Wow, GL! That is absolutely amazing….true Aussie determination in action! 💪😃🏆 You must feel totally transformed and so much healthier. It’s hard to see the new you at times, we all have a vision in our heads of how we used to be. So it’s good to take stock every so often and you should give yourself a big pat on the back (probably lots easier to do that now too!😉) on a job well done. Have you reached your goal weight or are you continuing on? Chucking out old clothes is a fantastically satisfying thing to do and you can look forward to replacing them in smaller sizes….win/win! 😃👍💞
CG, I keep thinking of that scene from Gone with the Wind, when Scarlett is being laced into her corset hanging onto the bedpost! 😂 You’ll definitely have to keep the smelling salts handy in case you swoon, especially watching that Outlander guy! 😋☺️
Jade, I hope you’re able to switch off from school now. Are all your admin duties done now for the summer? I know you’ll have classes to prepare for the next year, but you should be able to do that in your own time. It sounds like your d is making very positive steps towards putting the past behind her and getting on with life, thanks in no small part to her fantastic mum! Have a lovely weekend. ☕️🍫☀️🍷🍤🍕
I’m off for a last minute choir practice this morning before the wedding this afternoon…..eeek! Good job the bride doesn’t know we’re more nervous than she is! 😱😰

Phew! Back from church and all went well music wise and we got lots of compliments afterwards. Unfortunately, a thunderstorm erupted just as the ceremony was coming to a close with lightning crackling through the speakers and the thunder rumbling and growling all around. No one could leave the church for about half an hour as the rain was absolutely torrential! We don’t get invited to the wedding party, Jade, so it’s back home with a cup of green tea and an apple!
CG, enjoy the rest with the perfect excuse to watch whatever you want. Lots of those animated films are beautifully done and well worth watching. Relax and keep breathing!
Jade, you definitely are wonder woman to me, looks like you can turn your hand to anything! Glad to hear you’re getting back on top of things and finding the best way for you to follow this wol. 👏 I bet the Dean will get a bit of a land when you spring your news on her! 😉 OMG, you’re thinking of moving house and it’s your OH’s idea??!! If you get a pool, can we come visit? 🙏😃👍💞💕💚

Hi there Jade! I’m in a small church choir so sometimes we are asked to sing at weddings. The reception, including cake and drinks, usually takes place in a hotel or country house nowhere near the church. Often the family give us a small gift each or a contribution which we use to fund a night out. Definitely not a professional singer, but after a few peach schnapps in the corner of the pub anything could happen……just warning you! 😉😳
Camp Aussie Determination sounds like a brilliant idea! Pool and spa, anyone?! 👏😄

Mornin’ CG! Those boys of yours aren’t half spoiled! Glenn is doing a super job looking after you so well and doing all those chores on the ‘to do’ list! Isn’t it wonderful that he has such a great relationship with Tegan, very heart warming. 💕💞 I’m glad you’re finding something interesting and therapeutic to do while you’re recuperating.
The weather has broken here with heavy, thundery showers and rain forecast for the next few days. It still quite humid as well and hard to get to sleep at night. We don’t have air con or even a fan because we would rarely need either but we might have to reconsider that.
Take care and enjoy the colouring. 😃💚💕

I’m not afraid of thunder and lightening and I love to watch a good storm. But you’re right about them being scary. A man and his two children were struck by lightning just a few days ago and are still critical in hospital. Very scary stuff indeed!

Morning (here) team! Gosh Glenn is truly a handyman, CG! I could watch YouTube forever and not be able to do that kind of plumbing and electrical work – what a wonderful young man. And how sweet to pitch in for Tegan also, the knight in shining armor✨♥️ Glad you are finding ways to keep busy that don’t involve climbing ladders or carrying heavy parcels.🎨👍

Fit, do you have any video/audio of your little choir? I’d love to hear, though if forced I suppose I could come to Ireland for a performance🤔🎤 Does the group sing in pubs😉?

Camp AD-US didn’t get a drive-by yesterday, because OH had a wee too many drops of Jamison the night before🌊 and was creeping down the steps only to tell me how unready he was to socialize again last night. He went of course, but drank only seltzer so maybe today we’ll take a look. Oh Fit, he asked if I’d booked the place in Howth, so hooray for renewed interest in travel. I haven’t yet, still shell-shocked by the cost of canceling the last trip, plus it almost seems a jinx to plan things. But I figure either it or something suitable will be available later on, perhaps Augustish, once life calms down more – both OH and D are still rather tender and unpredictable – maybe I’ll just go solo!!

