'Morning to all of you around the world,

Yesterday we went to the Botanic Gardens. 4 hours of walking around. Oofduh. Didn't really even count as walking because it was mostly stop, wait, take a picture, walk 10 steps, repeat.... :lol: Shad the Rose Garden was in FULL bloom - you would have loved it! I have a whole new appreciation for roses having seen all the different varieties. We meanderered over to the English Gardens too. 6 "rooms" of examples of English Wall Gardens - some with flowers, some with just greenery. There are benches all about, some in the sun, many in the cool shade of some overhanging branches. I often sat on a bench as DH was setting up his shots. It was soooo very pleasant and calming in there - even though there were large crowds of people milling all about - at times it was almost as if you were all alone. I wanted to rush home, put up a brick wall or 4 and plant my own English wall garden. :lol: And I now understand what a Pergola is - I think you put them up in your yard Shad. Of course DH has taken hundreds of pictures. We got home and he picked them apart one by one - shrinking them down to about a dozen or so pictures he actually liked. I am trying to get him to update Webshots so you can all enjoy them. Perhaps I have to just start shooting some pictures myself. No wait, he uses both cameras. :dunno: Anyway, I wish you all were with us, I'm sure you would have enjoyed it. There were more people than I'd ever seen there before - they had some big event with an Ice Cream Social and a Dixie Land Band. Dixie land music is music from the southern states - peppy foot tapping music featuring banjos and trumpets. DH and I got a hamburger for lunch and he promised we'd come back to get a piece of cake or some ice cream. By the time we made it back to the food area, there must have been hundreds of people in the lines. Good diet deterent as I waited about 15 minutes in a line that never moved and decided my life was passing too quickly to spend an hour and a half in a line for something I really didn't need although I did have my heart set on that Red Velvet cake :love: Good thing we went early to the gardens as it was ridiculously crowded when we left mid afternoon. People were chasing us in the parking lot to get a parking spot. I'm sure many heated arguments broke out. Shad, that picture of the sculpture of birds atop the fountain you have on Webshots is no longer in the garden. They are doing quite a bit of renovations and new gardens tho the Japanese garden is still peaceful, serene and untouched. And now it's Monday and back to work again...

Sorry to hear about your tooth Shad. I hope this does not start a chain of expensive events as I surely have been there, done that. Sometimes you wonder if it's worth eating anything at all! I once joked about the $800 peanut M&M I ate - broke the tooth and cost me a new crown and I'm not talking British money. Hope it's not too expensive at the dentist for you. DS's paint schemes sound rather interesting. It is a new thing to paint 2 different colored walls? Is the one wall that's a different color used to highlight a particular piece of furniture or wall decorations or something? Sounds rather interesting... :chin:

Mel, I hope you have had a restful weekend. Sounds like the more you resolve to get back some Mel time, the more that they bug you. I know the extra money can come in handy, I just hope that you don't let them take advantage of you. You should be compensated adequately for your time.

Teel, I'm sure Holly will be delighted to see you again. Hope you enjoy your visit with the parents. I kept thinking of you as we strolled the gardens. It reminded me of how you described your garden, small but very relaxing and intimate. I was thinking how nice it would be if we could all get together for tea one afternoon. We could dress up like fancy ladies with our giant hats, white gloves and high heeled shoes which I find I can no longer walk upright in! :lol: Your trip to Austria sounded like ever so much fun. Wish we could have come along.

Shad, you experience at the post office sounds like my confusion also. Especially when trying to figure out what is the proper way to address an envelope. I think Canada and Great Britain have longer addresses than other places. They never teach us that stuff in geography class in school :rofl:

Welll, I should get my act together and get busy doing more productive things now. Have a good day everyone...

Oh and I meant to thank you all for putting up with my endless yakking about the smokes. Sometimes I feel like a broken record and I should just shut up about it. It's just that I didn't imagine it would be this hard for this long. I thought the first few weeks would be difficult but tomorrow marks 3 months clean and by now for sure I thought it would be an occasional random thought - not still an everyday occurance thinking about them several times a day as it still is. Just like food I suppose - a habit is a habit is a habit. And we often want immediate gratification instead of what's good for us. But thank you for putting up with my rambles...

Dentist - oh yes well it went something similar to the following ramble.

Went to the dentist, he filled the tooth behind the broken one! The conversation went something like:
G’day Senevar
Gut day Yoy! Vat is zis bruk toot problem you haf?
Here it is - see front incisor 4th tooth back from the middle.
Ah ja - him filling not gut, not dere!
And it is broken inside.
Ah jah. Open ze mout. Ja Ja all fix
At this point he bungs in the gear, wads, steel bits, mirror, drill, 5 fingers and anything else he can lay his hands on. This silences me apart from the occasional grunt.
Breat tru the nose for me ja?
Grunt
Da mout not to close at any cost ja!
‘Thinks - impossible journey anyway’ Grunt!
The dentist fills the tooth. Says - dere now - try wit tongue - all smooth!!!
Wrong tooth - what is going on here.
Arghhh - de toot is rot - shall I pull!! See here mirror - look
No, if you pull, it will leave a gap. I shall have to think about this.
It rot, it will brek an’way soon!
Right, well anyway, it stays where it is no matter. I shall have to think about this.
You will be back - him toot, she rotting away, him brek soon.
See you soon then Senevar.
And the receptionist utters the first words all day - that’ll be $100 today, thank you.

So the story of the tooth continues. Yes it will have to come out, but I need to examine the consequences and what I can do to fill the gap. The dental assistant did say that the teeth will move forward, but will not completely fill the gap. She didn't elaborate as to how long it will take. She said I could also have a denture made. Seems a bit silly for one tooth. She said I could have root canal work to save the tooth, painful and expensive. But she never mentioned the teeth which can be fitted back into the gums after extraction. Maybe they don't do them any more. I shall have to make some inquiries.

Happy, the gardens sound great at the moment. Wish I had been there. I look forward to the photos - what!!! all those pictures and he only likes a few of them! :yikes: :faint: and I thought I was a perfectionist!!! Sorry to hear that the bird sculpture has gone. I liked that. Maybe they could send it over for my patio or I could use it as a focal point fountain!!! Only if they are giving it away mind you!

Smoking is a funny thing. It is far more addictive than most people realise. I'm not sure you ever get free of the addiction, just like alcohol and drugs - you just don't go to the places where you can give in and indulge one more time. I don't miss them anymore and don't want one, but sometimes a whiff of tobacco will bring back more memories than I would like. And I have been off them for nearly 15 years.

Okay, well it's time I moved my big butt and trotted off down to the gym. Running today. I'll be back to check on you all later.

Good afternoon Chicks of the World! :flow2:
I have a headache since sunday and just got out of bed to shower and change sheets!:( I just tried to read the posts but the light is killing me. So I must catch up another day. My brain hurts if you know what I mean and this is not over yet. I wanted to say hello and hope all is well.
SHAD~ I am sorry bout the tooth and hope it feels better soon. Teeth are so expensive!
Happy~ looking forward to new photos!
That's all I could get from trying to read. Sorry. :( Jen just called. She's on her way. I will shower and she will do the sheets. These rain storms all bunched up together make my sinus meds ineffective. I sometimes resort to codeine but tried no to this time. Like to save them for the backside! :rofl: Have a great week and hope to be back by Thurs or Fri. Eyes should be able to take the light by then I hope. All my curtains are closed!
Well Jen is here now and I am off to get the stink washed off!! :lol: :lol: See you soon!

