"Houston, we have a problem ....."

Hmmm, I appear to have picked up a virus, or something nasty like that, from MSN ... that'll teach me to click on something I always tell Chicky not to !! Darn it !!

I'm trying to repair the problem, without having to resort to re-formatting, or something else as long winded ... fingers crossed.

Thus, I may be off air for awhile ... please stay tuned ... I will be back.

Please cross your fingers, toes, eyes, and anything else, for me, in the hope that I can get it fixed without having to resort to drastic measures.

Thanks....

Take care,

Back To Reality ...

Hello !!

We arrived home again, after a week away at Bonnie Doon ... if anyone's wondering ... yes, it is the Bonnie Doon referred to in the Aussie movie, The Castle !! Aaaahhh, The Serenity !!

Anyway, we had a lovely week, although it pretty much rained the whole time, on and off (more on than off !!). It was great, though, watching the poor depleted lake rise, and rise, and rise. It started off at around 11% ... apparently now it is almost 15% ... that is just huuuuuge !!

We didn't do much, went for a drive once, not far, just around !! Didn't even take many photos !! Spent most of the week reading, watching movies, relaxing and painting (although didn't really do much painting !!)

This first photo was taken last week Wednesday, between Peppin Point and Chinaman's Hill (for those of you who know the area !!). It basically shows how the water is beginning to creep back.

This next one was taken from a road, just off the highway, showing the good-old Bonnie Doon bridge from a different angle ... one I hadn't taken a photo of before !!

We had a glorious foggy morning, Saturday morning. This is the view that greeted me when I opened the front door of our caravan ...

This was later on, zoomed in on the nearby hills ... the clouds / fog literally creeped over the hills and disappeared !!

This last photo is of the same area as the first one (although not quite the same angle, unfortunately), showing how much the lake had filled. It was taken on Sunday ... just 4 days after the first one ... it was just incredible seeing how much the water had come back.

Since returning home Sunday afternoon, and unpacking, it has been go-go-go !! I was asked to work on Monday, which ended up being a longer day than usual. Hubby was also working, so poor Chicky was home alone !! She was OK, but was bombarded with phone calls from both Hubby and myself, just checking up on her !! Poor thing had to spend the day in a cold house ... the heater decided not to work ... although it did fire up and work fine on Sunday night !! Turns out the pilot flame had gone out, and the thingumy-jigger that sends through the gas was a bit blocked, so it wasn't producing a big enough flame, which kept going out. Anyway, Hubby fixed it ... no problems now. Cooked a yummy dinner, then sat down to watch TV.

Today (Tuesday), we all slept in (Chicky till noon ... lazy thing!!), then I went and did a bit of grocery shopping, then went to my parent's place to check on things (they are in Germany till the middle of August ... they've been gone for almost 2 weeks now ... gosh I miss them !). After that, I did some vacuuming, dusting, tidying, and of course, the obligatory laundry ... why do we always have so much washing after time away ? I mean, it's not like I don't do any washing whilst we are at Bonnie Doon, as we have a washing machine there ... OMG, I think the dirty clothes multiply, just to p**s me off !!

Now, all I have to do is cook dinner ... Shephards Pie is on the menu today (never made it before, hope it tastes nice !!). Then I will be (hopefully) dropping by your blogs to visit ... if I don't make it today, then it'll be tomorrow night (I'm working during the day Wednesday), or Thursday ... don't worry, I will be there eventually (thank you all, once again, for sticking with me, through my blog-neglect ... I love you all, you are fabulous). And ... hopefully I won't continue to be a neglectful blogger from now on !!

I also need to get onto burning those Blogger Song CDs, and get them off to you all in the next couple weeks. Hope you are not holding your breath till they arrive !! They will get there eventually, don't panic !

Oh yeah ... the fog I sang about in my earlier post has lifted ... finally ... apparently Melbourne Airport was closed for hours this morning, and the planes had to be diverted. We don't often get such pea-soupers, but when we do ... they sure do linger.

Enough from me, hope you have a great week.

Take care,

Oh, what a fo-oggy mo-orning

Oh, what a fo-oggy da-ay

Oh, what a fo-oggy mo-orning

When will it go-o away ???

Greetings From Bonnie Doon

Hello Everyone,

Just a quickie from me ... I'm relaxing at Bonnie Doon, and I have limited internet access !!

We have been here since Sunday, and it has pretty much rained on and off every day. The sun was out for a few hours yesterday (Tuesday), which was lovely. It doesn't really bother me that it is cold and wet ... goodness knows, we need the water !! Lake Eildon has come up a couple of percentage points just these past few days ... it is back up to around 12%.

I have been doing some reading, watching TV & DVD's, and not a lot else. Chicky has a friend up here, and they are having a ball, despite the weather (they are creating a lot of laundry, though ... they seem to keep finding mud !!) ... thank goodness I have a washing machine here !!

