Blogging Blahs

I don't seem to have any motivation to post... probably because I can't find reason for blogging. No-one reads my blog and I write in my journal for my own self.... hmmm.... I'm hoping that maybe when my family moves away, my daughter will check my blog.... she doesn't use Facebook(my son-in-law does but he doesn't make posts or comment)....THAT would give me some reason to keep it going.......

I'm going to Bali this Sunday. That's my news. After I get back, I'll examine my thoughts regards blogging again and see where I go from there.....

Long Absence

I haven't posted for AGES!!! Nor written in my diary.... been so busy but also I feel like I'm really changing... there is tremendous peace and happiness in my life at the moment... I can't remember what was upsetting me in the past... everything seems to be in its place and to " have a place" in the world and in my life.. that's all I have to write tonight.....

The Evil in This World

Today I was sickened to read that a kangaroo had her hind legs shot off.. yes, you read it right, SHOT off by some men who said they were hunting pigs on the evening of July 31st......
I cannot imagine the terrible fear and pain this poor creature went through as she "tried to get away on her stumps" as the article described...... I had been telling Tracey at work today that I have to be very careful and avoid reading the news too much in case I stumble upon some dreadful story but I brought the local paper home to read and there was this article...
Mercifully, a professional shooter reported the men and they were apprehended.. the MOTHER kangaroo was put down along with her joey which was in her pouch... and if that isn't the saddest, most heartbreaking story, I don't know what is...
I hate people sometimes.... was this an act of evil, or ignorance.. an accident perhaps???? I try to think that perhaps the men didn't mean to injure this poor creature so horrifically..... I HAVE to think that.... the alternative is too cruel....

Compromise

Well, I did it! I managed to get up and leave the house after a shower and getting dresssed for shopping..... I'm glad as I really needed to send my father-in-law a birthday card...why I am such a procrastinator in these sort of things I do not know.. but I find it ever so hard to get around to stuff like this...
But hey.. just cos I went to groceries, the bank and the newsagent does NOT mean I am going to continue and have a active day!!! Hang on there!!! I still feel tired and I'm going to spend the rest of the day pottering... (not too hard !!!) and just do a couple of things....

Finish folding the washing

Iron a few pieces for work for the rest of the week

Ring my ma later on to see how she went with her endoscopy/colonoscopy

Sweep the floors

Make something for dinner... what'll we have, what'll we have???

I have to go into work just for the last hour to help Sam and lock up...

The rest of day I'm going to

fit in a nap

fit in some reading ( reading Three cups of Tea - the story of Greg Mortenson)

hopefully catch up in my journal a little

Vegging Out

I so feel like just totally vegging out today... yesterday I was a little bit sick from allergies I think... man down the laneway was whippersnippering and mowing all day while I was at work and I think it was that.. as I woke up feeling all right!!! He started about 9.30am and well, it was all downhill for me from there.... I kind of feel a bit better today and indeed.. I started off well with a run around the golfcourse with my dogs, but after breakfast I felt a bit sick again and actually feel like going back to bed... would there be anything inherently wrong with this I ask myself????
It's just that I do want to do so many things all the time and on top of that there are things I really SHOULD do .. like clean the bathroom and deal with the fridge... but I just feel so weary....
Maybe if I have a shower, I'll feel brighter!!

Alive and Kicking!!

Gosh... so busy!!! Life is very very busy!!! I haven't had time to write any posts lately but I will as soon as I get a chance...am doing well!!! sticking to a vegan diet for a couple of weeks now .... longest spell I've been able to achieve for a long long time... that's the best news I have today!!!
Tonight I'm having a dinner party.. it's an Indian themed meal so I have made a vege curry, vege samosas, bought some naan( they are not vegan!!! surprised!!! But the others will want some... I will eat pappadams and chappatis which ARE vegan..) also,I will be able to have some nice little condiments... tomato and cucumber chopped finely and bananas with coconut...and of course chutney...
The other day I made a tofu and spinach quiche.. 100% vegan... even B. said it was nice!! and so I progress and I'm feeling ever so happy.. cos that's what eating vegan does for you... you're not eating all that sadness.......

A Dream Blessing

Last night I received a blessing in the form of a dream. I dreamt about the holy guru Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and the dream brought me much comfort and peace... very soothing and calming for my mind which has been suffering all sorts of mental torment from my recent spells of anxiety and panic attacks. That's all pretty much I want to say about it... I don't need to describe the dream or try and work out what bits and pieces of it represented.. it was sufficient to receive this precious blessing and to be able to carry with me throughout this day, the joy and serenity of such a dream....... MAY ALL BEINGS BE FREE OF SUFFERING....... OM MANI PADME HUM.......

Tummy Woes

I have a very sensitive tummy... today I'm really quite frail with it and I'm on the couch with a quilt as I am feeling so sick and also very tired as it kept me up most of the night......we had a lovely dinner at Balthazar last evening and my brother and sister in-law joined us....fabulous food but I had salmon which came on a bed of lentils.. I didn't hear our waitress mention anything about lentils and they were delicious but with all the drinks I had over the night maybe not very good combination...as well at lunchtime I ate a reasonable portion of salad and that probably didn't help either.. some foods just seem to go straight through me...
I would love to go to Balthazar again but it's quite expensive.. not the food so much but the wines there are nearly all quite pricey.. still it is an awesome place with wonderful atmosphere and the food was superb as well as the service... 10/10!!

Quick Update!

Here is a quick update on what I've been up to!

We went to the Kransky Sisters last night and they were very good! Funny and quirky! At the end they came out and signed T-towels with their images on them and I have hung mine on the wall using a couple of bits of Blu-tak.

Earlier in the day we went and visited with our son and enjoyed lunch at Catalano's in Vic Park. We've been there a few times now with him. They serve awesome meals there and they're also very big! B. had chicken schnitzel which was as big as a dinner plate in itself, Casey had crumbed calamari, both their meals came with beer-battered chips and salad... I had fettucine al fungi, which did have a bit of bocaccini cheese in it but was mainly mushrooms, roasted capsicums amd tomatoes in an oil garlic sauce... very good. They gave me a jar of Parmesan but I didn't add any..

For tea that night we went after the show to a little Asian cafe which used to be Han's I'm sure and is now called the Korner Cafe... I had vegetable pad thai and B. had Singapore noodles.. cheap and tasty, we each had a little bottle of Wynn's Bin 555....before the show we used our free drink voucher from the hotel to get a midi each of Hahn SuperDry and then we had a pint each.... B. had a second pint but I can't drink endless beer anymore.. it's too cold or something... I had a red wine... at the Playhouse we had a champagne each and B. got a second one but I felt really a bit too drunk to have another!!!!

When we got back to the room, we had another red wine and I slept very well, poor B. rummaged around and coughed a lot... we're both not the best but I am a little better than him in terms of coughing and spluttering... I just FEEL rubbish...earlier in the day I had a hayfever attack looking at the bird's nest near Casey's balcony... aw, that was so awesome, I could see the baby bird inside.... but the tree was covered with blossoms and I got very red eyes.. had to go and get some eye drops as soon as I found a chemist...

This morning we just ate downstairs in the hotel... I had baked beans, 2 hash browns and two bits of toast and B. had the My Place breakfast... bacon, 2 eggs, sausage, hash brown, tomato and mushroom... he didn't eat the mushroom so I did!! he also left a piece of toast but I was too full for that, we had orange juice and I had three cups of tea.. sooo thirsty this morning!!!

Today we went into town as my iron suddenly went pop! pop! as I was ironing a favorite skirt and it burnt it!! Smoke was streaming from it, so I quickly turned it off and threw it away afterwards.... just bought a cheapy to replace it, the more expensive ones don't seem to last any longer!!! B. said he felt like a pint of beer and a steak sandwich for lunch!!!! We went to the Parade.. what the heck, it's "holidays".... there was nothing vegetarian except for creamy mushroom soup which I wish I'd got and had a wine with but I wanted a pint also and didn't feel that went with soup... so I got the salt and pepper squid which was a bit disappointing as it was the frozen curly kind, not pieces of squid on a salad and it came with chips... a bit too greasy, I picked the batter off the last few pieces...

Tonight, we had some yummy soup, vegan split pea and pumpkin soup.. that I had in the freezer... oh how much better did that taste than the lunch I had and how much happier was I to eat nice vegan food..... I had a nice crusty loaf to heat in the oven to accompany the soup... MMM.. MM!

Lovely Week!

It's going to be a lovely week this week with a couple of things I'm really looking forward to... the first is going to see The Kransky Sisters tomorrow evening at the Playhouse.. my favourite theatre! And then on Saturday we are going to a restaurant that I have wanted to go to for many years.. Balthazar.... ( I think I saw they had a vegetarian choice on the menu but if there isn't I have decided that sometimes if I go out I may eat a bit of fish, at least for a while, while I am trying not to eat red meat or chicken... it's just all a bit hard.. I know, I am weak but I am, really... I am quite weak when it comes to food. I have been doing OK , the last few days.... I made a pot of beans and been eating those and also last night despite cooking steak and sausages for visitors and B. I only had my beans, tortillas, guacamole and a baked potato... the other morning at work, while Donna was cooking a bacon and egg sandwich, I had a small tin of creamed corn....But today we went out for lunch in Bunbury as B. is having a week's holiday and I ordered chilli squid that came in a nice tomato sauce with fettucine. They have a roast veges and penne dish where we went but my bowels were so overworked yesterday after two days of beans and vege food that I was really in quite a lot of discomfort....so I ordered the squid, I will try the vege penne next time when I haven't eaten so much fibre.... that is something I really have to work on.. what vege food can I eat that is not so high in fibre as beans etc??????? Pancakes, toast.... sandwich...some cereals.. I had a small bowl of Special K today....
Today for tea I had peas and corn, baked potato, some steamed rice and a tiny piece ( about 40 gm) of chicken in creamy mustard sauce. My friend's dad is dying and I wanted to take them some meals so when they have a bad day, they can just get one out of the freezer. I made a beef casserole and I made the creamy mustard chicken.. but I thought I had bought a carton of cream .. it was MILK!! When I came to making the sauce, luckily I had some sour cream so I used that but I wanted to know if it tasted all right for them so I tried a little piece tonight.. it is actually very yum and I think they will enjoy that... there's not much point in cooking veg meals for them.. that is what they are used to, "normal" meals.... and I want to help them in this way... I'm not very good in these kinds of situations..(what do you say or do??) but one thing I CAN do is provide some meals....tomorrow I'm going to make some pumpkin soup and then hopefully drop the food around.... I've got that bad cold still so I don't know if I can "visit" for long... but I'll see what happens.....

