Category Archives: All things

A glass and a half….

All things,

Glass of cold water…coming up!

An enterprising local company decided the best way to advertise to ‘tradies’ is to put it right in front of their eyes. No elegant glasses for water in this pub.
Beer glasses all the way…..’cose tradies drink water too😊

Glass of cold beer – coming up!

I wondered if The Golfer was drinking a new brand of beer – No..same as usual..he said

I was intrigued enough to ask Mr G – it’s true – you learn something new every day😊

Coffee and cake – I never say no to that
Mug for The Golfer – a cup’ll do for me – and half each of two very nice slices

I think I’ve mentioned before internet reception where we are staying is a pain……drive 3km to the centre of town and it’s 5g all the way. Here, it comes and goes – windy days, hot sunny days, doesn’t make a difference- 3g (4g if you’re lucky) and it drops out constantly.
No big deal but I’m definitely getting fed up seeing the words ‘not connected to the internet’.
So I’ve been down the pub or the marina rather than here in blogland😎

#enjoyeverymoment

Out back or On side….

All things

What I didn’t mention in the last post is that there is an undercover seating area along the side of the cabin with room for a pony no I meant for golf clubs😊
There are a couple of all weather chairs and a small table plus a gratis BBQ
Cooking ‘tools’ are kept inside.

At first glance it looks plain but it’s serviceable and the privacy lattice softens the area, it’s plenty big enough for us two – plus other bits and pieces there’s no room for inside. The esky is the right height to use as a foot rest and that little table isn’t quite large enough for my needs 😌 so the tub makes a great low level ‘whatever you want it to be’

You can just see the cut back gum, the grassy area and the other cabin plus there’s a gravel dividing strip – which is normally where those golf clubs are parked !

Then there’s the square hedge (the gardeners love their square hedges) near the roadway at the other end. Cabin parking is at the front so unfortunately if that cabin is booked and a car is there we get no view

And here’s where I spit the dummy…..no need to read further if you don’t want to 😊

  • Now most of the the cabins would be used by short stay visitors – overnight/ 2-3 days – who possibly aren’t concerned about how much ‘land’ is useable – it’s only during ‘the winter season’ (May – September) that they are booked for several weeks at a time. This year we’ve booked for 11 weeks, leaving the end of the month – some years it’s been less and we’d be leaving just after this weekend.


This is the cabin next door (from my photo archives) – the one we usually get – it’s at the end of the row with van sites beginning on down from there.
The positioning of the boundary wall and the siting of the cabins means there’s much more grassy space behind it, the view through the palms in front is open, not restricted. The whole feel of the place is better
Call me childish, call me silly – the covered area is great when it’s blazing sunshine or raining but like the other day I do like to sit out in the open shade (none of the other long stayers do) and I’ve felt very hard done by this year

After all that I think I need to close my eyes again and remember my aim this year is to
‘enjoy every moment’ 😎

Spring Day1

All things,

Now that didn’t take long did it……one season to another, just like that!

The rain eventually moved on – the wind blew
And on cue the sun shone to welcome the new season!

(and yes you’re right, comparing the rainy day photo and this one
I don’t think any of these cars moved over those couple of days😊)

Someone asked what the outside of the cabin was like and did we have an actual grassed sitting area – well like lots of things in life that are sent to try you, we had a bit of a wonky start when we arrived this year.
We weren’t allocated our requested cabin but the one next door.

‘Everything is the same’ as the other one we were told.
(Photos from a previous year
Read about our ‘tiny’ house 2018 )

…..except as we found out, it wasn’t quite the same – smaller inventory, less electrical sockets, a ‘touchy’ fridge with missing shelves, the maintenance man has had to repair a few previously unreported issues, annoying things like a squeaky overhead fan as well as a dripping shower head (short stay visitors don’t mention minor problems, they just leave and think maybe we won’t go back there again)- both sorted quickly and quietly…. but look once I’d stopped grizzling all has been well

Saying that though, there is one difference I’m really not happy over – that’s the amount of useable space at the back of the cabin. Not a lot!


And as you can see, even though there are palms and what I think is a very cut back Silver Dollar Eucalyptus (E. cinerea or polyanthemos – the gardeners aren’t sure)
between cabins
it seems to be dominated by the side wall view of next door


Anyway back to yesterday, I took my fold up chair and ‘make do’ table along with book, coffee, snack, looking for a quiet spell out there. Often at this 1st of the month time when seasons change I’m thinking about where we’ve been and where we’re heading for the rest of the year but for some reason other things were plodding round my mind.

