Bicheno

We took a walk on the rocks this morning around to the blow hole.The weather had turned and we have been expecting rain all day but so far it hasn't arrived.

Further around on the rocks there was a seal.

Strange colour on the rocks as it was only on one side we assume that it was a type of moss.

Richmond

I love bridges and Richmond has the oldest bridge in Australia so of course that was one place that I wanted to go to, in particular.

I didn't realise that it was still in use. Only a kilometre or so out of town. The sky was blue and people/families were out and about.

Back into town for lunch which was a handcrafted ice cream, yum, no rum and raisin in sight but I had whiskey cream with choc hazelnut and Warren had licorice all-sorts and cookies and cream. No time to take a photo.

We also visited this place. It is a model village of Hobart as it was, it was constructed as one sixteenth size. There were some odd things to look for, such as a woman killing a snake and a boy falling out of a tree, four in all but we didn't find them, apparently we needed a kid to help as they were more at their eye level.

Hobart harbour as it was. I had been to this place years ago and it has been interesting to work out how long age it was that I was there with a girl friend. We came to a work sports weekend and stayed a couple of extra days. To the best of my ability, I have narrowed it down to 1992, time flies.

Richmond being only a thirty to forty minute drive from Hobart seems to be the place to go on a Sunday "to get out of the rat race." Lots of crafty or antique little shops, places to get a bite to eat or buy some sweet treats.

Some great buildings, this is a church in the main street probably built in the 1800's still standing the test of time and in use.

Its a small world.

I was looking for a scallop pie for lunch at the markets. No pies, they had moved on to having scallops on pizza so I ordered one of those only to find that they had sold out. I ended up having roast pumpkin and feta slice.

We went to sit and eat on the lawns alongside the markets and two women sat on the other end. It seemed that they were new to Tassie. They were with a garden group from Melbourne. One lady in particular was talking to us about the group and they often go on trips. The next one was to the Grampians, I remarked that was close to our home towns and then she asked if I knew a certain person. Huh, not only knew him but played hockey with his sister and mother when I was at high school and grew up living next door to his aunt!

I gave her my name and said that she would mention it to his mum when next she spoke to her.

Salamanca Markets

This market runs on Saturdays and it was one of the things that both Warren and I wanted to visit. We drove from Launceston to Hobart to our friends place and after a coffee we walked down the hill to the markets.

We realised that we didnt want or need anything but it was the atmosphere and seeing first hand what is shown in many calendars and brochures advertising Tasmania. We had lunch and bought some local honey, then rang Sandy (our friend) to collect us. Their house is up hill all the way.

This morning before we left Tony wanted to take us for a drive and we went south of Hobart, unfortunately everything that he wanted to take us to was closed. We did a round trip, saw some great places and ended up in Salamanca Markets for breakfast which had a very difference look with very few people and no tents.

Stanley and the Nut

Headed West from Burnie the roads are pretty quiet and not as windy as they were in the South West.

This is the Nut, there is a chairlift that goes up one side but we are too early in the season.

Cute houses. Most houses do seem small in Tassie. I guess because of the cost of materials and heating as well.

We took a scenic drive and found an Historic House that had been restored.

This was how it was when the Tassie Government bought the property which included the house, outbuildings and five acres.

They have done a brilliant job I think.

This is the view from the front of the house. The weather was pretty good today, still cool but not bitingly cold.

Drove back and had lunch at Devonport/Labrobe, I wanted Subway and Labrobe was the closest but the towns are very close together, only seven kms between them. warren wanted to see a museum, Jospeh Lyons but all we could locate (or GPS) was the Aussie Axemen Hall of Fame so we went there, very interesting.

Tragic!

This morning on the boat we went out the back (and froze)

I went back in after a while to listen to the commentary as it couldn't be heard out the back, Warren stayed outside.I caught the end of her chat and then I thought that Warren would probably like morning tea to warm up when he came in. I grabbed my wallet and went to order at the bar as it was free of people ordering. I asked for two coffees and a muffin planning on sharing. The girl ran through the options, choc chip, apple banana or blueberry. I thought blueberry would be good, paid and turned to collect the coffees only to find that Warren was in front of me!

