Long time, no blog....

Hiya world!

It's been so long since I was last in the blogosphere!  It feels like so much has changed!  Last I knew it was mid-October and my world was gearing up to be quite hectic....but nowhere did I imagine I would fall off the face of the inter-pla-net for near on 10 weeks!!!

So what have I been up to?  What has stopped me from my daily stalking and losing of hours via the internet???  Weeellllll, so glad you asked, let me give you an as-quick-as-I-can-in-one-longish-blog-post rundown....!

Around the end of October I'd finally wound down birth-day-week-fortnight celebrations in time for the startling realisation that my mum was also due for a birthday - hers of the significant milestone variety.  So I whipped up a cake and set to work decorating it.  Eventually, a week out from party-day, the grapevine alerted me that my aunt (cake-decorator extraordinaire whose cake decorating equipment I was gifted a couple of years back xxx) would be at the shindig.  EEEKKKK!  All of a sudden, designs and plans were reassessed in the cold hard light of a higher level of scrutiny and attention...I jest....but in truth, I did feel the pressure a little more.  I managed to complete mum's cake over the course of a week's worth of evening-after dinner sessions (I'm still working full-time in my admin job) and get it to my mum's house despite the rain on the day....and both mum and my aunt were suitably impressed with the results..!  Nice!

Around this time, I was also asked by my soon-to-be-bride sister and her husband if I would make their wedding cake.  Of course, the answer was always going to be YES but that didn't stop the stress levels climb to all sorts of new levels.  I mean, I've now done a fair few cakes - for fun and for celebrations - but nothing to this level.  After a flurry of text  and facebook messages (she lives two hours away), as well as a couple of face-to-face catchups in the middle, we came up with a design that both she and her fiance liked, and that I was confident I could pull off!  My biggest fear around this time was a request for a five tier masterpiece to rival the royal wedding!!!  So then I started....baking fruit cakes, making sugar roses, sourcing cake toppers and ribbon and the like....it's a big job when the pressure is on!

I had learnt to make a flower spray two weeks before I had to do this - nothing like FREAKING ME OUT!!!

Around this time the weather was great.  Nice sunny days with not a hint of wet in the nightly forecast.  That was a big worry - that the rain would come and I would be in all sorts of bother.  Too damp/humid or too hot and the fondant icing melts...and given that my old queenslander house is not air-conditioned and has gaps and holes everywhere, a big concern.  But it held in the end and everything was made and assembled without a tear or a tantrum.  :)  I had a momentary panic on the afternoon before the wedding when came the realisation that the assembled cake (three tiers high) would not go into our car without the need to be tilted - not in this lifetime!!  Luckily mum was over viewing my creation (and giving much needed compliments) and volunteered the use of her little buzzbox (a Toyota Echo) to get it to the reception venue.  That there was only an inch to spare around the base board when the cake was in was by this time not an issue at all. LOL We delivered it safe and sound in the end and at the very moment when it was on the table in the reception room and I'd taken a photo as proof, I swear my blood pressure dropped considerably and I regained a load of much needed sanity!!

Around this time also, in fact the day before the big day, the LOML and I had signed up on a second casual store for Christmas.  To be opened in three days.  From scratch.  A big ask at any time of year but at Christmas time? Huge undertaking given that the madness of Christmas for giftware retailers begins back in September so that stock can be ordered and delivered in time for the start of the buying frenzy.  But we (the LOML) took it in our (his) stride.  Go hard or go home.  We have had two years of tough to get us to this position and we were not going to let an opportunity pass us by (this second store was in the 'premium' shopping centre in town - the BIG one).  So in two days we got it all set up - stocked, signed, staffed - all while I was still working full-time in my week-day admin job.  Insane now when I look back on it.

I couldn't have made it through December without these....and lots of Mega B vitamins!

