Patience Pays Off

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Posted on September 9, 2024

This afternoon GMan was weeding in the garden and he removed the cover from the raised bed where I planted some cauliflower seedlings months ago. They have had no attention and amazingly we found one ready to pick.

There are about 4 or 5 others which are a bit smaller but will be ready to harvest before too long.

Meanwhile, the chard continues to produce enough to pick. Here is what I picked this afternoon and it will be used for dinner.

We arrived home yesterday after being away for a few days. We went to see our football team play in the first of the finals and it was a very disappointing outing as they were thoroughly outplayed. They do have one more chance this weekend. I am hopeful but not confident. Our other engagement was a difficult one as we gathered with many others to farewell a friend who had died much too young after a courageous battle with cancer.

Out of respect for everyone involved there are no photographs.

However, here is a sweet reminder of the joy of little things.

Down on the Farm

A Marathon Milestone

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Posted on May 1, 2018

Most of April seems to have slipped by in a whirl of socialising. The reason behind it all was my birthday. Not just any birthday, but my 60th birthday which is quite a milestone.

The celebrations were nicely spaced out over about 3 weeks and included lunch with my work colleagues early in the month followed by a morning tea at work for all of the April babies, 6 days in Tasmania with GMan and finally, a lunch for family and friends on Sunday.

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GMan and I with the amazing cake which was a fitting finale to a lovely meal and a fantastic few weeks of celebrating.

Everything should settle down to the regular routine now and hopefully blog posts will return to reasonably normal intervals.

Blogging Benefits

All Work and No Play….

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Posted on August 9, 2015

….makes Jack a dull boy, according to the rhyme.

Well, although I have been busy with work at home and in the office it is great to ‘play’ a little, too.

On Wednesday I visited the retirement village where my mother lives and joined in their Ekka Day. For those of you who are not Queenslanders – the Ekka is the nickname for the Royal Agricultural Show which happens in Brisbane each year for about 10 days in early August. To celebrate this occasion there was a morning of games of chance, bags of sweets, art and craft displays followed by a themed lunch. In the true tradition of this time of year it was a bright, sunny day but with a bitterly cold westerly wind so I was rugged up. Mum and I inadvertently managed to match our outfits.

GMan and I dined out on Friday to celebrate his birthday. We went to a local Italian restaurant for pizza. They have the option of a gluten-free base for the pizza which suits me and we indulged on dessert as well. Waffles for GMan and pavlova for me.

We have been socialising again today when we went to visit some friends who have recently moved into their new home. Instead of driving down the highway we took the scenic back roads. At Mt Mee we stopped at a lookout and captured the views. This is looking north-east towards the Glasshouse Mountains.

An old cottage and bunya pines.

North-west towards the Blackall Range.

We enjoyed a leisurely lunch, lively conversation and a stroll around the back paddock. What more could we wish for on a sunny Sunday afternoon in winter?

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend with time for both work and play.

An Anniversary

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Posted on March 12, 2015

Today is a milestone in the life of this blog. It is exactly four years since I tapped out those first tentative words and then hit ‘Publish’.

It is a rather daunting prospect to write and not know who will read or what their reaction will be. I have to say that the experience of the last four years of blogging has been overwhelmingly positive and that is entirely due to my readers. Thank you from the depths of my heart.

I have been lucky enough to meet some of you from the USA and UK as well as the other side of Australia. To develop a connection with fellow bloggers is really special and I have formed some enduring friendships.

Recently, I have been working to re-instate the photos which I inadvertently deleted from the first two years of the blog. It has been interesting to re-read some of my posts and to see how things have changed. A real lesson in the dynamism of life.

When I began I was not really sure how long I would or could continue blogging but it is now such a part of my life that I would feel quite lost without it.

Thank you once again for your continued support and comments.

Slow Living – April

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Posted on May 1, 2013

Here we are with another month ended and it is time to for a review in the spirit of Slow Living Essentials

I must say that a do feel like a bit of a fraud as there does not seem be anything slow about our lives.

Here are the Slow Living categories:

{Nourish} We have continued to be very diligent with making our packed lunches every day. It is now 9 months since I changed my diet to one which is gluten and mostly grain free. I am feeling much better and as an added bonus have lost 8kg. My main focus has been ensuring that we do not waste any food. This makes for some interesting but nourishing meals. This was made from some leftover bits in the fridge last week. You can read more about it here

{Green} We are starting to reap the benefits of SAM – our Solar Air Modules. It is essentially solar airconditioning and we are using it to very effectively keep the bathroom and bedroom warm and dry. I can reduce the humidity from 90% to 65% in the matter of a few hours. You can read more about it here

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{Grow} It is well into autumn but I have still been picking cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.

{Create} We have made 2 more raised garden beds.

{Discover} I have made a start on putting all of the family history research into a computer program and getting rid of a pile of paper in the process. I am discovering new facts and remembering some previous discoveries as I do it.