He had ordered the same except a muffin for each and was at the next counter. Luckily everyone saw the funny side of it and I was able to cancel and get my money returned.He also ordered blueberry muffins, how tragic is that?

Gordon River Cruise

With 200 other people we headed up the river this morning. We spent a bit extra and got window seats.

We headed out through Hells Gates.

This wall doesnt look very impressive now but it was built and finished in 1901, took 300 men three years. A trench was dug and then filled with rocks, this was to hold back the waves. The rocks were brought down from the mountains by hand as no trucks could get in there.

This is a 500 year old huon pine tree, no bugs can get into these trees and they were popular to cut down and used to built boats with the wood.

There was a chance to stop and take a walk on a board walk through the rain forest and then after lunch, we also stopped for an hour at Sarah Island where the female convicts were off loaded. Most people know about Port Arthur for convicts but other islands were used as well.

Snow!

I knew it would be colder here than at home but the weather is freezing, its the chill factor of the wind. Crossing the mountains from Hamilton to Queenstown, there was a little snow on the ground and far off mountains.

There was more and more lying around, we stopped at a visitors information bay.

Smart people, they had put chicken wire down on the wooden boards so that people wouldn't slip.

Of course some-one had to make a snow ball! I backed away and it missed me by a foot. We were glad to get back in the car and head for Queenstown, coffee and a home made pastie.

Hamilton

On the way to Strahan via Hamilton Tasmania.

Very green and hilly, this was taken about 5pm and we had decided to stay in the next township as we didn't want to be on an unfamiliar road after dark.

This was the inn where we stayed, we had the middle attic window. The funny thing was there was no key to our room or we weren't given a key but it did lock from the inside. Besides the couple who ran it there were two others guys who dined there and they were staying there as well and working at a mine nearby. They expected to be gone by the end of the week.

Continental breakfast was supplied and was in a room off the bar but we didn't see any one this morning, there was a note on the door to lock up when leaving. After paying for our meal last night and two rum and cokes (as we were in a bar I decided to have a drink) they were UDL, rum and coke premixed in a can. We were told if we wanted any more just help ourselves and settle up in the morning. One of those is more than enough for me!  

This was our room, I'm glad that we aren't tall or we may have hit our head when we sat up.

Tassie

We left home this morning bound for Tassie for a few days. Warren seemed to think that my roll on suitcase was too big to used as carry on and convinced me to use a bag that we were given years ago when we first went overseas. It is a handy size and was suitable for what I wanted to bring weighing 6 kgs but with no wheels, that 6 kgs sure gets heavy after awhile. I told him that I was going to buy a wheelie case in the next available place and did he want one too. He said he did.

We left giving ourselves double time to get to the airport or the car parking place, just as well as we were bumper to bumper in some parts. Had coffee at the airport and then discovered our flight was delayed, arriving in Melbourne with just enough time to get our boarding passes and line up to go on board. We should have have time to have lunch instead we had to settle for a muffin and coffee on the plane to Hobart.

Our car was waiting for us at Hobart airport, a brand spanking gold one with 2.1 kms on the clock. We took across to the west but the roads got a bit windy and getting dusk so we stopped for the night at a very small Inn. Four flights of stairs and we arrive at our room luckily the flights didn't have many stairs in them.

It is a very old building with 88 people in residence (township)one doorway is about fifteen inches thick or around 38/40 cms. Dinner was good we shared a seafood basket as we had the late snack on the plane.

Countryside is green and lush with trees right up to the roadside, it reminded us of driving through New Zealand. It is very cold though, colder than we expected, i think it is the chill factor. As we drove here, we were alongside of the river/inlet and there were heaps of black swans but too far away to take any photos.

Colouring for Adults

Well after talking with several people, I bought a book and pencils on Thursday night.