I just PM'ed Happy but thought I should come back and say it here too. "LOVE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY"
I know that saying is not good for every situation but in the case of cigarettes I think it holds up!:)
Happy~ I would have been climbing the 3FC walls and screaming my head off had I been a Chick when I gave the butts up. I was like a raving lunatic and about ready for the men in white coats. Poor Jen and how she suffered. I think you have been handling it amazingly well and should never feel the need to apologize here and with us. We all whine and winge from time to time. Isn't that what life and friends are all about? So put that worry aside and whine away! :rofl: :rofl: Oddly enough, there are times when it's nice to know I am not alone in the tough "feelings" department. Hope that makes sense and doesn't sound sadistic! :rofl: :rofl:
OK this time I really am getting into the shower. Jen just about has the sheet situation all sorted out! :lol: Goodnight Friends and good morning Sunshine! :flow2:

Poor, poor Mel. Sleep it off my friend and feel better soon. I thought you may be unwell because you hadn't posted. Then I wondered about whether you were just saving yourself from the 'problems' on the journals.
We seem to be a very small group right now. Everyone is busy with Summer things to do I suppose.
Yesterday, I went off down to the gym and did a run. 50 minutes on the treadmill - 20 of them warm up and down as I find that the long warm ups do help with knees and things later in the run. Sometimes Jason is not so much the torturer as my well of good advice!!!! Having a day off the gym today and will be back there tomorrow for more weights and rowing. Weight seems to have stalled again. It really is a pain, but at least it is not going up anymore and seems to be very stable at the moment. Or maybe the scale needs new batteries???
Bathroom wise I am ready for the vanity to go in. Yesterday I picked up the mirrored door cabinet for the wall. Last things will be shelving and towel rails. But there is much to do (mainly details) before the room can be declaring finished and open for inspection. Today, I am off to DS's place to see what is left to do there and get on with it. And I will get back to the bathroom later in the day.
DS1 arrives later this week. So I will enjoy having him here for a couple a days prior to him going on down to Adelaide. I haven't heard from him since he announced he was coming, I guess the information on days and flights will come from osmosis and thought transference :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: With my brain in its state of comatose at the moment, I will probably forget I have another son.
Teel, how did the family visit go??? Time you came back and told us all about it.
Linus - where is Linus - time to stop partying and come back and tell us all about it.

Okay, I'm out of words of wisdom or otherwise and I'm hungry :hun: :hun: so it's breakfast time here downunder. Today will be banana, yoghurt, nuts and sultanas and maybe a couple of bits of toast afterwards. :coffee:

See ya

honey,im home ! did you miss me????
 

good evening ladies my god what a lot of reading ive had to do and since i finally cleaned my monitor{nicotine} its really bright in here i go away for five days and they change everything !!! :dizzy: where to start well ive been ill with the bloody back so cleo and i have spent the last four days in bed and as shes bleeding and so am i not a pretty pictuture and poor dh has been doing a lot of washing :lol3: :rofl: :rofl: my comp also decieded to play silly buggers but as dh has pointed oput i did get his old parts so it probably really needs renovating {no probably about it}so he stripped and cleaned it and hopefully that will last until august when i will have to get a new case and hard drive and cd rom i did get some new speakers but as we have found a new computer wholesalers they only cost £2.47 inc vat so that didnt dent anything :blah: MEL your going to **** in a hand basket lady you need a fortnight in a spa somewhere to recoup your self and dont feel picked on the nasty men from the government over here pick on the honest ones aswell as teel will no doubt testify to they think were easier targets because were honest and truthfully in need i have been told that if i was seperating from dh or my kids where under care orders or i had a drug or alcohol problem that i would have been rehoused by now sods law innit and yes there are some really ungrateful people out there and as for 2004 being a shi**y year bite your toungue thats when you met me !!!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: SHAD the decorating sounds like its going so well bet your sons real proud of you and all your help and after july my savings will have gone back to zero aswell but what the hay well manage and so will you your only days away from being swept up by some very well heeled company and being paid very handsomely {i hope} dont let the knee get too bad clicking is not a good thing maybe you should come and visit me and well get you a tune up and then you can go home all better you can visit our new parliament building the one that was supposed to only cost 6 million to build they have very slightly overran the budget by about one or two {5} billion and now to add insult to injury they are going to charge us £3.25 to tour the bloody thing if my council tax goes up any more im going to want to move in there never mind visit the eyesore ill get a hold of a picture for you its a modern monstrosity :mad: NAE glad your visit your meeting with the old lady sounded so lovely i used to work with the elderly in nursing homes and the ones who still had there faculties were so lovely to listen to all the things you had learned about they had lived and the wisdom that comes with great age is breathtaking HAPPY how goes the tree?? some stupid person decieded that twelve of the trees from the front and back of our buildings needed to be knocked down including a 125 foot high oak i nearly cried it looks so forlorn silly how you get attached to trees very majestic looking especially the very old ones that poor oak had been here for about 80 years before the houses where and now because oit grew so well its gone all because it was filtering the light into two houses hows that for stupid the botanical gardens sounded so nice i could almost have been there with you if you do post pics let me know TEEL sorry about the illness but glad you had a lovely holiday and are now reunited with the dog when we went to tunisia three years ago we didnt have cleo but i used to phone the mother in laws to speak to benjy and yes i did make her stand there with the phone at the dogs ear i would have known if she hadnt cause benjys the world champion at heavy breathing i call him my wee pervert well ladies im only allowed to sit for 10 minutes at a time and ive already been here half an hour so unless i want to end up back in bed i better go
speak later
kirsty

Morning Believe it or Not
 

Hello to all! So nice to hear from Linus, Teel & Happy........... Mel, you are in need of a spa retreat and some fussing over and TLC. I pray your eyes are improving daily. I say enough..... Shad, you are so industrious your house is going to be so pretty and complete you won't want to go to work any where.
My weekend was fun and eventful and relaxing all in the same weekend. Upon returning to work I am faced with lots of extra projects so have just been coming home and collapsing. It has been hot here but some fierce thunderstorms at night. On Monday night lightening struck somewhere by the house but I couldn't find where it was...that was heart pounding.
OK for my two incidents of I can't believe it. A couple of weeks ago I was given a pedometer from my boss which I use to wear one alot til it didn't function any more...so great I had a brand new one to monitor my steps a day. So the second day I wore it I was outside working on this wilderness patch I own and lost it whacking weeds before my trip...... Last night I was out trying to get my 4lb Yorkie from getting attacked by the dogs that come up to run the loop in front of my house. The owner of the two dogs was kind enough to get his dogs back in his truck before they could do serious damage to this little irritating barking creature. Upon walking back up the hill and across the area where I had taken down the weeds I found my tiny little pedometer and it still worked!!!!!YEAH
Then at about 12:30am from a very sound sleep Teeka is barking and growling from atop the bed and I hear very loud odd noises coming from the dining room kitchen area of the house..... oh sh** I thought that must be a **** of a mouse out there......So I got out of bed and turned on lights as I proceed into the area. I went to the sliding door that faces the deck that is about 25 feet in the air supported by large lumbar poles. The light scared the racoon that had managed to climb up those turned logs and had torn the bottom of my screen door slider and reached in and was pulling the rug out onto the deck....... it is so hot at night I leave the screen pulled so air can flow at night....I was just shocked that the little creature was probably trying to get to Teeka;s food dish that is just inside that screen door. Freaky! The bottom of the screen is completely torn away and the rug was totally out of the house.
It is so fun to sit and type now early in the morning the hummingbirds are so busy right outside my window fighting over owership of the feeder. They are a bossy little bird....I have two feeders so they zoom from one side of the house to the other constantly.
Hope everyone is doing better today and the aches and pains are abated soon and simple joys bring great pleasure. If it is at all possible find a bit of humor in the day or at least at the expense of other people!!!!!! :lol:
Love ya all and love reading about each of your lives that continue to touch mine!
Peace,
Nae
Another :coffee: awaits

