My mother has come to stay with us for a couple of weeks.
This will allow us to spend Mother’s day with both my & SK’s mum on Sunday.
My mum turned 70 in February & if you haven’t had a chance to see her Birthday Album, you can check it out here.
Mum lives in Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast & back in 1996 she suffered a stroke during a Triple By-Pass surgery. It was a mere 8 months after the loss of my father in which Mum & Dad spent 38 married years together (I am most proud of my Dad being 57 & mum 38 when I was born).
The stroke affected mum’s short term memory & to this day she still has her good & bad days. I was 19 at the time of her stroke & we lived alone in BB. My eldest Brother D lived in Sydney & next Brother K lived in Nowra. It was a long process & we went through hell & back during mum’s recovery, however we are lucky to still have mum with us today.
Not only is Mother’s Day special for all mum’s around the world, but every Mother’s Day is a blessing. In fact, every day is a blessing. It could have been worse.
So mum is here to spend a couple of weeks with us yet again. She loves coming to visit & we love having her. Sure it can be hard work at times getting the simple tasks done. And by the end of her visit I am looking for the break myself! But Mum is Mum. I am honoured to get to spend the time with her.
So if I do not blog over the next few days, I’m sure you will all understand.
Happy Mother’s Day to all Mum’s out there in Blogland, the Internet & the World. Enjoy your own special day on Sunday xxxx
Popularity: 2% [?]
Last night we went for a bowl in preparation for our Wednesday Warriors League starting this week. Whilst in the middle of our 2nd game, one of the girls came to have a chat to us. Cutting a long story short, there was not enough people committed to playing the 8.30pm Wednesday Warriors, even though they had their name down to join. Therefore it has been cancelled. We have been invited however to join the Tuesday night League which also runs at 8.30pm. This is fine with us to join up, however what does upset us is that we will be joining into week 6.
We enquired originally about League & were informed that Tuesday nights had just started the week prior & that the W.W would be starting a week or 2 after our enquiry. When we fronted on the night, we were informed that in fact it wasn’t to start until May 7 as the current League was bowling it’s 2nd last week before the 3rd & final week, for them being a presentation night. However it was still preferred that we stay as scheduled to join the W.W.
Therefore we could have in fact actually been bowling League since the beginning of our enquiries, with having only missed 1 week. Now we are joining 6 weeks into the league! EEEEEEEEEEK! This league runs for 25 weeks & SK believes we have a good chance of being able to bring ourselves up the ladder. I am basing this league as a mere “practice run” if you will. Being my first league, I want to get used to the feeling of playing against others (being total strangers) & learning more about Me, the bowler.
I believe I have already found my bowling position, taking 5 steps instead of 4 & starting out on my left foot, starting my swing on my second step before releasing the ball off my right foot. This may sound weird to some but hey, for me it seems to work best. I am using a 10lb House Ball but have my own pair of AMF Sprint shoes, which SK bought for me for my recent Birthday.
We have been bowling twice a week being Wednesday & Sundays. This has been great practice for both of us as SK has found a new nemesis being the 10 pin & I am working on my strike. I hit the 1-3 pocket when i’m on it & know when it hits as the whole flow of the bowl from dot-to-line feels just right. I just don’t have enough of them yet! Hehe. I have however since the beginning of my bowling brought my average up from 82 to now being 104. My main goal was to bowl at least a 100 game each game. Since I have been doing that over the last 2 trips, I am now setting my goal to be 110 each game. I am actually quite suprised & very chuffed with myself as the last 3 games we played I bowled 133-129-113…… all with a sore back! I must have pulled a muscle the last time we played as I was in excruciating pain later that night & for the following 3 nights every time I moved. It started picking up on Saturday until I did a little “Garage Cleaning” with SK & had the pains coming back. I rested it for the arvo so I could still go bowling that evening. I am realy enjoying it & do not want to give it up for anything! Luckily enough the back held up & I bowled my best set of 3 to date!
We are trying to come up with a Team name for SK & myself. We have tossed around many names & ideas & still can’t agree upon 1. So I will offer you 2 names that I like from SK’s selections & hope to get some feedback from you to which you prefer.
Split Happens or
Channel Surfers
My back is now almost it’s old self again & I am looking forward to Tuesday night no matter what. So Shellharbour Bowl… here we come!
