Some sad news...

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Today, I am thinking of a dear UK bloggy friend,
Angie from Can you all hear me at the back
who passed away on Sunday.
Rest in peace.

To the beach...

Yesterday promised temperatures up to 40C so after a morning spent in the cool at home, we headed for the beach.
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The beach was like a highway~
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Ruby...
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We set up our shade along the main beach. There weren't a huge number of people along here, just the 4WD going by. Angus & I had our first swim for the summer - the water was, shall we say, very refreshing! Our Southern Ocean is not known for it's warmth! But once we got in, we stayed in for about half an hour and it was lovely. Sorry no gratuitous bikini shots... (lol!)
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Bri and her friend had a swim while we watched from the shade. We saw lots of people just sitting out in the sun, I don't know how they do it?! They must frizzle!
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(all pics out of my E71 Nokia phone - I keep forgetting my camera!)
We stayed until 7pm then headed for home. Bri got to try her 4WDing skills through the dunes again. We had a barbecue dinner then I settled in to watch Hawaii Five-O (I'm a bit partial to Alex O'Loughlin - seeing he's Australian and all!).
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Back to the grind today then we are off to Melbourne tomorrow for a vehicle launch and dinner.
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Cheers - Joolz

Chillin'...

We are in for a hot day here - about 40C is expected. It's 11am (and currently 31C) and I am on the couch, cross stitch in hand and a glass of Liptons Peach Tea by my side. The house is still cool so I just have the fan going on me.
We were going to go to the beach but Gus has a sore neck (from driving a 12 seater Transit van (bus) back from Adelaide. So he has carked it on the bed again and Brianna hasn't even surfaced yet. We might go for a drive after lunch but if its too windy I think we will just stay put. I am in enjoying the peace and quiet with the TV turned down low and plenty of uninterupted stitching going on. Yay!
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Stay cool friends,
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Joolz

Delicious...

For a cross stitcher, there is nothing more delicious than a whole new set of colours and a pattern waiting to be started...
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Aren't they pretty?
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Lord only knows when I will get this started, but it's waiting for me, all sorted and ready to go!
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Joolz

Bits of Australia Day...

I got a giggle as I was driving to Mt.G yesterday - these people always have this tree, at the entrance to their driveway, decorated with tinsel for Christmas and it stays that way from one year to the next. This year they have simply added Australian flags to the mixture of tinsel and baubles. So very Australian!
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Our Aussie Day dinner was simple - some salad, a potato bake (looks burnt but it was just on the brink and tasted yummy)...
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... and some steak, lamb chops and sausages ('snags' - does anyone know why we call them snags??)
Added: I googled 'why we call sausages snags' and on one chat forum, some-one said that they had a friend who worked and an abattoir and it stands for 'Skin, Nuts (as in testicles) And Guts!!!! Hmm, that's probably a believable explanation....
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Brianna made this yum, yum, yummy pavlova...
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I did very little all day - one job I got out of the way was putting the Christmas tree and decorations away. Oh, my goodness! I believe I had about 200 decorations on the tree - it took me an hour and a half to get everything packed away (delicate baubles needed individual wrapping)! It's all packed away neatly now - hey, did you know it's only 332 days until Christmas!!
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It's warming up here over the next few days but I think we are going to get low to mid 30's so that's not too bad.
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I'm off to work now and am in for a busy day as there is only 2 of us working the sales/admin area. Have a lovely day, won't you?
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Cheers - Joolz

I Am Australian ~ Song "I AM AUSTRALIAN"

Happy Australia Day!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Australia Day! We don't have much planned for today -actually, Angus is heading in to work to catch up a bit. We have been so busy at work and I have been working full time hours the past two weeks so that hasn't left any time for blogging apart from reading your posts (which I love to do) and we are feeling quite knackered (Aussie slang for tired, worn out)!
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Hopefully, I will have most of the day to myself. I might even get some cross-stitching done! Brianna made a big pavlova last night so that is on the menu for dessert and we will have a barbecue with lamb chops, steak and sausages for dinner.
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It will look something like this (old photo from a few months back).
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I'll leave you with a few sunset pics that are my favourite - these are SOOC (straight out of camera - no tweaking) and I just love the colours.
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Enjoy your day - how are you spending Australia Day?
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Cheers - Joolz

Learn something new every day...