And its good evening from me!! Shad sorry to hear about your tooth...sounds a cheerfull sort of chap, your dentist! How is the knee feeling now? More llike it belongs to the rest of your leg?? Mel I hope you too are feeling more like your normal self and your headache has disappeared off into the backround. Anyone else in the sick & injured queue? Just keep those bugs to yourselves, I don't really want to share just at the moment, thanks very much!! :lol:
So to a few more ramblings from Salzburg. It seemed every where we went we saw some famous landmark used in the film The Sound Of Music. One tour company even does an official tour of all the sights.... :^: The Mirabell Gardens and palace looked very beautiful with loads and loads of flowers planted in pretty patterns and a fountain at the entrance to the palace. We didn't actually go in the palace but pictures of it show great marble floored halls highly polished just ripe for everyone to slip over on! :rolleyes: The river was just at the end of a street a few minutes walk from the hotel and we had pre-booked a river trip but unfortunately the day we went it was grey and rainy. Not the best viewing weather.The old town was great. We went in the Cathedral (reportedly when Mozart was baptised it was the middle of winter and they had to break the ice in the font before they threw it all over baby Mozart! :bb: :fr: ) The house he was born in, on the third floor, by the way, was within a stones throw of the cathedral. Nowadays it is a museum with some of his original instruments carefully preserved, like his clavicord..looks funny today as in those days the keys were the opposite colours to what they are today. The white notes were black and the black notes, white. Don't know why...does anyone here know?? :?: There were also some of his original scores and letters written to his father when he was travelling to, I think, Venice.No wonder he died aged 35years, three flights of steps to go up and down every time he wanted to leave or get back into his house... :stress:
We were lucky to be in town on market day. SO many people all crowded into this market square. Lots of fruit and veg and meat and dried flower decorations that the Austrains use so beautifully to adorne their houses and front doorways.Cheeses and cold pressed meats and Lace and cute nic-nacs useful as pressies. It all looked very clean and fresh and was nicely presented and obviously well favoured with the locals. :coffee:
It is good to have Holly home!!! She hasn't forgotten any of her habits...as soon as the parents left yesterday I decided it was time for a sleep so I said "sleepy-time" and Holly fair sprinted in to the bedroom and leapt on the bed...such a cutie!!!
Night night for now.

:rofl: Shad you had me laughing with the dentist and the Ds and mindreading. I will giggle about this all night! :rofl: My mind boggles at how much work you do between the 2 houses and then the exercising bits too!!! :yikes: How goes the tooth situation. You are probably typing while I am! :lol:

Nae~ So glad the racoon did not get inside!! He might have had a 4lb dinner!!!! :yikes: :faint: Poor wee dog. Better get her some barbells so she can defend the house from all these intruders!! :lol: Glad the weekend went well and you have lots of work to keep you busy!!! :D

Teel~ I really liket the Vacation Tale!! Thanks. Love to hear them as you know!!! It all sounds so nice. Glad you had such a great time. Hope the chest feels better. I promise not to try and share any bad things!!!! :rofl: Only the good stuff!!! :lol:

Linus~ I am very sorry to herar about the back and was wondering the whole time you were so active just how long that back of yours would hold out!!! :lol: I usually go and go and go till some pain somewhere stops me too!! Poor DH and the "bloody" wash and I do mean that literally! :rofl: I will be laughing about this too all night!!

My head is very much improved. I did 2 loads of wash and am all caught up. Only a 1/2 load remains!:D I turned down donuts bought today and soda too!!! YAY me!! I have been reading Dr. Phil with a friend form another site. There are a few things in there that I need to straighten out for myself and I think this time I might just be ready to "let go" of the past. My cravings seem to be less this week. Not sure if it's the book or the headache!!! :rofl: I have been doubling up on the sinus meds and the head/ears are getting themselves back to normal. Between food, water and exercise....I wish I could get 3 out of 3 every day!!! Maybe when I get control of the "carb-junkie" in me I will! :rofl: They have pills for everything else......why not for sugar addicts?!?! Well I must go and check the journals and write one for myself!! LOL Hope you all have a great night and good morning Missy Shad!! :flow2:

Changed my mind. Gonna give the journals a miss. I'll shower and eat instead. I did enough for 1 day and food shop is tomorrow! Adios!

mel they do they are called saccerine and so glad you can giggle at my washing woes everyday for the last two weeks weve had four loads and sometimes five to do each day thank god i love her to bits but even though we had planned to have her bred as we have homes for 7 pups and a stud lined up but her moods have been so bad that i was ready to get a vet to come and tranquilise her last week as she is so jumpy and she stood under my comp desk and shook for three hours because the stair door was banging and the gardeners where outside and she just freaked so we are going to get her dressed as i cant put her through this again as normally shes such a cocky little bugger and so arrogant so to see her stand and quake for three hours i just cant do it to her again anyway me and cleo are going to watch top gun
speak later
kirsty

Glad to hear everyone is on the mend again. Hope the devil doesn't strike again for a while.
Tooth is okay. There is no pain despite 'she rot and bruk'. It is however turning a funny colour so there is no doubt it will go eventually, meantime I will keep off the chocolate. Funny that I can eat apples, sausages, meat etc and nothing breaks but touch chocolate and bye bye tooth.
It's just gone 9 in the morning and I have been to the gym and done a weights session. Don't worry about moving men. These muscles will move anything on their own. So if you are thinking of shifting house...... just let me know. Now I am hungry so a cooked hot breakfast is in order. Jason tells me to eat more. :kickcan:
My friend Chris of the travelling fame leaves Japan today for her France and Germany tour. I wish I was going, ach pooh I really wish I was on that plane. We spoke yesterday and consoled each other with thoughts of next year, next year.
Good to hear from everyone. I'm just going to wolf down this breakfast and go to DS house for a couple of hours. Then it's back here for clean up time, lunch, some laundry and a book in the sun for an hour or so with coffee. Following that, I have some pipe to fix for the vanity and that will be my day. I'll be back then to catch up on life in cyberspace. Have a good one.

shad my freind take it easy and if not join the miss universe contest i think its in america next year it was in south africa either way you get to travel and take more glorious photos sons paint scheme sounds interesting while i stayed with parents i wanted everything black and blood red the first co;our i painted my first house was beige go figure have a good one everybody im off to bed with thoughts of a young tom cruise in my head watch out hubby
kirsty

High on a hill was a lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo


Sing along now all... Teel, your trip to Austria sounds like it was oh so much fun and great sights to see. You painted a lovely picture for us.