‘Shut it out Catherine’ I kept telling myself. ‘Close your eyes, forget it, let it be’.

At the end of last year amongst other things I had told myself to ‘enjoy every moment.
Corny as it sounds, opening my eyes and seeing the branches to the front and the palms over the wall to my left swaying in the sunlight brought that home to me.


Another week of smiles

All things, ,

After the calm of last week ~ it was fun to see the ‘not so calm’ earlier this week

An early morning ‘not a soul in sight’ always makes me smile.
Thats the beautiful Rose Bay Resort in the background

https://www.tourismbowen.com.au/see-do/attractions/bowen-beaches
Foraging for a selection from the sea turned up these small (almost miniature sized) pieces right beside my chair. I left them behind so they could make someone else smile

Our weekly treat of lunch out was at the historic Grand View Hotel in Bowen
https://www.grandviewhotelbowen.com.au/about-us/

Getting there early bagged us a spot outside, pleasantly warm but windy.
It’s not called ‘ Blowin’ Bowen’ for nothing 😊
(Shutters to block the wind not the sun – look through for a glimpse of Front Beach)

The place was renovated a few years ago – all a’la’ posh now, lots of white along with ‘colour’, hardly a speck of timber to be seen, supposedly ‘good food’ ….with high prices, (caesar salad in a wrap?)
Professional Photo Link 👇

Grand View Hotel | Bowen, Queensland

unfortunately to me (and yes call me old fashioned) being nothing like it was when we first ate/drank there – just after it was used as a set in the film Australia – it seems to have lost a lot of its country town flavour.
The covered quirky outdoor ‘wet season’ smokers spot does make me smile though. 

~ ~ ~
And I’m just popping this in because it could be a bit of fun

Just as we were leaving I spotted this. If I was an artist I might be interested.
Art classes with drinkies supplied
Angela ~ this would put a smile on your face 😊

I really have been living my life under a rock
This seemingly is world wide big business

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint_and_sip_industry

I searched ‘paint and sip Australia’ and discovered they’re all over the place!

~ ~ ~ ~

EC hosts Sunday Selections – a meme that’s been going for a few years now. 
It’s a place to share thoughts and photos…..old and new. 
Do pop over and see what she is showing today.

Click/ tap or finger slide to enlarge

Boys and Dogs and the Ocean….

All things, , ,

Most of my recent morning visits to Rose Bay have been
just before or just after low tide.
A time for youngsters (and dogs) to have fun without being knocked off their feet

13/8/22 – 9.15am

A time to marvel at a band of sea fog floating across the horizon

15/8/22 – 9.15am

A time to feel the joy – watch out, here I come!

20/8/22 – 9 am

And a time to….well, to smile and enjoy their fun

20/8/22 – 10am

Pop over to EC’s and see what beautiful photos she has to share today. 
Sunday Selections – a place to share thoughts and photos…..old and new

Click/ tap or finger slide to enlarge

https://www.tourismbowen.com.au/see-do/attractions/bowen-beaches

Things that made me smile….

All things, All things travel, , ,

Today I’m joining in with Elephants Child and others at Sunday Selections. 
~ ~ ~ ~

I smile each time I see these roadside tourist billboards thinking how lucky I am to be wintering in a fabulous part of our country.
Bowen is at the northern end of The Whitsundays

Big smiles all round (or rather, down the Highway) when I saw that just like last year, the ‘little yellow girls & boys’ were still working hard protecting road workers by indicating where overhead power lines were.

~ ~ ~ ~

From a distance I thought this was a real house gecko on the painted shed doors out the back of a Proserpine cafe – a laugh and a smile when I realised it was a decorative door handle

This is a real one!
A smile when I saw it clinging on for dear life to a dusty window frame in another shop….followed by a frown.
They are supposedly nocturnal so why was it out and about?


~ ~ ~ ~

Murals are a ‘big thing’ in Bowen and this is one I hadn’t seen before. Another of those drive down an unfamiliar streets and get a surprise moments!
Painted by James Ellis – the same young Brisbane street artist I mentioned last year.