There are some small ones like these. The book was $10 and pencils $4 and I did buy some textas for $6 on Saturday when I had to be at the shopping centre in regards to banking.

This was the first one that I did with coloured pencils.

Some are on black paper.

This one is done using textas, brighter colours, I have a bit to finish with the blue and that will do I think.

This book is just patterns no suggestions for colours which is good. A workmate says she just does the next one that she opens the page at, she doesn't flick through and choose and I think that's a good idea. 

Its quite relaxing and I can do it while watching TV, usually during the ads, its a change from knitting. In four days I have done three and there is about 40 pages in the book so pretty cheap hobby.I am amazed at the people who are or have been colouring.

One of the teachers at school took some copies in for the last class and about a third of the class chose to colour animals and they looked stunning, far better than mine. One boy 14 was doing an owl in oranges and browns, it was coming along fine, he took it home to finish.

Strawberry Season

I had to pick up a couple of things at the supermarket and strawberries were out on special Two punnets for $3, I couldn't go past that so I added two to my arms and carefully made my way to the checkout.

 I only needed a couple of things so of course I didn't get a trolley or a basket, just piled into my arms, the two lots of strawberries perched on top until I could put them down on the counter.

Bigger punnets than usual, I picked up the one on the right with the larger ones and turned them over to check if the berries were solid on the bottom or a bit swishy. They were fine and I didn't turn the second one over did I? Dumb move! 

Some of the smaller ones did have some bits that needed to be cut out, they would not have lasted another day.

I decided to make some ice cream, very easy with Annie, so cut off the stems and yucky bits, the rest of the yoghurt and a tub of sour cream, fifteen seconds and I have two big bowls of ice cream.

I did add a cup of blue berries from the freezer which gave it a purply look rather red. We had some last night over kiwi fruit. This amount should last us a week or more, it has gone rather rock solid so need to remove from the freezer about 30 minutes before I want to serve it.

Salad days

Warmer weather brings salad and I bought some great looking ham this morning. We had to go to the shopping centre to activate our new bank cards. Yep, bank came through and we now have new cards.

Great ham deserves great salads so using Annie (thermo) I made a beetroot salad using tin of beetroot, a carrot, apple and spinach. Tasted good but the colour was not as fresh and clean looking as I wanted. The green of the spinach gave it a dull look. Then I thought I might as well make a potato salad using Annie, so I put in an onion and when that was minced I added about four potatoes cut into cubes. I intended to use Annie to cook them not to cut them. I added about a cup of water and used 80 degree heat and somewhere along the way I did press the reverse button which means it would not chop.

Hummm, except that I think I changed something which took off the reverse command. I ended up with definite mush and it tasted yuk or rather like very watery cooked potatoes, nothing like what I had in mind. I added some parm cheese but no, it had to go out in the bin. I ended up using a saucepan and doing it the old fashioned way.

Bowel Cancer screening

After Warren's
latest birthday he was contacted and asked if he would take part in the bowel cancer testing.

This arrived a few weeks later. Fair bit of information to read through to be able to do the test, not difficult but certain things need to be done in a particular manner.

My 50th birthday obviously fell in a year that the National Health was targeting as I had one to do that year and now they just send a test kit out every five years. Kits are available at chemists if people want to be checked out.

Thursday Night Shopping

This is something that I avoid, one because its busy and two because I do have other times when I can shop.

Tonight I went out as I wanted to find something in particular; I could have waited but at times I am not a patient person so I drove to the shopping centre. I did ask Warren if he wanted to come too, the look on his face said it all. I told him that he didn't need to come, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Last night we had a storm and it rained this afternoon and this evening and because of that, it was so dark, no moon or stars out.

I wanted to check out the new craze of adult colouring and I had heard that KMart had some books on special. Yep they did, so I limited myself to one (I did pick up a couple of others but no, one was enough to start). I haven't done anything with it yet except to flick through some pages, I got a patterns book which should give me more options regarding colours.

I will do a post later once I have completed one or two, it is supposed to be very therapeutic.

