Misery loves company....so I'm sharing with you....

It's that time of year again where colds, flus, and all those icky viruses start attacking. It's usually Autumn and Spring that these viruses start spreading around. And I'm one of those people who never gets one thing wrong with the body, I usually get two or three things wrong at a time.

I had been drained of energy and have had dizzy spells for the past couple of weeks. I thought it was my Thyroid because I had the same effects previously. Well,...it turns out that there was a bit more to it than that. Aah...'when it rains, it pours" right?

Well, my thyroid WAS running a bit slow, so that's diagnosed and fixed. Then, yesterday I woke up with that funny feeling in the back of the nose. I got my hair done yesterday too, despite this warning that a cold was on its way. So here I am, sitting there in the chair at the hairdressers with my nose running. Tissue after tissue. And you know you're sick when the hairdresser is trying to do your hair, from as far away from you, as possible, so as not to catch the dreaded lurgy. And after two weeks of thyroid problems, I even had my first French class last night....... with a tissue stuck to my nose. "Bonjour, Jean-Marie", I nasally replied through my tissue. I wasn't going to beg off. I wanted to do this class by Golly, and I DID! The class still went well despite the nose running like a tap. And when you're looking for that good night kiss from your loved one, you get the 'NO WAY' and the handshake.

I was up twice through the night, looking for water and just generally trying to cool the body back down.

And then this morning, it really hit. My head felt like it was in a vice and my body couldn't get warm enough and my eyes hurt. I just wanted a cuddle. Chris gave me a cuddle by wrapping his arms around me and burying my face in his chest, so I don't cough and splutter on him, suffocating me in the process. So with Lem-Sip, vitamin C's, water, and a box of tissues, I dragged my droopy body back to bed. Wrapped in my poncho, under the doona, socks on my feet, and the electric blanket on 3. It only took 2 hours to finally warm up. Chris plonked the medicine cabinet next to the bed, built a fire to warm the house, and disappeared into the shed leaving me to wallow in my own drippy misery. I got some sleep and I'm finally warm now and feel half way decent. I guess that means I'm on the mend. Yeah! And now Chris has informed me that he too, has a tickle in the back of his throat. His turn?...maybe,...he's already armed himself with aspirin and Vitamin C.

Hopefully, he doesn't get it....I'm not that mean and vicious that I would wish it upon him. Besides, when HE gets sick, I have to wait hand and foot on him....it's a whole different ball game when he plops himself in the LIVINGROOM for everyone to witness HIS misery.......No, I wouldn't wish this upon him. Now, I had better go make some chicken soup for lunch. I think I'm going to need it.

Memories of loved ones........

We all of have memories of loved ones.  Today my memory was of my mother-in-law, Dorothy.  I was sorting out books in the bookcase.  Most of the books are mine, but there was some that I had inherited from her. 

Dorothy was raised that you don't write in books or turn the pages down to mark your page.  And when she started buying her own books, she felt it was okay to do that, since she OWNED them now.  It was a sense of freedom for her.  But what brings fond memories, is that she would read something in that book, whether it was a saying or a paragraph, just something that  was triggered in her to write it down.  She would find some scrap of paper,  write down what was important to her and then use that as a bookmark.  So when she died not only did I inherit her books, I also inherited her thoughts as well...you know,.. those sayings that were important enough to write down and commit to memory.

Today, I found another bookmark in one of her books and I thought I would share it with you.

DECIDE TO FORGIVE

• For resentment is negative
• Resentment is poisonous
• Resentment diminishes and devours the self

 

• Be the first to forgive
• to smile and take the first step
• And you will see happiness bloom
• On the face of your human brother or sister.

 

• Be always the first
• Do not wait for others to forgive
• For by forgiving
• You become the master of fate
• The fashioner of life
• The doer of miracles.

 

• To forgive is the highest
• Most beautiful form of love.
• In return you will receive
• Untold peace and happiness.

 

Decide to forgive by Dr. Robert Muller of the United Nations.

