A Simple Woman's Day Book

FOR TODAY ~ Friday 14th June 2013

Outside my window...thankfully it looks so much better outside my window today than it did yesterday. If I'd have sneaked enough time to write my Day book yesterday, then I'd have been very negative because it was a complete washout! Dark and wet...in fact you'd possibly have thought that I'd already moved back to the UK! 

Thankfully the three days of virtual none stop rain seem to have emptied the clouds for now, although they are still hanging around. There is the odd little peek of sun but it's rather weak. 

The swimming pool is looking exceedingly full and I'm just wondering what will happen if we get more rain...eek! The grape vine is stripped of all its leaves and now looking very bare but the main stem always appeals to me...it's so twisted and full of character. 

I've found a few stray strawberries that were hiding on the plant which I have to say were a total surprise. I thought they'd be finished by now. But I don't think these few brave beauties will ripen...it would be a miracle if they do...but never say never! 

The wisteria is completely naked now which is quite sad as I've had to clear every last leaf but won't have the pleasure of seeing it bloom again! But I've just remembered that I have a wisteria waiting for me back in the UK and so I'll have that to look forward to so all is not lost! 

My orchids have been adopted and are settling into their new home. I know they will be very happy. Their new owner doesn't even know how spectacular they are or even what colour. So that will be a real treat. ;D

There's one last rose of summer sitting looking so pretty. It's a gorgeous yellow and the perfume is incredible and wafts as people come to the door. I'm so tempted to cut this last one and bring it in the house to enjoy. So far I've resisted but I don't think that'll last. It's like a burst of sunlight.

I am thinking...that I really have been a bad blogger recently because I haven't visited many other blogs. It's not that I don't want to...in fact I'm bothered what I maybe missing. Okay yes I know...I'm nosy and don't want to miss anything. But I find once you miss a few posts from your favourite bloggers it's really quite a task to play catch up! But if nothing else I'm determined, so I'll strive to pop into a comment box near you soon...I just ask that you be patient with me. It really is quite a task to move from one part of the planet to the other and unfortunately time gets swallowed up in huge chunks! 

I am thankful...for such much that it really is too hard a task to just pinpoint one....so today I'm not going to. I am an incredibly privileged and lucky person...but don't get me wrong, I don't take that lightly. Sometimes I don't feel it but it only takes a few seconds to be reminded. There is so much to be thankful and I intend to keep reminding myself of even the smallest thing daily! ;D 
Just to prove my point as I've been sitting here chatting with you...this has happened...life's full of surprises.

No matter what is going on in your life...it may not be going where you thought it might...but there's always something to be thankful for. Just take the time to appreciate it. 

In the kitchen...there's a gorgeous pan of homemade soup warming. My hubby has 'man flu' at the moment so I'm suffering! Yes you read that right...I'm suffering! There's nothing like a good homemade chicken and veggie soup to warm the cockles of your heart when you're not feeling 100%. 

The cupboards are getting slimmer (pity I'm not!) as I try to work my way through my store cupboard. I think a few friends might be getting odd provision pressies soon. 

I am wearing...no thermals. LOL but that's because the heating is gently wafting through the house. Starting at my feet I'm wearing trainers (only because I nipped out earlier and just haven't got around to taking them off yet ~ naughty I know but hey who cares?) Jean's and a long-sleeved t-shirt under a white cotton jumper. There's a white, blue and black patterned pashmina cuddling my neck just in case I feel the heating isn't sufficient enough ;D

I am creating...nothing at the moment. I think my creative juices have dried up for this week which isn't surprising with what's been happening here. It's been rather hectic as we enter the last few weeks of our Aussie life, but I'm hoping that my mojo hasn't abandon me but just taking a little break. 

I am going...to get fat with the way I'm eating at the moment. Seriously with so many meals and lovely leaving events lately my waistband feels in serious threat of pinging! And there's still so many more to go...I'm seriously clocking up the calories! 

