Things to do when feeling sick

I have an infection and am on very strong antibiotics so am feeling quite tired.  Inner Health Plus is also making it's way down my throat, so that might cancel out the problems caused by antibiotics.
BUT I have been putting in some work around the house while I am staying home from work - too embarrassed to go in case I fall asleep on my desk.

The tagine came out of the cupboard in celebration of my recent trip to Morocco and chicken, spices, olives and lemon got cooked with cous cous (served in a saucepan).

I bought some new orange and pink suede shoes....

and then had to sit down and have a cup of mint tea to recover!!

In the afternoon, I went to my favourite spot to listen to some music, read a book and drink some tea
... picture me here!

 I love this tea set and the lovely red tray which became beautifully red when  I gave it a clean!!













I went to Toombul Shopping Town to buy some paint.  The reindeers have been let out for Christmas but were looking rather lonely...

Having bought purple paint - I still had the chart from when the walls were painted 11 years ago - I started improving the look of the swimming pool surrounds

The wall looks great and it has been embellished with a very rough Jordanian mosaic tree of life.  The Ikea stools that have been making do as side tables by the pool have been tossed out and there is a smart new table from Freedom that matches the flower pots.  The table was already scratched so they let me take it away for $29 - it it lasts a couple of summers I'll be happy.

I also decided to cover up the raw and mouldy wood with some purple.....  this is just the beginning.....

out and about

Pete and I went to the Concert Hall on Thursday to see a documentary about Paul Kelly and to listen to him sing some of the songs on his new album.  Both levels of the Hall were full and the film was very personal and interesting.  The last time I saw him he was singing with the Dots in a pub and wearing skin tight jeans and a very small animal print shirt.  His black curls were long.  He is now nearly bald and wears quite conservative clothes but the singing and the songwriting is still there.

We went to the Cultural Centre on the ferry - the city looked lovely at night and the weather was mild enough for us to sit outside on the deck.

The jacarandas are all looking wonderful at the moment.  I expect we'll get a storm soon which will blow them all off (that's usually the way it is).  I took this picture on the way to work - it reminded me of our last house which had a picket fence,  jacarandas and a flag pole.

This weekend was a quiet one - I have been far too social lately and just wanted to stay home.  Marg and I went to the craft fair and a did buy some fabrics so have been having a play with baby quilts - now that I have a godson and a daughter about to produce babes.

The garden is SO DRY - haven't had any proper rain since July.  I hope we don't revert to the dreadful DROUGHT!!!  However, the pots are getting watered and the smelly things are making it all smell delicious.

tea and gardens

I made mint tea in my Moroccan teapot for the first time yesterday and drank it out of the beautifully decorated green tea glass.

The handle gets very hot so I was able to use the 'gift with purchase' - the robed black wise man pot holder!!

Last week we had some rain and now everything growing looks very refreshed.  I'm always pleased when the first gardenia comes out in the hedge - this one has now been joined by several others which came out last night

The red hippies are very happy

 as are the geraniums

 and Max, the neighbours cat is thoroughly enjoying his pretty garden.

 The wisteria has grown lots of leaves - pity it only had one flower!!

the bridal tree is blooming again

the mulberry has got over it's very heavy pruning and has produced fruit, leaves and branches and I have eaten two pawpaws from the front garden tree.

And the jacarandas at the USC (and everywhere else in Brisbane) are in bloom.

a nasty experience involving balls

I brought home a leather pouffe from Morocco and today was the first chance to stuff it!  Instructions on the bag of beans is to do the deed in the bath:

little balls have escaped and just about filled up the whole bathtub.  I tried to wet them to make them easier to gather up but they reject water and then all tried to get down the plughole and block up the drain!




























Then I got the nearly full pouffe into the study and opened it up to put in  a few more balls and about half of what was in there escaped again!

So it's going to stay as a semi stuffed pouffe and I sincerely hope that no one ever undoes it's zipper.....
Up until today, I was sorry I hadn't bought more of them.....

murder in the suburbs

I live in a suburb of leafy trees and fairly quiet and respectable people.  You don't expect to hear about violence nearby.  I have a security door, but it's probably more useful for keeping dogs in or out of the house.

Last week the news reported that a couple and their dog had been found dead in their house in C.....d.  I have now heard the story.  They were in their late 30s - 40s.  The man went to school with Niall C at Terrace and has been working in the city.  The women worked at Cake Star as the cake decorator.  After they broke up, she came back to collect some of her belongings.  Unfortunately, she didn't make it past the front steps where someone she had obviously cared for once, shot her and her dog and then turned the gun around and shot himself.

The extreme arrogance of a person who does this type of thing is astounding!

back again

I am now home from 3 weeks in Morocco and one week in Jordan.  It was a great holiday and it is now also nice to be back home.
It's been rather hectic in the last week - all the chickens in the nest last weekend and then a lot of catching up with friends during the week as well as back to work........


DHL delivered some of the souvenirs from the holiday .. I don't know where I'm going to put them but it's fun having them and remembering the time when we first met!

 This bowl has already had it's first salad in it - it came from Fez and was free-hand painted at the pottery we visited.

 One Bedouin rug and another plus a leather pouffe which now needs to be stuffed

 I love the silver moroccan teapot - am looking forward to making mint tea in it.  The baby tagine can be used to put a tea light in which will be pretty on summer nights.

 I think this rug for here??

and maybe this one will get hung up somewhere?

We've had very summery weather this weekend with temperatures in the 30s.  Grand(god)daughter Audrey came to visit with her rubber ring and the pool got a bunch of swimmers -

 In the meantime, the bunnies have given up their tricks and are looking out the window to try to spot the next lot of visitors...

Devastation

I hate all the possums that live in the city.  Why can't they all move to the country and sit up in gum trees and leave us alone.

Apart from the evidence that one of the freeloaders who lives in my garden likes to sit on the swimming pool wall and piddle, the whole family must have been involved in the feast that involved eating all the leaves on my passion fruit vine and knocking over the pawpaw tree to get there.....

 You might find these photos rather unsettling - what used to be a veryrichwall covered with lush leafy passion vine (which not only looked nice but carried a promise of lovely fruit) has now been reduced to an industrial site with some sticks!!

 Look closely and you will see that one of my pawpaw trees is now lying horizontal (complete with green papayas on it).  the possum family have obviously used it as a vehicle to jump off the wall onto and then sit and eat the vine.

I do have some tomatoes which haven't been discovered by the possums - perhaps they don't eat them.  Unfortunately, these will ripen while I'm away.

The heavy pruning in the front garden was my fault, not the possums.  I am greatly relieved to see that things are now starting to sprout - the mulberry tree is even popping out some little fruit - it must have been just about to do so when Bill and I attacked it.

There is also a promise that the bridal tree will again grow up and shade my front verandah.