And so we continued until Christmas day - the LOML working everyday in either store, me working during the week at my job and then working in the evenings at either store merchandising stock or serving or both, both of us working all weekend in both stores (paying weekend wages hurts small businesses)....and then we stopped for one day (Christmas day) where we did nothing (I did the washing and swept the floor), got sick (always going to happen given the hours we were putting in), and then started all over again on Boxing Day....madness.

And so that's it..Christmas is done and dusted, the New Year has been and gone, and before we know it, we'll be bemoaning how quickly 2013 has disappeared and wondering what 2014 will bring!  I must say though, that I am looking forward to 2013.  2010 sucked, 2011 was worse but 2012 turned it around.  Life has been getting better each day so it figures that 2013 can't be anything but good.  Here's hoping.  

Happy New Year world!  Hope it promises to be grand for you also!

Sugar High, Sugar Low, Sugar very very low

So as it happened, the other night we got the invite for dinner from my sister and BIL.

My BIL was a chef in a past life.  This sort of invitation is not something one passes up lightly.

Given that his facebook post of the morning mentioned his visit to the Asian grocery store in town for the purchase of some essential 'Thai' ingredients, our invitation acceptance was forwarded mighty fast.

It was a feast.  Table groaning with a selection of curries and stirfries and rices and condiments....I think I may have eaten too much.  I certainly didn't have the mind to remember to take piccies but trust me, it was good!

And then dessert came out.  The most delicious baked sticky rice pudding (not authentic Thai I'm sure, but very Thai-esque), served warm with a generous helping of creamy icecream.  

And I thought I was full before dessert!!

Amazing!!!  I only wish I had remembered my camera!

Unfortunately for me, well unfortunately for the LOML, my comedown off that much sugar in one hit wasn't pretty.  Nor was it funny.  The LOML was very wise not to laugh at me until well after the sugar-low had subsided and I was able to laugh too.  About 24 hours in all.  For-ev-er.

Clearly my sugar-free life is well and truly entrenched now.  

But that sticky rice pudding was worth it.  Oh my, it was worth it!

Family Day

Today was a public holiday around these parts and the weather was di-vine!

We chose today to have a family gathering at mum's - once a regular affair, now not so often.  It was great.  Nothing flash, it was none-the-less....familiar, familial....

Mum pulled out all the stops with the roasting of beef, pork and veggies and then topped it all off with a to-die-for apple pie, tiramisu, ice-cream and custard.

After the eating was done and bellies were stretched well beyond their limit, lazing in the sun was the order of the afternoon for those less active amongst us (ie the adults) while the kids ran and jumped and screamed and whooped as a result of sugar overload (courtesy of the fizzy drink that comes out on occasions such as these!).  Good thing the park with it's swings and slippery-dip is two doors down.

Lots of laughs, plenty of re-kindling and reuniting, and not a chance of dinner tonight (still too full!)....let's do it again next weekend!!

Empty Nest

Remember how my mum moved in with us last year?  

It was only ever going to be a temporary measure while she got back on top of things and sorted her stuff into the right piles.  And the LOML and I were happy to be in a position to help her out.  God knows she's helped me out enough in my life, I owe her. 

Well, the time came. 

She got her stuff sorted into its respective piles and was on top of her world again.  All that was left was for her to do was to step on out into the world again.

And she did.

About 3 weeks ago she moved out.

While I have to say it's liberating to have our house back - being able to nudey run from the bathroom without fear of getting busted, not having to worry about the squeaky bed - it's also rather....quiet.  No comforting other-person noises when the LOML is out at night, no little dog following me around as I potter around the backyard, no-one to take my sheets off the line if rain threatens during the day.....I must say I feel a little lost at times.

Empty nest reverse style.

And so that was Christmas

Phew.  Another one bites the dust.  Belated Merry Christmas Wishes All!

Christmas for the LOML and I is all about doing as little as possible.  At this time of year we've been working 7 days a week, about 13 hours a day.  So when Christmas Eve comes around,  the alarm clock is turned off, a post-dinner liqueur (or three) is consumed before heading off to bed safe in the knowledge that the phones can't ring in the morning if they're turned off and that Christmas is a lunch do this year so no one will be knocking on the door before 11am at the earliest!

