Author: Cathy

Below the winter post is another I started then put on hold and finished a day later

Seems Blogger published in the order you start

I mentioned the other day taking a granddaughter up to Mt Dandenong which is just a short drive from our place, in fact I took this picture of the view of the Dandenongs from the local footy oval last year.

Those 3 TV transmission masts are a well known landmark and no matter where we are if we see them we know we aren’t far from home 🙂

This was the same place yesterday – yes it has been so cold here it actually snowed.

We get lots of sunshine and hot days in the summer and we have cool winters here but this is really out of the ordinary It really was exceptionally cold and turned out to be the coldest July day in Melbourne for 10 years. It didn’t actually snow in my backyard (we had hail and sleet) but lots came down in other parts of the state with roads closed because of black ice and school cancelled today in those parts worst affected.

I didn’t go far from home but stayed inside snug and warm, today has been cold with a some rain but I was very good and managed to get a quick walk in between the showers. Thats something I haven’t managed to do for days as the rain has been so heavy and constant.

Edit

Found another news story – read here

Quiet day yesterday and then had a great evening with all (well nearly all) of the family.

We decided to get together at a local Bistro because it mean’t that even tho I would love to I didn’t have to ‘entertain or cook’ and could sit down and enjoy all the company also with all those grandchildren coming (total of 10 ranging from 2yrs to 13yrs), and it being winter and really cold and them not being able to play outside this venue was perfect as they have a kids play room – complete with indoor equipment and computer games plus entertainment (a modern clown) to keep young ones entertained – which meant that all the oldies and wrinklies as the 13yr old one said could chatter and natter in peace.

Bit annoyed with our oldest son who didn’t come but his partner drove over with their 2 girls so as not to dissapoint me which I thought was lovely on her part because during the time they were seperated she decided to let her feelings be known about her defacto inlaws.

His reason for not coming was as they had an hours drive over here and the same to get home it meant a late night and he would be tired the next morning and that he had to be at work by 7am which meant getting up at 5.30am to leave home at 6am and the last time he saw the visiting brother there were things said about the football team he follows and he wasn’t prepared to put up with that again.

Honestly – hes 45 years old and I still have to put up with the silly behaviour :((

Families – who’d have them.

Hundreds and thousands of them in fact – not a cloud in the sky – it looks like you see forever if it was possible. Its been the first day for ages with no rain falling in our area and the sun shone most of the day and it was glorious. Cold during the day and going to be colder still overnight.

School holidays and I had babysitting duties for one granddaughter today so Dh and I took her out for lunch at her favourite spot (no, not a fast food outlet) and then later in the day I drove up the mountain and took her into the new maze at a park at the top. It was freezing up there but she was happy and we had a good look at the city from there.

We are so lucky to live close to the Dandenongs – we are in the foothills and its only a ten minute drive from our place to this particular park. Great place to take overseas visitors and good if we want to escape the heat in summer. Can be a good ten degrees C cooler up there on a really hot day.

Another good thing happened today:)))

Our son who lives interstate is in Melbourne on business for a few days with wife and the two little grandsons as well. Hes staying with one of his brothers who lives close to us so Dh and I popped down there late in the afternoon so we would then get to see more of all of the grandchildren together. The 2 whose home we were at, the 2 who are visiting and the 1 we were babysitting.

Those boys are still as happy as before and were not fazed by the plane ride even tho with storms in Sydney this morning they were delayed by over an hour and a half – some of that actually sitting in the aircraft on the tarmac. Granddaughters mother came there to pick her up so I had 3 of my children together at the same time also. With their busy lives thats quite an achievement these days.

Going to bed a happy chappy this evening.

I keep bubble wrap to use in parcels but have to hide it from the grandchildren.

The reason being they like lots of other people, me included, think its great fun to pop all the like bubbles of air.

I found this site – and all my worries about losing my cache are over

Try it – its fun

I think I’ve said here before that I’m a fair weather walker – which is strange because I was raised in England where the weather can be pretty ordinary at times.

I prefer walking out in the open air but with this winter being so wet and me not being enamoured with walking in the rain I have been treading the boards at the gym. When I manage to go to the Leisure Centre I try to do some walking on their treadmills as well as use some of the other equipment.

Last year I had a go at jogging and after the initial shock of realising I was actually moving faster than a quick walk have been trying a little more each time. Some times I get puffed quickly and give it up as a bad job but recently its become easier and easier. Not sure why as I don’t seem to have lost any weight, but having said that my clothes are hanging better so maybe theres been a rearranging of the fat and a tightening of the skin :))

Today I jogged for a kilometre – yes thats right – one whole kilometre. One kilometre is equal to 0.621371192 miles approx. and yes that may not seem like a long distance but for me it is huge.

