Afternoon all,
I have a new computer. It's brain is new and shiny and its keys are not sticking or falling off. I put some info in it and it all comes back with speed. Hallelujah. Do not ask how long it took to set it all up.

So I also have some new pics for you. While I have been away the orchids have done their thing.
Just look at them now.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...1/Tennozan.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...MagicFire2.jpg

There you go. No bad eh!

Annie - yes I am home. Better go back next week to pay for my spending spree today - ya reckon? The massage sounds nice

Ceejay - least she could have done was to pay for yours as well.
Have you considered that you may have allergies to dairy products? Often that sets off some pretty nasty sinus problems.
Between you and Mel - both know the mayor of the town - we are travelling in exalted circles! I should get to know some people in power.

Happy - I'm busy chucking stuff I don't use. Maybe if I shifted house I could chuck the lot and get NEW stuff as I need it. But I have just broken in my potato peeler and I better not throw that one out.
Thanks for letting us know about Mel. I haven't seen anything from her for a week or so. Mind you, I don't get to my mail that often from Yarrabee. Which reminds me - parrots. I'll get back to them in a minute

Michelle - so pleased to hear that both DH and doggie have some relief and a diagnosis of whatever it is that ails them. It must be a happy relief for both of you.

Java - hope you are feeling better. Can't have all my American friends coming down with flus and pneumonia.

Okay back to the parrots. One moment, photo coming up.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...tYarrabee1.jpg

I found these cockatoos (and a few more) alongside the road to the Yarrabee mine. They were eating seeds from some sort of grass stalk. When I stopped the Ute and got out to take a photo they all took off to the tree. So I took a couple of photos to show you all. This is the best of them. There were probably about 30 odd cockies there. I couldn't get them all to sit still (and shut up)

Okay, time to feed the cat. Back later

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM...JK...GOOD MORNING EVERYONE.

SHADDIE..I love love love the cockatoos..what a perfect picture...definitely include this in your book...that I AM DEMANDING you write/produce...really Shad you are missing a great calling in life....a picture book of wonderful sites entitled, Gorgeous PIX of Aussie Sites that my American friend has pushed me to write...lol....Can't wait to meet you in person...you inspire me.

Not much going on since I last posted...going to hop in the shower...go do errands, clean the house, make dinner for BB and BG, their SOs and babes...too excited....I am in heaven...I love it when my kiddos come home and bless me with their presence.

Have a marvy day/night/weekend.

Loves and hugs

Good morning everyone -

Just a quick post before I head out to meet with a website client.

Yes, DH FINALLY has a diagnosis. The doc took a biopsy this time. DH has a fungal infection in his lungs and vocal cords that he got back in August or September when he was fixing an old, old, old computer that was full of nasty dust. The dust must've had some fungus spores in it, and with DH stirring all of it up, it got into his lungs and vocal cords. For the past several months, he's been getting secondary bacterial infections which the antibiotics would treat...but they don't have any effect on fungal infections, so that nasty thing remained. This new medication should take care of it within 5 days. He's supposed to go back in 4 months (or sooner if he's feeling lousy) for another chest xray and possible CT scan to make sure it's all out of there. From now on, any time DH works on old, nasty computers, he's going to wear a mask.

Also, Mischief's blood test came back close to normal...so she doesn't have to go back for 2 months.

I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I am! :D :yay:

**************
Shad - lovely photos of the blooms and the birds!!

Annie - So nice you got a massage.

A big :wave: and thank you :hug: to all of you for your love and support during this stressful time for me and DH.

Gotta run!

Much love and many hugs,

Michelle
I'm so happy that dh has a diagnosis. Now he is on the road to recovery.

Annie
Good morning to you also.

Shad
Always love the exotic pictures. You are a lucky person. I had thought about asking the doctor if I could have some food allergy test done. The only dairy I eat is cheese and yogurt.

It's very cold this morning at 22 degree's but I'm going to meet with the uncles today at lunch. I'm not spending the night.

More later. Time to leave.

Howdy kids,

First of all Shad I hope you don't mind but I reposted that fabulous bird pic of yours on my FB account. My sister will squeal with delight seeing that. I think she would love a trip down under although she hates flying. And probably would be freaked out by many of your giant bugs. But the birds she would love. Your orchids are sooooo very pretty - I am partial to the purple ones I admit. And so lush too - the ones we see here are rather delicate and fragile. I agree with Annie - please keep posting pictures as you can - your world is so much different than ours and I too love seeing it from your eyes. It seems wonderous - of course we forget the humidity and bugs and the stuff that makes it not quite such a paradise. I'm glad you got a new computer that works faster - too bad you had to assemble it yourself.