The year we again hosted the Christmas Day festivities - putting on the spread for all and sundry.  I know, I know, why on earth would I offer to host with no time to prepare etc etc.  But I had an ulterior motive (insert evil chuckle here...)  By hosting, I got to crack the champagne in the AM and consume it well into the PM and then the LOML and I got to wave everyone off after the designated drivers shepherded crying, over-tired, sugar-high children into cars and nagged tipsy other-halves keen to continue the merriment to 'just hurry up already'.... and then we walked upstairs and collapsed on the lounge!  Nothing wrong with that at all!  Bwhah-hah-hah-haha!

The weather this year was perfect.  The clouds cleared and the threatened forecast for rain didn't eventuate - truly, it was like summer (hang on, it is summer.  dang it.  everyday should be like this!!!).  We headed outside for the day.  Fold up chairs, gazebo-awning-thing, fold up tables, drinks fridge in the shed, table laden with food.  Perfect.

After lunch and the chaos that was present unwrapping, a tarp was found and set up on the lawn, the hose turned on, bubble bath snaffled from the bathroom and the fun was on.  Memories of childhood summer created right there on a homemade slip-and-dip.

The big boys had their own fun with my nephew's go-cart, built by his father (my brother).  Never mind the fact that Super C has only just turned one and won't be able to experience his cart any time in the near future.....nor that it is more off-road-dirt-buggy than go-cart.....  I don't know if it was coincidence or not but half an hour after the beast was packed up and taken home the police did a drive-by.  Unhappy neighbours maybe?  

And so another year has been and gone and the new year is looming on the horizon.  The fridge is groaning with leftovers, the bin is stinky with prawn shells (ewwwwww!!!) and the countdown is now on for next weekend's celebrations to farewell 2011.  

I think I'm getting old.  I don't know if I have it in me.... :)

Booby Prize

Is this a thing unique to our family - the giving of booby prizes as gifts?  Or are there others out there doing it too?  Sometimes I think I'm speaking another language when I tell other people about who won the 'booby prize' prize over Christmas.....

In our family it was started by my sister and BIL when they were fresh-faced teenagers living in their first flat (half house) together whilst studying.  Being uni students they had no money and lived close to the line every week.  They also played a lot of tricks on each other and were always laughing together at their antics.

Anyway, one year they decided to get a joke present for each other.  I don't quite know why but somehow it escalated to be more about who could get the other the best joke present for minimal outlay.  And so the booby prize entered our family's traditions.

So what is a booby prize exactly?  Well, think of something completely un-gift-related, something a person doesn't need, most likely something they don't actually want, something that has cost you very little if anything at all - and then wrap it and give it.  Ta-dah - booby prize.  

To give you an example, one year my sister wrapped up a pair of my BIL's socks and put them under the Christmas tree.  Not new socks, no, she wrapped up a pair of old socks from his drawer.  Another year my BIL wrapped up the dustpan and brush.  Last year my nephew (then 3yrs old - they start 'em young in this family!) wrapped up a tin of corn kernels from the pantry for his mum.  

At present my niece holds the title of best booby prize for the Christmas she wrapped a pamphlet for my BIL (he delivers junk mail as a means to keep fit and earn a little pocket money).  That she was 7 years old and not only thought of it herself but managed to keep it a secret until the day was the icing on the cake that gave her the crown!

So it was a given that I would receive a booby prize for my birthday.

Excitement was fever pitch when I rocked up at my sister's house.  It was even more heightened when the wrapped up booby prize was handed over.  Little people jumped around the room with excitement, laughter got more hysterical, the noise level reached epic levels.  I couldn't unwrap quick enough to satisfy little hands that kept reaching in to hurry up proceedings.....  

What did I get.....?

