Drifting through life

It's Sunday Selections time again! Time to post photos that have been hiding away in your computer files. Photos that you may have completely forgotten about. Have a hunt through and find them. Sunday Selections comes to us from Kim at frogpondsrock, who realised one day that she takes many more photos than she uses, as we all do, and wanted to post some of the older ones on her blog. A once a week meme seemed like a good idea, so Sunday Selections was born, and anyone at all can join in. I often choose a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week my theme is: STORM CLOUDS Just for Kim, who loves clouds so much. These were taken as I walked to work just before 6.30 last Tuesday morning. To join in with Sunday Selections , post photos of your choice under the Sunday Selections title, go to Kim's site, add your name to her linky list, then leave her a comment. Then have a look at what others have posted for their selection. There are some

Getting a head start on a possible move. Packing away things that I won't miss for a couple of weeks. Most of the books, most of the dvd's, summer clothes. I have a few boxes that don't seem to be too big, so I've filled those with books. I emailed a moving company that does suburb to suburb moves fairly cheaply, and asked if the boxes I was using were suitable. They said of course, just don't fill them too full. Uh Oh. Good thing I found out before I filled all of them. There's three boxes absolutely chockas with books.... I think I'll leave them. For a day or two anyway. I'll pack a few more things and then.....  see if I have enough boxes to put some of the books into another box or two. So they're not too heavy. I'm thinking of letting the packers do most of the breakables, they know what they're doing better than I do.

.....for a cheaper place to live. I think I've found one. I had news of a flat available and today I went to see it. Only one bedroom, but that's all I need, miniscule kitchen, 3 seconds to clean, no carpet, that's a plus. I hate carpet. It's such a dust catcher. There are repairs and general maintenance checks going on there at the moment, they'll be finished in a couple of weeks. I'll know on Monday if and when I can move in. I'll miss this place, but the rent is getting too high, and with electricity and all other costs of living set to rise (and rise and rise...), I had to do something. I can't stay here and become one of those elderly people afraid to use the heating because of the cost, (so they freeze to death, we've read about that sort of thing), or have to choose between heating or eating.....this way I'll be able to have both. This will be a load off my mind.

There's things happening here that have my mind churning. Thinking, thinking, thinking. I'm able to concentrate while I'm at work, but before I leave to walk there, and after I get home again, it's a never-ending question and answer session. What to do? What happens next? Planning, deciding, it's all a little overwhelming. To the point where I can't fall asleep like I used to, so I sit up reading in bed until I'm sleepy, then sleep for just a couple of hours, then I'm suddenly wide awake again. The downside is that I'm terribly sleepy just when I need to be getting up for work, but a hot shower and breakfast fixes that. Sort of. I still yawn my way through the morning. But the potential happenings are all good things and if they come to pass as I hope they will, I'll soon be sleeping well again. And if things do happen the way I'm hoping, I'll be able to tell all of you all about it, once it's done and dusted.

This basic recipe, (which I got from one of those googled sites after hearing "snickerdoodles" on some TV show), makes about 40 cookies depending on size of spoon used to put mix on trays. I like them small. To me, they're just sugar cookies, but the snickerdoodles name is funny so I'm going to keep using it. BASIC SNICKERDOODLES 2 and 3/4 cups plain flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons cream of tartar 1 and 1/2 cups of white sugar (I used caster sugar) 1 cup margarine 2 eggs, beaten 2 teaspoons vanilla essence (I used extract instead) >Heat oven to 200*C (My thermostat is busted so I set it at 170 and watched carefully) You know your own oven so set it accordingly. >Cream margarine and sugar. >Add vanilla and eggs >Mix in sifted dry ingredients. >Put spoonfuls of mix onto lightly greased oven trays, leave room for biscuits to spread. Or use that non-stick baking paper which means no washing up and catches the s

 The mixing.  The spooning.  The baking. Snickerdoodles.  With Craisins. (dried cranberries) Snickerdoodles are sugar cookies, sprinkled with a cinnamon/sugar mix while they're still hot from the oven. Usually I make them plain. I was going to make this lot with sultanas, but when I pulled the packet out of the pantry they looked rather unappetising. Instead of plump juicy sultanas, these looked more like dusty dry currants. I checked the useby date>2008. Oops! Toss those out. There'll be no flavour left in them at all. So I added Craisins instead and they turned out really nice.

It's Sunday Selections time again! Time to post photos that have been hiding away in your computer files, photos that you may have completely forgotten about. Have a hunt through and find them. This idea comes to us from Kim, at frogpondsrock , who relised one day that she takes many more photos than she uses, as we all do, and wanted to post some of the older ones on her blog. A once a week meme seemed like a good idea, so Sunday Selections was born and anyone at all can join in. I often choose a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week my theme is: CHURCHES  These first three are at Norwood, and the rest are in the city.                                                  just a couple of our many churches.  I'd planned on taking the bus to several suburbs over several weekends and getting many more photos, but that will have to wait until the warmer weather. This is our statue of the newly-sainted Mary McKillop. To join in with S

...organised cupboards and drawers.  I get a lot of satisfaction from knowing everything is where it should be,  and being able to find what I want within minutes of deciding that I want it.  It helps that I always put things in the same place, so I can see instantly if I've run out of something.  a nicely stacked linen cupboard is a joy to look into.  The wraps are tidied,  plastics are stacked according to size,  lids are next to the rounds,  even my cutlery drawer is neat. So I rewarded myself....  with marshmallow brownies. A little overdone around the edges, because I was chopping onions for..  this big pot of soup, which is now in meal sized portions in the freezer.

