Christmas left overs

There always seems to be food left over after Christmas. This year as we had two Christmas lunches, it wasnt too bad. Warren and I did have left overs for dinner each night. There was a small piece of turkey roll left and this is what I did with it a few nights ago.

I crumbled it and we had it with a salad, even managing to fit half a mango on the plate. Meat salad and dessert all in one.

Sweet Treats

I didnt make very many of these but I did make two just in case no one wanted what I had made for dessert.

These are a couple left over. The front in the front is what I called rum balls for want of a better name and my Mum always used to have rum balls when we went to visit, not sure if she ever put rum in them but that was their name.

I have made rum balls before and they are hard work and make a lot so i made my own version this year.

I had dates and blue berries both dried and I threw them a couple of handfuls each in the Annie thermomix then added some coconut and the rest of the cocoa that I had then about a half a tin of condensed milk. It was still a little sticky when I took the mixture out so I added some rolled oats, small balls rolled in cocoanut, done in less than ten minutes. As I hate rolling them, I got Warren to help so we both had sticky hands.

The Jelly slice was another one that Mum used to make regularly but I got the recipe from a Blgger that I follow. It was pretty basic and easy. One plain packet of biscuits crushed 7 seconds in Annie fixed that, 750 gms of butter? that seems excessive so I halved it and it set just as well. I dissolved some gelatine in hot water and added it to the rest of the condensed milk with some lemon juice and then when that was set added the red jelly on top.

I rarely follow a recipe to the nth degree, both these recipes had called for a full tin of condensed milk whereas I used one for both, now I have a tin left in my pantry.

From the same blogger I read about a Christmas cake/pudding and as that was so easy I decided to make it, I didnt think to take a photo though. We had it as a pudding on Boxing day and I gave some away. I just about followed the recipe!

This is it.

One 750 iced coffee (or you can make your own) I did using three spoons of coffee and two of sugar, adding hot water and then topping up with milk, to make 750 ml, it was about half and half.

A packet of mixed fruit soaked in the coffee mixture over night, mine was a big pack so i used two cup fulls.

Add two cups of SR flour ( I felt it needed more so added an extra half cup)

Then here is the best bit at this time of year.

Line a slow cooker with baking paper, add mixture, place a tea towel or similar between the cooker and the lid. Cook on high for one hour, reduce heat and cook for another three hours.

It is a practically set and forget, the cake of course comes out the shape of the slow cooker, mine is oval but thats fine.

I was making this for dessert for friends coming over and put it on to cook after lunch. Mid afternoon i whipped some cream and I thought i was using the jugs plug but I turned off the slow cooker so of course it wasnt cooked, so well it was good the next day.

Expensive Phone covers

Are they worth the money? I found out this morning that yes they are! Taking Lucy for a bush walk this morning, a park that we hadn't been to before again though it is quite close to home probably 10 kms away.
I must have got too close to a tree as I was checking my phone, got to love the GPS on the phone to make sure that we were going the right way, paths were intersecting all over the place and I didn't want to get lost or too far away from the car as that sun was hot even at nine o'clock.

Anyway i had my phone in my hand and then there was what I call a white flash of pain and I saw an ant, big buggar between my fingers and my phone. It was so painful and I was so shocked that i threw my phone down. It clattered on to the concrete path.

The ant was gone too and i had a red welt on my finger and worried that it would swell, I  tried to get my ring off but it was hot and I was in a hurry and that just made it worse. In the end, I didnt take it off and it didnt swell and now three hours later there is no longer any marks but boy oh boy did it hurt at the time.

Meanwhile my phone is still lying face down on the path, I didnt really want to pick it up, imagining a cracked face or worse. But No, it was all good, no damage done what so ever, working perfectly thank goodness. I have never dropped or thrown a phone before. Thank goodness I did pay extra for a decent case.  

The Ute!

Warren wanted to buy a ute!

So this is it!

After so to-ing and fro-ing, the owner wanted to keep the plates and therefore sell it to us un-registered, he was willing to take $300 off the price to do so. He was also going to deliver it to us and then take the plates. "A mate" had told him that he could change the rego from an existing vehicle to another one that he was buying as that one had WA plates. Started to sound fishy so Warren asked to see the rego papers, it was registered in his name. The story of the take the plates and put on the second vehicle came out after Warren checked that the papers were in order.

Warren being Warren went to the Motor Registry and found out that it is illegal to sell a vehicle with no plates. Several texts messages later, original price and we would get it with a road worthy certificate and plates when we picked it up. The guy had asked for cash, which apparently was a drama for the bank as they required a booking to get that much cash! What the....... they are a bank! 

We did get the money after a bit of sighing from the teller.

Collected said ute, handed over the money and drove away with Warren following. There was no functioning light on the left side and once we got home, he tells me that there is a six inch play in the steering wheel! So much for a road worthy.

Warren went to change the rego over and it was discovered that the road worthy guy had not entered his authority number of the documents! Sounding dogey? you bet!

Luckily there was an older version of computer at one of the booths and they were able to look him up. The new computer systems do not have that on there data base. We were going to have to go back to the seller and then to the RW guy but was saved from doing that.

The seller did seem genuine and said that he had got the road worthy done by an authorized guy and basically he washed his hands of it, he also told Warren that he had spent the money on his new vehicle.

