Happy

It's one thing to be involved in a community but you know you have made it your home when you have friends that you can call on to go for coffee.

One such person is part of my craft group and the Lionesses and I really enjoy her company. Yesterday we met for coffee and a shared toastie then decided to check out the local yarn/craft store. 

I found some yarn that wasn't that expensive and I decided to get it and weave a scarf. I am so glad I did as I realised I had forgotten so much about getting started with the whole weaving process. I dragged out a couple of books and it all came back after a few false starts. I had been planning to start with the expensive hand dyed yarn I bought a few weeks ago and would have been really pissed off if I mucked that up! I also bought 3 balls of yarn when I probably only need two so another lesson learned. The yarn is acrylic and very soft but my hands don't like working with acrylic so weaving is the best option. 

This is my set up. A glorious view (the ocean is there in the distance), country music in my earpods and a couple of dogs snoring at my feet. Bliss.

Speaking of dogs, Jinx knows she isn't allowed on the furniture but I coerced her into hopping up onto Himself's section of the lounge when he was out. You can tell by her ears she knows she's not meant to be there "but Mum said it was OK so I'll enjoy it while I can!" 

In our previous house we had a couch that they did sleep on but they know that this one is off limits. Just as well as between the two dogs and two cats there wouldn't be anywhere for us to sit.

It's a lovely sunny, Winter's day. I have been down to get my bread from a local baker who has a pop up shop every Saturday. He bakes some interesting flavoured loaves and they freeze well. 

I am now going to get back to my weaving. It's looking like a productive weekend.

An unplanned visit

Three rang me late on Tuesday afternoon to say that Alice had had an accident at kindergarten and had broken her arm. So, being the good Granny, I hot footed it up to Melbourne on Wednesday to look after said child while her parents are at work. 

Fortunately the arm doesn't seem to be giving her much grief but she has a cold and a possible UTI so hasn't been the happiest of campers. At least being here means that she and Sally get to sleep in rather than being woken at 5.30-6.00 to get to school and daycare. 

It also means that Granny supervises getting dressed (hard with your dominant arm/hand in a cast) and Granny doesn't really care what anyone wears as long as they are warm. Sally, obviously, has to wear her school uniform but Alice can wear what she damn well pleases, and this morning this was what she damn well pleased ...

... the kid certainly has her own style! Velour pants with glittery cowboy boots and a woolly, sparkly jumper (needed to be stretchy to get over the cast).

Amy bought me this ...
 

... it's like having Minnie glaring at me every time I take a sip!

I will drive home tomorrow after popping in quickly to see One.

This and that

So I drove up to Melbourne and stayed with the Mermaid. She drove me into Richmond to visit my friend with the perforated bowel. It's her small bowel so not easy to reach or fix (and not caused by a colonoscopy - nobody knows what really happened). It sounds as if the doctors are stumped. She has now been in hospital for nearly 13 weeks. She is still nil by mouth and is nourished via a naso-gastric tube (into her small bowel past the hole) and TPN (straight into a vein). She looked better than I expected but brittle and I fear for her mental health. It will be many weeks before she will be able to be discharged.

I collected Alice from kindergarten and we drove home. We had just driven off and from the backseat I hear "Granny, did you dye your hair grey?". Out of the mouths of babes, eh? I have had my hair cut short so I guess the greys are more obvious. Just to be clear, I have no issues with going grey. I am fortunate that I am not rocking the steel wool look.

We had a great time with little one and then her parents and big sister came down and we had a lovely weekend. Parents got to sleep in and kids got spoiled as only grandparents can spoil. Sally was left with us and got to have some much needed down time. 

After bagging the local pizza place in my last post, guess what we had for dinner on Saturday night? Amy wanted pizza and they were paying. To be fair it wasn't that bad at all. I think the trick is to order with minimal toppings as opposed to "The Lot" - Aussies will know what I mean! 

On Wednesday Three and I met halfway between here and there, had coffee and he took Sally. They had some lovely Sally/Daddy time on the way home and explored waterfalls and beaches. Much needed by both.

When I was in Melbourne I bought THREE jackets! All in sizes smaller than I have worn in many a year. Unfortunately they ended up being not warm enough so today I bought a cheap but warm jacket from Kmart which will now guarantee the cold weather will end very soon.

Tomorrow sees the start of the new school term and that means back to U3A. I am having serious misgivings about taking on the role of president but can't see a way to back out. It is giving me a lot of mental angst. Serious mental angst. I need to find a solution. Acknowledging the issue is step one which I have finally done. Now I need to talk to some people about it.

