It's the second to last day of my pain course.....and the class is making and cooking pizzas. What this has to do with my pain confounds me. But I am making one, anyway. Instead of a tomato base, as everyone else is making, I have decided on olive oil and garlic...just to be different.
As the pizzas bake in the ovens, the OT is questioning us in our pain.... I tend to be the odd person out, as I am the only stroke survivor doing this "Guinea pig" course. "Guinea pig" course because this
I am about to start week 5 of my intensive exercise and talks about chronic pain, and after four weeks of three days a week for 6 hours each day I am still not sure it is helping greatly. But I must remain positive, and I DO admit the course has increased my motivation to stretch and exercise on a daily basis.
I will report more fully next week once I have completed the course, although I will still have to return for assessments on a monthly basis.
Tomorrow we go to Melbourne for a few days. Moochie goes to kennels, and tomorrow night we attend a dinner in the Docklands to raise funds for a Cambodian organisation…The Ponheary Ly Foundation, which works towards increasing access to formal schooling, improving school retention, and strengthening the quality of educational experience for children and youth in northern Cambodia.
My brother and his partner represent the organisation in Australia.
Then on Sunday we are all having a famil
Men's Shed's are a peculiarly Australian thing, and were established firstly in rural areas after a spate of male suicides. They are a male only domain, and aim to help the well-being of men, male physical and mental health, and matters such as cooking and looking after one's self. They are generally large tin sheds that contain a workshop (benches, table saw, band saw, in fact all types of power saws and hand power tools, welding equipment etc) office, lunchroom/meeting room, and toilet fac
Yep. Some days are diamonds, and I had one yesterday. We were down in Melbourne and leaving for Hedgerow Cottage, Kyneton, and I chose to go to Dan Murphy to buy some wine. Purchased 8 bottles of red, white and rose, all under $12 and came out with a bill for $64! Drove back to daughter Mia's house where we stayed for 3 days (Mia was in Singapore for a conference) to collect Jules and Moochie, our dog. And Jules announced she wanted to go to a bakery in North Melbourne!
So after packing
Jules and I have just returned from Melbourne and are settling down in front of a blazing fire while it rains cats and dogs. The trip down to see the children - for Mother's Day yesterday, Sunday May 8 - was not a great success.
We got down to Melbourne on the Saturday, and Mia asked me if I could take the two grandkids, Jack and Gus, to the shopping mall, help them buy a card each for she and Jules, and try to instill in them the need for respect and understanding. It all harks back to he
It has been ages since I last blogged, and to tell the truth I haven't had the heart to write anything. But two regulars in here both emailed me today and urged me to make another entry.
The last time I blogged - if I recall correctly - my delusional son in law had left my daughter and her two young sons 2 weeks after the family had moved into another home, which had a whopping mortgage. It transpired about 10 days ago that he had taken up with his equally delusional 37 yo girl friend (who
Adelaide Oval .... scene of a big victory by the BBL Adelaide Strikers!
The Blue Lake, Mount Gambier
Second Valley, South Australia.
Grandson Gus fishing on Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia
The New Year has started pretty well for myself and Jules. And it has certainly started well for daughter Mia, who is throwing herself into life with tremendous enthusiasm since being dumped by her pathetic husband, Bill, because he found her "too intelligent" for him, and disliked her "bullying". How a 6'6" bloke can be bullied by a 5'2" girl is beyond me, but even more staggering is that he has the gall to admit it!!!.
We spent 2 weeks in South Australia, with 1 night in Adelaide, 6 nigh
Been some time since my last post...lnd for that I apologise.
Christmas Day was quiet but good. Mia. Nick and grandsons Jack and Angus stayed Christmas Eve and eventually went to bc at around 10 pm. We also had fi e locals come for Christmas drinks, and they departed about 9.30 pm.
All in all it was a pleasant lead-in to Christmas. The grandsons woke at about 6.00 am, and oohed and ahhhed at their presents utilities the rest of us woke at around 7.00 am. Lunch was delicious....good
I reckons the "plastic" age is spelling the death knell of Christmas cards. And maybe even the one page "what we have been doing for the past 12 months" Christmas letters. My wife and I never sent one of the letters until we received one from old friends and it was about the 9th or 10th we have read on an annual basis.
The letters always extolled the virtues of their highly successful children, described in great detail their latest overseas holiday (always at least a month in some hotsp
Christmas is almost here. And we are looking forward to having Mia, Nicholas, Jack and Angus here for several days, all arriving on Yuletide eve and staying for 2-3 days.
My specialty is doing a baked leg of ham, and I have been doing this for the past 30 years or so....so I have been examining hams wherever I can to get the best buy. We are having, apart from my baked ham, a cold Christmas lunch of seafood.
But before that, and for brekky, we will devour Christmas Eggs....and here is th
We are down in Melbourne again. Yes. Melbourne is becoming our second home as Jules and I provide support for our daughter following the departure of her delusional and narcissistic husband from the recently purchased family home. Not that Mia needs our support. She is showing great courage and determination in everything that she is doing, and in fact appears much happier without the idiot.
