Creative writing, 900 prompts.

 National novel writing month is coming up in November and as I was buying a crochet stitch book from the Book Depository, I also bought this book which arrived today.

Opened it and this was the second chapter that I read.

"Imagine, you are driving a car in the road.  You are coming back at your home from your  friend's party. Now, your car is passing through a long jungle and you are lonely driving on this road. Nobody is there.

Suddenly, your car stop. You try to start but failed. The car's water finished. You become worried and look aroundhere and there. In the same time,you look a light in the jungle. You walk to the jungle toward the light. A few minutes later, you reach at the only house.  And now you are surprising to see the house in the jungle."

This was quite difficult to copy as the English is so very wrong and the computer wanted to autocorrect some.

I have flicked through the book and the poor English seems to be through out the book. I know there are times when endings of words can be missed or similar but this does seem extreme. I suppose luckily for me, I can make out what it does mean and I can still use it.

 

Magic ball blanket

 I made a magic ball a couple of years ago and it had just sat waiting for me to do something with it. One of my online friends mentioned the magic ball, until then mine did not have a name.

A magic ball is bits and pieces of wool left over from other projects, joined by doing a magic knot on both ends of the new piece. That means that it can be used continuously.

The colours turned out quite well I thought, it is doubled for the photo and measures about 120 by 150cms. Just started my third magic ball blanket. I picked up some balls at the op shop, for a dollar a ball, four were bright orange I have greens and browns so that should tone it down.

Perfum

 Many years ago, I was coming home from visiting Warren and the hostesses came around with their tax free goodies. I had some pounds left and decided to spend them so I bought a bottle of perfume for myself. We had bought the kids gifts and they were in the luggage so I didn't feel guilty by buying something just for me.

As there were no testing, I bought purely on the look of the bottle and the price. It was called Lulu and luckily I loved it. 

It has been my perfume ever since, although not solely because of the cost but for several years now it has been the only perfume I wear. Problem is that as it has been around so long, it is getting harder to buy. I bought a bottle when in England as it was readily available and the last bottle I bought was from a chemist chain and they had extras because it was close to Christmas. 

I went back to that chain a few weeks ago but had to buy something else. I did a test and while it seemed alright, I dont like it after awhile. 

Warren was taking the car to be serviced and while there I asked him to go to a chemist warehouse and buy Lulu for me. He knows what he was looking for as he has bought some over the years for me as gifts. They didnt have it, unable to obtain it so apparently there was Warren taking smell tests.

He bought Joop, think this will be my new go to perfume, he did well.

Pizzas

 Earlier in the week, I decided that we would have pizza for dinner. I had bought gluten free bases which were in the freezer. Hmmmm, what else could I put on it. Checked the fridge, only had bacon but ended up with enough.

A few olives, tomatoes from the garden, had some spinach and topped off with flakes of almonds.

Today we were both out this morning and decided to buy lunch out and we went to a bit nicer restaurant with table services, we chose a table outside out of the wind and waited for our meal. It was primarily Italian so lots of pasta and or pizzas, we went for a pizza called three pigs.

 

Adult hospital vs children's hospital.

 I was surprised by the difference in the two hospitals. We visited Jordan today and as it closer to home and possibly a bit difficult to get to by public transport we drove. That was probably a mistake as we couldnt find where to park, saw several staff parking areas but no public parking. We had not been there before and didnt know exactly where he was and how to get there. Jordan had sent a screen shot of where he was and we ended up parking in the streets and walked, keeping in contact with Jordan. He told us that he would come and meet us, which he did and then walked us back to his area and room showing us on the way where we could have parked. We had seen the road but as it said hospital service road we turned the other way.

Jordan able to leave his room and walk out. Aidan cannot go out of his room.

We followed Jordan through the hospital and back to his room, no check ins, no temp checks. Children's hospital, security check in and temp taken, on his floor, another check in before doors unlocked to access.

Jordan can have two visitors at a time, between 10am and 8pm. Aidan could only had two visitors total for the day.

Jordan doesn't have meal times, he orders what and when he likes. We took him in a foot long subway. Aidan has a choice of two meals each day but can order extras.  His meal is delivered to him  at the end of service if he doesn't have a visitor to get it for him, so sometimes cold. 

Jordan's room is quite small but he does have a nice view, he's on the ground floor and his bathroom was pretty big. Aidan has always had a big room probably suitable for two beds, no view although a window but on eighth floor. 

We visited with Jordan until it was time for him to go to gym and we took the shortcut back to the car, a ten minute walk.

The English Game

 We started watching this on Netflix awhile ago and just this week we finished the series. One episode was 45 minutes long, great to watch while having lunch and a break. It is about the start of football or soccer as we call it. 

Apparently it was dreamed up at the old English unis and when working classes wanted to play, it became a problem as the "old school tie" mentality came into play. 

It was good to see the haves and the have nots came together and some more than others worked together. 

