happy new year

have a very happy and safe new year everyone 

just a catch up

i had the kids over for christmas a day early, which is something we often do.  we had a nice dinner and then opened presents and that was crazy.  kids were excited and it was great.  very noisy.  i went to wallaroo to visit my sister and her family on christmas day.  i came back yesterday and was pooped but had a great sleep last night so feel much better today.  i may go to a friend's house for a very quiet new year's eve.  i usually stay at home.  then, i go back to work on the 4th of january.  fish are ok atm :)

i found some old photos on the phone.  this is benni when she was little.  my favourite grandcat

i'd like to wish you a very happy 2012.  be safe, healthy and happy

oh no! another one

bloody hell.  another one died.  it was alive this morning.  he did look a tiny bit seedy yesterday but not too bad.  i don't know what to do about it.  i've put the 'medicine' in.  maybe i'm feeding them too much or maybe i should change their food.  if you have any ideas i'd love to hear them.

the bug run

we went on the bug run this morning.  about eighteen cars in all.  weather conditions as you can see from the photos were interesting to say the least.  visibility was down to about twenty metres.  rain and fog (actually low cloud).  we went from burnside to mt lofty summit.  i don't know how long the trip was.  the conditions were amazing.  we couldn't see anything.  on a clear day you can see all of adelaide from the summit.  at night it's a gorgeous view.  i went with my dil and g/daughter whilst other g/daughter and g/son went with my son.  we had our own little convoy.  we met the other members for coffee inside when we arrived which was nice.  dil had a problem on the way back.  no wipers, brake lights and something else (i'm not sure what, maybe indicators).  she thought it was a fuse but seems it's something more.  hopefully she can get it fixed soon.  i had the kids for the weekend.  as usual, the house is a mess and i'm pooped.

adelaide from the summit on a clear day

getting ready to go

a nice little collection of vdubs.  ours are the white and yellow ones

rain

not the best conditions to drive in

visibility not much

we arrived

on the way down.  we took a wrong turn and came home the long way.  yay

a very generous gesture indeed

sometimes people surprise you for the good.  i was browsing my favourtie second hand shop this arvo with the g/kids.  ants asked me to buy him a tripod for the camera.  it was $25 and i thought it too expensive so said no as i'd already spent lots of them today already.  nicely off course.  he went back to browsing, no biggie.  anyhoo, when we got to the counter the lady was acting a little bit strangely. she said i have something to tell you.  i thought wtf?  i didn't know what was going on. then she told me that a customer had overheard the conversation between ants and me and had paid for the tripod.  well, i didn't know what to think.  i was overwhelmed by the generosity of this gesture.  lady behind the counter asked me if i would accept.  i didn't know whether to accept or not.  i mean what's the thing to do here?  i thought under the circumstances it would be best to accept in good grace.  who does stuff like this these days? we hear so much bad stuff these days it does my heart good to know there are still people like this in the world.  she did it to encourage his photography.  wow.  on another note it's been weird weather here today.  we had a storm this arvo.  excellent. it poured with rain and we got drenched.  garden loved it.  ants bought a bird feeder so we filled it with seed and it's all wet in the garden atm.  i hope the birds like it.  :)  we are going on a bug run tomorrow weather permitting.  it should be fun.  mount lofty and back.  a vw convoy.  lol

happy saturday to you

well it's the weekend again.  where does the week go?  busy time of the year isn't it?  i've had a mixed week.  mostly all good.  i bought a second hand laptop for the g/children when they are here.  it's a toshiba and i think i've got it working quite well.  bit of a gamble isn't it?  seems to be ok even though someone has deleted the restore partition.
i've booked our plane tickets and insurance for bali in may.  i've finally heard back from the hotel and have asked for the room we want.  i hope it's going to be ok.  my friend from perth is going to bali, KL and vietnam in a few weeks or less.  that's exciting.  i'd love to go to vietnam.
i'm going to meet the kids for lunch later on and ....  i'm working tomorrow.  *sad face*  it's been quite wet here which is lovely.  we had some hot weather but now it's much cooler with a shower or two which is ok by me.  oh, and i think i've killed my tomato plant.  it's looking very sad.  on a positive note, no more fish have gone to fishy heaven and i've fixed the pump regulator thingy with a stylus the kids gave me.  the blue tack didn't work.  messy i know, but it works

ryan and libraries

http://librarianheygirl.tumblr.com

do you like books?  do you like libraries?  do you like ryan gosling?  then this site is for you. :)

glass

http://pinterest.com/Sampry/arts-and-crafts-glass/

check out this page for the most wonderful glass art.  gorgeous stuff.