We have the ute booked in for repair, Warren thinks it is a steering arm and it is probably going to cost a few hundred to fix it. I feel as though we got a reasonable deal as utes with more mileage and older were selling for more than what we paid. Ours has hail damage from several years ago and while there is slight dimpling across the bonnet, it does not affect the performance but did lower the price.

The ute will be used as the towing vehicle, in place of the trailer, bike hauler and basic second vehicle, it is manual so I wont be driving it.

Christmas Lunch

Plans change and we ended up being only six for Christmas lunch. Never a hot meal here at home, far too hot to go down that path. It was decided to make a trifle for dessert, some time ago Warren saw a bowl/dish that would make an excellent show piece for a trifle. I think I made one and found that it was just too big for just us. It was also too big yesterday.

I bought a kilo of prawns but I knew they wouldnt go too far so we peeled them and made a salad of them.

I like the colours.

Bush Walking

It was a cool morning and Warren suggested  a bush walk where we have been before. I didnt realize that he wanted to walk the whole circuit. I had said that I didn't want to go  10  kms. He assured me that we wouldn't be going far. The circuit was 4.4 kms

This was early in the walk a tree with massive knots on the trunk

Another tree with lumps and bumps

Coming to the end of the walk.

We were a bit naughty as we took Lucy, she loves going through the bush and we have been here before but accessed it by another road. When we parked there was a signs relating to horse and bike riders and then one at the bottom no dogs. We had checked on the web site and there had been no signs on the other entrance so we took Lucy in anyway but didnt go off the path or let her off. Didnt see any other animals, heard a few birds and we met four other walkers on our way around. 

Rescue dogs

We had some leakage/spillage from our new air conditioner, it was too bad but as it had been installed only a month ago, Warren thought they needed to came back just to check it out.

Two young guys arrived around the appointed time and the apprentice dropped something metal off the truck, poor Lucy jumped as though she had been bitten, she was inside at the time and seemed a bit wary of them because of the noise.

While they were working, I put her on the lead and took her up to the study/kids room with me as they were going in and out the front and back doors. The younger guy came up to ask me something and then asked if she was okay to pat, I said yes but she didnt like loud  or usual noises. he told me that he and his girlfriend had a rescue dog and was very timid. I explained Lucy's circumstances as a rescue dog and when they left, the other guy showed me a picture of his dog who looked a lot like Lucy and she had also been a rescue dog, they had had her about a year.

They put some more tape around the pipes and then poured water through it and we havent had any more spillage/leakage.

 Lucy keeping me company in the computer room, she is not always lying down but it is the easiest way to get a photo of her, otherwise she wants to sniff the camera and then she looks like she is all head and face.

Like this photo. She lay stretched out out on the mat the other day and it was amazing to see how long she was, I took note of where her front and back feet were and got a tape measure and measured where she had been laying, one hundred and fifty cms! oh my goodness! she is long!

Road worthy certs

These are supposed to be a safety net when buying a vehicle. We had gone down the path of buying another ute, test drove it and agreed on a price and as it was private sale, the seller was required to get a road worthy done.

We drove down to pick it up on Tuesday night after the guy finished work.

Warren followed me up the highway and the ute had only one light!

Arriving home and Warren tells me that there is a lot of play in the steering wheel, had to turn the wheel about four to six inches before the tyres would turn, hummmm not right.

Yep, road worthy done on Saturday ticked lights are all present and working, steering and tyres all good.

He has gone over to change rego this morning but we had had to book the ute in to be repaired, rather disappointing.

I would think that the garage doing the inspection was either too busy or too lazy to carry out a proper job.

A Whole day at home.

I could not believe how much we achieved. Warren said the other night that if he was to make a New Years Resolution, which he never does, it would be to simplify every thing at home. We have been trying to cut down on things at home and throw out those things that we no longer want, need or use but it has been pretty hit and miss.

We had no reason to go out today plus it was hot and we got working on disposing of paperwork from the top/kids room. Having a business years ago meant that we needed somewhere to store all the paperwork that came with running a business and so we bought a large filing cabinet. It has held our documents for years. The shredder was used almost constantly today and finally the filing cabinet is empty and we have only a few large envelopes holding our papers for the last seven years by year order. Filing cabinet will be donated.

We are leaving the computer desk in that room and there are some things in the wall unit that we will donate in the next few days, they had been housed in the large unit from the dining room that we sold. There had been a few marks on the carpets and Warren spot cleaned them and it came up a treat. The wardrobe needs cleaning out as well, kids toys that they have grown out of and just things that have stayed around.

We are liking the feeling of space.

Library Books

I like to read, a lot! I visit the library about once a month or more often and for the last few years i have selected large print books. Most of my reading is done when I am in bed and I just find it easier to read the larger print books.

I paid a visit to our local library last Saturday and for it being two weeks before Christmas , the township was very quiet. Our library is located in the next town, not too far away but not where I usually do any shopping. I got a park just out front and was able to walk across the road to the Post Office as I had one parcel to send off and I knew that one would be less crowded than the one in the mall. Yes, i was right, only two people in front of me and as there were three on the counters, almost no waiting.

I checked my books in through self serve at the library and went down the aisles to pick my next lot of reading, I came away with eight books, should be enough to keep me occupied until after the holidays.

Its just a week and three of the books, I had read before! How I missed that I dont know, two I reread as I could remember reading them I couldn't exactly remember the whole plot. The third one, I read three chapters and gave it away as I wasnt that thrilled about it in the first place. A woman ended up with both her mother and her mother in law living with her and her husband had left her in a lot of debt and then there was a murder, yada,yada.

