WHAT'S HAPPENING ?

What's going on ?

 

What's happening at my place?

 

1. Disaster averted !

 

I have been unable to get into my blogs!

Yes blogs, I have four on the go:

 

Helsie's Happenings

Helsie's Travels

Budget Baby Boomers' Travel Tips - abandoned but left sitting there

and Awesome Activities at Moggill - a CWA blog

 

Recently I have been unable to get into any of them.

When I signed in and clicked on Design to enter them I was faced with a blank page.

Nothing, just a white page with nothing on it!!

 

I tried my usual solution - rebooting the computer - no different.

 

I tried using another browser - no different.

 

I went away and came back the next day. Same thing.

 

I asked Tony .  No progress.

 

Finally, in desperation I asked two blogging buddies for help, the first step on going from blog to blog and putting the same comment on all of your blogs asking for help from any tech savvy bloggers out there.

 

Both of them set to work to find a solution for me and while Carol ( in Cairns ) was at work Sandy ( Tea Cup Lane ) found the solution for me !

 

Tony cleared my Cache and History and boom I'm back in business !

 

That's what I love about the world of Blogging.

When you have a problem your pals are always there to help you through.

 

Heartfelt thanks Sandy and Carol

 

2. Cooking

 

Recently there has not been much good stuff happening in my kitchen.

Tony and I have been dieting !!

Trying to get some weight off before our trip.

We both need it.

I need it more !

So we've been eating salads - easy enough in this weather - and not much else!

Needless to say Tony has lost twice as much as me !!!

 

BUT !

I've been seeing people making bread out there in the blogging world.

 

Artisan, no-knead bread

in particular

( on this blog and this one )

 

and I just had to have a go.

 

WOW ! Just look at this !!!

 

 

Yes, it is as easy as they say !

 

and when you slice it ......

 

 

 

Lovely holey, bread with a chewy crust.

 

I'll be making it again !

 

3. A Visitor

 

 

Yes, Scout has come to stay for a month while Sally is on holidays.

She ( Sally ) is spending two weeks in New York and 2 weeks in Whistler skiing.

 

Scout 's making herself at home.

 

 

Too much at home sometimes!

Not allowed on the new chairs Scout !!

 

Scout's habit of early rising is taking its toll on Tony.

 

 

 

4. Another disaster !

 

Sally's bathroom renovation has been a disaster.

 

Incredibly poor workmanship and $9000 down the drain so Dad and cousin Ben to the rescue.

 

They are jackhammering it all up while she is on holiday and organising and supervising the repair.

 

5. Exercise !!!

In an effort to help with the weight loss drama I am now swimming 1000metres - 20 lengths  -one kilometre - twice a week at the local pool.

As the pool will be closing in three weeks time for the Winter this will not continue but then it might be cool enough to do a little walking in the evenings with Scout.

 

Suffice to say exercise and I are not friends !!!

 

and now finally the most exciting of all

 

6. An Engagement !

 

 

These two special people

my handsome son Brett ( do you think he looks a bit like Bear Grills ???) and his lovely girlfriend and partner for about 6 years, Sarah

have finally decided to get married later in the year.

We are so happy for them and delighted to have Sarah an official member of the family.

 

So that's what been happening here !

 

Cheers. 

LOVELY WEATHER, LET'S GO OUT !

Can you guess where we've been today?

We were up and dressed and out of the door by 8:00am today.

The sky was blue and the weather warm as we headed off along the highway.



Peeping out among the dark green leaves along the roadside were lovely wattles bursting into bloom.

First it was breakfast at a little cafe then we met up with.....



Sally and Scout

 

Scout is growing up fast.

She's 5 and a half months old now.

 

We parked at this children's park near the beach where dogs are allowed off leach.

 

The possom was keeping a look out for other pirates.

 

 

The beach beckoned so off over the dunes we went. 

 

 

No surf today and not too many people about as school holidays have just finished.

Plenty of room to run and chase the ball without disturbing anybody.

 

Then back over the dunes to the banks of Currumbin Creek

A few hardy souls were swimming out to this sandbank with their dogs.

Not warm enough for us to join them today though Scout was in and out of the water.



Have I mentioned before that Queensland does Winter well ??????

Cheers.

 

CATCHING UP

Since we've been home it's been go, go, go.

We'd only been home a couple of days when my parents came to stay.

Dad had a checkup at the hospital ( all fine thanks ! ) and they decided to stay for the rest of the week to catch up with all our news.
Lovely to see them and great that they are well
but
I think I'm ready for another holiday after all those meals and cups of tea !!!


