Posted on by Cathy

Small Changes…..

Small changes….little things

  • I’ve returned to the gym….something I did say I wouldn’t do until ‘you know what’ had finally disappeared….walking is out – my legs play up after a short while – pool work is good, resistance bands here at home are so so but I need to feel like I’ve exercised….so the Leisure Centre it is.

Cheapskate that I am I haven’t taken out membership this time…. changes to ’rules & reg’ of membership, things I didn’t like, had me looking at pros & cons of other payment methods. I’ve taken advantage of their 20 visit pass.

  • Changes in daylight (and early evening temps) mean we’re settling down earlier, curtains are being drawn earlier, meals have changed – cooked rather than raw – entertainment has changed a bit.

Not important in the whole scheme of things but late afternoon early evening TV programming has changed. The Golfer’s reruns of Jag & Becker are not where they used to be (or not on at all☹️) so there’s been a bit of quiz show watching.
Sometimes it adds to my general knowledge 😊

Guess what was the answer to a multiple choice question:- ‘Which of these calls it’s young an Antling?’
Of course neither of us picked the most obvious answer

NOUN – Antling

rare 

  • A young or small ant.

Origin

Late 18th century; earliest use found in James Elphinston (1721–1809), educationist and advocate of spelling reform. From ant + -ling. source

Did you know that?

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I stopped near the library in Montrose last week and knew something had changed but couldn’t put my finger on it.
Can you spot the difference!

31 March 2014
5 April 2022

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Of course there’s one thing that never changes – the sight of the TV masts on the hills.
It’ll take some storm to take them down – much stronger than the one that brought down the tree and the electricity pole across the road from the library

~ ~ ~ ~

And there is one recent welcome change that nobody seems to be grumbling about. After rising to the atrocious price of over $2 a litre, the federal government halved the fuel tax for 6 months, (a budget cost of living action but cynical me says a pre-election action) so the cost of petrol has dropped 60¢ in less than 2 weeks.
I paid $1.59 (+discount)) the other day – big smiles all round. For the time being that is!

Linking to Denyse’s new fortnightly on a Monday feature ~ Life’s Stories

28 Replies to “Small Changes…..”

  1. One of the fuel taxes was dropped here as well…but as I’ve no car, I haven’t been sad or joyful!

    None of my groups have re-started at all, although I did see one locally advertising on the local f/b page for new members and said something “when we meet again” … have no idea if that’s something for later this month…our subs were halved for this year because of course they were not paying room hire (can’t remember when we met with full quota). And none of the minor groups through that bigger group have really got going…

    If I paid public transport fares, then that has been halved until June; of you’ve over 65 especially in Auckland you have after 9am on weekdays, all day weekends with your pretty little AtHop Gold card…

    Slowly I’m going “out more” tomorrow I have to take papers to the law office (no I’m not in trouble) so that gives me a goal.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Now that’s one thing Melbourne (Victoria) is lacking- free transport for seniors/pensioners. Ours Is subsidised but not free – well except Saturday & Sunday and various ‘holidays’

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  2. I love quiz shows, not much else on in early evening, and learn a lot which goes in one ear and out the other. I shall be holding onto antling. Delightful word!! So why did spell checker underline it??
    Good luck with the gym.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Maybe because it’s so rare spellcheck has never heard of it😊
      I’ll take the gym slowly, one day at the pool another at the gym plus extra bits at home

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  3. I hope there’s no tempting of fate with your masts. Last summer the major tv/radio transmitter for North Yorkshire and beyond burnt down (can you believe it?). It’s still impacting on distant rural areas with poor broadband (no smart TV reception) and had an impact on 600,000 homes for weeks (those that could receive coverage from the erection of a temporary mast) and months (those that had to await erection of a taller temporary mast).

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    1. I heard about that on someone else’s blog….these have been up there on the Dandenongs since 1955 – just in time for the Melbourne Olympics. They’ve all been extended (upwards) over the years., had bushfires rage around them, yet they still stand there visible from quite a distance- I know I’m almost home when I get my first sighting. Quite emotional if we’ve been away interstate for several months 😊

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  4. Antling is a wonderful word – which I will have to remember.
    Even with the cut in the fuel tax I noticed that diesel is still $199.9 a litre. And you were right. It was a pre election bribe, like most of the rest of the budget.
    I do mourn trees that come down.

