Weekend Activities

The heat was rather horrid here on the Sunny Coast over the weekend, so the main part of the day was spent inside in the air conditioning.  On Friday, from late morning until 5.30 I helped friends put up a "dog proof" fence at their new property. Firstly we had to remove the old netting and barbed wire - I thought that stuff was long gone, but obviously not. I think in NZ it isn't sold anymore. The ants weren't happy with us disturbing their homes in the posts - they can be really aggressive - I don't like them. My friends had already put in new posts within the boundary of the property to make a smaller area for the dogs. It was hot work, but very satisfying to see the finished product. They worked for another 1.5hrs to finish the last little stretch after I left, only to have one of the dogs start to dig out underneath it - little horror. An electric wire is going to be run around the bottom and about 1/3 of the way up as both of them are climbers as well.


On Saturday I returned there after 4pm to watch the "burn" pile be consumed, instead we demolished the walls of the built in back entertainment area. Once again, ants had made their homes between pieces of wood and were very upset to have all their eggs fall down onto the ground. In this area, the previous owner must have been concerned about his building skills and compensated by using 'millions' of nails. It has made such a difference opening the area up. There are still supporting posts to be replaced that are rotting and others to take out completely, then new paving to be laid etc. They'll get there, slowly but surely.

Sunday morning I attended hill sprint and resistant training as part of my Gold Coast Kokoda training - it was brutal, but I'll be back. I definitely need to work on my cardio fitness.

Then I went up to the Noosa Farmers Market for the first time. I had contacted Supernatural Organics about purchasing some garlic corms off them for me to try and grow my own garlic here. Due to the climate being so warm all year around, I wanted to get garlic corms that have been acclimatised to the area. They were so lovely and told me if I couldn't make it to the market they would post a kg down to me, however that would, of course, increase the price. Peter and Wendy were so lovely to meet in person and gave me some very helpful advice. I am looking forward to growing my own garlic this season. While at the markets I found a couple selling salami - plain pork without nitrates and a pistachio and prosciutto salami plus some cheese, one of which they imported from France and was delicious. I had to buy one of each. My lunch today will be consist of some of the pistachio salami and the cheese. There were lots of other tempting goodies to buy, however, I resisted and left before temptation got the better of me.

I finished the day off with grocery shopping and baking - baking for the young adults who live here and for the 'extras' that it appears are living here as well - to take with their lunches - cheaper than buying muesli bars and the likes. I actually enjoy baking, although struggle to not eat it while it is still warm - a real no no for me at the moment as I am not eating any sugar and only low carbs each day. Feel so much better for it too. Then it was dinner, which considered of chicken and a 'fat' salad, made of salad leaves, cucumber, tomato, olives, capsicum and feta cheese with a dressing made with a natural greek yogurt base - delicious. There was hardly any left, so the boys must have liked it.

1 comment Baking, Exercise, Friends

A bucket of kindness

Yesterday when I was with my granddaughters, Annika (4.5) was not in a happy mood - nothing was right! I ended up sitting her down and telling her I’d had enough of her grumping and unless she changed her attitude and the way she was speaking to us, she could sit in the car. She replied “you aren’t filling my bucket up”, I refrained from telling her what she could do with her “bucket” reminding myself that I was the adult and needed to act like one.

At Kindergarten the children have been told that everyone has a “bucket” inside them that needs filling up all the time. It can be filled by being kind to someone else, doing something for someone else, sharing, speaking nicely ,and also by being kind to yourself and by others doing these things for you. Her Dad explained to her that her behaviour had been “emptying Gran’s bucket” , therefore she was going home to be kind to herself so it would refill. Annika was interested in this concept so I explained to her that I was going home to read a book, which was something I enjoyed doing and by doing this, I would once again have a “full bucket” to share with others and that as easy as it is to fill someone else’s bucket, your behaviour can also empty someone else’s bucket. Hopefully she understood this.

I believe this “bucket” lesson taught to Kindy children is one adults should take note of too. We are all able to help others keep their “buckets” full, even by offering a smile and a hello to people we pass in the street. I thought about my day and the how my bucket had been filled today - smiles, cuddles and giggles with my youngest granddaughter, a hug from my son, encouragement at the gym, a chat with a friend, a thank you for the dinner I cooked from my step-daughters boyfriend and talking to my husband who is up in Darwin working and then I thought about how I had filled other's buckets - a smile to a stranger in the library, congratulating one of my "gym family" on her great workout, cooking a lovely dinner for the boys tonight and not making them do the dishes as I should have, instead doing them myself. The more I thought about this concept, the more I realised it isn't a difficult one to do everyday.