I think i will have to go back next week and take my time to read the first page, thats when i know if I have read them or not.

Attention to detail

is not something that people seem to do much any more.

I had booked a package for the new year which includes motels and tickets to a show. I booked it over the phone but I also had email contact with them.

Last week they sent me vouchers to download and my name was spelt wrong, which is an annoyance in its self but I  am pretty sure that I would not spell my name wrong so they only needed to look at the emails that I sent.

My daughter will be going/coming with me and lo and behold she has been put down as a Mr. Her name can be male or female but predominately female. I dont recall writing her name or referring to her by gender but no one checked.

This has resulted in me sending an email to request the right spelling and correct gender, they have replied with an apology and said that they would have to re issue the vouchers and change names at the hotel.

all that work just because some one did not pay attention to detail, annoying.I'm sure its annoying to them as well.

Turning hamburgers in sausage rolls

A friend was talking about sausage rolls the other day and I thought to myself that I had made any in awhile. Didnt think any more about it until I was shopping and there were hamburgers marked down to $2 for four large ones. Ah! i thought sausage rolls. I got the pastry out to thaw while I put the groceries away and then broke up the meat, added some herbs and some sauces and proceed to make sausage rolls.

They were ready about morning tea time so I made coffee and put two on a plate to go outside. Lucy was hovering so I told her that she could have a little one and I put that on the plate as well, a little way away as I was worried that it may have been too hot for her.

Warren was mowing the lawn and I loaded up his cup on the plate and grabbed mine, luckily the screen was open. I put the plate and cup down on the coffee table, that one that Warren made, outside and turned back to close the door.

As I turned back to the table, Lucy was leaving the table with her sausage roll neatly in her mouth. She did look guilty though.

What could I say? I had told her it was that one was hers so I didnt rouse on her and although we had been told from the foster lady (who had only had her for a week) that she was a bit of a thief, she had not stolen anything from the kitchen or bench before.

The rest of the rolls are in the freezer to be brought for lunch or snacks on a day that I dont feel like cooking.

Hervey Bay

We went for a drive to Hervey bay on Friday, it didnt seem too far away but driving it seemed to take forever. We changed drivers a couple of times and stopped for lunch.

It was a nice day for driving cool in the car anyway with the a/c on with a few drops of rain which of course turned to full on showers when it was my time to drive.

we left home about 10.45 am and did a detour into the Sunshine coast as you do, there was a van to look at and we were there early. That was one that i liked it had been painted white inside and had new flooring but Warren found dampness and as it was a wooden frame said a loud NO.

We had lunch at Gympie or as the GPS says Jimpie at Maccas. i thought we had been there before but no it had been HJ's we had stopped at as the parking at Maccas was terrible. I drove from there and it was very ark ward to get out of the park and then there was a stop sign, luckily some one let me out, which was good of them.

Arrived at Hervey Bay at 3.15 pm, phew what a drive. Nice place though, we had a drink at the beach before returning home. I wanted a coffee but the coffee places were all closed by the time we got there.

Home at 8.15 pm to a very happy doggie who was waiting patiently for us, after all it was three hours past her dinner time. We had scrambled eggs for dinner.

We have to go back again in late January but we will be better prepared, we thought it was only a couple of hundred kilometres but in actual fact it is 250 kms and a lot of the way was road works so had to slow to 80, 60 and even 40 kms in some places.

The smells of Summer

Walking Lucy in the early morning the other day, it was before too much car fumes got around. There were so delightful smells. Lucy thought so too but she was probably smelling different things to me.

I told Warren that walking her is more a pull than a walk. She has the long lead which will go out to 4 metres and I reel it in or out depending on what she is doing. She will trots ahead and then stop to smell something, she only gets the time between me catching up and going past before I pull her along then, she gets in front of me and pulls me along to the next smell for her.

This was one of the trees in blossom that was smelling the other morning, a nice clean type smell. We have one in the garden but it is only just coming out.

Sleeping on clouds

It has been so hot lately and even at night it is hot. We have been finding that we get hot from the mattress protector.

As Costco the other day, we decided to see if we could buy a new one that would be cooler to sleep. Warren was tasked to find one while I continued to get the things on our list.

He caught up to me with a big bag and said that there was one that was suitable for summer on one side and when it was turned over to the plush side. it was for winter.

Sounded odd to me but it was only a few dollars so we decided to buy and try.

This is it under the sheet, it is quite thick so the sheet sinks into it making the indentations but oh my goodness it is so comfortable, it is what I imagine sleeping on a cloud would be like and surprisingly, to me anyway, it is cooler.

In the West of China we were given a bamboo mat to sleep on, that was fine and cool until Warren turned over in his sleep and woke up in pain, a small splinter of bamboo had gone into his back. No more bamboo mat after that.

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Retirement villages/resorts

Last week we went with a couple to visit one of these places not far from here. They want to be near the beach. The salesperson took us through their display homes and they are homes! no small units about these.

Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, double garage, spacious kitchen dining and lounge areas plus either a study or third bedroom. This room was smallish but still plenty big enough for a desk and/or single bed. The rooms are bigger than the rooms in our house and ours is considered a family home.

There were three different designs that they showed us all with great furniture in them and first we were shown through the reception area which looked like the entrance to a fancy hotel, hence I suppose the name being a resort. The dining area with cheaper meals on offer three nights a week, a coffee shop, hairdresser and bar run by residents, then we branched out and saw the swimming pool and spa, alongside was a covered bowling green.