The Last Cab to Darwin

An Australian movie that we went to see last night. Warren had mentioned it a few weeks ago and said he would like to go. I knew what the story was about and wasn't keen to see it so didn't follow through.

It was mentioned again and he said glumly "I guess we have missed that movie" I gathered that he REALLY wanted to see it so I did some research and found that it was still on but during the day only. He didn't want to go on his own so back to the computer. It was showing at 7 pm last night on Bribie Island. It was there or not at all.

It was based on a true story and is about a guy who has been given about three months to live. He read about Euthanasia being allowed in Northern Territory and contacted the doctor to volunteer.

The movie was better than I expected and as usual with Aussie movies it is a "pick the actor" .and what have they been in before. Two of the main characters were indigenous and I hadn't seen either of them act before but they both played excellent roles.

Another unusual thing about this movie was that it was filmed on the road so they actually drove from Broken Hill to Darwin and filmed in each other places, scenery was great with a bit of road kill, road trains etc thrown in for good measure.

The last movie that I saw Micheal Caton in was The Castle and that was scheduled for eleven days of filming and they did it in seven (something like that)and did rather well in the States but they had to change a word or two, rissoles to hamburger was one.

A nasty nasty thing happened over the weekend

I have been collecting money for our (Red Hats) bus trip that is coming up next month. Today being the first free day that I have had for awhile, I decided to go and pay it, although need to sign paperwork so I paid the bus company a visit. I paid using my credit card and put the cash into my account.

Not my favorite thing, collecting money, especially if it is not mine but I must say our group is really good about paying up and I do have them trained now, to give me money one at a time. We dont do a receipt book as we don't take that much money instead we just use a members list and I make sure that I mark off the person's name as paid before talking to anyone else. Thankfully the money and people all married up.

I was transferring money from my account to the credit card and saw that there was $3200 pending! What! should only have been the bus trip money and possibly a little more as Warren had filed the jeep so not more than a thousand. I did some research and discovered that on Saturday night there was a transaction put through from a travel agent!!!!! I rang Warren to ask if he had planned and pay for a surprise trip. I didn't think so but needed to ask, he said no and to ring the bank straight away.

Luckily they did take my call as even though the account is in joint names, he is the primary holder. They have cancelled our cards and will issue new ones and have to wait until the transaction goes through before they can do any thing more. Thank goodness I did check, sometimes it could be two weeks between us checking our accounts on-line.

New Prime Minister

We woke up this morning to hear that we had a new Prime Minister. Not sure how long Tony Abbott has been there but many people obviously thought too long. He had made some silly statements over the time that he was there. Last week having a good laugh about climate change which was caught on camera and from a boom mike. Definitely not good form.

I have also liked Joe Hockey, current Treasurer, although he made a stupid statement last night. He said that the people's preferred prime Minister was Tony Abbott and that's how it should stay. Well, we the people don't get to vote for the PM only the members of Parliament vote for the leader (PM).

Malcolm Turnbull has been selected to take the reins from sometime last night. I have always thought that Joe or Malcolm would make a better PM than Tony but we will have to see what happens. It is possible that Joe who appears to be in Tony's camp may lose his job as Treasurer.

Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals

When we are both home, we usually have lunch watching some of Ellen, She is on between 12 and 1 pm. Not a bad show, today we were a little later and hadn't finished lunch when the next program came on which was Jamie's 30 minute meals.

I love the way he cooks and I probably have seen this one before plus I do have a couple of his recipe books but I still watched it again. The first thing he made was a fruit "ice cream" using frozen fruit, some yogurt and honey. He put honey in it because the berries were some what tart.I have blue berries in the freezer.

Then he put a few sweet potatoes in the microwave, made some dressing for green vegetables before cooking some bacon and then fish.

I had just about everything except chilli but we don't do chilli, I used red capsicum instead. Oh, he also did a lemon drink with soft drink and sparkling water. I made one with orange and mint.