Another Try

Well as Yoda would say "There is no try, just do" or something like that but I HAVE tried and failed many times to become a vegetarian and despite writing yesterday that I do not think I will become one again, I am again hopeful after reading "The Food Revolution" by John Robbins.
I have to make this a short post as I have to go to work very shortly but essentially I have made a bit of a plan up. The day-time meals are not so hard. It's dinner that I tend to cave in.
I figure if I make a different type of meal each night based on these 7 groups, it will help me to decide what to cook( I DID go 8 months making vegan dinners but I don't seem to remember what half of them were.....why????)
Meal 1: Pasta
Meal 2 :Rice and stirfry
Meal 3: Patties or burgers
Meal 4: A pie of some description
Meal 5: A curry or stew
Meal 6: Pasta
Meal 7: Patties or burgers

I've listed patties or burgers as there are many different kinds of patties, fritters and rissole type things you can make and the ways to serve them are also very varied.... with salad, with veges, in a bun.... so they appear twice on the weekly menu as does pasta as there are umpteen ways to serve that as well, especially if I include Asian style noodles in the pasta group.

So there is a starting point for me to try and go back to a vegetarian/vegan diet.....

The Food I Have Been Eating

I have the heartiest appetite in the whole world!!! Even when I'm sick I rarely don't feel like eating... I think this is a good thing as when I worked in a hospital once I noticed that patients who retained some appetite did much better than those who lost theirs and couldn't eat their meals...
There has not been very much vegetarian living going on in this house. I think I have come to accept that possibly I will never be a vegetarian again. I think that is is highly likely I will continue to eat a lot of vegetarian food but I know that as long as I live this current lifestyle it is not likely I will stop buying, cooking and eating meat on some occasions. I don't have enough(do I have any???) vege inclined friends... it makes socialising and sharing food with people a meaty affair...
However last night we just had tomato soup, vege fritters and eggs for tea and it was yummy. I finished the last three fritters today with another egg, heated them up in the frying pan.. I don't think they are nice cold.....
Right now I have a pot of chicken and vege soup simmering for our colds. I had roasted a chicken on Monday for B.'s sandwiches and today the rest has gone in the soup. In the oven there is a single pizza I have made for my lunch that has olives, pineapple, spinach, garlic, a bit of ham and cheese on it. I used a burrito tortilla for the base. They are nice and thin and crispy! The night before we had chicken kievs and coleslaw. Coleslaw is my absolute favourite salad in the whole world. Yet it's sooo simple!!! I don't put any fancy things in mine.... just cabbage, carrot, finely chopped onion and finely chopped capsicum sometimes, if I have one, oh and parsley. I like Heinz Salad cream on it and also on top I like hardboiled eggs.
The night before I was really really grumpy with my cold and very tired.... I brought home a packet of sausages and we had them with mashed potato, peas and grilled tomatoes with cheese melted on them. So you see there's not much vege stuff happening especially this last week. Not organised enough. I have a crisper full of veges but I'm scared to look in there as half of them are bound to be rotting away in the bottom... it's because I've been busy doing extra hours that I blame for this level of disorganisation, but it's a really poor excuse as how do other people manage to stay on top of things when they have a lot more to do than me?????? Oh well, that's me... always a little behind with lots of things....
Last weekend on my birthday we had a BBQ on the Saturday and then on the Sunday I cooked a whole rump roast and veges and we had another lot of people over for that! Then later in the week we went to our friends' house for dinner, the same ones we always have mid-week dinners with and we had a Morrocan theme.... I made a roast Morrocan chicken dish with pumpkin and onions and it was on a couscous base.
Next week, I'm going to make sure to cook and eat TWO vegetarian meals every day. In other words out of the three daily meals... only ONE is allowed to contain any meat....it sounds like hardly anything but considering it's possible to eat meat three times a day in some form.... I think it is a realistic goal... perhaps as well, I could say THREE of the days the whole day has to be vegetarian.... I will outline my plan, and perhaps a menu, so that I won't go off the rails, tomorrow, in my next post!

Short Day, Short Post

I had short working day today which is probably just as well as I am not feeling the best from this cold...... I slept quite well and could breathe last night but today I feel as though it is moving to my chest. Not going to go to the gym tonight to do Body Balance... just going to lie low and do the minimal I can. This is hard as there are so many things I want to do but I guess I should try and rest a little...
The dogs have been walked and I have been into town to do the errands I needed to do so I guess it will be Ok to have a nap right now....also I went to the chemist and armed myself with some medicines. I don't particularly like going to the chemist.. it's always so busy in there and today I had to wait for ages to buy some original formula Codral... you have to give your driver's licence for them to see... anyway, I've got plenty of cough mixture and also some nasal spray which I can start using to ward off hayfever.....that'll be the next thing!!!!

Sick But Monday Cheers me UP!!!

I am struggling along with a head cold but I love Mondays and so the day's dawn made me get up out of bed with as much vigour and vim one could expect when you have a nasty head cold! There was a further challenge to feeling awesome Monday cheer when a short time later, the power went off but I remained undeterred on my happy little Monday path!!! I just love having a brand new week to start afresh and set myself some more goals which incidentally I never seem to achieve, but nevertheless enjoy thinking about!!!
This week's goals are:

to eat a bit more healthier than I did last week

to drink lots more water and flush this cold out of my system

to remember to use my puffer which I have somehow forgotten about the last couple of months... probably contributed to me getting the cold!!!

use the voucher my boss gave me for my birthday ( a nice clothing store one)

try not to crab at B. even once this week.. poor guy been getting my evil eye a lot lately..... oh, he deserved it.. ehehehhehehhe.... but I should cut him more slack really... he tries.... ehehehehhe!

Well, that's a few... probably enough for a non-achieving person like me!!! Some of them aren't even " goals" merely things to do .... and nice ones to boot! Like who would have trouble going to a nice clothing store with $100 to spend??????? :)

Improved

I feel a whole lot better today due mainly I feel, to the therapeutic effects of writing.. not in here so much, where I try and be somewhat brief and concise, but in my handwritten journal where I write endlessly about stuff, a lot of the time about what has been upsetting me!!!
Then I work out strategies for combatting negative thoughts and alternative ways to view things etc.. can also draw little diagrams and doodles to explain things further but also as I did yesterday to describe dreams I had.
The dream I had the night previous to last was a common one of mine... I dream about looking at the sea and then I see big waves coming or the currrent waves growing bigger and more threatening... they eventually come right up to where I am and I have to scramble to escape... more often than not they crash onto me and this used to be terrible until some time ago I started to hold my breath and shut my eyes and hold steady and therefore" survive" the engulfment.
Usually I am watching from some distance... in this recent dream though, I seemed to be IN the sea, swimming with friends or other people ( I have no idea who) when I notice a HUGE sinkhole has formed some distance away.. a terrifying sight.. a big hole has opened up in the ocean and the water is all pouring down, not swirling or anything, just gushing down like a circular waterfall and I realise I have to get to safety lest it get bigger or I get drawn closer to it and get sucked in!! I seem to be holding onto a smaller person( a child?? Was it Olivia, or my son as a small boy?? I'm not sure...) and I don't know how but I manage to "pull" myself through the water towards the shore. On the way I am met by the biggest darkest waves ever, so tall I can't even see the tops of the waves, they are just like huge WALLS of water and several times I have to brace myself and suffer them crashing down on me but I think if I can just get hold of the reef I will be able to get to safety.... with my right big toe I feel the reef under the water and following it along with my foot, I eventually manage to grab onto it and move along it till I exit the water... I am in a little bay and a drag myself onto the sand.... It's an AWFUL dream... so scary and strenuous as well as I try to escape these waves that are in them.... I seem to have this dream or variations of it when I'm feeling very stressed and overwhelmed and out of control of my own life ie when other people and things seem to be running it FOR me.......

Sad Today

I feel a bit sad today. There are certain subjects and things I just cannot speak to about with B. or he becomes very obstinate and "anti" and refuses to hear me out. The things that make me very anxious and worry me he has absolutely no patience to listen to...a lot of the time I guess I am saying that HE is causing me some sort of bother.. but is that so hard to hear???? I can't help that I get upset when for example he makes life difficult for me by some careless or selfish action he does! I try so very hard NOT be selfish... is it because I am a woman that I am always trying to accomodate everyone and make things good for everyone while he just seems to please himself??? Anyway, 'nuff said... it's nothing new, I just felt that my birthday was really spoilt by some selfish actions on his part...he was rude to my family and also made very little effort to help me when I was really struggling to get everything I needed to do done for the day....it's not that I think MY birthday is so special, it's just that of all the days, one would think you would try and make someone's birthday a happy one, WHOEVER'S it is.....

Anyway these are the things making me HAPPY today!

I have seen the injured magpie around Lakes Pde still surviving and looking OK!

Pink and grey galahs in the trees, and the fact that I see the one with the damaged wing regularly! He's OK too!

My beautiful dog Raymond and his exuberant nature!

Going to Rob and Leshaye's for tea tomorrow!

Only have to go to work for a short time today! (I like my job but I NEED a lot of time to sort stuff out)

Beautiful sunny day!

I am healthy and fit!

My new Kindle!

My beautiful new Jamie Oliver cookbooks!

My friends and family who love me and show me their love in so many ways!

Is Spring Here???

