Weekend. Same 'ol, same 'ol.

Unlike my son and his family, we never 'do' anything at all, let alone something interesting. Hubby went out for the day to a monster auction just over the border in Victoria, in a town named Kaniva. It is held twice a year, and raises money for charity and some of the public. For instance, there was a 1997 Mecedes Benz for sale. The auctioneer could only raise $10,000.00, but the vendor wanted more. He was selling it for his daughter who has gone overseas. I have never been to one, but am told there is all manner of things brought for sale. It was a day out for Neville, but it would have been boring for me, as I can't stand for long, and sitting around is not much better, or any fun. I did the washing instead. That was a big job , for me. I had a 'Nanna' nap in the afternoon. Two and a 1/4 hours! Must have been tireder than I realised.
Neville is fiddling with his bench saw and wood splitter.Don't know what he is doing to them. He had to bring them in from his brother's place, so they would not get stolen. He had some split Red Gum fire wood out there too. His brother, Peter, asked him last time here was here if he had been cutting or carting wood. Neville said no. Pete said all the Red Gum had gone. I hope whoever stole it needed it, and didn't make money out of it.
Neville left his house key at the farm last week, and I have had to let him in when he returns from his walk at night. Last night I was mucking around on the computer, and I was listening to music on my Walkman. I thought he would be too tired after being out all day, to go for a walk. I turned this thing off at 8.25 pm, so I could watch a couple of programmes on TV. He was no-where is sight, and I assumed he had gone to bed. He is usually back long before that time. I put the passage light on, and quietly opened the bedroom door, to ascertain if he was in bed. In the dim light, and with my poor eyesight, I thought I detected his form in the bed, so I put the bolt in the door, and locked up for the night.
Ten to fifteen minutes later the door bell rang. I assumed, wrongly, that it was my friend Sue. I was most surprised to see it was Neville. I told him all the above, and he said he had said 'see you later' and I had not responded. I told him I had loud music playing through the headphones, so of course I didn't hear him.

Silly Season.

They talk about Christmas being the silly season. I think that the next six months are the silliest season we have, because we have started Daylight Saving. It is of course, a misnomer. We do not in fact save daylight. There are still just as many hours in the day, as there were prior to today. Of course, all the lame jokes about it are starting to be trotted out again. For instance: Any dam water will be evaporated faster, because there is an hour's more sunlight, or, we will need to buy antifade curtains etc, etc.
I wish I were rich enough to be able to afford a place in Perth, W.A., then I would be able to live in a beautiful city and spend time with my son and his family, untill this idiotc time had elapsed.
It is very cold this morning. There is still no sign of Spring rains, which are desperately needed.My husband walked down the street and bought the Sunday paper, then he got the fire roaring, and sat on the lounge with the front door open, with the freezing air wafting in, so he could save a Bob by not putting the light on, so he could read the paper! As they say in America, go figure!

Postscript to yesterday.

When I was about to write my posting yesterday, I had three happenings along the same lines to write about, but when I booted up the computer, one of them slipped my mind. I have remembered what it is, so here goes.
I have been getting Christmas food hampers from a company for five years now. I rang on Wednesday to place my order for next year. I am getting some gift vouchers, as well as a big hamper, and started to tell the girl which vouchers I wanted. I had only gotten to the third one, when she asked me if I would hold the line. When she came back on the phone,I asked her what the problem was. She said I could not make up my order with vouchers, I had to order a hamper that was over $500.00, then I could order the vouchers. I said I was getting to that, and told her which one I was going to order, and how much it is. It is over $500.00. "Oh, well that is alright then." I do wish people would not jump to conclusions and wait until I have finished speaking. They would be much easier to get on with if they did. It is extremely annoying when people try to second guess me.

I do wish, people would listen!

I rang a specialist's rooms today, to cancel an appointment that had been made on my behalf, by my Orthopaedic surgeon's PA a couple of months ago. This doctor speialises in stomach banding, but I had decided when Roger first suggested it, that I would not have anything to do with it. I gave him my reasons at the time. He broached the subject again in August, when I saw him here.
He wanted to help me with my weight problem, so I can have my knee surgery, and said I should get the 'low down' from someone who knows what it involves, and not listen to horror stories in the media. I reluctantly agreed. I have been mulling it over for the last two months, and decided I was not going to see this doctor, as my feelings about the procedure have not changed. When I rang Dr. Wilson's rooms, the receptinist said the phone was playing up, which indeed it was. She took my phone number and rang back about five minutes later.
I started to tell her what I was calling for thus:- I gave my name and said that Dr. O.....'s P.A. had made an appointment for me in December. She interupted me and said, No, No, No, this is not Dr. O 's rooms, you have the wrong number. I told her I knew that, and asked her very firmly, if she would please listen to me! I then explained that the appointment had been made for me by Dr. O's P.A., and I was ringing to cancel it. I gave her the date, and she suddenly 'saw the light'! If she commented to her workmates that I was rude, she should look in the mirror and say that. She was rude for not giving me her undivided attention it the first instance.
Funnily enough, the very P.A. who made that appointment needs to keep her mind on the job, too. She rang me yesterday on my mobile phone, to confirm my appointment with Dr.O, here on Friday. I told her I thought that it had been cancelled, as I had an Email with the dates and times for the above appointment and one in September, which stated that I was to see Dr. O here in the New Year, at a time to be advised. She obviously had not checked her emails, or she did not receive it. Anyway, I said I was not expecting to see Roger tomorrow.

Unexpected Compliments.

