Month: June 2015

Or is he ?

My love has a red red nose
A cough and sore throat too
I gave him the chest rub in a container coloured blue
Irish Moss that makes you go ‘yuk’ as it slides down your throat
making its way to your toes

As well as honey and lemon along with paracetemol to drink
There are tissues beside the lip cream to use I think

To hear him last night you would think he was at ‘deaths door’
It’s a cold I told him
Rest up – keep warm – read, drink liquids,
You’ve had one before 🙂

Today is Monday – golf takes place on Wednesday and Friday
My love’s other name is The Golfer.

This is the weather forecast for the week – for the golf course area
A half an hour drive away and slightly cooler than where we live

Look at Wednesday – it will be 4c/40f overnight with a slight risk of frost!
(Bl** cold as far as I’m concerned)

The course is in the foothills of The Great Dividing Range surrounded by trees, they (him and his other old golfing mates) tee off before 10am.  Even tho’ it says mostly sunny and the high forecast is 13c/55f it certainly wont have warmed up by then especially with a 90% chance of rain.

Oh dear, I certainly didn’t say the right thing when I suggested he ring the others and tell them he ‘might’ not be there on Wednesay.

I thought he was a ‘Big Boy’ ‘
grown up and accepting of all things thrown in his way

From the semi tantrum I witnessed then
Maybe not lol

Linking to MicroBlog Mondays

During the past couple of years I saw a book mentioned on so many of the ‘Book Blogs’ I occasionally read.  It sounded so bizzare yet so much fun it had me wanting to read it.  It dutifully got listed on my ‘want to read’ list and then promptly forgotten about 🙂

A few weeks ago I finally got round to ordering it and will sit down over the weekend to start reading a book about an old man about to turn 100 who runs away from the place he is living and the adventures he has along the way.

 Back of Book Blurb

Escaping (in his slippers) through his bedroom window, into the flower bed, Allan makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving a suitcase full of cash, a few thugs, a very friendly hot-dog stand operator, a few deaths, an elephant, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, Allan’s earlier life is revealed. A life in which – remarkably – he played a key role behind the scenes in some of the momentous events of the twentieth century.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 1

You might think he could have made-up his mind earlier and been man enough to inform his surrounding of his decision. But Allan Karlsson had never been given to pondering things too long.

So the idea had barely taken hold in the old man’s head before he opened the window of his room on the ground floor of the Old Folk’s Home in the town of Malmkoping and stepped out – into the flower bed

This manoeuvre required a bit of effort since Allan was 100 years old, on the very day in fact.  There was less than an hour to go before his birthday party would begin in the lounge of the Old Folk’s Home. The mayor would be there.  And the local paper.  And all the other old people.  And the entire staff led by the bad-tempered Director Alice.

It was only the Birthday Boy himself who didn’t intend to turn up….

Here’s hoping the wait has been worth it.

Have any of you read it – was it as funny as advertised?

Do you ever have them?  Those ‘seek and yee shall find’ weeks.  That’s how last week was for me although I’m more inclined to name it a ‘Hunt and Gather” week.

One morning in the hot pool – hunting down some warmth, no way was I going in the big pool.  Way too cold.  Gathering my thoughts on the week to come as I enjoyed the gentle exercise.

Op shop volunteer morning  – very quiet, spent most of the morning gathering and sorting donations while hunting for bargains in the stock.

Charity Knitting, fireside sitting – gathering finished garments together, then hunting through patterns and looking for suitable wool for next round of knits

View Club lunch on Friday  – hunting for a seat at a table (late getting there), then gathering lots of info on a new (to me) Probus club

Chocolate shopping – one of our girls is associated with a company that manufactures chocolate.  Open day at ‘The Shop’ meant we were hunting for yummy things to buy then gathering them into a big box to take home – after paying that is 🙂

A little bit of gardening one day – spent time gathering all the rubbish strewn around by the wind and hunting out the small bulbs that are starting to bloom

Then on the news one evening our lovely news reader Ian Henderson or Hendo as he is sometimes called mentioned that Winter had tightened her grip….oh yes was he right.  BTW, isn’t he lovely 🙂

It certainly was a bit on the chilly side last week and there was one night when the temp went down to freezing I was hunting around and gathering up an extra doona to go on the bed.

So where does the ‘Like a Teenage Girl’ come into all this?  Well, while I was in the hot pool I was chatting to the lady who was walking back and forth beside me and she laughingly said – this winter has been like a teenage girl.  Bright and sunny some days – wet, watery (tearful) miserable – enough to make you feel down in the dumps on others.

