Travelling light....

It is over four weeks now since I decided to return to Australia for a holiday to see friends and family.  During the past month, I have made lists and more lists of things I need to get done before my trip next year. 

I was doing my Christmas shopping this week when I came across some suitcases at a greatly reduced price.  Now I don't normally buy a new case every time I go to Australia, then maybe I have.

In the early 1990s was my first trip home, and I had this grand idea of only having one suitcase between us (me and my son).  We were going for two months.  Now this suitcase was big - really too big for a young teenager to carry since it was packed with everything bar the kitchen sink. It also had to be check in as "heavy" for one piece of luggage. 

My next trip, I decided to travel lighter - I was on my own - but still I had two smaller suitcases. I was only going for three weeks.  The next time was again with the son and we managed to get all our luggage into two medium size cases - both were old but durable, so we thought, until we took them off the luggage roundabout in Sydney to find the zip of mine had broken and my clothes were coming out.  So that was put on the garbage truck and I had to buy another suitcase before I left.

For my trip eight years ago I decided to take a barrel bag and within that another light weight barrel bag to bring things home.  This did not have any wheels, and I struggled carrying these up and down steps at the railway and coach stations. 

So....this year is going to be different!  I found a bargain in town and it was definitely a must have.  A 20" suitcase on wheels.  That is 20" high and not so wide. 

A Dunlop suitcase with plenty of zip pockets.  I left the shop, walked less than 50 feet, and took it back.  I decided this one was too small!  What if I bought something in Australia how would I bring it back. I exchanged it for the 24" (they did not have 22"). 

 



Still a bargain.  I struggled home on the bus with this being careful not to touch the ground.  I packed the clothes I intended taking and it barely covered the bottom, so decided this was just going to be too big and cumbersome. 

So I returned to the Store today to exchange it for the smaller one.  A young lady who I saw yesterday - "I saw you" she shouted through the store "you were here yesterday and exchanged the smaller one for the large one" so so loud that everyone looked round......shush! I said a woman can change her mind if she wants too.  She thought it funny.....

Since I came home with the 20" case and packed it with clothes, of course there was plenty of room and the zip at the top pulled open allows the case to have 30% more space.  I am sure that will be just perfect for this trip. 

Off to town tomorrow to find some comfortable trainers for the trip......I know I know I still have three months to go......... I do have lots to do though, and time is running out. 

Baking day.....

I am trying to stop my husband visiting the cake counter in the supermarkets.  Home made cakes are far healthier, but there are weeks I just don't have the time to bake. 

Today I spent a couple hours doing just that.

Nothing fancy as the older we get we don't want iced or cream cakes, so I made over 50 small cakes.  First there was a batch of sultana cakes, then blueberrie cakes and finally I added part sugar/part ginger preserve to the mix of the final batch. 

I don't think they will last long - maybe a week or so.  Then I will have to think about baking again.

Home Sweet Home for spiders....

 

Luckily I didn't see any spiders.  They certainly weren't at "home" when I took these pictures at 9 a.m. this morning.

 

 

So very cold it was - I even left a scarf on the clothes line last night and this morning it looked like this

A very heavy frost.....now it is late afternoon it is starting to thaw - thank goodness.

Planning a trip....

This may be  the last time I make the long trip to Australia to see good friends and my family.  

I have always had the fear of flying, its not so much when I am flying but before I actually board the plane.  The last time I asked the doctor for some tablets to help calm me down, and he said to take one just after I leave home and another on the plane before take off.  I totally forgot to even take them out of my bag!!

I booked and paid the fare online and  it was worse than making that bid on Ebay just seconds before the auction ends.  I shook like a leaf.  Once that pay button was pressed there was no going back - its done!

OK OK - its four months away......but I need that time to let everybody know when I am coming, especially my friends.  Dad?  He will expect me when I arrive.  He is not going anywhere, but friends have other commitments and I really must fit in with them. 

I saw one of these in a Charity shop just last week.  I wish I bought it.  Its fun isn't it?  No not the mug!....the spread sheets.  Thats what I have been doing for the last couple weeks.

 

I am planning my trip - where I hope to be - train, bus, coach and plane times when I get there, and places I am visiting is blocked and colour coded, so I know exactly where I am and so will everyone else.  The internet is such a wonderful source of information.

 

Now this is the fun part.  I am going for four weeks - and for eight of those days I am  in Brisbane.  I have five friends to see in a radius of 2 - 4 hours drive by car and accessible by public transport.  One friend so far, has received a draft  copy of my spreadsheet (others will get a copy soon) and had confirmed  her days with me.  Well that is what I thought until I received an e.mail from her this morning to say there could be a slight hic cup that she has just found out that she might be flying to Japan during the few days I am in Brisbane - or she might not, she can't say until the New Year. 

