everything hurts

cleaning doesn't agree with me.  i'm only half joking.  i was standing at the sink the other day not doing anything in particular when my shoulder popped.  my good shoulder.  heck it hurt.  i think it's because i lifted a really heavy load the other day and i've overdone the cleaning thing.  i've been scrubbing the kitchen and dining room floors by hand.  as a consequence everything else is hurting too.  my right arm is very sore.  i must rest for a while me thinks.  i'm going to a physio appointment tomorrow.  i hope it helps.  the weather since christmas/new year has been wonderful.  very mild.  that's about to change.  we are in for a heat wave and i can only hope that it is short lived.  i know, i know, it's summer time, what do i expect?  it was good while it lasted :)  other than that i've had computer problems (fixed now), i've been gardening a bit and the usual cleaning, sorting, boring and necessary stuff.  friends are coming over for lunch on saturday so i'm looking forward to that. oh, and i forgot, i've lost my glasses.  they have disappeared completely.  i've looked everywhere and even went through both rubbish bins yesterday.  it's a mystery but luckily i have a spare pair.

fear

i've always been scared stiff of mice, rats, snakes and sharks.  it's fairly easy to avoid the snakes and sharks but unfortunately the former two have been plaguing me of late.  it started when i noticed poop on the back veranda.  could it be rats?  yes it could.  we have had a very wet winter in adelaide and as i live next door to a cemetery and a park my theory is that the vermin got flooded out and moved into my slightly dryer shed.  there's lots of poop in there too.  today, between loads of washing, i leaned on the couch and looked out the window into the back garden just thinking about nothing in particular.  it's a little courtyard garden with a pond and lots of pot plants.  then i saw it.  out of the corner of my eye.  was it my imagination?  no it wasn't.  a mouse (i hope it's not a baby rat) ran out of the shed and into the back garden and it was horrible.  it's out there now.  running around the pots.  very sneakily and quick.  omg.  what to do???  i can ask my dil to put more baits in the shed i suppose.  i wanted to go in there and get the lawnmower out today but now i don't think so.  i was out there last night to water.  did i mention that a month or so ago there was a large dead rat out there?  luckily my dil removed it for me.  she's from the country thank goodness and not a fraidy cat like me. telling me that they are more afraid of me than i am of them isn't helpful.  i know this to be true but it doesn't help.  in my defense, i am not afraid of spiders.  there are red backs in the front garden. 

broken stuff and a dead fishy

january has not been a good month for me in a few ways.  nothing serious but things keep breaking.  and dying.  yes, another fish died this morning.  :(  he's fertilizing the lemon tree now.  a few things have broken lately:

1. my mouse.  it worked when i went into the kitchen and when i came back the left button wouldn't move.  broken.
2. my camera charger.  i plugged it in the other night to charge the battery for the wedding on saturday.  it exploded.  sparks, smoke (the smell was awful) and it made sizzling noises.  very broken. i ordered another one from ebay.
3. the other night i chucked the empty washing basket down the stairs (as is my habit. why take something downstairs when you can chuck it.  most things land safely and i'm usually careful) and my golden Buddha took a tumble.  he has a few holes in him but is otherwise intact so i put him in the garden.

my lovely son came for breakfast and fitted a blockout blind to the lounge room window for me.  it looks fab. he also put a suitcase (i have too many suitcases) up on the wardrobe shelf.  it's got my cables and electrical cords etc in it.  i've been going through mountains of stuff in the spare room and have a giant bag of donations for the second hand shop.  i've also gathered three large bags of rubbish.  good job but it's still not finished.  it's getting there though. oh no, i just reread that and it sounds like my house is really full of junk.  weather is pretty good here.  was a bit damp this morning, from dew me thinks.  i was a little bit cool and almost put a cardy on.  i woke up way too early so may need to take a small nana nap this arvo.  :)  on a positive note, i have three lemons and two chilies growing nicely.  the herbs are doing quite well too.  

from pinterest

tiny and very cute panda

awww.  a cute cat pic :)

it's raining

it's cool and has been steadily raining for hours.  i love it

i was excited to find a link to my favourite indonesian tv channel yesterday.  too cool.
no subtitles but lots of those crazy soap operas and i just love the commercials.  the music channel has awful reception so not really watchable.  sound is ok though.  the site also has some web cams of traffic around bali but it's fairly boring after the first minute.  it rained there yesterday apparently. and a bonus is the road traffic cams all over bali.  it's too fab

my son and i fixed the shadecloth out the back.  it's patchy but practical and shades the back of the house (not upstairs) quite well.  we are going to put some auto sprinklers in which will be good.