Will keep you updated.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Our home garden is being tendered to by mere amateurs, being ShadowKnight & myself. However as each day spent in the Garden goes by we:
*sow & germinate new seedlings
*transplant seedlings into permanent homes
*introduce established plants bought from elsewhere
*add or remove plants as needed
*become educated on how individual plants copes under their own & current management structures
*impliment new or old techniques depending on how the plant is or is not surviving
*plan new methods for future plantings
*water & feed the plants
*enjoy the “fruits” of our labour by harvesting vegetables when ready
Our Garden is mostly Container grown due to the fact we moved from Sydney to here in the Illawarra & we are also renting the property. We don’t have any formal management system except for the typical sow/germinate/transplant/water/fertilize/harvest method.
We germinate our seeds in propagating trays inside small 2-shelved hothouses (or greenhouses). Once germinated, we tend to them inside the hothouses until they have their set of first strong leaves. From here they are normally strong enough to come into the Outside World so we transplant them into small individual pots. However, we have had problems with birds so I have been experimenting with keeping them in small pots inside the houses. So far so good. From here we fertilize them & nurture them as best as possible.
Currently I have a few flowering plants which have made it to the Outside World & are growing well indeed. These were our first seed germinated plants mainly to attract Bees. Grown simply to pollinate our future plants. Also introducing ready-established plants to the garden has helped attract the Bees. Not only do they look nice nice flowering, they work hard for us as well.
Balsam - from seed
Nasturtium - from seed
Geisha Girl - bought established
Sadly, it’s the Outside World that tends to create more issues for the plants in which we have to actively assist in. Bugs of all kinds invade the new plants & feast on their young & tender leaves & stalks. This is where we are still learning & experimenting. We seem to have a LOT of cabbage moth down here which are enjoying our Asian Greens & Lettuces. Also Ants are busily eating away our Lebanese Cucumbers as they almost get to harvesting size. We have managed to harvest a couple! At the same time, I believe these Ants are helping with the Pollination of the very same plant. Almost a Catch 22 situation here. The flowering plants are encouraging Bees but these have been spotted sparingly. I believe due to the weather we have been having.
I am working on implementing a new page to this site where I will post solely regarding Our Garden. Keep an eye on news to come once it is up & running.
So, here are some of my resources for the garden:
Mr Fothergill’s Australia
I have purchased Mr Fothergill’s Seed packets from the online store. I used to find myself wanting to buy seeds from Bunnings Warehouse & supermarkets each time I was in the stores, but could never stop at only buying 1 or 2 packs at a time. So I decided to go on a spending spree on the site & was not disapointed! The order arrived to me within 2 days of my purchase & I began “playing” in the garden with them almost immediately.
The Lost Seed
Here I purchased plenty of vegetable seeds. The price is kept as low as possible by the company providing simple Black & White envelopes in which the seeds are supplied. Again I received these within a handful of days & I was very satisfied with my purchase.
Garden Express
This we came across as it is the official site linked to channel 9’s The Garden Gurus. I don’t believe they have as much stock as I first expected, however they are fantastic to deal with. I receive a newsletter/catalogue 5 times a year. The website also offer specials & discounts on a large range of stock. We have purchased twice from Garden Express. Both times our plants arrived in tip-top condition & all have survived in the garden without any problems arrising! We purchased 8 Polygala ‘Fairy Lights’ & 12 Dwarf Lavender Munstead plants in November 2007, which have been growing far better than we expected! Over the New Year we purchased 2 Hibiscus of different varieties & 2 Agapanthus Tinkerbell which are absolutely adorable & nothing like the more common adult version (which SK detests)!
I do hope you find these links informational if anything. I have had success with these 3 personally & won’t mention the sites I have come across that seem to have stock or delivery issues, amongst other things. Once I have dealt with some other sites successfully, I will add those links to the site as well.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Today I have added 4 new sites to my Blogroll. The reasons for doing this is as follows:
1) I am updating my site with a few small but significant changes
2) I have been using Entrecard to drop cards on others’ blogs & these are a select few of my favourites that I enjoy on a regular basis
3) I would like to share these sites with others.
Over time I will add more of my favourite blogging sites. It does not matter whether they are Entrecard users or not. If I find it an interesting site & it makes me come back often for a read, then it will be added.
Here are the 4 new featured sites on my Blogroll, which you can find on the right hand side panel of my site.