oh no

1 little fish died this morning.  he's been looking a bit seedy lately. the others look ok.  i should put some of that blue medicine (my word) in the bowl.  the snail is active and healthy.  i had the kids for the weekend. i'm taking them back soon.  everything is good except that my house looks like a bomb hit it.  nice weather which is unusual for adelaide.  i hope you enjoyed yours.  :)

new family members

i bought four fish today.  and a snail.  and some fish tank plant.  i will give 1 fish to cookie for her room.  i hope they survive a while.  the snail is supposed to eat the left over food from the bottom of the bowl.  they can eat Dustin's food so i didn't have to purchase more food.  they are quite active atm.  we will see.

yucky photos and please excuse the clothes peg.  it's to stem the flow of air as it's too powerful for the little bowl.  i'll get a proper stopper thingy soon.

My friend Mazzy just got back from a weekend away and is sick with asthma.  she asked me to buy some binoculars from ebay the other day so i did.  no problem.  she posted the money monday and posted it to the wrong address.  dayam.  it may go back to her coz she put her name and address on the back.  it was in a christmas card.  let's hope so.  too much money to lose.  i went down to the number she addressed it to but there are units there.  hopefully it will all be ok. i know about sending money in the post.  never a good idea.

i was standing at the sink tonight peeling vegies and all of a sudden a lovely bowl with lemons in it fell from on top of the microwave onto the stove/bench.  it was a very nice bowl.  blue chinesey pattern on it and it was quite thick. broke into a hundred little pieces.  another dayam.  oh well.  a tiny little bit spooky.


 i've been closing the bathroom door at night now and haven't seen any more 'lights' on the ceiling. so that's good.  Mazzy said it's a ghost.  a visitor.  omg.  my sister is logical like me and thinks that it's the security lights in the cemetery yard.  no problem.  i'm back at work tomorrow after five days off.  that's going to be hard but it's a short day.  :)   my sister is coming tomorrow arvo.  she's having an mri on her back at the hospital tomorrow and going back to the pain clinic friday.  she's also coming to my work dinner friday night with me.  all good.

i was scared. very scared

i was trying to sleep and turned over in bed to face the upstairs landing. there were lights on the ceiling as if someone was moving a torch around.  maybe downstairs.  omg.  this is my biggest fear (except for snakes, sharks, mice, rats and celine dion's voice (kidding).  i live alone and always think about stuff like that.  anyhoo.  it lasted a few (probably) seconds and i sat up and put the light on.  i didn't hear anything.  my little heart was beating like a drum.  the pulse in my ears was deafening.  i went into the landing and didn't see or hear anything.  for some reason, i don't know what, i went downstairs.  brave or stupid.  the later i think.  nothing looked out of order.  doors were locked, windows were locked.  curtains looked as i left them.  tv wasn't missing :).  so i went back upstairs and called my son.  we talked for about half an hour and by now it was 1:30 am.  he rang off and i laid down again thinking i'd keep the light on.  i turned it off after a while and laid there hoping it wouldn't happen again.  eventually i fell asleep and woke up way too early feeling like death warmed up.  i finally went back to sleep and slept till 9.  i rang in sick today.  i didn't want to but i felt awful.  my thoughts are that it may have been the security light in the cemetery yard outside the bathroom window.  i can't explain why the light was moving around.  that's my only explanation except that it could have been someone in the backyard shining a torch through the glass door.  i hope that wasn't the case.  the only thing out of sorts outside this morning was a planter near the hole in shade cloth out the back was slightly leaning over.  this could have been like it before or not.  i don't know.