Today we travelled a fair distance to see one of our grandsons play soccer. He plays goalie, loves it and is involved in three teams, a school team and two leagues. They didnt win today, losing by two goals, one was just above Declan's hands, he did touch it but it went past, the other one was a mistake by another player. Dec did fend off quite a few. 

The players have several uniforms, the dress to attend the games is track pants with a dress tshirt, then a training uniforms plus home and away shirts. 

Dinner

 Warren offered to cook dinner last night. I had taken a pack of beef strips out of the freezer to cook. 

This was his efforts.

Tasted pretty damn good. 

Four days of celebrations.

 Warren has just had a special birthday and we had a family bbq on Sunday, sports meant that a couple couldn't come so there was only eight of us but good to sit around, eat and chat.

Monday was Warren's actual birthday and I have had a standing coffee morning with my friends in the park on Mondays. He told me not to change it. However, it was a cold windy day so coffee was cancelled and he decided to was not suitable for tennis. We went to Scarborough to a beachside cafe for brunch instead and asked for a table inside. We walked along the beach side path after but we put up with the wind for about 20  minutes before we raced back to the car to get warm and out of the wind.

Tuesday we went bike riding up in the Blackall ranges. It was slightly downhill most of the way but where there used to be a wooden bridge across valleys or creeks, now it has been concrete and quite steep, down and up the other side. Signs advising riders to dismount and walk bikes up and down. There were five of these crossings, a couple of cattle crossings which we did ride over. Took us four and a half hours with lunch and a couple of other stops plus we stopped to find four caches all the way. We both have sore bums just for being on the seats for so long. We were told it would take between three and five hours. My phone was in my backpack so no photos except this one.

Today was tennis day so I organised morning tea for his tennis group. Lucy and I went out with him and we walked along the beach and discovered these little crabs

After lunch, we went to the mall so Warren could buy his birthday gift from the kids. They had given him gift cards to buy a go pro for his trip next year. 

Along the river.

A house on one side of the road but on the other side was a high rise with several flats, we wondered how long it would be before the house and block were turned into units and return hefty profits for the developers, this was one block back from the river.

 A few days ago, we took a drive to one of the older parts of the city. Council has done some work and there is a great bike and walk path along the edge of the river.

There were quite a few people strolling along like us but the path is very wide so it was not a problem.

We walked several kms and then Warren discovered a coffee shop, which was very welcome.

Vaccine time

Each year about this time we get a letter from Lucy's vet to advise us of the yearly vaccine. It's a bit of a drive but as she only needs to go there yearly, we have kept the same vet practise.

Lucy is very happy to go in the car now and jumped in the back. Hmmmm, lots of things to smell in the carpark. We opened the door and then the fun started, she did not want to go in There! Between us, we got her in and she sat nicely at the counter. She was weighed, oops, we did think she had put on a bit, 4 mgs heavier than last year.

We were asked to wait outside, due to Covid, no one can sit in the waiting room. Again it was a push to get her back inside when she was called. I thought there was vinyl on the floor for ease of cleaning, it also makes a good slide for reluctant dogs.

The vet got on the floor with Lucy, I thought we would have to lift her on the table, commented on her weight but when we told her that Lucy gets a walk every day, she was happy with that. 

Temperature check up her bum and then a needle in the back of her neck which she didn't even flinch at, a treat and we were good to go. Im sure Lucy breathed a sigh of relief when we headed out the door.

  

A wake up call

Warren was being collected this morning at 6.30, I asked him to wake me which he did. I saw them off and then went back to bed. Being a person who has trouble sleeping or getting to sleep, it amazes me that at that hour I can go back to bed and sleep very easily.

I woke at 7.58 and thought about getting up, not that I had any thing pressing to do but it's not often one has a full day to do whatever one chooses (within reason of course) and I didnt want to miss any of it.

It was nice and warm in bed and I lay there for a little longer, must have gone to sleep as next I heard was whimpering and when I opened my eyes, there was a dog's just about the mattress. I groaned and turned over, it was 8.40. Not to be foiled, she dashed around the other side of the bed and was whinging slightly. I knew she wasnt going to give up, from previous times.

I gave up and put one leg out of bed telling her that I was getting up. She was happy then and headed off outside. It was nice and comfy in bed, so I thought I could take a few more minutes. There was a barreling noise at the back door which meant Lucy was on her way back. Into our room she comes, she reminded me of Mum when she had to wake me for school, same look on her face. I had two feet on the ground by the time Lucy was at the bed. This time she waited until I was in the bathroom. 

I made my coffee while she sunbaked, although it is past her walk time, she knows that I don't take her walking until my coffee cup is empty. Breakfast cups are clear so she can see. Once it's empty, she will be pressuring me for a walk. 

As its a free day, we will set off in the car and go to the lakes, I like to go to different places at times, then it's my day to do what I want until 5pm, Lucy's dinner time.