Very nice and very pricy. The units/houses were from $470,000 to $488,000 not much when said quickly, then there was a weekly fee of $137 this was to cover rates, water and insurance plus garden maintenance. They have a gardener who mows all the lawns but there is a small area of garden that people can chose to work in that.

On leaving, there is a 5% per year up til seven years that needs to be returned to the resort. So if one was to buy in for $400K (just for my ease of working out) then a yearly amount of $7000 plus to be paid, then if people were to leave for whatever reason after five years, then $100,000 goes to the resort. A lot of money!

This is a common area.

Red Centre Experience

Yesterday we attended a bbq to learn more about the event happening in Alice Springs in April.It was nice to meet others who will also be going to NT for the Mega event.

It is a Geo Caching event sponsored by NT  government and they are hoping for over 500 people, they havent quite got the numbers yet. The bbq was free and we got some promotional material to put into caches to let others know that it is happening.

It was held on the banks of the Brisbane River not far from the Airport, great place for a get together.

We will be leaving here early April and taking a leisurely trip up and over with a few days in the Gemtree caravan park which is famous for its gem and anything to do with gems. After the event we will go down through Sth Aust across to Melbourne before returning home.

We have house sitters looking after the house and Lucy, she has met them and has given her approval.

NT Government are putting in several thousand dollars to aid tourism and some of it is going to the placement of caches, 1400 of them in and around Alice and further afield. The aim is to have a bitumen road connecting Perth through Alice to Townsville. It will cost millions but will open up the outback no end.

Lighter Chairs

Wednesday we picked up our new suite which we will use in the dining/family room area. The chairs are quite light and easy to move.

There are two chairs and a glass topped table, just enough for breakfast and foot stools.

The footstools slide under the chairs when not in use and are strong enough to sit on.

After almost fourteen years we replaced the curtain as well.

I didnt want the rug but Warren brought it back inside after the new flooring. He wants it to be a "coastal" corner so this is the start the aqua curtains, maybe a new rig when i find something suitable.

Summer Fruits

Got to love summer for the fantastic fruits that are around. When i was a kid we had heaps of fruit trees in the back yard, there were about five different types of plums, one was called a Christmas plum as every year just before Christmas they were all ripe. Mum made jams and also preserved some. Besides the plums there were nectarines, peaches, quinces (Yuk!) but no apricots.

After one summer holiday, going into high school  I was slightly retarded on one side, couldn't walk properly, couldn't write properly and apparently my speech was distorted too. It was picked up at school and I had to have lots of tests and it was put down to the fact that I had too much fruit acid in my body and my fruit intake had to be curtailed and monitored.

No chance of that happening now but then I remember picking five or so nectarines for morning tea, the same for afternoon tea, then there was jam to eat and usually stewed fruits for after dinner.

This is what we had for dessert tonight and it reminded me of my childhood, probably didnt taste quite the same but yummy anyway.

Cut up nectarines and I did have some cream. Of course milking cows when growing up we always had cream, now its a rare occurrence.

 .

Drinks Anyone?

Earlier this year when we were travelling, it was so hot in Broome, like 40 degree days and we really had to keep up the hydration. I can drink water but it does become boring after awhile just plain water. I was shopping with Sheridan and she was looking for something in particular and said that it would probably be in the sports drink aisle. We found it and I

bought some too. It certainly made drinking water much more easier to do and I know in Darwin warren and I were drinking about three bottles of water each with just two squirts added.

There are several different flavours and most are sugar free so no guilt.

Now that the weather has become hot, I went looking for them in the shops at home and thankfully I was able to find them, they last quite awhile and not expensive I think I paid about $3.45 for each one and there is supposedly 24 drinks in each but of course that depends on how heavy handed one is. While I was writing, I would head up to the computer with one large drink over ice and that would do me for each session.

I'm Back

Not that I have been anywhere but I feel as though I have been away.

Writing in the National Novel Writing Month or Nanowri mo for short took up a lot of my time and then I worked for several days during that.

Mainly my work days started at 6.30 am when I left the house and often it was 5.30 pm or even 6 pm a couple of occasions when I got home. The work wasn't hard and I enjoyed it but glad that it is now finished.

I did get my book/novel finished on Sunday three days early.The story line is not finished yet but I had reached the required magical number of 50,000. I always like to do a word count and the last one when the computer told me that I had done 5,0003, I decided to validate it. All words written have to be copied and pasted to the website in America and often they vary a little usually to the negative but a message came back with Congratulations 50,009 words.

I will leave it for a few days and then start tidying it up, As I am not a touch typist, I usually miss out the commas in abbreviated words.

I will also need to come up with a cover for my book. I hope to get this one pulished, that is the "prize" for "wining" getting to the 50K in the month so I cant stay away from it for too long.

More changes have been made around the home which I will be blogging about in the next few days.

A Ratty Dog

I worked the last couple of days and Monday I arrived home about 5.20 pm. Warren said to me almost as soon as I walked in the door, "I dont know whats wrong with Lucy, maybe she was looking for you but the last ten minutes or so she has been in and out of her door like mad thing."

I told him that I knew what was wrong with her, it was past her dinner time and she was trying to tell him that! She is usually fed between 5 and 5.15 pm.

Photo is of Lucy waiting patiently for me to get her dinner out of the fridge, she knew then what was happening.

