Tuesday, April 28, 2015

One Busy Morning!

Man I've had a busy day - and it's only going onto 1:30pm.

This morning, I shifted the coffee table from my living room and into my kitchen, after putting everything on it onto the kitchen table.  The terrarium had already been moved to get more light into it from the back kitchen window, so it didn't need to be moved anywhere, and so I had it all moved and I vacuumed the living room floor - sneezing the whole time.
Then, I shook the Preen Cleen Powder onto it, broomed it in and then set my phone's timer on for 20 minutes and went outside for a read on my phone with an ice coffee.

I had to do this three times before the carpet came up nice and clean... but man!... did some dirt come out of that carpet!  I am amazed at how clean my carpet really is!  I thought it was clean before I Preened it... now it's even better - and I'm not sneezing!

This is some great stuff!  I don't know what's in this stuff, and I really I don't care, but it worked so well!  It did wet the carpet, but not very much... so seeing the temperature was nice and cool today, I found it dried in the 20 minutes required.  So, if today was a hot day, it would have taken longer.

After I finished putting everything back - and throwing out two more bags of rubbish into the bin - I got in and washed the kitchen floor with Pine-o-Clean. It's a new floor-cleaning product they put out that doesn't smell like vomit; instead it smells like pomegranate.  It's a lovely smell and doesn't make you make you want to puke... this is a good thing.  And now my kitchen floor is nice and clean; and I want to get in and wash it every week because of the smell of the floor cleaner... now that says something about the product!

While I was waiting for my kitchen floor to dry, I went out into the backyard and pruned the Large Leaf Jade.  It's been looking very straggly and so I did a bit of trimming and turned it around so the back of it can see the sun in the afternoons, and it'll grow.
Then, I shared my cuttings with my back neighbours who are from overseas.  The man wasn't sure what to do with it until he saw it was a cutting and took it inside to his wife, who was thrilled I had given it to them.
I found a few more cuttings that looked okay and took them over to Sheryl's place at unit 42 and she was happy to take some too; as her Mum loves gardening and gardens.

Anyway, I got a lot done this morning... and now all I want to do is chill out on the computer for the next hour or so and not worry too much about my hay-fever.  I haven't sneezed much since doing my living room carpet... so I may do it every few weeks just to keep it clean, and to keep my health good.

So, how has your morning been?  Busy-busy like mine?  Or just average?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Dawn Service

The 4am alarm jangled me out of my deepest of slumbers.  I was dreaming of getting into a fist fight over who was first in line to be sitting in a grandstand.  I had my ticket in my hand when a guy cut the line and I told him to get back to the end of the line... in the dream, he punch me.  I was about to take my swing and punch him back when the whole grandstand collapsed! As it did my alarm woke me.

It was dark outside and I nearly didn't get out of bed.  But I had to. It was ANZAC Day. Quickly I got dressed in the bathroom, grabbed my phone, my shoes, brushed my hair and put on my make-up and perfume. 

By 4:30am, I was out the door and quietly driving out of the unit complex.

I was the only one to do this.

Sad really - isn't it?

I arrived at Logan Diggers on Blackwood Road at 4:45am and found a parking spot easily.  Police were out in force (there were around 10 police cars parked everywhere), 3 ambulances, SES workers and Army personnel as well as Army Cadets.  Yes, the place was packed!

The public were filling up a metal grandstand nearby and I sat on the lowest-most seat I could find; as I don't like heights.  We watched the preparations in the darkness as people grabbed tea and coffee and milled around; as the grandstand filled up, as the road and surrounding footpaths filled up too.

Then, I looked down at my phone as the grandstand move! 

Without a second thought I jumped off and walked away! A feeling of deja vu crept over me as people on the grandstand quickly filed off and SES workers started looking it over with torches.  Within 10 minutes, they pulled tape across it advising people to not sit on it; that it was unsafe.  

The dream I had glimpsed only an hour or so before had come back to haunt me just a little... I really didn't want to look at the grandstand.  And I didn't tell anyone about my dream this morning; they would have laughed at me.

The ceremony was amazing.  There was a Haka, 3 National Anthems, The Last Post, wreaths laid down and The Lord's Prayer was said.  We even sang 'God Save the Queen' without music; which was quite an accomplishment when you think of how long it's been out of the curriculum since the early 1980's.  I even scored a lovely program from a Vietnam Vet who raced around and made sure every last person received a program... man, did that guy have some energy!

I went inside to have a Gunfire Breakfast and ended up sitting with some lovely people and chatting to them for the morning before coming home at around 7:30am to post my photos online.

