There and back again.

So...we are returned to Frogknot after an evening away in Brisbane for Women in Voice 2016. It was the fourth Women in Voice I have been to since coming here in 2013.It is always a wonderful night out and last night was no exception. We had an Indian meal out first with Andrew, Ros, Steve, Trevanna, Molly and Georgia and then headed to the Judith Wright Centre for the show. It was the last show of the run so it was a special night.We stayed at Ros's last night and this morning headed to Morningside to see if we could get some Vimto from the 'Foodworks' there....but they had none. So we headed over the The Valley of the Leeches (Indooroopilly) and the Woolies there had 9 bottles reduced to clear. I got them all! Bargain!We called in at Redbank Plains to the Cineplex Cinema and saw 'Arrival' at 10.30 am.Gosh! It was good! Go see it if you can.After a quick lunch we went to see 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'...It was not so great and we were very disappointed with it.It was 36 degrees when we came out of the air conditioned cinema and poor Roxy was overheating again coming up the Range. We arrived home just after sunset and rushed to check on Doumu and the eggs she was sitting on.They have all hatched!We have eight new Araucana chicks, three white, three grey and two black.Fingers crossed they all make it.

In Brisbane for...

Seeing a Dietician.

So...the visit to the doctors a few weeks back to renew my prescription has had a knock on effect....Dr Sultana, for it was she who I saw after a mix up with another 'Nick' in the waiting room, also sent me for blood tests due to the general monitoring of people my age.I duly got the tests done and forgot about them until I discovered an unanswered phone call message from the Surgery asking me to pop in to see Dr Hussein some time but 'it is not urgent.'I did pop into see him and it turns out my cholesterol is quite high but all the other tests came back normal. He suggested a health management plan and part of the was my seeing a dietician.My BMI was pretty good and he reckoned I only needed to lose about 10kgs. In fact when he weighed me I was delighted to see that I was about 89 kgs. I had been more than that when I was battling 'Elaine' and I hadn't even been trying.Today I saw the dietician. She looked about 15 but was very nice. She asked what I ate in a typical day and I was very honest and mentioned the crisps, biscuits and 'Melting Moments' from Aldi. She reckoned my diet was pretty good but said the things that stuck out for her were I needed more fibre and"And what about fruit?" She asked.I looked suitably sheepish. She had me there.I have to try and eat more nuts and oily fish and cut down on the butter."Try to have a table spoon of olive oil a day.""What? Just down a spoonful?" I asked."No," she laughed, " as part of salad dressings or in your cooking."I was relieved."What about eggs?" I asked, "because we have hens and we are getting up to 9 eggs a day and we have about 4 dozen sitting there.""Eggs are fine," she said."Are they not filled with cholesterol?""No, that is an old wives tale," she said.Those flippin' old wives eh? What a load of rubbish they spouted!"Do you like eggs?""I love eggs," she said."Good, I'll bring you a dozen next time I come." I said.

Dumb beetle.

So...tonight I thought the vermin were back. I heard a rustling sound and got up to investigate and after listening carefully discovered the noise was coming from a box of crackers on top of the cupboard.I grabbed the box and shone a light in expecting to see a mouse but found it was a Christmas Beetle. They are such clumsy, uncoordinated insects that it is a wonder that evolution hasn't just done away with their wings. If they could talk all you would hear would be "Oohs" and "Aaagghhs" and little, squeaky swear words as they crash into things. The one I found was blundering about the bottom of the cracker box wondering how to get out. It appeared to have forgotten it had wings.

The Approaching Storm.

So...as the incredible news from America breaks so a storm approaches with the un-nerving and ominous rumble of thunder.What is the World coming to?