Last night I arrived home later but he had learnt and fed her at 5 pm, he has set his alarm so she didnt break the door down (that wasnt likely but if she is ready for her dinner, the door does make more noise opening and shutting) 

New floors

Yay, after talking about it for a couple of years, we finally did it, got new floors, well floor coverings. The bug bear was the big heavy unit that we had in the corner. great piece of furniture when we bought it nearly twenty years, it was to house the TV and other bits and pieces.

We emptied it still have the stuff that was in it but they will be culled and most donated, some things go back as far as wedding presents and have only been used a few times. Warren put it up for sale and it was sold and picked up within three days.

We have moved the lounge in its place for the time being. This is the dining/family room the night before the floors were done.

The lounge room ready for the layers to come in.

New flooring down.

Dining room and passage. The computer desk has been put into one of the bedrooms and will be staying there. The new modem that we had to have because of NBN, reached everywhere that we need it.

No carpet in the living areas only the bedrooms and it is so nice to walk on.

New Air conditioner

A couple of weeks ago I was home alone and suddenly the A/C turned on. It was only 11am and we dont usually have it on until the afternoon. I thought perhaps we had left it on over night and it had reached the temperature were it came on automatically. I turned it off so at least I tried. Just checking the batteries in the remote when Warren arrived home.

No, he had not turned it on and he reminded me that we had not had it on the night before. Odd, it wouldn't turn off at all not matter what we did, finally Warren turned it off at the meter box.

Later that afternoon when we did need it on, it worked well for about twenty minutes and then all the lights on it starting flashing and if it were a space ship, you would think that it was about to take off.

After a couple of days of off/on etc, we decided to replace it. We had had people out to repair it before when the heating side of it broke down, they couldnt/ didnt fix it but it still cost us a few hundred dollars as this particular brand was made in Korea, we didnt know that when we bought it.

Checking online for brands prices etc as our living area is open plan, a larger unit was required. Love the open plan but what can be a positive in some areas becomes a negative in others.

Warren had the brilliant idea to ring the electricial company that we have used before. yes, they could order one for us and replace, they could have some one out the next day to give us a quote. You little ripper! Not the time of the year to be without an A/C if one has been used to it. Much quicker service and better price.

The price was good, installation was about half as much again but there was quite a bit of work to be done. Old one had to be de gassed and then they did take it away so we didnt have to worry about that.

The boys arrived to fit it early this morning, luckily for them it was a cooler day. thye did have to go up into the roof cavity. It was all done before lunch and we have been testing it out, it works really well

Practice Christmas Dinner

I have decided to do something different for Christmas this year. Much healthier, less meat and less food altogether.

I made a chicken roll on Saturday using chicken mince, spread out on baking paper then chopped spinach and nuts spread on top and rolled up, baked for 40 minutes. yep that was okay

The other dish I tried was this one.

Smoked salmon on the bottom, I used 100gms for two, six prawns, one cucumber, one mango and a red pepper with some herbs and some fish sauce, lemon juice and a little sugar to taste. Also to off set the sourness of lemon and fish sauce.

Folded the plastic over and into the fridge, I did it after lunch for dinner probably be better to leave it longer if possible.

This was serving the juices did come out of the ramekin, served with tomato and cucumber a little bit of coleslaw and cold roast pumpkin with some feta.

Warren said it was a winner just not sure if the kids would eat it. The salmon is a fairly strong taste, i will have to ponder more.

A trip to Hospital

We were taking Aidan in to the Lady Cilento Hospital Just a routine appointment. As we are not familiar with the city roads anymore, they have change lanes and all sorts of things, we took the train and bus. It does take longer but the hassle is far less.

Warren did the route to get there re times and we needed to leave home at 10.30 to catch the 11.30 train, we planned to drive several stops before getting the train to make it easier for coming home. What we had forgotten about and it was a good thing, was the new line that started last month. It joined our line at Strathpine where we were getting on the train.

Things just fell into place, I would normally have parked at the shopping centre and walked to the station about fifteen minutes, Warren said that he had always been lucky and got a park on the other side so we tried there as we did have plenty of time. Wouldn't you know it, one park right outside, we both scanned the area for signs to say either no parking or disabled but nope nothing there so we grabbed it. Only problem, that meant we were almost thirty minutes early as we had to wait for the early train to go thru but with the new line, it was only five minutes away.

Got to the city and went to bus, we could catch one of four buses, again three minutes to wait. This meant we were a whole hour early for Aidans appointment, time for a leisurely lunch. A new cafe/ eatery had opened since I was at the hospital last with quite a few choices. Still early but they saw us straight away. no dramas at all and it was almost the same going back home with buses and trains dovetailing as it were but without having to rush.

We had our Go cards but Aidan didnt so we bought him a paper ticket, almost twice the price of ours. Warren had a spare adult go card with some money on it so we used that for coming home. Kids concession cards are only good for 90 ninety days so unless kids go to school bu public transport, there is not much point in having them as they go out of date.

Tax Time

We saw our accountant yesterday to have our tax done. Yes, its what some people would call late but we are early than last year by about six weeks.

Bruce comes to the house and brings his computer and stuff, he has two big back packs that he carts with him. He usually stays and has dinner with us but it was a mid afternoon time and he was going on to another client.

Warren always has our tax stuff organised and I swear that it is getting smaller each year, I did have to run off a statement from both banks that we use about the amount of interest that they had given us over the year. Our group certificates and thats about it.

