Wow! What a Weekend!

This weekend past has been huge! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was a great weekend.

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

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

September... wow... It's here Already!

August just seemed to fly by after I got a few things sorts and out of the way - namely that my neighbours and I started talking again. Yeah, we went through a bit of a rough patch, but friends do that.

Then, during that that month, I went out on the town and partied with friends... now this was supposed to be a night of fun, enjoyment and to get my butt out there and dance a little. However it turned into a night of trying to slow one of my friends down.
You see, she's on a diet; and that night she broke away from it and ate more carbs than she was permitted. Well, she started running and didn't stop all night. She ran from club to club, leaving one other friend and myself in her dust... and this didn't make the night enjoyable at all - in fact, by 9pm, I just lagged back and gave up on trying to keep up with her.
But I did pay for this little exercise. After we arrived home at around 1:30am, had our hot chocolate and got changed into our pajamas, and were off to bed, I found that my leg with the massive scar on it cramped up so badly I was almost physically sick. Now, when this happens, nothing can help it. No amount of painkillers, stretching or hot showers or soaking in a bath will help it stop... and this is why I don't run up and down hills like my friend does all the time.
By the time I got to sleep at 4am, I was only sleeping out of exhaustion; and my alarm went off too soon for me... I told my friend's husband about what happened after we went to bed, then we told her. She said that she had to work off the excess of what she ate immediately... however, I reminded her that making me race up and down hills all night was not my idea of fun. I don't think she understood this... not until she realised I only got two hours' sleep because of the problem with my leg.

Well, it took me a good part of the next week to catch up with my lost sleep from that night.

I also had a look at my Bucket List. Hey, we all have one, but do we really do anything on that list? Well, over the last year or two, I've begun crossing off some of the things on my list - and my darned proud to say that there's quite a few things I've done on it that I didnt' think were big, but really they were. And a few of those things were done this year - like shaving my head and getting a tattoo.

Then, there were 200 Days... okay, for those who haven't read this post, this is about being conservative. You spend 200 days not buying anything new and only buying second-hand stuff or preloved things - and besides shopping for the essentials, you keep your spending to a minimum an see how much money you save up. I've read articles where people have actually ditched their credit cards and found themselves out of debt within the 200 days by paying off those cards. Pretty cool, eh? Well, I've been living with a lot of second-hand stuff in my life for so long, that to keep going isn't that bad. But to buy something new once in a while is always a joy and a pleasure; and I always find it a novelty too. 

This past month has had its ups and downs too. I've been working on new things for the markets, and staining some coat hangers for the wardrobe. I've also enjoyed getting in and doing more work on the old wash table of my Great-Grandmother's at my folks' house and also have been organising how the boxes are going to be used at the markets - as the stores box is getting way to heavy to lift; so I've moved a few things from it into another box. 

Yeah, a few things have been going on, at the house and away from it too. And yeah, I've been busily preparing a few new projects for my garden as well. But all will be revealed in time. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Jump In And... Go!

Cars are fun!

Seriously... they are!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Challenges

People on Facebook are putting up videos of challenges, of what they are doing which are challenges to them in their lives.

I think I'm late to this, and have figured out what I can do which is a challenge. Over Winter, I wasn't well, and caught that flu bug going around; thus I put on some weight.  You see, I eat when I'm sick - and I eat really good food as well as junk food. I really got stuck into the marshmallows; which I've just dropped off my shopping list this past fortnight.

So, my challenge for the next year is to lose some weight and take up some weight-training. Now, losing the weight won't be hard, but the weight-training will be as I'm not much into athletics or gym-work. So, I'll see how I go at that.

But I'm a very motivated person anyway, so motivating myself to do some training a few minutes a day shouldn't be hard; and it will add up. And seeing it's August now, I should be able to work on this for Christmas and into the New Year; and it will also help me with the markets too. 

So, if you had to challenge yourself to do something, what would it be? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

200 Days

I read on Peter Walsh's Facebook page a post where a person went and stopped spending up on new things for 200 days.

Well, okay, they spend money on the necessities and that was it for the 200 days... and what they saw in their way of life changed on how much they thought about their possessions.

How they came to be doing this 200 day spend less thing wasn't just something they thought to do on the spur of the moment - their father had passed away and they had to go through all his possessions in his house. He had so many things and they didn't really know where to start or what to do with those things.
So, they looked at what they were doing in their lives and thought it would be a good idea to start now in stopping the indulgence of buying new things all the time and spent he next 200 days without buying anything new from the stores.

I've been living with second-hand clothes, vinyls and books for over a decade because I'm on a pension and don't have a credit card. And for a person who is running a hobby business from home, I've been told that a lot of people have a credit card to run these businesses; but really they are a luxury item in my eyes. And seeing I'm one of those people who sees something which 'twinkles' and I have to have it, then regrets it immediately when I get home, well, a credit card in my hands ends up being deadly.

