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!!

Monday, September 5, 2016

The Journey Begins

Day one and Vegan Chickie landed in Hong Kong on her way to Paris. This is sunrise over Hong Kong ...


She checked the first thing off her bucket list for this trip - 'eat a dumpling in Hong Kong'

Meanwhile, in Australia, the Bare-chested Chef had a day off, so I took it pretty easy. Enjoyed a late morning in bed while BCC and Chicklet played Minecraft on their iPads.

Eventually, I decided to go for a walk to the local shopping centre for my morning coffee. I made a deal with BCC that if I didn't feel like I could walk back, I would call him and he would come and get me.

The day was quite nice. Overcast with a cool breeze. Great walking weather. I chose to take the road route to the shops instead of the forest walk. The forest walk is too remote for me to feel safe walking there alone - unfortunately, in this day and age, it's something that needs to be taken into consideration.

It's not as far as I remembered, only fifteen minutes each way, but it's quite hilly, so the walk is a touch more strenuous than the flat roads at home. When you have a five year old dawdling along beside you, the trip takes quite a bit longer too, but today I was alone, so the walk was quick - even for my little legs.

The coffee was delicious and well worth the walk.

As soon as I arrived home, Chicklet decided that we needed to go to the park, which is only a two minute walk from the house, so me, my coffee and she, walked to the park and played on the swings, climbed the timber cave and while Chicklet successfully climbed the slope of the slippery dip to the top of the tower, I attempted several different access points to the tower without success!

I swear that they made this park for giants or acrobats, because you need to be incredibly lithe and agile to be able to stretch your legs to reach every climbing point!

We played for almost an hour and then I cleared all the litter from the park. Three empty cans of bourbon and coke, two broken and melted cigarette lighters, an almost empty packet of cigarette papers, three empty lolly packets, an empty packet of chips, a dozen cigarette butts and a plastic bag.

My good deed for the day complete, we wandered home.

BCC and Chicklet went for a drive to get some lunch and I returned to my room for some more quiet time.

They played Minecraft all afternoon, while I dozed, read, played and drank kombucha in my room.

At 4pm I chucked the organic chook that I'd bought at the markets yesterday, into the oven, stuffed with lemon, garlic and coconut oil, lightly coated in himalayan salt and pepper. Next to it, a good portion of sweet potato to be shared between BCC and I.

I made up the most delicious salad to accompany our chook. A couple of different varieties of kale, finely shredded. Some torn lettuce leaves. Finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Roughly chopped snap peas and fresh beans. Julienned carrots. Diced avocado. A handful of adzuki beans. Diced cucumber. Roasted slivered almonds. A small sprinkling of crumbled basil pesto feta. A good splash of coriander/lime dressing.

Even BCC commented about how tasty it was!

After dinner and after Chicklet put away her toys, I gave her a bath and then BCC read to her before she quite quickly fell asleep.

I think Chicklet struggled a little bit today and was in the mood for a fight, but some quick side stepping, some momentary distractions and some gentle persuasion curtailed most collisions.

BCC has six long days of double shifts from here on in, so it will be Chicklet and I conquering the world together.

I need to make a concerted effort to take photos!

I was introduced to this webcam today ... White-breasted Sea Eagle nest ... there is a chick in the nest. There were originally two but one of them disappeared at about the 2 or 3 week mark. There is a Facebook page with lots of photos too.

There is an amazing woman by the name of Kym Bradley, whom I only know through a photography page in Facebook, called 'Birds of Oz', where more than 10,000 bird loving photographers from around the world gather to share photos of birds.

She spent a few hours taking photos of a Wedge-tailed Eagle in Canberra today and shared those absolutely amazing photos on Facebook. I have messaged her to get permission to put a couple of her photos in here, but she must be in bed by now, so I'll have to wait til tomorrow.

She is the one who introduced me to the White Breasted Sea Eagle webcam today.

Kym is a wonderful nature photographer and is one of a very few among those 10,000 that I truly look forward to seeing her work when she posts.

Ok, well, it's 11pm, so I'd best get some sleep in preparation for a big Chicklet day tomorrow!

Nite all.

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