.......

I snuggled down for a lie-in, it was no good - the birds had the amplifiers full bore and the sun was shining right onto the bed, by the sounds of the road traffic I thought it must be around 8 so I just had to get up. I pottered around, put the washing on, opened the windows, had breakfast, made the bed and did a quick tidy up, made a list of things to do.  On the way to the laundry to get the wet washing I noticed the kitchen clock had stopped ( a great 50c garage sale find 7 yrs ago) and needed winding.  I went back into the living room to see what the time was and bugger me, it was still only 7 a.m.  So now its 7.50 a.m. and  apart from going to the pharmacy to collect my scripts I've done everything I set out to do today.  What to do, what to do.....I am sure I'll find something to fill my day in.

Yesterday a friend and I went over to Mareeba, first op-shop I found a pretty pink flowery shirt and.........two gorgeous little wall shelves, since we were both looking for something like that it was like christmas, so we got one each.  The second op-shop had decided to close early but the third was open. My friend has dropped huge gigantic humungous hints that she wants a footseat just like mine with the crocheted cover, we split up in the shop and then there she was shouting at me jumping up and down, there was a footseat for $3, it needed a bit of a fill but was perfect for recovering. 

So for the top she wants the purple colour and the rest the same.  We then went to Target and despite there being a sale on we couldn't find anything. The weight is dropping off me now so I'm trying to make do with the clothes I have till after the op and then have a splurge in the run up to christmas sales.  I'm hardly eating anything now - a small bowl of low fat yoghurt and a few blueberries and one small slice of raisin toast for brekkie, lunch is usually two low fat crispbreads with no-fat cottage cheese on and dinner is a small veggie burger with steamed veggies or salad or a miniscule piece of fish or chicken and veggies. Strawberries are cheap at the mo so they are my snack food. Blueberries are also cheap, I'm not really a fan of them but cover them in yoghurt and I'll eat them.  I had a normal cup of coffee yesterday and it was awful, I've got so used to Shape no-fat milk that full fat milk just  makes me sick now. 

Well its a long way off bedtime, better go and find something to fill in those hours........crocheting, reading, gardening, blogg-hopping and quick drive out to the second chance shop out on the highway.

Confusion......

.......hers, theirs, his or mine and maybe yours after reading this.

A close family member has been diagnosed with Alzeimers recently.  Paranoia has been one of the main symptoms which has been causing grief also embroidering the truth, forgetting the details,  imagined conversations causing ripples across the other side of the world from them.  This latest episode involving me. My poor brother got a phone call in which he was told I was dying of a brain tumour and was being operated on today, since he hadn't heard from me for a couple of weeks he was in a panic, emailing and contacting everyone he knew that knew me to try and find out if it was true.  His logical side told him that since the informant had alzeimers that the story could be made up. But she had informed him that another close family member had told her this so he was slightly worried,. This other family member (not blood) has recently been imagining all sorts of things, things she imagines the family are not telling her. Did one of them imagine they had had a convo with the other, or did they both have a convo over imagined happenings or did they have a convo and one of them told the other something she thought was really happening.  So who is the confused one.  For once, it is not ME.  I know I DO NOT HAVE A BRAIN TUMOUR and the only operation I am having will be in November to remove my gall-bladder.   She is not aware she has this horrible disease and can function perfectly normal in her everyday living, shopping, cooking and cleaning and looking after herself.  Do I upsticks here, leave my own family and life and go back to that life I left behind many years ago.  For one, I cannot afford it and I cannot get a loan and I have my own health to look after for my families sake. But they are family also and I owe them such a lot.  If I had still been in the UK it would have fallen on my shoulders  to carry this burden. So why should I feel guilty about the family member who has to now do this. 
On a lighter note, its my day for the grandgirls. Not sure what we are going to do today - definately not the glitter this time.  Maybe nature craft, looking for pretty leaves and rocks we can paint.......too messy maybe.  I've got an hour before I go pick them up so I'll have a quick look through the craft box and see what I have.

Jan

ugh......

Don't worry I'm not going to post the pictures.  I'm a bit of a doubting thomas when it comes to claims like these so I took the photo purely for my own benefit.  When I opened the packet the smell nearly knocked me out, it reminded me of something mum used to use way back in my childhood, it was very strong.  After a few minutes of them being on my feet started tingling and burning slightly, not unpleasant but a bit strange. I put socks on over them because if they were going to be disgusting I didn't want to have to wash my sheets.  I had a really good nights sleep and totally forgot I had them on till I woke this morning at 5.30 a.m.  Ugh, what a sight and the smell was stronger.  The website says use every night till the toxins are all gone from your body, probably three or four nights, thats $24  but I suppose thats cheap if it does its job.  I must say my feet are still tingling, especially where the patches were and the right foot more than the left, which is strange since I had put it over where the reflexology point for the gallbladder and pancreas is.