Eye catching isn’t it.
Well placed and visible from a distance.
Playful dolphins make me smile any time I see them

~ ~ ~ ~

And finally a little scene from Rose Bay one morning last week
Low tide, the seas were like a millpond – just right for kayak lessons on the shoreline
I’m not sure who was going to have the most fun.
Dad or the two littlies brandishing their paddles

Do pop over to EC’s and see what beautiful photos she has to share today. 
Sunday Selections– a place to share photos…..old and new

A slight misunderstanding…..

All things, All things fun,

Many years ago (1972) not long after we arrived in Australia we were asked to a BBQ.  BYO, the neighbour said, oh and bring a plate.  Now I knew BYO meant bring your own drinks but being a new chum was mystified by ‘bring a plate’.

Some of the groups I belonged to previously (usually young wives/mums groups) had met in members homes and we were often asked to bring cups and plates to help out at morning coffee or supper time because in those days not many young families had oodles of crockery or cutlery,

So you can guess what we did the day of the BBQ – yes, we each turned up holding an empty plate – not a skerrick of food on them.  Now if the neighbour had mentioned ‘shared food or potluck’ I’d have known what to do. Meat and salads or a sweet to share would have come along with us.

  • Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms
    Bring a Plate
    An invitation to bring a plate of food to share at a social gathering or fundraiser. There are many stories of new arrivals in Australia being bamboozled by the instruction to bring a plate. As the locals know, a plate alone will not do. In earlier days the request was often ladies a plate, sometimes followed by gentlemen a donation (to the bar…understood) First recorded in the 1920s source

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There was a big grin on my face the day I first heard this joke
Remembering the day of the empty plates 😊

The Blonde Cowboy

A Sheriff in a small town in Texas walks out into the street and sees a blonde haired cowboy coming towards him with nothing on but his cowboy hat, his gun and his boots.

He arrests him for indecent exposure. 
As he is locking him up he asks, ‘Why in the world are you walking around llike this?’

The cowboy says, ‘Well it’s like this Sheriff…

I was in this bar down the road and this pretty little red head asks me to go out to her motor home with her….

So I did.

We go inside and she pulls off her top and asks me to pull off my shirt….

So I did.

Then she pulls off her skirt and asks me to pull off my pants…

So I did.

Then she pulls off her panties and asks me to pull off my shorts….

So I did.

Then she gets on the bed and looks at me kind of sexy and says…

‘Now go to town cowboy’

*

*

‘And here I am!’

Bring a plate – Go to town….
Oh yes, it’s all in the understanding and interpretation of the words
Have you ever misunderstood the words??

You in your small corner

All things

And I in mine!

A little reminder of a Sunday school hymn

Jesus bids us shine,
With a clear, pure light,
Like a little candle burning in the night;
In this world of darkness, we must shine,
You in your small corner,
And I in mine. –

Jesus Bids Us Shine” is a children’s hymn with words by Susan Bogert Warner (1819-1885) and music by Edwin Othello Excell (1851-1921). source

Each of us in the blogging community have our own little piece of real estate – a place we call home under the guise of our blog’s name. You could liken us to the little ones singing about shining like a candle in the dark. We all have tales to be told about our lives, loves and interests. We might think we’re all different but we usually share something in our lives with someone else and one of the good things you’ll find is that (generally) we care for each other

Here’s a few bits about ’some’ of the bloggers I follow

Recently Sue (My quiet life in Suffolk) Angela (the aussie empty nester) Caroline (sparklingmerlot) had been wondering if their lives are boring.
Well if writing about your daily life and being grateful for many things is boring….then I’m a fan of it.

Retirement changes our lives as Andrew (& R) have found out, Debby is enjoying the freedom of life in retirement, Kathy has left her Kampground and retired to live in the mountains – and ’Frogdancer’s’ life also changed when as a proponent of FIRE she decided on early retirement.

Ms F & Mr Tigger live in Piraeus near Athens, Linda lives in a small village on a little nearby island not far offshore, NZ expats living very different lives – all at the moment trying to cool off as the scorching hot mediterranean summer continues.

The lives of Cathy, Rhonda as well as Sue changed when they became widows but they carry on adapting to all the permanent changes in their lives – Carol and Helen are adapting to the ever changing health issues of their husbands.

‘Wisewebwoman’, Joanne and EC ….living in three different countries have seen enough of the medical profession to last them a lifetime but they share a concern for seniors, women and the underprivileged.