The weather at the moment is absolutely phenomenal! I mean, it is really unusally warm.. August is often a very rainy month! In September we often experience a sudden burst of warm weather as spring approaches but to have it in August is not so common....
I am even having hayfever like symptoms( blah!) and sneezing etc!! I notice when I go walking that the bacon and egg bushes are starting to flower and on the weekend someone pointed out to me that our almond tree is starting to shoot leaves and buds!! Today I noticed the little birds ( swallows??)who used to make their nest in our toilet at work every year,were waiting on the wire just outside as if to see if they could get in there again!!! (We started shutting the toilet door to stop them a couple of years ago as one year someone went in there and turfed the babies out of the nest and destroyed it....this was before we got the outer door and key happening... but also some of my workmates feel that all the bird poop is not desirable.... since then they have made a nest in the gap between the ice freezer and the roof on the verandah, but I guess old habits die hard and they remember the toilet!!!
It will be interesting to see whether this warm spell continues or whether there is indeed more winter rain and storms to be had.... I hope there is more as we really need the rain.......

Bingle!!

No, unfortunately not Bingo! but bingle.... for the first time in many many years, I came into contact with someone else's car with my car.. oops! feel so bad about it... I was in a bit of a stressed out state and wanted to go out to get a Freddo icecream cake on Saturday when Mum, Roy and Charlotte were here for my birthday... B. was outside laughing and carrying on.. hadn't helped me hardly at all when I needed it the most and when asked by Olivia could he go and get the cake he apparently said to her that he'd go when I said... but that's what I sent Olivia out for!!! he must have thought she was just nagging him, anyway, when she came back in and said " Nanna!! Grandad's not going!!" I got into a bit of a huff and thought " Oh , I'll just go myself!!! It'll be quicker!!!" Well when I got outside, my car was blocked in and so I tried to back B.s car out on an angle, trying to avoid his stupid canoe which was also in the way.... anyway, looking looking out the back, I didn't watch the front end enough and scraped Mum and Roy's car... a BRAND NEW Nissan Micra with the bullbar!!!! Oh gosh!! Well, I've been online and lodged an on-line claim.... hope it can get fixed for them soonish....I'm not blaming B. but it sure would have made my life easier if he'd just gone to get the cake when I said!!!!!!

Dinner With Friends Again!!

We've been quite sociable of late!! Well when are we not????? Tonight we're going to our very good friends' house for tea and I'm taking a vege fried rice made with the new Quorn veg chicken style strips that have recently become available.. they are not vegan like Fry's but I want to try and compare...the rice looks awesome if I must say so myself!! The nicest fried rice I have made in a long time... entirely suitable to share with others!!!! I also made some vege spring rolls and will fry them when we get to my friends'. They are much better cooked and eaten on the spot!! Last time I made spring rolls I put some tofu which I had slowly fried till it got a nice golden and chewy texture.. Ithink those ones were better than the ones I've made today, but today's are still yummo! I tried a couple just now dipped in hoisin.......
I have achieved a fair bit today!!! Cooking, washing, folding wash, walking dogs, shopping, writing..... now it's off to my paying job in an hour but that's only for 3 1/2 hours and then it's fun, fun , fun with friends, some "old" and some "new" !!!

Ready to Go Again

I am ready to post again... although how consistent I will be will depend on what happens with my internet which has been absolutely up sh--creek of late!!! I did take a break from blogging due to some personal matters which will not be written about... they are over for the time being at least... I would not blog about certain private matters on a public space anyway, out of respect for any others involved....Back to the subject of my internet, my provider has been having lots of trouble which I feel sorry for him for but as well I have worked out there is something wrong with my aerial.. the connection is loose and that's why even if my provider is not having problems, I can still be!!! I noticed that every time B. got up on the roof to have a look the internet would often start working again.... to cut the story short we have been pushing the .. what is it called??? the little plug thing in and then you see the light change and that means we are receiving signal again.... however.... the other cord carries 240 volts ... it is not the best thing to have to do.. climb on the roof frequently and fiddle with such things... if you turn the power OFF of course it's safe... but then you can't see if the light changes and if you haven't got the connection happening you will have to get up there again.... anyway, yesterday I had the brainwave of getting a lump of Blutack and placing it around the cable to "hold" it still so it doesn't gradually fall out ...... this worked all day but then later in the night we didn't have internet again... I thought it a bit funny as when I climbed up on the roof this morning it looked all OK and B. went up as well and said the light is the correct colour.... next thing my friend who has the same provider rang and said that the problem is from their side... rrrhahhahhafg!1!!??##
Well, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration... I have got quite used to NOT having any internet and felt only mildly annoyed!!! It came back on this afternoon WITHOUT me having to get on the roof again and so at least this proves that my Blutack is still working!!!
So about the blogging....as well as unreliable internet, for some reason since I have been mucking around with the template, my printer does not seem to want to print my posts!!! This is a bit of a problem as I want to print them to stick in my diary as entries.. if I can't print them, I feel like I have to write what I posted all over again in my diary... this is way too timeconsuming... the only thing I can think of is to keep my diary for some stuff and use the blog for other stuff.. stuff that I don't feel I have to record or reread.... no-one reads my blog anyway so it should not trouble anyone if I change the content of my posts to say, lists of things to do or perhaps I should just write a very short daily entry on here of what I've been doing.... hmm, will have to give it some thought overnight... as for this post.. I have already written all my complaints in my diary during my "internetless" days!!!! :)

Trying Days

There has been no internet again for a few days....in the meantime as well, some things have just come out of the blue like a lightning bolt... unpleasant and difficult things... I am very very sad and have to take a break from blogging...

Wah!!!

Well, soo behind now, will I ever catch up with all I want to write????? Still have not written a post about the wedding and now we have had no internet for a few days.. I'm so behind on everything that I shouldn't even be on the computer right now... mountans of washing and drying with a lot of rain about... dirty dishes from last night, the girls' bits and pieces everywhere from all their activities here over the weekend... phew!! One thing is my boss has come home and so my hours should be normal this week... so tomorrow I'm off and Wednesday also but I have to go in and cook just for the last little bit as it is my other boss's birthday and they want to go out somewhere special! But hopefully I can get back on track by the end of these two days!!!! Been sooo busy.......

Lovely Day

Quite on the spur of the moment I decided to take my little granddaughters out for the day.. I rang their home first just in case they might have been going somewhere.. but they weren't.. my daughter was going to the doctor .. she's having her wisdom teeth out and needed to see the anaesthetist.. but otherwise I was free to take them somewhere!! I couldn't have them for a sleepover midweek as I have to work funny hours this week which wouldn't have enabled me to... but also it's not the best having them when either one of us has to get up early for work... you don't get an optimal night's sleep when they're around and also it's nice if they can wake naturally and not to OUR alarm!!!!! I WAS thinking about getting them today yesterday but I didn't arrange anything till this morning just to make sure I felt up to it... it's a fair drive there and back and I have been quite tired of late..
Well, the last time we passed the Candy Cow Olivia asked to go there but I promised " next time".. so first of all I fulfilled that promise to her and they both chose a big round colourful lollipop almost as big as their heads!!!! Olivia said she's asked Daddy for one but he said "NO".. she said " I KNEW you'd get me one Nanna!!!" Aw!!! Jasmine also wanted a little mini stamper(stamp-pad with a lid) but she forgot about it and left it in the car... never mind she'll have fun with it next time..
Onward we went to Busselton on the old road and it was the first time ( I think!) that I have been to the Old Busselton Jetty.. there was a nice cafe there and a kiosk and we got some fish and chips and squid rings... sat on the beach and ate them...the seagulls scored the leftovers with both girls shrieking and carrying on as they do!!! The day had started off quite nice here, but further down was drizzly and cool... as the day progressed though it seemed to get sunnier and the afternoon was very pleasant with some cloudy patches and again a bit of drizzle when we got back to MR but it was totally fine the whole time we were out.. the girls had a nice time walking on walls and scampering over the big sand bags at the beach.. we walked on a little jetty and also went to Simmos and got an icecream... Olivia chose bubblegum and I got Jasmine a "baby" cone of raspberry swirl but she wasn't too bright today.. she hardly ate anything and only had a few licks of her icecream... Olivia wanted to put $2 in the coin operated machine and get a ball.. so they each had a turn( with my help.. it's HARD for them to turn the knob all the way round themselves!!)
There was no playground there, funnily enough, so we drove back to MR and I had in mind the Colonial Brewery( NO, not for the beer!!) as I've been there once before with Jon and Rachel when Olivia was small and the playground they have there for visitors is absolutely awesome!! I thought I may as well have a small beer there though and ordered a small pale ale. The girls weren't hungry or thirsty but I got a Coke and a small ham and pineapple pizza for them.. Olivia only nibbled at it though.. I ate the rest.. it was GOOD!! A homemade one, not a frozen thing....we stayed there a while but poor Jasmine.. as well as not being very well, I think I spun her too much on the roundabout and she threw up a bit...she was a bit miserable today, I must say... definitely got a bad cold or flu.. poor thing..
Nevertheless it was still hard to convince her to leave the place.. she LOVES playgrounds, Olivia helped by telling her we were going to the duck park closer to home and we did call there.. but it was getting a bit cold by then and a bit later than I had planned!!! I thought I'd have trouble keeping them amused for three hours but here it was nearly 5 o'clock and we only just got home!!! Jasmine was so funny when we got back telling her mum that "Nanna did it" she's like that!! Always getting sympathy by telling someone that the other person did this, or hurt her etc!!! We were laughing and she sat on Daddy all snuggled up giving me the evils!!! ehehehhehehe! But she's only playing!! She'll be happy to come with me again on the weekend!!! AW, it was a lovely lovely day... so glad I went like that spontaneously on my one day off this week... now I can work the rest of the week joyfully having spent quality time with them today...making memories for the future... memories that will sustain me when they've gone to Canada...

Still Here!!

