Winding down.

And here we are again.

That time of year. We don't get to see the kids or grandkids as the other side of their families get precedence. It's been like this for years - not just since we moved. In fact moving here sort of made it a little less hurtful as we can always cite distance.

When the boys were little I used to go all out with my decorations. Now I have this tree ...

... it's done me well for a few years now. It's easy to put up and take down and looks good from the street. Himself has always maintained he is a scrooge at Christmas but spent a couple of days getting the lights on the outside of the house just right! We even ended up on the local FaceBook page of Christmas lights (there are also lights on the fence to the left)!

I imagine next year he will go all out!

My fine eventually arrived in the mail. I am assuming the copper from Bairnsdale got in touch with the dude from Highway Patrol who then printed off a copy and handwrote the envelope! Anyway, I am now $407 poorer and have three demerit points on my licence for the next three years. Lesson well and truly learned.

Three and his lot are coming down on the 29th and will stay until New Year's Day which will be lovely. We will take them into town on NYE to see the fireworks. If it's too crowded we can watch from the top of the hill and still get an excellent view. The Mermaid has said she will come down on the 2nd. To be honest, I am not holding my breath as she has made plans to come and then cancelled too many times to count since we moved in here. I hope she makes it this time.

The town is getting busy with tourists. It's always a challenge but good for the local businesses who depend on the high season to get them through the winter. We weren't here during the fires of 2019 and then COVID but the town is still struggling to properly get back on its feet. Too many shuttered shops. 

I always feel a bit discombobulated at this time of year. Days of the week blur and I fluctuate between overwhelming anxiety and a need to DO STUFF. So I spend a lot of time sitting and listening to music and crocheting! 

You know I love my sunsets and clouds so here's another for you ...

Whatever the next few days mean to you, I wish you all the best. Stay safe and be well.

 

I am an honest crook

The Entrance is not far from Two et al and we go there a bit when I am up there. It is quite similar to Lakes Entrance which, of course, is where I live. Indeed, looking up info on one often results in info from the other. Both have lakes, both have a pretty cool water park for kids, both have fisherfolk galore and tourists aplenty. 

And both have pelicans. 

And glorious scenery.

Only one, though, has the cutest grandson. And sadly, it's not Lakes Entrance.

 

And only one has a king sized bed with a fancy mattress that appears to have been purchased for the sole comfort of two german shepherds who will allow humans to sleep in it at night if they agree to share. No prizes for guessing where this is!

As we hurtle towards the end of the year my days are filled with U3A business, catching up with friends and trying not to panic which is crazy as we do literally NOTHING over Christmas but I do need to arrange with the daughters-in-law how to get gifts sorted for the grandkids. I am guessing money will be thrown in their general direction. 

This has been complicated a tad by me rolling through a stop sign last Friday (I didn't come to a complete stop as required by law) and copping a $400 dollar fine and 3 demerit points. And before you ask, no it wasn't dangerous as there were no cars coming and I was almost stopped and I drive through this intersection every day as do many others the same way ... slow down to almost stopped, look and proceed. A highway patrol dude had driven past and must have seen me in his rear vision mirror (the downside of having a bright, fluro green/yellow car) and waited to see if I stopped. He pulled me over, did the necessary stuff (like a breath test and asking if I had a reason for not stopping!) and supposedly issued me with an electronic infringement notice which should have appeared on my phone within the hour. 

Nothing came through. 

I have 28 days to pay and am rather anxious as I don't want to cop further fines for non payment. A neighbour is in the police force and Himself asked him what I should do. Nice police neighbour gave advice and also said that the intersection in question is known as a good spot to catch folk and fine them. We have spoken to the police station in Bairnsdale (not where traffic dude is stationed where one can talk to someone) and they took my details and are "following it up". There is a thought that traffic cop decided to be kind but if that was the case he could have said he was letting me off with a warning. I think he took my phone number down incorrectly (he didn't read it back to me) and some poor bugger is wondering why they have received an infringement notice for a car they don't own in a town they have never heard of! 