Shad, I was rolling on the floor with your absolutely perfect imitation of your dentist. And to boot that he filled the wrong tooth - well guess it wasn't wrong as it was probably in need of repair anyway. I too have broken teeth on pizza, toast and soft stuff - I guess when they want to break off, they do. I completely understand your dilema about replacing that missing tooth also. I hear they have teeth they "screw" in but they probably cost as much as the back half of your car. Good luck to you. I am in awe of all your energy for the gym and fixing up the homes - could it be that old adage of getting exercise gives you lots of energy???? I can imagine how melancholy it must feel for your travelling pal to be off and her trusty partner in adventure not with her :( I do hope you can make it next year.

Mel, thank you so much for your very touching note. Thanks for the encouragement - it's good to know that this happens to other people too. I am trying hard to be a human being and not have an attitude but sometimes when you look at people all around you, it's hard to figure out why things go the way that they do. Ok, I'll not even go there as I will get on a tangent again... Good for you for turning down the sugar - I'm a sugar addict too. Which Dr. Phil book are you reading? Glad to hear you are feeling a bit better.

Nae, that was some story about the racoon. Good thing it didn't get into the house. I have heard they are quite the destructive little critters and determined that nothing NOTHING will stand between them and food. My sister had a pesky one climbing the roof of her house trying to get in. They set a trap on the roof and the only thing they caught was the only squirrel in a 20 mile radius of their home. They have lots of trees but for some reason, no squirrels to be seen and so the only one in the town gets caught in my sister's trap and is trying to commit suicide banging itself against the cage to try and get out. :lol: I guess you will now have to be on the lookout for Mr. Racoon again for a while, won't you?

Linus, I would like to see you enter the Miss Universe contest. I want to see you stand up and answer the questions in front of the judges. I think we all need a refreshing point of view like yours :rofl: Hey, maybe we all can try. Of course that would pit me, Mel and Nae against each other for the title of Miss USA. I'll drop out as with my sore feet I can't wear high heels anymore and NO ONE is going to see me in a swimsuit in the near future. But together we would indeed have some sassy answers for the audience :lol3: :yikes: I understand what you say about feeling bad for the trees being removed around the grounds by you. As you say, they have been around for so long, minding their own business and then man comes along and cuts them down because they are in his way. I have a very very tall pine tree I grew from a tiny sapling - it's my "baby". Tonight I was in the yard and I crawled up next to the bark to admire DH's pruning of the tree - it looks much healthier with the scraggly bits cut off. I looked up and there were a number of little birds flying into the tree - was probably not the BEST idea to look UP as birds were landing but I'm not always the sharpest pencil in the box :rofl: Anyhow I was admiring the tree and the birds and how my little baby provided a home, food and a resting spot to natures creatures. And it smells lovely in the winter - just like Christmas.

Enough ramblings for me - it's off to bed. I have another trip to the office tomorrow. It has been a rather frustrating week on the job this week. Why is it that the responsible people lose their jobs and the nut cases not only get to hang around, but they get raises and promotions too????? Guess I'll have to resolve it in my dreams. 'Night all...

Afew piccies now I have got more organised!!!

Teel~ Thanks so much for the pics. Very nice!! Looking forward to more tales of The Travel's of teel! :rofl:

Happy~ If the judges asked Linus the questions first we might as welll all go home. They'd either have dropped dead in the aisles of shock:yikes: or rolling in them from laughter!!!:rofl:
None of us would ever get a chance. That might be a good thing cause I cannnot picture this fat gut of mine in a bathing suit of ANY KIND!!! Nice to share your tree story too. Quite the way with prose!! Consider writing????
I am reading the Dr's book on the 7 Keys to weight loss. i don't have some of the food issues but I have the low self esteem from the disability. This book makes me think and somehow every now and then I get a snippet of info that can be transposed to MY problem. I already saw a difference in the way I handled myself today. Normally I would have held everyone's hands and said everything is going to be alright. Today I was silent and came up to my apt and did something for myself. Things of this nature are clicking for me this year. Maybe that's why I'm not "allowed" outside?!?!?:rofl:

Linus~Maybe we should take up a collection and start Shad in her own "do-it-yourself" TV program on rennovation!!! You could read all the dialog and she could do all the refinishing!!! :lol3:

Nae???????? Still chasing racoons???? Put down that rifle and get back on here. You cannot be Annie Oakley all day!!!!

Here comes a whine of sorts. The new bus has a broken wheelchair lift already. It wasn't right when it got here in the first place. Of course no one did anything and now it really is broken. The big bus is in the shop and it's driver is going on vacation on Saturday. Now I cannot go anywhere till he comes back after the 1st of August. You know how I must feel. Mostly ready to kill people!!! :lol: :mad: :lol: Thank God I don't have a baseball bat in my hands! :rofl:

I am at present trying to understand the reason why I am having so much trouble with things that have wheels on them this year!!! First the old bus, broken wheelchairs, new chairs and now new busses!! WTF!!! It is so humid out as in Africa Hot that I don't feel like going to the supermarket in my own buggy. some dangerous streets to cross alone too. (sigh) Guess I will have to find some other way. It's not getting food into the house.....it's just trying to get OUT OF THE HOUSE!!! Before I go insane!!! :faint: Have a great day. I am having trouble with the journals too. I can post and read and comment only on page one!!! :rofl: Does anyone know if the journal has wheels on it too?!?!?!?!?

Shad however did I just miss your post?!?!? Hope nothing else rots or bruks!!! I am afraid the devil has struck the bus this time. Better the bus than me!!! :rofl: Hope the book and coffee went well. God knows you deserved the rest. Wish you could have gone with Chris too. Next year......
When I'm ready to move into your neighborhood, I'll call you first!!! You can come and pack me up and move me out!!!
Having sweet dreams I hope!!

I'm tired of this. I'm tired of the constant struggle to get this weight off. I'm tired of getting to a point where it looks like I am achieving something like a disappearing kilo when the next day, back it comes with a vengeance and more of its mates hop on the wagon - or in this case the body. How long will it take before I see results? Let's put it this way:
For six months I have been beavering away at gym. For my efforts I have lost 3kg (sometimes 3.5kg) and regained 2.5 as of todays scales. Sure it's nice that my clothes don't fit so well anymore, but that bl**dy scale is the most useless piece of junk I have in this house. I'm beginning to wonder the same about this body. Eat more says the trainer and promptly the body stores it amongst the already overendowed lumps of flab that I have. Thanks Jason. Drink more all the diet magazines and healthy lifestyles scream. I drink the water and it gets stored in the wrists and ankles. I'm tired of this. I have enough other things to think about - Please Sir, my brain is full, can you just take one thing away from me so I can concentrate on the rest of my life doing something else and if it can't be weight, can it be the bills???