I am still here!!! I 've had a few obstacles with my computer lately.... firstly it was just getting slower and slower especially for logging on and switching from different things.. sooooo slow that I haven't been able to do anything on here unless I had an hour or TWO(!) to spare.. the other day for example, it took it about an hour to complete three simple commands... rrrrghh! I've been having to shut down and restart very often but even that was taking a long time to complete... I'm not really sure what I've done.. I tried a few things like defragging and also I even tried to return the system to its factory default settings in desperation... it doesn't LOOK as though this was done, in fact there was no message or any evidence that any of these procedures were carried out... but it does seem to be somewhat better..
Time also has been very short... I've been busy doing a few extra hours at work and although they're not many in number, it's sort of caused a lot of disruption to my routine... I don't know.. sometimes I get really discouraged at the amount of things I want to do but seem to run out of time for.... I seem to be busy constantly and always trying new strategies to " produce " more time... eg cut down on household chores, cook less timeconsuming meals... lots of things,yet I still find the end of the day arrives soo quickly and again I have so much I want to do!!! There are newspapers there I'm trying to read, magazines.... letters to write... trying to keep up this blog and improve the quality of my posts... rrrrggrh.... and in between so many other things... I must for example go out and take the dogs for a long walk.. we had a bit of severe weather recently, I managed to walk them most days but they did miss out a couple of times... so I want to make up for those days... Raymond especially has so much excess energy that needs to be worked(er..walked ) off!!

Whirlwind of Life!!

Whew! WHERE does all the time go?? And where have all the days gone.... long time looking forward to things and before you know it, they're all over and done with.. but what a happy week it has been!!
The wedding was truly beautiful! I'll write more about it in a separate post another time... I am just trying to get a little bit of everything done today before heading off to work!!! I had 4 days off but they're all up!! Wedding was Saturday, Sunday Rachel, Jon and Berri, Jon's mum came up with the two girls so they could stay for a couple of days and those two days have gone past like papers in the wind!! We took them home yesterday.. I was actually planning to keep them till today and take them home before I went to work but I think it was enough for the little one.. at least this time.. we HAVE had them for longer of course, but I think it had been a pretty big weekend for them and it seemed better to take them home a bit earlier than planned.. anyway, I might be able to get them again on Friday... but just till Saturday as I have to go to work Sunday early...
So, I've done a little bit here and there so things feel a bit more normal and tidy around here... taken my poor dogs for a walk as they only had a very short one since Saturday...did a bit of cleaning, a bit of cooking, a bit of emailing etc, paid bills and now just going to finish off this post so I can get ready to go off and earn a bit of dush!!!

Passports Arrived!!

Gee it's really quick these days once you apply for your passport for it to arrive.. it's only been such a short time since we were at the post office putting them in and both of our passports arrived today. It's not SO exciting because we don't have any trip planned!!! ehehehehhe! But at least we have them now and if we wanted to just book a quick trip to Bali or Phuket, well.. we could!! Not that EITHER of them would be my choice for a holiday... I like holidaying within Australia very very much and if I wanted to go on an overseas trip at the moment, I wouldn't mind Japan... but it is not really on the cards right now... as long as my family looks like they'll be continuing with their move to Canada our plan is to save to go there...this doesn't mean I WON'T be going on any holiday soon as I think B. is keen to go somewhere... he keeps talking about needing one... ehehehehhehe!
This week we'll be having a couple of days break as we're going to have the girls for a day two after the wedding tomorrow... TOMORROW!! The BIG day for my daughter and her partner!!! I'm quite looking forward to it.. it should be a lovely lovely day and it will be so nice to see Jon's parents again.. they are both coming from Sydney....though they aren't married to each other anymore, it will be especially nice to see them together on this special occasion!!!!

Obstacles

Life is full of obstacles..at the moment my computer is not being very friendly and it is causing me to blog less... it is SOOOO slow!! And also just not performing actions... naughty computer!!! I don't know what's wrong... maybe there's just too much on it...anyway, never mind..... I shall persevere...it's just that everything is taking 3 x as long to do.....
I'm very busy at the moment... lots of stuff happening... I feel very tired of late... I don't have as much stamina as I used to...

FOOD!!

I love food so much!! I'm always hungry it seems but even while I'm eating I'm thinking about the next meal and what I'm going to eat then...
For our anniversary meal at Nicola's B. ordered a half dozen oysters kilpatrick which are his favourite... I chose fried mozzarella balls that came with a spicy tomato sauce. There was not anything vegetarian at all on the entree menu save for bruschetta which I am not keen on as it often makes me feel a bit sick.. the balls had a small piece of prosciutto in each one...it was quite nice but I felt they had not been freshly fried.. they seemed to be heated up...but neverthless I always enjoy my food..
For the main they had a special of more or less a duck ravioli( although it was called capriletto or something else..) that was prepared with an oil based sauce and had enoki and oakear mushrooms. B. thought he would try this for something different. It was quite unusual with the funny oakear mushroom which were sort of like crunchy seaweed but without a sea taste!! Quite good! But no discernable taste of duck, I didn't think.. ( I tried on of his "dumplings'). B. had perfectly steamed veges with his main meal while I chose a green salad which I think I should have got for my entree.. that was really fresh and crunchy!! For my main meal I had field mushroom and spinach ravioli with creamy saffron sauce... there were three huge ravioli on my plate.. the pasta itself was quite thick although it was very tasty, I reckon I could have rolled it thinner... but I enjoyed it.. very VERY filling.. boy I was ready to burst after all this!!! We shared a yummy bottle of Taylor's wine and for dessert we shared a tuille basket with three scoops of gelato and berry coulis and we had a long black each as well..
I really like Nicola's.. the service is just excellent there and the prices are really reasonable for very good meals... I nearly wanted to order the potato gnocchi with the gorgonzola sauce that I really love there but I thought I should order something else for a change... I wasn't sorry, but I have to say, I really think that gnocchi is the BEST!!! I will order it again next time!!!

Special Day

It's B.'s and my 24th wedding anniversary today!! Can't believe all those years have gone by!! It's hard to imagine that we've been together for so long!! There have been some very hard times but overall, we have had a wonderful wonderful marriage... I'm terrible lucky!!
Tonight we are going to a nice restaurant(Nicola's) for dinner...just the two of us.. I mention this cos the last two anniversaries I think our son was with us!!! Not that it mattered of course!!) We WERE going to the movies as well but then we thought we'd probably have to rush though our meal or go to a late session and being a Monday night, we don't want to be too late out...

Yummy Dahl

I made some delicious dahl this morning and I can't stop eating it!! I had a couple of cooked potatoes in the fridge and you know how I don't like the taste of leftover potato, but I didn't want to waste them so I needed to make something with strong flavours to cover the precooked potato taste( tastes like the fridge or something.....), the texture also changes for the worst after you've kept them for a day or two.. as well I had a small bunch of fresh coriander that I often buy and don't use all up (ironically, to try and make it last...) and then it goes bad... so I made dahl with red lentils and the potatoes and put all the coriander on top when it was cooked... yum, dahl! Made with red lentils it takes so very little time to cook..I was eating some 20 mins later!!! The lentils were still a bit firm then but a little bit more cooking and they were perfectly "creamy" and soupy.. oh gosh!! Soo GOOD!! and soo cheap!! The pot I made could feed a whole family for a couple of dollars!! I called B. in and we ate it with warmed tortillas for a kind of early " lunch". Then I took my dogs out for a walk..since I came back I have been getting it out of the fridge and eating more of it...it's healthy too and best of all VEGAN!!!!

Friday

I love Fridays and Mondays especially!! And they're not even my days off!!! I love Fridays cos they have that special weekend feeling, a party atmosphere!!! And I love Mondays cos they're the start of a brand new unsullied week and everything can start over again if needs be!!!
Even if it's my turn to work on the weekend I still like Fridays.. I have the morning shift which means I'm home by 1pm!! And B. also finishes early on Fridays.. he's home by 3pm usually, unless he goes to the shops or something which he does sometimes to buy beer or hardware of some kind...
I'm not having my grandgirls this weekend. I would like to but B. needs to have a weekend here and there where he just relaxes and does his own thing. Maybe we'll visit them and take them to the caves or something but they won't be coming here to sleep over this weekend.. NEXT weekend though, is my daughter's wedding day!!! The wedding is on Saturday and after that I'll have the little girls over for a couple of days.. it's the start of the school holidays so I can have them on my days off, not just the weekend, which I wouldn't be anyway as the wedding is then...

I mentioned my car going in for a service, well, a pleasant surprise.. it was only $270 B.said... so it didn't break the bank!! This week I 'll have to go to town and see if I can find a dress for Olivia.. I'll do that Tuesday...when I find hers then I can buy Jasmine's.. there's a few choices for Jasmine and I'll get the one that most closely complements what I find for Olivia..

The weather is just gorgeous here at the moment... fine and cold... looking forward to a nice relaxing and recharging time this weekend!!!

Soup

It's soup weather all right!! Very cold(for here!!) and B. loves soup. I personally feel as though I'm slumming it big time, haha, to eat it for a MEAL.. but the other day I made an awesome soup that even I enjoyed... I'd bought a packet of barley with the thought of making a "vegeloaf".. I read once that barley has the good chewy texture that makes it a good ingredient for an "unmeatloaf"... well, I made a soup instead.. it did have a lamb bone in it from the roast I made on Sunday... but it was full of barley, veges and we ate it for dinner with a homemade spinach quiche I made the same day which was also very yum!!
There was enough soup left for our lunches and then B.came home and asked if there was any more soup left for tea... aw, I had to say "no!!"
So I made some more today and there was a hambone in the freezer I had to use up...the soup today was a bit different as I didn't have any turnip or swede left but I had some dried 4 bean mix as well as the barley to use today and well, it wasn't half bad!!! I ate two bowls before work and it really sustained me I think... then we ate it with a toasted cheese sandwich for dinner tonight( yeah, I still felt like I was slumming it a bit.. but that's OK a couple of nights a week!!! ehehehheheeh!) I put some on the dogs' dinner as well... nice warm food for a chilly night for them....and still a huge pot left!!! But B. seems pleased.. he said he's going to eat it all weekend..... (I say... blech!!!) ehehehehheheh!

Blowout!