 

I don't know why I needed to share this with you, but I felt that I did.  I love going through her books, just so I can read her bits of writing.  It makes me feel as though I'm closer to her at those times.  She was a wonderfully, wise woman that we all loved very much.  I hope you enjoy this poem as I did.  I will mark a spot on this blog when I find her writings and you can then be a part of her thoughts too.

Diet,.....bah humbug!

Nothing worse than trying over and over again to get the balance just right.  I've been trying to keep the fruit and vegies into me, but old habits are hard to break.  I've deduced that my tongue is the strongest part of my body.  It's the one that decides what I want to eat.  It says " I WANT SUGAR!",...so I reach for an apple.  Thirty minutes later, it says, " I WANT SUGAR!" and my stomach then pipes in to say,.''  YEAH,...THAT WAS TOO LIGHT, I WANT SOMETHING HEAVIER''...and I then reach for the nuts.  Thirty minutes later, my tongue says, "I WANT SUGAR!"....and for some reason, I reach for the custard....WITH bananas and whip cream!  That stopped this craving once and for all.  And with a sigh, we all say "THAT'S BETTER".

Time and again, this battle goes on.  And what's worse, is that all the 'goodies' I buy for Camille get eaten by us.  So I've had to stop buying her goodies too.  Either that or I send them home with her.  My craving has almost resorted to baking.  But I'm trying to curb that tendency.  If I bake, I'm a goner.  It's hard not to think about making cookies, or baking a pie, or a cake.  But, once I DO have that thought, I try to counter it with 'have an apple'.  Bah humbug!...an APPLE?!!!!....eesh.

And then to top all this off,...my thyroid medicine doesn't seem to be working well, so I'm sleeping off and on throughout the day. Every day.   I read that caffeine can play a part in not allowing the medicine to work well, so I started having one cup of coffee in the morning and the rest of the day, I'm on water and lemon juice.  I normally drink about 3 cups(actually mugs) of coffee  a day.  But,  I'm still dragging and wanting to sleep all the time.  I guess this is GOOD for my tyrant tongue as I'm not eating the sweets I normally eat.  I've had to cancel my French class last Tuesday.  I'm fighting the urge to up my thyroid medicine, but I'll wait til I see the doc about the blood results.  Stupid thyroid!!! Hrrumph!  It's frustrating to dream about all the things you want to do and then not have the energy to do them when you're awake.

And in the meantime, it's wet and miserable outside.  Hey, who could ask for better sleeping weather, I guess. LOL  See!,...I'm still positive. Hahaha....zzzzzzZZZZ

We'll start tomorrow,...no...Make that Sunday!

Chris and I both decided it's time to lose weight.  So we started walking about 2 weeks ago.  Then came Mother's Day and my fall.  Now, my knee keeps playing up because of all the stretched tendons and muscles.  So as pleased as I was, noting that my knee was starting to strengthen from these walks, everything fell by the way with this fall.  Now, I find it hard to get from one end of the house to other without my tendon dancing over the knee cap leaving me with a feeling of instability. 

And the other night, we decided to change our eating habits.  So we polished off the chocolate biscuits, finished off the apple crumble, and we're buying the GOOD food tomorrow in our shopping trip.  No more chocolate, no more ice cream, no more biscuits, and Chris....we're buying LOW FAT milk from now on.  We're now into fruit.  Vegies were never a problem.  But we need to cut our meat consumption down.  I now have to start having black coffee and tea.  WITHOUT SUGAR.( oh God, NOooo!)

And then today, we ate our lunch out.  Me with my Pizza Sub meal deal, and Chris with his Big Chief Burger and fries. LOL  We WILL get there.  We just have to stick to it.  But I think we'll have to do this after Chris's birthday tomorrow.  He wants a Black Forest Cake for his birthday. LOL 

Okay, SUNDAY we start!  I will need to pull out the books from our Weight Watcher Days.  You know....that point system they've got?  It CAN work.  I just have to remember not to BAKE!!!  No more baking urges for me.  Hey!!... if I don't bake, I won't have to clean the oven!   Now THAT'S an incentive! LOL

And once my knee stops dancing around and I gain some confidence again, we'll start walking in the mornings again.  Yeah.