Yep.  I got an orange, a pear and an apple.  Go booby prize!

After the kids picked themselves up from the floor and calmed their raucous laughing and screeching, my nephew said to me, very seriously, 'you can juggle with them you know' and then proceeded to eat my pear!

Love it!

Nice Try

Last night my niece and nephew came over for dinner while mum and dad went out on a surprise mid-week date (woooh!).

It was homemade pizzas all round.  Nice.  Easy.  Kid popular.  Very yum.

My nephew (4yrs), who talked non-stop during the eating-of-dinner process and as a result barely finished half his dinner (the rest was inhaled by his sister), was very disappointed when he asked for dessert after the table was cleared and was told there was no dessert for kids who don't finish their dinner.

Sad face for a minute or two while deep in thought.....before he very earnestly said to me, "but my mum always gives me dessert when I haven't eaten all my dinner."

Good try little buddy but your mum won't give me dessert when I haven't finished my dinner!  You, my little friend, have no chance!

Canine mutiny

This is my mum's dog Jack.  

He's a mini foxy who fails to acknowledge that he is not human.

I think he sometimes feels incredibly hard done by that he is not allowed to eat at the table, ride shot-gun in the car, join us on shopping outings, eat ice cream or chocolate cake, or sleep on the lounge.

And I'm sure he doesn't appreciate me pulling him into line and banishing him outside when the occasion warrants.  Aunty Shelley truly is a bitch.

Last night he took matters into his own hands (paws?) in an attempt to prove his human-ness.

He did this all by himself: jumped up onto mum's bed, snuggled himself under the covers and arranged himself so that his head was on her pillow.

Little shocker.  

It didn't work.  He still had to sleep outside for the night.

:)

Memorium

Tomorrow it will 12 months since my dad died.

Time has gone so quickly, it's hard to believe it's already been a year.  A tough year to be sure, but it can only get easier from here.

Today I went to a memorial service at his house where a small group of family and friends joined with his widow to plant a tree and erect a plaque in his memory.  

It was a lovely service.  A bit teary at times which was to be expected but lovely none-the-less.

And it was a beautiful spot chosen as well.  Looking over the house, protecting it, guarding it, watching over it and it's occupants.  

The plaque named the site The Serenity Garden.  Dad would like that - he was a big fan of The Castle and loved its catchline, 'how's the serenity?'

RIP Dad.  I miss you.

Hide and Find

To finish up a great Sunday (after the festival) we had a good old fashioned Aussie BBQ at our house for all the family.

Of course, when the time came to fire up the BBQ, it rained.  

How typical.

Anyway, we weren't about to let something as trivial as a bit of rain stop our dinner so we merely progressed inside and lit the fire to keep us warm while we ate!

It was a great evening with the family - lots of laughing and plenty of jokes and ribbing which is usual at our gatherings.  Kids ran riot, dogs were underfoot and the noise level at times was deafening.

When it was all said and done, everything washed up and dried, toys tidied and put away, and tired nieces and nephews packed into cars and driven home, this is what I found arranged on my dusty shelves.....

this cowboy's rifle has seen better days!

Go Nicko you little champ!  You brighten my day little man!

Super C Day

Thursdays are Super C days.  

The one day of the week, every week, when I get to look after my newest (well, 7 months new) nephew while my SIL is at work.

I love Super C days.

Exhausting as they are (I don't have and am not having kids - hats off to you mums!) I look forward to them.  Watching him grow and change and learn new things each week is such a privilege and a blessing and I am so grateful to my SIL for letting me be a part of Super Cs little life.

Likewise I am incredibly grateful to my sister for letting the LOML and I be part of her kids' lives - we need our kid fix at least once a week to settle us down and remind us what is important.

