Marriage Equality

It's been in the news lately. No, not the problems with North Korea - well, yeah that, but other things closer to home.

In Australia, the Federal Government can't make up its mind about whether to let gay people get married or not.

So, they've dumped the decision onto the rest of us citizens; thinking that this postal voting system is going to work out.

I gotta say: this is the dumbest thing I've ever come across.

Exactly since when does my opinion matter when it comes to the affairs of the love between two people I don't know? And since when does my nation of fellow Australians think it's up to them to say whether gay and lesbians should be 'permitted' to marry? 

Isn't love the same no matter who you love - man or woman?

Making us vote on this kind of thing is a waste of tax-payers time and money; and I don't see the point in making gay and lesbian people feel as though they're on the outer of our society because they don't fit the mold of the ordinary family.

Besides, there's no such thing as an ordinary family anymore; so why should it really matter who marries who? So long you're not related to the person you're marrying - you know, you're not first cousins - that's what matters. 

I don't appreciate being pushed into making decisions by my government about who is allowed to get married and who isn't. Why doesn't the government concentrate on the people who call themselves parents when really they're screwing up their children's lives by being on drugs, being drunks and having mental problems which really stuff up their children? This is what needs to be looked into, not whether two people who love each other dearly, have become engaged for some years now, but can't get married within the country they live in because it's against the law. 

And when they just don't wish to wait any longer? Well, they jump on a plane and fly to a country where they've legalised gay marriage for years - and it's worked out well - and tie the knot there! 

Love is love people... is this such a bad thing? 

I think not! 

15 Years On

It's 15 years to the date that I've moved into this townhouse... and I really can't wait to move out of here.

Okay, that may sound like I hate it here. But really there's a lot of things that have gone on here that I don't want to remember - and yet there's a lot of things I've seen here that have been pretty good.

But for me to say that I'd like to move on to the next part of my life is a good thing. If I had said that I'm comfy right where I am, well, you'd all probably be worried. 

I do want to live in a house - a proper, real house with a driveway, a lock-up garage, a garden out the front and a letterbox too - and I'd love to have the space to have family get-togethers as well. Where I am at the moment, I can't do anything of the likes of this without half my neighbours knowing exactly who's here, what's going on and what we're celebrating.

And that sucks.

I'm a private person, and I want to be able to leave my home without every person nearby knowing I'm leaving or coming home - and that's what is happening right now; and I don't like it.

A lot has happened in this place over the past 12 months, though. I've decluttered like you wouldn't believe. I've given away so much stuff and yet bought exactly what I have needed for my home to become what I want it to be.
I've gotten rid of my lounge and turned my place into something from the 1970's, and loved it!
I've applied for a home loan - and got rejected - but it was a good learning experience. I've also been looking at houses on the net and at real estate agents around Brisbane too.
I'm also fixing small things around the place here... things that my Dad won't have to when the time comes to fixing up the place. Door knobs on the wardrobe doors and in the kitchen may not seem like much - but really it's the devil in the details that makes a place; isn't it?

So, after everything... after the gardens have been looked after, the stove and hot water system have been replace, as well as both toilet systems, a large towel rack and proper medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and a curtain as well in there, then there's the dryer that broke and was removed (and we left the rack there for the next people)... and a new clothes line too as well as all the taps and faucets being replaced and the sewage vent in the backyard. Well... quite a bit has been done to this place to have it at least halfway there.
I got a real estate agent - one I had from when I first moved in here, so he knew the place well - come and have a look at the townhouse. And when he stepped in from outside, he said that my place was the better-looking, best-looked-after place out of the whole place. He said it will be easy to sell it because of how nice it is from the outside and how good it still looks on the inside. 

After 15 years, I'm hoping that seeing I've treated my rental property like it was my own, and there's been things I've had to do to the place - like the gardens were from my own pocket - to add value to the place. I don't want to live here for any longer than I have to. It's time to move on... move into a better place, a better area. I don't want anymore townhouses or my folks to be paying Body Corporate fees. I don't want to be forking out money for a Post Office Box anymore (and at $120 per year, that's just not worth it anymore), I want to be in a nice home, on a nice street with my car safely locked away. 

And after 15 years, isn't that worth the wait? 

Energy Rates on the Rise

I've found through listening to the news on the radio, and online here on Facebook and other news outlets that people are getting hit hard with their power bills. I saw a report on iSelect FB page about a young woman who couldn't save money for her bills; saying she was putting away around $80 per fortnight for the bills, but it just wasn't covering any of them. 