I am wondering...who opened that new bar of chocolate in the fridge? I think we may have a serious choco-goblin that visits at night! It wouldn't be me would it? Not with all of those calories lining up (as she pops yet another square into her mouth....Mmmm)! 

I'm reading...The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

(Details taken from Booktopia)

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. Then a chance encounter gives him an idea. He will design a questionnaire—a sixteen-page, scientifically researched document—to find the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker or a late-arriver. 

Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is strangely beguiling, fiery and intelligent. And she is also on a quest of her own. She’s looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might just be able to help her with—even if he does wear quick-dry clothes and eat lobster every single Tuesday night. 

When rights to a debut novel are sold in more than thirty countries, you know a book is generating serious buzz. I am glad to say that this feel-good debut delivers what the hype promises.

I'm really enjoying reading this charming and amusing book and recommend it.

About the Author:

Graeme Simsion was born in 1956. He is an IT consultant and data analyst with an international reputation. He has taught at four Australian universities and is currently a Senior Research Fellow at Melbourne University. He is a founder of Pinot Now, a wine importer and distributor, and is married to Anne, a professor of psychiatry who writes erotic fiction. They have two children. 

In 2007, Graeme completed his PhD in information systems and enrolled in the professional screenwriting course at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He has made a number of short films and his screenplay, The Rosie Project, won the Australian Writers Guild / Inception Award for Best Romantic Comedy Script in 2010. While waiting for The Rosie Project to be produced, he turned it into a novel which in June 2012 won the Victorian Premier’s award for an unpublished fiction manuscript.
Readers of The Rosie Project will know that Graeme Simsion has a first-class sense of humour. At professional conferences he has given addresses from on top of a ladder, dressed as a duck, and he once engaged a group of spellbound chartered accountants in community singing.

I am hoping...you didn't see me nip back to the fridge for a few more squares of choccy! ;D

I am looking forward to...starting a whole new veggie plot with raised beds in my new garden. I think I might be up with a fight to keep the wildlife away from my produce but hopefully I'll be able to grow enough that we can share...I'm keeping my options open. My hubby is suggesting I get a rabbit recipe on hand but I don't think  I like that thought! I'm thinking that Muffy won't be much good as a guard dog but you never know. She may think it's a whole new circle of friends! ^..^

Around the house...All ship-shape Sir! Even though we aren't open for a house inspection this weekend. With having so little of our furniture and belongs with us now, it's easy to keep clean and tidy. My hubby is getting into this minimalism but I'm afraid I like all my belongs. I can't wait to be re-antiqued with them all.

A favourite quote for today...(an image courtesy of Google Quote of the Day)

One of my favourite things...obviously chocolate by the look of this post but I've mentioned that before possible numerous times so I'll say something new...if only I could think of something...mmmm...

I love to hear the wind and rain lashing and bashing the house when I can snuggle further down under the duvet (dunna) where it's all cosy and snug. It's probably just as well because come next winter that may well be how I will spend most of my days LOL 

I'm looking up how to survive hibernation...well I'm doing well on storing up with the excess fat already, so I'm half-way there already! 

    

A few plans for the rest of the week: Well thankfully we're just heading into the weekend. But I don't think they'll be much resting time...we're trying to make the most of each day until we leave :D 

A peek into my day...well maybe that should read a peek into last night. 

This photo was taken as the seafood bomb arrived at our table.  

But then there was so much more....

 So that's it for this week; I hope you enjoyed your visit and if it's your first time reading my day book entry, I hope you enjoyed it.

Don't forget to pop over to The Simple Woman's Daybook and check out the other day book entries.

 I hope to see you again soon...Have a wonderful weekend.

Have fun and hopefully the sun will shine!!!

A Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY ~ Wednesday 5th June 2013

Outside my window...There's a cool wind whipping around this morning which is causing the few remaining leaves to dance and twist as they fall to the ground. There's not many left to fall by the look of it, but they keep coming! It's surprising how little time it took for the cold to come calling. The heating is going up and down like a fiddlers elbow!