Then there’s Mark, Cro and Nick, Ian and YP, not forgetting Clive, Dave & Tasker ….all blokes writing about ‘stuff’….music, memories, literature, walking, gardening, mental health issues, life in general

Do you find there are similarities in blogs you follow

Do they all cover the same subjects or do some talk about this and others that

Even though on the surface all these blogs are different, it turns out
Many share much more than I thought

You can’t always get what you want…

All things


Or as my mother would often say
‘Just because you want it doesn’t mean to say you’ll get it’

It’s an easy drive on the road I take to the nursing home, fairly straight, no twists and turns, …after making a right hand from our small street onto ’the main road’ it’s usually smooth sailing for 8km/5mile (along that same main road) until I get to the much bigger road in Ringwood where at a multi light controlled intersection theres a right hand turn across four lanes of traffic.
Less than two minutes later I’m there.
Leave home about 9.30, approx 15mins on the road in well behaved traffic gets me there 9.45 – waiting time for compulsory RAT test 15 mins, then it’s up to the kitchen, take control of the trolley and with a smile on my face ask ‘What would like this morning, tea or coffee?’

Well that’s the way its supposed to work , that’s the way it usually works but unfortunately there are days when it just doesn’t work that way at all

The Golfer and I both leave at about the same time on Tuesday which often means some ’bathroom negotiations’ take place, the neighbours don’t need to look at their calendar to know what day it is……hearing the words ”hurry up I need to shower as well” at full bellow (what, me bellow?, she says, I don’t bellow I yell loudly) is proof positive its Tuesday😊

Hoping for a break in the traffic so I can turn right at the end of the street is my first hurdle…..(where are all these people going at this time of the morning – most workers would have left home much earlier and school began half an hour ago) ……the next 11 are the sets of lights (pedestrian and intersection) on the road between my street and the 4 lane highway at Ringwood. The smooth sailing element of the journey is when I can drive from the first to the last at reasonable speed without needing to stop.
How dare people or vehicles approach from the other way and change the sequence…especially when I’m running late!

Then of course there’s the ’all come to a stop’ Mt Dandenong Road/Maroondah Highway/Ringwood Bypass light controlled intersection to negotiate. Easy Peasy – just look for the green arrow…..’cept it might only go green every second cycle. It’s fun – not – sitting there wishing those lights would change while watching what seems like every vehicle in the eastern suburbs getting their turn at crossing the street…..I sit there muttering and twiddling my thumbs (or the buttons on the radio) thinking ’those old ladies will have my guts for garters if their midmorning cuppa is late’

Then sometimes – just once in a while – I hear something funny while sitting there
desperately wanting to be on my way

I bust out laughing last Tuesday when this old Rolling Stones’ song was played
Here’s a young 25yrs old Mick Jagger with….You can’t always get what you want!


Interesting article 👇 about the day/night event when this was filmed live in1968

The Rolling Stones’ Masterful Rock & Roll Circus

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones_Rock_and_Roll_Circus

~ ~ ~
Have to be out early this morning so won’t be lingering over my breakfast ……..my first cuppa tea went down a treat and I’ll be off to make another soon…..in the meantime I’m sitting here thinking about how easy it is for me at the moment to get all hot under the collar about something I can’t control.
I really need to leave home earlier ……then I wouldn’t be waiting and stewing!

Corinne is hosting Monday Musings.- I’ll be over soon to link this week’s post.
Why don’t you drop in and see who else might be there.

Little bits of this….

All things, ,

and little bits of that!

A little bit of frivolity this morning….let’s call it Midwinter Madness

These potato slices, dipped in batter then deep fried are called Potato Cakes in Victoria. What are they called where you live?

Courtesy of those afternoon quiz shows The Golfer likes to watch, my answers to some questions proved once again my general knowledge is lacking in some quarters. I kept him company one wet afternoon and discovered:-

  • Gargoyles are not the same as Grotesque/s….one is functional (keeps the rain away) – the other is decorative (also keeps evil spirits away)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grotesque_(architecture)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargoyle

  • The lanes and back alleys in York are called ’snickelways’.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snickelways_of_York

  • Play-Doh was originally marketed as a wallpaper cleaner

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play-Doh

  • The are 24 countries whose english names have 5 letters. Benin and Gabon were two I’d never heard of😯