Whoa! Big week for spending. We finally got our passport applications in and they were over $200 each. That doesn't include the photos and because of various things(rrggh!) I had to get two lots done and B. had to get THREE!! So there went $50 just to get the photos right!!! My car went in for a service today ... haven't picked it up yet so don't know what that will be, but the last one was over $200. I bought some products from a friend who sells "Arbonne"..... I like to support people who are trying to help themselves...I bought quite a lot the first time and this time I bought less but nevertheless $280 worth.. can't even remember now what I ordered.. I know I ordered 2 foundations( I go through them quite quickly since I use it most days..), a shea butter hand and body duo, 2 lipsticks and a lipgloss... what else I'm not sure.... oh, a powder and some lipbrushes... anyway, will be a surprise when I open the package...
I finally put my mum's engagement ring that she gave me years ago, in to a jeweller get fixed.. the setting has become damaged and I was advised not to wear it until I got it remedied (at risk of losing the diamond)...it has been a shame not to be able to wear the ring all these years but I never seem to have the money spare to get it done...well, tidying out my drawers and cupboards I came across it again and well, I guess it's now or never.. anyway I paid for it and it was about $260(?) I can't recall right this minute.. I can check it later...
We got our first electricity bill also yesterday since installing our 7 solar panels. It is over $500 BUT that is for 11 months!!!!!! So they really have saved us over the time we have had them. One of my normal winter bills would be approximately $280 for a 60 day period, so you can see that $500 odd dollars for almost a year's worth of power is definitely cheap!!!
Ho hum.. all this meant that I am not doing much groceries this week.... going to do "pantry challenge" as far as possible and for as long as possible. I did have to go and get more dog food yesterday and a few other things.... but I think I've got quite a bit of food in the cupboards and also in the freezer so hopefully I will not have to go and do more food shopping till end of next week....

June "To Do" List

I am so far behind on my goals for June it is not funny. I had not posted them on this blog.. I wrote them in my journal:
Here is the list:(Dang! It's been that long since I wrote in there I couldn't even find it for a minute then....)
1. Plant 4 food plants in the month... have planted 3

2.Find and cook 4 new vegan recipes in the month... have cooked none yet!!

3. Do 2 big walks round Bunbury... have done none!

4.Meet Sheralyn for lunch.. long overdue.. have not arranged this yet

5.See at least one production this month.... have not seen anything or booked yet.

6.Complete passport applications... YAY! Have done this!!!

7.Go the soap factory in Dunsborough..... er , no..

8.See one movie by myself.... no....

9.Go to the Blood Bank to donate... no, nida, non....

10. Eat at the Japanese on Spencer St..... no...

11.Go to Perth and eat at "Lotus" vegetarian restaurant... hahhahahhahha!

12.Make room for Buddhist books somewhere... YAY! I have found a suitable place to store them!

13.Spend a small part of each day reading and contemplating some Dharma...I do contemplate a LOT.. but haven't read much..

14.Paint cane setting with a coat of fresh white paint... nuh!

15. Facebook less... YAY! I have achieved this!!!

Weary!

Feeling really tired today after a BIG weekend! Friday night we went to a 21st birthday party. We went to eat Chinese dinner first..it wasn't vegetarian, unfortunately.. I would have liked to order the vegetarian special bean curd and also the vegetarian sang choi bow but I could tell B. did not want to get those... he chose chilli basil chicken and I ordered a vegetable omelette but they brought out a combination one(?) mustn't have heard me properly.. oh well.... We shared a bottle of red wine there but after that I did not drink any more.. only had soda water and some still water.. we left about 11.30pm as I wanted to be fresh on Saturday to pick up Olivia and Jasmine.
We were able to get Jasmine's passport photos all right on Saturday. Jon and Rachel had been having trouble getting her to look straight at the camera and also to not bring her hand up to her face and in the end not to start crying!!! Poor thing!!! She probably couldn't understand what was going on!! The girl who was taking the photos took quite a few that weren't right but finally just before Jasmine started getting upset she got one that looks OK. Her little teeth are showing a bit but she said they usually don't mind that for small children...everyone else of course cannot have their teeth showing( why is this anyway??????)
Also went to see if we could get some dresses for them and disappointingly Olivia is too big for size 7 which was the biggest size they had... I'm going to try elsewhere this week.. I can get one for Jasmine but I'll wait to see what kind of dress I can find for Ollie first..I did buy two fairy dresses "in case" but I ended up giving them to the girls to take home.. Olivia had a dressup birthday party to go to on Wednesday and well, I really wanted some better dresses than those for the wedding day...I'm sure I will find something..Target might have some... or maybe I can try a bridal store, though that will probably be very expensive...
The rest of the weekend was spent going to parks and to the beach and letting them bake cookies etc and then Sunday, I cooked a roast dinner and Jon and Rachel came up to eat with us and our neighbours/cousins from over the road also joined us for tea.. my son also came to stay on Saturday for a couple of days so it was all very social and busy!! My roast dinner was not vegetarian either :(
I had bought a side of lamb at shopping so B. could have meat for BBQ and also a leg for sandwich meat.. but it wasn't very big... ( such a young sheep.. ohhh... terrible!!) and got eaten all up in the one meal by everyone, as well I had to make a stew as the roast leg would not have been enough!!! So no meat left for sandwiches either!!! I got quite tipsy drinking plenty of red wine before and over dinner and remember making quite a lot of ribald comments and jokes!!! Everyone was in a good humour and the evening was a lot of fun!!! :)

This Week's Waste

Or LACK thereof!! Yay for me! I have wasted the least food ever I think! The only thing I threw out today was some cooked rice which I forgot to put away last night and so it was left out...cooked rice gets bacteria that can cause tummy upset etc if not refrigerated, so I thought I better ditch it.. but even so it did not have to go into the bin!! I mixed it with a little raw mince meat and gave it to the birds and they loved it! I have given them rice before but strangely(I thought!) they did not seem too keen. I mentioned it on Facebook and a friend said they will eat it if it is mixed with mince. I was lucky to just have a little bit of mince in the fridge, left from the weekend when I made some spaghetti...
I have been doing well at eating vegetarian although still not completely. I had to finish off a couple of chicken wings yesterday. Otherwise doing pretty good! I have cooked some meat for B. A small corned beef for his sandwiches and he had some with his dinner while it was still hot...I didn't have any.. this is a big step forward for me as if I have to cook it, it's very difficult for me to resist... But otherwise he has been eating vege food with me.... I made an awesome goulash with some of the seitan I made last week... it turned out really well! I NEED to cook and have food like this on hand so I am not tempted by what may be in the fridge or freezer that is NOT vegetarian, which there will be from time to time as B. still likes some meat... B. even liked this goulash, so much so that he took some for his lunch today as well. I bought some King Island Soy Cream Cheese the other day hoping it might make a good substitute for the Tofutti Sour"Cream" which I can't find anymore and while I haven't tried to thin it with lemon juice to see if it will be good as sour"cream" I did stir some into the goulash and it worked a treat! So at least it can be used in cooking.. that's something!!!

Regular Running

My running is usually very sporadic.. since my youth I haven't made a regular running schedule.. things get in the way.. I run for a couple of days and then let it go by the board again... recently, I have been running more regularly than I have for a long time!!! It feels great!!
Yesterday I ran a course around town that I feel could be my regular running route and I found that I'm a pretty good judge of distance! I felt it was about 8 km and after my run I drove it, arriving home just as the trip meter clicked onto 8km exactly!!! Of course my steps don't follow the exact path of a car but to make up for any occasions where I might have cut the corner etc, I made sure I took the longest path round things and also ran up and down the steps at the golf course lake a few times... in any case, the run is approx 8km and that is a good distance for me to do most days. I hope to, for variety's sake go to Bunbury once a week to do a run along the coastal road or perhaps park at Australind and run into Bunbury( and back??) When I am able to do that I will be really pleased....
The other night I must have run at least 10km as I ran my 8km route PLUS all around the golf course which would have added about 2km ...the interesting thing is.. I feel this has all been helped along by my "new" habit of blogging and list making etc... keeping written track of my activities in all sorts of areas is definitely making things happen.. much more than when I just think about them.. from my finances to trying to maintain a vegetarian diet now to running...writing about what I hope to achieve, whether it's on here or in my journal, really works to help it become reality!

Sigh! Seitan!

I was going to go into town to day to do one of the two big walks around Bunbury I have on my "To Do In June" list.... but I changed my plans so I could have a go at making "seitan". I have made it a few times and most of the time it's about the same.... it's not bad but once I went to a Chinese temple in Melbourne and they just had the most wonderful dishes there all made of seitan of course, but they must have the "knack" or some secret.. mine isn't anywhere as nice...
Today after simmering it in the broth I baked it and it looked and smelled all right... I turned the oven off and went out for a walk.. I think if I'd taken it out of the oven before I went, it would have been better... it seems a bit rubbery and overly firm today. But it was still OK!! I fried some slices and then made the sauce I like to serve with steak... creamy mushroom and garlic... gee, I wish I could get the Tofutti Sour Cream again.... I have seen the cream "cheese" maybe I could try using that and diluting it with white wine and water.. then the sauce could be vegan... I ate my " steaks" with two of the leftover Yorkshire puddings which did have egg in them.... must get a box of the egg replacer again.. I have used that and you wouldn't even know the difference.. I just ran out of it recently. Overall, I am quite pleased with the results today but as I say cooking it less would have made it less chewy. There was enough so I could slice and freeze some..that might help me when I have a meat craving if there's already some seitan made as it takes a little time to prepare...... I quite like it... don't know if B. be will very keen...I'm going to test drive some on him tonight... I sliced some very thinly and it's in the fridge in a marinade of ginger, garlic salt(ran out of garlic).. chou hou paste, XO sauce and sesame oil with a bit of soy and a bit of sugar... also in with them some sliced onion and red capsicum...oh and I ran out of sherry AND Chinese wine so I put a little bit of brandy... see how it goes tonight when I stirfry it with some vegetables and serve with steamed rice! Maybe I'll put a few cashews as well!!