Sorry, whinge over. I feel better now. There is a whole raft of people out there with worse troubles than mine and I should be grateful for mine being of the paltry variety. :kickcan: :kickcan: :kickcan: :kickcan: :kickcan:

Mel, I am so sorry to hear about the bus. What is it with that lot. Like does anyone care out there about the welfare of the people in your apartment block. Surely you are not the only one who needs to use this lift. Most places over here gave up on having a bus because of the cost of maintenance and permits and licences etc. Now the cab companies run an outfit called Maxi Cabs - which are like mini buses with wheelchair hoists in the rear and you call 'em up when needed. Drivers are all trained in handicap methods - such as lifting or handling the people. While the cab owner pays for the conversions of his van, the government will give grants and the people using the cabs have government funds to call on to use them. They only pay a small portion of the fare. These things started in NZ years back when we were in the cab business and both I and the ex had our qualifications for the maxis. Wish I was over there to get you out and about and checking out the neighbourhood.
Chris will be in Germany now. I think she was flying into Frankfurt and meeting up with a Japanese friend who speaks German (teaches in Germany I think). They are going on some bus tours of Germany and perhaps Poland and then she is going to France before flying out of Paris back to Tokyo. In a way I am glad not to be there. Bus tours are not my thing. I can't stop and take photos where ever I want and I can't go tootling off down some long forgotten by-road to see what is at the end of it. Bus tours are fine if they are short. Anyway, I am not there.
The weatherforecasters have been predicting rain for the last week. As I look out the window this morning, it looks like another glorious day out there. We do desperately need some rain. NZ has been copping it all over the last week with some disasterous floods and earthquakes over there.
Anyway, I had best go and get on with my day over here I guess. Running at the gym - lets hope Jason can run faster than me with the mood I am in - then to DS's place again, then back here and instead of a lunch which I don't need, I will soak up a bit more sun with my book in hand. I must get me another hammock - the last one disintergrated in the weather - and then I will be able to snooze out there as well. Then I might just go call a few of my ex training people and see if they know anyone who might need a trainer or documenter for a few days or a week. Networking may be the only way to get back into the workforce at the moment.

So be good, all of you. Sending go away Racoon thoughts for 'Nae and bye bye blood blues for Linus. It's amazing how the hormones work so strangely for dogs as well as humans. Poor little dog.

Catch you all later.

hey
 

Mel yells and I heard!!!!!!! I am having a git it done kinda day.....I am suppose to be on vacation but I have so many things nagging at my mind and things to accomplish so I set down today and started on the list....... I took afew minutes with my Teeka and I went for a swim..... don't you just love dogs that are so trusting and just want to be with you....I put her whole 4lbs onto of a good life jacket and she just is content to be with me out on that water... she is my best friend.
So now I am ready to head to town and do some office stuff and make a few errands.... Mel I am so sorry that the bus situation is having you stalled.... oh pooh.... can't something go right for just a whole week for you girl!!!!!! I hope they solve this problem sooner than expected. I just learned that one of my patients/friend is leaving the area and I am so saddened by this but glad that she is willing to take a risk and move from this area. I will miss her...I do already and she isn't even gone yet.
I have been eating so healthy today and even drinking my water.... I used my pedometer yesterday and travelled 4.7 miles alone just at work yesterday. Love to hear the travel stories and the pics you gals are doing is so great for us!
Talk to you all soon....will let you know if I take off camping by myself this weekend....
Peace,
Nae

Maxi cabs! another good reason to move down south! :lol: i am tired of weight watching too. My scale has dust on it and can stay that way till I think I really have lost something! :rofl:
Poor Jason. wouldn't want to be in his shoes either! :lol: Nor my busdriver's! :rofl: I turned off ALL phones and have not heard a peep out of anyone! Hope your day is a good one. I spent mine with Jen!! she took the flaming bird home thank God!! I was threatening to send him to your Sunday!:rofl:

Nae~ So glad to hear from you Miss Oakley!!! :rofl: I would love a pooch like all of you have but the allergies!! OUCH!!! It is a great feeling when kids or pets are so trusting. Unconditional love. Great thing! Hope your day is a great one too! Sorry to hear your friend is moving. Very brave of her. Keep up the good work with food and water!!! Congrats.

Jen helped me move some stuff. We got to have a loooong chin wag too. Kinda clears the air. disabilities have a way of clouding some issues. We don't hold any punches so it straightens both of us out at the same time! :lol: Thenshe went "shopping" in my kitchen and left!! Scares me what will happen to her when I am no longer here! :rofl: :rofl: I worry about the bird too! :rofl: :rofl:
The shower is calling my name and I am tired from everything today including self pity! :lol: Goodnight all!

:coffee: Hello. Now what to say to ease the woes of the 80 chicks around the world thread?I really cannot say anything to help about the perennial problem of not losing weight. I am 100% successfull in NOT doing it! Though I will give Miss Shad a gentle kick in the you-know-where...missing lunch IS NOT A GOOD THING TO DO!! :nono: Even a yoghurt would be better than nowt.I am not really lecturing...I am very bad at missing breakfast. :coffee: Now of course if breakfast at home was as good as the schmorgassbord (somehow I don't think I spelt that correctly!) there would be no problem at all. Perhaps it's just as well... I can feel the lbs piling on just thinking about all that lovely cold meat and cheese and wonderful bread... :dizzy:
Shad I am very sorry that you are feeling so mizzy at the moment. All I can say is that even if the weight is not dripping off all this gym activity :tread: must be doing heaps of good in your body and when you have reached the ripe old age of 80 you will still be as supple as a gazelle...now where's a vision to behold!! Coime on kid...you can do a mountain full more than me any day!! And why I think of it, why are you weighing yourself every day? :coach: Throw those darn scales away...or at the very least, get DS to hide them in his house and only let you use them once a week!! :goodscale
Okay. Lecture over. Here now is a huge big [[[[[[[[[[HUG]]]]]]]]]] :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:
I went to a really brilliant concert last night at the Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal. It was The Locrian Ensemble, a quintet of well renowned professional players with guest performers...a harpist and a baritone soloist. Their programme included Elgar's Nimrod, Pomp & Circumstance No. 1, Suza's Trinity Bell (but they didn't have a bell...the basist said DING at the appropriate moment!) a couple of harp pieces, O Sol Mio ( the Cornetto song) something from Riggoletto, the Hornpipe (last night of the proms usual) and a beautiful rendition of The Meditation from Thais. The performers were all dressed in period costume, wigs included. The theatre was packed to bursting and ear wigging on conversations when leaving the theatre enabled me to learn that this ensemble visits Bury every year and for some people it was their third year of going to the concert, but not one piece was repeated from last years programme. Brilliant. :encore: :encore:
I'm glad you liked the Salzburg photos. If you are very good I'll regail you with some more!! We went to a dinner-concert in the Stiftskeller St Peter restaurant by the Amadeus Consort Salzburg. It was again a period costume set-up...but NO wigs! All Mozart and held in the oldest recorded restaurant in Europe..circa 803 A.D. The music was awesome but the meal...well, what say you? There was "cream of lemon soup with cinnamon", "prime boiled beef of veal with amaretto, parsnips and roasted potato cubes"..(eh?) and "Semi frozen parfait of honey" on a beautifully decorated plate that had a sillhouette of Mozarts bust in dusted cocoa and a stave with a few notes in chocolate icing. :D It is SO nice, speaking as a classical musician, to see that people do still enjoy classical music in a live setting. There is nothing like it, as far as I'm concerned. I miss performing very badly.Great to get to a concert but I wish it was me up there playing!