Jules and Mia have gone to stay overnight in Mia's on-site caravan at Ocean Grove so she can tidy i
It's good being back at Hedgerow Cottage, Kyneton. Palm Cove was wonderful, but living there is a pipe dream, especially when the rest of the family is in Melbourne. So our cosy cottage is an excellent compromise, especially in late spring.
We are returning to Melbourne next week for a luncheon and to watch the boys in their swimming sports day, But then it's back to our Kyneton "almost" bolt hole!
Today we have been working in the garden, but I now feel totally stuffed, so I am sit
It's been ages since I last blogged. Well, some 3 weeks, which for me is about for ever. Hell, I used to blog almost daily on my old website until the National Stroke Foundation changed the rules and I spat the dummy and left!
Jules and I have been dividing our attention between Hedgerow Cottage and Melbourne since we returned from Palm Cove......and I wish I was still there. But sadly, that will never happen.
Anyhow, the cottage is looking splendid, with most of our 120 or so roses i
Yes. The hoIiday is over. We came down to earth with a thud as we touched down at Melbourne Airport and 18 degree weather after leaving 29 degree humidity at Palm Cove.
Our next to last day was not wasted. We hired a car and drove to Port Douglas and the Daintree - a round trip of about 200 km including side excursions. We used to love Port Douglas, and I guess we still do - but it has changed dramatically with sooooo much development. Once I saw a large Cotton On store in the main stre
Jules and I have been here for four days and three nights, and we both love Palm Cove.
I have already told you a little about he Reef House, which is one of our accommodation places. The other is The Sarayi, but I will come to that in several days. For the moment enjoy what we have been enjoying....
The evening meal on day one was spent at a Greek taverna, and the meal was delicious. The atmosphere was also wonderful, and we dined outdoors under the starry night sky. I had a Greek tr
Ah, well....it happens to all old journalists. They get the urge write again, and I am no different. So I will write a travel piece about our short trip away to Palm Cove. It started yesterday when I asked about Brigadier David Scott Thomson, who purchased the Reef House Hotel in 1972.
Seems the hotel had been around for many, many years in various stages of development, and - in the late 60s - was owned by a bookmaker who took it over from one of his clients who failed make good on his
This is the third time I have attempted to expand on our Palm Cove holiday/7-night escape, and on each of the previous occasions I have hit the wrong key and everything has vanished. I hate it when this happens, as nothing retyped is ever as good or thought provoking as the first time. Still, I reckon I deserve an "A+" for perseverance and effort!!!!
I have already told you about the Reef House, our first chosen place of accommodation, so I shall not boor you again. And as I know nothing
Palm Cove is wonderful, and we are having such a wonderfully restful and relaxing time. We spend the time relaxing poolside/ocean side/sipping coffee, wine or beer in a cafe/or dining in one of the 18 or so restaurants.
The lifestyle here is just sooooo laid back. Shorts, thongs and t-shirts are the order of the day at any time.
The room is great, we have a large balcony, marvellous buffet brekky, and all really have to determine each day, after a walk along the esplanade, is where we wi
True. I do. I have sh*t for brains. As the Melbourne Cup finished and the winning jockey was being interviewed, the phone rang. It was the organisation in Cairns that I have organised the transfer between the airport and our Palm Cove hotel. The driver of the minibus was wondering where we were.
In filling out the booking form online, I had entered the wrong date. As we were the only passengers who had booked him for that day we still have to pay. And we have to pay again for the corr
Have just heard from the Sunshine Hosptal's rehab people.....the speech pathologist I saw rang yesterday to tell me she wants to refer me to an ear, nose and throat specialist so he/she can ram a bloody camera down my throat so she can see pics of my vocal chords!!! OMG, why? Doesn't she know I hate things like this? She wants to see what condition they are in!
I reckon I can tell her that they aren't in great condition, so just devise some exercises for me to do that will improve them!!
Mia, Jules and I felt like celebrating yesterday, but I don't know why. We just did. So we jumped a train into Melbourne and went to a bar on the Yarra River opposite Southbank. It was wonderful to escape from life's realities for 2-3 hours.
We all had a glass of rose, and shared a chicken sandwich, three skewers of wagu beef, and one skewer of tuna. Having down that in record time, I shouted us a bottle of rose and a lobster roll. We sat, sipped, ate and chatted as life seemingly pass
It's been some time since I last posted, but I have not been idle. My daughter's separation has been playing heavily on Jules and I, so we have been down to Melbourne to stay two or more nights since I last blogged.
My ex son-in-law (the SIL) is a spineless creature, as my son, Nick, and I discovered last night. Jules and I had come down to Melbourne to assist Nick in buying a used car for $5k or less, and we had looked at several vehicles during the day. Nick and I were returning from bu