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/5-letter-countries.html

Benin, a French-speaking West African nation, is a birthplace of the vodun (or “voodoo”) religion and home to the former Dahomey Kingdom from circa 1600–1900. In Abomey, Dahomey’s former capital, the Historical Museum occupies two royal palaces with bas-reliefs recounting the kingdom’s past and a throne mounted on human skulls. To the north, Pendjari National Park offers safaris with elephants, hippos and lions. ― Google

This is one I really should have known

  • In the British forces a fried egg sandwich is called an ‘Egg Banjo’

https://www.forces.net/military-life/fun/ever-wondered-why-its-called-egg-banjo

~ ~ ~ ~

Source – Twitter

If you’re stuck in a traffic jam like these people recently make sure there’s an ice cream van close by – https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/ice-cream-van-doing-roaring-7235413

(I’m curious to know if Mr Whippy cruises the motorways on ’the off chance’ because I found articles about several similar happenings over the years)

~ ~ ~ ~

And for the big finish have a giggle – or a groan – at these ’Dad’s jokes’

Q. How do you make holy water?

You boil the hell out of it.

Q. What do you call a pig with laryngitis?

Disgruntled.

Q. What do you say to the person who stole your place in the queue?

I’m after you now 

~ ~ ~

Breakfast this cool morning (yes its still winter here) will be porridge with brown sugar and sultanas….my Scottish ancestors would be having a fit – salt for them was the way to go! Not my cup of tea at all😊
What’s your winter brekky like – same as usual or do you vary?

(And a little postscript here about something I rarely comment on in public – particularly if it happens in another country to mine.
I feel very saddened and fearful for all women in the USA….no matter what they believe in)

Pop over to Corinne blog – she’s hosting Monday Musings.

#livelovelaugh

The making of…..

All things

Early this year I mentioned what I thought were some great adverts for a (new to Australia) French streaming company 👇👇 – https://canalplus-australie.com/about-us/

Stories to share…

Well here’s another one – just click and watch and wonder….

And a really interesting one showing how they went about making it

Fun Friday – the day you forget the worries of the week.

Will be back on Monday – see you then!

Is it worth it??

All things

(Following on from yesterday’s post – this is something I posted elsewhere a few years ago.
It was at the time I was thinking about shutting Still Waters down)

First published 2015.
Now June 2022, reading current comments it seems nothing has changed.
~ ~ ~ ~

There are so many ways to communicate with others these days
Instagram – Twitter – Facebook – Blogs are just a few

And this is where I start with no idea of where I’m going or where I’ll finish😊

I do have accounts on all of those with minimal……in fact no personal information apart from a photo in my public profile.  You’d probably glean a bit about me from reading the blog avatar.

My personal fb account was to allow me to join craft (and other) groups, a few family and friends ‘found’ me and apart from newly discovered extended family…(discovered via family research sites)…I don’t go around asking others if I can be their ‘friend’.

Anyway about a year ago I kept getting ‘friend requests’ on this account – the odd thing was these were from strange men as well as male members of armed forces (soldiers sailors airmen – in uniform with rank displayed)  Obviously those requests were deleted.

Then the same thing happened on twitter – a medium I used for a while for various reasons but haven’t looked at for well over a year.  Lots of messages saying ‘so and so is now following you’  Once again strange very well built men, many with no tweets recorded but following loads of women  Oh and also those new followers included women whose profiles described them as ‘se^xy’ looking for fun!  It took a while for me (not the most tech savvy person) to find the way to block them, unfollow people and sites I no longer had any interest in and to decide to make the account private.

My (rarely used) Instagram account was getting the same treatment so that went private as well….that didn’t actually stop them – they just put in follow requests

Then there were the strange ridiculous and at times confronting comments that were arriving on the blog.  They came in clusters thankfully stopping for some reason towards the end of last year.  Luckily they didn’t all make it onto the blog proper- w/press scooped them up as they arrived and put them into spam folder for me to decide yea or nay.

So after a break I start writing on Still Waters again and blow me down if I don’t start getting emails informing me – ‘people with very strange names @ outlook’ – have become followers. I consulted the help forums and lo and behold I’m not the only one getting them………WordPress were aware and were trying to (not sure what) do something about it.

I then discovered a feature available in the settings of my w/press blog  There is a way to remove/delete followers.  You learn something new every day  

I thought it was only the other party who could do that – you couldn’t block a follower.