I started off walking and raised the speed to my jog rate and then seemed to find some sort of rhythm where the legs and feet moved in time with each other and I just kept on going. I kept watching the distance figure go higher and higher and I was determined to see just how far I could go so as I said I just kept on moving. When I got to the magic figure I decided to pull it back to walking pace and not get too excited as I feared I’d lose my footing and fall off the treadmill.

I could just see the headline in the local paper next week:-

Newsflash – 64 yr old Granny says – No she hadn’t had a drink before signing in for her daily exercise programme.

lol I’d never live it down :))

This past couple of weeks we’ve had cold wet days and dry sunny days as well as gales and storms. Parts of the state are flooded which isn’t good tho and locally this week looks wintery . We do still need the rain and even tho’ the levels are rising there is still talk of tougher water restrictions. Time will tell I suppose so all we can say is ‘Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain’

This winter I’ve tried very hard to stay away from ‘sickies’ those with coughs and colds but it didn’t work and I’ve spent part of the week feeling like death warmed up, coughing and sneezing and moaning about a headache.

Luckily one of the daughters has a Lemon Tree so I dosed myself with fresh lemon juice, honey, boiling water with a dissolvable aspirin every few hours. Its an old fashioned remedy that I enjoy.

I also have a favourite cough mixture that no one else likes – unfortunately I cant find the one I used for years called Medallion (black and tasting of camphor and methol that took your breath away) but recently discovered a similar one called Irish Moss.

As I say its similar and seems to work as well and when I’m feeling crook thats all I ask.

With those two and Eucalyptus Oil on a tissue to open the stuffed up nose I was set to kill any of those rotten germs. I spent a lot of time resting and finishing off a teddy I’m making for one lucky granddaughter for Christmas.

Before ‘the cold’ struck I had a trip into the city to go to the theatre with my Red Hat group and we laughed ourselves silly at ‘Menopause – the Musical’ Fun fun fun and we all had a great time. Lots of questions about our clothing and I feel there will also be lots of searching for chapters near to those questioners.

July 1st is Victoria Day (the day Victoria was granted seperate statehood from New South Wales in 1850) and so this Monday I went to the Victoria Day Award Ceremony in the city. One of our granddaughters sings with the Victorian Girls Choir and they were there to sing the National Anthem so I went along with her mother (one of my daughters) and the other children.
The historical society had their enactmant first outside the Town Hall – complete with old fashioned uniforms and muskets and the reading of the Seperation Proclamation and then we all went inside for the presentions and speeches.

The youngsters sang the Anthem beautifully and gave a good rendition of Happy Birthday Victoria as well. Another fun day as we went on the train so I didn’t have to wonder about parking etc and we wandered round some of the big stores and came home with a few bargains as well.

Things happen again – like DH stuffing up the computer.
Never mind he likes tinkering and checking out sites – nothing as bad as ‘catching a virus’ – its such a shame it takes him ages to get it back to normal again

I am going to have an early night, the cold might be gone but I’m still feeling drained.

Melbournes water storage levels are up a bit – have a look here

Hopefully with a bit more of the promised rain it will rise a bit more.

I remember some of my Mother’s friends coming out with this saying :-

I’ll not take me coat off as I’m not stoppin – yet half an hour later they would still be sitting at the kitchen table sipping tea Mum had made for them.

I can’t stop long this evening but should just say theres been various reasons for not being here.

DH downloads ‘things'(read TV Series and Movies) and half the time I can’t get near the comp as its too slow and hes using all the bandwidth. Also my life has been busy but I’m well, plodding along at the Gym and trying to get a walk in now and again ‘cept on the days its been raining.

I know, never knock a good downpour, but there are some things I just don’t like and getting cold and wet intentionally is one of them :))

We’ve certainly had some very cold nights, has been down to freezing 0c, I knew it was going to be cold on those nights as we could see every star in the sky – why were you outside you ask? – well Venus was glowing really bright and clear in the north west and its my ruling planet so I wanted to get a good look and have a wish. Hope they come true :)) Last night and this evening the crescent moon is right below Venus – quite a sight to see.

As well as the rain we’ve had some very foggy mornings which have then turned into fabulous sunny dry days, days when the washing dries outside and walking makes you feel good to be alive.

