Month: March 2014

I’ve noticed lots of talk on blogs recently about how Spring is arriving in the Northern Hemisphere and how everyone is  looking forward to being outside enjoying the sunshine and once Summer arrives swimming will be back on the agenda.  For me, well, we wont be going up north this Winter so until our weather warms up again towards the end of the year here in Victoria I’m going to have to be content with my classes at the indoor pool.

When lots of us retire we grab any chances we have at being able to try out many of the things on our wish list – I really want to learn to crochet, maybe this will be the winter to try.  Some of us get more daring as we age – skydiving anyone?  Thats often on a birthday wish list – not for me though.

And as much as I enjoy my sunbathing here is a gentle but true reminder for me not to get daring on the beach any time soon!

Anyone going topless this year???

Its nearly the end of March – St Pat’s Day has been and gone
There’s a bit of light drizzle here this morning that reminds me of long a go trips to Belfast to visit my Granny and other family.  It always seemed to be misty and cool on the boat across the Irish Sea.
Spring seems to be a long time coming for many of you
so to round off the month here’s some jokes to brighten up your day

You may have heard some of them before
and if so I know you’ll be polite and laugh at them again 🙂

The Irishmen and the Tour de France

 Two Irishmen were sitting in a pub in Dublin watching the Tour de France on TV.

Seamus shook his head and asked, “Whoi t’e hell do they do that?”

“Do what?” asked Mick.

“Go on them boikes for moiles and moiles, up and down t’e hills, round t’e bends.

Day after day, week after week.

No matter if it’s oicy, rainin’, snowin’, hailin’ . .. . why would they torture themselves like that?”

“Tis all for the prestige and the money,” replied Mick.

“You know the winner gets about a half a million Euros”.

“Yeah, I understand that.” said Seamus.

“But why do all the others do it?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here’s one for the drinkers (Irish or otherwise)

Two men were sitting next to each other at a bar….

After awhile, one looks at the other and says, ‘I can’t help but think, from listening to you, that you’re from Ireland ‘

The other responds proudly, ‘Yes, that I am!’

The first one says, ‘so am I!’

And where about from Ireland might you be?’

The other answers, ‘I’m from Dublin, I am.’

The first one responds, ‘So am I!’

‘Sure and begorrah. And what street did you live on in Dublin?

The other says, ‘A lovely little area it was. I lived on McCleary Street in the old central part of town.’

The first one says, ‘Faith and it’s a small world. So did I! So did I!’

‘And to what school would you have been going?’

The other answers, ‘Well now, I went to St. Mary’s, of course.’

The first one gets really excited and says, ‘and so did I. Tell me, what year did you graduate?’

The other answers, ‘Well, now, let’s see. I graduated in 1964.’

The first one exclaims, ‘The Good Lord must be smiling down upon us! I can hardly believe our good luck at winding up in the same bar tonight.’

‘Can you believe it? I graduated from St. Mary’s in 1964 my own self!’

About this time, Mick walks into the bar, sits down and orders a beer.

Brian, the bartender, walks over to Mick shaking his head and mutters; ‘It’s going to be a long night tonight.’

Mick asks, ‘Why do you say that, Brian’? . .

‘The Murphy twins are p………..again.’

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Up date – edited to remove third joke
Complaint about risque nature

This is for Tessa who likes posts with big photos 🙂

Several times during the year Kiera has a spring clean – well I should say every couple of months after her beauty treatment (shush don’t tell her it’s flea prevention) all her bedding has a good wash and brush up.  Being the last of a long line of cats in our home (pets and breeders) she has seems to have plenty of beds and bedding – during the time of the Black Saturday bush fires I donated loads to the Animal Aid – yet look indoors, on the deck, in the outside run and in the garage and you’ll find somewhere she sleeps with bedding that needs laundered.

So find a good sunny blowy day, grab it and away we go

Pegging it all on the line a couple of weeks ago  I could hear chattering   noises along with the odd squawk in next door’s oak tree and looking way way up (to the red dots) saw these two looking down at me.

Yes, a couple of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos from the noisy flock that hangs around the neighbourhood had decided to spend the day up there and not to move on when ever the rest of them had flown off earlier that morning..

There are times when no one’s around you’ll find some of them checking out the grass on the nature strip looking for things to nibble on.

They love pottering around on next door’s roof and seem to find all sorts on there to amuse themselves with

They have a penchant for hanging on the power lines much to this neighbours annoyance

Because this is what they usually end up doing
Shades of ‘Tarzan’ or maybe they fancy themselves doing a high wire act in a circus lol

Then there are the ones who will take a fancy to whatever might be in the other next door neighbour’s bins

Look at most of these photos and you’ll see the one on look out duty
just sitting to one side looking around.
Did you find them – the ones on the tv aerial looked like they wanted to get in on the action as well lol

Even if they are noisy they are fun to see around.  Yes, they are fun to see but in some areas can be a pest.  Just ask farmers out in the bush.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulphur-crested_Cockatoo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacatua

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatoo

Linking to Nature Notes – HERE

Trying a new look – sharp and clear.