There are buds on the hibiscus and the lilac bushes just outside the dining room window, but I'm reminded that I won't see them spring into life. I'll have to make sure my new garden holds lots of delights. I haven't seen that garden for over 12 years other than photos, so it will be wonderful to get reacquainted once again. It'll be like meeting an old friend.

Even though I scooped the pool of leaves yesterday...the wisteria leaves have fallen like confetti covering the surface, but I'm trying to ignore them for today. I can hopefully delegate that job tomorrow. 

I can hear all the noise from a demolition of a house nearby which always seems sad to me. All the stories and history are being loaded into a truck. I'm hoping that they are going to be sympathetic and do a good job giving the old house new life, but I don't think I'll still be here to see how it takes shape. 

The sky is heavy today with light grey clouds although they don't look heavy enough to carry rain so maybe we'll be lucky. The birds seem to have disappeared...I can't see or hear any. Maybe they know something I don't?

The radio is on low with perfect background music to accompany my blogging and art work. I've got lots planned and I'm determined to do them first before I tackle a little ironing. I'm feeling pretty smug because I cleared the whole of my ironing before the freight left, so I only have minimal bits and pieces...namely work shirts today...so it's all manageable. 

Muffy is curled up beside me but a little nervous with all the banging from the demolition...I think she thinks it's another thunderstorm like the one we had midweek. The thunderclaps had her quivering and quaking. She stares at the door expecting a huge salivating fanged monster to come crashing through to get her! (Imagination may have got a little out of control there) It's such a shame. 

I am thinking...of the very tragic loss of a young man's life last weekend. His funeral will be held on what would have been his 21st Birthday and my heart is so heavy thinking about how his family will cope without him. He was one of my son's friends and it's been terrible watching my son trying to cope with the shock and acceptance that he's mate is no longer around. I'm so proud of him but it hurts to see his pain.  

I am thankful...for every member of my family and friends! 

In the kitchen...clean as a whistle as they say! There's no baking and not much cooking going on these days because basically my entire kitchen has gone ~ oh how I miss them. Each meal is an invention test as on Masterchef. All my equipment is rental and therefore it feels like I'm cooking with strangers. They don't know me and I don't know them. So far we're managing to get along but it's certainly different! 

I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a drawer or cupboard for something before I remember it's no longer there. I guess you can't teach this old dog new tricks! 

I am wearing...warm clothes because apparently I'm being told constantly to 'hunker down' and how cold it is here at the moment. Now let me explain that it may well be heading towards winter for Melbourne and for an Aussie it may well be cold, but really I can't say that 14 or even 12 degrees celsius necessitates hibernation   

I'm sure I've softened up over the years living in warm climates but with our UK move coming up, I'm trying to toughen up. Just between you and me the fact that I'm wearing thermals has nothing to do with it! 

I am creating...Oh I'm so excited. I've got a few designs up my sleeve and plan to draw later today. Hopefully I'll be able to post them before the end of this week. It's a lovely feeling having that delight ahead. It's been a really tough week so far, so I'm going to use this drawing session as a special treat to help me take my mind away somewhere...I know not where ;D

I am going...to meet my girlie friends for an afternoon tea. I'm so looking forward to this as it's been on my tick list for some time. Who knows I may even get to write a post on it but I'm not promising...you know what us girlies are like when we get together. I'm getting my pinkie perked and ready for my china teacup! 

I am wondering...why my big toe nail doesn't grow at the same rate as all of my other toe nails...it seems so slow and there again they are slower than my hands nails. Why is that I wonder? 

I'm reading...The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

(Details taken from Booktopia)

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. Then a chance encounter gives him an idea. He will design a questionnaire—a sixteen-page, scientifically researched document—to find the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker or a late-arriver. 

Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is strangely beguiling, fiery and intelligent. And she is also on a quest of her own. She’s looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might just be able to help her with—even if he does wear quick-dry clothes and eat lobster every single Tuesday night. 

When rights to a debut novel are sold in more than thirty countries, you know a book is generating serious buzz. I am glad to say that this feel-good debut delivers what the hype promises.

I'm really enjoying reading this charming and amusing book and recommend it as your possible next book.