Good Morning Wordly Chicks!! I think today will be a lazy one. Sinus and meds make Mel a.......see I can't even think of a word!! Eyes are burning, nose stuffed, head heavy....how can this be when I live in air-conditioning! :rofl: Guess I'll just have to suck it up and clean the house. The wash is all caught up except for the sheets that will come off the bed today or tomorrow. Forgot to defrost some meat so cooking will be Saturday instead. Maybe DVDs and some reading this weekend and MANY pills!!! :rofl: Hope you all have great weekends. I know mine will be a restful one!!! :faint:

Hi Miss Mel! You posted at exactly the same time as me! How are you holding up? Not too good by the sound of it.Take it easy this weekend and make sure you eat if you are having to rely on pills to get yourself through the days at the moment.Cant have you suffering with gastritis on top of everything else, my friend.:(
Well I guess it must be time for me to eat something today. Having lectured Miss Shad I'd better practise what I preach.
Ah, the photos, by the way, are...1.View from The Fortress (the missing salad cafe!!) 2. One of the many paintings in the cathedral and 3. Some very good buskers just outside the cathedral who at the time were playing Carmen. Brilliantly talented musicians!!
Ta ta for now. Try be good all of you and yes that would include me too!!

I went to go and get MY breakfast and heard the mail call! We did post together!! Teel I love pics as you already know so this is a great start to my day!! The concert sounded wonderful and one could almost hear the music with your description. :cb:
On the sinus front....this too shall pass. Just don't want to run into things now and make PHYSICAL injuries to boot! :rofl:

Shad~ Teel just reminds me that I wanted to ask if you are still retaining much water and if so what were the results of your tests. I don't think I remember you saying anything about your pills or did you say he cut them down?? I find soy milk and asparagus a good way to get rid of fluid. But I know it doesn't work for everyone. I hope all our love and caring helps while this is going on! ((((((((((SHAD)))))))))))

evening all {that was my impression of a cop} now before i forget SHAD go to www.bbc.co.uk and go to gardeners world they had a program on tonight giving a year in the queens private gardens and it was good you have to go and see they are so big you dont realise how big it is from the outside and the grounds are so complex all the studies and nature programs that go on things you never get to hear about now if i won the lottery id give SHAD the money to start her own business and to travel the world to MEL id give her her own transport and chauffer{a nice sexy ex fireman} and tickets to visit everyone to HAPPY and ds id give trips to go all over this wonderful planet to study all the butterflys and creepy crawlies your hearts desire and the funds to never have to work again so youd have plenty of time to do so to NAE you my freind id give the power to go all over our world and to meet as many influential women as your heart desires not forgetting our shad, mel, happy ,teel and just for fun our mad clan to TEEL there are so many things id like to give you but mainly the good health and happiness to live your dreams and the power to find that family if you should so desire and of course to be able to take holly on your travels of the worlds famous opera houses and of course to visit us all i think benjy and cleo would like holly and promise to behave impecabbly and for me well i already have my hearts desire i have my kids my husband who is also my best freind my family and my dogs i also have some very dear freinds who help me through some bad times and laugh with me through the good and that includes all of you my new found freinds who mean so much to me and have given me the push to get up from bed so many times so i can see into your wonderful and varied lives and for that i thank you all and MEL conner said **** come and give aunt fanny a lift on his bike :lol:
kirsty

Oh you girls are so great. I love you all to bits

I won't give up, even though I am bored and tired of it all. No I don't weigh myself everyday, just so happened that I hopped on the scale for the first time in a week and found it had gone up 1.5kg. It is sometimes just all too hard - it's hard to explain, but it just seems that I spend so much time thinking about food and what is good for me, what seems to help and what doesn't and then the wrong thing happens and I chase my tail trying to get this extra weight off. Why doesn't it come off as easily as it goes on. Yes I can see a few changes in the body, yes my clothes are much looser than they were, yes I can go back to a smaller shoe size, but............... there is always a but......... Sometime soon I am going to have to buy health care insurance. I don't want too, I pay enough through my taxes to have health care and it's not my fault that the free system is abused. Now medical insurance takes little notice of your overall health, they don't care about you as such, but they do care if you fall into the so called obese or overweight range as far as their scales are concerned and charge accordingly. So I need some of these kilos to shift and soon. As for the pills the 2nd doc told me not to take. I didn't for a whole week and carried around with me nearly 5kg of water weight mostly in the wrists and ankles and boobs. It took 7 days of pills to get rid of it (and little sleep because I was racing back and forth all night) I don't mind not having them, but not if I am going to be a water balloon for the rest of my days and he doesn't seem to have an alternative remedy. Then there was Jason who said that I should eat more because of the weights and exercise making the muscles work harder and need more sustenance - the direct result of which is this 1.5Kg gain since Monday. I don't know how long it will take to get this off again. Enough of my woes. This too shall pass. I just get soooooo tired of walking the line all the time and the thought of it stretching out forever and ever doesn't really do much for me I can tell you. Roll on death - old age pension is too far off.
DS#1 arrives today. He will be here for a week and then start his new job in Adelaide. I don't know how long he will stay with me, probably 3 or 4 days before going to hang out with his mates. I look forward to seeing him.
DS#2 will be painting most of the day before racing off to the footy. I have requested that he stick to plain walls and I will come along and do the trim as I am able. He grinned and agreed and will probably forget what I said immediately.
I suppose I should now get up and go do things ready for the imminent arrival. My friend Chris from down the road borrowed some bedding for the Canadians and said she would return it this week and hasn't so I need to go back and get that stuff otherwise DS may well freeze in the middle of the night - maybe not as Wellington has been a mite cool lately I gather.
The Champagner rose managed to flower this week. It is supposed to have an almond type scent. For the life of me I can't smell anything on it. Still I thought that about Shocking Blue as well and in it's second year it has got better and better. Champagner is a cream colour sometimes tipped with pink. More than that I can not say as there has only been one flower so far.
Okay, I have rambled long enough. I'd best go sort out the house for the grand arrival and then get ready for Pilates. Oh and I'd best go shop for veges as well. This one is vegetarian. Then I best sort out some recipes to cook for him - perhaps I best do that before the shopping so I know what to buy.
Connor and Mel on a bike. The mind boggles. :yikes: :stress: :faint: :rofl:

Shad, I am really sorry you are so frustrated at the moment and I completely understand. You have really put so much more oommph into your gym workouts, one would think you'd see you'd see the scale moving a bit. The frustrating part is that you are "downsizing" as the muscle you're building gives you more form but as you say, the silly insurance companies only look at the surface details. You could be an anorexic and in the worst of health and a terrible insurance risk, but those numbers would look fabulous compared to someone who was lean and mean and strong. Go figure. :dunno: Vent, but don't look the faith woman.

And who are you supposed to listen to. I have gotten to the point where there is so much conflicting information that I have had to step away from it a bit, just to sort my head out. This is good, no it's not, yes it is, only if you do it on alternate Tuesdays on odd numbered days... :headache: And that's just the stuff that makes sense - I don't even give a second thought to the foolish, fad, gimick stuff.

Anyway, you just keep plugging and focus on being healthy. Enjoy your time with DS#1 this weekend. Find some interesting new vegetarian recipes.

Linus, what a sweet post you made. :grouphug: If I had more money than I needed, I would find a way to get us all together. The problem would be in deciding where to meet. Probably up Teel and Linus' way would be good as it is halfway - not too long of an airplane ride and much lovely country to see. But imagine the fun we could all have if we we were to spend an extended weekend together. Seeing as most of us haven't seen what the others look like, first game would be to figure out who's who just from the looks, eh?