Ceejay - does this mean you don't eat ICE CREAM???? How could you not? :no: :lol: Hope you have a nice day with the uncles. I talked to one of my former co-workers yesterday who said the cold we are having now is pushing down to your area. As long as it doesn't bring storms with it. But by now I'm sure you are anxious for warmer temps. You are right about the antibiotics - I forgot - some of them are made specifically for lung infections. Guess those are the really strong ones. Hope you feel better.

Michelle- I am soooooo very glad they finally got a diagnosis and treatment on DH. I was wondering when someone would do a biopsy. That's a pretty quick treatment - perhaps my fungal infection was more nasty. But it will be nice to get back to feeling his old self again. That's really kind of scary how easy it is to pick up. Never thought dust could be so dangerous. And I'm glad Mischief got a good bill of health. Happy days ahead :yay: Don't work too hard this weekend - save a few hours for some relaxing.

Annie - I'm glad you took a tiny bit of the refund for yourself. You are always giving to others. I almost spit my coffee out laughing about your book title for Shad - probably because it's so true :lol3: Your latest FB pic of the baby is so adorable - and I love his outfit too. Is that how he got his nickname or did you find some clothes that just worked out that way?

Hi Java and Laura and Mel :wave:

It's very sunny out and very cold. So cold even the deer didn't come out to feed last night. It's nice in the house tho - the sun does warm up the insides and it helps having our fireplace working again. I'm going to do some cleaning then I want to look at our cable channels - we are pretty sure we are going to cancel them all - we don't watch much tv at all and what we do is one the regular channels. I just wanted to check the offerings to see if we wanted to keep maybe one channel. After that I am torn between reading my gardening books - I have a couple of really good ones or doing a little cooking - I was surfing the internet this week and found some sites with some really interesting recipes - all of which looked good. I also found my breadmaker cook book. I think a fresh loaf of bread baking will smell heavenly.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Bread fresh from the breadmaker. Ooooooohhhhhhhhh yum.

My book will probably be title something like 'Bast*rds I have met' or 'Hardhats and Handbags'. But I could also work in the 'forced by American friends' somewhere in the dedication and since you will all be in it, then maybe you might rework some of the words - for when I get them wrong.

My computer is up and running. I started to load up the new printer last night only to find that the cable supplied doesn't fit @#$%^$$##. But somewhere in the middle of the night, I had a revelation of sorts and got up this morning to check if the old printer cable would work. Yup! it does. So that will go in today and I guess I need to do DS2's computer as well so he can print out his traffic infringements or whatever.

Today is promising to be hot, but the weather forecast is for fine and warm with the chance of increasing cloud and showers and the possibility of a severe thunderstorm later in the day with possible heavy raining accompanying it. Now tell me, does one really have to go to university for 3 or 4 years to give a forecast such as that.

Now I am going to paint you a word picture. I want you to imagine being in the vehicle with me and driving along the haul road at Yarrabee. Later in the week I will post a picture of the scenery and you can tell me if your imagination is good, fertile or the picture doesn't fit. Ready?

We turn onto the haul road. This is a road for trucks or rather road trains bearing 3 or 4 trailers of wet black coal or if they have tipped the load onto the stockpile, they are empty. Either way they are slow. We have 37 kilometres to go to get to the training rooms to work.

Okay - on our left as we move up to the 100K zone, there are piles of small flat top hills, these are created from the overburden taken from the land before the coal is exposed. We quickly move past these. All around us from then on is flat to gently undulating land. You can see right to the horizon which is sort of a dark haze in the distance. In the middle distance there are some fairly large trees a few dead trees, and a great deal of mallee scrub (small dusty looking bushes) dotting the landscape. The landscape is very green for this part of the world since we have had a lot of rain. Oooops a wallaby just jumped across the road, better keep an eye out for them - where there is one there is generally two or three or one hundred and three. The road is 2 lanes wide at this point and stretches far into the distance disappearing over the horizon. There are markers every kilometre telling you the distance from the security gate. This is incase of accidents and you can let people know you passed the 11k mark or whatever. On your right is a couple of big dams full of water. In one there is a bulldozer (Cat D11 for anyone who knows bulldozers) and another one on the bank, they are making the levy higher to store more water. Since there is no wind, the dams reflect the reeds on the edge and a whole lot of sky and puffy white clouds. These clouds for some reason are flat on the bottom and puffy above. Never seen the phenononem anywhere else but here. Just off to the left we go past some Brahmin cattle. They come in shades of chocolate, beige, white, and they have the distinctive hump at the shoulder and long floppy ears (cute).
Apart from you and me - and the cackling radio which we might have to use to ask permission to overtake the slow coal trucks - there is no other human in sight.