I've been living on my own for 15 years next week; and pay my bills on time every time. I did have a few teething problems when I started out; and it took some time for me to get used to paying bills on my own. However, there's been a good bit of planning included in it. Over this time, I've been looking at how I've used my appliances. 

Set Up A Bill-Paying Account so you can pay all your bills through one account - and one account only. This is a great idea if you have an account where you've got some $400 left there for a while. I had this when I finished work; and changed that account into a Bill-Paying Account with my bank. This helped me greatly when I started putting away money via direct debit (no, I'm not telling you how much is put away, but it's there all the time). You have to put away more than $100 into this account to make it worthwhile... otherwise you'll never be able to pay for your bills.  Also, this account isn't there for you to spend money from when you feel like it - this is to pay all your bills; only your bills.
Also, bundling your bills will help cut costs as well. For example: bundling your internet and landline phone with one company will be cheaper than having those separate. And have your smartphone prepaid, so you're not on your data all the time; and you get into the habit of budgeting what you can use and also turning off your data when you're not using it. 

Turn The Appliances Off At the Wall when you're not using them. I've been doing this for years. That little stand-by light sucks up a lot of juice over time. So, you don't need it on all the time. Making sure your television, dvd player, stereo system and computer monitor, speakers (on the computer), kettle, and washing machine are turned off all the time until you need them, is a good idea. Per quarter, I barely pay $100 on my power bill... and I live on my own on a pension. 

Turn Off Useless Lighting. This doesn't mean have just one light bulb and change it from room to room.. this means if you're not using that room, and the light is on, turn it off. If you're in the living room, and the hall light and kitchen light are on - but nobody is in them, go and turn off those other lights and just have the living room light on. Get into the habit of turning off lights as you leave the room, and you'll turn it into a good habit. Also, if you use beside lamps instead of the large overhead light, it also uses less energy. So, at night, use use your bedside lamp instead of your main bedroom light; and you'll be saving yourself getting out of bed to turn out the light, and energy in the long run too. 

Don't Eat Out Unless It's A Special Occasion. Learn to make your food from scratch. It takes more time, sure, but it'll save you a lot of money in the long run. I have learned to make pizza (pizza dough has 4 ingredients and isn't that hard to make - you just need 1 1/2 hours to yourself and a bit of patience, and you'll get it). Plus learning to cook for yourself means you'll always have food in your fridge. And this leads to my next item...

Learn To Make Your Own Fancy Coffee. I don't mean the packet ones, I mean learn to get the plunger coffee and make it at home instead of going out and buying coffee. When you think of going out and buying coffee at a whopping $4 - $5 a cup, you could be saving that by making it at home! I know that means you're not socialising, but really, what's better? Keeping money in your bank account or spending it on expensive coffee? And if you can't live without your coffee, make it a once a fortnight or once a month thing... at a great place you enjoy being at.

Op-Shop Everything In Your House. This sounds like I'm saying: spend your money. But really I'm not. In a good way, it's a wise way of spending. You go to a charity store thinking that it's going to smell like Grandma's old wardrobe. But no. Charity stores have had a huge change in the last few years. They look like and feel like proper retail stores. And if you're looking for something for your home, you'll most probably find it. If you want to get rid of something from your place, they are the places to send your unwanted things to. I use them, I swear by them, I love them... and I haven't bought anything brand new in ages. From clothes to vinyls to books to kitchenwares and wall-hangings, I've bought more and more from charity stores at a quarter of the cost of larger retail stores. This year, I kitted out my living room with two living room chairs and a side table and the costs didn't reach $100 over a few months. 

Live Frugally. I know that sounds like I'm talking about being a hobbit. But what I'm talking about is: 
Buy only what you'll need at the shop - not what you think you'll need. 
Make a shopping list and stick to it! Have a budget per fortnight - and only shop per fortnight. 
Have a few savings accounts where money gets put away through direct debit. This will mean you'll have to go without - no clubbing, no restaurants, no movies, no brand new clothes - but in the long run, you'll have an account or two where you'll have the money for things when you need it. 

Living Within A Budget - a strict one - will make your life a little harder, but also a little easier. It does mean that when you go out to those larger shopping centres, you can only window shop... but the charity stores are the places you'll end up cherishing because the same things will be there at a quarter of the cost you've seen them elsewhere. 

I'm not saying this will be easy... it's not. It's harder than you think. I live by a strict budget and I'm on a Disability Support Pension. I have to pay for my rent, all my bills, a PO Box (a must-have seeing my mail gets stolen by school kids in my area), my medication, food, petrol and anything to be done on my car, and any other incidentals (other crap that crops up in my life unexpectedly) and art school... all out of that pension - and that's not much. So, when the power and gas bills go up, I find that I kinda shrug and know I'm okay. I don't pay that much because I'm so strict on myself already.  

