Pirates with Cookies and Window Dressings....!

Hi!

Well. Here we are on another lovely Sunday afternoon. The birds are out there running their errands, the crows are, well, crowing at anything and everything.... The day has been lovely and warm, breezy and sunny, which is kind of strange considering most of the week was nothing but wind and rain and cold. Then this weekend has been perfect. Funny ol' weather. Not complaining tho - usually it's the opposite - cold and rainy on the weekend and lovely and perfect on Monday! But, we're here now - got a nice cool glass of stand-by bubbles, Hardys RR (it's, like, totally way cheap, but soooooo good!), got the cool jazz tunes, got the cat snoring away in his chair - life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Alllllmost finished with The Book No One Wanted. Still a bit of work to do on it but the worst has passed. It's pretty quiet for the

time being, which is nice. In fact, so quiet and so nice that I decided to take my 'one day off a month' tomorrow - so, no Monday for me - woooooooo hoooooooo! Nothing planned, just sleeping in and not working! Heck, I may even celebrate having Monday off for free by staying in my jammies and watching Magnum PI episodes all day! Otherwise, work is good. Always happy to have gainful employment that isn't a struggle to even get out of bed to go do. Awesome! 

And then there has been the weekend. Pret-ty quiet. Chores yesterday, baking chocolate chip cookies today. Thrilling stuff, but the bank is happy and that's what counts. Found this recipe that promised me soft, fluffy and chewy cookies. Nope. Maybe I bake them too long or too hot, but mine always always come out little crunchy things. Hmmmm. Then again, it may be my little toaster oven - it doesn't cook anything evenly or at a normal temperature....... And, well, yep - that's been the weekend. Dullsville, Queensland.

 
Oh, and last weekend's burst of creativity of the bathroom curtain came out a pretty good success, although it needs... something....... I'm thinking a couple tassels and some fringe......! If I knew how, I'd even add some rosettes...... My vision was some sort of pirate's curtain, like something out of that bedroom diorama in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at D'land..... But of course, limited by my skills, I get what I get........ But am kinda proud of it. Hmmmmm.....! 

And that's really about it! Nothing very exciting, again, but you know the routine - saving to visit the Motherland...........

So there you have it. I hope you're all well up there........... Oh, hey, delightful new discovery - my

grocery store can't organize themselves to carry corn tortillas (but they magically offer like 10 versions of flour tortillas....), but somehow they've cottoned on to Cholula hot sauce (my hands-down favorite ever)! I was so surprised I took a picture. Well, I took a photo mainly because I was so stunned to see it on the shelf and as proof that they once stocked it - things I like have a way of vanishing from the store after a couple months......... And they've also started carrying real, proper, fresh chiles - not just strange preserved pickled stuff that costs a fortune - awesome!!!! I mean, the chilies are there to feed the locals' obsession with making Thai or Indian food, which is fine, just happy to see some real fresh chilies at last! Hooray! Happily, the place is slowly but surely getting there. So c'mon down, I'll make you some homemade Mexican food! Nom!

BYE!
J!

Sewing Up the Chilly.....

Hi!

Well. Here we are yet again, almost like clockwork (it's an old, cranky clock), on a bright, sunny, late Sunday afternoon. The day has been beautiful, warm, breezy and sunny. Everybody is happy, even the cranky ol' crows sound kinda happy for once. It's trying its best to be winter in autumn - it got down to 49 degrees last night - eeeeek! Yes, I know it's not NYC mid-winter, but that's chilly for us tropical folk. And it's not even winter yet.......! But, the nice thing about autumn and winter down here is that the nights may be cold but the day are glorious. Makes it all worth it to endure those stinky summers! Anyways, got the hip n' groovy jazz tunes, got a nice, cool glass of the stand-by sauv-blanc, Lana's Bike (two points to the Kiwis for being able to make a pretty nice sauv-blanc if nothing else.....), yes, on this late afternoon, life is good!