I always have portable knitting. When I was away I took some yarn and started an easy scarf which is my go-to. It's not a quick project but easy to do and can be picked up and put down as needed. The yarn I chose was scratchy and didn't produce the results I wanted so I ripped it out and started again with two different balls of variegated sock yarn. Much happier with this version.

When my car was being serviced I had a wander around Bairnsdale and went into a much loved yarn shop and bought two skeins of glorious hand dyed yarn as I have a strong desire to start weaving again and these will make a beautiful scarf. I have also dragged out the instructions for my inkle looms and have plenty of cotton yarn to play with. 

When Sally is down she likes to go to the playground on her own. I watch her from here. On Tuesday a sea mist rolled in very quickly so there was no way she was going on her own as visibility was very poor. We walked down but didn't stay long as it was bloody freezing! And damp. This was taken from just across the road from the playground ...

Just to show you, this is what it normally looks like from my house ...

And here we are.

Lots going on in my world. Some good, some not so good. I have friends and family I am very concerned about - some things I can influence and many I can't. Reminds of the old serenity prayer - I need the wisdom to know the difference!

All in all, though, I really have little to grizzle about and that is a good thing.

Himself is making homemade hamburgers for dinner. A glass (or few) of red. My knitting in front of the telly and then bed with a book. I live a fortunate life.

Straight back into things

The drive home was much more pleasant than the drive up. I always feel less pressure when coming home as I don't have to be anywhere by a certain time. And the weather was perfect for driving. I also stopped at Cooma for fuel and will do that in future both going up and coming back. It takes away the angst of having enough petrol to get to the next service station! I don't know why I didn't consider this before. If I need a break between Cooma and the Central Coast I can stop but I can also manage a 5 hour drive. Coming home, if I feel I need a break before Cooma I can stop (and I did - for a maccas mcmuffin as I was a tad weary after the weekend) and then only have about a 3 hour drive home after refilling in Cooma.

I never cease to be in awe at the size and beauty of this country ...

Tuesday was the last day of craft for the term and we had lunch out as is our wont. Wednesday was Cryptics and coffee and today was the monthly Lionesses meeting. Throw in the usual admin stuff for U3A and life is just the usual day to day busy. 

We went out for dinner at the bowls club last night. I ordered the roast and was disappointed but not surprised. I don't know why I ordered it as I have never had a decent roast lamb when out but I guess I am the eternal optimist. 

Town gossip has the Indian food truck taking over the lease on a restaurant that has closed (and I am not sorry it has, as they catered for tourists over locals and that never ends well). The food truck has excellent takeaway so I hope they are successful. We are also getting a Mexican cantina in September which will be another cuisine we are lacking. Now we just need a good Chinese restaurant and we will be spoiled for choice. We have a really good pizza truck which serves crisp crust and just the right amount of toppings and for those who like the Australian style of pizza (soggy crust and too many toppings) we have one of those, too. There will be no need to put up with mediocre offerings from venues that could and should do better - although the pub is always consistently good, sometimes one just wants a change.

Tomorrow my car is getting serviced so an early (for me) start to get it into Bairnsdale. I'll hang around and wait for the couple or three hours. I can go shopping or sit and read my book.

On Saturday I must remember to get down to the pop up bakery as I am running out of bread in the freezer and his bread is soooo good. Parmesan and black pepper, cheese and garlic, and olive and rosemary are my favourites and Himself likes the light rye with carroway and poppy seed. If I'm lucky he will have cookies as well. I get a couple as a treat.

On Monday I have a routine doctor's appointment then am up to Melbourne for a few days. I will stay with the Mermaid, visit a very dear friend who has been in hospital for over 9 weeks with a perforated bowel and will return on Thursday with Alice for a couple of days until the rest of the family come down for the Lights Festival on Saturday. They will then head home with Alice and leave Sally for her turn.

A long-winded way of saying I have a shitload of stuff coming up and may not get back for a couple of weeks!

Be safe and be kind.

Definitely a better day

I slept well and Two dropped middle child over while eldest had her swimming lesson. We (she) had milo and a couple of biscuits that come with the room. I still get a kick out of individually wrapped biscuits - I guess it's a kid thing that never grows old! She ate the milo that floated on top of the milk with a spoon (a very Aussie thing) and then left the milk that had turned brown - as it does when mixed with milo. 