The few lovely sunny days mean’t I could get outside and prune the roses and tidy up the very messy garden. Put lots of manure and compost round the roses and pulled out the plants that didn’t survive the summer drought. Some of the beds look quite bare but I’m going to wait till spring before I plant again.

So what else have I been doing –

well one wet day I cleaned the gas stove, inside and out and even included the oven!!

We’ve had it for a while now and with the cost of a new model out of reach at the moment (nearly $2000) I checked out a spare part place and ‘treated’ myself to some new burners which mean’t I had to take it apart to really make it look nice and clean. Its like cleaning your car – makes it look quite different – quite inviting even and so I’ve been doing a bit more cooking than usual.

Cooking to me is a bit like housework – no sooner have you finished than I’ts time to start over again and being the selfish person I am thats not my cup of tea.

Well I reckon its time for my bedtime cup of Milo. Bought some mini Lamingtons today so one of those will be a treat without too many calories.

Yes its officially winter here in Australia. If the weather has been anything to go by I would have thought it arrived last week. Rain rain and more rain – really needed rain cose this http://http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/water/water_storages/water_storages.asp?bhcp=1is what our storage levels are in the Victorian Dams. Not crash hot are they. Water restrictions are still the go and if the levels are no better at the end of August (after the winter rains that is) they will become even tougher.

Its been very cool recently – bit nippy some days and I even had a coat on yesterday so it must of been cold and it means I have to get used to the idea of wearing different clothing and turning the heater on.

Next week the forecast for the week is almost the same each day – highs of about 14/15c and lows of 9/10c. Means jeans and windcheaters most days and tracky suits round the house.

They say snow has started falling up in the high country so the ski resorts are doing happy dances – ski season starts next weekend – Queens Birthday Weekend here in Victoria – and even tho most of the population of Victoria doesn’t go near the ski fields we all hope they have a better season than last year. The warmest and driest winter for many many years meant no snow even with the artificial snow machines.

It looks like I may have to change my mind about the 5km walk as DH reminded me we are supposed to be interstate that weekend.

So as they say as one door closes another opens; the Leisure Centre I go to is having a team challenge for the next 12 weeks so I signed up and hopefully the encouragement of others and the team leader as well as gaining points for each time I go will be a help in saying goodbye to the extra 7 kilos I am carting around.

The sooner it goes the better as my wardrobe of clothes is getting smaller. I am getting quite disheartened at the the way I look in some of them and am finding more and more are getting too small for me. Cash reserves at the moment are not allowing me to spend on bigger ones just for the sake of it either.

2007 is almost half way over and I don’t seem to have done anything new. I often try to learn a craft or achieve something I have on my list of things to do but not this year so far. Earlier during the summer I wanted to go to Thredbo and take the walk to the top of Australia. You take the chair lift up the ski fields and then it’s an easy 2-hour walk to the summit of Mt Kosciuoszko.

Being our highest mountain you are literally at the ‘Top of Australia’.

Unfortunately the terrible bushfires during January and February in that area put paid to that, then the national park was closed for a few weeks and after that we never had the time.

So here I am feeling I haven’t achieved something when all the early publicity for the Melbourne Marathon comes on the air the other day. Now that would be an achievement to run a Marathon even a half but I think I’ll leave that to one of my DDs.

I read that this year they are having a couple of shorter events on the same day, starting and finishing at the MCG – traditional home to sport here in Melbourne – with a lap of the ground to finish off and one of them is a 5.5km walk with no cut off time, which means you can take as long as you like and not be turfed off the route if you haven’t passed a certain spot in a certain time.

So I have decided on the spur of the moment that this is going to be my achievement for 2007.

Do the Fun Run/Walk associated with the Melbourne Marathon in October.

I walk at least 3kms whenever I can and often more so I have at least 4 months to get into the habit of doing the distance on a regular basis.

There is a map of the course on the net so I can go into the city several times and do the walk to familiarize myself with the streets and also get an idea of the actual distance and as seniors here in Victoria have free public transport on a Sunday DH and I won’t have to take the car in but can catch the train and have a day out at the same time. Sound like a good idea? The forms not filled in yet but I’m warming to the idea as the days go by.

Might think differently in a few weeks but at the moment I have something in mind and it will also help me with this weight loss that is a non event at the moment.

I’m having a problem getting the comment thingy to show. Will work on it. Some things are a bit high tech for me tho’

Just checked and its back Yeah

Still raining and the heating is on as its rather cool

Heard from 2 grandchildren this evening. One scored a goal at soccer – he’s only 5 so was thrilled to bits. The other won her Cross Country event – 20 competitors so she also was thrilled. Hoping to be like her aunt and run half marathons.

