A day trip and a catch up

 Another month has passed so time for a catch up...

 

Hopefully, I will do better than one post a month but it's a start to getting back to my blog on a regular basis. 

 

Covid news - It looks like masks are here to stay for quite a while yet but I don't mind. If they help even a little, I'm happy to wear them despite Brad and I being asthmatics. That said, it's always a relief to get back to the car and remove the masks.

 

Queensland continues to do well as far as Covid stats go. We haven't had a serious outbreak since the Delta variant hit and daily cases are less that 5, mostly 1 or 0. I hope it remains that way. My heart goes out to New South Wales and Victoria which aren't doing so well but, hopefully, they will get it under control soon.

 

Bradley (son) is now fully vaccinated and I get my second Astra-Zeneca early October. My other sons are also part-vaccinated and due to get their second jabs in a month or so. Some employers are already adding 'Covid Vaccination Required' on their job criteria. The vaccinated are also going to be given extra privileges that unvaccinated won't have. Only this past week, a couple of top Cardiologists in one of our southern states had to go into 2 weeks isolation because an unvaccinated theatre nurse was diagnosed with Covid. Some heart patients were awaiting critical surgeries that had to be postponed. I really feel for them. One of the reasons why vaccination is so important. Covid has brought about a new way of life which will be here to stay for a while yet. 

Speaking of heart surgeries, my youngest brother Wayne had open heart surgery a couple of weeks back and is now at home recovering. The first 48 hours after surgery were horrible for him...immense pain. He is doing well now although had an erratic pulse a couple of times that needed medical attention. Apparently this can be expected after heart surgery. It will take 12 weeks for him to be fully recovered.

 

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I was very saddened recently to hear that a long-time art friend, Tracey Fletcher King, lost her 8 year battle with breast cancer on August 21st.  Tracey lived at the bay-side and, although we never did get around to meeting in person, we followed each other via our blog posts, Instagram, and occasional emails. She had a great sense of humour and never failed to make me laugh. I loved her art too. She will be dearly missed and my heart goes out to her family. xx

 

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Kya is not a fan of me sitting at my art/work desk. Here she is sitting on top of my bullet journal as if to try and stop me from focusing on things other than her. lol I don't know how this will work when I get serious about painting again. 

 

In the older photo below she is not asking for a belly scratch but more daring me to try. Cunning little Miss.

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A couple of weeks back, we had another family outing. 

This time to Wellington Point at the bay-side. 

I love the bay-side!

It was a glorious day! 

And I got to see pelicans....which I LOVE!     

We found a lovely spot with dappled shade

Part of the view from our spot. 

Ibis came to visit.

I really love the play of lights and darks in this pic.

Bradley (eldest son)

Aaron (youngest son) with his doggies

I must remember to get a group selfie next time. 

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I recently watched a Netflix documentary on Bob Ross. Have you seen it? I know Bob Ross was huge in the art world over in the States but I have to say that I'd barely heard of him here in Australia. I knew of him mostly through American art magazines. Those Kowalskis seem like a nasty piece of work, don't they?!  Yes, they helped Bob Ross to become famous in the art world but they pretty much controlled him, even pushing him to work when he was sick and dying of cancer. They then bullied people into signing over the Bob Ross name to them after he died...not what he wanted at all. They pretty much stole all rights away from Bob Ross' son when it was clear that Bob wanted his son to have his name, rights, and money. Such a sad story of greed and betrayal.  

 

On a happier note, the Plovers are nesting and, this year, I hope their babies survive. Ever hopeful. 

The warmer weather is here to stay now. Not looking forward to the summer heat and humidity. 

Stay tuned for another post soon...

Love, Light and Peace

a day trip and some general natter

WOW! Where did July go?! 

 

As much as I love winters here, this winter sure has messed around with my asthma, as well as me getting a dose of flu...twice! 