So work. Yep, is good. Trudging along as one does from one holiday day off to another..... Thankfully we get a three-day weekend around the 10th of June to celebrate the Queen's Birthday. Yay! Oooooh, gosh, I hate to say it, but what will Australia do when the Queen finally shuffles away to her celestial journey.....??? Oh noes, we can't have a day off taken away......!? Maybe they could call it Motherland Day instead....? Hmmmm...... Anyways, work is good. Making excellent progress on The Book No One Wanted (it's, basically, called a "Battle Damage Manual" - it tells them how to fix a broken fighter jet during wartime), and am proud for all the technical, computer programy stuff I've learned. Tho I have heard the rumor that the gal am sort of occupying her space/job while she decides if she wants to return to work after having her first baby, might decide around August if she's coming back or not. Gulp. Ironically, that's when I'll be away visiting my own Motherland...... Ironic in the way that this sort of thing has happened before - if anyone remembers the fireworks and the fun that was the Qld Fire Service....... and how they didn't renew my contract just in time for me to go back to the Motherland for four fun weeks (but was actually just a tres painful babysitting job) - I came home to no job and even less monies...... Hmmmm.... Here's hoping history won't repeat..........!? Otherwise, work is good - ticking along like clockwork (there's another clock reference.......).

And then there was the weekend. Quiet, quiet and quiet. Saturday, did the laundry and some stuff on the computer - actually, was researching new blog publishers and found one with WordPress tho have a lot of work to do to set it up, customize it, load up photos (gee, here's hoping it plays nicer with photos than this one does).... Oddly enough, in most of my searches, this Blogspot or Blogger, or whatever it's now called through Google, comes in at one of the highest rated..... Hmmmmmm. Reading folks' reviews and such, it made me wonder if it would even be worth the pain and trouble of moving to a new publisher....... Maybe I should just spend some serious time with this one and find out where the bugs are, because I know it's not my internet.... Hmmmmm, so that was pretty much yesterday. I mean, after you sleep in, have a shower, make some coffee and something to eat, clean up, do the laundry, fluff around a little, fire up the ol' computer, research stuff, the day is over and it's time for a glass of wine and a movie ("Women on the 6th Floor" really good, cute), which I fell asleep an hour and five minutes into - and I was totally watching it, hell, I had to because it had subtitles, but I don't know, I guess internet blog publisher research can take it out of a gal....... Or the fact it was so chilly out and I had the heater on......

Then there was today. Took the car for a little spin to get gas and toodle around before everyone was really awake to clog the roads with their shopping glee. Then home for breakfast and a sudden burst of curtain-making inspiration. Am in the middle of making a fairly lively curtain for mah little bathroom window. Will post photos when am finished. Never made something like this, but then, how hard can sewing some straight lines be???? It's nothing elaborate by any means, but trying to make something with no pattern to go by, just my imagination and shabby skills........ Then again, it'll only be the second thing I've ever made.......... Ehhh, if it looks good, who cares - I made it! So will hopefully finish that tonight... And will hopefully finish that little movie too! And then that's the weekend over and out! Man, there just aren't enough hours in the days on the weekends. Sure, during a workday, eight hours can seem like an eternity, but eight hours over the weekend are magically gone in the blink of an eye! So unfair. Like, totally. Fer sure.

And that's that! Quiet, but on purpose. It's in mah bank account's best interest. Speaking of conserving monies, I extended my trip to the Motherland by an extra week (!) - so I can go visit Grandma! Once I know where I'll be when, I'll email anyone who's interested the dates I'll be around......... Otherwise, I hope you're all well up there! Drop a line if you have any ideas or suggestions how to liven this little blog up or if it's worth swapping publishers? Or hell, just drop a line and say Hi!


BYE!
J!

Sad News..... Happy Visits......

Eds Note: Looks like am having serious issues with this Blogger publisher/platform, again, with uploading photos. I've tried to troubleshoot my connection, my folders, etc, but I think it's Blogger this time....... Fuuuuudge..... Will try to upload photos later/tomorrow.....? One more reason to really get serious and research other blog publishers..... Apologies AGAIN for this silliness........

Hi!