Lots of Food

There is lots of food to use up over the next few days...first I have a bowl of pasta .. I cooked a big lot of pasta to make macaroni cheese and there was too much !! I still have to eat the remaining mac cheese as well... I think I will freeze this cooked pasta and even if it doesn't freeze too well I can make soup with it later on..
There are 4 Yorkshire puds left.. that one's easy, will eat them tonight with the one steak there is left in the meat keeper. It is a T-bone.... I might cut the larger portion from it and give it to B. he doesn't care for this cut... while I eat the bit remaining on the bone.... that's plenty, we don't eat that much meat if I can help it.. will just cook some veges and make some gravy..
There is one portion of pie left from last night. My friend had a lot of spaghetti over but I still left some pie there and brought home my dish that had about two portions left.. ate one just before for breakfast and the remaining one I will eat tomorrow.. or even later on today...
There is a portion of mashed potato.. I will give it to the birds or the dogs in their dinner.. think it's a bit stale..
There is some white sauce.. made too much of that also when cooking the mac cheese. I will put it with the leftover mac cheese.. it has absorbed some of the sauce and become quite thick so the extra sauce won't go astray...
There is a tiny bit of roast beef and that will make one more day of sandwiches for B.
There is some chocolate pudding from Sunday night.... will try and eat a good portion each this evening and the rest, if any can go to the birds.. I only made a small one so we should be able to finish it..
I had a bit of yorkshire pudding mixture left also from Sunday.. I will make a pancake for lunch for myself with this..
There is half a tin of sardines that B. opened on Saturday... this is too stale and I will mix it with the dogs' dinner....
I opened a packet of puff pastry to line the pie dish with yesterday.. I often do this and end up wasting the rest of the packet!!! But I will make a point of using it to make some snacks for Saturday evening with this!!
There are plenty of veges left in the crisper and they are all still good!! That's it for my food utilisation post!!

Why Not?

Why not indeed??? It's amazing how if you really try and work on your mind, how you can start to see things really differently and also have a change of "heart".....
I'm talking about my family's move overseas which looking back over my blog and my journal had me quite upset and sad not very long ago..
I've been trying really hard to understand why they would want to move and how things look like from their point of view... my son helped a lot by talking it over with me and hearing all my fears and doubts..anyway, I feel quite OK about it now, even a bit excited for them.
My daughter and her partner are both very very talented and why should they not go where they feel they could really have a chance to reach for the stars in their chosen field?? I have put a lot of effort into opening my mind to thinking correctly and not getting carried away with nonsense thoughts!!! One of the "exercises" I found helpful was doing a bit of "role reversal" as a strategy for understanding their wishes to move and try to expand and develop their business. I imagined what my daughter might feel about me and my chosen path in life and what she might say about it if I did not give them my full encouragement and support. I can't really support them financially .. but I can always be enthusiastic and excited for their prospects. And not be negative and focus on possible problems that might arise.. I realised that I can demonstrate my faith in their abilities and not be scornful of the choices they make, knowing that everyone has their own goals and dreams that are right for them...anyway, I am constantly amazed at the ability of the mind to change if you give it a go!! Having conquered many negative frames of mind over the years,I feel confident that even though there are lots more things in life for me to learn but that I will be able to do it!!

Time Flies!!!

Whoosh! Where does all the time go??????? Only last week I was gloating to my workmate Sam about the five day weekend I was looking forward to this week and already it's nearly at an end!!! Only have tomorrow left!!! Today just went in a blur especially!! I don't mean a blur in that I was foggy-minded... I mean the blur caused by things moving very fast!!! ehehehhehehehe!
I spent a good part of the morning doing a "Responsible Service of Alcohol" on-line course.. that's what made the day seem like it went very fast...we all had to do it for work. Well, it was very tedious I have to say.. forced you to have to sit through audio sessions instead of being able to just read the material and fly through... well, at least it is done and to tell the truth it made me think a little about the dangers of drinking too much alcohol again.. ( I do think about it from time to time.. but I still drink too much too often...in regards to health..).
It is such awesome weather today! Very sunny and the wind is cold but it's just my ideal kind of day! My son and I went for lunch at the Dome in Bunbury. We shared a calamari, chips and salad and also a taste plate that had chicken strips, salt and pepper squid and meatballs with three kinds of dipping sauce and a Coke each. The Dome is very reasonably priced.. and the food is really quite nice....they have a good pizza there but I had that last time when I went to the Hall's Head one with my mum and Roy.
I've got a kind of pie in the oven at the moment. Going out to a friend's place for tea ( the same friend we went to recently where I took a potato bake and a crusty loaf....and I told her I'd bring something. It is like a shepherd's pie with puff pastry on the bottom, filled with curried sausages and topped with mashed potato... I made a double batch of the best curried sausages I think I've ever made yesterday with most of that big packet of sausages I bought last Thursday. I think she said she's cooking steak but whatever she makes we can all have some of my pie as well.. B. I know will love it.. he didn't eat any of the curried sausages yesterday, only my son and I did. B. had already had some lunch before the sausages were ready...he was hungry "prematurely" for tea though, as a consequence and so I had to put the roast beef I spoke about on earlyish.. lucky though, by the time it was cooked it was about 6.30pm and I asked them if they wanted some pudding for dessert and they said yes! So it wasn't too late to whip up a chocolate self-saucing pudding and put that it and we still all got to bed nice and early for a Sunday night(after I cleaned up and all!).

A-MAZING!

Took the two grandgirls to the Mythic Mazes in Nannup on Saturday. They weren't what I was really expecting but it still was a pretty good outing! I thought it would be a much bigger place and also I imagined the hedges to be quite thick but they were quite "see through"... nevertheless once you started going around they were a lot more complex than they looked at first... we were laughing somewhat when we first started off...you go through an archway into a garden of "sculptures".. well, it was pretty much like someone's backyard with a few garden ornaments and cut outs!!! A bit funny but the girls enjoyed it and sat on the big throne they had in the garden, also we had a game of oversized noughts and crosses that was there.. there were actually a few nice carvings of "beings" around the place.. it was really quite nice... just a bit more "homey" than I had thought...cost $10 each adult and $8 each for the girls... I thought it was quite worth it.... anyway we spent an hour there easily, maybe a little over... after that we went into Nannup and got a bit of lunch, just pies and stuff...we were very lucky with the weather... it was quite a nice sunny day ... it would be very hot to trek around the mazes in the summer......
After lunch we made our way back to Margaret River and enjoyed a fun afternoon with my daughter and her partner and for tea they made the most awesome pizzas, plus there was some delicious curry from "The Larder". The girls had a lot of fun dancing around as Jon was playing lots of different music for us..... we were laughing that much trying to decide on a song for the wedding day.... some funny ones you could have that would make everyone think " What the hell??" ( Devil Inside(INXS)... Rockin Robin(Michael Jackson....Way Down(Elvis)...ridiculous!! Of course we will not be having any of those but it was funny to imagine Rachel walking out to some crazy tune!!!!!) One really nice thing was dancing with each of the girls to music like Cat Stevens' Moon Shadow and Morning has Broken....... songs from so long ago but you could see that little Jasmine especially was enjoying them.....

Not So Awesome Shopping Day

Today I went to work for a short time... 7-9am...I am going to be doing this every Thursday and then go back at 3pm for my regular shift...it was bright and busy and the time went very quickly. I was all dressed and had my handbag,shopping bags etc with me to go straight to town and do my shopping quickly! I wanted to go to Big W also to see if I could get one of those "egg carton" foam underlays (that I already have on my bed...... sooo comfy)..... to put on the spare bed which is a little bit soft but I'm hoping with the underlay it will feel better to sleep on....

Well, I haven't been to Big W for a long time and some things caught my attention... DVDs... I saw the Michael Jackson "This Is It" one that I do want.. and put it in my trolley, also a Dora one for Jasmine... then I remembered I do want an extra hot water bottle for when guests come... went to look for those and saw headbands... looked and looked at those for quite a while trying to decide if I liked any of them... I didn't....but I wear them a LOT, why don't they make more kinds???? All of them were black or grey or for kids or too thin... I like them a bit wider.. oh, they had tortoiseshell too, but I got one of those recently... then I wanted to get the girls some more textas which I put into my trolley but there were so many nice things for children, activity sets and stickers and craft sets... that kept me looking for a while again... I didn't buy any... I got them a couple of books last week and they haven't seen them yet...then I saw the book section and wanted very much to buy another Jamie Oliver cookbook.. very nearly did but thought no, I will ask for one for my birthday( which is not too far away...). After all that I went and put the DVDs back....can't really afford them this week... and after all that, I couldn't find any hot water bottles either!!!

Finally I arrived at the manchester section and yay! they had the eggcarton thingies... two brands... I bought the cheaper one( $10 less) it was $59 as it was.... then I saw mink blankets... oh, they are my weakness! I love them! I had been wanting to get a new one for our bed as since I bought those fuschia curtains, none of my existing bed linen really matches... not that that sort of thing really bothers me very much and I did have a quilt cover with pinkish tones that has been sufficing... but there was a nice deep crimson blanket today with some kind of spots on it... would be PERFECT I thought and also allow me to take the quilt cover off and wash it today... so I got it... was $49.95... not really in my budget this week but it's hard to find this kind of blanket at times in nice designs..... anyway, it looks really nice and what I like about it, it's big enough to cover the whole bed and pillows which the quilt cover was not quite achieving!!! I put the new underlay on our bed, it hasn't got a eggcarton structure, more like ridges... hope it as as comfy, it should be OK!!!

I found shopping a bit disappointing today grocery wise. I wanted to go to Woolies instead of Coles where I usually shop as Woolies has a very large container of plain brand fish food that is quite cheap....also dog treats are cheaper there, they have a brand Coles does not which is significantly cheaper than any I can get there... Also I find their range of icy poles and individual icecreams always have some on special, unlike Coles, and I want some for the girls this weekend.