This was our dinner tonight fashioned on Jamie's program this afternoon. Unfortunately Warren didn't really like the dressing over the broccoli and cauli, it had fish sauce in it. I am trying to introduce more fish into our diet but the fish i have is not that nice, think I need to make the rest into a mornay.

Lady Cilento Hospital

Today I went to visit Aidan in hospital,

This is the new Children's hospital in Brisbane. For us it is further away but train and bus gets us there in about an hour and a half. This morning being Sunday I checked the times for weekend travel and the web site gave me the next available time of 9.06 am. Thank goodness Warren had taken me down early as the train rocked up at the usual time of 8.55 am. Takes just over an hour to Roma Street and then the buses go from there, there are about six buses that we can take and had had to wait no more than four minutes. Five stops and then Mater Hill which is the hospital stop and a couple of hundred metres walk.

This is a poster of Aidan taken when he was four, it is on the second floor. He was at the Starlight room for a visit and I took him to get a photo with his poster, he wasn't all that happy about it as lunch was about to be served.

This is the wishing tree that kids can add their wishes to, it is opposite Aidan's poster.

Spotlight Visit

I wore a new top the other day and I really liked the style so I paid a visit to Spotlight to buy a pattern that was similar. I haven't made myself anything for awhile but I do have plenty of fabric.

These are the patterns that I bought, two for me and two kids ones. A friend of mine makes kids pjs for a charity and I have thought that I could do that as well, but I didn't have a suitable pattern.

Oops, I did buy some fabric as well (they did have a sale on!) and I promised myself that I would make the pieces up as soon as possible.

This morning I washed the fabric (I always wash it before cutting in to it) and cut out the patterns while they were drying.

Patterns always look daunting at first so much paper. It is a multi sized pattern and I decided to go for the medium size which is for seven to eight year old, I can easily go one size smaller or one larger.

I selected this one to make first.

Yay, finished just before the footy started. I do have to sew buttons and button holes but that means changing things on my sewing machine so will do all the button holes at the one time. I hope to make another couple of pairs before I start on my tops next weekend. My challenge is to have all four new pieces of material made up before next term starts, that gives me three weeks.

Strictly Ballroom (the musical)

This musical has been coming to town for awhile and I had thought about getting tickets but I didn't do anything about it. Rock on Thursday and Sheridan tells me that she has tickets to that nights show. Aidan will have to get "released" from hospital for the night. usually not a drama for the boys to leave the hospital for a few hours if they are in.

Discussing it on the way to the car after work Jordan seemed a bit stressed as he had a test the next day and wanted to study. Up shot was he stayed home, I took his ticket and went with Sheridan and Aidan.

Strictly Ballroom is an Aussie icon movie that was made in the early nineties about ballroom dancing, teaching schools and competitions. It was one of the first movies made in Austalia with Aussie actors and its a pretty good story line as well. Think a little along the lines of Dirty Dancing.

The show started at 7 pm and as Sheridan said she bought "nose bleed" seats but could see and hear everything. We did have to climb about eight flights of stairs from the car park and it was finished at 9.45, just in time to get Aidan back to his room. He was bopping along to the music and really enjoyed it. It was a bit funny to watch as every now and then there was a sentence or a saying that was typically Aussie and it caught us by surprise. It had sad bits, funny bits, lots of dance and the colours and costumes were amazing.

Tonight as I drove Jordan home, I thanked him for his ticket, I said that I would pay for it and maybe Mum would let him put that money towards his USA trip. He said that he got a lot of study done, he had maths and Soc exams today and an English assignment that needed to be handed in on Monday. End of term is looming and exams seem to be on everywhere at the moment.

A Boost to the Ego

Today at work one of the teachers, whose class I go to help with on a Wednesday afternoon, told me that she was so glad I was back. She said the boys from the class had been pestering her if I was coming back. She said that they had really missed me. I had been away the last two Wednesdays. I thought that it was nice of her to say so.

Its a class of year ten boys most need a bit of help with either writing, reading or just to encourage them to do some work. Nice kids but definitely in the "naughty" stream. Annoying and frustrating but I cant help liking them.