So, with a bit of planning and knowing how to spend your money - and when - paying those dreaded bills won't be so hard. It's just difficult in the beginning of being on your own that makes it so daunting. 

Been A While,... But...

I've been busily writing, volunteering, doing house work, falling down, and donating plenty of gear to charity.

Yes... you read right. I fell down. That happened on Monday just gone, and I bruised some ribs and floating ribs on my right side. It was the type of fall where once I started to fall, I couldn't stop myself, I just had to let it happen! Don't you hate those ones? Same here.

Well, it's been two days, and I'm going okay. My ribs still hurt - but not as badly as yesterday - and I'd taken a chunk off the side of my middle finger; and that still hurts like hell every time I do something - anything! But I keep on keeping on... you know. 

Anyway, I've been busily cleaning out, washing the car, reseeding the back lawn and mowing that once it got long enough... and then going to art class and working on my newest painting. I'm still learning plenty of new things from Aaron... and enjoying how the shadows can be hard and soft in the same painting... and yet mean different things while they're only centimetres apart. 

Otherwise, I've been making pin cushions like they're going out of style. These are for my next market in October; and I've yet to still get myself into making new business cards for that too; as I'm running out of those as well. I'll see what VistaPrint does for me and design a card then get them to post them out to me in time for the market... sounds great, right?

I'm also still decluttering my house - as usual - and writing my blog about it too (A Work In Progress). Check it out with my other blogs... it's a good formal blog which has advice, ideas on decluttering, cleaning and other discussions if you wish to join in. But I've mainly created it to keep me in check with my own decluttering - and it has! I know that sounds weird, but it does keep me in line - and 8 months along, I'm really doing better with this blog on here. It makes me take notice of my house and do the things I promise myself that I'm going to do. 

Well, last week, I got a tattoo of my medical band to my right arm... it's plain, ordinary and right where the police and medics would see it... it's also where the nurses and doctors would see it too in a hospital. this is a good thing for me, as I no longer need to wear a bracelet. A lot of people living with Epilepsy (and other medical problems) are doing this so they can do away with the bracelets - which are easily lost - and have it on their skin instead. 

Anyway, that's all the news from my end. How's your life? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Early Spring Clean

I haven't been on here for quite a while, and there's a good reason. 

I've been getting in and doing an early Spring Clean. 

With the weather warming up and the sun out with a strong wind, I thought to get all my winter woolies all washed - including the winter blanket - so I didn't have to do it Summer.

Then, I've tidied up the living room, put away the VCR tapes up in my bedroom wardrobe (they don't play, but I'm getting them put onto dvd soon). I'm also vacuuming when I can, and making sure all my clothes are put away.

I'm creating new habits too... you know the end of the night habits of washing up and tidying up the living room before bed. And then there's the making of the bed in the morning and organising what I'll be eating every day before 3pm. I never thought all of this would make life easier; but it does!

Anyway, I've been trying to stick to these new habits, and it's not easy. But I've found that I've got more time to do what I love to do - write books. Yep, I'm back into writing my books again during the day this time - so at night I'm skipping the computer and heading off to bed earlier in the night and getting a better night's sleep.

And to think this just started out with and early Spring Clean, right?

Well, I better be going. I have a letter to write to a friend who isn't on the internet. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Do Something Different for July!

This past month has been busy. But I have spent a lot of time at home doing home-body stuff too, which is unusual of me. Normally I'm out and about being the social butterfly; unfortunately, I've been too broke to do anything but read books, paint and clean out my house and fix up the garden.

Lately, I've bought some grass seed to replace the lawn the Logan City Council destroyed. I did put down lawn food, but it didn't do anything - I needed to re-seed it and make more lawn. This has been really horrible because normally, I have a lovely, green, lush lawn in Winter, and it makes my yard lovely and hardy for Summer - keeping the bindis away for the hotter months too. However, I've had to start again and now I've got muddy patches under the clothes line, right where the they'd grow and get me in Summer.
Otherwise, I've been repotting plants and potting up some cuttings from the Frangipani at unit 16. The guy there got it removed and is growing Roses instead. So, I asked if I could take a few cuttings and the gardener he hired said yes; and that he was going to dump the tree. I suggested transplanting it into another garden or a park... seeing the root ball was still intact. He shrugged and walked off. I'm not sure what he did with it, but I hope he did transplant it, it puts out such lovely flowers.