 

As I haven't seen this friend for such a long time and I want my trip plan finalised soon,  it is re-shuffle time and Brisbane (colour coded green) has now moved to another slot, and the other colour coded towns (orange, yellow, purple and pink) have had to move again to fit in.  The colour coded towns are the base where I will be staying and I can visit other nearby places during that time.

 

I never thought that planning a trip would take so long - but once I have that sorted, then I can move on.....to......

 

Oh dear my Passports are about to expire.......

 

A box of chocs and a bunch of flowers...

Now what did I do to deserve these two gifts. 

Well we have new neighbours, arrived about six months ago.  I had met the lady just once briefly outside her house and  the husband over the garden fence.  And that was all the conversation we had. 

At both these times I suggested we exchanged mobile numbers, which we did.  And a blessing it was. During these bad floods and traffic on the motorways, an emergency arose. 

This was her son's first day on Tuesday at his new local school, and so she decided to leave work one hour early to meet him on time.  It wasn't meant to happen.  A journey that takes just 30 mins took four hours.  Her son, with a teacher, was waiting patiently at the after school group, the Mum's phone battery was dying, and  she was stuck on the motorway and the time was ticking away.  When she suddenly remembered me! 

She was trying to get in as much information as possible before her photo battery died,   where I should collect the son, the school, the entrance, his name, a password for the teacher (after all the teacher had no idea who I was, and the son and I had never met).  It was very dark outside. 

Well we made it!  And he came home with me - now this is the fun part!  How do you entertain an eight year old boy, with nothing in the house to do with children to entertain him with.  We had no idea how long it would be before the traffic holdup had ceased.  At first we sat on opposite chairs in the living room just gaping at each other.  Then I remembered I had a Scrabble game in the cupboard, so we set to playing that, except he had never played Scrabble, so we spent the next hour learning how to play.

His mum arrived, we spoke a little longer in the hall, and then she was gone to get the children their tea.

And tonight there was a rat a tat on the door and two lovely children (with their Mum) presented me with a bunch of flowers and a box of chocs to say thank you.......well how nice is that!

Lunch with a friend today....

What a relaxing day today.....doing what we do best. 

Met a friend at 11.00 am and spent four hours trawling the Charity shops and had a great lunch at a Prezzo Restaurant with 25% discount voucher.  Brilliant.

For lunch I had a pasta dish - cannot remember what it was called but it was huge, and delicious, with goats cheese, tomato, spinach, and lots of pasta.  Just too much.

My friend had a Pizza, with lots of topping and spinach.

Now what did we buy?  Well for the first couple hours, seeing as I was being really good, I did not get anything - I watched Vicky spend her money - she bought two lovely items in one Charity shop, i.e a dress and a cardi which was both smart and practical.  And of course, Vicky could not say 'No' to books......not like me who was able to put everyone I looked at back on shelf until.......

I could not resist it any longer and ended up with:

Hell Gate by Linda Fairstein
Eyeshot by Lynn Hightowner
S for Silence by Sue Grafton

.......and I spotted a long sleeve teeshirt in dark green but that does not matter as I find these so useful under a jumper to keep warm.  Beats a vest any day!

Just £2.00 - and in another Charity shop I spotted a lovely burnt orange blouse in a linen mix with its tags still attached for just £3.00

The colour looks "red" in the photo but it is definitely burnt orange.  No collar and a "V" shape neckline.  A belt I am not sure what you do with, still to find out, but I am sure when the warmer weather is here, this will be one top I will be wearing quite a lot.

The weather was great - a nip in the air, but the sun was shining.  And I have lost count on the number of Charity shops we visited. A great day and something we must do it again.

. 

My memorabilia - 4

A real grown up iron given to me by my parents when I was around eight years old.  We had an old wood stove - one that you cook your food on top and in the oven.  The wood was fed through a door at the front, or you could use a tool to lift off one of the "plates" and pop the wood in the top.  I would place my little iron here to heat it up.

After washing my dolls clothes I would iron them - and it really did work - it was so hot I had to use a cloth to hold the handle.

This is a keepsake forever, I have very fond memories of using it a lot when I was young. 

A project yet to be started.....and finished!

I posted yesterday a piece of my memorabilia where someone had made a comment about displaying these little beauties rather than packing them away in a drawer.  She suggested a "box" frame, well I am thinking she means one of these.

Isn't it great - needs some attention to the frame, which is an old Victorian picture frame, and another coat of paint to the shelves.  This is still in the shed and is destined to come out anyway, because in our new bathroom  where we are having a shower, to get the pipework to the shower without removing the new tiles is not going to be easy.