So armed with this knowledge I went through my followers list checking their ‘credentials’ and deleting an enormous amount.  Most of whom were unknown to me.   People who hadn’t blogged for years, people whose blogs were closed/deleted,  bloggers from online courses never to be heard from since, others from ‘financial’ sites or travel places – you know all those people who follow because you wrote about something once (but never again)  I will admit to feeling a bit better once that had been done and of course if I’ve removed a live reader they can always refollow.

OK everyone, come on and help me here.  Am I the only one to have gone through all this rubbish – was I naive in thinking all those things couldn’t happen to me?  For a while there I even wondered if my name had been entered on a dating agency’s books

Public blogs are like open jars of jam waiting for nasties and other strange things to fly in and ‘spoil’ the taste so I can’t complain.

However I’m curious to know about other people’s experiences with followers on those other sites.

~ ~ ~ ~

First published (elsewhere) 2015.

Now June 2022, reading current comments it seems nothing has changed.

On my mind….

All things

On my mind this week is how cunning they are becoming – are they real or imaginary?

(I’ll just mention that occasionally when I’m looking online / asking Mr G for information about products I’ll sometimes use the words ’near me’ meaning locally)

~ ~ ~

Over the years I’ve had various ’problems’ on the blog with the ghastly stuff they call spam, spammers and strange followers, that thankfully sorted itself out after a while

Anyway recently some comments appearing in the spam folder have been looking almost real… ….actually, real ones have been ending up in there, because over the past few weeks WordPress (like Blogger) has decided true comments aren’t what they are and they’ve been sent to the sin bin…..first comments have a special ’need approval’ folder and they’ve been treated as spam as well.

So because (like oodles of other bloggers) I’ve been keeping an eye on this folder the ‘are they real or not’ ones have become noticeable.
Clear?….yes, as mud I hear you say😊

Well look at these two – both ’arrived’ the same day, both posted to my About page – not a really old post as is often the way……and written in fairly good english not gobbledygook like some are……Both in the spam folder.

  • “I’m impressed, I must say. Rarely do I come across a blog that is both educative and amusing, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is something too few men and women are speaking intelligently about. Now i’m very happy that I stumbled across this in my search for something regarding this”

  • “Next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesn’t disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, nonetheless I really believed you would probably have something useful to say. All I hear is a bunch of complaining about something that you could fix if you weren’t too busy seeking attention”

They do look real. The first one might make you smile – the second definitely not.

WordPress decided (rightly) these were spam…as an aside if you copy/paste those words in search engines you’ll find them cropping up as comments by various ’people/companies all over the place …..on my site the supposed authors, the names of the people/companies you might click on to see who made you feel good or who ’had the cheek to write that’ – the ones who want your clicks to make them look good in ratings – don’t laugh but they were called ‘Shutter Shop Near Me ’
Coincidence or Big Brother watching??

It’s early Monday morning, and as is usual I’m sitting here enjoying my first cuppa….. just pondering about life in general.  

How’s yours going?  

Corinne is the host of  Monday Musings – come see what she is talking about this week

Winter Day16

All things, ,

It might be my imagination but everything seems to be a bit different this winter. The cold is colder, the rain more constant, the leaves on my little Japanese Maple seem to be redder, plus the nuts on the Corymbia at the library (see HERE) are definitely larger

The snow has come earlier, with bigger heavier dumps……this is the report from Mt Buller a resort less than 3hrs away – just a short drive up the road

Mt Buller celebrated the traditional season ‘kick-off’ with record snow levels and bumper visitation for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
”It’s the most snow we’ve ever recorded for a June long weekend and everyone is amazed to be skiing and boarding on the amount of cover we usually wait until mid-season to experience,” Read all about it here – Source

I wonder if this past weekend’s opening celebrations involved any of this?


I know I’ll be celebrating when we’ve done this drive to winter warmth

Just 3 weeks to go😎

2,500 kms!

#enjoyeverymoment

Maybe….just maybe

All things, ,

There are ‘readers’ who want to say things but won’t do it in public.
They ‘speak those things ’ in an email.

Could be good, bad or ugly – doesn’t matter, out it comes.
This time it appears I talk too much

Is it possible for me not to write so many words?

Maybe, just maybe – but highly unlikely says I……😊😊😊

~ ~ ~ ~

Close to the library lives an enormous Banksia. An Australian native
It comes into it’s own during late Autumn – early Winter

It’s then you are able see and enjoy the old, the new, and the presently reddy orange coloured ’flowering’ candles.