1 comment family

Hiatus

I'm back after a few weeks break. Life became a bit busy and stressful for a couple of weeks, and on top of that, our internet connection has been terrible - feels like I'm back on "dial up" broadband:(.  However, after some thought and reminding myself why I started blogging, I have decided to get back into it. My original idea was to keep a record, mainly for myself of my life, things that happen, things I do; a bit like a dairy, but accessible to anyone who cares to read it. While comments and encouragement are lovely, they are not necessary.

Today, I went to Golden Beach with my daughter-in-law and we met my son there. D-I-L went off to an appointment leaving Ross, the girls and myself to spend time at the playground, the beach and going for a walk. Ross has the back of his ute all set up camping, so firstly it was time to cook up brunch, bacon, eggs and baked beans. I passed on the baked beans and added cream cheese and olives to my bacon and eggs. I've been on a Keto diet for the past two weeks and love it. Tamara loved sharing Ross's baked beans, but of course, not off the fork, insisting on using her hands and as she is only 16 months old, I guess this is understandable, even if rather messy. She had food of her own to eat, but why do that when you can eat off Dad's plate. Annika, Miss 4 going on 14, ate 99% of my smoked salmon - I knew she would, so packed extra for that purpose.

The girls loved playing at the playground. Annika has well and truly mastered swinging by herself now, although after a spill off a swing, prefers to use the "baby" one and clip herself in to it so when she goes high she doesn't slip out.

Neither of the girls wanted to swim, although I didn't give Tamara a choice - she wasn't a happy baby, so that didn't last long. I thought the water was quite lovely, but Ross tells me it's a bit cooler than the usual 25+ degrees it normally is at this time of the year.

We spent the whole morning there, by then both girls were a trifle grumpy, Tamara needing a sleep and Annika just having a grumpy day for some reason. I told her she needed to go home and have a sleep. She wanted to come to Gran's but said No, I'd had enough of her grumping for one day and anyway, she was on "no screen time for a week", and coming to Gran's wasn't going to change that rule.  Instead, I went home, lay down and read a book for a couple of hours  - sheer indulgence, but well worth it.

1 comment

SCUBA diving

Adam (son) does a great deal of diving. He dives on wrecks and for crayfish. He brought his dive gear up with him, and spare equipment, so Pete could go for a dive with him, which he did one afternoon. He also took Jack, (grandson) out for 5 dives. Jack completed his Junior dive certificate in the last week of school, so it was good for him to get more dives in and cement what he learnt on his course.

Jack and Adam did two night dives, just to look around and then three daytime dives out of the reserve area, to see what seafood they could find. They got crayfish and a John Dory fish. We gave some of the crayfish away to others at the camp - who loved them, and Pete, Jack, Adam and Candice ate some as well. We took 5 home and gave them to my brother. I don't like them.

Leave a Comment Diving, family, Holiday

Camping at Matai Bay

On Christmas Day we loaded up the trailer and my daughter's car, leaving ours ready to have everyone's bags, the esky's (chilly bins) and camping fridge to go in on Boxing Day morning. We were up early Boxing Day and on the road by 6.20 am - facing a 7 hr car journey up to Matai Bay, in Northland, NZ.

We arrived at the DOC (Dept of Conservation) campground and found only one site empty, so we grabbed it quick and started setting up camp. Fortunately, another campsite, 2 away from ours was packing up, so we spoke to them and told them we'd take that one as well, as we were not going to fit our dome, 2 roomed tent and three smaller tents plus our vehicles on one site. Also, my son, his partner and grandson were arriving in another 2 days with a popup camper.

We were so fortunate to have beautiful weather. NZ summer can be quite fickle, and the further north you go, the more rain you can get, with some of the tropical storms that hit Australia, coming down and across the top of the north island.

There are toilets, cold water and cold showers provided at the campsite. We took solar showers and a shower unit that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car and had a shower tent set up, so warm showers for us. It's really good for the kids to be aware of water conservation - having to wet oneself, turn off shower, soap up, rinse off and get out. Hair washing is done in a similar way, although the kids were encouraged to wash theirs during the day under the cold showers after having a swim.

Cooking was done on gas cookers, dishes in a tub of hot water. Meals were simple, but nutritious and tasty. The kids spent ages swimming, walking on the beach, playing "spotlight" at night with other kids at campground and generally amusing themselves during the day. My son, Adam, took Jack, grandson for 5 dives, as Jack had just got his junior dive licence. He loved it.

Yachts moored overnight in the shelter of the bay

We stayed there for 9 nights, packing up in the rain on Jan 3rd, before a storm hit the North Island, causing quite a bit of damage and flooding in places. It was a long slow trip home until we hit north Auckland and then it was back to light traffic and normal speeds. We spent the next two days drying tents - hanging them up in the garage one at a time, and doing loads of washing. It was good to be home in soft beds with "real" showers, but I could easily have stayed there for several more weeks.

So beautiful

Maori totem poles

Clear clear water

The grandies got my phone - aren't they delightful :)

Fishing in the evening. 

2 comments Camping, family, Holiday