Bruce works his magic and luckily then tells us what we can expect to get back and he is spot on to within a dollar or two. This year we are getting all the tax that we paid back. yay! Funny, that the money we are getting back is about the same as we are having to pay for the new air con. I havent even paid Bruce, he didn't bother to bring his printer with him, now he sends it electronically to the Tax dept. He will print off a copy for his records and our bill once he gets back to his office at home.

Oh, well, money comes in one hand and goes out the other.

What use is a pallet?

Warren used a pallet (they were free) from Bunnings to increase the height of the fence so Lucy couldnt get over it. Since then she hasn't attempted to jump but she is more comfortable at home and knows that we will return.

As pallet was big, biggest one that I had ever seen, Warren said that he had always wanted to make a coffee table from a pallet or at least see if he could.

It only took him a couple of days, it was to be an outside table so rustic looking. We have been using it, its good to put a coffee cup on or feet on it when we are using the swing seat. Being outside in the heat, we could see that it was drying out so it was decided that the whole thing needed some stain to preserve it.

Warren gave it a light sand before staining it, one coat on all and then he finished the tin on the top so the top got pretty much got a second coat.

This is the end result. (and it is stable!)

Butterflies

Just lately there has been a lot of butterflies around much more than usual. Friday we noticed quite a fair go through the back yard as we were having a coffee on the patio. Some were white a couple were brindle and then there were the white with black around the edges of their wings.

Out with Sheridan yesterday and we were driving down a secondary road just off the main highway and as she said it was like driving down a wind tunnel as all these butterflies were coming towards us. I couldn't estimate how many but it was a lot and they just kept coming.

Warren said that he saw on the news that it is something to do with the strange weather patterns in the West has pushed them over our way.

More butterflies this morning when out walking on a horse trail. Lucy saw two horses being ridden, that was freaky we got her to sit while they went past. She saw one in the paddock last week today these were up close and very very big her eyes were wide open as they rode past and then she was in a hurry to put some distance between her and them.

Nanowrimo

Its that time of the year again. Time to write! National Novel Writing Month.
50,000 words in 30 days to write a novel makes one a novelist (it also makes one a bit nutty at times)

This will be my seventh years and I have acheived the goal each year so far.

I am finally writing the idea that I had when I first committed to nanowrimo seven years ago. I had a late start as Tuesday being Melbourne Cup, I had some things to do for that,

I did finally make a start and did 1668 before, the breakdown is 1667 each day. I need to write each day otherwise I feel as though I wont be able to catch up.

Today is the fourth day and I had a good writing day with over 2k written and I will probably do another hour or so. The weekend is shaping up to be busy so I need to be ahead.

Beans or not beans

Beans from the garden? No! it is home made pasta!

I love watching Jamie Oliver and this is what he made and cooked on Monday night. Warren and I went out yesterday doing a couple of things (and we resisted having afternoon tea while out as we are both trying to get rid of a couple of kgs that came home with us from Melbourne.)

Last port of call was the supermarket because Warren was out of his breakfast cereal. While there we decided to get the things needed for Jamie recipe, luckily it was easy and so we could remember what went in it.

The above picture is the pasta made from 300 gms plain flour but we used gluten free and 200 gms of spinach, nothing else the water content from the spinach is enough to moist and combine the two. Once in a dough, then roll out small balls.

Sauce is tomatoes, mushrooms and zucchini with Jamies chilli powder and garlic, saute together, when pasta is cooked, add to tomato and add parm cheese.

We only had dried parm cheese, I think fresh would be better.

Warren made all of this while I was writing, he also added some basil into the pasta and tomatoes.

It was tasty and filling, we only did half of the recipe.

Last night Jamie did doughnuts for breakfast, yum only 360 calories. Think I will try them next, dont think for breakfast though.

Ah, Melbourne Cup Day

The one day in November that stops the nation. Being the first Tuesday of November it is also our Red Hat day and the last couple of years we have gone to some ones home for lunch, dress ups and cup watching.

One of our members is a keen race follower and she does the sweeps on the day, Yesterday the sweeps were so popular that I was only able to buy one and that one didn't do any good for me.

Our Queen is holidaying at the moment and had left some money for sweeps and ended up winning two firsts and a third.

Instead of us each taking food or having food prepared for the day our host offered to cater it for $5  head, several didn't think it was enough money but she was adamant that $5 was plenty.

What a spread we had, all vegetarian. There were quiches and several different salads, with different tastes and textures. Then she brought out dessert! I dont usually have desserts when I am out but I couldn't resist a taste of three or four of these, luckily they weren't much more than bite size.

Fourteen of us then sat to watch the fashions on the field, that was our dress ups for the day too was "Fashions on the Field" and finally the race.

There were some showers throughout the day which kept the temperature down, last year it was so hot, close to the forties and we had dressed up as something starting with a C for the cup.

Halloween

It was a fizzer this year. Each year for about the last five years the numbers of kids coming to the door for Trick or treat had been increasing but this year we only had one.

I had prepared separate bags of sweets with a couple of chocolates in each as well, my thought being that chocs are far better for their teeth than all sweets but only one.

The bags were on the hall table ready to give out and Warren and I did help ourselves to a couple of bags yesterday, which we didnt need. This morning I suggested to him that we bundle them up and put them in the bin. I dont like waste and this seemed wasteful but we certainly dont need to eat them which is what will happen if they are left out. He agreed and so all the sweets and chocs are now in the bin.

