Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Day 91 in a Year of my Life

This was just posted by the local weather page on facebook:

BURNETT HEADS SEVERE WEATHER UPDATE:

QLD Police are now reporting a 5th tornado has struck in Burnett Heads causing damage in Hunter Street with 2 houses damaged. Police also report 2 people have been injured in the 6:05pm tornado.

********

Not liking it very much at all.

The scary thing is that it can be windy and rainy one minute, then dry and still the next.  That's how the weather has been for the last 3 days, but even more erratic in the last 24 hours.

We've removed all the loose items from the yard, charged up all the batteries for our electronic devices ie iPhones, iPads, laptops and camera, got the torch handy, lot's of fresh water in bottles in the fridge, filled the car with fuel, first aide kit always prepared and now we wait and hope that the weather passes without incident.

We drove around town to check for any flooding or wind damage this morning.  Plenty of branches and leaves strewn over the roads and some minor flooding from over full drains and the tide was on it's way in, so we made our way to the Lion's Park to see how high it would get with all the swell from the X-cyclone.

It was almost an hour from full tide, so we decided to have a barbecue breakfast at the park.  We drove down to the local supermarket and bought some plastic plates and cutlery, some bacon and eggs and some fruit and sat under an empty shelter cooking on the public barbecue.

On a normal Australia Day, the whole park would have been full of people and it would be impossible to get a spot at the barbecue - but there was a handful of people checking out the high water level and none of them eating or drinking.

It was quite pleasant under the shelter.  While Adoring Husband was cooking, I wandered around with the camera and got some shots.





Tomorrow morning, apparently, the tide will be even higher and then Monday will be the highest tide for the month, so we may see some flooding and some erosion and damage to the shore line.

We've already emptied the rain gauge once because it was full.  I think it will be full again by tomorrow morning.

We still have power, so that's always good and that means I get to watch the Women's Tennis Final tonight, as well as a 20/20 cricket match between Australia and Sri Lanka.

So it could be a long night tonight with the wild weather continuing - I must admit, the spate of tornados gives me an uneasy feeling because they are so unpredictable and appear from nowhere and are so destructive.

Mother Nature is angry.  No doubt about that.

Today, being Australia Day, I am grateful to be living in the best country in the world, despite the scary weather.  I'm in the lucky country!

Nite all. 

Friday, January 25, 2013

Day 90 in a Year of my Life

This is what's happening with our weather right now ...

There are warnings about high winds and flooding as some places north of us have received 600ml of rain in the last 24 hours.  Roads are closed and people have been rescued from flooding rivers.

My little sister, Squirt, was looking forward to a school re-union this weekend in Yeppoon, but the whole area is flooded now and the event looks like being cancelled.

Many Australia Day celebrations have been cancelled up and down the coast due to the extreme weather conditions.

We are supposed to attend a barbecue at the park tomorrow, but it's highly likely to be a non event now.

So I think I will head to bed and attempt to get a good nights sleep in readiness for what could be a wet, windy and stressful day.  Mother Nature scares me that way - you never know what she is going to throw at you next!

Today I am grateful to have a roof over my head for protection from the elements and I hope that Mother Nature will not get too angry as she reaches my area.

Nite all.

Day 89 in a Year of my Life

So there I was, yesterday morning, pedalling along the river bank, when a local lady calls to me from her front balcony and asks me to stop.

She walks out to the path where I was riding and tells me about her son who, years ago, was very interested in photography, and that she had a stack of filters that she was going to get rid of, unless I was interested in taking them.

So I asked her if I could see them.

I chatted with her husband and her sister on the balcony while she went inside to search for these filters. About ten minutes later, she emerged with two boxes, two books and various assorted attachments.

These are creative filters from around 1980 and are Cokin, which is a top brand. Graduated filters of all different colours, star filters, fog filters and others.


To buy all of these filters would cost a veritable fortune, so I agreed to take them, but offered to pay. She declined my offer and instead said "Do you know how you can pay me?"


She then said "I would like your permission to paint some of your photos"!!

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather! I told her that she could paint every one of my photos if she wanted to!

What a huge compliment! She then proceeded to tell her sister about my photography and was rubbing her arms when she said to me "Honestly, I get goose bumps whenever I tell people about your work".

How chuffed was I?

So, not only did I acquire a very expensive, very large set of filters for my camera, but I also received the biggest compliment and boost to my ego.

A double whammy of happy!

Sometimes I just can't believe my luck.

I have conceded defeat and finally selected a photo for the 'Sunset' challenge. The rains have hit us big time after the cyclone up north turned into a rain depression, so I doubt if there will be any interesting sunrises or sunsets in the coming week.

Here is my submission ...


Adoring Husband and I went to the movies today to see 'Parental Guidance'. I really enjoyed it. I love Bette Midler and I love Billy Crystal and I love Marisa Tomei. It was a fun and moving movie that I could relate to.

It's been a good day. A wet day, but a good one.

Today I am grateful for the lovely heavy drenching rain that we've needed for some time, that fell today. I hope that it doesn't continue for too long or cause any damage along the way. The grass already looks greener, the vegetables in the garden are reaching for the sky and the air is cleaner.

Nite all.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Day 88 in a Year of my Life

Adoring Husband had a little accident today and ripped his big toe nail so far off that they had to surgically remove it in 'casualty'.

It was ugly and bleeding and I still feel queazy when I think about it.  Ugh.

So I need to be up early to do his morning job for a few days.

Since it is almost 11.30pm, I don't have time to post a big one tonight, so I'll tell you my good news story tomorrow (there is always good news with bad news!).

Today I am grateful for my recent 15 minutes of fame and tomorrow I will explain why.

Nite all.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Day 87 in a Year of my Life

Mother Nature is not playing fair.

This month, the challenge is 'Sunrise' or 'Sunset'.

I have been up early for about a dozen sunrises and they have all been duds.  There hasn't been a good sunset to chase.  Today's looked good to start with, but the colour was minimal and lasted just a couple of minutes.

I'm so OVER this challenge.  Who said it was going to be an easy one?

Here are my photos for today.




I think I might sleep in tomorrow morning.  These 4am starts are killing me!

Today I am grateful for fresh cold water.  How many people on this planet have no access to fresh, clean, cold water?  I go to my fridge 5 times a day for a bottle of clean drinking water.  How lucky am I?

I just realised that my sister has no access to clean drinking water in the town where she lives.  After seeing horrible photos of brown water in bathtubs and plastic water jugs and stories attached about how people are getting sick because of it.  In Australia in this day and age, that just shouldn't happen.

So I am grateful that I can turn on my tap and drink the clean water that flows from it.

Nite all.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Day 86 in a Year of my Life

For your viewing pleasure ...



For your perusal ...





There was no pretty sunrise for photographing this morning - try again tomorrow!

Nite all.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Day 85 in a Year of my Life



Adoring Husband has been diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease.

We are still processing this information.

There is much to learn and much to consider.

Information to read.

Medication to regulate.

Possible alternative therapies.

Possible dietary changes.

Lifestyle changes.

Family and friends to advise.

Life goes on, with just a little more awareness.

Today I am grateful for this diagnosis, because other possibilities would have been much more difficult to deal with.  This, we can handle.  Just add TLC.

Nite all.