Wierd Weather!

Hello My Lovelies :)

All along the eastern seaboard of Australia we've been experiencing some of the weirdest weather I have ever seen. Sydney, Brisbane & Gold Coast have had to contend with a dust storm that has lasted all day. I created the collage below from photos taken from various sources - just so you could all see how bizarre today has been!



Needless to say the hospitals are full of people who are having trouble breathing with all this dust around - the weather bureau are saying that the dust will start to dissapate sometime on Thursday [tomorrow]; I certainly hope so.

Anyway, just a quick post - I know I've been quiet of late but things have been busy around here & so finding the time to chat with everyone has been tricky to find - but I WILL be back shortly as I have some lovely photos to share from our wedding anniversary dinner.

Until next time, take care & tell the ones you love what they mean to you :)

Ciao
Mish :)
xxx

Long Weekend :)

Hello my Lovelies :)

Spoke to my parents today & they are having the best time in Europe - their tour of Europe is now over & they are spending several weeks in Malta; where my dad was born.

They say that the weather is hot hot hot!

My mum has taken 3,000 photos & now needs to purchase another memory card for her camera, so she doesn't have to delete any - I can just imagine the photo night we will have when they return - a very long one indeed ... he he he!

They won't get back home until the middle of October, which means they are going to miss out on the Kung Fu Graduation in early October & that is when Nic [my son] will get his blue jacket!

Yes, that means he passed his blue belt grading a few weeks ago & all that is left is our weekly visits to the tailor to get the jacket made, attend the presentation - where his jacket will be 'given' to him & have his photo taken for displaying on the wall at HQ in Brisbane - how exciting!

He is studying Tong Long Kung Fu through the Chinese Kung Fu Academy in Brisbane - you can check out a video or two on their website & see how hard he has had to work to gain such a high level at only 17. Can you tell that I am very proud of my boy :)

The week after graduation [11 October 2009] our local school at Mudgeeraba is having an open day - so we are all madly training hard to make the event as successful as possible. I am in the process of learning how to play the cymbals so hopefully we can have live music for the Chinese Lion Dance, which is held at the beginning of the day - I just hope that we can all become proficient before then :)

I'm also trying to finish off learning 3 Tai Chi forms - an open hand form [the 42], plus put new fan & sword forms to music - so as you can imagine I will be getting together with the other two instructors on a weekly basis for some early morning [6am] training between now & then, PLUS lots more training on my own!

All of this has made my decision to withdraw from university a good thing to do - yes it was a very hard & sad decision to make but it was one that had to be done :(

We've had so much going on these past few months & the situation with hubby's compensation case looks like it may drag out until Christmas 2010 & to be honest I was having trouble juggling working full-time with Tai Chi & studying; all while trying to keep a life of family & friends happening at the same time ...

Anyway, now that I have taken the step a weight has lifted off my shoulders & I can now focus on the other things :)

This weekend we've had a long weekend on the Gold Coast for the local show - usually it rains but all the early hot weather has meant that the whole weekend was dry & beautiful!

I indulged in reading for pleasure & got through two books in three days!

'C'est la vie!' by Susan Gershman - an autobiographical story of her first two years in Paris after her husband of 25 years dies & 'The Hat Shop Around The Corner' - sorry but I forget the authors name - but it was a novel, loosely based on the experiene of the authors Aunty who had a hat shop in South Anne Street. I got totally engrossed in both books & it was lovely to spend so much time being indulgent - mind you hubby had his head burried in a Sci Fi novel or two & our son worked for most of the weekend - so the house was peaceful & quiet all weekend, bliss :)

So, my lovelies - I best be off & running, as its nearly 6pm & not only do I need to think about dinner but getting myself organised for another busy week.

Until next time, take care & make sure you hug & kiss the ones you love.

Ciao
Mish :)

QLD Scenic Rim

Hello My Lovelies :)

On Sunday hubby & I decided to take a day trip to the Scenie Rim area of Queensland & what a beautiful part of the world it is!

We started in Beaudesert, about 70 minutes from home on the Gold Coast & then continued onto Boonah & further west. Boonah is such a beautiful place; there was a lovely welcome sign hanging from the verandah of the Commercial Hotel in the main street!

We decided to stop in Boonah for lunch at Cafe 17 & we highly recommend the yummy food; we had coffee, shared Barramundi with salad & then a slice of lemon cheesecake :)







After lunch we took a trip further south-west & found Kooroomba Vineyard & Lavendar Farm - such a beautiful place. We bought some beautiful white wine called Alba & a bottle of Port :)

I couldn't resist taking photos of the beautiful scenery & lavendar - the smell was gorgeous. We are definitely going back for another visit later in the year & next time we will book for lunch before we leave, as the menu in the restaurant also looked amazing.