There was something done for Halloween in the town square on the weekend so maybe kids dressed for that and didnt walk the streets.

Upgrade!

I was out the other day and trying to locate something on my phone, I was using the GPS and it seemed to be out. I was feeling a bit frustrated and in the forty minute drive home, had made up my mind to buy a hand held GPS. Surely it couldn't cost more than $300? I had earnt that in the last few weeks so yep, that was a given just had to ran it by Warren.

Sitting over lunch, I told him of my plans, he thought it was a good idea and asked when I wanted to get it. Silly him, he knows that once I have settled on some thing then I want to do it almost immediately. So it was off to the shops, once I had a shower, the location place was on a bush walk. Warren had a further thought and suggested that I upgrade my phone instead as it was getting on and had been passed on to me by Sheridan. Glup, more money going out but what the hell!

Friendly man at J B Hi Fi, helped out and I ended up with an I phone 7 and then I wanted a cover one that a couple of cards could slip in haaaa! $64 for a cover!

Warren set it all up when we got home and that evening told me that the cover didnt fit it. as we were leaving for Melbourne early the next morning, it was going to have to wait until we got back to return it.

No cover so no  protection for my new phone, BUT I remember seeing someone using a sock lke cover so I got out a clean sock of mine, one of the short just past the heel ones and it worked a treat.

Took the phone and cover back, feeling like a goose and they couldn't get it to work either, it fitted nicely but it wouldn't turn on when inside the cover. They got a new one off the shelf and while it didn't appear to be any different, I could now use all the buttons.

Its a bit bigger screen than the old one and seems to work okay.

Old phone has gone back to Sheri so one thing in and one out, trying to make that a theme/rule/tradition so that we dont end up with a whole heap more stuff. 

River Crossings

Somebody decided it would be interesting to go home via Texas as we had not been that way before and logged it into the gps. We set off merrily and stopped for morning tea and change of drivers.

Five ks out the road, the gps tells me to turn right,what? That's a secondary road! It is tarred and so we take it, not a bad road but certainly not a 100k road. We figure that there would be no bfts (big .......trucks).

Its pretty quiet, nice country driving, then there is a sign warning to reduce speed, it was a bog hole all across the road, mindfull of the camper on behind I slowly drive through it, another five kilmetres further on, the same thing again.

There were six river crossings in all, Warren said they wee more like creek crossings but still......they were all flowing. There there was the occasional stock grids and a bl..........big mountain  which meant narrow road, double lines and there hadn't been any traffic behind me and then suddenly a local is right up behind. I assume local as he wanted to go much faster than me so figured that he had know the road far better than me. Luckily just as he caught up, there was a sign on the side of the road advising of a rest area. I was able to pull in until he passed and then back out again.

No further traffic until we were half way down the mountain on a steep decline, he just had to wait until we were down. Warren was waiting for it to rain, which usually happens when I drive but I figured that 6 water crossings, 4 stock grids and a mountain was enough for the day.

Bush Camping

Warren wanted to stay at Mendoran and had plotted it into the Gps. He had told me that there were only cold showers there. Yep, thats okay I could go without a shower for one night, too cold to have a cold one.

As I was doing the last stint of driving, he informs me that there would be no power either. WHAT! No power! Then I thought about it, we had battery lights and we have camp stoves in the camper. There would be no fridge but we didnt have much for the fridge anyway and during the day the food is in the car fridge.

No internet for our device but our phones have data so all good. Toilets? I ask oh yes he said. Then tells me that it is a free camp.

When we arrive, there were about 20 vans of all types and shapes. Yes there was one toilet but it was flushing.

Oh the luxury

Our first night on the way home, Warren rang forward about staying at caravan park.In the course of the conversation, he agreed to under cover with an ensuite.

We pulled in with our camper and we were a little concerned about the roof but it was fine.

 Warren just finishing breakfast before we packed up and left.

Flooding!

We are heading home tomorrow and the intention was to go the coast road, east from Melbourne then up the coast to Sydney but there is flood warnings in that area.

So it will have to be back thru the city and out on the Bruce (highway). I hope we can go east at some point rather than go back over the exact same roads we came down.

Thank goodness for weather reports.

Welcome to Melbourne

On my driving stint it started to rain! We changed drivers just outside of the city in a big layby. I wanted to walk for a bit and wegot about 60 metres from the car and thought this is crazy as it was blowing a gale (maybe a little extreme but it was windy) and cold. Warren ran the last few metres while I hobbled, back is still not right.

The clouds came in very dark and then the rain started in earnest, it had only been a few showers and spots before. Luckily we soon went into the tunnel and we missed much of it.

Had a sleep  in today and then took the grandkids to mall. We had given them their Christmas  money and they wanted to spend it so it was off to EB games.

Have had jackets on since we got here. Just before dinner Rob and I went for a drive and then a walk around a sporting grounds complex, it was quite wet in places but we got our exercise in and the walking seemed to help my back.

Back Pain

Is a pain! Last night I suddenly got an ache in the back, lower back muscle. Oh boy, how painful and suddenly one becomes very dependant on ones partner.
I thi k it was caused by everything is lower in the camper van, the fridge is on ground level and I know I put the items from the car fridge into the vanfridge around that time I have been suffering.

Our bed is one step up oh my, did that take some negotiating!  Then there is going to the toilet at a caravan park and everything takes twice as long to do. I did receive a couple of massages which helped.

Trying to turn over in bed it was rather than a three point turn it was more like a ten or twelve point turn!