What a Dawn Service.  I will most certainly do this again next year... seeing how many people showed for this one - the Centenary of World War One - I'm sure we are going to commemorate the ANZAC's even more as the years go by.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Cooking isn't Necessary?

I've known how to cook a meal for myself since I was around 9 years old - that's when I learned to open a can of Baked Beans, pull over one of the dining room chairs and use the stove at my parents' house... and it was a gas stove too!

However, Mum read me an article from the Sunday Mail today which stunned me about cooking: that it's not necessary in today's world.  People are saying that they don't like cooking, they don't know how to cook and they think it's okay to be useless in the kitchen!

WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT!

I don't see anything attractive about a famous person who has a massive home, a gorgeous garden filled with herbs and vegetables and one hell of a huge kitchen and yet they have no clue how to use anything in that room.  Instead, they have a personal chef who does all the cooking for them while they're out making movies, television series or doing whatever they are doing... while us poor folks are trying to make a living from our jobs, holding together our homes and cooking our families meals.

OH! BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

I have heard from reliable sources that people I know and people in my family - as well as close friends of mine (who I won't mention online in fear of embarrassing them and myself) can't cook a simple meal to save themselves.  I mean, they try, but they just don't get how simple it is to follow a recipe in a book... and yes, I've stood by and watched a friend nearly destroy a simple vegetarian dip by putting in too much oil, instead of adding water when it got too dry halfway through.  I had to stop him and ask him what the vegetable was mainly made up of, but after he told me water, he still reached for the oil; which I confiscated until he realised what I was doing.

Now, it's not that hard, people.  

I learned Home Economics in high school.  The first 'meal' I cooked there was Savoury Mince.  It wasn't the most difficult meal, but I was about the only one in the class who didn't screw it up.  Exactly how the rest of my class did, I'm not sure.  But we did have it for dinner that night; and it wasn't bad.  I didn't burn the mince, the peas weren't hard and Mum made mashed potato to go with it.  After that, I started trying to cook other meals that weren't savoury mince; so did my brother.

When I moved out of home, I found that cooking was something that was a necessity as buying takeaway food was not only expensive, but not good for your body.  For one thing, it made my skin break out something rotten.  And secondly, the rest of my body didn't like it - I put on weight and it gave me really bad wind! 

Since moving into my own place, I've collected a huge stack of recipe books of all types and gleaned so many recipes from each of them that I've mastered, then changed just enough to make them uniquely my own... and that's the thing with cooking.  You can make any recipe completely yours by changing a few little things in it and giving one or more recipes your own twist.  

So, why are people not wanting to cook - or even wanting to learn? - I'm not sure.  However, if the public keeps going in the direction of stuffing shit in the microwave with a bit of water added, we are going to become a society who don't know anything about what happens in a kitchen - except that metal doesn't go in the microwave... and instant oats tastes like cardboard.

Well, it does to me anyway.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

At Long Last!

Autumn has arrived to Australia - at long last!  The shorter days, cooler nights and unusual weather has begun to show its face.

And I love it!

I have been looking forward to our Wintery days as I can get my butt into the garden really start working on it as I save my money for new pots, start to divide up my plants that need dividing and enjoy the colder weather - this means I don't sweat as much I do in Summer.

Yes, I'm a Winter person, I hate Summer.  I hate Summer with a passion... it's too hot, too sweaty.  I get sunburned too easily and the days are too long, the nights are too steamy.  I do love the Winters of cooler days and nights.

Well, over the last week, I sold an old Singer Sewing Machine to a friend of mine who was looking for something like it.  When Will saw it in my car port, he took to it with a screwdriver and pulled it apart immediately!  He kept on saying that he was eager to get into working on it; and he did once he got it home!  He bought it off me for around $50 - which made me happy too!  I have put that away so I can start saving up for something I've wanted for the house for a while now: a Ryobi 30+ kit.  It's two large rechargeable lithium batteries that can run drills, torches, whipper-snippers, lawn mowers and other such appliances around the garden and house and the most expensive part is the battery and charger.  I started saving about two weeks ago, and now I have the extra money, I'm looking at getting this for myself for Christmas.

Anyway, on Wednesday or so, I was at a workshop I took part in the previous week, and on the way I picked up my mail.  In the PO Box I found a parcel pick-up card, and I went inside and found a 3kg bag waiting for me!  It was filled with crochet yarn for my dishcloths!  Yay!  I finished off my other  dishcloths within about a day and then started on the bigger dishcloths with two different yarns from the ones in the mail.  
Now, this week, I've got to post off some of my gear from my work of Crafty Pegs to the lady who sent me the yarn as payment.  And we'll do it again in about three months or so, or once I need more.  