After that we took a drive to the north of Boonah & discovered that it is only a 45 minute drive to Ipswich [suburb on western outskirts of Brisbane]; we found a small village about 15 minutes out of Boonah & had a great time driving around & finding out more about the area. We saw the most beautiful converted church & a paddock of Goats - the babies were all so cute, that I couldn't resist taking a photo of them too :)





At the local information centre in Boonah we found out about the Bartons Rose Farm at Kalbar - which is on our must see list for Spring!

We also saw the coolest promo posted in the main street of Boonah for the upcoming Arts Festival!



All in all, we had a fantastic weeked - which was exactly what I needed. There's been a lot of "stuff" going on lately & I think in the next 18 months or so hubby & I will be taking a new road [more later] & this break from all the discussion & decisions that have to be made gave me the time to not only sit back & enjoy life but to also help re-evaluate what I want not only for myself but for my family in the future - which is of course for us to be healthy & happy.

Until next time, take care, stay safe & make sure you hug & kiss the ones you love.

Ciao
Mish :)

Europe - Here We Come!

Hello My Lovelies :)


No, I'm not off on the ultimate trip to Europe :(


My mumma & my pappa left for their trip to Europe today!

About the same time that I sit down to type this, they were taxing down the runway at Sydney airport on a direct flight to London!


They are travelling with my aunty & uncle [my dad's baby sister & her husband]; they have 2 days in London with sight seeing, then a 3 week tour of Europe, then a few more days in London to recover & then they fly to Malta where they will spend approximately 6 weeks visiting & staying with family; then back home to Australia via Dubai. They fly back into Sydney airport at the beginning of October but will not return to the Gold Coast for several weeks after that; as my dad wants to spend some time visiting his 6 other brothers & sisters & all of their kids in Sydney.

When we saw them on Friday night they were excited but not even the littlest bit nervous! My uncle [who lives with them] took them to Coolangatta airport this afternoon & so I called them to say a final good bye. They had just gone through security at the airport & my dad set off the metal detector with his knee replacements - oops!

Apparently the letter from the doctor & the 2 huge scars down the front of each leg where not enough to convince security; they made him not only take off his shoes but his belt too - then they scanned his body again & only after that did they believe him!!!

Then my poor mum had to empty her entire handbag & she carries everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink - he he he :)

By the time she got to the bottom of her handbag to bring out the offensive object [a pen with a metal casing] her hands were shaking & she was almost in tears - the nerves had definitely kicked in by then - she explained all of this to me over the phone & I could hear the nerves in her voice & the tears too - which made me cry & I was calling them from a shopping centre.

I am sooo happy for them to finally be on their way on this trip, which has been in the planning for over a year or more - I have seen them save like crazy so they could enjoy this trip :)

The only bad thing about the whole experience is that their oven died last night - can you believe it :(

My uncle is going to get an electrician to come out & have a look this week but I suspect that it's time for the oven to go to the great kitchen in the sky.

So, I hatched a very clever plan this afternoon :)

Hubby & I, my uncle, my brother & son are all going to put in & buy them a new oven for Christmas! Of course, we will have it installed before they return from their trip - besides how are we going to cook the baked ham for Christmas if there is no oven .....

I took down the details of the new cooktop that they installed about 18 months ago & I'm going to start doing my research on the internet to see what the prices for a new oven are & then we are going to go & check out all the 'scartch & dent' places & possibly even visit an auction or two & see what we can come up with. Then, all I need is to find an electrician who wants to do a quick favour for us on a Saturday afternoon & install the new one for us - I'll even throw in a few beers for his trouble.

I've got approximately 6 weeks to hatch my clever little plan, which means they will all be busy with work, study & Tai Chi - plus I've got the most amazing audio book to finish - phew busy me but I'm really looking forward to seeing the looks on my parents faces when they get home!

Until next time, take care, hug & kiss the ones you love & stay safe.

Ciao
Mish :)

Good New from Uni!

Hello My Lovelies :)

I got great news from uni today - the results of the Statistics Module Test for last week. My score was 87% - that's my highest score this year - yahoo!!!

Mind you I'm still having all sorts of issues trying to find at least ONE book, etc I can use for my research essay - but the hunt continues, as I have more books to pick up from the library after work tomorrow night. Sheesh, I really didn't think the topic I chose would be so hard to get information about but I might have to have another look at my topic options ... which means another mind map - oh joy of joys!

Actually, I enjoy making mind maps, the only problem I'm really having is that uni have chosen the topic & we must pick the 2 specific aspects relating to the topic that we want to discuss in our essay. The topic is:

" The Australian lifestyle has created some problems for the natural environment. Discuss two of these problems and that ways they are being addressed."