(picture from adelaidenow.com.au)
I've decided that I would like to "learn something new everyday".
Reading Kate's blog, Our Red House, I discovered a new word - peloton - which means a group of riders during a road race.
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Having just been to Adelaide, we saw lots and lots of cyclists out yesterday, although I don't think they were racing, as they seemed in no hurry.
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Each time I blog, I'll try and include something I've learned new each day.
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Cheers - Joolz

Important goods...

Here are the 22 Shoes Boxes of Love I packed up and took to Adelaide on behalf of myself, Zoe, Ebony, Louise & Mel. Kirby had one waiting to add to the pile. The drop off point was not open over the weekend so Kirby will get them to Kimberley in the next day or so. I rang and spoke to Kimberley (from SoL) and she apologized for not being able to receive them but that they had been inundated with boxes and it had taken them quite by surprise at how many they had got in just over 4 days. Anyhow, YAY! These boxes will be trucked to Queensland in early February and given to people affected by this terrible crisis.
Added: Kirby dropped the boxes off to Kimberley on Tues. 19th Jan - Job done! :)
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While in Adelaide, we visited the Gilles St Markets. Above are some vintage goodies - rings made from Scrabble tiles - Brianna bought a B, - and dominoes.
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Assorted brooches and earrings
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Treasures galore
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Beautiful vintage jewelry pieces
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Cute little felt boots for kids
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Some lovely vintage vanity sets
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A few knock-offs
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Yummy floral sundresses
(all pics taken on my E71 Nokia - quite pleased!)
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It was nice to catch up with Kirby, even though we were in Adelaide just less than 24 hours. We will be back again next week (for a bit longer!) so that will be cool.
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Cheers - Joolz

Shoe Boxes of Love...

A wonderful initiative to send aid to the Queensland flood victims has sprung up in Adelaide.

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It's called Shoe Boxes of Love - you get a shoe box and fill it with some small essentials that will brighten the day of the recipient.

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(colouring book, pencils, bath gel, hair clips, 4 pairs knickers, lip gloss, dolly, bubbles, jelly babies and the lovely squishy, cuddly pup!)
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We are heading to Adelaide tomorrow and will deliver them to one of the drop off points.
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Thank you Angela (3 boxes); Zoe (3); Mel (1); Ebony (3); Louise (4) and Kirby (1) plus my boxes (8) makes a total of 23 boxes!!! I'll try and get pics when we drop them off - they have received over 1000 boxes so far and have the capacity to take delivery of 15,000 and deliver them to Queensland.
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Cheers - Joolz

Update on Bri...she's out...

Updated again: Friday 14th - Bri is out of hospital this morning and feeling much better. She has been diagnosed with Glandular Fever so we will have to monitor her closely and make sure she doesn't over do it. It will take several weeks until she is 100% and even then it can linger on further. Her tonsils are nearly back to normal but she is still on antibiotics for another 6 days and will then be reviewed by the doctor again. Again, thank you for your wishes and prayers for her, much appreciated.
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Updated: Thursday 13th - Bri is going to stay in hospital a third night just so she can get all these lovely medications into her. Her tonsils have gone down quite well and do not look nearly as spotty and gross as they did. She is back to eating pretty normal food (if you can call hospital food normal (sorry, Sue!). Hopefully she will be allowed home tomorrow.
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Well those tonsils were not getting any smaller or better so on Tuesday arvo after getting some of her test results back - it looks very much like Glandular Fever - I took her up to the hospital again (on the advice of our GP) to have her admitted so she could receive some steroid treatment for the swelling. So she spent last night there, on a drip because she was dehydrated also and they got some of the good stuff into her.
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Today, she is off the drip but receiving meds through the canular (which is good because it doesn't make her nauseous like the tablets do). I would hope she can come home tomorrow but it depends how long they want to administer these meds. She and the nurses reckon the swelling is down a bit so that is good news.
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Thank you for all your kind get well wishes, they are truly appreciated.
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Cheers - Joolz

Flooding rains...