Tomorrow, I have the antenna people coming out to look at the reception on my television.  Over the last few years, it's been getting progressively worse.  I told my landlord and he's getting it fixed.  So, today, I'm clearing a space in next to the television for tomorrow morning.

So, what have you all been up to?  I have had a busy time over the last few weeks; thus why I haven't kept up with my blog as much as I'd like.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Wow! What A Week!

It's been very busy this week.

Really busy.  Busier than usual.  But that's a good thing really.

I had my craft day on Monday where I sat and knitted my dish cloths and looked at a few things brought in by the ladies.  I scored myself a very cool utensil holder from Bendigo Pottery... and I've been to the place where it was made; which made it even better to own.

Then, on Tuesday, a friend of mine dropped around and picked up the old Singer Sewing Machine he offered to buy off me.  Will was tickled pink about it!  He loved how aged it was, how easy it was to pull apart and he and Viv (another friend of ours) stuck around for lunch.  They left around 3pm... a great day spent with two wonderful friends.

Wednesday was spent at the Logan Art Gallery for 6 hours... I was working on a plaster cast torso.  I sat down and worked wet plaster into the shape of a book.  This wasn't easy, but it worked - especially when I got some paint onto it and then got the shading done on the book!  It really started to take shape!
But before long, it was time to go home; and we all have to go back tomorrow to finish up our work.

Today, I paid the car insurance and the RACQ.  I went to the doctors for blood test results and to have a few things looked at on my head (it's so much easier now my hair is so much shorter!).  Then, I was off to Mum and Dad's place for a few hours of knitting and lunch before they took off to Greenslopes to visit my Dad's brother in hospital.  

Yep, this week has been busy.  I'll be happy to just kick back this Saturday and do nothing until Monday... when I have to wait for the antenna guy to show up and fix the reception on my television.

How's your week been?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here!

Friday, April 10, 2015

A Spare Month... Busy As Hell!

I thought having a month without a market to go to would be relaxing... boy was I wrong!  This week I have had almost every day out and about.  

On Sunday, I went to a friends' house to cook them Easter Lunch and to catch up with them - as I hadn't seen them in ages, along with Will Cornivus.  I didn't get home until around 9pm!  But my stir-fry was wonderful!

Then Monday was a public holiday.  I slept in, and caught up with a few things around the house.  Then, on Tuesday, I checked the mail, bought some antihistamines and went to the Logan Art Gallery to pick up a copy of my roster.  Well!  That turned into an afternoon of me being up to my elbows in plaster!  I seriously didn't mean it to be, but it did.  I found myself making a plaster torso with some teenagers and a couple of adults.  It was so much fun!

That night, I was out and about at the Logan North Library learning how to write a memoir at Karen Tyrrell's course there.  It was only about an hour or so long but I scored some great information on what to do and what not to do; and I have some good ideas on how to write mine... well, okay, a couple of them.

Wednesday was the longest day out shopping ever!  I left the house at 8:45am and arrived home at around midday or so.  I had over-spent - and in a good way too!  I bought new pillows for my bed, found some great clothes at Life Line and then bought a couple of badges for ANZAC Day for Mum, Dad and myself.  Then, I was off to Coles for a top-up shop.  I had to buy a few things I needed for the house and around the place... and before I knew it, I was off home.  But I did spend a lot of money... more than I was supposed to, but then, I guess that happens sometimes.

Yesterday, I did a lot of laundry and hung it out.  I did so much laundry that I had to pull out the clothes horse and use it outside... yeah there wasn't enough room on the clothes line.  But most of it got dry.  I had to use the clothes horse inside and put the jeans and skirts on it overnight.  Otherwise the rest of the all was dried. 
I did go out yesterday to look at a jacket in 'Rivers' at Springwood.  They were having a sale of coatigans - these are long cardigans - and I had my eye on a burgundy one which was only $18 down from $30... not a bad price if you ask me.  However when I arrived there, they only had them in XXL and not Small... and the size would have been massive in Small anyway.  So, I looked around and found the other styles were nice, but in colours which made me looked either washed out or enormous.  So, I did gave up on looking at the jackets and looked at underwear and socks (because I do need to buy new pairs in each).  I found a cool pair of knickers and a nice pair of socks and then there were some scarves which I could throw into the car this Winter just in case I needed them.  they weren't too long and could pack away in the boot of the car; and the scarves were only $1.00 each!  So, I sorted through them and found the colours I loved and grabbed them.
I got to Mum and Dad's place - eventually - put the ANZAC badges on the counter and sat down and did some knitting with a cup of tea next to me.  I thought they would arrive home within the next hour or so.  However, they didn't.  Time marched on, and I looked at my watch... I needed to get home and pull in the laundry.  So, I texted Mum and told her I had to head off home.  It ended up that they were hanging out at an Aunt and Uncle's place in Holland Park.
I arrived home, pulled in the laundry - like I said - and then made a pizza dough just as 'Mork & Mindy' came on the television.  It turned out to be a good evening of pizza, finishing off my Easter chocolate.  