I went to the canteen to get a bite for morning tea, very unusual for me and I saw two of the boys there, they rushed over and stated "You're back!" I agreed with them, they rushed on and asked if  I would be in English, I said "Yes" and B said "Thank heavens as I need some help" he has never asked for help from me before although I have helped him.

It was a good lesson and we got a lot done although one in particular said to me "You just write it for me" I said , No that's not how it works, you tell me what to write and I will type it for you" Between us we got half his assignment done and one of the other boys that I helped as well is almost finished, they have one more lesson to finish it.

They know the story and was happened in the story but find it hard to put it down on paper so need a bit suggestions or reminders.

Finally!

My hearing has returned! For the last month, it has been like people have been talking to me in a tunnel or a fog. It seems as though it is a symptom of the bug that I have endured for the last couple of weeks.

Oh boy, I was worried that my hearing was on the way out and I tell you, it was not nice not being able to hear properly and I was on my way to get hearing aids! I was hoping that my ears would get better and it was so nice to wake up this morning and be able to her the birds outside and next doors cuckoo clock. It chimes/sings from six am to midnight.

Warren has had the same thing as me but he is a few days behind me, he says that while his is improving, he is not able to hear properly just yet.

A hospital visit

Today I went in to visit Aidan and was surprised to see Sheridan there, I had forgotten that she had a few days off work! He had to interview an "old" person for a school project. Sheri wrote out the questions for him and asked me the questions and wrote down the answers. Doctors and a cleaner came in while he was doing it, its a busy place, his room. Had just enough time to go to the family room where he played and we had a coffee.

Lunch time and as he has to be isolated on the ward, we selected his lunch and took it to him. Sheridan and I took ourselves off to the Sushi Train cafe which is just outside the hospital probably a couple of hundred metres. I had eaten there once before but we had ordered off the menu today however we just picked dishes as they came around.

I will be going into hospital again tomorrow and I have been asked to bring in some more cones. Grampy got him a remote car last week and he wants the cones to drive around and he would like some craft stuff.

I finally got to the library and Spotlight this afternoon so have books to read and sewing to do, I needed (wanted) some patterns to make some tops for myself, have plenty of material just need the inspiration to do something with it, hopefully new patterns will be it.

Teachers' Aide day

It was teacher aide day on Friday and on the table when we got to work was a gift for all of us TAs. In our small staff room there is ten of us, only three are full time, the other seven work between three and four days.

This was our gift.

Its a clever candle which is burning on its side! (or it could be the silly operator who didn't turn the photo before loading it)

There was also a card thanking me for my time and effort that I put in to the kids/students and their welfare.
Very nice to receive. It was actually a rough day at the coalface on Friday, its was Free Dress day as well as windy not a good combination but we got through it.

I indulged myself

After my mammoth mammogram finished early, I was told four hours and it moved along so quickly that I was out of there in about an hour and a half, I drove up the road to one of my favourite places to have a coffee and regroup. I felt in a way that I had been given a second chance at life and I was determined to make the most of it.

Coffee and ginger scones at an outdoor cafe. It does have a roof over it but it is very high and so feels like one is outside.

This was the view from my table. I took a walk around the gardens and then did some retail therapy. They have some nice stores there with different goods, I like to buy soaps and cremes plus I bought Warren some chocolates. Then I saw this

 and just loved the colours. Turned over to see the price and put it back! I continued to wander through the store and then thought I am going to buy it o I did. Its the most expensive piece of jewellery that I have ever bought myself. In saying that it didnt cost an arm and a leg. I wore it on Thursday when I went back to work and got a few comments on it. The length of the chain was even a good length for me, often they are too short (I'm sure it has nothing to do with having a thick neck!)j 

What a week!