I'm sure my sister and SIL don't fully understand my gratitude - for them any time we have their offspring is a chore-achieving-godsend for them I'm sure! - but grateful I am.  Getting to watch little minds learn new things, seeing teeth fall out and faces change, and getting to share the excitement of Christmas and birthdays and school awards, all without the burdens (burdens of love no less) of lack of sleep, projectile vomit, backchatting and red-cordial-induced-bouncing-off-walls spells Win-Win for me!

Moving (in) day

What a day!

I am exhausted.  Physically tired, mentally done in, ready for a hot hot shower before slipping between warm flannelette sheets to smother myself with doonas and blankets in an attempt to keep all the muscles that haven't been used in the longest time from hurting too much tomorrow.

What have I been doing, you ask?

Helping my mum move house.

Into our house.

Into our spare bedrooms.

Yes, my mum now lives with the LOML and I.

Nothing to get freaked about - my mum and I get on great, as do the LOML and my mum (many a night they have continued chatting and telling stories long after I'd given up and gone to bed).

In an attempt to save money and get ahead, both on mum's part and ours, mum has moved from her rental house (which, truth be told, was actually only down the road - same street, unintentional from the start) into our two spare rooms.  

Those spare rooms have spent the last 2-3 months separated from the rest of the house by a marvellous hanging artistic creation that doubles as a insulating curtain (read: spare blankets delicately hanging from nails in the wall and held precariously together with an artistic arrangement of pegs).  Nice.

So no longer is half our house empty.  Well, unused - those rooms certainly weren't empty.  They held a surprising amount of 'stuff' that has now had to be absorbed as unobtrusively as possible into the rest of the house - a difficult task in itself.  I always knew this house in its original, mid-1900s condition had no storage (c'mon people, a cupboard!  Just one cupboard please!) but not as much as I now know!  And I don't have that much 'stuff' anymore - despite what 'one-shirt, one-pair of shoes, photos are unnessecary' LOML says.  In my ten years with him I have decreased my hoard significantly to a point where any less than what I have and I run the risk of being offered vouchers by charity!

And now it is the end of a very big day and the house feels warmer than it has since we moved in and mum is happy and relaxed and the weekend is shaping up to be a goodie.

Here's cheers!

A timely reminder

Do you have a Will drawn up?  A legal document outlining how you want your earthly possessions to be shared and split among the people you love (or don't love)?  Is it current? Or does it have your ex listed as the sole beneficiary despite you now being remarried with four kids?

The reason I ask is that my dad died suddenly and very unexpectedly last year and, while his Will is current (having been re-done when he remarried in 2009), it is in the process of being contested (not by me).  

This upsets me a lot.  A whole lot of reasons abound but first and foremost I see that dad's Will outlines his wishes to ensure his widow is supported and looked after following his death.  I respect that and totally agree.  Of course, having two previous wives with children (who may or may not believe they are entitled to a cut) adds a whole new potentially  (nothing potential about it - it's real) combustive element to the mix, but dad's Will outlines his wishes and I respect that.  I have a strong support for the strength of a Will in our legal system, particularly a Will made by a person who was fit and healthy and focused on his new future and who had no reason to think his Will would ever be needed anytime in the near future.  I also like to believe that my Will will be upheld as I am upholding his.

I also firmly believe that should the claim against his estate be successful, karma will be enacted.  And Karma can be a mean bitch whose bad side I don't want to get on.

Likewise you don't get to cross my dad and get away with it - you couldn't do it when he was alive and I doubt you'd be able to get away with it now.

Good luck to you if you think you can.

So, if you haven't done it already, ring your solicitor now and get your Will drawn up.  If you have a Will, make sure it is current - update it if you need to.  But most importantly, don't wait - you may not get a second chance.

Presents from small people

My beautiful little 4 year old nephew came over for dinner last night, along with his sister, mother and father.


When they got here, the kids ran riot around the backyard as they usually do, kicking soccer balls and picking strawberries, while mum and dad lugged assorted bags filled with jumpers, nibbles and champagne ('Friday' is reason enough around these parts!) up the stairs.