(you may like to click/slide and enjoy close up)

Possibly my only attempt😊

https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/gnp7/banksia-spinulosa.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_spinulosa

~ ~ ~ ~

xingfumama hosts ’whatsoever is lovely’-

a place to highlight those lovely things (big or small) that we take for granted

Seeing this beautiful Banksia was my recent lovely

Winter Day1

All things, All things weather, , ,

No golf for The Golfer (nobody wanted to play in the rain) – no choir for me (conductor still feeling crook after her bout of covid last week) so we decided to go for a drive.
Yes in the rain on the first day of Winter!

Up the road behind the bus, past the school, to the bottom of the hills and then up twisty turny Mt Dandenong Road to the top. The only thing that was warm was the restaurant card burning a hole in our pocket

We were going for lunch at a favourite little cafe – Ranges at Olinda

The (still partly loaded) card had been in the cupboard since before Covid appeared so by rights had expired and the remaining balance lost – a phone call to the company changed that so soup for two with sourbread, followed by a small quiche salad and (chips) halved used the last of a 2019 Christmas gift.

(From website)

The food was good as usual – sorry no pictures because I was so busy talking to my man plus the very congenial staff I forgot. Feeling nice and warm and full we came on back down the mountain a little more cautiously.
Low misty cloud made it look like a Chicken Little sky…..it really had fallen!

And the gift card turned out to be a gift that just kept on giving.
As we were leaving this flyer was pointed out to us. Hospitality lost so much during lockdowns so to encourage people back to ‘dining out’ the state government came up with a rebate scheme…..

So 25% of the price we paid – in kind via the card – didn’t matter how you paid – will be returned to us…..which will be enough for another two coffees and cake up at Ranges 😊😊

#enjoyeverymoment

Linking to Denyse’s ~ Life’s Stories. Pop over to read her reflections and thoughts about life past and present and possibly to come

On my mind….

All things, ,

What’s on my mind this week is that recently I’ve been having a little trouble getting the sleep cycle to stay ‘asleep’. It tends to think 2hr blocks are the norm rather than sleeping through the night all in one go. Not content with that it then goes about teasing me with time awake wondering why I can’t go back to sleep again!

When we were children, Bobby my next sister was one who dropped off as soon as ’lights out’ and was always running late in the mornings, wanting to stay abed rather than get ready for school. I sent her an email the other day…..mid morning our time/ night time hers …..not expecting a reply until late afternoon, and was surprised when one arrived not too long after.

Here’s part of her reply plus part of my follow up

  • B – So it’s 1:30 am I have odd sleeping habits these days – 9pm can’t keep my eyes open. 
    10:30 turn in – midnight wide awake and mentally solving word problems  – 2am thinking have a quick look at phone check emails look at weather and newspapers hope to go to sleep soon I got to be up and at it at 7am.   Then 7am dead to the world  – 8 am oh no is that the time already I’m late again 😂😂😂 – 9 am sod it. Can wait I’ll do it when I’m ready .
  • Me – I’ve been there done that with sleeping patterns- isn’t it a lovely surprise on the odd occasion to wake and realise you’ve slept through the night.  
    Often sleep in 2hr blocks so tried telling myself ’try for 4x2hrs’ before I settled down…..didn’t work. 
    Turned the clock/radio the other way – took it out of the bedroom- didn’t make much difference- I’d see the time on my way to the loo and realise how long I’d slept/ not slept.  
    Won’t get back the time I’ve lay there thinking do I need to pee again or can I will myself to go back to sleep….get up go drop off almost instantly…not going to happen
    Yes I hear your pain xxx

For the time being Mr Insomnia – the evil one who stops you dropping off to sleep in the beginning – has left the building but his little friend – the one who who wont let you go back to sleep – the one I have discovered goes by the name of Middle of the Night Insomnia – has been having fun in the bedroom recently. I certainly didn’t invite him and there’s no apparent reason why he’s come visiting

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-of-the-night_insomnia

https://www.medicinenet.com/why_do_i_wake_up_every_two_hours_at_night/article.htm

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So if you are familiar with those times when your mind wants to carry on at full pelt instead of closing down –  look carefully at the fun going on below – it is possible the answer to my and maybe your problem lies there 😊

I have absolutely no idea whereabouts on the internet I found this – Entitled ‘A Womens Brain’ or ‘Why Women find it hard to go to Sleep’ –  (which is a bit sexist) but I can totally relate to all the stuff going on. 
It’s a hoot – Keep your eye on those little blue balls and follow them down the line

Linking to Denyse’s ~ Life’s Stories. Pop over and see what she’s up to this week

Corinne is back with Monday Musings – this week wondering why we do specific things

Baby Talk revisted….