I finally arrived home from Sydney late last Wednesday afternoon but have been on the go ever since. As I was going to be out really early the next morning I had arranged to pickup the cats in the afternoon but didn’t get back home till after 5pm so rang and put it off till the next day (Friday)

They are looked after so well at this particular cattery I have no problem with leaving there longer, when I turned up both were cuddled up together quite comfortable in an old round papasan chair and seemed reluctant to even move.

Unlike many pedigree cats who are not allowed outside mine are indoor/outdoor cats so have the run of our garden as well as the comfort of the fireside.
There is an outdoor pen/run in the back garden for them to use if I go out in the summer and don’t want them inside, that way I know they are safe and not running the street when I’m not there to keep and eye on them.

Leroy gets really stressed if he’s put into the indoor pens at the cattery and starts to spray so they have the use of an outdoor run each time we book them in, its like a holiday cottage with marvellous views of the cattery owners large gardens, visiting birds and other wild life as well as the chook pen close by.

The chooks are let out to scratch around so Leroy and Kiera have plenty to watch and be entertained by if they aren’t snoozing in the chair.

Then at night the doors to a little ‘shed’ at the end of the run are closed and with comfy beds, a supply of food, water along litter tray both are safe and warm till morning.

Recently I seemed to have cut down on the number of blogs I read, and I am making fewer and fewer comments as well.
My blog was a way for me to come to grips with my weight gain but has evolved over the year to be a way for me to churn over my thoughts on anything and everything so it hasn’t worried me that not many others read it.

Thank you Lynette at Beloved Children’s chronicles for tagging me.

The fifth full sentence on page 161 of the book I have just finished is:

“You don’t think she might just feel that anyway?”

Taken from Three Dog Night, a confronting story of a friendship renewed after ten years, written by an Australian author, Peter Goldsworthy.

Three Dog Night is an Australian term taken from the bush, which refers to the number of dogs you need to sleep with in the desert to keep warm.

Over the next few weeks I will be trying to finish off some unfinished knitting for a craft stall so most likely will spend less time on the computer. Its been raining again (Hooray) and its a rather cool Saturday outside which is ideal for sitting and knitting so thats what I’m going to do.

Nearly time for Lunch so Bye for Now.

It’s raining here in Melbourne this Saturday afternoon. Football games are being played in the rain just like they used to be on April afternoons. Its been raining for a few hours now………..cold wet rain………constant rain soaking into the ground.

It has been forecast for tomorrow as well……….hopefully the weather bureau has given us the correct forecast and not one from years ago.

Oh lets hope it rains for a while and the farmers can benefit from it as well as us in the City and Suburbs.

Long may it RAIN

Yes it’s been a strange week so far

A bit of a confronting one and one that’s made me think about life in general

Monday I had a chat (long discussion) with a friend about Miss Saigon and the ending.

The mother relinquishing her child knowing she would never see him again. In this case literally as she then killed herself.

Could we hand over our children for the sake of a ‘better way of life’?

Many do – over the years many mothers willingly and unwillingly have handed over children for adoption never to see them again.

Similarly there are children removed from mothers and taken into care supposedly for the good of the child. This has sometimes been short term fostering – usually a good thing – good for the child and the mother; then there has been the forcible removal into care which often has had a terrible effect on both the mother and the child.

Our children are grown up now but we both of us were unsure how we would have coped in any situation that meant we had to ‘give them up’

Yesterday morning we learned of the tragedy at the university in America.

Those mothers had no say, Those children were unknowingly relinquished in a second. They had no idea their children would not be coming home.

Then yesterday two of my friends gave me the news that the Big C had entered their lives. A husband has been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and a daughter in law with Beast Cancer. Both of the families have no history of Cancer – it has just appeared.

So they are now trying to find a reason. Lifestyle – Diet – Demographics – Local Industry – they are racking their brains for a reason that will most likely never appear.

My love goes to all involved; no matter how we terrible things look we all need love.

Yes that’s going to be my attitude for April – give the walks a go and get back to the Leisure Centre on a more regular basis.

A friend sent me this quote and reading it today made lots of sense.

Everything in the future will change, if you start making the right effort now.” – Swami Sri Yukteswar

Here we are, its Wednesday morning after the Easter Weekend and so far I’ve been for a walk each day this week. What’s good about that you say – Earlier in the month I had said there were to be no excuses why I couldn’t do things.