THANK YOU to each & every one of you for the efforts you put into your blogs each day. Your hard work brings joy to my day & offers me challenges, advice & topics of conversation to enjoy with others.
Popularity: 7% [?]
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A couple of days have now passed since my Birthday. After turning 30 I became well aware that the years just pass with nothing anyone can do about it. It does make me sad that we cannot turn back time however it has taught me that I need to make the most of it while I can.
My 2 nieces H & L had spent the week with us since Monday as it was School Holidays.
My family from Sydney & family from Batemans Bay spent the day (& in fact overnight) with me as well as everyone here in the home. It was a wonderful way to spend the day & we ended it with a little Finger Food party with home made foods & Birthday cake to celebrate. I got lots of lovely presents & feel very spoilt indeed.
On Friday being ANZAC Day, a group of 8 of us went Tenpin Bowling. A good chance for SK & myself to get some practice in & for the family to do an activity together. My mother, who celebrated her 70th Bday in Feb bowled her very first game of Tenpin Bowling! As she is fairly frail, we used the gutter bumpers for her & she started off pushing a 6 pound ball from the Ball Rail. However by mid game first game she was in fact bowling the ball with two hands by herself & no rail to assist! She ended up playing 3 games all up & on her last game bowled the last 2 frames with a 10 pound ball! Do you believe she even got a strike!!!! We were all very happy & so proud of her. Standing a mere 4ft8, she was a treat to watch. My eldest niece H was her greatest help. She guided her up to the lane & handed her the ball each turn. I know that Little Nanna (mum) enjoyed every second of it. I was the proudest Aunty in the whole universe 
My Brothers & my sister in law enjoyed playing too, as well as my niece L. H & L had in fact already bowled the same week as SK, Mum T & myself took them on Tuesday evening to play. My Sister In Law D had never bowled before either, so it was also a treat for her. Both of my Brothers had played League many moons ago & has been a long time since either of the 2 had picked up a ball or shot at the pins. I couldn’t have been more happier than to see everyone enjoy themselves as much as they did.
It seems this may become a popular outing when the family is visiting. There aren’t any alleys close to my Bro K in Batemans Bay which means they don’t even have the opportunity to go bowl a few games anyway.
Today SK, Mum T & myself ventured north to Corrimal for a few games at Northern Bowl. I hated almost every second of it! I think I have become accustomed to playing at Shellharbour Bowl & I swear my allegiance to them after the feelings I went through bowling elsewhere. I just could not get a grip on myself! I literally felt like I was going to pass out with sweats, shakes & giddiness. I know I sound rather silly, but I just felt so out of my comfort zone. I know this is something I need to get used to if i’m going to play elsewhere for any reason. I just cannot explain what came over me. I put some of it down to the mug of hot gritty sugar drink they called Hot Chocolate which I managed to gulp only half of it down before retiring it. Then followed it up with a Chicken & Gravy roll, which was basically the stickiest, thickest goop of salt i’ve ever swallowed in my life. Knowing how much money was wasted on this stuff, I decided it was best to eat it rather than throw it out. By the time I was finished, my hands were sticky & slippery at the same time & kept sliding out of the ball as I was on the swing of my turn. I was also so thirsty that I believed I was going to die without a drink. Although as I have no money these days, I felt guilty asking for yet more to drink. However as it was, I was on the brunt end of a “Coke Frame” so SK took the initiative to go buy the round of cold drinks for us all. Thankfully for him I left Corrimal in a decent state of mind. LOL
So all in all, it has been a busy past few days. But now things have settled back down to everyday living & I am to find things to do with myself during the days as the job hunting continues at a slow & sad pace.
I am another year older. Not sure if I am that much wiser, but what I do know is…. There’s no place like home. I LOVE SHELLHARBOUR BOWL!!!!
Popularity: 8% [?]
Bowling in any form has existed for thousands of centuries, however the world of Ten Pin Bowling as we know it, has existed for well over a century.
It comes & goes in cycles of popularity to the social bowler. Usually finding a few years at a time of popularity, then a slump of quiet times, until it becomes fashionable or “cool” again. These “kids” will probably find that the game they enjoyed as a child is just as fun when they take their own children to experience the game. As long as there is an alley nearby.