I thought I was over my bug/flu whatever I had. I got home Monday and Warren heard me cough (any extra talking or extra activity would send me into a coughing fit) and he said "Right, that's it you're going to see a doctor!" he was using the voice that one doesn't argue with, that doesn't come out very often.  Too late to get an appointment so we headed to the clinic which is a wait to see a doctor. I was amazed to see the number of people who came in there! For the ninety minutes or so that we waited, the queue to sign in was free only a couple of times and then only for a few minutes. Saw a doctor and he gave me a script but aid the cough could still take a week to two weeks to go away. I did feel much better though with each passing day and my cough has lessened considerably. Clinic is open from 7 am to 10 pm, one chemist in town is open 7 am to 9 pm so they would have got a lot of business.

Also on Monday we learned that two surgeries were needed for our grandsons, bit sudden but needed to be done. Thankfully both have been carried out and worked out well. One is home (day surgery) the other still in hospital for a two week stint.

Then there was my call back after the mammogram and Warren was sick too and scheduled to work, No good timing for any of it. Hopefully this week will be much better, one can only hope.

I know that I woke up this morning and thought about things I wanted to get done in the house this morning and that hasn't happened for a couple of weeks.

Mammograms

Now there's a dreaded word or it was before I had my first done after I turned fifty. I don't remember if I contacted Breast Screen or if they contacted me, of course Warren had a field day teasing me about it. He wanted to put blocks of ice in the freezer and hold up to my boobs "so I would know what to expect". There were a few more suggestions but its/they're not as bad they sound to be.

Can be a little cold while waiting around, they used to have the person/lady undress and get into a flimsy hospital jacket then when called go into a different room but now its all done in the one room. Disrobe and "step up to the plate" and its usually all done in less than five minutes (maybe ten). My last one was at 9.15 am and I was asked to come a little early to fill out the paperwork which I did and I walked out at 9.20 am, very efficient. I was told I would get a letter in about two weeks.

Ten days later, last week, I got a phone call, not a letter with an "all clear  see you in two years" as expected. They wanted to see me for a further check, that was a bit worrying, in the next couple of weeks. I tried to make an apt on the days that I don't work but no, these type of tests were only done on Wednesday or Fridays and I had to travel to a hospital about an hour from here.

At first I was thinking of all the things that could go wrong, needing chemo, needing a boob or two off and then I thought well, lets get it over and done with so I took the first available appointment.

Today was the day!

I slept well last night, surprise surprise. Left in plenty of time as parking in a nightmare apparently and that proved to be correct. I drove around for 30 minutes and finally settled into the last park available which did state "oral Hygiene, ninety minutes" and asked that the referral letter be displayed, it was right next to the Breast Screen one. I displayed the Breast screen letter head,  I thought well, if I get a fine, I cop a fine, I was five mins late by then and still had several meters to walk.

I was taken into a waiting room and shown where to change in a loose jacket and then given a cup of coffee, one sip and my name was called. First up was a nurse to go through what was about to happen and for me to sign a consent form. Back in waiting room and answering a text message when my name is called again, this time its another mammogram but only on one side the side where they had seen a small blip (about the size of a pin head). This mammogram did hurt as it was a deeper and more penetrating than normal.

Dressed in "flattering" jacket and back in waiting room again and only one story in the magazine read as a different person calls my name. This young woman states she is a doctor and will give me an examination. A few questions re possible cancer in family which is a no. She says she cant find anything and back to the waiting room again, should have a revolving door on it. This time biscuits and cheese are being offered. I did finish my biscuit and coffee before whisked off for a Ultra sound.

I have had ultra sounds before but not in that area. Wipe off gel and yes, you guessed it back to the waiting room. Only one other woman in a jacket there now and a couple vollies. We chat about what we are doing for the rest of the day. Door opens and yep, called again and into another room. The woman introduces herself and says she has good news. She shows me the pictures and explains the difference shots and says everything is clear and they would send a letter to that effect and to continue to have my two yearly mammograms. She got me a letter for work and that was that. Back to the car in just under ninety minutes and no ticket!

Actually everyone was really nice and helpful and calm, I am going to send a letter of thanks to Breast Screen Australia re my day