Went for a little drive today, took a few photos ... the one above caught my eye for some reason ... will share more when I'm back home again and back on my broadband internet connection !

Anyway, hope your week is going well.

Hugs to you all.

Will come visiting when I get home again.

Take care,

Going Away Again !!!

Hello Everyone,

It is the 30th June, the last day of another month, and also the last day of the Australian Financial Year ... yep, that means we can all go out and get our tax returns in, and hopefully get a nice refund ... fingers crossed !!

It is also the first day of the school holidays in Victoria, which mark the end of Term 2 (or First Semester). Yay, two weeks of not having to make school lunches, and all the other rigmorol connected with getting a child off to school in the morning !!

So far, we've had a fairly busy day ... first thing this morning I had to take my kitty to the boarding cattery, as we are off in the morning for a week at Bonnie Doon. Then, Chicky had netball (unfortunately they lost ... boo-hoo!). After that we quickly rushed home, got changed, and headed into Eltham for a Book Launch ... a friend of Chicky's has had a book published ... she is 11 years old. It is a book of poetry and short stories, and is delightful ... she's going to go places, that girl. After all that, we arrived home around 4pm ... phew, I'm plum tuckered out !!

Since coming home, I have sorted washing, organised stuff for the week, packed, gone out to KFC to pick up some dinner (too lazy to cook !!), and am now sitting here, writing this post. The rest of my evening will probably be spent in front of this computer, fiddling around, visiting blogs, computer housekeeping ... I have finished my packing for our week away (other than the food, which I will do in the morning). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is on the telly, in the background.

Got the fright of my life last night. About 2.30 in the morning, our telephone started ringing. Of course, on this rare occasion, I hadn't replaced the cordless phone on it's cradle (which is beside my bed, part of a clock radio), so had to push the cat off me, get up, and run in the dark for the phone .... of course, I missed it ... darn it !! By this time I was wide awake, and struggled to get back to sleep properly. I must've, though, as I awoke with a fright again at around 4am, the phone had started ringing again (I had replaced it in it's cradle last time I got up). I snatched up the receiver ... hello ??? It was my mum, from Cologne in Germany (I think I mentioned that they were going over for a 7 week holiday ... they left last Wednesday). Silly dad got the time conversion mixed up ... he thought it was 4 in the afternoon ... ummm, nope, 4 in the morning, thank you very much !! After apologising profusely, to which I kept saying not to worry, it didn't matter, I was just happy to hear from them, she told me what they'd been up to. They had spent the past few days exploring Cologne, and having a lovely time. There were going to be picking up their hire car today (Saturday) and heading down to Coblenz (spelling ??), where they were going to take a day cruise on the Rhine. Originally, they were going to take one from Cologne, but were advised that it would be prettier from Coblenz, as it is not as industrial as Cologne. They sounded extremely happy, and I was excited to hear from them (although it was 4 in the morning ... LOL). I hope they continue having a wonderful time. I miss them heaps, though !!

It is continuing to be cold and damp here in Melbourne ... it started drizzling again this afternoon. There is nasty flooding down Gippsland way, where earlier this year there were bushfires !! What is this world coming to ... one minute hot and burning, next cold and flooding ?? Go figure !!

Anyway, enough from me ... Hope you are all having a brilliant weekend, and have a wonderful week ahead. I know I will ... relaxing at Bonnie Doon (I am taking my painting, crochet, cross-stitch, lots of books to read, and a heap of DVDs to watch.). Will write again soon.

Take care,

Blogger Songs CD

Hello Friends,

I have a bit of a dilemma, which I hope you can help me solve, regarding the Blogger CD I am creating ...

From all the comments, I have collated 62 songs, which, when burned as an AUDIO CD, takes up almost 4 CD's. However, when burned as an MP3 CD, it only takes up one.

Here is the question ... of all of you who have requested a copy of the disc (DIANE, DRAMA DIVA, CLARE, PEA, PUSS-IN-BOOTS, MERLE, CONNIE, KRISTY, EBUN, RENAE, JEANETTE, GWEN, GRANNY (ANN), ENID & CATSMUM ... hopefully I haven't forgotten anyone ... if there is anyone else, please email me your address), which format would you prefer ? From what I understand, most CD Players these days can play MP3 discs, although some of you many not have one that does. However, you all obviously have computers ... so the music can be played that way !! Anyway, please let me know which format you want, so I know what to do ... thanks ... your help would be appreciated.

As I said, I will be making the copies and sending them over the next few weeks.

Eagerly awaiting your answers ... thanks !!

Take care,

Rating My Blog ...

How cool is this ...

I saw this over on Granny Ann's blog, and thought I might borrow (steal !!) it ... thanks Granny !



What is your blog rated ??


Take care,