Then you have your serious Bowler. This can start at League level right up to Tournament & Professional players. Year after year of bowling and in the most part, still enjoying it. This player will take on a more serious tone with their game & is usually brutally harsh on themselves when playing a lesser-than-great game. Afterall, their years of playing should reflect in the game they play. They also spend a huge amount on travelling across the state/country to play against others & indeed cannot afford to play under their own average.
On a personal note, I have just joined up a League which starts in May with my Fiance ShadowKnight. The Wednesday Warriors at Shellharbour Bowl, which awards us with our own Bowling Ball at the end of the season.
SK owns all his own gear & has had many years experience playing Leagues & Tournaments. Though he has been off the scene for a few years now.
My experience is less than a handful of games throughout my 30 years of existence. All of which have had many years separate them until recently. In the last week I have played 5 games. The first 2 games were last Saturday evening & the following 3 were last Wednesday evening. We turned up on Wed. expecting our first game of League to find that the dates were confused (on staff behalf) & that we were a few weeks early! However the wonderfully friendly staff offered us to play that evening at the League rate of $5 per game…. per person! Considering there was an extra person with us who has not signed up for League, I believe they were extremely generous & apologetic for their oversight. Even without the price reduction, we were happy to wait for League to start in May & were going to stay for a few games anyway!
So here are my stats of my first 5 games:
GAME 1: 92 - a spare in the 2nd & 9th frames
GAME 2: 73 - with a strike in the 6th frame, double gutters in the 7th frame then a strike in the 8th frame
GAME 3: 94 - with double gutters 1st AND 2nd frame, strike in the 7th, spares in the 9th & 10th frames
GAME 4: 130 - with spares in the 1st, 4th & 7th then double strike in the 10th frame (!!)
GAME 5: 119 - with a spare in the 2nd, strike in 3rd & spares in the 6th & 9th frames.
I am pretty pleased with myself & the assistance SK offered me was worth its weight in gold. He advised me after watching me bowl a couple of frames in our 3rd game & you can almost see the difference it made (Our first 2 games were for fun & a feel of the alley).
With the school holidays upon us, my 2 nieces H & L are staying with us for the next week & are looking forward to going for a game or two. I’m not sure what day we will head out to play but I am anxious to pickup my own set of Bowling shoes which are due to be in store Tuesday & I will receive from SK on Thursday as my Birthday present! I am very excited & can’t wait to try them out!
So I will keep updating the site with my scores etc as time goes by. Hopefully I will improve with practice & learn a few tricks of the trade so to speak.
I’d love to hear from you guys your thoughts, opinions & advice. Please leave a story of a fav Bowling memory or just a comment would be appreciated.
Finally i’ve added a vid for inspiration to all….
Popularity: 13% [?]
When your feeling down the best Pick-Me-Up has to be humour. Good fun clean humour.
I was sent this clip in an email many years ago & have often referred to it for a giggle.
I am getting ready to go Ten Pin Bowling with SK. We have joined a league with Shellharbour Bowl & even though SK has experience playing both league & tournament in W.A. for years, this is my first experience outside of a social game with family &/or friends. I am very excited & a little nervous as I get embarrassed easy at my poor *ahem* ball skills. However whilst waiting for dinner to finish cooking & before we go out, I decided to hop online & find the video to keep my spirits high. Here I share this video with you guys.
Hope it gives you as much enjoyment as it has me in the past, the present & I’m sure well into the future :o)
Popularity: 14% [?]
Often I enjoy relaxing with my notebook & searching through other people’s blogs & sites. Many things make me laugh & alas, many things make me sigh.
I Stumbled Upon a website called netdisaster & found myself quite amused by the offerings from Denis.
Basically in the fields provided, you type in a link of a website you want to “disasterize”. Try with your own to begin with. Then you select the method of disaster to hit your site. Depending on your choice, you may be given some other options as well. Click on Go then watch your desired site get “disasterized”! (There is no damage done to your chosen site at all of course, however you can view the Disclaimer on the site to relieve any worries if any caused).
I have experimented with a few options on how to watch my site get “disatserized”. I’ll bet that once you add your own site, you’ll try several disasters before realising how time realy does fly when your having fun!
Have fun!
Popularity: 15% [?]
I have been a Madonna fan since my pre-teens. Ever since I heard Like A Virgin & Material Girl get played repeatedly at The Sydney Royal Easter Show when it was still at Moore Park!