The aspects I chose are; [1] the mis-use of water & [2] the effect of plastic bags on the lives of animals in our creeks & our oceans; & it is the second area that is causing me the most grief.

I can find lots of information relating to the mis-use of water & thankfully today I found a great book that talks in detail about the Murray-Darling Basin; but trying to find someone who has written in detail about the effect of plastic bags on local wildlife is almost impossible.

So, my darlings, wish me luck as I go on my little journey into cyberspace over the next few days - which means it may be quite a while before I get the chance to post again :)

So until next time, take care, stay safe & make sure you hug & kiss the ones you love.

Ciao
Mish :)

Monday Night Quickie!

Hello My Lovelies!

Just a Monday night quickie post :)

I was so wrong yesterday morning when I said it wasn't cold on the Gold Coast, because it certainly was chilly on the motorbike! We ended up having to go to two different farmers markets to get what we wanted, but we got to try a Nikimaki [not sure about the spelling] - a Japanese dish of steamed rice, wrapped in Pork & then baked in the oven with a type of soy sauce spooned over the top while cooking. It was very yummy :) :) :)

So we didn't get to Voila' for a yummy, as we were too full from the delicious Japanese. In the afternoon I spent about 4 hours on the computer doing some uni work & research for my uni essay which is due in about 9 weeks - argh!

Quite honestly, it's the research that takes the most time, because:

1 - you have to go & look for articles, books, etc on the topic
2 - read parts of them to see if they are relevant
3 - if they are then you can start to really read the details
4 - take notes from the text to use in your essay
5 - perhaps take even a quote or two

BUT if they are not relevant, then you have to start the whole process all over again - Phew! - no wonder I was over it all by 4.30pm.

So, I went for a nice long walk & yes I was very tired by the time I got back; luckily hubby had made a beautiful rustic Italian soup of potato & berlotti beans - the recipe is in the current issue of the Australian Better Homes & Gardens magazine, but of course hubby changed it!

Actually, he made it exactly to the recipe to start with, tasted it; then changed it by adding a onion which he caramelised in another pan, some garlic, salt, pepper, a tin of tomatoes & more fennell seeds. In the end it was really yummy & there is enough leftovers for a few more meals - yeah!

Before you ask, yes I was able to send of my assessment due today [Monday] in time - I actually emailed it to my lecturer at 9.15pm on Saturday night! I was also able to fix a few things in two other assessments [kindly pointed out by the lecturer], thankfully she gave me the opportunity to change things & resend them to her via email. This is not the first time that she has done this for me & I'm beginning to think that this is part of the way she supports her external students; which really is a very lovely form of support to have. It's great to have a lecturer who will reply to you, point out your mistakes & give you the opportunity to fix them before they mark the assessment - I'm sure we all remember how easy it is to make silly mistakes when you are trying to reach a deadline.

Anyway, I better run as I'm starting to feel quite tired & hubby is starting work early in the morning, so I'll have to make my own breakfast & be ready to leave the house 30 minutes early than normal as I have to drop Nic off at school on the way to work. This is something I always do when he has a shift at Woolworths after school, that way his expensive bicycle [thanks mum & dad] is safe in our garage & I know he will get home safely after his shift is over, as I go & pick him up. Yes, I'm still being the protective mother [as much as he lets me] even though my 'baby' is 17!

Until next time, take care, stay safe & make sure you hug & kiss the ones you love.

Ciao
Mish :)

Sunday Morning

Hello My Lovelies :)

Just a quick Sunday morning post! Yes, I know I should still be in bed sleeping away the cold winter morning - but it's really not that cold here on the Gold Coast today; plus I'm having a great time posting this while listening to an audio book version of 'A Thousand Days In Venice' by Marlena de Blasi; I've only been up since 7am & that's pretty normal for a Sunday for me :)

Today, I think hubby & I will visit the Farmers Markets at the racecourse, go to our favourite French Cafe & Patisserie - Voila at Mudgeeraba for coffee & something delicious & then I will probably spend the remainder of the day doing some more study for university.

I spent nearly 5 hours last night working on one subject - I was 2 weeks behind & only had until 5pm Monday [tomorrow] to email in the module assessment. The past few weeks at work have been very hectic & rather stressful - but I'm not going to elaborate, as I need to forget all about it for at least 2 days, or I may not go back on Monday. Yes, I'm still very undecided about this new job - but something happened on Friday that may become the catalyst for change - but we shall wait & see!

Anyway, I'm going to sign off now & sit back & enjoy the beautiful omlete with cheese, shallots & fried onion lovingly made for me by my handsome hubby!

Until next time, take care, stay safe & make sure you hug & kiss the ones you love.

Ciao
Mish :)