One more little grub got made last night, this one developed legs. today I really must make that damm elephant or at least work out a pattern for her. 

I found the that tree in a library book, the photo they used was exactly like the one I took and they had a reference to it saying it looked stunning against a blue sky as well.  It is a
Tabebuia Argentea - Chrysantha or Crysotricha, one is more gold than the other.  Since it doesn't grow very tall and isn't a dense tree it might be fine for me to plant them on the bedroom side of the house. They all seemed to have fared well in the cyclone.  Cheryl - the jacarandas are just starting to show their colours, they will be glorious soon. I saw one that appeared to have pink blossoms just coming on.

Jan

PS: Just googled the tree and its part of the Jacaranda family and there is a pink one as well.  No wonder I love it so.

I'm being overrun with llittle grubs......

I think I have finally found out what is making a mess in my craftroom.  These little grubs just seem to be multiplying.  There is two more ready to hatch but they are sooo cute how can I resist them.  If anyone would like the pattern let me know and I'll try and get it down this weekend.  I really must make a start on the elephants and pigs, but these grubs are so addixtive and quick to do. I might make them a little flower basket each with their own little blankies or would that be spoiling them. 

I had to go into town to sort out my Rates, visit the library to find out what that tree was, have coffee with a friend and go for my walk. I went in the op-shop and found this cute little thing, its a bit battered and seen better days but it fulfils my needs and makes me happy.  Its just perfect for putting a mini jamjar of spiderlings in and she sits on the laundry window sill, I must just remember not to knock her flying when I pull down the blinds at night. 

I also bought a pack of Happy Feet from Natural Therapies, has anyone used them, you stick them on your feet at bedtime and its supposed to draw out all the toxins and impurities from your body and in the morning they are covered in a horrible gunky mess.

It will be interesting to see what happens.  I'll be posting before and after piccies tomorrow so if you are of a squemish disposition I would suggest not looking. 

Two in one day.....

I didn't notice your previous post Norma. Well Q'land health is terrible.  The surgeons only come up here once a fortnight, Cairns base has huge waiting lists, their A & E is overloaded and there just isn't the doctors to go around. So we up here either have to go private, go to Townsville or grit our teeth and double up on the painkillers till I get seen up here. I don't get it removed till the end of November and thats not a too bad wait time considering, if I lived in Cairns it would be even longer.
I've lost 6kg so far, I've not had any bad pain for a couple of weeks now, in fact I feel so good I feel like fraud.  I'm tempted to go and splurge on a fat laden meal just to see if I get sick again, but the memory of crawling round the floor in pain stops me before I open the fridge.
I hope I'm one of the lucky ones who can go back to eating everything after the op.  Christmas is going to be so hard if not.  The good side being all this weight I am losing.

Blue skies......

Yes the sky really was that blue and those yellow flowers that bright. I wish I knew what they are, there is a stand of these trees growing in front of BigW in Atherton, I've not seen them anywhere else , not very tall and they appear to get their leaves after the flowers fall. They are so bright and cheerful. I'm going to scour the garden centres and the native plant nursery to see if I can get them.

There I was deadheading the petunias and I found this little grub just begging to be picked up for a cuddle, isn't she cute, good to see she had her sunhat on. I've got a couple of orders for pigs and elephants and I fully intended to make a start on them but somehow
this little girl appeared, she doesn't look much like a pig or an elephant, she's a bit lonely so she might have a little sister or brother by tea-time.

Happy Exhaustion.....

I love my grandgirls to bits, we have great fun together, but, boy, when they have gone and I have collasped into my chair at the end of a very busy day do I know what exhaustion is.
We walked round and round the curtain fig tree, talked to foreign tourists - one who complimented me on my beautiful daughters and wouldn't believe I was their granma. We then visited with my niece at her new business, had icy-poles and a play on the park. The girls are now big enough that they don't need lifting onto climbing frames or helped down from the flying fox so granma gets to sit and rest.
A game of bed tennis developed into a very rowdy game of 'lets see who can whack the ball around the room the hardest'.  Bed tennis involves a very tired granny lying on the bed with one or two grandgirls, they at one end and me at the other, we bat a very soft ball to each other, they run around after the ball while granny lies there resting, occassionally batting the ball out of the room, but then it got serious and competitive. When I bought the ball I bought it because it was bigger than a tennis ball and a lot softer, it makes me cringe just thinking of the damage we could have done with a tennis ball.  But we had fun, granma worked up a sweat and the girls got tired.