Okay - get the picture in your mind and later on in the week, I will get the real life stuff on the thread.

Meantime I had better go and get on with something and pack for a departure to the above mentioned wilderness tomorrow. Have a good one.

Shad
Shucks, I was expecting to see pictures.

Happy
The weather men are excited. They are talking about a substantial snow accumulation. Hope they are wrong. But it's cold. Low tonight is supposed to be 16. As for ice cream, butter pecan is my favorite, I can eat it but it's not my favorite thing. Rather have the yogurt. I still have half a carton of butterfinger in the freezer.

Didn't stay the night in Paragould. I needed to come back home just in case that storm hit earlier than is being predicted.

I don't know what is in this room with me but something is making a noise. I'm going to investigate. It was a cricket..

Morning all,
Obviously everyone is out enjoying their weekend and good for them. I am at the office en route for Emerald and Blackwater later today. No one else in here at all. Either I am very early or it is a public holiday or both!!!!

I suppose someone will wander in in the next hour or so. My team is spread across the countryside. Scotty is in Moolarben and the BigT is in Ashton or Austar, forget which and I am on my way north.

Not much to report from this neck of the woods. I still seem to have this cold in the nose - well I should rephrase this, I still seem to have the stuffy nose and blocked sinus that I came home with on Friday but didn't seem to have yesterday or Saturday. Could this be psychosomatic.

Had a mail from Mel yesterday. She was going to call me but her voice is still not up to it and she just ends up with coughing fits when she tries to talk. But she is feeling much better. I've told her to sit up, shut up, and cough it up when able. We can talk around her birthday which is early in March. Just thought I would drop that in so we don't forget it.

DS2 went to the Gold Coast for the weekend. Friends were getting married on the beach there. Being DS2 he naturally had to lose one or two objects. In this case, his house keys and his expensive sunglasses. Damn kid.

Other than that, things around here are just the same. I need to go out for breakfast soon. You could probably say SNAFU here. May have to think about getting the door locks changed but they have to get through the gate before they can get to the house.

Catch you all later - from Blackwater maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow.

Shad
Mel and I are usually the only ones that post on Sunday's. I dropped by to see if anyone else had posted. Glad she's still able to do a bit.
Seems like there is a lot of people sick with pneumonia now a days.

______
Nothing new in my corner of the world except it cold. Got down to 19 degree's last night. I came home yesterday due to the colder weather and a possibility of snow tonight and in the morning. I will have to wait and see if that materializes or not.
Went to church here this morning. I really did like the preacher today.
Had to clean up the kitchen and after that I'm making a pot of stew.
Each time I eat nuts the nuts sets off the diverticulum. I paid for it big time last night.

Guess the answer is not to eat nuts then Ceejay.
Actually Mel said something in her note that she might just have to retire with you later in the year. :rofl: Can just see both of you together drifting in retirement. However Mel is really not ready mentally to retire completely. She likes to be able to do things for the old people and to be needed once in a while. Just not as often as she was. It would be really nice if she could find a job share person, but no doubt the housing people would not pay for two wages, scanty and all as they are.

Anyway, time to get some work done. Back later

Good Morning Girls....

What a wonderful Sunday we had. Went to BBs house. Kristin-his fiance' fixed us dinner..Was impressed. Sauted carrots/yellow squash/zucchini/onion/mushroom. Baked tilapia and sweet potatos. I made Italian, parmesan bread in the bread maker and took it out. We had a great time played a lil Euchre and with their beautiful black austrialian doggie named Memphis. He is just a little over a year old, well minded but loves to hug you. He stands on his hind legs, puts his arms on your shoulders and lays his head on you chest...so dang cute. He was calling me Nanny by the time we left...lol.

My nose was running like a sieve this morning, had to take an allergy pill. This is supposed to be the last very cold day for a few...the rest of the week is in the 40's..I will take it.

Curtis is taking me to Fujiyama Steakhouse of Japan for Valentine's day. It is one of the restaurants where the hack, chop, do tricks and grill it all right in front of you. I am especially looking forward to teriyaki chicken and shrimp. YUM.

SHADDIE...thanks for the update on MELLIE...God love her...she just needs to go into hibernation until completely well...not just almost well. I think I got your picture story...curiously awaiting the real pictures.