I love a sunburnt country,
a land of sweeping plains,
of ragged mountain ranges,
of droughts and flooding rains.
I lover her far horizons,
I love her jewel sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!
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- from My Country by Dorothea Mackellar
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My heart is breaking for the people of Queensland this morning after a day of death and distruction in the Toowoomba region and other regions yesterday. There is more to come and I feel so helpless watching this wall of water destroy peoples lives.
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Here is a link to the ABC for some pictures of this tragedy.
Joolz

Off to the doctors...

We have a 9.30am appointment with on of the best doctors in the local practice so I hope he can give Bri some relief. I think she may need intravenous help! Thank you all for your kind wishes, I'll let you know how we go.
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Updated: Had blood test for tonsilitis and Glandular Fever - results due Wednesday. More antibiotics and Aspro-clear gargling until then.
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Joolz

A trip to the A&E...

You can always tell when a teenager is really sick - they get dressed up to the nines to go to a party in a town 50 kms away (even when you say you think they would be better off staying home with that sore throat...), head off only to drive half way there, realise they are really sick then turn around and come home again. That's what bri did last night.
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Brianna has tonsilitis - in the very blurry picture above you might just be able to see the tonsils above the tongue, not leaving much room for anything else! We ended up at the hospital at 8.30 last night. She was in absolutely unbearable pain and when I took a look down her throat (and couldn't really see any airway) I said it was straight up to the A&E for her.
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I rang first and was told that a Paramedic was on duty for Accident & Emergency cases. He would assess her then make a phone consult with a doctor. The paramedic dude was just lovely and luckily we were the only ones waiting. After being seen (and he was completely blown away by her bulging, pus oozing tonsils - sorry!) he gave her some antibiotics to take until we make an appointment with a doctor on Monday. She had a very restless night, in between snoring loudly.
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Her glands are so puffed up you can see them through her neck, each side of her adams apple, they are rock hard! Poor thing!
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So she's spent the day on the couch, eating jelly, custard, soup and icy poles interspersed with pain-killers and the antibiotics. I decided this morning that I couldn't go to the Cape Jaffa Festival and leave her so we've both had a quiet day.
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Cheers - Joolz

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting...

These yummy cupcakes were featured on Kelli's blog There is no place like home...so I decided it was high time I tried Red Velvet Cake.
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It's basically just chocolate cake with red food colouring in the mixture...
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The cream cheese frosting has 4 cups of icing sugar in it!
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Do you like my Tupperware piping tube? It's the first time I have used it and it was really good. Very easy to control with both hands and it holds a lot of mixture.
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The finished articles with the piping tube and its various nozzles. Glad I bought it.
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What's happening in your part of the world? It's been raining quite heavily here today, after being hot and 38C here yesterday.
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We are off to the Cape Jaffa Seafood & Wine Festival tomorrow so hope to have some pictures to show you later on. I'm enjoying a quiet Saturday just pottering and enjoying a glass of wine too.
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Cheers - Joolz

More de-cluttering achieved today...

(before)
This cupboard has been jam packed full of stuff since we built the house and moved in 6.5 years ago...
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(after)
Ta Dah! I am really pleased with my efforts - there was quite a bit of crap in there which I have transferred to some stacker boxes (school bits and pieces from both girls - I have a large yellow envelope for each year they were at school).
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This... I think... is a Redback spider (I didn't get close, hence the blurry zoomed in picture and I can't quite see any red on its back but....its the right shape!)!!! It was living quite comfortably in the cupboard and got quite aggressive when I disturbed it. It had built a web in a scrapbook of Kirby's baby/birthday cards. What do you do with 20 years (and 17 years respectively) of birthday cards for your children - I have each and every one of them!! The poor widdle 'pider met its maker when I sprayed it with bug spray then vacuumed it up! Hasta lavista, baby! Ha, ha!
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Another picture for the "shame file" - a crunchy dead cricket, entangled in spider webs! Aaargh!
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Its been a very long day and it took a lot of time to pull everything out, evaluate its future existence then put it all back in again...
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Oh, the nostalgia! I found a container full of old cassette tapes - my kids don't even know what these are!!! Look - ABBA, ONJ!, Kenny & Dolly - good times! :)
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(before)
The other side of the built in - this is the library side (I do not have a book shelf in my home!).
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(after)
That's much better - everything is easy to see and reachable. I wonder how long it will stay this way???
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Enjoying a glass of red now, with my feet up -
Cheers - Joolz