Drifting through life

The book... the look. You'll notice this display tree is 6 feet tall, nicely rounded and fat with branches. This is called the "Shimmer" look. All of the decorations are gold. Not real gold of course, simply gold coloured, made from that cheap stuff that allows these baubles to be sold for only four dollars a packet .  (At Coles , I haven't checked the prices at other supermarkets). Well within my budget.   The baubles , mostly gold with a few shimmery pinks mixed in. Balls in three sizes and elongated baubles , some are shiny , some are matte , many have glitter . All of them are pretty. I even bought a packet of glittery stars .   And of course I had to have the sparkly tinsel! Christmas just isn't Christmas without tinsel. Now here's my tree. Clearly not six feet tall, (it's about 90 or 100cms), not nicely rounded, certainly not fat with branches. In fact it's rather spindly.  When...

When I moved in here I didn't bring many of my old pot plants with me. There just wasn't room as most of them were quite large. I did bring a pelargonium... ...which has since been planted in the communal garden, near a shady tree, and my last three rose cuttings, two yellow and one red, all of which are also now in amongst the other, older rose bushes. I also brought along this jade and three smaller ones in smaller pots. This big one wasn't doing so well after about a week, because I'd had it on the front corner of my tiny porch and someone unknown had kicked or tossed it down the slope of the lawn. It had rolled down quite a way, with most of the soil being lost into the grass, so I plonked it back into the pot, put it back on the corner and started saving for some new pots. various neighbours said it must have blown off in the wind, but as subsequent gale force winds failed to move it, I'll stick with my theory. I'd thought I mig...

I'm not staying long, I'm in a hurry to get back to the book I'm reading. Called The Mushroom Man, by Stuart Pawson, I began reading it yesterday. The first chapter didn't really grip my attention, but I kept going in the hope that the story would improve a bit. Well, it certainly did that. I'm up to page 142 and so far there's been three murders, an accidental death, a suicide and a child kidnapping. I was reading this at work this morning, (no, not at the checkout), while I waited for my shift to start and I have to say when it was almost time to go downstairs and start work, I really, really, didn't want to. Yet work I did, for hours, all the while wanting to be reading the story. So, here I am at home, checking email, reading a blog or three.....four...ten.....okay, all of you. I may or may not leave comments, because my book is right there beside me, calling...calling...calling....

Welcome to Sunday Selections #47 As bloggers, most of us have built up a collection of photos that we might use on our blogs. Often as newer photos are filed and used, a lot of the older ones are forgotten about. They lie dormant in our hard drives, quietly sing ing to themselves, "what about me...it isn't fair..." Well, here's your chance to use these forgotten photos. Search your pictures files and find a few that deserve to see the light of day, or even just one.... Post them on a Sunday, under the Sunday Selections title, then link back to Kim at Frog Ponds Rock , because this wonderful concept is hers. Then go to Kim's site, add your name to her linky list and leave her a comment, because she just loves comments. It really is that easy! I often choose a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week my theme is: CONSTRUCTION This construction is/was taking place on a site that used to be a 100 bed nursing home for the elderly. The old...

I woke up this morning looking forward to going to a birthday party later this evening. Made pancakes for breakfast, tidied up, decided I'd wash the dishes, because I hate coming home to a dirty sink. I have one of those taps where you lift the handle to start the water flow. Turned this handle to the left because that connects the hot water, and as I turned it, the silly thing lifted itself, too fast, too high, now it's broken and won't shut off.  Stoopid tap! (since the sink was now half filled with hot water, I washed up the dishes as the water continued to fill the sink) I've turned it all the way to the right , for cold water, and pushed it back down as far as it will go.  The water is still running. About a litre a minute. A litre!!  I put a jug under it and measured. I suppose I could stand beside the sink and hold that handle down for as long as it takes..... I've called maintenance and said this is an emergency and they will send a plumber, b...

I have a cold sore. Let me now publicly state that I sympathise mightily with all of you who suffer from these horrible little so-and-so's on a regular basis. This is the second cold sore I've had in my lifetime and I can honestly say the first one, 25 years ago, was more than enough. Apparently stress can bring them on and I've certainly had enough of that this year. So off to the chemist for a tube of Virasolve , which is what I remember using the last time, also some steriliser of the sort used for baby's bottles. I've mixed up the solution and I'm soaking all of the sippy tops from my plastic water bottles and the bottles too, also my toothbrush. Just throw that toothbrush away you say? Well, I would, but it's brand new...... I'm hoping that my lip will feel more comfortable by tomorrow, because I have a 40th birthday party to go to. Woo-Hoo...partay!! Now, what shall I wear?

Salad days....veggie salads, fruit salads, fruit and veg together salads. Yum. And let's not forget icecream.... But... I'm not really a salad person. I'm trying to eat more salady meals, but I still like to eat a cooked meal several times a week. The problem now is the electric oven and hotplates. I'm not looking forward to cooking on a hot day, then being unable to get back into the kitchen for hours because it's still cooling down in there. Plus, it's open to the living room, so the heat will filter out there. Enter the microwave. I've had one for years but not used it terribly much. This summer it will earn its keep. I'm currently taste testing a range of "Healthy Choice" and "Lean Cuisine" frozen meals to find out which ones I can eat, (a lot of them just don't taste nice to me), and ticking them off on the list on the fridge door. With a yes or a no beside each variety. Another option I'll be using is cooki...