The spare room has been sorted, the recycling bin is full, now there's only the top of the wardrobe to sort and tidy.  And maybe toss a few things. The christmas tree and all the decorations are up there, so I won't touch that corner at all. But the other corner? That has a couple of plastic crates, one with god-knows-what and the other with old vinyl records. Too heavy for me to be lifting down, so I'll wait until one of my sons comes to visit. There's a place on the Parade that converts old records to cd's and I'll take them there to be converted. Then maybe I'll sell the originals on ebay. Surely someone out there has the same music taste as me?

It's not that long since I had a major decluttering session here. Less than a year I'm sure. Yet this week finds me once again spending time chucking out "stuff". I'm sure I don't collect this stuff. I toss junk mail into the recycling bin as soon as I've flipped through it. Real mail gets read, answered and shredded. But there it is; drawers crammed full of .......things. Paper, twistie ties, empty envelopes, pictures that have torn themselves out of magazines and hopped into the drawers to join the clutter gathering there. Recipes. Lots of recipes that I'll probably never try. Rubber bands, pencils, pens that don't work. Huh? Oh yes, I meant to buy refills for those..... So I started in the bedroom. Take one drawer completely out, empty it on the bed. Put back the things I need, ditch the rest into the bin beside my feet. Replace the drawer.  Repeat process until all drawers have been done. Move into the laundry. Haul that box

Some time ago, I wrote about where I'd like to be and what I'd like to be doing. If I could choose anywhere in the world. I decided I'd like to retire to Victor Harbor. Wishful thinking. Without a seriously huge lotto win, this wasn't going to happen. So instead, I planned a short holiday there. A long weekend. In the spring, probably September. Funding? My tax refund. Well, after doing the tax return form, I've discovered I may not get back as much as I'd hoped. And I need new work shoes. And a new supply of multi-trip bus tickets. (I usually buy a half a dozen at tax time, so I have enough to get around for a while) And a little set aside to buy gift vouchers for my grandchildren for Christmas. All of those need to come first. Then if I can still manage a weekend, I'll do it. And of course I'll take my camera! So the holiday dream is on hold temporarily. If it doesn't happen this year, I'll try for next year.

Once again I have wrestled my way through the online tax return form. Somewhere along the way I clicked on the wrong button and spent several minutes going over and over the same information I'd already covered. Several head slaps later I found my way out of the maze and successfully lodged my return. Whew!! In other news>> Today, for the first time ever, I lost my work name tag. With my locker key attached. Oh No!!! It wasn't anywhere in the store, so I concluded it must have gotten unclipped from that Master Chef apron we are all currently wearing and fallen into a customer's shopping bag. Five minutes ago, I had a phone call from my supervisor to say the name tag and key had been found. In a customer's shopping bag. In Mt Barker!!! I'll have it back when she comes to town again on Thursday. Well, that's a relief, because I borrowed the spare locker key held in the office, and if mine wasn't found, I'd have to get a new one cu

It's Sunday Selections time again! (my how time flies...) Time to post photos that have been hiding away in your computer files, photos that you may have completely forgotten about. Have a hunt through and find them. This idea comes to us from Kim at frogpondsrock, who realised one day that she takes many more photos than she uses, as we all do, and wanted to post some of the older ones on her blog. A once a week meme seemed like a good idea, so Sunday Selections was born, and anyone at all can join in. I often choose a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week my theme is: THE STUFF IN MY YARD         Angel; the cherub who used to sit in the big tub with my cherry tree.         A homemade bird nest with a toy fluffy duck.                     Cap'n Jack; christmas tinsel still attached.                    A happy little band of frogs.                     Gecko Towers       Gauze and wire dragonfly clinging to the shadecloth.      

 $7 million in funding! It won't be a lump sum of course, it will be fed out as needed, but I believe this is a huge step forward. Finding ways to help our indigenous people stay at school, having indigenous teachers who understand and can teach the cultural heritage along with the standard curriculum, surely this is a good thing. We have Catholic schools, where religion is part of the curriculum, Jewish schools, where their culture and religion is studied, languages are studied such as French, German, Indonesian. Now here is a chance for our own Indigenous people to have their own languages, culture and history studied as well as the usual Math, English, Science etc. And it's about time! Should have happened years (decades) ago.

I'll be posting on an irregular schedule for a while. Carpal tunnels are giving me grief and my little ganglion is also very painful right now. I need to rest the hands and wrists. I'll keep reading all of you, but probably won't leave as many comments.

As I leave work each morning, a couple of friends joke with me about coming too. We laugh and I say, yeah, let's close the shop and have coffee and cake at my place. We all know that's not going to happen. I go home alone. This is fine with me. I like my workmates, 99% of them at least. But when it comes to having people in my home......well, I like the idea of visitors much more than I do actually having them. Family members know me well and I know them, so things generally go alright when they visit. But I'm uncomfortable in situations where I have to make conversation. If I arrived home from work, settled down and relaxed, then had friends knock on my door for the joked about coffee and cake, I'd be rocked right out of my socks. I'd be struck dumb, with nothing to say. There might be a little conversation about how they like my home (or don't like it, everyone is entitled to their opinion), some talk about the family photos on my walls, maybe

It's Sunday Selections time again! Time to post photos that have been hiding away in your computer files, photos that you may have completely forgotten about. Have a hunt through your files and find them. This idea comes to us from Kim at frogpondsrock, who realised one day that she takes many more photos than she uses, as we all do, and wanted to post some of the older ones on her blog. A once a week meme seemed like a good idea, so Sunday Selections was born, and anyone at all can join in. I often choose a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week my theme is: PINK                                                      bottlebrush  (callistemon)                                                       bougainvillea                                                        pink daisy                                                    geranium buds                                                      grevillea