CHELLE...such great news about DH and Mischief...yahoo!! The not knowing and waiting for results are the worst thing ever....don't forget to take care of YOU!!

CEEJAY...Indy wins..we got down to 9 degrees on Saturday night. Man o man was it cold and yesterday was not much better...I am so ready for spring...which BTW is only 36 days away...and only 33 days away for vacay for us.

HAPPY...Sam decided to decorate the babe's room in the monkey format when she was about 4 mos preggers and then immediately got it done...thank GOD as the lil man came at 7 mos preggers. The whole monkey thing took off from there and then for some reason there are tons of monkey clothes out for babies right now. A LOT of his clothes have some sort of monkey design thing going on.

MELLIE....hope you are getting better and better...no backsliding young lady.....hugs and prayers.

LAURA...hope you are staying warm...saw a lot of lake effects snow going on up your way....did you get much snow? Stay warm and healthy girl.

Better post and get back at it.

Loves and Hugs...

Good Monday morning ladies -

DH is just starting to feel better. I suggested that he call the doctor to see if he can get a refill on the medicine because he's only got 2 more days left. He slept almost all weekend and still had trouble getting up for work this morning. I think the fungal infection was so deeply entrenched for so long, it may take him awhile to get over this.

Friday was busy with website work and doctor appointments. Saturday was busy with a website client meeting. And yesterday was just plain busy getting caught up with the usual stuff. I was hoping that the snow we got on Friday would melt, but it didn't. So first thing yesterday, I was snowblowing the driveway, and I'll probably have to do that again tomorrow since we're getting snow today and DH is still pretty weak. My back and my asthma don't like snowblowing very much...but at least we only had a couple inches in Friday's storm, and hopefully no more than 2" or 3" this afternoon/evening.

I was fairly tired by yesterday afternoon, so I did treat myself to a nice nap. :)

I forgot to mention the other thing I did on Saturday. I got together with some friends and former co-workers and watched the DVD "Inside Job". It's a documentary narrated by Matt Damon that chronicles the events that happened in the U.S. and around the globe that led to the financial meltdown that we're still feeling the effects of. It was VERY eye opening and enlightening. I highly recommend it for everyone regardless of income level, political affiliation, etc. It is not a political movie...there is clearly enough blame and responsibility to go around. But the most infuriating part is that the bast*rds who caused this mess are NOT the ones paying for it.

******************

Ceejay - Bummer about the diverticulitis. Did you have a nice visit with the uncles? Glad you enjoyed the preacher at church. Stew sounds really yummy. I really should make some. 19 degrees? Dang that's almost as cold as up here! Did you get any snow?


Happy - I love your signature line that you have found your joy again! I'm so happy for you, girlfriend! You really sound like you love your new life in your beautiful home. And I'm sure you'll love it even more when it warms up so that you can enjoy the gorgeous outdoors. :) Fresh bread from the breadmaker sounds wonderful!!

Shad - Your book titles are great! May I please have an autographed copy? Glad to hear your computer is up and running, and that the old printer cable works. Too funny about the weather forecast. What an interesting word picture you painted!! I'd love to see a wallaby in person. And their crossing in groups sounds like deer. When you see one cross the road, be on the lookout for the rest of them (usually a group of 5 or 6 not 103). Why is there a bulldozer in a dam full of water? Is it underwater? The Brahmin cattle sound really cute too. I've never heard of them in chocolate...just beige and white. Your descriptive post really made it seem like I was right there with you. Thanks! :) I hope your stuffy nose/sinus are doing better. I definitely think there are things in the workplace that makes us sick. With you, it affects your nose and sinuses, with me I feel sick to my stomach. Thanks for letting us know you heard from Mel, and the reminder about her birthday. Bummer about DS2 losing his keys and sunglasses.

Gotta run for now...I'll check in later.


Much love and many hugs,

Annie - Wow! Kristin sounds like an excellent cook. Memphis sounds so adorable. Ooooh, what a nice dinner you and Curtis have planned for Valentine's Day! I love those kinds of Japanese restaurants! Are you getting the snow that we are today? I'm so hoping that the temps in the mid 30s the rest of the week will just make it melt. Of course snowblowing is really aerobic.

Laura - I hope you had a really fun time in Mad-town with your friends.

Morning all.

Shad – We have a new computer too. Hope I don’t have to hear any complaints from the bf re computer stuff for a while. Too bad about DS’s lost sunglasses and keys. Live and learn – hopefully. Nope, won’t buy pricey sunglasses only to have them get scratched up and left somewhere. Thank you for painting that picture in my head. Especially the part about the green…I need that about now, and didn’t want to seek out a golf tourney on tv, lol. :lol3: Thanks for the update on Mel.