I’m sitting now by my little garden, it’s so beautiful and still pleasant in the shade. I’m staying on the patio away from the snakes! Our heat and humidity are ferocious in the summer, so I love these mornings. It’s pleasant too in the evenings but the mosquitos will carry you off. No news is good news from D this weekend, i try not to hover (try try try). I do mental hovering lol.

And a lot of jabbering. That’s the way I am with coffee in the mornings, just having a cyber chat. Hope you all have a lovely day! Gearing up for my fast tomorrow💪💕xxxx

I think you need to organize an album for that group, Fit, and become world famous! Ha, I’ll bet pub goers would love you, a little religion couldn’t hurt. Don’t get me started on what it’s done here, though whether that could be called “religion” is debatable.🤐 A Nov trip out of the craziness of politics is looking better and better. Johnny Fox’s looks like a whole barrel of fun – thanks for the link! Have you been?

Looks like a camp drive-by is today’s agenda – OH is busy online doing google earth now, checking out the environs. Gradually talking himself down a bit, but hey miracles could happen.✨👍 Speaking of, I might actually pull off an early FD here, so far just coffee and not feeling hungry. Why not💪 – I’ll report in later on how all that goes!😉🎉😎xxx

Wow, what secret potion are you drinking, one of Gyps’s? Or maybe you’re like me, nothing like a true deadline to manufacture some discipline. But go you! Below tdee is amazing and on the eve of a FD💪 well done. That’s when I usually convince myself I should stock up for the impending famine! 😂 Ha, the things I do to make life harder than it needs to be, right? And yes, on a sober note, religious differences can result in such tragedy. Even being raised Catholic in Southern Baptist territory opened my eyes to the absurdity of religious hatred, when my paternal gma told my mom it was a shame we’d all be going to hell. Oh mercy, there I go off topic again.😜
Cheers and happy non-eating, thank heavens OH is polishing off the pie!🔆😍🤐xx

OH just updated me on the number of people killed in Orlando, over twice what I’d first heard. It’s insane here, just ****ing insane. Empty rhetoric continues.

But on lighter topics, go you, I know you can do it! Having a deadline AND a dress waiting, well what could be better? Maybe we should all order one of those corsets CG has, nothing like mashing one’s midsection to dampen the appetite. I’m soldiering on in my FD with my diet black raspberry and a splash of cream. If I close my eyes and think really hard, it turns into a sherbet float. OH is ranting online to someone about guns instead of driving me to my dream house, but we might still go. I’m starting to think even a 15-minute trip is a struggle around here, wtf. Maybe I need to show him a good display of Aussie determination?😡👊 ha ha – xxx

Hi all. Just popping in for a minute to have a read about what you are all doing, great catch up but too tired to comment back to everyone in detail. CG. Sounds like recovery going well..and glens looking after you like a queen! Fit you always look gorgeous, and Jade sounds like the house didn’t pan out.. Pleanty of time!!

I am having just the most wonderful,time .💕💕😍😍..up at 5am most mornings as the Canadians have not yet got their body clock in order . We have taken 3 full 7×5 trailer loads to the dump that are not worth putting in the “mother of all garage sales”. Only tackled one shed so far so am sure many more to come.. son just can’t help hi,self and is down sorting before 7am and someone has to me with him to,validate wing out..so mother bear is down with him, still in my nice fleece gown over my PJ,s sitting is a very comfortable chair supervising. Have knitted Joel a great colourful striped cap, out of wool he picked so far and a pair of rubbed leggings for Ruth. What will I knit tomorrow.? Oh yes DIL wants a nice woolen cap too and have some nice pure merino and silk wool I can do it in. Joel is having a ball with everything he finds and is helping us how things out. 🏏🏓🎾🏀And keeping lots of things to play with also. My medication is making me so hungry this time so could not even think of a fast day so far. Especially with the lovely lunches we have been preparing. Oh well. Most of it very healthy. Off to the pool first thing tomorrow and then home to continue the clean out. D has been over most of the time also and is coming back for another throw out session at lunchtime tomorrow. lucky OH is the one that decided we had to move ..he has been surprisingly silent about keeping anything but can see the look on his face and the deep breaths!😱😳😱😰😩😤! Priceless..kids can get away with murder!! ..nite nite all. Sweet dreams”,💜💜💜💜💜