It wasnt quite as painful this morning and once in the shower I had the hot water run over the area for some time, then it was time to get dressed. What fun that was, one leg into knickers was fine but the second leg, not a chance. After two attempts, I placed them on the floor (on my towel) and hoisted them into place with left side, once the left side was up the other side just had to follow. Luckily putting on my long pants was much easier but I felt as though I had gone three rounds in a boxing ring, (just not sure who with)

I did my two stints at driving, I got the roadworks, the detours and the slow wide trucks that I couldnt get past, Warren said all I needed was rain ( it often rains on long hauls when its my turn to drive)

I did take the opportunity to walk around at our rest stops and that has seemed to ease my back ache, I am sure that it will be better tomorrow, one can only hope!
b

On the Road Again

We left this morning for a quick visit to Melbourne. We stopped for morning tea at Dalby, it has been a fav stop of ours for some years, either going south or going to and from bike rides. It is an easy stop as its on the way through town.

Then it was my turn to drive, coming in to Moonie, I was reminded that we spent our first night in the caravan there on our trip around Australia, I was thinking that was last year but it was early this year!

Another memory trigger was coming into Goonawindie and a few years ago, I was also driving then when quite a way out the fuel gauge showed empty! Warren assured me that we had plenty of fuel, I slowed down a little anyway and yes we did have, 2 litres left when we refueled! That was a bit close to comfort for me and now I make sure we fill last thing before we leave.

Fast eating

I went to a meeting tonight at a local club, due to circumstances, Warren dropped me off early and I filled in the time by having a meal. It was just on dinner time and I was surprised that they were serving dinner already at 5.15 pm.

I bought a drink then made my way over to the eating area to be allocated a table, as I was on my own I was given a small table for two down the back.

Leaving my drink there, I proceeded to the dinner queue, it was quite busy as it was 2 for 22 dollars, just my luck to have a cheap night to buy two meals. I ordered pork spare ribs and a single meal was $14, oh well, still cheaper.

Its rare that I would have a meal on my own and I was surprised at how quick one eats when there is no conversion happening, there is nothing to break up the act of putting food in ones mouth. I did try to eat slower as the meeting wasnt on until 6.30 so I had a whole hour from getting my table and meal. Nuh, couldnt do it, short of putting the cutlery down between each mouthful and that was just plain silly, I was out of there in under ten minutes.

I took my drink to the lounge area and got out my phone and some paperwork and tried to do some puzzles but didnt get far.

Christmas is coming!

I know because of all the junk mail (advertising material) that arrived in our mail box today. It has been slowly building but there was a massive lot today.

Warren usually flicks through it and I usually give it the flick, thinking that i can spend enough money without looking at them and seeing what is on offer but today I weakened and "studied" them.

Oh boy, there were all four supermarkets, Bunnings had a booklet, there were approx six  from toy stores, two liquor stores, JB HiFi, two from electrical stores, three advertising new linen, camping stores. The only ones that I don't think was there were jewellery stores.

Our kayaks were in there for $5 cheaper than what we paid then I realised that ours are rated p to 140 kgs, where as the advertised ones were only up to 100 kgs, what a relief!

Two or three lots like today and our recycling bin starts to fill.

Frozen PJs

I have been wearing my winter pyjamas to bed and it is just too hot but I think my summer ones hit the bin somewhere on the trip. At least my winter night wear is just a long line T shirt with 3/4 sleeves but I needed something cooler. I had had a bit of a look in the shops and didnt see anything that I liked which resulted in a trip to Spotlight. Luckily for me they had a 40% sale on all material.

Lots of pinks and girly patterns which is so not me, even to sleep in, then I saw a nice blue with a small pattern, when I took it to the counter, the girl told me that it had just been reduced even further, making it $4 a metre, bonus. I was thinking of 2.5 metres, it was 145 cms wide but went for 3 metres to make sure that I had enough.

When I was cutting it out, I noticed on the side it had "Disney" which seemed strange, I looked a little closer at the fabric and blow me down, it is a frozen pattern. Apparently our youngest grand child (only   grand daughter) is all over Frozen. There is material left over so I will make something for her.

I was on a roll this morning and had the top of my PJs made before 9 am! Took a while longer to make the pants and then I made another pair for a 5 year old from a piece of material that has been in my stash for years. It was too big a piece to just throw out but too small to make lots of things but I found the perfect pattern.

These are mine and it looks at though the bottoms didnt make the photo.

I only had around half  metre of material but with no shoulders, there was plenty. I even had enough to cut the straps on the basis. Very happy with the little ones. I have been making some kids clothes for charity so these will go into that box. There is an organisation here that call for donations or Christmas boxes for people who are down on their luck. 

Bush Turkeys

We went out this morning for a walk not far from home, Lucy loves getting out and about in the bush, there are less dogs to bark at her.

We parked the car at the end of a street and walked in the grassed area then we saw a bush track so we wandered off there. Lots of different smells for Lucy and us, as we could smell kangaroos, they do have a distinct smell that Warren and I grew up with up, we tend to forget that we know that smell. Its interesting when going to souvenirs shops selling "genuine kangaroos hides" products, we can tell if they are or not because of the smell. Anyway, it did seem that kangaroos had been in the area, they possibly shelter under the trees at night.

We also saw where bush turkeys had scratched leaf litter across the track, then just off to the side, there was a massive mound, probably a metre high and about three metres around. 
We didnt see the turkey itself.