dear chums;
We are nearly up to speed and the present time - I am still chasing my tail with past diary entries, but that's my fault for not getting this blog started earlier.
Sunday 15 May 2011 - sunny 26c
Matt is down with the lurgy! We have all had coughs/ colds and sore throats and he has succumbed a bit; Tom is trying to dig out the post that holds the Hills Hoist washing lines, which has been in the ground since 1972 or thereabouts; there is about 1m of concrete at the end of it; the cyclonic winds of Yazi drove a tree onto it, and smashed it beyond repair. Tom has new one to install but the old is well into the ground. Matt is next door slashing the block, against my wishes, as he is not feeling well. But he is like a big dog on a short leash and says he must keep working on it.
We are nearly up to speed and the present time - I am still chasing my tail with past diary entries, but that's my fault for not getting this blog started earlier.
Sunday 15 May 2011 - sunny 26c
Matt is down with the lurgy! We have all had coughs/ colds and sore throats and he has succumbed a bit; Tom is trying to dig out the post that holds the Hills Hoist washing lines, which has been in the ground since 1972 or thereabouts; there is about 1m of concrete at the end of it; the cyclonic winds of Yazi drove a tree onto it, and smashed it beyond repair. Tom has new one to install but the old is well into the ground. Matt is next door slashing the block, against my wishes, as he is not feeling well. But he is like a big dog on a short leash and says he must keep working on it.
Matt doing a bit of pole dancing; 15.5.11
Tom (Matt's dad) surveying the scene 15.5.11; Matt is fully clothed as he got a rash from the sap from one of the trees he was clearing.
They eventually do it, with Matt jumping on the end NOT in concrete and swinging the thing around.
But Matt walks over suddenly to the picnic table and bench, lies flat on his back and puts his legs in the air; Hello - I think - Matt is doing a Urdu mating dance maybe? But on closer inspection, I see is face is very white and he says quietly 'think my blood sugar is dropping...' Luckily I remember we have a can of Red Bull in the fridge and quickly get him to slowly sip it. His Dad, laughs like a drain, but seeing how ghostly Matt looks, quickly stops. After a few minutes Matt's colour comes back and I tell him to come and lay on the sofa while I make him a cuppa. He realises he is trying to do too much at once, and agrees with me that he needs to slow down. I do the housework and clean the bathroom...Here is my recipe for my own version of Spray and Wipe - mine costs about 25c a bottle and is eco friendly.
In a plastic spray bottle put :
half a cup of cloudy ammonia (available in supermarket laundry section)
1 cup white vinegar (in sauces/pickles section)
2 cups of water (or fill to top of bottle)
Give it a gentle shake and happy days! Spray away...
This mixture cleans about everything, glass, tiles, benchtops and I used to spray it on my shirt collars when I was a ranger (they used to get filthy with grime) and then I'd give the shirts a wash in the machine. Try it - you'll love it.
Monday 16 May - windy 25c sunny
Matt's Auntie Lyn - Petah's sister arrives today for a spell with her cute dog Tully.
Petah and I meet her at the Nelly Bay wharf down the road, with my car, as she has a huge cat cage that the dog was transported in from the Gold Coast; but after saying hello, we realise the cage and her luggage is NOT going to fit into the back so Petah kindly agrees to lug it up the road. The mother of these 2 ladies, Joy, lives on the island and Lyn is staying with her. Joy is 91 and going OK, apart from a bit of bad vision and hearing and will probably outlive us all. She has a very cute dog called Rusty, which I am sure, keeps her going.
Joy and Lyn having a cuppa; 21.5.11
Rusty (left) and Tully - they are best chums! 21.5.11
Tuesday 17 May 2011 - sunny 25c
As I am feeling fitter now, and the parking at the Nelly Bay wharf is hard to get, I decide to walk to the ferry (8.25am) in order to make it to my hair appointment with Beck in Townsville. I leave the house at 8.10 thinking a brisk walk in the fresh air will do me good; I have the obligatory bag that most ladies carry here, containing a bottle of water, sunscreen and a thin cardigan in case it gets chilly later. As I stroll along I suddenly realise its a bit further than I remember and I am not going to catch the bloody ferry unless I get a move on. I start running, Luckily I am in my Doc Marten boots and a sundress but I'm panicking.