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    1. This one came down in one of those enormous storms we had….took bushes in the nearby garden with it. The power pole came down as well

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  5. Antling is not liked by spell checker. I don’t think I would know an antling from an ant but it is filed away like so much other useless information for a possible trivia quiz.

    I can certainly see the difference in the then and now photos. The loss does improve the view. Given how technology is moving at such speed, I expect we might sadly see the day when the towers come down.

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    1. Maybe the baby ants stay in the nest until they are needed.
      This area lost so many trees during the storms we’ve had over the past couple of years. There are still trunks and branches piled high along the roadside in places

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  6. gas here is killing us and yours is even higher.. glad you can get back to the excercise. I do mine at home because of IBS. before that kicked in i went to the gym 5 days a week and got in the pool. and dealing with a man who wants to stand on a ladder and can hardly walk on flat ground keeps the stress levels up to rais the IBS fun

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    1. I used to be a gym bunny as well – before covid came along. I use a different pool than the one at the leisure centre became its closer to home which is better first thing in the morning.

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  7. Hari OM
    Antling seems kind of obvious… then again, who knew?! You are a better woman than me getting exercised. I have become a blob…

    I don’t have a vehicle at the moment but am thinking that another one must come my way before long so as to get out and about and become less of a blob. I would very much prefer it to be electric though. Especially as the price of a litre of petrol in the UK just now averages the equivalent of $3.20. So treasure your $1.59 indeed!!! YAM xx
    I=Introspection

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    1. Lol that’s exactly what we thought Yam,…..ant – antelope – anteater…..ant was too obvious so I chose anteater.
      Wrong – they are called pups. Young antelopes are called calves.

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  9. Small changes are the best. They are easily incorporated into your life and become habits very quickly I agree with you about the government’s drop in fuel tax. Too little too late in my opinion

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    1. I’m wondering what else we’re going to be promised- bet they never come to fruition (if – please no – if they get back in)

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    1. lol Elizabeth- they didn’t plan on cutting it down, we’ve had some horrendous storms over the past couple of years and that big one plus stuff in the garden behind came down. All the trees outside properties were there when the area was settled, so you’ll see them along the roadside. Dead trees are trimmed back not cut down, for wildlife – cockatoos & corellas need holes to nest plus rest on. Conservation laws mean we need a permit to cut anything down.

      This is a very wooded area and emergency services were out and about for weeks on end making things safe – removing trees from roads, houses they’d fallen on, reconnecting power. We were out for days after one of the storms, family nearby for over two weeks, people up in the hills for a month at least.

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  11. The tree behind the dead tree is gone.
    My sister had knees to bad they are bending wrong. She won’t consider replacement. She does exercise every day in the pool at the gym. Says she will keep her muscles strong to be able to walk around.

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    1. You’re right – the big gum plus other vegetation came a cropper a storm
      I love my pool work – helps my back tremendously.

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  13. I was temporarily cranky that someone had seen fit to cut a tree down but I see it was a casualty of storms.
    I’m happy that soup weather is coming but I haven’t quite got used to the early nightfall.

    The 20 visit gym pass is a great idea, not too committed but enough to develop a routine

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    1. That was my way of looking at it Kylie – if I keep to my word and go at least one morning a week I’ll have established the habit. I can then top up another 20 and they’re good for 12 months if something happens and I can’t attend for a while….like going interstate during the winter 😊

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  14. We put Eddie on each evening as we prepare tea and then get to eat around news time. I watch 10 mins of local News and that’s about it. I do nothing gym wise. I have talked to my GP and he says just keep your activity up and I do thanks to an Apple watch but I am no hero either. I once joined a gym but forgot just how much I would need to use my arthritic and sore hands and so had to apply to leave. In the end, they let me go. I think your idea is great. Petrol is back to relatively OK prices now after the shock of $2… take care…Thank you so much for linking your blog post up for Life’s Stories my fortnightly blogging link up at Denyse Whelan Blogs.

    I appreciate your support and continuing blogging connections and friendships.

    I will be back with the next #LifesStories link up on Monday 25 April 2022.

    Denyse.

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    1. Family have suggested electronic fitness checkers but (and we’re all different) to me all they do is just tell you what you’ve done and any results – I need to physically feel the results to know how hard I’ve worked.

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