kd lang and me

words don't describe how fantastic kd lang is in concert.  wow.  her voice alone would be enough but she dances, she plays banjo and guitar,  she jokes and talks a lot which i like.  bob dylan didn't open his mouth except to sing which i found rather rude.  i had the most wonderful night.  her version of hallelujah by leonard cowan is sublime.  almost a religious experience.  it gave me chills.  of course she sang lots of old favourites (with a new twist) and stuff from her new album.  the siss bang boom band behind her were fantastic too. she was dressed in black pants, red shirt and a very nice black jacket with a white scarf.  she looked very swish (almost like she was channeling elvis but better). the band were in red shirts and black pants. halfway through the night she sat down and kicked off her shoes and socks.  she used to perform in bare feet way back then.  i was not familiar with the opening act of two blokes from cattle country in queensland but they were quite good.  they recorded cindy lauper's 'girls just want to have fun' for triple j's like a version.  it was good.  i took some photos with my phone coz i didn't realize that i could take my camera so i apologise for the quality of them. look hard, she's in there somewhere. when i went to ac/dc they frisked me for drugs and weapons.  that didn't happen at kd lang.  lol.  all in all a wonderful night.  front row seats are really spesh and it was the best birthday present ever.  thank you lovely son, dil and adina.

a concert

my son and family gave me front row tickets to see k d lang tonight.  wow.  she's wonderful in concert, we went to melbourne on a tour bus (small) to see her many years ago.  i have to work until five and then will come home and change etc etc.  i'm excited  kd lang in adelaide tonight

kd lang

well really

i've been doing the usual stuff.  work.  kids.  a little bit of gardening and sorting. i pulled a few weeds and planted some easter/christmas lillies.   i changed my lounge room around and decluttered a bit.  that's good. what really p&ssed  me off this week was the fact that i changed the colour of my glasses and not one person noticed or remarked on it.  the glasses are exactly the same except for the colour.  i usually wear the red ones and changed them for the blue. i feel like the older i get, the more invisible i become.  hmmff.  i'm working on sunday.  you know that's not my favourite thing.  enjoy your weekend whatever you get up to.

we went to the playground

Ants in the swinging hammock.  i'd like one of these in the backyard. 

daughter and cookie in the seesaw.  huge

Ants in the cubby house

gorgeous Cookie on the twisty thing

Ants and Cookie on top of the world

Ants and my shadow  :)

Lovely day here yesterday.  Michael (son) hennaed (?) my hair which was long overdue.  he also sorted out my tv connections as i've moved the lounge room around.  i bought Dustin a new bowl which i hope will be big enough after i destroyed his tank the other day.  i went to see the kids and we went to the new fangled playground at the wetlands.  how modern is this area?  nothing like the playground next door in the park which is quite ordinary in comparison.  they had a lovely play in the eucalypt scented fresh air.  it was a very nice day.  i took the tablet to show them and they played a few games.  back to work today then i'm off for the weekend.  yay

check

i found this photo of me when my daughter was moving house last weekend

a bat embryo

a lovely elephant photo

the one and only dame shirley bassey

my daughter and grandson

cookie took this photo of herself recently  :)

shower and shampoo - check
delicious fried tomato and toast brekky  - check

indonesian coffee - check
check internet for mind boggling content - check
play dr mario (i'm up to level 16 high) - check
get motivated for the day ahead - i'm working on it
i've got to go to work today  - ahhhhhhhhhhh
enjoy your sunday wherever you are

a bit of a stressful day

not an especially great day really.  i waited 2 hours to see the specialist for 5 minutes.  i exaggerate all the time but this is not one of those times.  he told me nothing the local doctor hadn't already told me.  hardly anything really.  they removed the tumor.  i'll have to go in again in february for a procedure to check it.  bit of pain i'm still having is normal.  blah blah blah.  screaming on the inside.  i walked back to the car through the botanic gardens and looked around me at the wonderful trees, blue skies and just a nice atmosphere.  it was a lovely day here yesterday weather wise. started to calm down and breath.
then, i got home and the tablet arrived.  ahh good i thought.  no. i hate the bloody thing.  it's weird.  lol.  i'm sure i'll get used to it.  it's got a weather widget on the home screen for shanghai.  i finally found out how to change it and oz weather is not one of the countries listed.  screaming on the inside again.  then!  sitting here tired and emotionally spent i went outside to the bin and heard water running.  strange.  turns out my outside tap was running and i couldn't turn it off.  i called a plumber who arrived within half an hour.  very lucky for me that he was just around the corner.  i'm off to work for four hours.  short day today, long day tomorrow and i'm working sunday.  you can't have it all :)

lots of kitties

pic is kitties.  lots of kitties.  siamese kitties.  how gorgeous are they?  ahhhh kitties have such a calming effect

