Cathy @ Still Waters

With the publicity that surrounds the troubles and woes in the world these days it can sometimes be difficult to know what news is real and what is fake.  Occasionally I get extremely fed up with it all and that’s when I take time out from watching and listening to ‘serious’ stuff, coming back to life by moving aimlessly around the web looking for a bit of light relief – and ‘that’s’ when I discover little gems that keep me from wondering ” are we all going bonkers and the end of the world is nigh”

This little video is doing the rounds again on social media.

I will unashamedly say it is just a ‘joy to watch’ and can’t keep the smile off my face as I do so.

Train travel is part of my makeup- 90% of the males on my father’s paternal line worked ‘on the railways’  in Northern Ireland.  My grandad (who I never knew, he being gone before I arrived) worked his way up from a general railway worker (aka labourer) through Fireman to Engine Driver.  I do so love train travel – but sadly (unlike Madeline) I don’t have a record of my first ride 😔

Just watch and enjoy – and smile 😎😊

 

Mmm, it certainly has been a while….those just ‘for a few weeks’ turned out to be nearly 13 😦

Lots of days reading and walking beaches, lots of days preparing for more ‘away from home’ time, lots of days enjoying faraway places, walking on beaches on tropical islands never visited before, reading and walking on a cruise ship promenade deck as well as watching the ocean pass by as we wended our way home – all that and more.

I took very few photos on our latest trip – it was another ‘rest and relaxation’ ‘enjoy the moment’ one with no strenuous outings.  We did however visit the final home of Robert Louis Stevenson (author of Kidnapped and Treasure Island among many other books)  – a now large rambling house near Apia in Samoa which has been turned into a museum.  I would have loved to spent hours browsing but you know how time is limited when you are on an organised tour 🙂

Anyway I’m home again – spending days enjoying the familiar surroundings of our suburb here in the outer east of Melbourne.  Hopefully over the next few weeks once the ‘silly season’ has finished I’ll get back to regular chats.

Bye for now
Cathy

PS – I must just add this thought

 

The worldwide interest in Tiny Houses means there are often some ‘interesting’ programmes to watch about them on tv.  There’s a certain something about dinky little houses, some with living space on various levels, some even on wheels so they are towable reminiscent of ‘gypsy’ caravans. Sometimes I think it would be great to live in one – then usually have second thoughts when I think about the things I need around me to live the sort of life I enjoy.  There’d be a tiny house on my block- as well as countless outbuildings to house the assorted paraphernalia stuff I’m referring to above 😏

So each time we decide to come here on our winter trip and I remember the size of the cabin I say to myself ‘it’s just for a few weeks’.  We have the same cabin booked each time so I’m aware I’ll be living in Four rooms in One  for those few weeks so bring the amount of clothing and assorted ‘stuff’ I feel I can handle for that time.

There’s a bedroom with large picture window and hanging space for clothing

A beautifully appointed kitchen/diner with up to date appliances and a small sitting area with comfortable couch

 

The bathroom (shower/hand basin/toilet) is tucked away behind the sliding panelled door, the view from the ‘kitchen’ window is palm greenery and with  only 9 steps from the mirror end to the window by the bed there’s not a huge amount of floor space, storage is almost negligible yet it doesn’t feel cramped.

Years ago (2008) after our first visit to Bowen I mentioned our little ‘holiday home’ and how small it was to my mum.  I must have caught her on a grumpy day because she quickly retaliated that living in one room is the norm in some parts of the world, reminding me of the term ‘bedsit’ and because of them loads of people actually have a roof over their heads.

Could I live permanently by choice in this little space – I don’t think so.  It’s fun for a few weeks but that’s my limit  Necessity is a different matter altogether.

How about you?  Could you live in a tiny space or do you need room to move (and store your ‘stuff

Sitting here in the shade this morning, feeling lovely and comfortable in the warmth of the Queensland winter I tried to catch up on some blog reading.  Slow internet here in the van park (and town generally) has made browsing a bit hit and miss so rather than be annoyed I decided a ‘no gadget time’ wouldn’t be a bad thing – until curiosity got the better of me 😎

Anyway, a blogger who hasn’t been well for quite a while, let slip this morning that she had once been a surfer.  That got me thinking about things we might have done over the years that others who know us now would never envisage us doing.

Now as you all know – because it’s certainly not a secret – I’m definitely not a winter person.  Yet once upon a time things were very different.

Many years ago there was a winter sport I loved.

I once spent as many hours as I could snow skiing.

What about you?

Is there anything your younger self did that others couldn’t see you doing?

What lies beyond the trees?

My favourite walking beach of course 😎

Queens Beach  Bowen Far North Queensland

Looking left

Looking right

After 4 long days driving 2,500 kms we are at our journeys end

blue skies – warm sunny days – time to relax

And visit my favourite sitting and reading beach – Rose Bay also at Bowen

As you can see after inspecting this morning all present and correct and waiting to be enjoyed

So we’d not long started off on Friday morning, travelling from Goondiwindi to Rockhampton in beautiful Queensland when the Highway Patrol appeared with lights flashing, wand waving out the driver’s window to shepherd us all off the bitumen

Then the second one came along making sure we’d really moved over

Then the Pilot car turned up with lights flashing

Because…..this was on the move

Special measures need to be taken when some oversize loads are moved around from place to place.