One (amongst many) of my favourite songs is Don’t Tell Me.
I am including 2 YouTube videos of this song for you to view. The original & an unplugged version from the David Letterman show.
Don’t forget to leave me a comment. Please enjoy!
Popularity: 18% [?]
As is custom in my family, we made the annual trip to the Sydney Easter Show last Sunday. The day was also marked by my Brother’s (Maddoggie) 49th Birthday.
Because we moved further south, our day began by leaving home a little after 6am. ShadowKnight, Duff, Mum T, Dad T & myself travelled up in 2 vehicles. We stopped along the way for Maccas Brekky before arriving at Maddoggie’s house in Sydney. My 2 nieces were awaiting us & were quite excited about the day ahead. We did the presents then headed off to Homebush.
We started out our day once arriving at the Show similar to years before. We immediately headed off to rent a couple of lockers (This year we had 4 large lockers) then head into the Showbag Pavilion. We waited a few minutes for the crowd to roll into the building once the doors were open, then shot straight in. There wasn’t many people to have to mingle with which was fantastic. We got all our Showbag purchases done & immediately took them to the lockers to hide them away till the end of the evening.
From there we decided this year to hit the rides next. We played a few sideshow games trying to win an Elmo. No such luck! My nieces H & L went on a few rides with each other which pleased me & made me extremely proud of them! They tried a couple of new rides & were also quite pleased with themselves. They went on a couple of rides they were familiar with then finally talked me into going on the Ferris Wheel with them. This seems to have become a custom of ours as for the past 3-4 years we have done this as the last of the rides for the year. I am somewhat afraid of heights & really don’t enjoy rides at all so to do this each year gets my adrenalin pumping & the hands sweating!
We wondered off in different directions after this. Maddoggie, H & L went to see the animal pavilions & wonder about together. The rest of us headed into the Fresh Food Dome to check out the Art, Craft & Baking competitions, then into the Agriculture section. We find this each year to be one of the busiest areas no matter what time of day you hit it. This year we actually had room to breathe in the crowds which was a nice change of pace. However we did have to walk single file a few times & keep an eye out for each other. Our group of 5 split as well & SK & I wondered around looking at the things we enjoy the most. Again as is custom, we found the Chilli Factory stand & bought a Showbag deal. We chose 5 different sauces & chutneys which SK will enjoy over the year. We actually passed up the Mourish Nuts stand, which we normally buy from each year. However we did sought after a Honey stall. After coming across the 2 we found last year, we decided upon buying a $19 Showbag from Clayridge Farm. Inside the bag is 1 jar of Honey, 1 jar of Creamed Honey, 1 Lip Balm, 1 Honey Dipper & 1 bottle of BuzzMe Honey Drink. We purchased an extra bottle of drink so SK & I had one each. We quite enjoyed it last year so were happy to get it again this year. We found out Clayridge actually sell Online & have offered Free Delivery for orders over $20 Aus wide (except W.A). this has delighted me as it doesn’t take long to order over $20 worth of items once you check out their range. Upon seeing their website, they also sell Lavender products which delights me to no end!
Afterwards we met back up with the rest of the crew & headed into the Main Arena to get seating for the evening & have a few bites to eat.
The evening show was awesome with one of the biggest Fireworks displays i’ve seen there yet! The entertainment is thrilling for young & old, with continual action right into the night. We left at the end of the Show to drop off the Sydney-siders to their homes, then travelled on South before arriving home not much before midnight. We quickly went through our bags, chatted about the day in general then hit the sack.
It was again a fantastic day with no regret at how much we actually spent on the day. It’s a once a year event & we expect to “waste” money on the day. Many people prefer to spend as little as possible & though we prefer to do the same, we know that our day at the Show is enjoyed without a second thought given to the loss of money. We don’t go too overboard & this year spent a little less than normally expected. So we are indeed happy with ourselves & look forward to next year’s Show already!
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SK loves his mum’s cooked tripe. Frankly I think the smell of it cooking is disgusting & makes me want to leave home whilst it cooks.
My Father was quite fond of tripe too. So I have not been able to escape it my whole life.
I came across this vid on YouTube this morning. Gordon Ramsay puts a new modern twist on tripe in order to bring it back to the dinner table.
Willing to give it a taste test??
Popularity: 23% [?]