Mel, I have the same Dr. Phil book, I am trying to make my way through it now. I find it's easier to find some time over the weekend than during the week. Asparagus you say for curing water retention? That's interesting. I really like asparagus, will have to eat more of it. I can't do soy with the thyroid. Hope your sinuses have calmed down - don't know if it's been the cooler summer weather or what but mine have really bothered me quite a bit. Not fair since they are so evil over the winter, I look forward to a break over the summer months instead of headaches and a drippy faucet of a nose. Hope you feel better. Sorry to hear of the rotten bus situation. I think you need to find a new friend who has a motorcycle WITH a sidecar so that you can go tooling around the state. Sure is a problem tho when you have to depend on someone for a ride, isn't it?

Teel, wish I could have been with you in Austria. Loved your pictures and the descriptions of your travels. We look forward to more. That cream of lemon soup with cinnamon sounds quite interesting. I'm such a sucker for soups.

Nae, where did you find a lifejacket for the dog? Enjoy your vacation and camping trip. I told DH today that I must pay closer attention to the weather. A cool front kicked in - way cool for this time of year and it's going to be absolutely stunning for camping. I have a day and 1/2 left of vacation and had I planned ahead of time, I could have taken a half day off - DH already had the day off and we could have packed the car and trotted off with as DH says WAY too much STUFF for just 2 days of camping. Oh well I say :dunno: might be true but don't I always have exactly what you're asking for? I WILL get at least one camping trip in this season, yes I will.

I guess with the nice weather that means we'll focus on getting things done outside for the weekend. Some of my flowers were looking rather droopy which I attributed to the cool weather so far. Sure enough, it was seasonally warm last week and boy did they perk up. Even our little hybiscus bush has tiny buds on it.

Hope you all enjoy the weekend. Is this THE weekend we all promised to be good? *** giggle, giggle ****

:lol3: :lol3: Linus, please tell Benjy and Cleo that they needn't bother on Holly's account!!!
I am extremely lucky this weekend. A. and I are going to see an outdoor performance of Carmen tomorrow evening. It is to be held in the grounds of an old, very old hall, I think Tudor dated. I have never been to the hall before and apparently there is a lake and the performance is held in front of the floodlit house and all the lights reflect beautifully in the water....stunning I expect!!:D :love: Oh and you can picnic in the grounds beforehand...yum yum.
Linus, m'dear, you have so many kind wonderful thoughts in your brain..I think if I won the lottery I wouldn't be around to enjoy it...I'd have dropped dead from the shock!! :lol: :lol::faint: And as Shad rightly said "Connor and Mel on a bike!"...THIS I have got to see!!!!
Shad I truly hope that life is better for you in the coming days. You have worked far too hard to be disappointed in this way. Have a great time with number 1 son before he starts in Adelaide. How is the weather over there at the moment? Warm enough for a stroll out somewhere? And how is number 2 son's painting colour scheme looking? Are we to look forward to some piccies later in the year?
Happy have you worked out lately how much you have saved since giving up the "weed"? Over 3 months now...nearly 100 days. I think that is an awesome thing to have accomplished and I congratulate you again and again. If only I had your tenacity I might have lost loads of weight by now instead of merrily gaining a few pounds on top of the lots of pounds I had already decided to keep!! Very well done, my friend!! :cheers: :cheers::cp: :cp:
Roseblush, how is the local racoon population faring? And PLEASE PLEASE will you take a photo for us of Teeka in her life jacket? What a gorgeous fun loving pooch!! Will you take her camping with you? Does she get her own tent?
Mel...shame about the bus wheelchair lift. It makes me so darn mad. Doesn't anyone take a pride in their job anymore? All I can say is try and do a bit of self preservation and relaxation for the next week till you can get out and about again...though I wouldn't hold your breath that it will be properly fixed then...you know how these things go....:kickcan: :kickcan: :rollpin: :rollpin:
Ah I just remembered. Does any one here remember way back at the beginning of the year reading a book on something to do with finding inner self...or life or something along those lines? I just cannot remember what it was called. It was one of those "can't put down" books. I have a feeling it may have been Happy or Mel....Was it a Dr. Phil??
No piccies today. I have to download the second and third photo c.d.'s first....

Happy Saturday Chicks of the World! Or Sunday as the case may be! :rofl:

Teel~ Dr Phil wrote a book called Self Matters and it also has a companion workbook that you can buy. It's separate of course!!!$$$$ His Ultimate Weight Solution book made such a hit there was a lot of talks going on about Self Matters. Your date sounds delish!!! The lighting alone is wonderful to think of. I hope you both have a great time.

Happy~ get out the sleeping bags and get the butt out there camping before the first snow! :rofl: :cb: I too am tired of the conflicting diet crap. Also of the Govt. changing their minds on what is good and bad and then good again! :faint: But through it all, I am weeding out the garbage in my diet and getting healthier at least. Not much thinner but healthier I hope! :lol:

Kirsty~ You bring tears to Aunt Fanny's eyes!! Tell Conner in my next lifetime I will come and take him up on that bike ride. Don't want to make Auntie Shad too nervous!!! She's in a dilemma right now. No knowing how she'd react to us flying down the hills of Scotland!!! :rofl: :rofl: ((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))) for thinking such sweet and generous thoughts for me!!!

Shad~ ????????????? is all I can say for the weight issue. How about a "real" (lol) diet for 7 days to see if it will make a difference?? :faint: I know you're not a fan of fad diets but I couldn't come up with anything else! Hope the weekend with DS1 is a great one and maybe the vegetarian menu will get things moving?! I too can't wait to see DS2's color scheme in pics and your vanity!!!

I think Nae is out swimming with the pooch!!
Have a great Saturday and enjoy. Ours is dark and dank so cleaning and TV are the schedule for today!! Adios Friends!

teel, I forgot....when I looked at the pics, it took me a minute with the first one to realize I had to turn my head!!!! :faint: :lol3: :lol3:
I laughed so hard that I cried!!! It was the turning point of my day!!! :rofl: :rofl:

Where is everyone?? Am I the only one with no life?!?! :rofl:
Shad the parcel has arrived! I am surprised we are not all arrested!! Jen and I got a great laugh when we saw the MAP!! :rofl: "They" will think we are spies and trying to locate vulnerable areas!!! :rofl: She is coming down later and we will hang it up on the wall!
Thank you sooooo much. I have looked all over and was going to order one on-line. The stars can go on the map but the butterflies are going to decorate my old and new wheelchairs if it ever gets here! :lol3: :lol3: They are so beautiful!! Happy's pictures come to life! You just made my day!!
:shrug: Now we must decide how many miles per minutes pedalled?!?:shrug: So very sweet of you to send it!!! ((((((HUGS))))))
PS~ We loved the ribbon decoration! :rofl: The map arrived in grand style!! We just saw the map has the butterflies on it where everyone lives!!! How great!!! Who is the star? DS1??? He will have to be moved now!!! :rofl:
Or is that........ God I forget her name now!! :lol:

dont worry mel im here just as im not allowed to sit as my spine has gone on the fritz again i thought id be able to slip on for a nice long blether but dh got my freind to phone me so i couldnt do anything so she called at 7.45 and she hung up at 10.50. so much for my long blether so im just popping on to say if i feel better ill pop on tomorrow and if not ill post a wee one wish you where all here tonight as its the start of the festival and were being bombarded with fireworks from the castle and they really go overboard dogs are under my duvet and the kids are on the balcony and as its minus 2 with the wind chill and they are in there jammies im going to go and rescue them
speak tomorrow
kirsty