Suddenly a car pulls up next to me and a lady with short hair and glasses says huskily 'Get in..' Thinking I have been transported to a bad spy movie, I do as she says. 'Hello I'm Jenny and I'm taking you to the ferry!' Whoa, way to go Maggie islanders... How kind is that! I gasp thanks as she pulls up at the wharf and I run to the barrier; the ticket collector lady just says 'no rush...' as I fumble for my 10 pass ticket and she clips it; Just as I sit down on the ferry 2 more latecomers run on and the pilot gets the nod from the top deckhand and we take off.
I walk from the ferry wharf at Townsville up to the salon, (5 mins) and Beck works her magic and makes me look fab again.
I meet Matt for lunch and we go to the Cowboys Club and I munch my way through a $10 all you can eat salad/pasta bar. My cholesterol being a bit high, I have read all I can on what to do to keep it low, and it seems a high fibre diet is the ticket. I have been back on my usual porridge/ muesli combo for brekky, now with the addition of psyillium husks; Love the husks! Matt and I took them nightly before our road trip but got a bit slack when away. The husks have a valuable effect on being cholesterol sponges, and they make All Bran look like a block of cheese... Another Louie tip; don't bother with Metamucil - the husks are what that is made of, and on their own are half the price! Who needs orange flavour and sugar with their fibre? OK, I admit, it is like drinking wallpaper paste at first, but that aversion goes once the benefits are realised...
After lunch I hit the Salvos Charity shop to find, happy days, they have a green ticket special on and I scour the place and leave spending $20; Some of these purchases are on Ebay.com.au now (search for matsta73) if any of you out there would like to make a bid?
I catch the 3.45 ferry home - its the school run and what worries me is that half of the teenage boys who are in their uniforms, have beards or moustaches. All I remember on the teenage boys I used to hang about with was acne. Must be all the sun and good food here I wonder?
Weds 18 May 2011 - sunny, windy 25c
Lunch today with Lyn and Joy; we go to Peppers at the Nelly Bay Wharf which is a very posh looking spot, but the lunches are reasonable. After a lovely lunch we look at the huge lagoon like swimming pool in the middle of the Peppers hotel complex. Lots of tourists come to the Island in our winter to escape the cold temps further south in places like Sydney or Melbourne; the Europeans love it, as the swaying palms and sandy beaches are the stuff their dreams are made of.
Saturday 21 May - sunny 27c
Matt and I go and visit 2 local builders to see what they can do for us re our house build. We explain what we would like, take along some drawings and chat about costs. They are going to do some more detailed plans for us to check out next week. I notice my left shoulder is hurting when I lift it and realise I went a bit too hard with the chest press on Thursday at the gym... maybe rotor cuff damage? Decide to not do too much...
Monday 23 May - cloudy/ spots of rain 25c
Deciding against the gym I get domestic, and of course, just as I hang out the washing on the new hoist, the rain is spotting. Decide to brave it out and lo! After lunch the sun is out and the washing is almost dry; that's the other good thing about life here, peg out the laundry and its dry in about 20 mins.
Which brings me up to TODAY!
Tuesday 24 may cool night 27c
Dragged myself to the gym; did NO arm raises or similar but pounded the treadmill; one thing did piss me off big time : I burnt some dance music CDs to use on the antique boom box at the gym in a wav file format; and bugger me, it won't play! Now there are burnt CDs at the gym so I know the CD player must read them; but shall have to wait until Matt gets home in case I have done something wrong; they play OK on my car MP3/CD player so I am confused, which for a 56 y/o menopausal woman is not that unusual... If anyone knows what I am doing wrong, please leave a comment.
I will blog again in a few days; It's Matt's last week at (temp) work, so I will have him back to myself soon; Now one would think that after 9 months together in a campervan, I would be happy to not see him everyday? Wrong! Matt is my best chum, among other things and I miss him. (But keep that to yourself, dear reader, or he'll think I'm going soft...)
here is Matt with Pushka cat who is on a diet at the moment... 22.5.11
Adios amigos, Louise
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