Lotions and potions

Every day of my life I marvel at the cleaning stuff I waste money on.  In the bathroom there's stuff to shower with, followed by cream for eyes, mouth, face, body, hands, feet, heels, etc, etc.  Then there's deodorant, perfume, makeup.  Toothpaste, mouthwash, floss picks.  All kinds of stuff for hair that's been shampooed and conditioned - gel, mousse, paste, sculpt lotion and spray.  Not forgetting special stuff to clean glasses with. Or special cream for arthritic knees.

Then you have to clean the shower, basin and toilet, each with its very own product. And, of course, a vast array of special cloths to use.  While I was at it I mopped the floor, dusted and vacuumed - more special stuff for each one.

I also changed the sheets - put the dirty ones on the line and even gave the pillows and doona an airing in the sun and wind and 25 degrees. As I was making the bed up with clean sheets, look who hopped in to enjoy the freshness, without a care in the world:

And we think we're the intelligent ones!

Sorry about the blurry laundry photo.  I suppose I'll have to get some eye drops so I can see better...

Winter sunset

Just looked out the window and saw this!  Beautiful colours.

Pleased with myself today:  I learnt some Japanese; taught my English class; practised the piano; went to my exercise class; and read some of my novel.

A day at home

Try as I do, I can never keep up with things, so am relishing a day at home - I might even stay in my pyjamas all day.  This day off comes because my piano teacher has gone to Bali for a few days and I have no lesson this afternoon.

After the MH17 disaster it must take a great deal of courage to fly anywhere.  What an absolute tragedy.  The state of the world with its wars and other problems doesn't bear thinking about.  And it makes our day-to-day difficulties seem like insignificant trifles.

Winifred, I'm very interested in your comment.  Your son's upcoming book sounds wonderful - what a great idea!  On my next trip to a cemetery I'll take my camera and photograph any interesting headstones for him.  What was his first book about?

Frank - goodness me, back to the 1700s in your local cemetery.  What a lot of history there!  

Lunchtime - Just noticed some cockies drinking from the pool.  Caught a couple in this shot:

A visit to the country

My sister lives in Goulburn (one hour this side of Canberra) and I drove down on Tuesday afternoon and back on Wednesday, leaving at midday.  It was -3 in the morning, with a frost, something we never see in Sydney.  I bought the heavy wool jumper in Canberra years ago and can seldom wear it as it's not cold enough here, but was very glad of it yesterday.

Weird.  Just as I was going to explain the tombstone picture, a message:  'He's dead, Jim' flashed onto the screen and the computer restarted itself!!!!  I love visiting old cemeteries and on the way home turned into this one outside Berrima to take some photos.  And, as if this wasn't weird enough, a piano piece just started playing and that file isn't even open!  Talk about gremlins in the computer.

Early Saturday morning I picked the family up from their three weeks in Japan.  It's lovely having them home safely.  I always worry when other people fly, though never when I'm in a plane myself.

Have been really exhausted lately - stayed in bed all day Monday and went to bed when I got back from Goulburn about 3 yesterday.  Even now, at 8:46 am, I'm very, very tired.

A mid-winter walk in one of Sydney's gracious suburbs

Back to normal since I discovered my foot pain was not due to osteoarthritis but the need for orthotics in my shoes.  (For about two and a half years I'd been hobbling round, unable to walk for more than 10 minutes at a time.)  Enjoying the freedom of the last two days before I pick the family up at the airport after their Japanese holiday, I returned to my favourite cafe for a coffee and croissant, then walked for the best part of an hour.

Now to catch up on some piano-playing.

Did Steve Pinker do this to me??

He does have this effect on me...but no, I got an electric shock on Wednesday afternoon.  I was changing a light globe which had gone off with a bang a few days before, tripping the switch.  A kind neighbour came in and put the new globe in, with me insisting he turn the thing off in the meter box while he did so. There's obviously something wrong so I rang an electrician who said if we hadn't had a safety switch I would have been dead. 

I also rang my doctor, who said to go to the hospital to have an ECG.  I didn't, as I felt OK, but at bedtime (after talking to Philip and all on Skype) I checked with Dr Google, who said anybody who has any type of electric shock MUST go to the hospital, so I drove myself there.  Everything was OK.

I've never had such a fright in my life!

Steve Pinker took this!

I didn't think THE GREAT MAN had been to Australia, but he obviously has, as he's got lots of photos taken in Tasmania on his website.  He's giving a talk at the Opera House at the end of August, so I'll be there with bells on!

Am finding my To Do list very helpful in keeping me going.  It's easy to see what I do too much of, like drink coffee, and none at all of, like learning Japanese or doing family history.

I laughed at your comment, Winifred.  But it's not meant to be things to do every day.

Sunday

Had a lovely morning tea with friends - just look at the size of the croissant!  That certainly gets a cross on my To Do list.  But after that I went HEALTHY FOOD shopping, so that gets a tick. Then I went for a walk and took the next two photos not far from home.

Good that you've shown signs of life, Frank and Winifred.  But Michael, where are you??

Aha - I've figured out a way to keep track of what I do!

To Do 2014

From June 21

Walk

Heartmoves

Use it or Lose it

Japanese

English lesson

Piano

Dust, Vacuum

Shower P

Clean bathroom

Iron

Wash up

Wash clothes P

Sudoku, crosswords P

Jigsaw puzzles P

Friends

Plan meals

Food shopping

Cook

Listen to Radio BBCPABCP

Lose weight 66.2kg

Read paper P

Sleep in P

Bad sleep P

Good sleep

Drink coffee PP

Weed garden

Sweep outside

Read Italian book

Read French book

Read in English

Journal

Sort bills, papers, etc

Save money P

Buy clothes

Tidy kitchen

Emails

Blog

iPad

TV

Cats know how to live...

'Progress' is a funny thing.  I frequently compare my life to Muffy's and wonder where it all went wrong.  She wakes me at 6 every morning, as regular as an alarm clock, pops out into the garden to do a wee, and comes back in for her breakfast - special stuff sold only by vets (of course).  It's then time to chase leaves or butterflies in the garden, followed by a sunbake beside the pool and a lick to clean herself.  Later in the day she curls up on her outside bed, sleeps till dinner time, comes in and demands more food, hops onto my lap while I watch TV and check her for ticks, complains when I get up to go to bed, but happily tiptoes behind me into the bedroom and sleeps soundly on top of me all night.

Every day is the same.  On the other hand, I get up and head for the loo, have a wash, clean my teeth and comb my hair, have breakfast, wash up, tidy up, put a load of washing in the machine, hang it on the line, sweep the yard, have a shower and wash my hair, put on face cream, eye cream, lip cream, makeup, dry hair and put stuff on it, get dressed, walk Emma to school, practise the piano, learn some Japanese, do the shopping, check my emails and fight with the computer when it doesn't want to work, prepare lunch, make some phone calls, do some gardening, go to exercise class, pick Emma up from school, take her to piano lesson, come home, dust and vacuum, do the ironing, prepare and eat dinner, wash up, watch a bit of telly, then fall exhausted into bed with a heavy cat on top of me.

Now I ask you, which of us has it all worked out?