After a while, a little man came to me with his arms behind his back,  'Close your eyes and hold out your hands.'


This is what my present was....

Nothing beats daisies in a jar on the window sill.  Especially daisies picked especially for me :)

#1 Mum

Happy Mother's Day Mum!

I hope you had a great afternoon, surrounded by your kids (and their kids), laughing and joking, remembering old times and good times, and talking about the future.  You're the best and I love you.

And she is, you know.  My mum.  The Best.  She doesn't think so but she's wrong.

My mum has done so much, not just for me but for my brother and sister too - provided for us, sheltered and protected us, guided us towards opportunities and helped us on our chosen life paths.  She did all of this (basically) on her own - by working full-time throughout our childhood, on a single wage with minimal financial support.  She left an unhealthy marriage in a time when that was not on, she bought a house and met every mortgage payment and still managed to make home improvements along the way.  Her encouragement saw us all finish high school, two of us go to university and one of us complete an apprenticeship.  None of us has been in trouble with the law and we are all now happily married and settled in our own lives.

She is a great role model my mum, one who always told me that I could do anything, be anything, the world was at my feet.  She supported me, listened to me, dried my tears, shared my joys, and laughed at my sillies.  She taught me to respect myself, to respect others and that sometimes things in life just don't go your way but that's okay.  She showed me that it's a good thing to stick up for yourself and what you believe in and not let others walk all over you.  And she always told me that she loved me.

She also told me that white high heels dress up any outfit and that sex is like a block of chocolate and once you start you just can't stop.  Those two I could have lived without!!

But that's my mum.  A great friend and a barrel of fun to be around.  I'm glad she's my mum and not anyone else.

xxx

On a side note, our family lunch, which I have spent the last two days slaving away in the kitchen planning and preparing, was delish!  And the decorations and celebratory gingerbread biscuits created with my niece yesterday were a big hit. I would have taken photos as evidence but by the time I pulled out the camera, the hordes had descended and all that was left were some breadcrumbs, a few morsels and lots of dirty plates!  Sure signs of a good meal!

Preparations begin....

This morning at 9am I was standing outside the doors of the bottleshop waiting for them to open for trade for the day.

Desperate I am not but this sort of behaviour could be considered grounds for an intervention.  

Or an invitation to a meeting.  

But fear not, I was only there for wine....(that doesn't make it sound any better....)....

This wine....

Why this wine?  It was cheap, there is lots of it and there it a picture of a meal on the box so it has to go well with food, right?

So that I can make this....

Coq au Vin...mmmmm

And this.....

Beef Bourguignonne.....

For Mother's Day on Sunday.... 

About 12 people all up (plus or minus a few) will converge on my house for a late lunch to celebrate the joy of motherhood.  Given that it is my family, a lot of food is needed so stews it is - served with steamed rice, mashed potato and heaps of piping hot crusty bread.  And since stews taste soooo much better the next day (and the day after the next day) I am making them today so that they have plenty of time for their flavours to infuse and blend (am I sounding Masterchef-ish?) and mellow and taste even more delish.  Nice.

Now to clean the house for visitors (a whole different level of clean to what I normally do!), mow and tidy the yard, find some extra chairs and work out what's for dessert.  Here's hoping the weather will be nice for us....

What are your plans for Mother's Day?

Wedding Fever

Photo: Matt Dunham/ AP

As no doubt the entire universe knows, yesterday was the day Kate and Wills got hitched.  I'm sure they would have preferred eloping to Vegas and being married by Elvis* over the monumental affair they had.  But I guess that's the downside of being the future King and Queen of England.  Can't win them all!

In honour of the occasion my sister and her family (BIL, niece and nephew) came over to ours and we celebrated the royal nuptials with pizza and wine (beer and scotch on the part of the fellas, cordial for the kidliwinks).  Nothing says posh-nosh more than mozzarella and tomato paste on a bread dough followed by a wine chaser!  Said wine was of course consumed with obligatory pinky finger raised - v. elegant, v. high society.