I've had sinus lately, and it feels like a cold; but it's not really.  And everyone I've spoken to has had the same thing this week or last week!  So, it's been going around really quickly.  Anyway, I'm getting over mine pretty fast... I've been taking the antihistamines, Horse Radish and Garlic pills twice a day and sleeping like a log at night on new pillows (speaking of which, I have to give Mum and Dad the old ones for the van).  

Today, I'm home again for most of the day.  I have a chiropractor's appointment this afternoon, so I will be hopefully staying here at home and taking it easy until then.  Tomorrow, I have another full day out and on Sunday I'm hanging out here to see how it all goes with my house again... so how was your week?  Busy like mine?  Or SSDD (same shit, different day)... Stephen King has come up with some wonderful quotes hasn't he?  Well until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Monday, April 6, 2015

Easter Long Weekend

It's been a weird weekend for me... and a wired one too.  I've been unable to sleep over the last few nights; and it's because of the full moon; and the lunar eclipse.  So, I've been getting to sleep around 2am... not a good time to fall asleep.

But my sleeping patterns will work themselves out soon as we move into Winter; as this time of year has always been a bit weird for me.  Yeah, I always lose a bit of sleep in Autumn; and during the change in seasons and there's never a good reason for it.

Yesterday, I was out and about at Thorneside having lunch with my friends there, cooking a stir-fry for them all.  It was great to catch up with them; and even provided a cheesy corn-relish dip... very nice. All of it went down well with everyone - even Will who is allergic to most things.  
It was supposed to have rained over the weekend, but the weather turned out to be sunny and warm - which was perfect.  It was an exhausting day and I arrived home after the sun went down; after dropping Will at the Eight Mile Plains Bus Station and dropping in on Mum and Dad too... it was a very busy day, and I just wanted to chill out for a bit; you know?  When I got home I put on a dvd of 'That 70's Show' and escaped reality for 2 hours.  It was nice to enjoy a fantasy for a while.

Anyway, I woke up this morning, looked outside and around my bedroom and knew it was time to get rid of some of my junk in this room... so the first thing I wanted out of my room was my old sewing machine.  But that thing weighs 75kg!  Way too heavy for me to carry down a flight of stairs; so I've asked Dad to help me take it to the back of the unit complex to be tossed out... I'll keep the step as it's decorative and the bits to use in an art piece and I'll have more room in my bedroom.  As for the chair in the room?  Well, I'll see what I can do with it, I might remove it and put a table in its place - one that's at Mum and Dad's place right now I really need to work on - and then I'll bring it home where it belongs.

I have a few other things to get rid of, a large painting to work on for the bedroom and really make it tidier than it has been... yes, this room has been neglected over the last year.  I have been meaning to clean it out but it's not getting too bad, just ignored.  However the home-office isn't looking much better than it did from the last time I worked on it.  Yep, still a junk room.  And yes, it does need working on... serious work on it, more than just one day's lot of work.

Well, that's been my weekend.  I've been busy, unable to sleep and trying my best to work out my house - again! - and kind of succeeding with it.  So, how has your weekend been?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Happy Easter!

Woah!  It's Easter already.  That means the rego of the Little Green Machine is up to be paid (and I've paid it... yay!) and then there's its insurance and the RACQ Roadside Assistance too...but I have until the end of the month to do the other two.  I will be doing those two next week to get them out of the way.

However, this weekend is the Long Weekend for Easter.  I spent Good Friday at Mum and Dad's place where Mum played 'Crossroads' concerts on their television for 5 hours!  