Michelle – Great news about the diagnosis for dh!!! Hope the meds wipe out that fungal thing in no time, or at least get him feeling much better and almost back to normal. Scary what was in that dusty old computer!!! :yikes: I suppose I better not put off the dusting, LOL. And to think I thought it was all just flaked off skin, haha/eeewwww. Glad to hear Mischief’s readings were up to snuff. Hope you didn’t work yourself too hard over the weekend. Nice you took time out to get together with friends to watch the dvd. It sounds very interesting. We watched Margin Call last night and I think it was supposed to be a bit like what happened w/ Goldman Sachs, which in my mind seemed to kick off the whole crisis.

Annie – You sure know how to have good weekends don’t cha?! How was your massage? I could use one of those. Definitely earmarking some bonus money for that. Now that I’m thinking about my taxes, I have one or two things going on that might hurt my refund possibilities. Boo. Have to start researching that. Nope, didn’t get much snow, but that didn’t keep Friday from being miserable…cold, wet snowflakes being blown around by the blustery wind – GRRRRR – hate that wind! Also had the cold and wind Sat. but warmer Sunday, so at least the sun melted most of the snow. 35 days til spring – whoo!! Already the longer days are perking me up! :sunny:

Ceejay – Not fair getting so cold down by you. Mmm, stew – sounds good. Sorry the nuts give you problems – I love them and at least they have some redeeming nutritional value, unlike, say, potato chips…

Happy – Baking bread – one of my favorite smells! Enjoy the gardening and cookbooks.

Hellos to Mel and Mary!!
--
My weekend was very nice, just what I needed. Friday, after I gave the software project conversion person the go ahead for the final conversion, became so much more pleasant, lol. But I was still busy as heck and didn’t get my lunch until nearly 2 pm. The best part is that the timing worked great because with the conversion going on, we couldn’t access the new software to do anything and so my weekend jaunt didn’t cause any problems with this project. The boss used the snow we were getting as an excuse to leave a bit early, but I was busy and barely made the 4:57 train. I got myself packed and bf dropped me back at the train for my trip to my friend’s place.

We stopped on the way to her place so I could eat dinner, and then we kicked back and chatted. Her sis is now living with her, as are her sis’s cat and two GIANT dogs. Wished I had more time to play with those two – so cute. Didn’t get any good photos of them though, but I will at some point – the photos will have to have people in them too so that you get an idea of how big they are – I think they’re both well over 120 pounds!!

We got on the road semi-early on Satrday and arrived in Madison before 10:30. It was nice we were able to check into our hotel room early. We didn’t do any touristy stuff to speak of, except I did at least make D take the short drive to the state capitol building. Maybe I’ll post a photo. What I did see made me want to return again with Jim in nice weather to explore some more.

What we did do was some shopping, lunch, more shopping, shooting the breeze with the two couples also in town for the visit. Then it was dinner, the hotel whirlpool & pool, more chat, and breakfast the next morning. We didn’t do anything special or eat anywhere special, but it was just what I needed when I needed it.

Ha, and the timing worked great from another perspective: BF bought a one-year old desktop computer and spent a huge chunk of Friday and Saturday transferring everything over. What a job! Except for a couple phone calls, I didn’t have to hear the usual rants about whatever issues he was encountering, LOL. Bf had been complaining about how slow our old one was for a while, but I was resisting the purchase of a new one because he was using his laptop a lot. But for what he paid for this newer one, it saved having to buy a new card reader compatible with that new (photo) memory card I bought on vacay last year. And the nice big monitor bf’s mom gave us didn’t work right with our old computer’s video card, so we didn’t have to buy a compatible video card either. And it’s got a lot of hard drive capacity, so there’s plenty of space for the big software programs bf's got loaded. I guess I should try and get the paper situation sorted out in the home office so I can enjoy using that new computer...

Back home Sunday I continued my de-stressing weekend – took doggy for a walk and that was about it. Read some of the newspaper, watched the movie Margin Call on dvd w/ bf, a bit more tv, and then off to sleepyland.
The boss is out of the office this week, so that’s nice. Plenty to do, especially get my workspace back in shape.

Okay, this is about as long as three separate posts, so I guess it makes up for Sat. & Sun. too, lol.

Not much time today. will post more later. Awaiting the snow, sleet and freezing rain. It's all around us.