I do love a good wedding and royal families know how to throw a good shindig.  They've got nothing on me though.  My wedding rocked.  Funny how I say 'my wedding' instead of 'our wedding'.  As much as I love the LOML with all my heart, weddings are women's business - men just have to turn up (in a suit, no jeans, no joggers).  

Anyhoo, the LOML and I sealed our fate on a beautiful spring day at our friend's house in the Granite Belt in SE Queensland nearly eight years ago.  Ceremony in their garden, party in their shed, complete with hay bales, band, port-a-loo and fairy lights.  Rock on!  

So here's cheers to Wills and Kate - may your days as husband and wife be full of personal jokes, double entendres, snuggling on the couch in front of the telly, brekky in bed on a Sunday morning, romantic walks along beaches in the rain and lots of hot, married-people sex (don't believe what you hear, married people do it HEAPS!).  Cheers!!

Photo: Toby Melville/ Reuters/ Landov

* this option was a serious consideration when the LOML and I got married.  As we didn't choose to go with it, I'm owed it.  So I'm putting it out there that our 10th anniversary will see us in Vegas getting married (again) by Elvis.  Skinny, young Elvis that is. I don't want no fat man in a jumpsuit telling me to love and honour my husband till death do us part!**

Easter Sunday

My BIL was a chef in a past life.  So when the invite for lunch is received, it is always accepted.  Today was no exception.

Mmmmmm.....roast beef and veg....delish!

My little niece got into the spirit as well making these beautiful table seating arrangements.  It's the Easter egg that sets it all off I think!

All in all, a beautiful way to spend a Sunday afternoon - surrounded by family, laughing lots, telling stories, playing football with the kids, and eating too much!  And best of all, tomorrow is a public holiday!  Hooray!!!

La Vida Loca

I was going to title this post La Vida Normal but the more I've thought about my day today I came to realise it wasn't.  There is some degree of normality but on the whole it's been a whole lot of busy-crazy - I feel like I've been running around like a headless chook minus the wing flapping and running into things!

It started early with a call from mum who came home from hospital this morning.  All is well - well, as well as can be expected.  The cardiologist has confirmed that her heart is fine - nothing wrong there - so now the hunt is on for the cause of her chest pains.  She has tests, tests and more tests scheduled over the next couple of weeks, plus an endoscopy and a few more tests (!), which will hopefully determine just what causing her troubles.  But her heart is fine and that is some mighty good news!

Monster zucchini and cucumber - plus some normal size ones
from the veggie garden.  Over the back is a watermelon I
found still kicking in the garden. It survived the re-roofing of
the shed so hats off to it!

I then spent most of my day in the shop pricing stock and rearranging displays in the gear-up for Mother's Day (big day for gift shops - second to xmas).  Easterfest is on this weekend which will bring a huge amount of people to town (something like 50,000 from the surrounding districts and as far away as Brisbane and the coast I think the paper was saying).  Needless to say, we will be ready for them and try to convince them that right here, right now is a great time to get mum something special! We can only try!

I have also done all my usual chores at home - unfortunately no magical fairy completed them for me!  Plus baked two loaves of bread (one -cheese and chive - to take to the neighbours tonight for our first French lesson - oui oui!), picked the veggies that have grown to monster proportions from a couple of days rain, fixed up the chook pen fence which had some pretty big chook-sized holes under which they could have escaped (but they weren't that clever!), pulled weeds out of the garden while the ground is still damp and fed my niece and nephew's guinea pigs (Spotty and Milkshake) that we are pig-sitting while they are away camping for the week.  Phew!  

I still have a list as long as my arm to complete (a written list is the only way I remember to get things done!) but the chances of anything else getting done today is slim to none!  No matter, they'll still be there on the list tomorrow!

Right now though, I'm going to kick back on the lounge for 30 minutes before heading across the road for dinner!  Au revoir!