Two returned and we all (apart from Mrs Two who was working) went to the Australian Reptile Park.

I'm not sure what I expected but was most impressed with most of it. (I have an issue with animals in captivity but these all seemed well cared for).

We started in the reptile house ...

 

You can buy special food for the kangaroos and the kids were happy to feed them and have a pat. The roos were very laid back. We did find a group of them behind an exhibit later on - I think they were having a break from the tourists!!

Meet Sparkles ( the snake, not the handler). She is a viper. I have a pathological fear of things without legs (including worms but that's another story for another day) and today I hitched up my big girl pants and stroked her (the snake, not the handler).

This is a cassowary. It's hard to get a good shot as it is kept well away from people with good reason as they can be quite aggressive and can kill a man if provoked (to be fair they avoid us at all costs).

A dingo ...

Wombat poo - yes, it IS a cube (we did see the wombat but it was fast asleep and just looked like a furry blob) ...

We saw lots of other animals and birds and spiders and snakes. The girls had their photo taken with a koala. I was very impressed with the facility where they milk snakes for the venom. The park is the sole Australian provider of funnel web spider and terrestrial snake venom for antivenom production and yes, funnel web spiders are one of, if not the most, venomous spiders in the world. 

As the late, great Spike Milligan said

"Ah, Australian animals... if it isn't venomous, carnivorous, or has vicious claws, it's probably a tourist." 

After we had finished at the park we headed to Woy Woy for lunch and a bit of play for the kids. 

Home for a bit of quiet time (for me in my motel room) and I am about to head back to their place for dinner and some grown up talk time.

Knackered

I don't know where Minnie thought she was going but it wasn't with me!!

There was a lot of roadworks on the way from Cann River to Cooma and I spent a LOT of time either doing 40 in a 100 zone or just sitting waiting for the lights/traffic controller to say go. On the plus side I didn't hit any potholes this time so I guess the roadworks have fixed that problem.

Just a couple of trees as I crawled by!!

Once I got to the other side of Cooma the rain started and it bucketed down until I was on the other side of Canberra. Not pleasant driving conditions at all.

I stopped for petrol and the dude ahead of me at the pump must have decided to get his lunch while he was in there as I sat there for 10 minutes waiting for him to come and move his car. In the end the bloke in front of him eventually moved so I nipped around only to find a passenger in the car in front of me. You'd think they could have gone and paid and bought food and dude could have moved the car into a parking space (you're not meant to move your car until you've paid for the petrol).

My mood was not particularly good after the very stressful drive over the mountains so I was not feeling very gracious at this point.

The last hour and a half of this drive is always a bit tiring as I hit Sydney traffic and NSW drivers are completely different from Victorians. Speed limits seem to be suggestions only.

Anyway, I made it. I've caught up briefly with Two and the kids and will spend quality time with them all tomorrow. I microwaved a dinner I brought with me and have had a couple of glasses of wine to wind down. I am now going to bed and I think I will sleep very well - especially as I never sleep well before a big drive.

I have just read this back and yes, I am as cranky as I sound!! I'll be better tomorrow.

Same old same old

Not much happening in my neck of the woods. Just the usual U3A stuff, knitting, housework (don't know why I bother as as soon as I vacuum there is dog hair everywhere again!).

Tomorrow I am up at sparrow's fart to drive to NSW to see Two and his lot. Today I have been packing and washing and faffing around. I'll take a sandwich to eat on the way and some dried fruit and nuts for snacking. If the weather is good I might stop outside Canberra for lunch otherwise I'll just push through stopping for petrol and piddles. Mrs Two will be working over the weekend a bit (something to do with the World Cup broadcasts) so Two and I shall take the kids out on Saturday which should give them the opportunity to run off some energy and I might get a chance to chat with Two. Doesn't happen often. Because Mrs Two will have to have a very early night before an obscenely early start on Saturday I don't expect to see them tomorrow for dinner (maybe a quick catch up if I get up there early enough) so I have bought a butter chicken from Aldi to microwave. I'll just have to hide the packaging as the motel I stay in has an Indian restaurant and I don't want to be rude! The food is lovely but too much for one person so taking my own small serve makes sense. 

It's winter and hydrangeas are meant to be dormant and ready for a hard prune but this beauty keeps on keeping on! Next week I will be brutal and cut her back.

I shall take my laptop with me so I might manage a check in while I am away. Depends on how much kid time I get and how frazzled I am after having kid time!