The star is to remind us all of just who and where is the centre of the universe and you will see that it is not any country that we live in. It is of course my country. I was going to attach ribbons to all of our addresses and carry them to New Jersey (all roads lead to Mel), but it become a bit hard to get the ribbons to fold up with the map. You can use the stars and/or butterflies to add extra people to map as they come and go. Shaker of course lives a bit north of where I placed the star. I plonked it down near to where I used to live. I'm surprised it arrived so quickly. I was sure it would be opened and checked out thoroughly.
Not much to report here. I picked up DS1 yesterday, actually his plane was early and he was waiting for me and we came home to find little brother and nephew esconced on the couch watching the footy - which of course we won, albeit in a rather nail biting fashion. We then watched the Brisbane Lions demolish their opposition and finally the Bill and went to bed. Today, will be doing a few chores and generally mooching about. BJ doesn't want to do too much during his week here as he is tired from packing, selling, moving and generally doing what one has to do to shift house to a different country. He is talking about going to O'Reilly's up in the mountains for a day to photograph - he's worse than me about photography and you should see his cameras!!!! :faint: almost needs a bodyguard to guard the precious jewels, and that is about all apart from catching up with a few friends and family. :gossip: :gossip: :cheers:
So today will be spent sorting out some breakfast food for him - he doesn't like my choice of cereals! shopping and pottering about. Got over last nights dinner with cheese omelets and salad, of which nephew inhaled at great speed and still got around to looking like a refugee and some of the best strawberries I have eaten for a long time - of which nephew ate at least a punnet full on his own and half a loaf of fresh made bread. I won't say how many pieces nephew had, but there is not much left of the loaf. Nephew is passing into typical teenage years - rapid upward growth and insatiable appetite. He's 13 and looks like a stick figure.

Anyway, time to go fix some breakfast, shower and do something else. Catch you all lighter!!!!! :lol3: :rofl:

Oh while I think about it - that concert sounds great Teel. With the reflections and all. There used to be a place in New Plymouth in NZ that had concerts in a sound shell across a lake. It was a delight to go on a still night and listen to the music, see the swans gliding across the lake and listen to beautiful music. Yours sounds just as good. Yum Yum - feasts for the soul.

Ok Miss Mel, since you started talking about your parcel, you will now have to give us a less cryptic version of what it is since you have peaked my curiousity. I take it that it's some sort of map of distances so you can track your pedalling to visit us all but what's with the stars and butterflies?

At the nature museum they have a video of Monach butterflies and their migration south in the winter. They congregate in a specific grove of trees and their numbers are so great that the weight of them is enough to snap the limbs off the trees if you can even imagine that! So did Shad send you some butterflies to carry you and your magic chair across the winds to wave hello and stop for a spot of tea???? :cheers: Just be careful flying over Scotland and you don't want to catch a firework over Kirsty's festival and go up in flames :yikes:

Ok, so if I won the lottery then I could go to school for therapeudic massage and could then help you relieve some aches and pains in the back, spines, necks and so forth. Until then, all I can offer is to share some of my aspirin and linament. The linament's active ingredients are camphor and turpentine - stinks something fierce but DH swears by it. If you call ahead, I'll warm up some towels and get the linament ready for you. I have about 12 boxes of tea, pick a flavor and I'll put a pot on too.

DH and I have finally figured a bit of an answer to the dilema of what to do under the tree out front. We picked up some materials at the store just now. He's starting it while I get dinner on the table. Will take a picture once it's done. Nothing fancy as we are trying to conserve funds for my imminent "not so vacation" but it looks better than it did a few weeks ago.

Best go chop up the salad now, take care ladies. Why so cold in your part of town Linus????? Summer over already? Or are you just closer to the North Pole than I thought?

Oh the start of the Edinburgh Festival along with the Tattoo. But hey that's a bit cool to be out and about in pyjamas. What happened to summer Linus?

Happy, the map is a normal map of the world Australasian style - Mel had been saying that she wanted a map of the world so she could pedal away to your place and mine and everyone elses too. So I found one and put butterfly stickers on the places where we live. Mel will now have a choice of where she wants to go and which way she wants to pedal. For example she may decide to pedal to my place via Egypt on webshots and she may do a detour on the way to your place via South America or visit Canada on the way to Scotland and England - taking in Ireland along the way. I think the map has a legend as to how far things are, but she may need binoculars to find it. She can certainly put a flag to the country now anyway!!!!

When you have time go to http://community.webshots.com/user/joy_clover
and have a look at SW England and Wales (well Conwy in North Wales anyway).
Pedal faster MEL

summer what summer we are not getting one this year apparently june had the highest recorded rainfall ever on record and it switches between being swelterinly hot to chucking down in the space of about five minutes and for the last four days weve had gale force winds so brilliant for washing but not so good for goosebumps and sunbathing forget it it was actuallly about 10 but with the wind chill minus 2 so we face south and where getting sun to the front and gales to the rear and by 10 last night just winds but the rain held off until about 3 am so it didnt put a damper on the fireworks must tell you i got a new computer desk as my old one was past its sell by date and was in grave danger of falling to bits so mum and me where passing the me foundation charity shop last week and we spied it so after some manouvering{the parkings terrible in edinburgh }we went in and this desk was only £15 pound and id been looking at the same one in the shops for £55 pound but when we got the man to bring it to the car it still had the cellophane on the uprights and its got loads of disc storage and its solid so will stand up to my constant moving around anyway dh keeps telling me to get up so have togo and will pop back later and mel ill start baking the scones if you smell them you might pedal faster
kirsty

Put the scones on Linus I'm on my way to see you and Teel!! Sounds like I better bring my flannel PJs!!! Brrrrr Nice desk story. Always love a bargain. good thing it's sturdy with all the rearranging it's bound to get! :rofl: Hope you are feeling a wee bit better!

Shad~ The official resting place for the map is over the front of my bookcase! LOL I am going to have jen move some pics on my wall and put it there. I need a space where the chair wil fit. I could keep it folded but then where would the motivation be?! :rofl: First thing Monday I am off to see teel and Linus. Maybe I should pick them up and head for your house?!?! We can all end up in Happy's Bed and Breakfast!!! I hear they have lovely butterfly photos on all the bedroom walls! When I got up the map was a lovely surprise all over again!!:-) Have "fun" with all the "children" about!!! I can just imagine the new tales of exploits and just think Shad......another new home to paint and fix up!!! Get on a payroll and you may never have to job hunt again?!?!?

Happy~ What is going under the tree? An all-aroud bench? Would be a good way to keep the leaves off the ground all around it!:-) Some place for me to put my feet up on when I come to visit!!! Just guessing. As you have read already....it's a map with beautiful butterfly sticker on our home areas. I'll pedal "Around the world" to 80 Chicks!!! I only need about 74 more!!! And where is Shaker anyway?????? I will have to roust her out when I get there!:lol:

I decided to first go out to sea cause there nwill be others I want to visit on the journal too. I think Madcat was the one with the map idea so I will check out everyone's addie and get going with stickers!!! but I have a question....
HOW FAR IS 30 MINUTES?!

I would imagine it could get you to New York!!!!