Ding Dong, the rats are dead,...the rats are dead,.dadadada...

They're gone!!!  Mickey the moocher, Ratatouille,  and his mates are gone.  Silence, once again reigns in the early hours of the night.  No more scurrying in the ceiling.  No more pitter patters of little feet in the night.  Yeah!!!!  And how many did we catch in total? .....7 of the little critters.

I'm almost comfortable putting the traps away.  But for now, we have them out.  Just in case.  Now I can focus on other things again.  Aaaaahh......peace.

Learning to take Ratatouille in my stride.......

You know, I've always believed that when you have guests, that you present your house as you would yourself.  It's something my mother handed down to me.  "you're should always look your best and wear clean underwear, etc".  You know, ...just in case you get hit by a bus or something.  So knowing that we were having friends come over for a visit, I had already cleaned up the previous day and so all I had to do then, was pick up all the rat traps and place them in the laundry room.  Out of sight; so that our guests wouldn't feel that they've walked into an infested house.

That morning, I found that Tille, our dog, had an ear infection.  So I dutifully rang the vet and made an appointment.  And then I did what I thought might be the right thing to do, by making a peach pastry tart to go with our coffee for morning tea.  So we had our snack,  sitting in the warm winter sun on the deck.  ah, ambience,...I love it!...great start to the day.  Great conversation.  I did explain to my friend about the rats, but tried to make it sound that it was all taken care of and that it was all good now.

And as the day progressed, we ran out of power as we had our lunch. I took Tillie to the vet and I just as I had suspected, she had an ear infection.

By about 5pm,  I thought I had better start making Split Pea and Ham soup for dinner.  Quick and simple.  The boys came in from the shed after working on the Scout all day.  Chris has asked if they'd like to stay for dinner.  Now on the one hand I'm thinking, that would be great!,.....but my mind is screaming at me...BUT WHAT ABOUT THE RATS?!!!  they'll hear them and freak! oh please God, don't let the rats come into the house while they're here!   Okay now,...so WHO'S freaking out?

And as darkness descended upon the house, the little critters in the ceiling started up with their movements.  Now.......it's a little disconcerting, when the ruckus starts as your guests are sitting there, at the dinner table.   And one of the things that I love most,  about Chris,  is that he usually takes these kinds of things in his stride.  Open and up front about everything in life.  He really knows how to keep things in perspective and how to laugh at himself and others.  So that when our guest is taking a spoonful of soup, hearing the noise above his head, he jerks up and asks, "what's that noise?"  I cringe;.... and Chris laughs, and say's "it's Mickey, the mooch".  Obviously, he had already explained about the rats because our guest seemed to know what he was talking about.  And the best part is, is that our guests who are country people as well, understand.  So with my relief in their understanding and Chris's wonderful sense of humour, we finished our dinner.

Our friends departed into the night for their journey home and I went back into the house to reset the traps for the night.  We caught another 2 last night.  I'm sure we'll eventually get rid of them all, but it's going to be a while before that happens.  And maybe one day I will be able to take this kind of thing in my stride too.

I'm in a more peaceful zone....

Two down.  How many more to go?  Traps are laid out again and this time with CRUNCHY peanut butter.  No JAM!!  Mickey Moocher and I'm not sorry about Minnie either.  Out of 5 traps, I got one rat.  But wouldn't you know it, ALL of them had the peanut butter eaten off of them without throwing the trap.  So I've reset them this time, but with a shorter throw.