But everything else seemed a bit expensive today. Again I bought MEAT. I can see this is not going to stop for me while I am living with someone to whom vegetarianism is not THE goal..... I need some cold meat for B.'s sandwiches and so I got a roast beef which seemed the most economical option available today....will roast it on the weekend, have a meal of it, and then the leftovers can be sandwiches for a day or two. I'm going to cut it I think, into two and if there's not so much cooked meat it will help me just stick to the veges...(I'll be trying to "save" the meat for B.). Also I got a big packet of sausages which were VERY cheap......B. LOVES as I have mentioned before and the other thing I got was a packet of three T-bones for the unexpected BBQ should it occur. Still got the meat I bought last shopping trip... only used the sausages and still have 5 left, which I'm going to crumb tonight for B.'s lunch tomorrow.... the chicken breasts and the lamb 4quarter chops still intact in the freezer. As well still got 3 ribeyes.. I cooked one for B. last week..... I MAY be having a few people next Saturday for hot dishes... if I do all that stored food will come in handy... won't need to buy so much next shopping....But talking of COSTS, lamb legs have REALLY gone up lately...even stewing steak is expensive and beef roasts or steak, wow!!! I saw a whole rump which I was thinking might be good to buy... cut some for roast and the rest put by.... was $98!!!!! HOLY MOLY!!! One thing that pleases me about this though, is that the cost of meat SHOULD reflect the COST - of meat... (the price of life, the cruelty, the environmental effect etc etc). maybe one day when meat gets so expensive people can't afford it, then may we move more towards vegetarian culture....(probably though that's when conditions and treatment of animals will get WORSE...... sigh....).

Well, I got what I needed mostly after spending quite a long time in the supermarket examining everything closely.... ehehehehhehehe! Some things I wanted though, I had to leave for another day... have to make do without.. nothing special just things like juice, more frozen veges, potato gems...I have other things that will do without having to get these extra items....

Catch Up Post!!!

Ooh! Had a little break from posts.. now for a quick catch up!!

I just had two bowls of delicious soup for my breakfast.. made it first thing this morning, after I made B.'s sandwiches and before doing last night's dishes!!! Eheheheheh! The soup I made is a famly recipe... it is a tomato, pasta based soup and you add in a tin of baked beans and lots of cabbage..we always made it with a ham hock... but I thought I could use some sliced cabana(yes.. still finding things in the freezer.. this sausage was frozen from a party where I had it ready and sliced to serve but didn't need to put it out....always have soo much food...) anyway, it is quite yummy and I have made a vegetarian version of it many times.. still I want to use up the cabana..

Nil food waste this week!!! BIG pat on the back to me!!! This writing about food and stuff is a really great tool as is demonstrated by the ever reducing level of food I have chucked out each week!! I highly recommend it!!

Beautiful sunny day today again.. yesterday in the afternoon(I waited till then so it'd be nice and warm!!) I took the dogs to the beach. Only had shorts and a singlet on and felt even a little hot walking along!! Had a fairly decent walk and I don't know if Honey ate something bad or not(I didn't see her..) but she vomited about 5 times during the night...ugh! First one was very small and easy to clean up. I put her in the bathroom after that in case she did some more and I was glad I did! They just got bigger and more er.... chunky.. Lots of bedding to hose off and wash today... but at least it wasn't in our bedroom!!!

I am in the happy position of being totally up-to-date with the bills. Last month or so been struggling to maintain funds in the bank and I still had a pile of outstanding bills to pay..... I've caught up now, NOT without effort, of which I'm very proud and although a mobile bill came on Monday, ( JUST after I cleared all the existing bills!!) it's not due for two weeks and the main bill(big one!) is finished with. I must mention what the bill was... I have an account where I work...if need anything I usually just put it on there. The bill comes every fortnight but most people, including me don't pay it every fortnight religiously....HOW quick does time fly and the fortnights add up??????? I had about $600 total owing!!! I paid a bit off and then the balance of $400 something on Monday. For about a month now I have only been paying CASH and this is my strategy so I DON'T have this bill to find money to pay for when I haven't budgeted for it!!! I probably will still have a bill from time to time as when my son visits I let him fill up his car on his way out of town and he puts it on my account.... but I will pay this straight away in future...I could give him some cash and get him to pay for the fuel but I already help him with a regular amount each week so he can just put the fuel he needs on the account...if it's not $50 worth I "save" and that little "extra" can get "snowflaked".

Happy Little Vegemite

What a lovely peaceful day I had today! I started it off feeling pretty tired, to tell the truth!! Poor B. coughed and carried on all night and I felt as though I didn't sleep much at all....then I felt hungry! I ate a smallish dinner at our friends' house earlier in the evening...but when I was awake during the night, all I could think about was getting up and cooking fried or scrambled eggs before work this morning!!! As the dawn approached I had to make my mind up between trying to get 15 mins more snooze or a cooked breakfast... and sleep won!! SOOOO tired... I dragged myself up at 6.45 am, got dressed for work, made a cup of tea(and one for B. with a piece of toast and honey) scoffed one down myself and off I went....at work again, was naughty and shared a sausage roll with the girls around 10am and then for lunch I saw a Chiko roll in the fridge defrosted so I had that!!! It says it has mutton and/or beef in it but I have never seen any.... it seems to be made mainly of cabbage with a few other veg thrown in(sometimes there is a sno-pea!!!!) and barley...anyway, it obviously was left from last night so I ate it..
Work was good today, I made it so by doing every single little job I could see needed doing.... before long it was time to go home...
It was still lovely and sunny when I arrived home. B. was out the back pruning trees..he stopped when I arrived to crank up the BBQ and cook a few sausages.... I told you how he loves his sausages...... I had one... with a Bundaberg Ginger Beer... later we went across to our neighbours' and had a few wines... very nice..

Home and I made spaghetti bolognaise( B's choice) and I'm about ready for bed right now!!! Awesome awesome MONDAY tomorrow again!!!! GEE, the year is flying past, last day of May coming up!!!!

Fun Being Fit !!!

Today we had a "Mega Launch" at our gym.. this is when they put on a special class made up of some of each of the new Les Mills group fitness classes that we have available to do there..

We started off with Vanessa and Body Step.. did the first three tracks of Step ( release 80 I believe!!! Step is 20 years old!!!)

Followed by Nancy leading Sarah, Carly, and Pete in Body Pump... she did the squat track, chest and back and hammies .....didn't think much of the last one.. good song ( Don't Speak by No Doubt) but bit too slow for my taste.. I like really thumping up beat music to do clean and presses to.....

Sarah took Attack and that was pretty fun!!! Something a bit different from previous Attacks! Enjoyed that thoroughly!!!

Carly and Nancy took Combat together.... three tracks including the muay tay (spelling?) track which is always my favourite track in Combat...ooh! it felt a bit tough, that one!!! I'm gonna enjoy that one, I can tell!!!

Then Sarah again for Balance and we did hip openers, abdominals and hamstrings/forward bends..... good to stretch everything out after that awesome workout we just did!!!

I feel great knowing that I am healthy!!! Got a good strong back and legs and generally in pretty good shape overall!! It's fun being fit!!!

News in Brief!

They say there's no such thing as a free lunch! But I get a free lunch everyday at my work cos my boss is a super generous kind person and I never take it for granted!!! I appreciate it very much!!! Today I shared half a sausage roll with Tracey(my bad, sigh....) and I had a handful of hot chips and a Multi V juice.... sometimes I have nothing! Yesterday, for instance, I had a coffee and a cup of tea but nothing else....

Work went FAST today, despite it being quiet days.... now I have tomorrow off and work Sunday 7.30 am till 1 pm.... my favourite shift!!!

I still have the remains of a huge coldsore from blowing my nose so often... and now getting another coldsore in the corner of my mouth! ARRRGH!!! Must be a bit run down, I know I feel ever so tired lately... unbelievably tired... have had to have a nap most days... today I came home, read three "stories" from "Notes from a Big Country" by Bill Bryson and slept (soundly) till B. came home from work at 3.......

Took the dogs for a walk while B. went for a surf..... it's too cold I think, and not wise to go into the freezing ocean when he's got a cold... but he believes in the curative powers of salt water!!! Later we went to enjoy the last of the late afternoon sun....

Came home and I thought B. looked as though he felt like one of the ribeye steaks I bought yesterday.. I had a big field mushroom and a thick slice of eggplant... we both had mash on the side and topped the lot with garlic sauce!!!! YUMMO!

Early night tonight.... Mega Launch at the gym tomorrow!!! Three tracks from each of the five NEW Les Mills classes... Step, Pump, Attack, Combat and Balance!!!! Hope I can get a spot... there is a crowd sometimes, at others not so many....

Not having the girls this week :(... I would but B. says to leave them this week.... he feels my son- in-law can't tolerate us too often... maybe he is right.. I can't believe however that they would not like us to take the girls, they seem to find weekends especially hard to fill in and amuse Olivia especially.... but well, I will listen......

Have a nice weekend everyone!!!!!!

Going Well!!!

Everything is well in my world..I am feeling better physically than I have in a long while... all coughing has ceased and I feel pretty normal again!! Woo Hoo! Feeling at peace and although I don't know what's around the corner, I reckon everything's going to be OK..

Went shopping today and my bill was $204. But in there was a box of Coke, a box of Bundaberg Ginger Beers, some stuff for the girls(Dora colouring in books, pencil cases (cos they've been fighting lately over the one they share here... I got Jasmine a Dora one and Olivia a Bratz one...and some more markers). I did buy slaughterhouse products again... felt bad and nearly put some of them back but I had to get the sausages for B. he really likes them, I can't choose his life for him...and my son Casey who might visit.. he will want his favourite chicken schnitzels... Also got some lamb forequarter chops and some steak ( in case B. wants to have or go to a BBQ) But I put them all in the freezer....will only get out if I have to..... if we have a BBQ I have two big field mushrooms and eggplants for me.... another thing I'm going to do over the weekend is make a big log of seitan, then I can make some kebabs and some pieces I can crumb and make into "schnitzels" for myself when they're having chicken ones... slowly I will phase out cooking meat for them.... but I have to get good at making seitan first!!!!

I was very pleased not to waste very much food at all this week. The only thing I tossed was 1/2 tin of tomato soup which I had opened to make some spaghetti... I didn't get around to using the rest and it went all funny in the tin.. should have transferred it to a container... otherwise, there were a few bits and pieces that the dogs ate and that's about it!!!! :)

I cooked a bag of beansprouts before they went off and I ate half today.. made four springrolls, that was how many wrappers were left from last week!! So no waste again!! For tea tonight we had tacos.. with one tin of kidney beans and about 4 tbls of mince that I had cooked and frozen some weeks ago.... I could have used all the mince but now I have enough left to make some bolognaise sauce for B. over the weekend...to make up the tacos we had shredded lettuce, grated cheese, sour cream and a salsa made of diced avocado, tomato and red onion. I added some lemon juice to the salsa from a really really fresh lemon I picked just this evening from Bob's (my boss) tree!!!