So we decided to put the pipework through the wall  in the corner of the bathroom into the what will be the living room and run the pipes along and up that wall  to the shower and because the door frame to this room is so close to the corner of the room, we are going to have a dummy wall to cover the pipes that will look like a miniature chimney breast. 

The idea is that this frame is going to be inserted into the dummy wall and be a feature in the room. This project has not started yet, and we are little slow in this household so you have to be patient.

 Although it is an excellent idea to display my "Surfies" I don't think they will match the decor I have in mind for the living room.  I have other memorabilia that will look great displayed here.  But first, I need to do some work on this shelf. 

Although the "Surfies" have "lost" their new home, it has given me something to think about and just maybe when the bathroom is finished, I will find a place to display them in there, perhaps on a corner shelf - which reminds me I have one of those too....a wooden one half painted..........

My Memorabilia - 3

These cute little things.  I have always called them "Surfies", perhaps thats what they were called when bought in the 1960s from a Woolworths store in Australia.  I love them. 

They have never been put on display for fear of them getting broken, so wrapped carefully in tissue and stuck in a drawer.  I really don't know where to display them.

Maybe since I am having a new bathroom put in that I could include these little fellas in the decor.  They are about 5" tall, ceramic and bright coloured painted.  Still look as good as new.

Today - Cakes .......and Books

Now that I have more hours to do what I want to do, I have been baking cakes.  I always like doing those in patty cake papers.  So last week we had some sultana ones.  Today I didn't have enough caster sugar so I subsituted with part sugar and part Strawberry Conserve.  They were delicious.

I used to put icing on top, but we both find it very sickly since we got older. 

I also caught the bus to town today and promised myself that I would not pass this particular charity that "gives books away" for a donation.  I swanned into the door and said to the volunteers, that I had crossed my fingers before approaching the building willing that the doors would be closed!  Why??? Because with over 850 books still to be read ....I really do not want any more.

"Well" one of them said, "Now you are here, why not look around, you might find something you would like to read".  Ahhhh music to my ears.....

And so .....laden with three books - all in immaculate condition - I left with a smile on my face.

So what did I get......?  The first is The Priest by Gerard O'Donovan. Well this looks interesting - A killer stalks the dark streets of Dublin.  Not read any of this authors books.

Another - Bloodprint by Kitty Sewell.  The spellbinding new psychological thriller from the best selling author of Ice Trap.  Not read this author either ....

And finally a calmer book - a completely different genre.  Got you Back by Jane Fallon.  I am not a great chick lit fan - but I read another by this author and I loved it!  Its nice to have a book that is not a thriller or suspense now and again.

Now I don't really know when I will get round to reading these - first I need to see if they are part of a series, and then I will need to add to my spreadsheet and then they need to be placed on the bookshelf....... 

I think I need to cull some .....or get another bookcase.....I can't possibly fit anymore on here!!!

Book barn here we come....

So excited - I managed to find a place to stay so that I could enjoy the Book Meet at the Bookbarn in Farrington Gurney on Saturday.....if you like books then this is the place to go. 

We set out on Friday afternoon - brilliant sunshine, then it rained and finally it was a nice sunny day for the rest of the journey.  Ugly black clouds were looming, but we managed to circle those.

Our first hold up in traffice was in Bath - the A4 was bumper to bumper. 

And I am not up with technology and with a magnifying glass and a book map I was giving directions on which way to go.  Completely lost - so I said OK, lets take that turning.  Bad mistake!  We went up and up and up this large hill until we reached the University.  Not good - no idea where I was on the map or even with the road.

Eventually we found our accommodation - up on top of a hill.

Very comfortable one bed on a farm.  And look what I found - just not time to read any of them, but what a great selection.

Settled in for the night and next morning made the trip to Book Barn just 12 miles away to meet friends, coffee and cake, buy books. 

Rows and rows to choose from, some old some new, fiction and non fiction, childrens books, hardbacks and paperbacks - so much to choose from and only £1.00 a book.  I could spend days in here just looking......

I bought the following:

Disturbance by Jamie O'Neill
The Report by Jessica Francis Kane
Storm Warning by Sharon Sala

Afterwards we met at each others cars, where we all bought boxes or bags of books we did not want - and the boots were open for us to just help ourselves.  Too much temptation, especially when I for one have over 860 books to read on my shelves at home. Too many in a lifetime to get through.  But books are like magnets.  You see, you have.