I slept very well last night, 11 hours worth.  I was surprised that I slept that long, but glad I did.  I needed the energy to go through the house and clean it.  I checked all the cupboards for obvious signs and any obvious holes.  But no, they were all good.  I vaccumed and mopped every nook and cranny.  The worst area was under the couch in the sunroom leaving their cast off sunflower seed shells and normal obvious signs.  So at least I know they were predominantly in there. 

We also had a huge storm with massive winds last night.  I thought the roof was going to come away at stages through the night.  This morning as I greeted Chris and Liz, he asked me if I noticed anything different about the deck.  I said "no, why?" and he said, 'well, I didn't move the BBQ."  We have a large BBQ along with deck chairs and table.  The wind was so strong that it pushed the BBQ into the MIDDLE of the deck.  That's about 6ft!!  I knew it was cyclonic, but Sheesh!

Well, with yard and house cleaned up, I feel much better and not quite so frantic.  Tonight, there's less noise in the ceiling and no signs of Mickey the Moocher or Ratatouille.  And thanks to Chris for putting the baits in the ceiling and buying the traps.  I feel better now..... even for a 'GIRL'.

Death by Peanut butter.......

The end of the day was fast approaching and the storm arrived ,right on dinner time.  Torrential rains pelted down.  The lightening flashed and the thunder rolled, and the dogs hid in the garage.  Chris has checked on Liz and Jamie's house to make sure it's locked up.  I went around to pull the plugs from the computers as the lightening crackled.  And as I walked into the sunroom, I heard it.  The red and yellow toy barn that plays music when you roll the tractor over the driveway.  Hmm...there's nothing there.  And you know what that means?  They're baaack!

As I write this in the lounge room, there's a fire burning low and Chris is watching The funniest Home Videos, I hear movement in the bedroom.  I have 5 traps set with peanut butter, around the house. (I will never look at peanut butter the same way again).  Chris put baits in the ceiling and on the mezzanine in the shed.

I guess he didn't realize how MUCH I hated rats until he read my blog this morning.  He says I was even a '--little over the top--" in my expression??????!!!!!!!( is he crazy?!!!)  He was most upset that I had conveyed that he was 'slack' in not taking care of the noises that were emanating from our ceiling.  Like,...'YOU'RE SUCH A ...GIRL!"  I told him that I'm not waiting around for Ratatouille to meet me eyeball to eyeball, at my pillow in the evening and I was NOT over the top.  The rat that was caught in the trap this morning, I left outside the door on the deck, expecting to reset the trap again, but it was broken.  And by the time Chris got up, something had taken the dead rat.  I can only presume Tille, our 'farm' poodle, took it.  But this left me with no 'evidence' for proof of vermin.

After reading about history and what happens when you live with rats, I firmly believe that rats are vermin and they have diseases that they like to share around.....like the black plague.  Okay, maybe our oversized 'Mickey Mouse" rats DON'T have the plague, but I'm not sharing my house with those 'THINGS' !

I am comforted tonight in knowing that my husband is FINALLY doing something about the 'noises' and that the peanut butter deathtraps are set; waiting for the little blighters to gobble them up.  I know I have major cleaning ahead of me now, but still, wish me luck.

I HATE RATS!!!!!!! and any other vermin!!!

One thing about living in a rural area, is that come Autumn, some form of vermin usually try to make their way into the house.  Because of the hay, we have had rats in the shed.  No problem, just through a little rat bait and that takes care of that.

But this year for some reason, we didn't get our usual mice population in the house.  Instead, I have rats.  I HATE RATS!!!!

Chris and I were sitting there watching TV one night and I said 'There's a RAT!!" pointing to this rodent who just scurried out of sight behind the chair.  He says, "it's not a rat, it's just a little mouse."  So the trap is set.

Well, it's 4am and I'm up.  I've been awake most of the night.  Listening.  The trap (Note:  A, one, uno, single trap) was set and lo and behold, one rat caught at 10:30 last night.