So, I've lived without a credit card for as far back as I can remember; and my life is better off without it. I've also been living pretty well lately as a 'get what I need' person instead of a 'get what I want' person. Now, what that means is: I look around at what I'm using in the house and replace only the things I've been using in the house each time I go shopping. If I get something that is a luxury item, I go without something that is normally used - thus the rhythm of the house is put out for a fortnight or until the usual item is replaced again.

This keeps me from overspending and my household budget is in line for the next week and a half. 

I also can save up for things I want to do or buy that aren't usually things I'm doing or buying - things outside the normal budget of the house and my life. 

Today, was shopping day. So, I went and didn't buy anything wasn't on my shopping list... I stayed true to it, and spent exactly the amount of money I was supposed to. I didn't go over the budget at all. This is good. And I missed out on the charity store - which is good also; as I don't have to check them out all the time. But I did get everything I needed today.

Well, have you tried getting only what you needed for the house? Did it work out? Or did you end up buying other things on impulse and regret it? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Bucket List

Bucket Lists are strange things. Many people make them when they find out they have a limited amount of time on this planet left. However there's some of us who make them to get things done in our lives for when we're low on cash and are dreaming about what we want to get done.

I have had a Bucket List for a long time - years in fact - and it's been not used for a while. Nothing got ticked off it at all. Well, not until recently when I shaved my head for the Leukaemia Foundation of Queensland, where I raised a lot of money.

Then I went off and got myself a tattoo... and then looked at my list and found I have done a few things on it but didn't tick them off it. 
For example: I have gotten back behind the wheel of a car again; and now own a car again. And I also started up my own business - okay it's a hobby business, but it's something. And I cleaned out one a good part of my house and got my life sorted out in a way where I'm happy with myself.

So, there's about seven things ticked off my Bucket List which have happened over the last three years. Now, that's something great, right? 

I do have other great things on my Bucket List I want to get done. One of those things is to go on a road trip somewhere (anywhere) and I'm the driver of that road trip with my car packed, money in my pocket and some places to stay... just a slight plan of where I wish to go and that's it. You know, stay in nice places where I can see great things and blog about them on a laptop. It can't be that hard to get something like this organised. But this road trip is years away, and I need to save up some money for it.

Anyway, I have other things on that Bucket List that I've been looking at. I'm only in my 40's and these things take time to do... like getting a book published. Now, if I'm successful enough at that, the money will come in faster - along with my hobby business, and greater things will happen.

Right now, the things on my Bucket List are just dreams and that's all I have. Working towards them will take time and a fair bit of luck. So, do you have a Bucket List? Having one doesn't necessarily mean you're on your last legs, it just means you want to get in and accomplish some dreams of yours. And if you do have one, have you started ticking off some of your dreams on it? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Party Weekend

This past week, I've been out shopping, looking at a new way of painting my coat hangers and working on donating some of my Crafty Pegs gear to a raffle for a tattoo shop... yep, busy, busy, busy!

I've also gotten in and done some grocery shopping, housework and laundry for this weekend.  I went out to paint the town red on Friday night with a couple of friends. Man, we had a  great time!

Historically, the saying for 'paint the town red' has mixed answer to the question on Google.  The most accurate one was found here and I think it might be right. There are other meanings which are less fun around, but this one is documented in greater detail.

Anyway, we headed out to West End for dinner at Grill'd where the food and music there was great! I love eating there whenever I get into town (which isn't often) and then we took off to The Wickham to take in a band in Fortitude Valley. We sat in the beer garden where there were gas heaters and blankets on offer to keep the punters warm with lovely cushions on the wooden seats to make sure we stayed put! What a way to keep the customers happy!  And to make it even more worth our while, there's a huge Anthony Lister painting up on the wall which is only a few months old... very cool!
Before long, us three were walking to Spring Hill to our next place: a karaoke bar! Yep, we sang and danced the next three hours away. We caught a train home and got to bed at 1:30am... a great night out for all of us.

However, I didn't sleep well. My left leg cramped up really badly and I had to find a 'sweet spot' for it to stop. Two hours after we all went to bed, I finally got to sleep - this meant I was asleep at 4am instead of 2am. Not a good time for me at all.
Last night, I was hoping it didn't happen again - so I put some PainAway on my leg and was out like a light before 11pm. Yep, I was in bed a little before 10:30pm; I was so tired, and I slept straight through until 6am this morning when my alarm woke me.

My feet still hurt, my legs don't; but I can't wait to get back out there and enjoy the sights of Brisbane by night again. There's so much more to do than there used to be; as I hadn't been into the city by night for over five years. 

So, what was your weekend like? Busy, relaxing, partying or a bit of everything? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

This Long Weekend

Here in Logan, we're right in the middle of the long weekend for the Royal National Annual Show - better known as The Ekka. 

Personally, I haven't been in over a decade; it just doesn't do anything for me anymore. The place is too expensive and I think I've outgrown it. But many people go each year and love it every time.