Respite

Grateful for a "break" from the recent angst I've been experiencing in regards to my family's impending re-location overseas.

There is so much to be thankful for... at least I have had these good times with them the last few years... I have been working very hard with my thoughts and emotions and today I feel a lot better than I have in a number of days...

That's all for this post... for the moment it's better for me not to focus on the subject until I am firmly "settled" in myself... have only JUST managed to defeat negative feelings.. must stay on track and not "go anywhere" in my mental processes that might cause me to relapse.....

"Blessons"

There is a blog somewhere out there that has this "word" in its title.. "blessons" ....I came across it briefly one day...blessings and lessons rolled in together!!
It's definitely "blesson time"for me these days!

Things I am learning ( some of them RE-learning... i.e.. they are not NEW blessons:

To remember to think with my head... I know there are people who say to go with your heart but I have never found this to be good.... there are times I let my heart influence my actions and I always regret it...

That even though I don't "expect" certain results or ask for them ( I've ALWAYS believed in doing things for their own sake, not to " get" any particular thing from it..... sometimes what I BELIEVE will happen doesn't...that is, I still get surprises a lot!! Sometimes not pleasant ones....

That somewhere along the line I have stopped trusting processes...don't know what to say or think about this... but I never used to be like that.. I always used to trust.... now there seems to be lot of fear/anxiety surrounding different things...

That sometimes I'm not even that conscious of what I really feel until something happens to reveal my innermost thoughts to me...

That I can and DO always gain the best out of everything that comes my way.. even if it's painful.. I am lucky and blessed to ALWAYS find the blesson present in any every situation....

:) :) :)

Not Very Vegetarian...

I was just reading back over a couple of posts and was reminded that I had planned to eat potato bake and veges with bread at our friend's place the other night.. well, I didn't.... B. put some chicken on my plate and so I just ate it.....

I have failed to not eat meat some other times as well over the last few days.. I ate yumcha in Perth and also a steak and kidney pie after our lighthouse excursion..... also some of the roast chicken I got for B.'s sandwiches....

Today I ate a piece of fish at work...

Not very vegetarian... will have to try harder this week...

Blah!!

Got the "blahs" today... feeling so exhausted from constant coughing and no energy! My chest just feels really weird..I was talking to a man this morning who comes in every day for his paper about asthma and he said it's possible that what I described to him is due to asthma.. if it is then I am experiencing it more and more... even though I have been told I have asthma for a number of years now I have not really suffered from this much before.. a funny feeling of a "bubble" in my throat..hard to describe exactly but it is very unpleasant.. I notice it comes immediately before coughing but there is not feeling of wanting to cough as such.... it causes me to have just a millisecond of panic as it feels very odd, not a good feeling... but then I seem to cough and it goes away.... happens over and over...worse at night it seems when I lie down to sleep... of course then I get a bit stressed and so I am not sleeping very well....

I went for a walk with the dogs just now. It's a very overcast and cool day... nevertheless it always feels good to walk. Found 4 golfballs today!! I give them to my friend Rodney. Sometimes I don't find any for days on end... I usually only find one or two at a time... but today, 4!!!

Another Fun Outing!!!

Today we went to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse... it was Olivia's idea!! She asked us to take her to a lighthouse yesterday.. I asked her why she wanted to go to a lighthouse and how did she know about lighthouses and she said that someone at school had spoken about it for news.

It was quite a drive to get there from our place! Very windy and not very warm today so we bundled up... the wind was SO strong there that Jasmine nearly was blown over and when we were allowed to go outside onto the exterior of the lighthouse, the tour guide advised people to put their glasses away and also to hang onto small children!!!

It was a very interesting tour! I was wondering what he was going to tell us when he said the tour would take half an hour..but there was plenty of information given on the history and the running of the lighthouse... quite fascinating!! The girls were so good and seemed to enjoy the tour .. it surprised me a bit as I would have thought they might think it all a bit boring...but neither of them looked bored for a second!! I complimented Olivia on her choice of an excursion for the day... was well worth it.. funny in a way that we ourselves have never been there once in all these years....just never thought of it! We have been to the Leeuwin Lighthouse but we didn't go inside for a tour..there wasn't one running at the time and I don't know if we would have if there was.. it doesn't look very exciting.. this one didn't either.. we only went because Olivia had requested... but I'm really glad we did.. it was awesome fun!!!

Excursion to Perth

We took our grandgirls to Perth today and went to the WA Museum. It was totally awesome fun.. they were both squealing with delight and Olivia shouted " What else is there to see here?? I'm so excited!!" when we were nearly finished in the Discovery Centre.
We drove as far as Kwinana and then hopped on the train.. that in itself is fun for them and different as they really don't go out much with their parents. This is one of the things I feel very sad about and hope that my daughter and her partner will make more effort to take them out when they move overseas. They have often said that they feel it's "too hard" taking them both out to places(?!) and I KNOW it's not without a bit of dramas.... they do cry and fight and whine at times ... but to see them have so much fun and take so much interest in what they're seeing and doing is soo worth it and totally NECESSARY so they can experience the wonders of the world around them......I am really worried that they will not have enough outings and we will not be there to "take up the slack..."
Not going to write much today as they're still here and I want to make the most of every moment I have with them if they're really going to go... awwwww... a really really big part of me will be gone with them when they fly away on that plane.....

Shopping Day Again

We have started getting coupons here now... there have been a few before this week .. I have seen them.... but I really noticed them this week as one of them was for 3 x 24 Coke cans for $40.. that's not as cheap as you can get them other times, I'm sure... Coke seems to really vary in price.. sometimes it's quite expensive and then others if it's on special it can be quite cheap! I didn't feel like forking out $40 on Coke today however and settled for 3 x 1.25 litre Coke bottle for $6 instead.

I went to the Farmers' Market today.. don't go every week, if you don't go early in the morning it's parking hell!!! ehehehhehe! I worked for a little bit this morning so I would have been too late for Body Combat... and I don't feel like doing Balance lately.... so I thought I'd go today when I finished at 9am. I wanted to get some cheese from there... it' s locally produced and quite a bit cheaper than the supermarket brands...( still a product of suffering!) but I have decided to just be very sparing with all these kinds of foods... I don't think my hubby wants to be a vegan but he's happy to eat minimal animal products which is I think, at least for now, the best I can do also....

I spent about $50 there and about $120 at Coles.. which is good for us.... (usually around $220). But I didn't get enough dog food to last till next Thursday... only till Monday.....I might be able to eke it out if we have some scraps to stretch it or they can even have some of the cat's (surplus) food..... I noticed as I was putting the bread in the freezer that I now have a lot of loaves in there.... a surplus of that as well...it'd only be dog food that takes me back to the shops.. so if I'm careful, I could probably avoid more grocery purchases too soon!!

I am wasting much less by writing about food and meal-plans and having awareness of what's actually in the cupboard and freezer. This week I only wasted;

: some pumpkin soup.... I will dig it into the ground and it will compost... I just don't like soup very much.. even though I tried NOT to make a huge pot it was still too much for us...

: a small piece of cucumber... went behind something and I didn't see it... only about 2 inches so that's not too bad.. can go into the compost

that's about it!!!! There were a few leftovers but the dogs can have those sometimes...it's better anyway for them to have some veges and rice etc mixed with their food which is primarily tinned food and some biscuits. I would like if they could have more raw food but raw meat is quite expensive to feed them... they're not little dogs otherwise I could afford it...

I bought a free range chicken today( they were on special)..... my husband (B)needs to have something for his sandwiches sometimes that is not baked beans or hummus all the time!!!! He takes some leftovers usually and a peanut butter sandwich but he needs to have one other sandwich at least.... also the grand girls are coming and they are a bit fussy with their food. They like chicken so I will roast one and then they can have that for their meal and then the leftovers can go to sandwiches for a couple of days for B. They'll be here a couple of nights so I also got a packet of frozen beefburgers as they will eat a hamburger.... no salad mind you, but a patty and sauce! B will like that too.. he still likes to BBQ sausages and hamburgers... doesn't care about steak, thankfully... speaking of which I really felt like yesterday... I didn't indulge but I was conscious of feeling like a steak with salad... as if I really really needed it.... sometimes even though I want to eat vegetarian food, I feel a bit sick at the thought of say, mushrooms... and feel like I NEED red meat...but at least for yesterday I did not eat any...

I made the awesomest spring rolls this week..... we had them two nights in a row (I had them for two lunches as well!!)and then last night the remaining filling I fried with some rice into a kind of nasi goreng which we had with some fish fingers ( nearly a whole box left in the freezer... now only about 5 left..again the girls like these...) and a fried egg.

I just made a potato bake to take tonight to our friend's... she invited us for tea and she's making roast chicken.... hopefully there will be enough veges for me to have.. that's why I'm taking the potato bake... to help her out but also so I can eat that with some other veges and some bread... I bought a big Italian loaf as well...

Just now when I took the dogs for a little walk... I have to go to work soon so it had to be shortish.... I saw this magpie that has a damaged wing and is hanging around the one house and garden where another girl I know lives... I'm a bit worried for it in case it's not getting enough to eat.. she is feeding it but how much does a bird that size need???? I noticed today that it was not standing but sort of lying like a chicken does on a nest in the garden bed in the sun. I went back to see if it was still there with the thought of perhaps catching it and taking it to the wildlife lady but it wasn't there then..... it's a lovely sunny day today but I'm worried for when it gets cold.. or will it have starved by then or got at by a cat???? There are two cats next door to the house.. it's a wonder they haven't killed it so far.....

Maybe I shoudn't interfere as well.... that's the other thought I have... it's sad but if I catch it, there's no guarantee it will live and even if it does, it will be confined most probably and maybe not very happy??? I never know what is the right thing to do in these situations....