i'm going up to pick up cookie to stay for a day or two. we may bake a cake.  :)  i had nasty migraine last week and missed work.  much better now and i will go back to work on wednesday.  :(   i've been looking at old pics i've put on picasa over the years.  mostly of bali.  i've booked for 10 days in cairns for may and may not get to bali this year.  i'm missing it like mad.  yesterday, i watched the traffic cams, drank my bali coffee and sat outside waiting for my son and g/daughter to arrive.  someone close by started cooking and the most fabulous smells wafted my way.  garlic and chili frying.  just like bali.  :)  all i needed was the smell of clove cigarettes and incense, insane traffic, ten thousand scooters and i would have been set.

i've put these photos up before i know, but here they are again

enjoy your day wherever you are

presents and fish

i hope your Christmases were happy and safe.  i received a herb garden from my son and dil and various other pressies.  the g/kids were happy with their loot and lunch went without a hitch.  they all begged asked for dessert this year.  usually i have to persuade and coax them to have some.  i think we all had a good time.  the weather was certainly kind to us, 39 the day before and only 26 on the 24th (when we have our Christmas lunch) .  i'm off work for a week and am busy doing up my spare room coz i got a new bed.  there's so much stuff in there.  mostly books that i'll probably never read again, and sewing and painting stuff.  there's a mountain of it.  i don't know where it all comes from.  :)  my last fishy died the other day so i cleaned out the bowl and got some more.  i wasn't paying attention and the girl gave me five of the biggest fish.  hmmm.  i have a very small bowl.  they are a bit crowded and unfortunately my favourite, pinky, died the very next day. i haven't told the kids yet.  they are dirty little things too.  the water was like pea soup yesterday, i had to run the filter thingy all day, and that agitates the water like a washing machine.  i think their days are numbered.  sorry fishies

my herb garden, i hope i don't kill them.  i am growing some coriander from seed and it's doing well atm

                                     

jourdy and ants

michael and shar

                                                         

                                                             

bug run 2

bug run march 2012

we went on another bug run today.  up into the hills, down to the beach and cafe primo for lunch.  we are all pooped.  my son made a short video. the backing music is by his band khatrun.  i have to put it in as a link above.  apologies.  we had a lovely day.  the club members are all very friendly people and a good time was had by all.  i'm off tomorrow and then back to work on tuesday.  ewwwww  :)

a pic from the last bug run. i forgot my camera today :(

the weather today was perfect.

yesterday i went up to see my daughter and g/kids.  their dog had nine puppies.  the pups are too cute and have their eyes open now.  we had a nice day.  a little lunch and a little shopping.  we went to about four garage sales too and had a great day.   i hope you enjoyed your weekend 

honey honey

i went shopping yesterday with my son and got veggies and stuff.  we had brekky.  salad and zuchinni fritters for brekky are the bomb.  so delish.  then, we went to the honey 'factory'.  this place is ancient.  it's a few  suburbs away and looks like a time warp.  the building is from the 40s i'd say.  he sells every kind of honey and honey products like pollen and beeswax etc.  i got some beeswax to make some solid perfume for gifts.  i hope it works.  i got some manuka honey which is supposed to be great.  usually i only like indonesian honey.  it's so mild and delicate in flavour.  apparently honey is one of the few food items that doesn't go off.  if it chrysalises just put it over hot water and stir until it gets back to normal.  i have it with green tea and a quarter teaspoon of organic cinnamon.  delish.  here is a pic of the honey factory -

you may have to click on it it enlarge it.  the bloke who runs it is a character.  he offered to pose in the yard working the pulley thingy.  he had a 'grumpy old man' tshirt on but wasn't really that grumpy.  pity that we didn't get a pic of him. 

we had a full on thunderstorm in adelaide yesterday.  lots of rain and amazing thunder and lightening.  bit scary really.  quite a bit of damage done around the city but we escaped any damage/power cuts so thats good.  enjoy your day wherever you are.  :)

my brain

the good news is that they found one.  yay.  i had a cat scan recently.  nothing serious wrong with me.  everything normal except that i've got brain atrophy.  sounds serious.  oooooh.  i googled it,  it just means my brain has shrunk.