Camille woke up about 12 last night.  I crawled into bed with her and she settled right down for a snuggle. And then the noise starts.  I sat there listening and I could hear the rats in her room.  There was her school bag on the floor, and they're in there eating whatever is left in the cold bag.  I could hear the rustling.  And there wasn't the pitter patter of a SET of feet.  OH NO!!!....It was the pitter patter of SEVERAL sets of feet.  There was scurrying in and out of the room like Grand Central Station!!!

"Don't panic, don't panic"...Breathe deeply and think rationally.  (And as I write this, there's a rat in the trash bin under the Chris's desk, jumping and in and out, looking for food.) Brazen thing. (don't panic! don't panic)

My first instinct is to scream the house down, while my second instinct is don't wake anybody.  I HATE RATS!!!!!  I can handle lizards, snakes, spiders, mice, and frogs, but rats are something I cannot handle. 

And the NOISE.  They're not quiet little creatures.  Oh no,...they're like a football team running through the house, behind the fridge, climbing on the hoses, in the cupboards rustling papers.  And all that noise I could hear in my roof?....RATS!!!!  I TOLD Chris there were rats in the roof.  "It's NOT rats" he says. "It's possums".  Possums don't scurry.  They're large and lumbersome.  RATS SCURRY!!!

This morning, at dawn light, I'm outta here and down to Bunnings.   I've got rat traps to buy and I don't care how much they cost!!!  I want those critters OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!!

How much Facebook can a junkie have?

I never thought I'd become a 'Facebook' junkie, but here I am, at all hours of the day checking in to see who might have put something on my profile page.

And now I KNOW, I have too much time on my hands!  I didn't want to go on Facebook originally.  I signed in to see what it was all about.  I even closed it for a month thinking that it really belonged to 'college' kids, before going back on.  And now here I am, sitting; in front of the computer at all hours, playing, checking, sending,... stuff.  And that's JUST IT!  It's STUFF!!!  Non inconsequential STUFF!  But what FUN STUFF it is!!

What a waste of my time!  I can be reading good books, walking, playing with the dogs, studying French, cleaning house,....well, maybe that can wait, ..but it seems to be filling my time in, to the point of being online at ALL hours.  I've almost gotten to a point that I don't want to sleep, just in case someone sends me something.  How desperate am I GETTING?!!!  This is ridiculous.  Even I, know that.

So STOP you say?  Do something ELSE, you say?....OKAY!!!  ....I'm a full grown woman, I have control! I have self discipline! I can find something else to do!!!!..........but just before I do it, let me check in, just in case someone has left me anything!....and I also need to feed Roxy and Sally, my Cyber petz.  And THEN!.. I PROMISE I'll go find something else to do!

Camping is loads of fun......

Just ask Camille.  She would have liked to camp out with Papa and Grandma that night, but unfortunately she had to go home.  Another time sweetykins.

 

 

 

 

Chris timed us on our 'setup' minutes.  It took 30 mins.  So we have to improve on that, so we won't be keeping other people waiting on us.

 

We set the tent up to 'test' it out.  And it worked a treat.  The sleeping bags kept us warm, but the cots were still a bit hard, so Liz is bringing us some "egg carton' type mattresses that roll up easy.  We'll be testing those out  tonight, but in front of the fireplace in the living room. (next to the fire....with our cocoa........ and marshmallows) and watching INDIANA JONES and the Temple of Doom!!!!!!..................Chris?.....Chris?......Where you going?....Indy's on!....Come Back!....Don't you wanna watch.......oh never mind, I'll watch it myself for the 12th time.

Who said we were excited?!!!

Meet my Alarm Clocks.......

Technorati Tags: Kookaburras

These guys are usually in groups of 5 or 6, but they make just as much noise as these two.  And they usually start up around 4am.  It's either them or the magpies in the morning.

They're fun to watch as they swoop down and gobble up the frogs or lizards in the grass.

The scenes I see from our walks in the morning.....

Chris and I have taken up walking in the mornings.  We decided if we want to walk up Uluru (Ayers Rock), that we better get into condition.  Not only that, but we need to get our boots in condition too.

