Drifting through life

here's a line from the book I'm currently reading: "They sat low in saggy seats and the cab crashed and bounced like the wheels were square." That would be a heck of a ride, I hope they weren't going too far. another few lines: " He believed hunger kept him sharp. He believed it stimulated creativity in the brain. Another old evolutionary legacy. If you're hungry, you work out a smarter way to get the next woolly mammoth, today, not tomorrow." The book? Never Go Back.   A Jack Reacher story by Lee Child. And now for something entirely different .....a quote by Winston Churchill that I read a few weeks back in a post by Susan Swiderski, who writes at  I Think; Therefore, I Yam "We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle" - Winston Churchill Does this mean that our governments should NOT fill their coffers by taxing the life ou...

Welcome back to Whimsical Wednesday! The day for your googled giggle that gets you over the hump that is Wednesday and sliding down into the weekend. let there be light! and warmth and cooking and feasting and barbecues. hot baths even.

I have a front loader washing machine and when I purchased it Omo washing powder was recommended as being the best option.  Most other washing powders back then were for top loader machines, front loaders weren't all that common yet. When I lost my job I discovered that Omo was too expensive and looked around for an alternative. I found Duo , and it was available in a front loader option. It was very cheap, very effective and didn't make my skin itch or my clothes smell funny.  I'm a bit fussy about things like that. I've used it ever since. When it is on special at any supermarket, I buy as many as I can afford and stash them in the back porch cupboard. Just last week, I saw in The Reject Shop, boxes of Duo in a 2.5kg size for only $6 . Woo-Hoo! I said and went to the city and bought some. Today I used it in my machine....... The powder is much finer than the regular supermarket boxes, almost like talcum powder, so I used less. When the wash was finished an...

We've been having some fabulous weather here for about a week now, warm sunshine, cool breezes, blue skies with puffs and streaks of clouds. So of course I've been out and about instead of loitering by the screen here. It's very tiring standing around at bus stops just to get somewhere, but when that somewhere is a nursery and I'm buying seedlings, it's worth it. I got home from the expedition, watered the seedlings in their little tray, then fell asleep on the couch. I've just finished planting them out.... see those little mounds of green? Here's a closer look... nice and leafy. A couple of them already have tiny flower buds... that blurry green bit near the top left of the plant is a flower head forming. It swayed in the breeze just as I had it in focus. and what did I plant? one dozen of these, Erigerons, spaced out along the edge of the path. Tiny little seaside daises. These do very well in Adelaide, I see them everywher...

Welcome back to Sunday Selections! This once-a- week-meme was originally begun by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock, as a way to showcase some of the many photos we all take, but don't get around to showing on our blogs. Kim spends more time writing at The Shake these days. The rules are very simple:- 1. post photos of your choice, old or new, under the Sunday Selections title 2. link back to me, River , somewhere in your post 3. leave me a comment so that I know you've joined in and can come over and see what you've posted. 4. hop on over to The Elephant’s Child to see more of her wonderful photos. Kath and Andrew often join in as well, although Kath has been quite busy lately and unable to join us. I usually go with a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week I have some random  photos that I took while on my way to visit my daughter, K.   a discarded bottle of running-in oil, somebody has a brand new car. an odd "pair" of sh...

I was trundling along the footpath with my granny trolley, on my way to the shop. Coming towards me, and desperately trying to hurry, was an elderly woman, heading for the bus stop that I had just passed and glancing behind her to see how close the bus was. There's no way she would have made it to the stop to catch that bus, but the driver saw her trying and when she glanced back yet again, he signalled her to stop. She did and he pulled the bus to the kerb, well before the scheduled stop and right beside the woman so that she could get on board. That just made my day. Things like that make me really happy. I'm sure I smiled the whole afternoon. Many bus drivers would have continued to the stop and waited there, so the elderly woman would have still needed to hurry, so as not to keep him waiting too long. A few, who must have iceblocks where their hearts should be, would have just driven past her and kept going. I'm pleased to have seen this, now I know we hav...

On Wednesday’s, Delores, from Under The Porch Light, has a meme which she calls “Words for Wednesday”. She puts up a selection of six words which we then use in a short story, if we are able. Sometimes I look at her words and nothing at all comes to mind. Sometimes a story suggests itself immediately. It’s a fun challenge…why not join in? This week's words are: 1. honesty 2. carriage 3. flagrant 4. specific 5. mustard 6. grain  Here is my short story:  The gentleman at table three lost his temper. "For pete's sake! I was very specific ! I asked for a ham and cheddar on whole- grain bread. This is a ham and swiss on rye. With hot mustard !  And you're telling me I ordered this? No one has any honesty anymore. This is a flagrant mis- carriage of....of....of something!" Just then his wife returned to the table and calmly told him to stop making a fuss as she quietly apologised to the waitress. "but...but......