Okay, this is something Dad hates, which I didn't mind for 2 hours, but having it go on continuously for 5 hours is a little much.  By the end of it, I really wanted to leave the house... I felt really bombarded by it all.  
But I was a visitor and felt I couldn't say anything.  I did stay for dinner and ended up telling Mum I didn't like what she did with the music that day; that she didn't even notice that I went quiet by around 3pm (when I do go quiet in times like that, it means I'm withdrawing and feel really exhausted from my surroundings and what quiet time... even just an hour or so).  

Today, I was out really early to the shops to pick up a few little things to take tomorrow to my friends' house.  I'm cooking up a storm when I get there.  It's going to be fun.  I'm taking my wok and making a huge stir fry... great stuff, eh?  Well, it's going to be wonderful and I'll be loving every minute too, as Will Cornivus (a mutual friend of Geoff and Vivienne's) will be there too, and he and I haven't seen each other for yonks.
While I was out, I bought Mum and Dad their Easter gift of a cute little plant and took it over there to them.  I said that may not be able to drop by before going to Viv and Geoff's place, so thought to give it to them today; and see them on Monday instead.

Anyway, while I was there, Mum was searching high and low for a shopping list and she couldn't find it.  We searched the car, her handbag and my bag and her clothes ... and we still couldn't find it.  Well, she started writing out another one when I suggested she downloads an app from the Playstore onto her phone and she'd never lose her shopping list ever again.  She did that and started writing her list out on her phone.  I'm glad I taught her about that app.  She takes her phone everywhere... and so she won't ever lose her lists again.

Well, that's been my day so far.  I've also written out a flash fiction today too; and it got 13 hits in just 45 minutes... very cool... I'm very happy about that.  It's holding on the 13 so far, but I'm hoping it'll take off more by Monday.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember I'm always here.  And most of all, Happy Easter!

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

March Was Something Different!

March started off with the Logan City Car Show, which I took off to.  The day was hot, sunny and gorgeous; and so were the sweet lot of cars there!  I took along my phone and camera as well - but most of my photos were taken on my phone.  I got to meet a 1958 Plymouth Fury - yes, I got to meet the same make and model of Stephen King's first horror car: Christine.  What a beauty she was. She was big, red and gorgeous in a creepy, weird kinda way.  And I loved her... the owner thought it was great I was so much into the book and he told me the differences between the book and the movie and then he let me sit behind the wheel a few times and I got myself photographed there too!  Sweet! 
I showed my folks the photos and they were amazed at how big the show was.  But I did get a little sunburnt; but not too badly.

However, March turned out to be a real steamer of a month.  The flowers on my Moch Orange shrubs flowered for their final time, and I worked hard on more stock for my next markets at Murarrie Progress Hall.  I had some great ideas for a couple of new lines, but they will take time to integrate them into my stall.  Anyway, I experimented on a set of drawers and found that they would work out selling them - I just have to find a well-built set to buy and do up.  Is that possible?

My garden started to florish as the storms and rains began.  One of my Bromiliads began to flower and another scored itself a Green Ants Nest... oh great, how to get rid of that!  I'll figure it out without killing the plant.

Before long, the World's Greatest Shave was upon me.  I had been working on getting sponsors to donate money towards this and this year, I was shaving my hair off.  However, it wasn't being thrown out.  I was sending my ponytail away to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths Promotion so they could turn it into a wig for somebody undergoing Cancer treatments.  It was such a stressful day when 14th, March showed up, I was exhausted by the end of the day; and I had an afternoon of volunteer work at the Logan Art Gallery as well.  In the end, I raised $801.00 for the Leukaemia Foundation of Queensland this year.  I hope to beat that amount next year! 

Not too soon after, I had my first market at Murarrie Progress Hall.  It was the first time I was pleased to not have hair... it was that hot and sticky.  I had put up pictures of me without hair to make sure all my friends and other retailers at the markets knew I was going to arrive without my long red locks... and they were so amazed at how fast it had grown in a week!  Brisbane had a huge thunderstorm, which rocked all of us around the city, and then we were amazed when people showed up for the market soon afterwards.

For the rest of the month, I made a dry terrarium for the bathroom, Mum bought me a gorgeous Audrey Hepburn clock (and I replaced my 25 year old $5.00 clock I had from when I was with Dan at Runcorn) and then I paid off a layby at Woodys' and started right in on knitting some dishcloths for next year's line on my stall. 

Yep, this month was really busy... I was running around with hair at the beginning of the month, and without it by the end.  I had started knitting dishcloths mid-month, the garden is really looking great and the rain is beginning to settle in - and Winter is really on its way.  Until my next post, take care,stay safe and remember, I'm always here.