The highlite of the day was decorating masks. I'd been to the Reject Shop and picked up a load of cheap craft items and a friend had cleared out a lot of her sparkly bits and pieces so we spent the time; when we were not racing around; in decorating the masks, lots of glitter and fairy dust was used - its amazing just how far two little girls can spread that stuff.  We left them drying on the verandah while we went for our walk and visits and when we'd had our rest the girls added more and more glitter and sparklies.  The little one decided to throw her tanty and I could see she was getting tired and it was time to take them home.

We always have to drive past the horse fields to see the horses and count how many there are, how many black ones there are and discuss the merits of horse poo for the roses (their mums dad has horses and they collect the poo for the garden), its one of our little rituals.  I suppose because I only had one set of grandparents that I didn't see very often and my grandmother had  gone by the time i was 8 that I want to create special memories for my g.girls.  I know I remember every single thing we did and the fun we had and I hope they will remember those times as well,  one day all too soon it will be a chore going to grandma's and they will want to be off doing other things so I don't mind the hours of clean up afterwards, the teenage mutant ninja turtles in my bed (Stacey found her uncles old toys in the cupboard) or the aches and pains these aging bones feel for days afterwards.

Its about time I made a start on the day, it looked like it was going to be miserable today, the grey clouds have parted revealing beautiful blue skies, so the garden needs a good watering and I might put some new veggies in the kitchen garden.  I need to finish off some crochet flower garlands and maybe start a new pig.  I got an order for a set of snowdolls, so I need to work out a price for them and the postage and have some me time and coffee with a friend and I'm not going to get all that done by hanging around in blogland. Better dash........

Its hot, and only a few days into spring

Phew, I had my usual walk by the lake, got my daily dose of vitamin D. Its gonna be a hot dry summer I think.  The garden is as dry as a bone, the grass have given up trying to grow and its not been green for a few weeks.  It only seemed minutes ago we were complaining of the constant drizzle and grey skies.  But its cup of tea time now I think, maybe a chai or a Liptons raspberry, cranberry and strawberry herbal infusion. Sounds good, anyone care to join me.........

Aren't the three little pastel coloured cannisters soooo pretty. I picked them up for $5 yesterday at the markets. I love this little corner of the kitchen, unfortunately though the biscuit and cake tins are empty, no cake or biscuits for me till I've parted company with my gall-bladder.

Woohooo......I got on the front cover

Did they get my best side? 

Now behave you two, no throwing snowballs when my back is turned.

I still get excited when I see my designs in print.  A friend phoned me up from town when I was in our local post office, she texted me that my design had made the front cover, I hope the guy who was stood behind didn't get to much of a shock at my happy dance.   I wonder if the snowbear will be in next months edition.  The snowdolls arrived home the day before the magazine came out in the shops, I'd forgotten how cute they were.  They were very excited to see themselves in print as well, luckily the snowbear and the big basket of snowballs didn't come home with them else I'd be in the middle of a snowball fight. .............. and I won the giveaway at Delena's blog.  What a wonderful week I've had, lets hope this new week is just as good.

Thanks Pat

It was you not me that solved the problem, everything is so much easier now.

I think an easy day is called for today,, I'm going to sit on the sofa with a couple of the boxes from yesterday and go through them properly, I'm sure I don't need half the stuff that is in them.  I might make up some crafty baggies for the op-shop - the sort you love to find. Fill of bits of lace and beads and hidden goodies.  I usually donate all my stuff to the animal welfare op-shop, its a small private one and I usually always find a good bargain there and its the one I'm going to volunteer in when I'm back on my feet after my op.

I sat and made more crochet flowers for the garlands last night, I played around a bit with different flowers but have gone back to the first one I did.  I can't get the darker colors in the cotton anymore, theres a magenta and a purple and a darker pink that people want in their garlands, I've just got enough to do two more garlands and then its probably time to change colour schemes. Its only a cheapy cotton but its works up really nice for the flowers, I priced the DMC and another brand and they were 3x's the price of this one.  I love the african flowers doiley above, my friend saw mine and she has been dropping hints she wants something for her birthday with them in.  So I might get the ordered garland finished and then save the rest of the darker yarn for her birthday pressie in October.
I need to go get dressed, make the bed, do a quick vacumm and dust and then settle down for a day of crafting.