So until I know if I have to pay the revenue raising behemoth that is the Victorian government (which is basically broke) I am holding off sending money to the grandkids in case I can send a bit more. I will give it another couple of days and then make my decision. Hopefully I will be able to plead poor pensioner and ask for a payment plan if/when the fine eventually hits my inbox.

I wonder how many people go to the cops asking for their infringement notices to be sent to them!

Home

I have just arrived home after a 9 and a bit hour drive (including a couple of quick stops for petrol and a wee break - I didn't have an actual lunch break - rather nibbled on carrots and cheese and chocolate as I drove).

Yesterday was a good day until it wasn't. I'm not going to go into details but one of the children didn't get her own way and became extremely unpleasant. At least most of the day was fun and the wheels fell off right at the end.

I am a tad weary so will leave you with some rainbow lorikeets from the park on Saturday.

 

I is away

Where do the days go?

I have great plans to post frequently but we all know how that is working out!

In my defence I have several draft posts with pics awaiting wise words but then stuff happens and I get sidetracked.

Anyway.

Remember how I told you I visited the Central Coast in early October to see Two et al? (To be fair, I doubt if you do and I don't blame you.)

The reason for that visit was to take middle grandchild shopping for her birthday, so in the interest of being fair I am up to spend this weekend with the remaining birthday girl and boy (out of all the days in the year how do the fates align to have two out of three kids born on the same day five years apart?) 

I love the drive. It takes me through some beautiful countryside. I was not long out of Lakes when a kangaroo hopped across the road in front of me. I have lived in Australia for well over 50 years but I still get a thrill when I see a native animal in the wild.

The mist rising as I climb into the mountains always makes me happy ...

I stopped for a lunch break on the road out of Canberra overlooking Lake George. If you embiggen the picture you can see part of the massive windfarm.

When I got to the motel I was delighted to find they had given me the same room I had last time. The girls call it "Granny's apartment". I shall request it every time I book! It is pretty basic but suits me just fine is right around the corner from their house.

The view from the door. The layout gives a lovely through breeze and it is sort of tucked away from other guests.

It has been lovely seeing the fambly.


 

Garden bits

As promised some snaps from around the garden. I have to keep reminding myself that the garden is barely 12 months old and still has a lot of growing to do.

Pigface. A common colour is this glorious pink/red. It is a succulent and spreads easily.

This is a butterfly bush and is obviously very happy in its spot.

Strelitzia or bird of paradise. We planted these down the side of the house and it was touch and go if they were going to take but one has decided to flower so I have high hopes for the rest.

This is a kangaroo paw. More specifically it is an ornamental kangaroo paw with very distinct flowers and not too many leaves and quite dwarfish in its habit. We have three and they are also very happy.

Another variety of pigface - this is white with a delicate pink tinge.

I love this corner of the garden. The shrub at the back is a teddy-bear magnolia. It was the first plant we put in (a gift from the Mermaid) and it has already flowered and has lots of new leaves. Max is often to be found lying on a rock in the sunshine. 

This is a more traditional kangaroo paw. Lots of foliage and smaller flowers on very tall stems.

These are just some of the plants in the back garden. I still need to take you through the front. 

The kids came down and it was lovely to see them. I'll talk about that another day.

Himself is about to head off for his formal interview to join the CFA and I am going to have a bacon sanga for dinner. 

Headache

Hmmm. It probably wasn't the brightest idea to go to the gym on Wednesday, the day after a rather unpleasant migraine! I felt rather off for the rest of the day and then on Thursday I came down with another one! It is now Saturday and I am still not feeling 100% so haven't been back this week. Tomorrow Three et al come down so it will be Tuesday before I go back which should give me plenty of time to get over whatever it is that is ailing me.

I am looking forward to seeing Three and his kids - it's a bonus visit because they both have Monday off (the day before the public holiday for Melbourne Cup and a lot of people make it a long weekend). I will still have to go and run the history group on Monday morning but I am sure between donuts and mini golf they will find something to occupy themselves.