Anyway, I finished 'The Tuscan Garden' and started on 'The Living Room' in my art class. Aaron Pocock, our teacher, is thrilled I'm learning so many things; but it's taking time for me to take in what's he's teaching us. He doesn't mind how slow it's taking me, he likes seeing my work transform the way it has. Okay, the first painting took 4 months, but I learned so much from it! And this second painting is ticking along so much faster now I'm painting tonally, and not the way I painted the last one. I've been taking a lot more notes and enjoying it more. 

Earlier in the month, I found I had given away one of my warmest top sheets! How silly was that of me to do? Well, after I stopped kicking myself, I went off to the manchester place at Springwood and bought a lovely set of sheets for $35 which are just lovely! I guess giving away something by accident results in getting something just beautiful in return. 

Art class is going really well. I finished 'The Tuscan Garden' and have it all ready for the raffle in October and now I've begun 'The Living Room' - a bigger painting with more elements and a cosier look to it. I'm a few weeks into it and it's looking great.

I've been neglecting the house lately, so this week, I've promised myself to keep it tidier than it has been. Today, I cleaned the bathroom - including the window sill - and the tub downstairs in the laundry and then cleaned out the fridge and put out all the rubbish as well. In between all that, I picked up and unpacked a few things, a few bags and gathered together my shopping bags from last week and will be putting them away soon. Then, after I get offline, I'll be pulling the clothes off the clothes horse and taking the clothes basket upstairs to keep it all tidy in that. 

Yep, housework never finishes. That's for sure!

Well, that's all for now. I have been meaning to hang out with friends, but without any fun-money in the accounts, I can't really go anywhere. So, home is where I'm stuck for now. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

A Deceit by Chocolate

For a week where I wasn't expected to do anything or go anywhere, didn't have any doctor's appointments or have anywhere to really go, I was really busy.

Monday was my usual art class. But I felt sick the whole time; and just came home hibernated for the afternoon. I didn't know why I was sick, but I was. My guts were going backflips and I was sweating like you wouldn't believe. I kept thinking I was going to have a seizure - but it never happened. I also didn't want to eat, and couldn't sleep.

Something was up, and it was in my food.

So, I sussed out what I had been eating since last week... and you know? It was the new Lindt Orange chocolate pillows. I read the ingredients, didn't know half the numbers and started Googling. Oh... My... God! You wouldn't believe what those new number meant! 

I found numbers 211 and 401 weren't what I thought they'd be. One of them were to preserve jellies and fruit colourings (which is what was inside the pillows the chocolate - the orange substance) and 401 was something that caused cancer and both of them were Halal Certified! 211 could cause all kinds of problems with nausea and causing your body to not absorb nutrients properly and other bigger problems - like dizziness and confusion. 

Exactly why did they put this shit into this particular chocolate then think it was okay to sell it to the public??? I have Googled around again and again, and still come to the same conclusion about these two additives - they are not good for us; whether they have the E on the beginning of the numbers or not... don't eat them! Here's a site for you go to where you can read all about what these do to you... it's really unsettling.

After I threw out the Lindt Orange pillows, and went back to my ordinary chocolate, I was fine within 48 hours. I started eating better, sleeping better and not feeling so sick in the guts. Now, all I want to do is catch up on my sleep... I've lost about 3 nights' worth. 

Catching Up

As you all know, I've been crook as a chook with laryngitis... but then, a youngster coughed on me as I was getting over that and I caught it again! Well, a cold attached to that darned laryngitis anyway.

So, off to the doctors I went again and I was giving more antibiotics again and I was stuck at home - again - with a horrible cough, sinus and unable to sleep at night. 

Thank the Gods that happened before it got really cold!

Now, I'm catching up with the vacuuming, the housework, the gardening and the cleaning of the car. It's all slow-going, but I'm happily just doing a couple of loads of laundry, putting it outside in the hopes it'll dry (and it doesn't) and then pulling it in and putting it all on the clothes horse, once I pull the last lot off there. It's a never-ending circle of damp laundry in the house where I'm constantly running into the clothes horse.

I can't wait until it's all under control and I don't have to do so many loads of laundry every week. This is what happens when I get sick, everything gets so set back because I become lazy.

Anyway, I'm also working on the garden after the Logan City Council killed off most of my lawn. The lawn food hasn't done anything to fix it; so it looks like I'll have to get in and buy some lawn seed and work on it before Spring comes by. Jeez, I hate that... just when I thought my lawn was going well, somebody comes by and kills half of it off. 