I chose: 

Dead Lock by Sean Black
Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton
Hanging Hill by Mo Hayder
The Finest Type of English Womanhood by Rachel Heath
The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill
Target by Simon Kernick
Sister by Rosamund Lumpton
Union Jack by Val McDermid
Run for your Life by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge


Well we are not finished yet, we all move onto the pub down the road - The Old Carriage Inn.  Not certain, but I suspect it was part of the railway many years ago, which no longer exists.  At the rear of the pub is a carriage - where we met to eat the scrumptious food. 

Oh look!  A book dip.  Yes we all bring a book wrapped in pretty paper and put in a pile in the middle of the table. 

Arn't they wrapped well.  I had my eye on the pink with glitter and white spots.  The pile was passed round to everyone to take a pick.  What did I get?

The Ice Princess by Camila Lackberg......couldn't be happier since I already had one of hers and was eager to read it soon......

What a great day - the weather kept dry at the end, although I believe there were hail stones whilst were in the Barn.

Back to our accommodation and this morning woke early at 7.00 a.m. for the trip home. Oh no!  I opened the door to be comfronted by:

Snow!!!  Falling steadily.  So it was a mad rush to pack up the car to get moving, only when we reached the bottom of the hill, the roads were covered.  And miles further on it was getting worse.  Fallen branches everywhere....main road closed.

 

 

For over an hour and half we travelled (or should say slipped and slid in places) through the snow.  And then.....there was no more snow - just rain .....

and sunshine....

and a rainbow.

Except for the odd weather it was a great day and I look forward to going to another next year.

Halloween

I don't ever remember celebrating Halloween!  Even when our children were young I never sent them out to Trick or Treat.  But some parents do send their children out, and sometimes adults knock on your door Trick or Treat. 

This year I am not prepared for anybody - I have nothing in the house that would be interesting to give them as a treat. So fingers crossed I don't hear the rat a tat tat.

But....I found a lonesome pumpkin in the garden, all ready ripened.  We are having it with our tea tonight with a chicken  and asparagus casserole.  I don't like cutting up a pumpkin unless I am going to eat it, so here is my attempt at celebrating Halloween!

My memorabilia - 2

Carnaby Street in the 1960s!  When I came to the UK in 1968 for a three month holiday, visiting Carnaby Street was high on my list to do.  Just loved it!  Loved the atmosphere, the fashion, etc.

And guess what I have never been back since my last visit in 1969!  This badge was sewn in the middle of a travel rug I was given, and many more badges were added to the rug of places I visited during the first year in UK. 

My Memorabilia - 1

 

I was only thinking today that we all keep a piece of memorabilia from our past.  Every now and again I am sorting out drawers and cupboards and come across different things that I have kept.

 

 

I cannot remember when or why I bought these.  I do know when I was twelve and left home to live in town so I could attend the secondary school, that all the girls collected items for our "glory box" over the four years, bought from the local shops with our pocket money.  Things we would need for our first home when we married.  I can only think that perhaps I bought these to go into the "box". 

It is three deers - mother and babies, connected by a small chain from the babies through a hook on the mother's neck.  These are shiny gold colour china.

They had been stored in the "box" - a very old wooden cradle which my father bought me from an auction, until I asked for everything to be shipped to UK, where the cradle was  passed onto my sister as it was too heavy to send. 

These deers remained stored in the loft for many years until I decided to bring them out in the daylight, and now I ponder on whether to sell them on ebay. But they are an ornament and not many people seem to collect ornaments now. 

My grandson recently came to visit and he pointed to the these sitting on the shelf and said could he have them.   So I guess I will have to keep them for a while longer.

44 years ago today.....

I returned to UK not permanently - just for a three month holiday visiting my Nan, who I had missed since my parents immigrated in 1952.

Forty four years later I am still here - I miss my friends who I left behind, but still keep in touch. I have returned for a holiday just four times in 44 years. 

 Taken in early January 1969.  This is the road in Sunbury on Thames where I lived in for the first three years.

We overlooked a pig field. 

The  River Thames

Before the M3 over pass at Sunbury Cross.

Another view....

Time has certainly flown.....and many changes have taken place.

Save some.....spend some....

I spent some of today sorting out the months supermarket receipts and found online I had saved over £17.00!!  So I am off to spend those vouchers next week. 

I will probably treat myself to a bar of chocolate as well as the fruit I adore - grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries....yum.  Hubby will probably add a cake or two into the trolley.  The rest will be put towards whats on the shopping list for this week.

And I have at last found a sideboard I actually love.  I have been hunting for one for over five years!   I like to buy "loved" furniture, not new modern furniture, and the price has to be right and it has to be in good condition.

I am well pleased with this acquisition.   Now I need to decide what I am going to put in it.  I do have a lot of crockery and glasses that I would like to keep and use.  There is also a lot that needs to go to a new home.  So lots of fun now in what to keep and what to get rid of.....