Plainer look – bigger writing

Not so soft and flowery

Hands up

Yay or Nay

Edited to say : also see next post.  Click go the ….knitting needles.

First of all I want to say Thank You for all your comments and thoughts (on the blog and in emails) about my last post.  There are times when I think out loud and forget others can hear and am surprised when I receive so much support from you.  I really appreciated them – Thank you.

Walking is back on the agenda again – well it never really left just didn’t get done all that frequently over the hot months – and knowing I always feel so much better after some time in the outdoors I ‘diarised’ (does anyone actually use that word??) / wrote ‘walk” with a big question mark on todays date on the calendar, thinking if I plant the seed maybe the deed will get done lol.

Also knowing I could change my mind at the drop of hat I had to move on out of the house as soon as the thought of ‘maybe having a coffee before the walk’ came into my mind.   It’s not that I don’t wan’t to walk it’s just that ……..well sometimes I get sidetracked and it never happens.

I remember years ago I picked up a book at the local library called ‘Prevention’s Complete Book of Walking’ and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I know it was very easy to read and talked about all sorts of things to do with walking, health and exercise.

Each ‘chapter’ was in several parts, not too long and easy to digest ranging from healthy reasons for walking, walking for weight loss, walking in different weather conditions.  I recall it mentioing strength training for walkers and an 8 week plan for achieving that first 5km walk/fun run. There was also a fun chapter on ‘Pole Walking’ – sometimes called Nordic Walking.

What reminded me of this book was finding this little piece in amongst some ‘saved word docs’.  I had copied it at the time I read the book (noting the name of the book for future reference) and when I saw it again this afternoon I laughed as it certainly describes me and my attitudes (good and bad) to a tee.  Maybe I’ll check it out of the library again for a refresher course lol

A WALKERS ATTITUDE

I woke up early today, excited about the day ahead. My health and well being are important and it is my job to decide to take care of myself. Its up to me to find the time, the place and the reasons to go for a walk.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy, or ……
I can be thankful that my skin will be blessed with moisture.

Today I can feel sad that I have so many other things to do, or……….
I can be happy that I’ll have so much more energy to do them when I’m done walking

Today I can grumble over the temperature, or…
I can be thrilled that I’ve got the right clothes to deal with it.

Today I can whine because I have to find the time to walk, or….
I can shout for joy that my body is able to keep pace with my spirit

Today I can mourn my lack of walking partners, or…
I can revel in my quiet time alone.

What my health and fitness will be like is, in great measure, up to me. I get to choose my level of well being. I get to lay the plans for a daily walk.

Have a great walk today…unless you have other plans.

Author unknown

Cooler weather – later sunrise and earlier sunset – extra blanket on bed – knowing the clocks and the seasons will be changing very soon and my fingers and toes will get cold!

Torrential rain that caused kitchen skylight to drip copious amounts on the floor – grrr, why didn’t a certain person get up and check it last time it happened!

Not being able to find my camera that is in the house somewhere – I used it the other day so where on earth is it.  Think of the cost of replacing it!

Hearing from Terry’s brother again and reliving his death – it will fade with time I’m sure

Receiving some very nasty comments on the blog from several different people – no idea why and thank goodness wordpress has ‘first comment authorisation’ so nobody but me sees them.

All of that has meant I’ve been in a slump all week

In the big scheme of life these are such minor minor irritablilties – but they are ones that affect me.  I know I should toughen up and take it all in my stride but sometimes I fold and buckle and retreat.

Big talk with myself last night over this pity party so I’ll see you soon – with a smile on my face 🙂

It has been a beautiful day today – fine and sunny and not too hot.  Took a ride down the road to the big ‘fatal to walk into ‘cose I’ll come out a lot poorer’ craft shop where they were having a complete rearrangment of departments.  Took us ages to actually find what we were after as the place was totally disorganised – even if the staff did say they knew where everything was lol

Gd1 has finally taken an interest in xstitch so she wanted to find some little kits to practice on.  Didn’t want to look through the enormous pile of easy patterns I have and the offer of aida cloth and threads – this is going to be my learning experience Grandma so I’ll do the choosing.   Found what she fancied and then was astonished at the price.  ‘Told you so’ I ribbed but she took it in her stride and left with a smile on her face looking ready to take on the world (of craft that is!)

Just wondering if she’ll look back in years to come and remember this day??

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ `

I’m sitting here this afternoon thinking about the fracas in Ukraine and wondering how far it will escalate.

I’m also sitting here thinking about our next cruise which will be in October and is around the Black Sea.

As you can see two of the ports on the itinerary to visit are Odessa and Sevastapol.

Is it selfish of me to say I’m just wondering if we will actually get to see them or not!