Well trudging the streets was becoming a pain for me and I was putting it off until it was too late in the day. Its starting to get dark about 6.30pm now and even tho our neighbourhood isn’t that bad and even tho its been a glorious April and has been mild at that time I’m still not too keen being out on my own in the twilight.

So the walks are back on the calendar but much earlier in the day.

Now to the Leisure Centre and my favourite class Body Pump and the runner up Circuit class. Somehow they are going to have to be slotted into at least 3 days of the week.

Short post mainly to reinforce my thoughts – the weight is still stable (65kg) but my old Weight Watchers chart and the Doctor’s one also says thats still overweight for my short height so thats why I have to give it a go again by putting in more effort than I have for the past few months.

I went shopping today with various things in mind to buy and by the time I’d finished was I glad I chose today to spend my money and not yesterday as I originally planned.

Petrol had gone down another cent a litre and as there were warnings of huge price hikes I filled up on the way out. Lucky me – ‘cose as I drove past some service stations on the way home it had jumped an enormous amount.

We needed a small CD tower to sit near the computer, mainly for DH’s discs to do with the programs he uses. The storage rack on the desk is filled with all sorts of things and he has started using one of the small drawers, which meant I could never find any scrap paper or pens. This was my cue that the whole desk area was in need of a revamp.

One of the discount shops had a model in their catalogue in the same beech finish as the desk so off I go only to find they had a problem with supplies and it never came in…………………but there was another one there which because of the mix up was being discounted. At $19.99 it was a bit more than I wanted to spend for the purpose it was needed but a quick look told me it was a much better buy than the one I had set my mind on, just a little bit taller than the desk and was discounted by a whopping $7 – down to $12.95

Then on to Kmart, a store I only go into now and again…..have had some bad luck with purchases there so it’s not my No 1 choice.

My lucky day again…………%’s off all over the place.
First sign I saw said 20% off slippers and they were on my list 🙂

I needed some new slippers and had promised to buy these for myself this month, the slippers I wear were el cheapos bought when the last ones were beyond a joke just before we went overseas last July. They haven’t done the job I wanted so now it’s getting nippy on the toes around the house it was time for new ones.

I decided to get 2 small pairs of fluffy ones like ballet slippers but with a solid sole for beside the bed and a pair of heavier sheepskin ones slip on ones (no back) with a really solid sole for around the house and going to the post box or bin. NOT for hanging washing out tho’.

Socks and Sleepwear were discounted as well and both those things were also on my list. We don’t always get the weekly catalogues so all this was a fabulous suprise.

I’d promised myself new socks for the gym for a while so those went in my basket and I started to casually look at sleepwear. Last year for her 13th birthday I gave our eldest grandaughter some silky short-legged PJs and she loved them. I had said to myself that if I could find any more discounted I’d get the next size up for her birthday in September this year. I was like a kid on Christmas morning when I discovered the right size on the rack – down from $20 to $15 so $5 off the original price – and then down to $12 with the store discount.

There was even another surprise when I get to till and the person being served in front of me mentioned ‘pension card’ and I remembered Kmart’s 1st Wednesday of the Month discount for pensioners. I don’t often admit it (unless its to my benefit) but we are on the Age Pension and they have discount Wednesday where by showing your pension card you get another 5% off purchases.

As I said in the beginning Oh Lucky Day. I had recouped the cost of my Coffee and Cake from yesterday (and more).

But then maybe it would be better if I physically put the money I save from reductions and discounts into a money box and opened it at the end of the year. That way I could note exactly how much I have saved.

There was a time when I would ‘Go for a coffee’ at the drop of a hat. If a friend rang and said join me down the street I’d change and pop out with no thought of the cost. Didn’t enter my mind to say ‘come round to my house’. It certainly would have been cheaper for me and any cakes or biscuits in the house would have far less calories than the ones on offer at a Coffee Shop.

Today I went out for with some Red Hat Ladies for Morning Tea at a small café in a nearby suburb. Not a posh one – just a very pleasant one on Canterbury Road. We went to enjoy ourselves and meet a visiting ‘sister’ from Canada. There was lots of fun with our usual chat and joking around and eating and drinking. Nothing special.

When I went to pay my share I was horrified at my part of the bill. My coffee and cake totaled $11 and I had been very careful to choose one of the cheapest items available. I’m not sure if I’m becoming tight in my old (well not that old) age and I really need to get out more but it amazes me how some Cafés manage to charge so much and get away with it.

That certainly put a hole in my allowance for the week 😦