About the Author:

Graeme Simsion was born in 1956. He is an IT consultant and data analyst with an international reputation. He has taught at four Australian universities and is currently a Senior Research Fellow at Melbourne University. He is a founder of Pinot Now, a wine importer and distributor, and is married to Anne, a professor of psychiatry who writes erotic fiction. They have two children. 

In 2007, Graeme completed his PhD in information systems and enrolled in the professional screenwriting course at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He has made a number of short films and his screenplay, The Rosie Project, won the Australian Writers Guild / Inception Award for Best Romantic Comedy Script in 2010. While waiting for The Rosie Project to be produced, he turned it into a novel which in June 2012 won the Victorian Premier’s award for an unpublished fiction manuscript.
Readers of The Rosie Project will know that Graeme Simsion has a first-class sense of humour. At professional conferences he has given addresses from on top of a ladder, dressed as a duck, and he once engaged a group of spellbound chartered accountants in community singing.

I am hoping...that our move back to the UK goes smoothly and we settle back quickly. There's so much planned I don't think our feet will touch the ground till at least September! I just hope that by Christmas we can switch off and relax...get the fires roaring, Aga churning out fabulous food, family and friends visiting and generally enjoy being settled at last! 

I am looking forward to...seeing my family up close and personal again. I haven't seen then for three years! I can't imagine where that time has gone. It's so frightening. I spent three hours on the phone to my sister on Saturday so just imagine how many hours we'll spend nattering when we're together. 

Around the house...there's only minimal furniture due to our impending move. Everywhere is clear and clean within an inch of its life as this week we have had the pleasure of having to have noisyparkers..(cough)... stickybeaks...I mean... potential tenants to view the house. I'm hoping that the first family to come through the door wants to live here so that we don't have to keep having inspections. 

I wish I could say I've found my reading glasses somewhere in the house but unfortunately there's no sign of them turning up yet. Maybe as a friend suggested they might appear at the other end in a packing box. I think they decided to go AWOL on our doggy walk, but I like to think that they'll be found on the other side as it were. I'll certainly let you know if that happens. They'll probably turn up when I buy a new pair...isn't that what always happens?!?!?

I've possibly binned heaven knows what over the last few weeks because I've found a bag of chilli seeds and scrunched up kitchen paper in a bag in the freezer yesterday. Don't ask me????? 

Lock me up NOW!

A favourite quote for today...Seize the day!

One of my favourite things...I always find this question a tough one to answer because I have so many favourite things. I've probably told you a good few of them over the last year or so...hmm...which to choose for today?
I'll just go and pop the kettle on whilst I think....
Well I suppose by what I've just written it should be a cup of tea. It starts my day. I was going to challenge my son that if he gave up drinking coke I would give up my cuppa...for a whole month! Thank goodness he didn't take up the challenge because quite frankly I don't think I'd have been able to do it! 
There's music too...it surrounds me.
My artwork that went missing for so many years and I'm so grateful that we've found each other again. I realise now it's who I am! 
Looking across at a vase of flower...they make me smile and I don't think I could live in a world without trees and flowers. 
Oops...it says one of my favourite things...okay I'll stop there but before I do obviously my hubby and children would always be my most favourite things. That goes without saying! :D

    

A few plans for the rest of the week: Work, rest and play but not necessarily in that order...I'm making the most of each day : D 

A peek into my day...Well it's actually 3 peeks into my day! 

We've been visited each morning by a flock of corellas and this morning they made so much noise that they disturbed Muffy from her snoozing! 

And this is what she was keeping a close eye on...

Here's a close-up but unfortunately all of these photos were taken through our bedroom window, so they aren't as clear as I would have liked...

Who's a pretty boy then?

 So that's it for this week; I hope you enjoyed your visit and if it's your first time reading my day book entry, I hope you enjoyed it.

Don't forget to pop over to The Simple Woman's Daybook and check out the other day book entries.

 I hope to see you again soon...Have a wonderful week everyone...whatever is on your plan.

Have fun!!!