Hi all!
It’s nearly 4pm on my fd and I’m going well so far on just coffee and water. I decided I’d better do some housework while our house painter was here so I wouldn’t look like such a lazy cow lying on the couch nursing my laptop….hence the late post! I decided to clean out the bathroom cabinet in our en suite…..omg, I swear there were some lotions and potions, mostly unused! 😱, that were older than my two girls!! And as for sun creams, I have no way of knowing if they’re still usable or not because all they put on the bottle is how long it will last once opened! I’ve thrown them all out except for one which I know brought home from France last summer.
PH, you’re doing amazing things and certainly making the most of having your family around you. I’m loving the fact that you can get all that clearing out done and your OH daren’t say anything! Priceless and very clever move on your part! And in the middle of all that, you’re knitting away making special creations for everyone….fantastic! 💪👏💚💕💞
Jade, you must live in a mansion…..are you thinking of downsizing? Well done on getting through your fd 👏👍 How did things go with the dean? I hope she appreciates all your hard work and the extras you have done with dedication and commitment to your students. 😇😃💞💕💚 Yes, I think Spanx may be the way to go, (probably a bit like you were suggesting, CG), although I might have to bring bolt cutters to get me out of it at the end of the day because I intend to enjoy all the food and drink on offer! 😉😂

Hi all!
CG, that’s brilliant news! I’m so thrilled and happy for you. I bet that shower was absolute bliss…..mmmm, 💧💦😆😃 It must be a great relief to hear how well you’re healing, (obviously due to Glenn’s nursing!), and that you’ll be able to get back to your little patch of paradise with your gorgeous Danny and Lexie. Keep up the good work recuperating, the colouring sounds like a very calming and destressing way to keep you from doing silly things like building a barn or whatever! 😉😃
Jade, it’s good to hear you survived the encounter with the dean….did she survive your news? Chainsawing? You’re like an Amazon, is there anything you can’t tackle? 👏💪👍 I did well on my fd and the scales looked good this morning but I won’t be counting on that too much because it’s straight after fasting and Friday is my official weekly weigh in. The sis who lives near me and I are going to meet with our sister’s psychiatrist today to hear what he has to say about her deterioration and to tell him a few home truths about how she (and we) have been treated by staff.
I don’t know what can be done about the gun culture in the US. It’s hard to see how things can be changed when history and tradition are so ingrained. Also, big money is involved, so that dictates a lot. There are quite strict gun laws here but gun and knife crime are becoming more and more common. I don’t have any answers but I do think young children need to be shown and taught that violence doesn’t solve anything. I also think screen violence has a huge influence. Ok, off my soapbox now! 🏃🤐🖖

Hi there Jade! It sounds like you’re getting back on track too, so we’ll hop on the scales at the end of the week and blame each other if things go wrong 😉😃 The meeting with the doc (he’s the psych at the hospital) didn’t shed any real light on my sis, except that he said he has her on a very potent cocktail of meds to try and improve her mood etc but she is very resistant to them. He is advising her to attend a day centre for Alzheimer’s and dementia sufferers but she doesn’t want to do that. She will be having a fairly comprehensive MRI scan next Monday to see if there is an identifiable cause for her physical complaints. If not, then it’s all about managing her mental state. If the carers can do that, great….if not, she’ll have to go into a nursing home. At least, we’ll know we’ve tried everything.
Stay strong, my dear pal and we’ll keep on slaying the dragons and show those scales who’s boss! 💪👊👿

Mornin’ CG. I do all the painting and decorating in my house but both OH and I are useless at diy. The few times we tried, we ended up either breaking something or making such a botch of it that we had someone to fix our mess! My OH only has to look at a machine or a tool to break it! 😉😃
Yes I did complain about the staff but it was just glossed over with a very perfunctory apology. Still, we made our point and the nurse or whoever she was, will probably get her knuckles rapped!
I think you’re mixing me up with Jade….I’m not selling my house, just getting it painted because it badly needs it! Thanks for the lovely compliment…I’m going to hope for the best but not stress over it. After all, everyone will be looking at the bride!
It’s great to hear you’re so content to relax and let Mother Nature work her magic and healing powers on you 👍💚💞

