Earth Hour!

Remember it is Earth Hour tonight.Get those candles out.Switch off all your lights, TV, computers etc......but not your freezers of course.......for the hour between 8.30 and 9.30 pm.Do your bit for Global Warming!(Glad to see that Brisbane City Council switched off the Storey Bridge lights tonight.)

Hope springs!

So.......after discovering I am entitled to a Pensioner's Concession Card......(the real one finally arrived today by the way), Will discovered he might be eligible for a Low Income Healthcare Card and filled in all the forms and so forth and produced his evidence at Centrelink in Inala.He received an email today to say that it had been declined because 'our' income was above the threshold but, when he worked it out for himself, it wasn't.He toddled off to Inala and came back an hour and a half later."How did you get on?" I asked."It's 'Possum' fodder," he said.He went through all the details with a very 'nice' lady at Centrelink and she agreed his figures were right but when she tried to process it all on the computer it would still not allow it.It turns out that when I originally applied for the Carer's Pension in regards to the income I get from renting my house in the UK I changed two '$' signs into '£' signs but the person who processed my claim assumed another amount that I had put in as '$225' was actually '£225' and the upshot being, since the start of my pension, I have been underpaid.I am now going to get and a little more than a $100 extra a fortnight!"And what about the money he has missed out on since the payments started?" asked Will. "Can we claim for that?"Yes, we can!So fingers crossed!.......and we might get a little lump sum in arrears should the claim go through.2015 is finally looking up!

'Getting rid of 'Elaine'! (93 kgs)

So........since yesterday I have decided that 'Elaine' has to go.I weighed myself and was surprised to see I was 92 kgs, since I was 94 when they weighed me at the hospital.I suspect 'Elaine' has buoyed up by sugary cordial drinks so I have decided to limit those to two a day and the rest of the time drink water. I ate no snacks between meals and walked, during respite, for an hour.I weighed myself this morning and I was 93 kgs!...........How can that be?I coped very well until I made some biscuits this morning...........and 'Elaine' made me eat 3 fresh from the oven.When Will came home from work I went out for a walk around the industrial estate.

The street names were encouraging.

I was feeling positive after walking up 'Success' and 'Achievements' until I saw the fat dead possum lying in the gutter......it was 'Failure.' ........too fat to get out of the way of an oncoming car.

I carried on trying to focus on the positive and passed a 'Carvery and Cafeteria'.

'Thank goodness it is closed, ' I thought.

'Break in and get a pie," said Elaine.

I decided to head back home via 'Achievements' and 'Success' but had to pass the possum first.

'Eat that! You've eaten it before.' I ignored her.

I had walked for an hour and it was like hiking in a sauna with the temperature reaching 34 degrees here today....surely it must help.

I had my tea as normal but when Dulcie had an ice cream cone after tea......I didn't. I didn't even lick the ice cream scoop. It was an achievement.

'It'll take more than that to beat me Baldy!'

Yes, it is not going to be easy to get rid of Elaine.

Bug off?

Yesterday, as I was driving home from a shopping trip, I was stopped at traffic lights and noticed a five legged spider on the car next to me. Obviously it looked a little worse for wear, having only five legs, but it was clinging onto the side of the car just by the back window. While the car was stopped it seemed to spinning some web to anchor itself more firmly before it hunkered down and stopped moving. The lights turned green and the car sped ahead of me. I was watching the spider to see if it blew off but it didn't. The car was halted by more traffic in its lane ahead but my lane was free and I was able to catch it up and pass it.....the spider was still clinging on.'Its having a worse day than me,' I thought.Today I nipped to the bank and pulled out of the drive and was just moving off slowly when I noticed a big praying mantis sat on the windscreen wiper. I pulled over but wasn't game to pick it up and it certainly was not worried about me looming over it as it kept on walking towards me across the windscreen.I got Dulcie's disabled parking permit and collected it on that and carried it to some shrubbery in a neighbours garden and do you know.....it never said 'thank you!'

Not the sharpest pictures from my phone camera.

Today I apologised to a washing machine!

We arrived back from Frogknot about 3.00 ish today and I wasted no time in putting a load of washing in the machine.Wendi and Geoff were coming over for a barbecue later so we set about tidying out the pergola which has been doubling up as Will's potting shed.He tidied away all his compost and mulch and I swept it out and then got a damp cloth to wipe the table and benches down.The table and benches were quite dirty so I nipped back in to rinse the cloth and absent-mindedly lifted the lid on the washer.It beeped loudly at me in alarm!"Oh, sorry!" I said.Doh!