the pattern and rate of progression of cerebral atrophy depends on the disease involved. diseases that cause cerebral atrophy include: 

age  bingo***

stroke and traumatic brain injury

depression (mood)  my brain has shrunk, that's enough to depress anyone***

alzheimer's disease, pick’s disease, senile dementia, fronto-temporal dementia, and vascular dementia

cerebral palsy, in which lesions (damaged areas) may impair motor coordination

huntington's disease, and other genetic disorders that cause build-up of toxic levels of proteins in neurons

leukodystrophies, such as krabbe disease, which destroy the myelin sheath that protects axons

mitochondrial encephalomyopathies, such as kearns-sayre syndrome, which interfere with the basic functions of neurons

multiple sclerosis, which causes inflammation, myelin damage, and lesions in cerebral tissue

infectious diseases, such as encephalitis, neurosyphilis, and aids, in which an infectious agent or the inflammatory reaction to it destroys neurons and their axons

epilepsy, in which lesions cause abnormal electrochemical discharges that result in seizures

anorexia nervosa

i've never heard of some of these.  basically i'm a bit young to show signs of it.  it's usually in older people.  it could or could not be a precursor for alzheimer's among other things.  there's no way of telling.  there's no swelling or inflammation and everything else is normal.  i had no idea what is was and had to hold on to the chair.  fancy having the other thing and a brain tumour.  no brain tumour.  yay again.  now for the really scary part.  i've shrunk.  dr weighed and measured me.  i am 168 cm.  well, not anymore.  163 cm now.  i wish my feet would shrink.  my cholesterol level has gone down a bit.  6.8  the hard part is that i have to lose weight.  dr also said that my good cholesterol is high and that would put up my overall reading. bp is good.  well.  after all that i had a lovely lunch with my son and his fam.  he's hurt his back again and will see chiro tomorrow.  all that and a little shopping.  not too horrible.  it's been pouring with rain all day here.  garden will like it. 

i'm going to give it another try

i'm going to try these even though my last attempt was pathetic.  call me a fool for punishment and wish me luck.  there's lots of cheese though.

Lasagne "Cupcakes" from http://www.emilybites.com/2011/07/lasagna-cupcakes.html

Ingredients: ½ lb 95% lean ground beef 1 ½ t Italian seasoning 5 oz mushrooms, chopped 16 wonton wrappers, 4 oz fat free Ricotta cheese, 1 ½ oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated 1 c pasta sauce, 4 oz reduced fat 2% shredded Mozzarella cheese Directions: 1. Pre-heat the oven to 375. Lightly mist 8 cups in a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside. 2. In a sauté pan or large skillet over medium-high heat, add the ground beef and Italian seasoning and brown beef, breaking it up with a spoon. Add mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until mushrooms are browned as well. 3. Push a wonton wrapper into the bottom of each of the eight sprayed cups in the muffin tin. Using about half of the ricotta, spoon evenly into the wonton wrappers. Follow by spooning some of the meat/mushroom mixture into each cup (using about half the total mixture) and then splitting ½ cup of the sauce between each cup. Sprinkle about half the mozzarella and half the Parmesan evenly over the top of each cup. Press another wonton wrapper on top and repeat the layering steps with the remaining ingredients. 4. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin. Yields 8 lasagna cupcakes.  we shall see.  i'll let you know how they go.  sans pics this time i think  :)  sorry it's in imperial measurements not metric.

Emily

this is what they are supposed to look like :)

i'm watching Baz Luhrmann's version of romeo and juliet.  it blew me away when i saw it on the big screen all those years ago, 1996 in fact.  it still does.  it's an amazing movie. it's stinky hot here and i'm just about to make a milo smoothie. the movie is quite long i think and i worked today so  will probably be a late one.

lasagne - fail

oh dear.  the lasagne turned out worse that i thought it would.  it looked dreadful and didn't smell so good either.  i put it in the slow cooker all night. the recipe was on youtube and theirs worked out nicely.   i thought i'd have some for lunch but i couldn't eat it. i make wonderful vegie lasagne but can't make the  meat variety.  go figure.  look at the pic at your peril.  it looks disgusting.  :(   better luck next time hey?

lasagne - fail  

i have been procrastinating more than usual lately.  i  didn't do much today as it was 39 degrees in the shade, so i stayed inside all day and vegetated.  i must get my stuff together and do something useful.  i hung a blind today.  that was a start.

back to work tomorrow

yuk, but at least it's a short day.  i don't know where the hols have gone.  christmas then new year and now it's back into the swing of it.  we have had a nasty heat wave which thank goodness is over for the time being. 41 degrees is too hot for me.  nice weather now except that it's windy.  garden has suffered and i got drenched this arvo when the hose exploded and went everywhere.  fish are still alive.  :)  i'm going to get a new mobile on the 27th of this month.  i can't make up my mind whether i'll stay with my plan or go prepaid.  probably stay on the plan while i'm working.  i can ring the kids/family for free, make overseas calls and go on fb all on my plan.  oh well, i suppose i should get ready for work tomorrow and have a shower (another one).  have a good one everyone  :)