We started a 3 day lock-down on Saturday, July 31st at 4pm which was extended to Sunday, August 8th at 4pm. We had 9 Covid cases in that last 24 hours of lock-down so numbers had decreased. Our mask mandate will probably remain in place until December. Some other restrictions will remain in place for 2 weeks. I think social distancing will become a normality until enough are vaccinated where it reduces the spread of Covid dramatically. 

I think they should consider quarantining Aussies returning from overseas for at least 3 to 4 weeks, instead of just 2 weeks. One guy was in quarantine for 2 weeks and was negative on all his Covid tests and then, a week after leaving quarantine, he tested positive causing it to spread into the community. Luckily, our state government acted quickly with restrictions and two lock-downs. Sadly, New South Wales isn't fairing too well because their Premier was slower to act. They are averaging between 250 and 270 new cases a day at the moment. They had 357 new cases on the 9th. I hope they manage to get on top of it.

Bradley (son) had his first Pfizer jab on Friday with only mild side effects - headache and a bout of nausea. Sore arm too but that is to be expected with it being an intramuscular jab. I had my first Astra-Zeneca jab on the 10th (yesterday). I'm nervous because, a very tiny percentage of people had some very nasty side effects such as life-threatening blood clots with the Astra-Zeneca. Cross fingers I don't have that happen but it's a risk I am willing to take for the greater good. If I caught Covid with having asthma, my chances wouldn't be good anyway. The Delta variant spreads like wildfire and is deadly.

My doctor said to get checked if I develop any symptoms after the 4th day. The peak period is 6 to 14 days but blood clots can develop even a month after Astra-Zeneca vaccination. Wish me luck.

 

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Anyway, just prior to the lock-down, we managed to get away for a much needed family day trip to Andrew Drynan Park. It's so lovely and peaceful out that way. It"s our new favourite spot. Aaron recently bought a new Mitsubishi Outlander SUV and he had attached an awning to the roof racks. It worked beautifully! The grass greens took on a bright yellow tone because the sun was full-on with barely a cloud in the sky. Very reflective.

 

A couple of galahs dropped by

Aaron's dogs - Violet and Scarlett

a family selfie

 

I love the textures of trees

We all had a beautiful day! On the way home, we passed a Paraglider Pilot holding up a sign asking for a lift into town. He had the glider packed up in a huge bag. We were upset that we couldn't help him because the car was already chockers with our gear and no available seat. Aaron said that Beau would stop for him and, sure enough, Beau did pick him up and dropped him into Beaudesert where he was meeting up with other Paraglider Pilots. Beau said they had a nice chat about Paragliding.

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I haven't been doing a lot of sketching lately but I have been keeping my hands busy knitting bed socks. No easy feat when I deal with daily arthritic pain in my hands. I can't even straighten my ring fingers...the middle knuckles are so swollen and very painful pretty much all the time. I hate the shooting pains.

 

Anyway, years ago, I would knit bed socks for the boys and Aaron said he wanted a pair for this winter. The bed sock pattern is very basic. They aren't pretty-looking but hey, they are bed socks.

Aaron modelling the socks. 

Violet and Scarlett adore him.

Nice shot of my Maseurs too. hehe

So that's the goss for now. 

I've been also watching some art classes online 

when I get the chance.

I hope you are all keeping safe and well.

Love, Light and Peace

A day trip to Redcliffe to see The Bee Gees Way

This week is flying by!

Most weeks, we usually have a cards night at my sister and brother-in-law's place and, at the last one, we planned to go see The Bee Gees Way on Sunday. Bradley, being a major music buff, was particularly excited about seeing the tribute monument and all the memorabilia dedicated to the Bee Gees. 

The Bee Gees first arrived in Australia from England in the late 50's and Redcliffe became their home. It was approximately an hours drive to Redcliffe and, when we arrived at the entrance, it was walled off and we were greeted with this sign (see below). It was a disappointment to see The Bee Gees Way was closed for renovations but we chose not to let it spoil the day.