Well, I've been reading again too - mainly in bed just before I turn out the light. Yep, I've gotten into the habit of not being on the computer late at night because it's causing sleeping problems for me. So, once I've finished watching television at around 10pm, I'll turned it off, clean up the living room, wash up the last of my tea and teapot and make sure everything is locked up. Then, I'll turn out the lights and get ready for bed (aka: P.J's, brush my teeth, put on the coconut oil and brush my hair and take my calcium pill) and then read a book for around an hour; and this is a real book, not a kindle. I don't like those things. They're too delicate for me. I have a tendency of throwing a book onto the floor before turning out the light. A kindle will only put up with being tossed like that before it breaks... so a real, paper and cardboard book is for me. I sleep better when I don't hit the computer at night; especially if I'm not feeling all that great and am battling a cold. 

So, it's been been three weeks, of me reading a couple of chapters of a book and so far, I've read one book, started another and am well on the road to my recovery of my reading slump. Not a bad run really. I'm starting out small and am building up to bigger books; all at around 11pm at night. 

Well, that's what I've been up to lately. I'm also catching up with my letter-writing. I'm writing a nice newsy letter to a friend in Toowoomba; and including photographs too. You see, she's an elderly lady I've known for years, and she doesn't like the internet or have a Facebook page. So, I've been writing to her twice a year or so and sending her lovely photos of my garden, my house, and my car, and where I go every few months... she loves it all, as it's just such a lovely way of keeping in contact. And besides, there's nothing like receiving a letter in the mail, is there? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

This Week

I've been busily working away here at home with all the housework... and yet looking longingly at my painting to work on it.

Yep, I'm not well again and still want to work on my Tuscan Garden. I just wish I knew how to do bricks... they still look flat! Oh well, I'll get it.

This week, I bought a new set of sheets, have done loads of laundry, washed up a lot, put out plenty of rubbish and sorted out a lot of other things that needed sorting; and yet feel as though I've gotten exactly nowhere with anything around here.

I've still yet to journal some books for release for tomorrow at a coffee shop I'm going to meet up with a friend at, and figure out what I'm going to wear to that meet-up as well.

This week has been a week of me going to the doctors, taking antibiotics, making sure I'm warm, well-rested and not going anywhere much - just hanging around the house. In other words: boring stay at home stuff. Normally, I'm barely home and out and about doing all kinds of things. This week, I've caught up with so much, I'm amazed that there is still so much to do around the place. 

I think it's the gardening which has really caused me to be that busy. In the next week or two, I'm going to be getting in and working on it more and more, getting another larger pot for another plant and moving plants around the place, making the garden transform yet again into something else completely; compared to last year's effort. 

Well, they were forecasting rain today, but the skies are still bright blue outside. I think I'll leave the laundry out for a bit longer. I have a photograph to take for my next painting... and a canvas to look for in the next week or so. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

First Day of July, and...

I've had a very busy day today.

First off, I cooked up myself a really great breakfast - but didn't want it. So, I tossed it out and washed the car.

Then, I cleaned the tyres, put armorald onto the important inside parts and then polished it and cleaned the headlights. 

Yep, my little car shone like a new penny! 

By this time, I was staaaarrrving! About time. But then, I thought it was a good time to take a little drive to get the water and crap out of the brakes and tyres. 

So, I took off to Simply Beans and enjoyed a lovely ice coffee and Belgian Waffles! Yummo! I read the paper a little (something I never do on a Saturday) and then took off to Bunnings and bought 2 bags of potting mix and tried to get another large $16 pot, but I could only afford the potting mix - oh well, next time!

After that, I was back on the road to Arndale and looking at Variety1. This place has a huge amount of goodies from Mont Mart... and so I bought a couple of things to send off to Mark, who is in hospital right now. I was hoping to visit him, but I've come down with a cold I caught off a 5 year old around my complex. 

Jeez, if it's not laryngitis, it's the common cold... man, where did I go wrong? 

Anyway, I'm home now, it's around 4pm and it's beginning to get cold. Last night, I was hoping to change the top sheet of my bed to another warm sheet, and when I pulled out the other sheet, I found out the hard way that I gave away the wrong bloody sheet to charity! I gave the Queen sized sheet and kept the double sheet! Damn! I knew I should never do that, give my sheets away to anyone... this has happened before.

So, now, I have to go and buy another Queen size sheet for the bed.

Anyway, I've gotten a lot done today. The yoghurt I made last night worked out - second time's a charm - and I'm looking forward to chilling out around the house tomorrow and doing some gardening in the next couple of weeks. 

Well, I'm hoping to vacuum out the car tomorrow when the car port dries out. But the car looks lovely and clean now. Well, that's me for now. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember I'm always here.