On Thursday evening we went to the Bowls Club as they have a draw for anyone who's birthday was in the month (in this case, Himself) and you have to be there. We were going to grab a meal but they were packed. Even though most left once the draw was over (his name didn't come up!) we weren't really feeling like taking our chances so we went to the pub and had a very pleasant meal. There was a young couple at the table next to us who spent the entire time on their phones. From what I could see it looked like they were texting other people - or maybe each other! 

This morning we went to the annual plant market run by the local gardening club and came home with some plants and some advice. Hopefully Himself will remember what he was told to help fix the clay soil and the plants will survive. I have to keep reminding myself that this time a year ago the garden had barely been started so it's not doing too badly. I'll grab some photos and show you.

In the mean time I tried to be artsy fartsy and take a shot through the spinning blades of my windmill but it didn't turn out as I had hoped - not really sure what I expected. Maybe I should play with my camera settings.

This is our smoke bush. I was worried it wouldn't come back after winter but it seems happy enough. We planted it in the metal tub as our previous effort in that spot ended up drowning so by lifting it up we are hoping its feet stay dry.

And because I can't resist clouds and sunset you get to see these ...

Tomorrow morning I will be back at the plant market to sell Christmas cakes and puddings for the Lionesses. We only have a few left to sell so I hope to be done and dusted and home by the time Three arrives. 

I don't expect to be back here until Tuesday evening at the earliest cos, well, family!

Just words

Twenty five years or so ago when I first discovered blogging (or on-line journalling/open diary) photos were both a treat and a pain. Often they took too long to upload and download so entries were words with the occasional picture. Fast forward to today and words seem to be taking second place to visuals. My long read, much loved blogger mates still enthral with the power of the word - your photos are inspiring, uplifting and often humorous but I will always love the way your words reach into my heart and soul.

This is a cumbersome way of saying I ain't got no pretty pictures for you today!

Monday was a busy day. U3A history in the morning. If you are interested in African history you might enjoy the documentary The History of Africa by an excellent British presenter Zeinab Badawi. I stumbled across it after a class member asked if we could look at Nelson Mandela which let me down several rabbit holes to do with colonialism and African politics. It is a long series but well worth the watch and learning about African history from an African perspective. 

I then went to the gym then into Bairnsdale for the podiatry appointment. I deliberately got there early so I could go and get fitted for the dreaded bathers. I didn't end up buying bathers - a few more kilos to shed before I will feel confident and comfortable.

The podiatrist was a very queer fish and I won't be doing back to see him - nothing creepy just didn't really gel with him and his follow up appointments are so far into the future it defeats the purpose of finding an ongoing practitioner. I did buy a pair of orthotics which need to be trimmed to fit my shoes and we will see if that helps the plantar fasciitis.

Himself saw the eye specialist who is happy to wait for another 6 months before deciding on cataract surgery. This was a relief even though the surgery is inevitable. He stayed with One and his lot and I am so glad he did. He got to spend time with the girls and One and Ebs and he needed that.

Yesterday morning was the craft group which is always a happy place. Himself arrived home whilst I was out. I had planned to go to the gym but was feeling a tad "off". Just as well I didn't go as I developed the first migraine I have had in a long time. Took my meds and went to bed for a couple of hours.

Felt better in the evening. Himself took himself off to the CFA weekly training session and had a ball. I am so thrilled he has joined them. Fingers crossed the joy continues! He does say they are a friendly lot and that is the main thing. 

Today I have been feeling a bit foggy with post migraine haze but went to cryptic crosswords (and got some tricky clues!), then gym, then coffee group. Maybe I should have ditched the gym as by the time I got home my head was dull and achy.

Himself is barbecuing steak for dinner and I am in the process of learning a new (to me) technique for knitting sock heels so, for now, all is right in my world.

Tomorrow I shall endeavour to create some visual content!