Some time ago, Melissa at Suger Coat It , was holding a little giveaway, for a pair of pyjamas from Virtu clothing. Well, I won them, and the parcel arrived today. Just look at these "Free As A Bird" pyjamas. They're made from a knit fabric, very soft and drapy. I'm going to love swanning around the house in these this summer. The top and pants are trimmed with some very pretty lace... ...here's a close-up of the free-flying birds and open cages on the pants. I particularly like that the shoulder straps are adjustable . Included in the package was a laundering bag, (thanks Virtu, I'd been needing a new one), and a couple of catalogues for me to look through.  I'm guessing they'd like me to keep shopping. Maybe I will. The clothes are lovely. 

to no-one..... love from Mum. where's the cake? I've got my own fork.....

Here is an advertisement I like. The ad is for the bookshelves, but I really like the book Christmas tree they've made in there. 

Wow!  So many of you! I read a post last Saturday in which Kelley stated that she hates tuna . A couple of her commenters said the same thing. I've read similar statements all over the bloggy world. People hating tuna . Well, not me. No sirree. I like tuna.  Right now I have 25 cans of tuna in my kitchen. Here's proof>> There was 26, but I ate one yesterday, with salad, for my dinner. I've even been known to cook with tuna . If the link doesn't work, the post is from Monday 17th January 2011, in the archives over there>> (Please, try the link and let me know if I got it right). When the kids were little I also made tuna mornays quite often. At least two per winter. I don't do that anymore. It got a bit time consuming, with one child liking hers with chopped hard-boiled egg included, but no peas; another child, peas but no egg; then there's the child who would probably prefer to never see another tuna mornay as lo...

It's Sunday Selection 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 some. This idea comes to us from Kim at Frog Ponds Rock , 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:- FIRE DAMAGE (unfortunately I have only two photos, I meant to get more, but time slipped away from me) Both images are of the burnt out St George Bakery that was across the road from where I used to live. The blaze was huge, with three fire trucks and several police cars in attendance and neighbouring businesses being evacuated. I walked home from work on the day to see the last few flames and much smo...

Secondary title: that F sound ph we all know this combination of letters makes an F sound. Always. Unless there are variations that I don't know about. phone - fone photo - foto pheromone - feromone. pharmacy - farmacy phantom - fantom philosophy - filosofy phraseology - fraseology but what about the gh combination? these two letters together do not always sound the same and do not always make that F sound. Placed at the beginning of a word gh is simply g . A "hard" g , not the softer gee . ghost ghoul gherkin ghetto Now and again it's a J as in Gillian (Jillian) or Geoffrey (Jeffrey) Placed in the middle of a word, or at the end, it's a totally different sound. In laughing or coughing it becomes an F laughing -larfing coughing - cofing yet coffin is not spelled c-o-u-g-h-i-n Gough Whitlam is not spelled Gof Whitlam slough is pronounced sluf bough - the tree branch - is a W sound; bow other gh words have other sounds; ...

I served a lot of customers yesterday. Actually I've served a lot of customers all week. Where are all you people coming from? We checkout people barely have time to take a sip of water in between customers lately. This type of rush usually happens closer to Christmas.............. Anyway, back to yesterday. One customer in particular stood out from the crowd. A young woman, maybe 20 or so........ Her face was so alive with joy and excitement She had the biggest grin and was doing little happy dance jigs while I processed her goods. I said to her, "you look a little excited" And she replied, "I am, I've just bought a Christmas tree and I can't wait to get home to it". Me: Is it your first Christmas tree? Customer: yes, my partner and I have just moved in together..... Well, that certainly explained the happy dancing! New relationship, new home together, first Christmas tree.... I wish them well, I truly do. I remember that kind of...

6:40pm; Thursday 17 November; watching Today Tonight. Feature story....cheap imported furniture from China, in particular...glass tables. These tables are exploding, without warning, for no reason. Apparently there is no stress testing of these glass tables at manufacturing point, and there are no Australian Standards for glass tables, either indoor or outdoor, that have to be met. What??? No Australian Standards??? This is bad. Why do we not have Australian Standards for glass topped tables, as we do for so many other things? Do you have a glass table?  Where was it made?

This photo of drooping roses looks a little sad, doesn't it? so here's one I prepared earlier.                                                                      Much better, yes? and here's the one where I accidentally left the flash turned on. a trio of photos, of a trio of roses. (oh, I'm soooo clever....)  

Instead I have a dense cloud of hayfever induced fog. Which should dissipate as soon as the antihistamines take effect. So instead of writing something that possibly won't make any sense, I'll give you a few descriptions of the   wind in a storm from the book I'm currently reading. Shutter Island , by Dennis Lehane. The blurb on the back of the book tells me this has been made into a movie, the story is interesting enough for me to look for it at places like JBHifi, Amazon etc. in spite of the fact that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio. (I'm not a fan...) The descriptions: A chunk of something passed so close to his head he could feel it kiss his hair. The wind was thick with dirt and leaves, tree branches and rocks and always the rain and it squealed like a pack of boar and shredded the earth. An angry thing that turned waves into towers and chewed houses into matchsticks and could lift him in its grasp and throw him to China. An entire tree swept past the...

I went into town with my camera, intending to take photos of the Chinatown area around the Central Market. The bus was a little crowded, so I got off a few stops early and walked up Wakefield Street towards Victoria Square. I began to notice more and more people, all heading the same way as me. Families, many, many, small children and babies in prams. Further down the street I could see crowds of them lining the middle of the road. I'd completely forgotten it was Christmas Pageant day! There wasn't a good spot for me to stop and take photos, so I decided not to take any and just kept walking towards the market. But then I saw something I could climb up on and maybe get a decent photo or three.... I'd missed the first few floats and even standing up on something, I still couldn't get photos of the bands that were playing and marching along. I could only get photos of the bigger floats that stood out above the crowds. Here are some of those. Jester Ch...