It was a very pleasant morning as we listened to the Kookaburras "laughing" and watched some Minor Birds chasing a black Crow.

I decided to bring my camera.  And while I've already taken pictures of  the most special spots, I decided today, that I would take pictures of the unspectacular spots too just as a reminder of where we lived.

Here are a few shots.

This is a picture of a local Craft Shop.  It's been there for years.  I went in there once with my Mother-in-law to check out some of the locally produced craftwork.  They DO have some really cute things in there.

 

 

This is the main road which goes over the Purlingbrook Creek.  To the left of this picture is a house that actually backs on to the falls.  I've often wondered what's it like living right next to the falls when we get those large rainfalls and the water is flowing over this road.

 

This is a picture of one of the last remnants of history.  This is a "little' house for milk and cream storage.  That's when it USED to be delivered and picked up, when there were dairy farms up here.

 

 

 

 

This picture is of a grove of Liquid Amber trees that used to be owned by one of the original families, The Carricks.  It's now owned by the Forestry Dept.  This path goes from the Camp sites to the back entrance of the top of Purlingbrook Falls.

When I walk through here, I envision going through Vermont and New Hampshire in Autumn.

I feel pretty good when we go for our walks in the morning.  Next we need to tackle the hill on Lyre Bird Ridge Rd., also known as 'heart attack' hill.

Grandma's l'il Garden Helper......

Camille loves coming to Grandma's house.  She likes being outdoors in the big, big yard.  And today, she helped Grandma plant some broccoli and herbs.

 

         

She was helping me water and break down the large clumps of dirt.  And when I start watering, wellll,....THAT was going to be HER job!!!  "ME DO MAMMAW!"  okay, I say, but make sure you water all the GREEN plants.  Okay! she says

                                                                 

And doing a pretty good job too!  It was a bit tricky trying to push the lever down to get the water out.  Sometimes, she got a nice spray, but other times she nearly shot the plants underground.

 

   

Here I am giving her instructions on how to water.  This was about the time we both noticed Papa taking pictures.  And while I wasn't looking.....

 

There's this thing about having 2 year olds water plants for you.  For some reason, it ALWAYS gets turned back on you.

And later on, I got HER  back.  The nozzle broke away and hosed B OTH of us down. 

 

She stripped down to her knickers and asked if Grandma was going to be a 'NUDIE RUDIE too'.  Grandma doesn't DO "nudie rudies" .  While she can't see her neighbours, they CAN  see her!

Such is life!

It's another gloriously beautiful Autumn day....

I just LOVE autumn days.  The Liquid Ambers have turned their colours and there's a small bite in the air.  Of course living here in the sub-tropical area, the only way you CAN tell if it's autumn, is that those particular trees turn.  We don't get snow, but it does get cold enough for a fire at night.

I started this morning in the dark, doing spanish classes with my french teacher, John-Marie.  He too was a student this morning and I noticed his spanish is very good, while, I struggled to understand and respond.  Thank goodness it was an informal class and I wasn't getting tested on it!  eesh.  I could understand the gist of most of it, but boy was I slow! LOL

And then, once we got offline, Chris and I put our 'camping' boots on and went for a long walk this morning.  What a way to start the day.  It was absolutely beautiful this morning.  The Willie wagtails were singing, and there was only one Black Cockatoo crying out and the air was clear as we looked out to the Gold Coast shores.

We had our breakky and then the garden was next.  I've pulled weeds, staked peas and tomatoes, transplanted a Rosella bush, and planted flowers.  All to the tune of Human Nature on my I-Pod.  For you folks who don't know who Human Nature is, they're a group who have terrific harmony and their latest CD's are the Motown Hits.  So with my I-pod on, I've been singing with the boys.  Much to Chris's disgust.  Even the dogs got in on the act.

I've made short work of that and now back to the computer to FINISH my list of the states for my blog.  Starting with TEXAS!!!!!  LOL  and WITHOUT the I-pod.