Whilst I was waiting to see the doctor this morning/afternoon, (my appointment was for 11.45. I did not come out of the surgery until 12.40 pm.) I was chatting to an elderly woman that I know, only slightly, as you do in such situations, and she was trying to make small talk and asked if I had family. As I don't know her very well, i was somewhat reluctant to divulge too much about myself to her. I said , yes, I did have family. She asked where they went to school, was it Mundulla. ( A small town, 10kls from here, with only a Primary school.) I laughed and said I was a grandmother three times over, with another one on the way, and my eldest two are six. She was quite incredulous, and said,"Are you really?" I assured her that is the case. As I have been feeling haggard and old of late, to think some-one in her eighties thought I was that young gave me a huge boost. I got a lot of pleasure from it, I can tell you. It truly blessed me, and I have not been able to wipe the smile off my face.

I'm Losin' it!

Some would say I already have, but I am not referring to the 'plot' or my 'marbles'
I have shed half a stone in the last five weeks. That is just over 3kgs. Feeling dead chuffed, I are.
I just hope I can maintain the momentum, and reach my dream weight, and have my knee replacement surgery, soon. Well, in about six months, anyway.
My blood sugar has fallen back to 5.8, which is brilliant. My doctor and the clinic nurse are VERY pleased with Moi. (So am I , just quietly.) I know I have a long way to go, and am taking things one day at a time. It is a nightmare trying to do the shopping and having to read the labels, with my poor eyesight, but, must soldier on.Wish me luck, people.

Lachlan had fun.

On Thursday afternoon, I asked Neville to put the seat back in the car so we could all go down the street, as I had some errands to do, and Lachlan had to sit in the back. He has had the seat out for ages, as he uses the car as a 'ute' for the farm. I had asked Lachlan what he would like to do. Would he like to go to the Wild Life Reserve, or would he like to go to Apex park and play on the swings etc. He said he would like to do both, but when we got there, he decided he would like to play on the swings etc. After I had done all my errands, one of which was paying off a bill and layby at Betta Electrical, I bought a couple of CD Roms of games. One is three different kinds of car racing, and the other is over 1,000 games of Solitairre, we came back to Apex park, I went with him so he could play safely. Neville sat in the car. He never gets involved with the grandies. It would be nice if he did, as it is very hard for me with my crook back and knees. But, this Leopard ain't about to change his spots!
After Lachlan had played for a while, I asked him if he ate pizza, and did mum make them, and what did he like on them. He said he liked chicken pizza. I have never made one, so had to ascertain what ingredients I needed so we could get them while we were down town.
He couldn't remember all of them, so I rang Deb and she thought that something must be wrong. I said nothing was wrong, and asked her what he liked on his chicken pizzas. we bought the nessacary items, and came home.
When we got home, Lachlan asked if he could play games on the computer. I had to load one of the racing games, but we could not work out how to start it! It said to click on space to start.
I set up some games for him to play, while I made pizzas in my toaster oven. I had to make frequent trips in here, to show him what to do. I gave him a bath before tea, and afterwards, he played with the army men and other toys. We started to watch Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang. Lachlan started to go to sleep, so I turned it off, and read him a story, as requested. He then snuggled down on the lounge, and went to sleep. I was surprised that he did so early, as it was only nine o'clock, and those children are still up around 10 pm. I don't know if that applies on school nights.
I asked Deb about the racing game, yesterday, and she said it probably meant to click the space bar. Duh!
It is for children over 8, but Lachlan tried it, and had a bit if fun, but kept crashing and burning his car. Riley decided to stay when Deb and her friend Kylie went shopping. This is unusual for him. I thought he was very subdued, and discovered he had been reprimanded by his grandfather for running around with a big stick, and pointing at Pop. He was told several times to stop, but ignored him. He said if he didn't, he would smack him. Riley didn't take heed, and suffered the consquences. I hope when he starts school, his teachers can channel his exuberence positively, and not break his spirit.
We played Animal Farm on the computer, and Riley is very clued in, and picked the objects by their name sounding and pictures, very well. He will be four next month.
Deb said when they were leaving, that Lachlan had asked if he could stay another night. She asked him if he wanted to go fishing or stay here. He said he wanted to go fishing. They all love their fishing trips. I hope they catch something edible this time.

Been busy.

Last Thursday, Sue and I travelled to Keith, to spend some time with my daughter and her boys, but also to get away from here for a while. We arrived at Deb's, and I was surprised to see their car was not in the driveway. Sue could see the children peeping through the curtains, and I was a bit concerned that they were on their own. I rang Deb on the mobile, only to see her walk out of the house. I asked where the car was, and she said Pete had it. Silly me. I thought she drove him to work so she could have the car. She must only do that on shopping days. Sue removed one of the child seats so Lachlan could sit in the back with Deb and Riley. We went to the Keith bakery cafe and had morning tea. Then we went to a bargain shop which sells/hires videos, toys, craft items and cigarettes, just to have a squizz. Then we went back to Deb's for a while.
I had arranged to have Lachlan for the weekend, but Deb asked if it would be OK if it was only for the night, and she would pick him up on Friday, as they wanted to go fishing today.
She rang me early on Thursday, to ask when we would be arriving, as she had one very excited little boy who had been ready for an hour. This was at nine o'clock. We didn't get there untill 10.30 am! Luckily, Lachlan is a patiant child. We all trooped down to the local pub, and I bought lunch. Deb had Calamari rings, the boys had Chicken Nuggets and chips, Sue had Chicken Schnitzel, and I had a child's serve of the same, as they are far too big for me to manage. We ate outside, because Riley was in a particulary boisterous mood, and making a lot of noise. No ammount of reprimanding from his mother made an impact. It was quite chilly outside. It was a huge contrast to the day before when it had been 37c.
Sue and I liked the bread that was served at lunch, and walked across to the bakery and ordered a loaf each, and Deb brought them yesterday. They are half and half wholemeal and white done in a plait. Very nice.
We went back to Deb's and got Lachlan's gear and came home.