After a stroll through the busy Redcliffe Markets, Bradley treated us all to lunch at the Sandgate Post Office Hotel. This beautiful old building was a Post Office from 1887 right up until 2009 so quite a lot of history behind it.

The hotel has a lovely old world charm with a few pieces of memorabilia from yester-year like this Wurlitzer jukebox. I don't think it's operational — more for display.

An old fireplace — not sure if it is still a working one. 

The modern TV on the wall above seemed quite out of place.

We felt so relaxed at the hotel — or perhaps that was more due to the Espresso Martinis we had with lunch which were super delicious!

The staff were very friendly and it was such great service. For lunch, Brad and I had the Vegan Parmigiana which is Crumbed eggplant with napoli sauce, sliced tomatoes and vegan cheese served with hot chips and salad. It was so delicious! Forgot to take a photo unfortunately. Next time. Thanks for the treat, Brad. xo

After lunch, we went for a walk along the Sandgate/Shorncliffe foreshore — Lovers Walk is the esplanade we chose as it was right along the waters edge and took us down to the Shorncliffe Pier from Sandgate. Next time, we plan to take the other route where it is promised we will see lots of turtles.

As you can see from my hair, it was a very windy day. lol
I gave up trying to keep it in order. 

Photo collage above is courtesy of my sister, Angela.

All other photos, unless otherwise stated, are taken by me.

View of the beach

There were a lot of kite-surfers on the water that day. 

The strong winds made ideal conditions for them.

The tide was out but coming back in

Shorncliffe Pier

A few of the signs along the Pier 

Brad taking photos with his iPhone

At the end of the Pier - My sister, Angela, and brother-in-law, Peter, with Brad

And a couple with me in it

Photo below is courtesy of Bradley

On the way back to the car I took the photo below of an old church. 

It is classified as Gothic Architecture and was built in 1887.

Sandgate Baptist Church

Not long after, an unfortunate accident happened — I had started using my walking stick because my hip was hurting from the long walk. However, the walking stick jarred on a bit of uneven concrete, which sent me off balance, and I fell, face-planting onto the concrete. 

Thankfully, my bag protected my hip, but my big toe and chin copped a nasty hit. I also had minor grazes on my thighs, hands, and top of my feet. My toe was bleeding all over the place as I was wearing thongs. My chin was badly grazed, spotting blood, and already bruising. Pete raced off to Woollies to buy Band-Aids, Betadine antiseptic cream, and some Panadol.  Thanks, Pete.

Not the best way to end such a lovely day out but we all agreed that the injuries from my fall could have been a lot worse. It's three days later and the body aches from the fall are easing but my chin is still very tender. 

We are already looking forward to our next outing. 

Love, Light and Peace to all. 

A day trip to Darlington Park

In July, our Coronavirus restrictions were eased, so we decided to go for a much needed day trip. We went out country to one of our favourite spots - Darlington Park.

It was in the middle of our winter and, while it was sunny, 

there was a chilliness in the air. Below - Aaron taking photos with 

his miniature poodle, Scarlett, by his side.

I'm a sucker for trees. 

We've visited this site quite a few times but, this time around, 

the birds took a real liking to us....

or maybe it was the food we had with us. LOL 

Not to be confused with the Indian Myna bird, 

the birds below are Australian Noisy Miner birds 

and, they had no qualms getting close to us. 

This one was right beside my legs. 

They are obviously used to being spoiled by campers.

We even had some Magpies and a Blue-faced Honeyeater show up for a feast. 

This Honeyeater was cheeky enough to demand some coffee... 

...while a Kookaburra watched on from a nearby tree 

I was surprised to find some cherry tomatoes growing by the river bank. 

I guess campers threw away tomatoes or seeds at some point and they grew.

Tomato shrubs are definitely not the norm in our rugged Aussie bush 

We had such a lovely day out and it was sad to leave and head home. 

Maybe we will make it back out that way one day soon.

And there ends my post for today. 

I hope you all stay safe and well. 

Love, Light and Peace to you.