Hi there CG and Jade!
Thanks for the kind words Jade. It’s taken quite a while, in fact all our lives, to realise there is only so much we can do for our sister, especially as she is so unwilling to help herself. So, we’ve our plan now for where we’ll go from here which will involve stepping back and handing as much as can over to the carers.
Ha, I had to laugh as I was trying to decipher what kind of desk is a POS desk?!! Duh!! It eventually dawned on me…..he, he 😉😂 To be fair, I hadn’t had my coffee before I read it!
CG, you must feel so much more comfortable now. I suppose it will be hard to face the corset again but you know you’ll heal more effectively and quicker with it on. Sorry for the crossed wires about the house….yes, we are looking at the prospect of selling my parents’ house, which my sister owns. It’s rented out at the moment but the tenants are leaving in August. We’ve no definite plans yet because we weren’t sure how things would be with my sister on leaving hospital. I’m sure you’re feeling more ‘normal’ now but please don’t overdo things…..rein in that AD energy for a little while longer! Gentle hugs to you 💕💚
Big shout out to all the gang, home or abroad. Keep in touch when you can! 👍💞💚💕

Hi all. Well, I did have that comfortable trip as far as LA and it was good. The next 5 hours to NY were not so comfortable but I was so tired I kind of dozed sitting straight up anyway.

After a shower, my swollen ankles and my bloated body and I went to dinner with my son, and his partner seems like a lovely girl. For the next 3 nights I woke up at 3.30 and could not get back to sleep for hours! Met a friend whose first comment was “you look tired”. He is a male, no female would tell you that!

So now in Quebec City after a crazy day yesterday. Flight from NY was “too heavy”. They took off half the passengers and all the luggage! We were in the half that “vounteered” to go. They were so desperate that they threw money at us. My husband and I each were paid $1300 to move. So that is about $3000 Aus. all up.

Thank goodness it was so much because our luggage never arrived and it is now a day later! Mind you, the people on the original plane also have no luggage. Can I tell you that my husband was transferred on the phone literally 10 times just now before he was put on to the right person! And cut of twice as well.

There is a cocktail party followed by a dinner tonight. I have told him that I am only going if I have luggage. I am not going with my NY walking shoes and no makeup let alone toothbrush, moisturiser and deodorant! Anyway, we believe it will arrive in Quebec in about half an hour. Let’s see how long it will take to get to our hotel!

I do have a mini toothbrush that I scored from our Qantas upgrade. We are sharing that!

Anyway, the room we have is fabulous with magnificent views. I will be happy to hide here for a while. My poor husband is already in full conference mode and working.

I have read everybody else’s news. Forgive me for not replying individually. I am about to go shower and wash my hair with that fabulous hotel shampoo….
Cheers all!

Hi all.
Lying in bed before the start of what yet again will be another very busy day. Having sooo much fun cleaning out all,of the things from the house that we no longer use. I think my son and DIL could go into business doing this. They are so focused! I can now find everything in my kitchen cupboards based on the premise that if I have not used it in a year then it goes. Did not know I had so many things duplicated!!have all sorts of things now to add to the garage sale and so much space! Even extra bench top space.. oH is still surviving so far. Today is the studio. Goodness knows what will happen. Off to the farmers markets this morning then into it.!

Fit. So good you have finally exhausted all options for your sister and that hopefully your family are all ready to understand that you need to let go if things don’t work out at home with the carers. You have done way above and beyond in the care of her so far and your parents would,be so proud of you sending 💜💕💕. Sounds like you are having a very successful time with 5,2 also.

Jade. What a whirlwind. And an accomplished handywoman!! 🔨🔧🔩🛠. Mrs. fixit!!😊😊😊. Just love the energy!.

CG. Great you are doing so well! Keep up,the self control!💕💕

I hear little feet coming ..now a little knock on the door so stopping to get my cuddles!💕💕😊😊😘😘

Gosh, it’s spookily quiet here 😨 I’m fasting today, OH has gone off to meet a friend for the day, even the painter decided not to come today because the weather is too unpredictable. So I’m feeling very lonely and thinking far too much about food as my tummy rumbles get louder and louder…..eeek! 😱