.  It was just nice not to be bombarded with the noise of the radio, internet pictures, loud adverts on the television... I just enjoyed the darkness and candles and quiet for that hour.  And you know, I'm beginning to look forward to it each year.  I think it's because we're getting bombarded with so much more crap that I'm looking forward to the escape of this that once we separate ourselves from it - even for that one hour - it's nice to be able to just sit back and listen to the world wander by for that time.  I love it.

Well, now it's Sunday, and it's a cool windy day.  I had possums fighting over God knows what last night as they wrecked the fences last night.  So, this morning, I hammered up the palings again before I washed up and got my drink ready and then read the paper.  It's been a nice cool day; so much so, I've changed from a mini-skirt into jeans... yep, I think Autumn is on its way - finally.