All things

(I wrote this follow up to a recent post and forgot to publish it)

Thank you for all your comments concerning the little babe and her mother in the (March) Baby Talk post. It certainly generated a lot of interest.

It was a difficult time for my friend (the Grandma) – I remember her telling me she certainly hadn’t done as was suggested in ‘the note’, had given the baby lots of cuddles and tickles and sung songs and did all the sorts of things you do when there is a babe in your arms – and was rewarded with lots of smiles and that funny coo tiny babies make.

When I next saw her, she (the grandma) mentioned she’d spoken (nicely) to the DIL on a different day about her concerns and it seemed she had a thing in her head about something she’d read about in a book – controlled crying. 
Seemingly the little one cried a lot in the evening (as well as during the day)…..-not what Grandma observed the day she looked after her…. and she, the mother was really tired and had heard that if you leave them be – didn’t keep picking them up every time they cried….. they would go to sleep.

Yes, said Grandma, sometimes it works with older babes and children but yours is still really little and needs to be held.
A short while later when the mother saw the ‘nurse’ at the baby clinic she said similar things to her and as well as the baby the ’nurse’ took her (the mother)under her wing as well.

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That’s what happened all those years ago and even now after all that time my friend (the grandma) is still ‘annoyed, angry even’ at all the stress the DIL caused by being so pedantic in her ways. The baby continued to be ‘cranky/troublesome/tiresome’ (the mothers’s words) strangely only in their own home and it took many weeks to calm them both down.
The baby (an only child, now a young girl) has always been quiet almost withdrawn which my friend puts down to her not receiving love and attention, never knowing how her mother will react.
And then recently her son let slip they had had some really nasty fights over leaving the baby to cry but he didn’t know where to get help for the mother.  Which led my friend to be upset and sad that he didn’t confide in her at the time.

I’m sure there are many reasons new mums (and babies) behave the way they do, even ‘non new mums’ have troubled days…..I learnt it’s not for us to judge, just be there if they need – or want – help. To be understanding….and kind.


Just recently….

All things, ,

I was pleased we were able to have our flu’ jab so now are up to date with our vaccinations. Flurona has become a real thing here in Australia

I discovered that Dragonflies are sometimes called the Devils Darning Needle (thank you quiz show) – so it seems are other things

I felt like Debby when I realised the four truss tomatoes I put in my shopping trolley cost over AU$4. Truss toms have a smell of their own, like homegrown fresh from your garden and these called to me from the fruit and veg section of the supermarket.

Someone got to the grapes before I snapped the tomatoes

https://lifesfunnylikethat.blogspot.com/2022/05/tomatoes.html

https://australiantrusstomatoes.com.au

I noticed the ’paper aisles’ (toilet paper/kitchen rolls/ tissues) in the supermarket were almost empty. Two weeks ago there was plenty of stock – now none. Perhaps the other chain is being supplied….the one whose shelves were empty in April

https://au.news.yahoo.com/aldi-shoppers-angered-by-constant-toilet-paper-shortage-034115019.html

I was thankful we have the wherewithal to pay for the increased power bills when they arrive yet still felt it was necessary to talk to the provider and negotiate a better plan than the new one they suggested. Sticker shock is being noticed everywhere these days. We might be able to afford it but it’s certainly not necessary to accept it.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-29/power-pain-as-bills-tipped-to-rise-40-per-cent-on-surging-prices/101023488

I declared Autumn has definitely arrived (Winter nearly as well) and even though the sun might shine and we do have extra clothes we could put on, contrary to my complaining about increased power costs, if it’s cold in the evening (or even during the day) the heater goes on. Anything under 15°c is not my cup of tea!

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/202205/html/IDCJDW3050.202205.shtml

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And finally I seem to have become forgetful – I write it on the calendar – leave notes on the fridge – set reminders on the phone – just for the pleasure of hearing me say…..

Linking to Denyse’s ~ Life’s Stories. She is telling a revealing one today