Well. Here we are on another Sunday afternoon....... The birds are out there running their errands, chattering happily away. The day has been lovely for the most part tho the last few days have been rain again. Sigh. But the temperatures have been perfect - not too hot or humid and not too cold. Ahhhh! But we're here with the hip n' groovy jazz tunes, have a nice cool glass of a French champagne, Veuve Amiot (ehhh, it was something different....), the laundry is out flapping in the breeze and will hopefully dry before the rain returns - life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. We had a really nice work lunch at Georges Paragon (right on the Brisbane river - lovely) to celebrate a quarterly mid-year somethingorother with just our teeny little department plus an extra Manager and the Contracts and Finance gals (those three can never say no to a good, free lunch). Food was really pretty good for the price (and for being on the River)! So that was a very nice way to start the weekend. Otherwise, work is good - not too busy but still working on The Book No One Wanted and learning stuff along the way. Ahhhh, yes, just always happy to have somewhere to be everyday and be paid to be there!

And then there were a couple weekends in there. Last time I'd checked-in I'd reported that I'd just been to visit my neighbor in the hospital that Friday afternoon...... Well, sadly, the hospital called me first thing that Monday morning to let me know he wasn't doing well at all (respiratory failure - when that happens with Motor Neurone it's next stop Wonderland) and wasn't expected to last the day. Sure enough, two hours later the hospital called to let me know he'd died. Poor, poor guy. I mean, good that he didn't linger with that shit of a disease, but he seemed to decline so rapidly and so suddenly. But I don't blame him. I'd want to check out too. Poor guy. He didn't have an easy life. Here's hoping his next life (???) is kinder to him. But in talking with the hospital staff and even his Social Worker over that week, they were all really nice, kind people, and nice of them to call me, just a friend, to give me their condolences. All I know is I was happy to hopefully make a super crappy disease and situation a little easier to bear for a guy who had nothing, who had no one...... Here's to Daryl!

And then there was last weekend...... It was fantastic (well, in light of such a sad week) - Glen and Alison came down from Cairns for a quick visit (she had a medical conference to attend that after only four hours she realized she didn't really need to be there after all). So Saturday afternoon, after Glen and I had run a couple errands (including lunch at Kookaburra), we met up with Alison and walked along South Bank, then took the ferry along the river to Portside/Hamilton for a little wander and a drink at the riverside Belvedere Bar/Restaurant to watch the sun set; then it was back to town for dinner at Vapiano's (their new absolute, hands-down favorite for pizza). It was a really lovely afternoon and evening. Then Sunday, they shopped while I did the chores, meeting up later that afternoon at a pretty good Irish bar Gilhooleys, for a quick drink before dinner at Vapiano's, again! Told you they loved it, and heck, who am I to argue with good Italian food? Then they wandered back to their hotel to collect their bags before heading to the airport, and I came home and got ready for the week and bed! Ahhhhh, after the last couple of weeks, it was really nice to spend the weekend catching up with some nice, funny, calm, normal folks. It was great to see them and hopefully they'll come down again before too long!

Then there was this weekend. Quiet compared to the last few. Yesterday I had all the energy to simply fluff around the house and watch a couple movies, and that was about it. Today was laundry, more fluffing around/tidying. One thing I know I need to do is start saving a bit for mah trip home, not that I plan on spending like a fool, it'd just be nice to not have to keep an eagle eye on the bank account the whole time.....

And that 's that! Sad, sad news about Daryl, but hopefully he knew he had at least one person trying their best to help him out, not to mention the staff at his clinic and the hospital. In fact, last weekend while Glen and I were out running errands, one of my stops included the clinic where Daryl'd been taken care of, to thank the staff for looking after him (and putting up with his sometimes cranky self). I thought it only right considering those folks have a hard enough job and probably rarely ever get a thank-you from the families.........

So there you have it. Apologies for not checking in last weekend but as you can see I was having far too much of a good time to be able to check in on time! Otherwise, I hope you're all well up there. Like I've mentioned before, it's that time of year when it's great to get down here for a visit! If you need annnnny help planning, lemme know!

BYE!
J!

P.S. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to the Mommies out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!