udpate on previous post

no, unfortunately not moving to bali.  i wish. i know it's not that much further away for my daughter, i'm just a drama queen.  i found my ring in the dish rack.  fb is back on my phone.  number one rule of IT.  turn it off and back on again.  for someone who teaches basic computer and internet drrrrr.  my computer is much better.  i restored it to an earlier date.  took kids home last night.  they tired me out.  i saw the first lizard (blue tongue) of the season yesterday.  i cleaned out the cupboard under the stairs (no, he wasn't in there thank goodness) and put some stuff in the shed.  we must have disturbed him.  he was a big boy too.  kids got to see him.  cleaned out dustin's tank.  he's a happy little siamese fighter now.  saw the grand cats on saturday night.  my son has a scaletrix track around the dining room and they all played on that for a while.  i  had a go too.  i remember my husband had one set up years ago.  they seemed to be fixing it more than playing it.  those corners are dangerous.  lots of crashes. hope your weekend was a good one

moving day

i've been thinking about bali quite a bit lately

this is quite specky.  a little bit ott perhaps

i think this is in the maldives.  

a fish in a bottle.  clever photoshopping me thinks

my daughter is moving house today.  even further away :(  i'll need a cut lunch to get there.  not entirely joking there.  i'm having both g/kids instead of just cookie.  that's ok.  i'm having computer probs.  nothing serious.  just a very slow internet connection.  i think i'm getting there. i'm using google chrome which i really like.  also, i can't get fb on my phone.  i've just started accessing it as it's included in my plan.  although i have to ask myself why.  why?  anyway, since i can't get it now it's bothering me. i lost a ring yesterday.  it may have gone down the black hole which is my couch.  i lost a diamond ring down there once and had to practically pull it apart.  it's never been the same since.  oh well.  little things.

a tablet

i bought a tablet last night.  oooohhhhh   exciting.  i hope it's going to be ok.  it's a 10.2 inch screen and seems quite powerful re ram etc.  it comes with a case and keyboard.  you can, apparently, surf the net, fb, youtube, and all the usual stuff, watch movies, listen to music, play heaps of apps/games and read ebooks.  i got it so that when the g/kids are here they can watch their youtube vids etc. and it will be good to take up to bed without unplugging the lappy.  other than that not much news really.  my son came over for brekky and the electrician came and fixed my bedroom light fitting.  i'm back at work tomorrow but may have cookie for the weekend.  can't wait.

it's saturday

yay.  i'm going to have lunch and do some shopping with the kids.  i'm looking forward to that.  i've been cleaning out my kitchen cupboards (finally) and you should see what i've chucked out / recycled.   lots.  i've got more space.  :)  dil's vw is fixed so they are both on the road atm. it's not the best weather here but rain is lovely.  the garden likes it.  time to get ready i suppose.  enjoy your weekend wherever you are.  i'm going to take a few moments to say thank you to the universe and be grateful for what i've got. seriously

i love the back porch.  so homey

somewhere in california (i think)

i so want one of these.  it would fit the shopping and a passenger or two 

i'd like one of these too.  nice scooter

someone left their bug out in the rain  

love bug

a little treat

i have discovered affogato. simply a scoop or two of ice-creme with a shot of espresso poured over the top. no recipe required although i did see one that added whipped cream on top.  a bit of overkill perhaps or maybe not.    actually i've known about it for years but have never tried it.  well now i have.  wow.  it's divine.  hungry jacks (yuk) have a version which isn't all that terrible but of course homemade is best or failing that the nearest cafe should be able to help.  i would like one right now.  i've been buying gifts for christmas.  it's always hard to find something that the recipients will like.  my sister is a little hard to buy for, i'm thinking jewellery.  kids are easy of course.  i always find men harder to buy for than women. i'm pooped although i really didn't do much today.  a little bit of shopping, a little bit of cooking, washing, gardening etc etc.  by gardening i of course mean pulling out some weeds. cleaning should be on that list but you know how it is.  i'd like to go through my clothes and cull a little bit too.  i might do that tomorrow.

oh dear. as a ps to this post i just made an affogato and used my indonesian coffee which is a bit gritty to say the least. then i couldn't find the italian espresso maker thingy so i used the plunger. disaster. it tasted fantastic until i got to the coffee and, i don't know, i sort of breathed in when i swallowed the first mouth full or something coz it went down the wrong way and i've been coughing ever since. a tip: when this happens if you hold your arm up above your head (i'm not sure which one or if, in fact, it actually matters) but it seems to help. i'm listening to asa atm and she's wonderful except that i don't understand african or whatever language she is singing in. but it's still good


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