The good thing that comes with The Ekka is the public holidays - but they're all over the place. So, this weekend, it's Logan City's turn to have Monday off.  And for us who don't go into the Exhibition in the city, it's a long weekend to sleep in, get into some work or catch up with family (if they don't work or go to school outside of the Logan Area). 

Yesterday, I was out and about at the Hyperdome with The Crew writer's group. We were looking at book blurbs. We had to write our own and send them in.  I did one - a short and sweet one - and it had everyone intrigued, but it does need help with a few things in it; just some rewording.
Others had some good ones there too. One sounded like a synopsis while Shaun started us off with one from a book which had been published already... and tricked us into thinking it was his. Very subtle but very good to get us all thinking about what the public wants.

Today, I read in the paper that remote towns are going to pull Vegemite off their shelves because people are making booze out of it; and these people's kids are drinking the home-brew their folks are making. Jeez, the next thing you know, they'll be taking potatoes and rice off the shelves because people are making Gin and Rice Wine and their kids are getting into that too! Stupid!

Also today, I'm going to work on more of my stuff for the stall next month. I have a commissioned work to get done and then there's other paintings I have to get done too - I have only 3 of the miniatures happening at the moment; and I have yet to find a box to display them in. 

So, a lot is going to be done and I have only a few weeks for some things, a few months for other and a few days for yet other work. Yeah, never a dull moment here. What is your weekend like? Filled up like mine? Or chilled out and relaxed? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Circus' and Monkeys

Isn't it strange when you've been doing what you're doing in your life - being a good neighbour, a good friend, a good relative, a good Aunty or whatever you are to the people around you - and suddenly, you become something completely opposite to one of those people and you have no idea how it happened?

It's happened to me a few times, and I wonder how it's come to be that way.

At first, I worried myself to the bone about it until I found out that the people thought I knew what I had 'done wrong' and they ended up screaming at me as though I was dumb.
But really, how are people supposed to know what others are thinking if those others don't tell you what you've done wrong in the first place - especially if you have no clue why they're angry at you?

Okay, now it's a few years later, and I have this same problem again: a neighbour is angry at me for some unknown reason. He and his girlfriend split up and the last time I had seen him was when I dropped him off at a house in Acacia Ridge. It's been two weeks since he came back - and I didn't know he had returned until a few weeks ago - and as far I knew they had split for good.

He's on good terms with everyone but me.

I asked him if we were still friends, he said no and told me he wasn't talking to me... no explanation, just that he was mad at me. 

Okay... exactly how did I become the latest mind-reader of the world? I haven't. And I'm not going to go running after him to ask the stupid question he should have answered when I talked to him yesterday.

In one: he's making his circus and his monkeys mine; when they are his and his alone. I have my own life and my own problems... why he's trying to make me feel guilty is beyond me; and like I said, I'm not about to take on his guilt trip just because he's mad.

So, having somebody trying to make you take on their circus and monkeys is the wrong thing for them to do - especially when you have no idea what you did wrong, and they won't tell you what you did to insult them. 

What I'm going to say and do in this instance is: I'm too old for this shit, have been living here for too long to put up with this kind of shit and will not listen to people who try out this kind of shit on me... it's just not in me to worry so much about other people's circus' and monkeys - especially when they try to lob them off onto me.

I have my own circus and monkeys to keep in line - I don't need anyone else's.

August Already!

This year is flying by so fast!

This is a funny time of year with the weather and everything happening so strangely. I've been working on a huge collection of things over the last few months that the flu caught up with me and I was forced to slow down over the last few weeks; and this was good.

Very good in fact.

I'm glad I did because I could catch up on my sleep and other things around the place - like my housework and listening to my body. Yeah, gotta do that.

And as you read in my last post, I got a tattoo. It's just starting to scab over and heal - and that's what it's supposed to do; but I have a long way to go, up to about a month of healing to go with it all.

I've been to my tattooist today to see him about a few questions I have about it; and he's impressed at how well it's healing. And that's the one thing I love about 'Old Skool Tattoo & Barber Shop' they are a family business who are friendly and great to people who want their first tattoo. I talked to Jarrod and he said my first little tattoo is healing really well... I'm so pleased!

Anyway, we got talking about the area and how long his business has been in Springwood and he was amazed that I've lived in this area longer than he thought... and just around the corner too! He was equally amazed at how much stigma Epilepsy and mental illness really does carry; seeing nobody will give me a job - so I created my own.

Well, soon afterwards, I was off to my volunteer work at the gallery where the doors were kept open all day. I thought they were stuck; but was told that a possum had died in the roof and stunk the place out! Eeeww! And they have an opening tomorrow night; which I hope the smell doesn't affect.

Well, I better be going. I did some work tonight of a few coathangers and other things around the place - as well as colouring in the first page or so of my new little colouring in book for adults. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.