While they were here we were also babysitting
Scout,

Sally's 5 month old Border Collie puppy,

 

a positive dynamo

 

who quickly made herself at home

 

 

and won our hearts ( and wore us out with her early mornings !!!).

 

 

 

Today I've been baking for a morning tea with friends where traditionally we try out new recipes.

I tried out these two and both were a success.
It's ages since I included any cooking in this blog so I though I'd show them to you.

The first one is Lemony Squares, a sort of lemony version of a brownie.




The mixture is quite runny but the end product is dense and lemony.

I found the recipe here.

The next one is meant for a brunch/ breakfast dish but I've wanted to try it for ages so I cut it into smallish pieces and it provided a savory slice to balance all the sweet stuff at morning tea.

It has a base of cooked Hash Browns and was quick and very easy to assemble.

( sorry we ate it all before I remembered to take a photo !)

Another winner and I found it here.

So hopefully life will get back to normal soon.
There are thousands of photos to organise into Movie Makers and a holiday photo book to make using Blurb too.
I have an idea for new blog about traveling germinating in my brain too.....

and of course another holiday to start to dream on and research!

Cheers.

 

THE END OF AN ERA FOR US

Sadly today we said goodbye to our dear little mate Dash.

 

 

She was such a happy little dog and gave us so much pleasure and companionship.

 

RIP Dash.

You were a real character.

 

We'll miss you.

JUST CAN'T HELP IT !

This is Dash, our Australian Cattle dog cross.

She was dumped into my daughter's front yard as a small puppy about 11 years ago.

She was lucky, she was immediately adopted by Sally.

When Sally headed overseas we were asked to mind her two dogs for her while she was gone for two years.

Well, the two years turned into five and then she couldn't have her dogs with her where she was renting

and by then we had had the dogs for seven years so they have stayed with us!

We love them, they are our dogs though they adore Sally whenever she comes home.

Dash is a lovely dog ...... with one bad habit.

Every now and then she rips things to pieces !

She's been known to rip up her bed, strewing downy stuffing all over the yard like snow.

She's an old lady now...  you'd think that sort of thing was in her past but this morning,

when no-one was looking.....

and she was supposed to be sleeping peacefully in the kitchen....

she did this to her bed !!

Obviously just a moment of madness !

 It was just there and she just had to give it a little yank....

and that ripping noise is soooo delicious !!!

Then, we went out for a couple of hours and when we returned we found this...

Luckily, I've learnt not to leave good sheets on the line.

This is HER sheet she's ripped !!

She's very sorry......

She knows she shouldn't do it........

She says she doesn't know what comes over her.

She just can't resist that  delicious  ripping sound !!

Cheers.

BUSY COUPLE OF DAYS

You may or may not know that Tuesday was Melbourne Cup Day here in Oz.

It's known as "the race that stops a nation."

This famous, charismatic horse race is the cause of much dressing up , luncheon attending and general partying all over Australia.

Horse racing lovers come from all over the world to attend this prestigious race and fabulous Thoroughbred horses from America, New Zealand, Dubai, Ireland, and the UK are flown to Australia to compete.

The TV stations bring the fashions to us if we are not able to fly down to Melbourne to attend.

It's one of the few occasions when Aussie women wear hats!

( these are photos of my TV )

In Brisbane, stay-at-home women flock to Melbourne Cup Luncheons - either private ones held in someone's home or commercial ones held as special events.

Any excuse for a ladies' lunch !!!

So, not to be left out,  a few friends gathered  here for a few glasses of champers, a lovely lunch and, of course, we watched the race on the TV and cheered the horses on (not before we held our own sweep ).

Stylish guests arrived .....

and everyone contributed to a feast of delicious food.

I'm afraid that my horse didn't even finish the race!

Better luck next year !

.........................

On Wednesday, Tony and I drove the 60 miles south east of Brisbane to the Gold Coast .....

for lunch here,

 

sitting on the balcony of the Surf Lifesaving Club at Broadbeach.

with this view !

How good is that !

........

and before I sign off today... THAT PHOTO !

I can tell you there was nothing wordless about my response when I woke up on Tuesday morning to find a huge hole had been excavated under the fence by you know who during the night!!!

The bulbs of the lovely red hippiastrums had been ripped out and completely destroyed,

 but worst of all our lovely Mandevilla had been broken off near the ground and a large amount of it's roots dug up too!

And just after I had featured those two on FTF too !

Cheers.