This would have been going on all the way from where they were coming from to wherever they were going

Have you guessed where I’m going??

Middle of winter in Melbourne

Cotton trousers on – shoes off – knitting close by

Going somewhere nice Catherine?

Maybe – I’ll let you know when I get there 😎

I’m going to be offline for about a week.

Can’t be helped so I’ll see you then

Bye for now

Cathy

A little bit of light relief after my ‘troubles and woes’ of the last couple of days 😎💕

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Fed up with being inside on the rainy days of a couple of weeks ago I took advantage of some sunshine last week to take a walk in the park.  The one with the wetlands, long windy paths, views of The Dandenongs and lots of things to keep busy energetic little ones happy.

Little ones like these I could see way up in the distance – mums busy chatting, one with a stroller the other carrying a little girl and the little boy full of beans running ahead.  (I used zoom making sure their faces weren’t visible)

I’d seen them earlier – in and on some of secret places where little ones like these along with their Mums and Dads and maybe big brothers and sisters like to meet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are so many pieces of equipment there in the special area of the park designated for children it’s often crowded at the weekend but not so on this day.  A beautiful sunny day but oh so cold, only the hardy were out and about.

 

 

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And look what turned up on fb that very same day.  I know it’s been doing the rounds for a while but it brought a smile to my face as I remembered when the boys stopped running and pushing and jumped on to spin round with the screaming girls.  And then that awful feeling of floundering around with a spinning head when it stopped 😊

Are any of you old enough to remember them?

I’m curious to know if it would be allowed in any of the playgrounds today

Well I’ve found what I think is a ‘softer’ look so we’ll stay with this one for a while 🙂

The title and header have been rearranged however there is still a lot of white space there still (which for some reason bothers me) – does it look softer than the previous one i.e. the one I had there yesterday?

In a comment on the last post Angela mentioned seeing advertisements – another blogger had also alluded to this a while ago but I didn’t think any more about it – SO could you let me know if they are still there.  When I log out and have a look there’s nothing there so it could just be a haphazard arrangement.

I vaguely remember WordPress saying something about them to keep the site ‘free’ (and yes I know blogger is free but I’ve been there done that and it ended up in tears 😦 ) so if all else fails and they still appear I might (might) have to pay to have my own domain.  Hoping it doesn’t come to that.

As they say – just looking at life in a different way should help.  Here’s hoping it does.

Frustration point here at the moment – wondering if….. well….. we’ll have to wait and see 🙂

 

Well maybe the problem was because my theme had been ‘retired’ so I’m hoping that changing to another theme will help with my blog problem.

Not sure if I’m all that keen on what I’ve chosen and I’ll try to find another header picture – at least I can access to post on the PC.  I know my iPad has been playing up but I wouldn’t think that was the problem because all other websites were ok.

Anyway we’ll go with this (free) one for a while even though there is an awful lot of white space 🙂

Bye for now
Cathy

Have had to download the WordPress app because I couldn’t get into the blog any other way. 😟

Couldn’t log in or open it up on the PC or the iPad 😟

Only half the little ‘thingamejigs’ are there – those things that let you go bold or add a table

Is anyone else on WordPress having troubles this morning ?

There are days when all I hear is my mother’s voice

‘Everything comes to those who wait!  –  Patience is a virtue!

There are days I even acknowledge she might have been right 😊😎

Thanks for all the comments on my sleeplessness post.  Things are a bit better – I’m dropping off more quickly and staying asleep longer.  Yes, there’s been some of those dreaded 2hour cycles and there are still some of those ‘why can’t I go back to sleep moments’ but they are definitely much less frequent than before.

The bedroom got a deeper clean than usual, I turned the mattress, then wondering if these really cold nights could’ve been part of the problem added another blanket beneath the sheepskin underlay and finished off by changing my pillows to some from the spare room bed.  At the moment I’m trying out a few handy hints – wind down earlier, no screens before bed, bed socks to keep the feet warm, turn the clock face away They may be making a difference or the problem could just be going away naturally – whichever it is I’m definitely feeling more alive now.

I had to laugh as my GP more or less said the same as Mum would have – no pills to begin with, take it slowly, try working things out and often it just happens when you least expect it!

Patience has been needed on my part to deal with this cold Winter.

Yes mum, I’m waiting patiently.  I know that in just a couple of weeks I’ll be able to dip my toes into the Coral Sea while I relax at Rose Bay in Bowen.

Just wish it would hurry up and arrive 😎

Meanwhile I’ll just think about what to wear tomorrow.  We’re off to the theeateter – going to see the Mamma Mia musical (thank you children for our chrissy present, I’m sure it will be worth the wait). Going in by train so it’ll be a bit on the chilly side because the forecast a little while ago was…….going down to 1c overnight, going up to 13c. Somehow I don’t think it’ll be a posh frock day, more of a boots, trousers and jumper day!

No Fun Friday here today though

Mr Insomnia……my friend from long ago…..has decided to visit again

I’m not feeling the best – in fact I’m feeling b…..awful

So am having a break for a while

Might be just for a week – maybe longer

Just until….well, just until I can pinpoint the cause

And send it on its way 😊