Thankfully we shouldn’t have to wait too long for it to change for the better.  We are over the hump in the year now – the winter solstice was yesterday – yes, the days will probably be cold for a while – then they will gradually lengthen, there will be more daylight and I will feel better.   Sounds good doesn’t it 🙂

Linking to MicroBlog Mondays over at Mel’s blog

 

Oh my goodness I’m beginning to wonder if Monday is a guilt trip day.  I’ve spent all weekend wondering about something that happened  last week.

Many of you know I enjoy visiting our local animal feed/fodder store – the family run one with the drive through premises, the one that has a resident rooster along with some roaming chooks who all battle for attention, as well as a lovely shop dog called Zoe who loves to come and say hello and then alerts the ‘boss’ to the fact there’s someone in the shop.  (They do know, it’s just a little game she plays lol).  It is close to home, so easy to get to, all I have to do is drive in, say hello to Zoe, open the boot and the large bags of litter are dropped in for me.  As I said – it’s so easy, so pleasant , so reassuring.

One of our girls uses the same brand of litter and mentioned a ‘large place’ had started carrying that brand and had a special I might be interested in.  Not right on my doorstep but as I was over that way the other day I had a look.  There was no parking close by, the staff weren’t exactly helpful (it’s down there pointing way down the barn), similar to this.

 

I had to get a trolley, load it myself – as in heave the big bags (30L) from a pile onto the trolley then wheel it up to the counter to be scanned.  Doesn’t end there!  The place was on a higher level than the car park so I had to manouvre the flat trolley (no sides) down a ramp and then load  into the boot.  I did ask but no-one could leave the shop/barn to help me. 😦

NOW:-

Even though I got a very good bargain by buying more than one bag at a far better price than I would have down the road (no discount) I felt really annoyed as I drove home.

Even though I’ve been a loyal customer for quite a few years I know my purchase wouldn’t have been a make or break one for the Fodder Shop.

So why do I have these feelings of guilt?   Help – I’m stuck for an answer.

Linking to MicroBlog Mondays – hosted by Mel at Stirrups Queens

 

 

I looked for it here and I looked for it there

But this morning it wasn’t to be found anywhere.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Then I spied it – a little ray of sunshine on a cold winter’s day!

Looking fine from the top – and great from the bottom

Only thing to do now is see what it looked like inside

 Absolutely perfect 🙂

Imperial mandarins are my favourite ray of sunshine during winter in Melbourne.

Did you know:-
Mandarins originated from southern China and were named after the Chinese officials of the Imperial court the “Mandarins” who used the fruit for various medicinal purposes.
Imperials are the most popular variety because they are the first to be harvested each season. They are a golden-orange mandarin, and one of a handful of popular citrus varieties that have originated in Australia.
The variety was first recognized in Sydney in 1890. Imperials are easy to peel, have very few seeds, and can be enjoyed as a perfect portable snack.
source – http://www.aussiemandarins.com.au/varieties

Fat free, saturated fat free, cholesterol free, sodium free, they are an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of vitamin A
source

What is cheering you up on this Friday?

Well that’s exactly what I asked myself when I found this photo in one of the boxes.  Who remembers the boxes – which aren’t quite as full as they were but certainly nowhere near empty lol  It was a sunny day, we were having fun in a park and then The Golfer mentioned a photo to record the day.  Looks like I certainly didn’t want that to happen.

1972 was a strange year, we had struggled to sell our house, something that needed to be done so we could finalise migration procedures.  There should have been smiles all round in this photo because we had just been to Australia House to advise them we’d jumped that last hurdle and could they set the wheels in motion, give us a ‘date’ and arrange our flights. Looking back now I think it was at that moment when reality set in and there was no going back.

This next one was there in the box as well.  Yes it’s another one of ‘my favourite five and me’ on another sunny day; this time on a day out with my mother, the children’s grandmother.  I might have mentioned my strained relationship with my mother, and if ever I should have been looking glum this is the photo that should have recorded it.  But no, it was laughs and giggles most of the day – from me. the kids and mum.  If I remember correctly this was the ‘now make funny faces’ for the camera one 🙂

The kids and I had spent most of their summer holidays in the town where mum and dad were living – a four hour drive from our place.  Once they were back at school we’d be busy packing up the house and all that went with a move like that knowing there’s be no time for an extended stay.  I think it was then on that day I finally ‘forgave’ mum for the troubled times we’d been through earlier on in my life as well as after I married (so many buttons were pushed by us both) and just went with the flow and accepted the way she was.

Yes I know – this is the sort of thing that happens when you grow older.  Wonder which photographs my children will ponder on?  Is it possible they will have memories of those two days?  Perhaps I should ask them and see what they say – what do you think?