Today is my birthday. In the midst of the preparations for our relocation to Victoria, we made time to celebrate with a lunch date.
GMan had a final eye specialist appointment so we chose a venue nearby. The Green Zebra was our choice and it did not disappoint.
I did not have cake but I did enjoy this spectacular dessert.
I think the title says it all.
I started packing boxes about 6 weeks ago – a little bit at a time but the effort has really ramped up in the last week as the removalist deadline approaches – Friday is the big day.
Today we loaded the final few things onto the ute and took it to a friend’s place to store it until we are ready to leave Queensland in about 6 weeks.
Meanwhile, back to the boxes. We had packed boxes stacked up in no fewer than 4 different rooms so this afternoon GMan decided that it would be a good idea to put them all together downstairs in the garage.
This is the result!
And another view.
In other news, I received a notification from WordPress overnight to let me know that this is the 12th anniversary of Organised Castle. I must admit that I never imagined I would still be writing this 12 years later. My sincere thanks to all of my readers over the years. I have made some really special friends through the blog, too. Don’t forget to join the Facebook group of the same name if you would like to interact more and meet other like-minded readers.
My blog has been with me through some interesting times and probably none more so than our impending relocation. So, strap yourself in and come along for the ride.
I don’t know whether anyone has noticed but my blog commitment for 2023 is to publish a post every 2nd day which I have successfully done so far. I am also aiming to publish them at 2pm local time, however, I am a couple of hours late today as I had nothing prepared and scheduled and we have been on a shopping expedition.
There was the usual groceries plus fruit and vegetables but we also purchased a coffee machine. This was not an impulse buy as GMan has been discussing the pros and cons since at least a couple of years before he retired which was 4 years ago.
After experiencing the results first-hand recently and then consulting with my brother who is a bit of an expert in the matters of coffee machines, he finally made a decision. So, today was the day.
I am not a coffee drinker but can appreciate the importance of good coffee to those who drink it. GMan is definitely one of those people. He feels that he may have used up credits of several Christmas and birthday gifts and I wouldn’t disagree.
We do not buy gifts for each other, however, we do agree that it is nice to be able to choose to invest in some special treats such as the coffee machine which we expect will last us for many years.
I feel as though this blog has limped to the end of the year. Only 44 posts with a mere 12 in the second half of the year. The reasons are multiple and complex.
After 11 years of writing this blog it sometimes seems that there is nothing new to write about. Do I want or need to cover the same topics over and over again? Despite some misgivings I have decided that there is plenty I have to share with readers old and new. If you have any ideas, suggestions or requests please let me know and I will try to cover them.
I did not think that things could be much more challenging than 2021 when I faced my mother’s terminal illness and subsequent death. However, 2022 was equally difficult in many respects. I lost 2 friends, both of whom were younger than me, to cancer, this year. Others are dealing with health challenges, too.
While Covid has severely limited our ability and desire to travel overseas in the past few years, we have once again managed several trips within Australia. I have not documented most of the short trips on my travel blog in most instances for the simple reason of security. As well as our holiday to North Queensland we made several short trips interstate to visit family and friends.
The end of a year is always a good time to review what has gone before, albeit, without dwelling too much on the past. It also presents us with a clean slate and an opportunity for fresh beginnings. That is certainly likely to be the case here as we hope to complete the sale of our house and subsequent relocation in the early part of 2023. There will be plenty of adventures ahead for us.
Thank you for sticking with me in 2022 and I will be back in a bright and shiny 2023.
Happy New Year!!
I received a notification yesterday from WordPress that advised me that I have been writing this blog for 11 years. Although I sometimes wonder what to write about I intend to keep going for the foreseeable future. Thank you for reading along.
Meanwhile, the day went on with regular jobs. I did 4 loads of washing, ironed and folded everything, stripped and remade the bed, swept all of the floors and made another batch of spreadable butter. When I cooked the rice for dinner I did extra and have 2 more batches in the freezer.
Tomorrow is another day…………………..
In preparation for writing this post I did some reading. Not just any reading but reading 10 years worth of my New Year blog posts. The last posts in December and first ones in January each year.
The overwhelming theme is that despite some challenging times, I, along with many others, approach a new year with a degree of optimism. The turning from 2021 to 2022 is no different.
2021 for me was undoubtedly defined by the illness and subsequent death of my mother in the first half of the year. This was played out against a background of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
However, there was much for which I am grateful. A loving and supportive family, good health, a safe and secure environment, valued friends and a meaningful life.
I wish you a safe, fulfilling and peaceful 2022.
Today is 28th December and we are in that strange final week of the year – the week between Christmas and New Year. It can seem like no-man’s land and even has some rather creative names, including Twixtmas, Witching Week and Chrimbo Limbo.
Depending on your personal preferences and circumstances, the lead-up to Christmas may have been lived at a frenetic pace. Even those of us who have made a conscious decision to aim for a more low-key Christmas may find that most of our activity in the past month has been geared towards those few days centred on Christmas Day.
Therefore, it is hardly surprising that post-Christmas can be a bit of an anti-climax. When you combine this with the fact that many people have some sort of holiday break and another celebration a few days away it is no wonder that we are are feeling a bit topsy-turvy.
Additionally, the New Year is the moment when we tend to choose to rule a line under the past year and really look forward to the year ahead with gusto.
So, this Chrimbo Limbo (my personal favourite) what are you doing?
I am choosing to use the time to reflect, re-arrange, plan and prepare for the year ahead. I do not know what 2022 will bring but I do know that I want to use my time wisely and live my best life without dwelling on the past or wishing my life away.
I have noticed that it is 8 days since my last blog post and of course, it is only 4 more sleeps until Christmas.
The focus of the occasion certainly changes as families grow and change. This year will be somewhat poignant for me as it will be the first since my mother died earlier this year. We are all holding our breath and hoping that everything will go according to plan and our Melbourne-based daughter will be able to join us. She is due to arrive on Thursday. Meanwhile, our grandchildren are growing up (12 and 14) and will be spending the day with their father.
Our celebrations will be fairly modest and spread over 3 days to include various members of our family.
I put up the Christmas tree on Sunday and our small dog was mildly interested. So far she has not been tempted to attack the tree.
Of course, the regular shopping, cooking and housework continues unabated.
2021 has been a trying year in many respects. Whatever your circumstances, I wish you and your family a safe and peaceful festive season.
Today we had lunch with several of my extended family.
Stories shared and memories made.
Today we had a picnic. The occasion was meeting up with several of my Year 8 cohort from high school. 2021 marks 50 years since we began high school. 10 of us shared fun, laughter and crazy memories.
This event started me thinking that picnics seem to have become our default method of socialising. Even though our area has been mostly spared from Covid 19 cases, more and more of us appear to be enjoying the great outdoors for social occasions.
One of my cousins contacted me yesterday and suggested a get together with several of my extended family – a possible picnic! Most definitely count me in.
A picnic naturally means food. Do you have any favourite picnic fare? Picnics come in as many guises as participants. It is not all stereotypical rattan picnic hampers with red and white checked cloths.
Your set-up can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. In fact, one of the guests today brought a wedge of cheese, a baguette, knife and wooden chopping board in a backpack. This was happily shared with others in the group.
I would love to hear your thoughts on picnics and other socialising. Has the pandemic changed your outlook?
organised castle 