My First Assignment ...

I just had to share this with you, I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself ..

The first assignment in my Travel Writing course instructed us to ..."In 50 to 300 words, describe your favorite place on the planet." We could write about a place we really love, whether it be our hometown, or a place where we have vacationed. It instructed us to not use a variety of words ... pretty, attractive, good, nice, beautiful, lovely, or other wishy-washy descriptive words. Also, we were not to use ... very, really, especially, quite, incredible.

Here's what I wrote ...

VRILYA POINT, CAPE YORK
FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

As we sat on the beach, cameras ready, waiting for the sunset, the only sounds were the waves pounding in the distance, at the entrance to the river, and the gentle breeze whispering through the trees behind us. The ocean appeared to be never-ending, stretching to perpetuity. As the sun set quickly, you could almost hear it sizzle, as it seemed to melt into the water in the far-distant horizon. Then darkness descended upon us.

We are not really graded on the assignments, they are for practice, really, but we can post them on the discussion area to be critiqued. Here's what my Instructor, Eva Shaw, wrote ...

The darkness descended ... wow, I was there. Vivid writing. Eva.

Pretty cool, huh !?!?!

Take care,

Another Week Is Over ...

Hello everyone !!

I hope you have been having a great week. Mine has been pretty good, been getting stuff out of the way, worked, housework ... the usual, and ....... I started a new on-line course on Wednesday !!

Yep, another one !! I looooove doing short courses ... I feel that a person is never too old to learn, don't you ?

Anyway, the course I am doing this time around is called Travel Writing. You all know that I love to go away, on holidays, on drives, anywhere. And, I love to write about it. And, I love to take photos of it. Well, I thought I would learn how to do this better, and perhaps, eventually, get an article (or "piece", as it is known in writing circles !!) published somewhere, in a magazine, or somewhere. Fingers crossed.

I am pretty excited about this course, and have all sorts of ideas twirling around in my head. I need to get them down on paper, and work on them. So, that is what I will be doing over the weekend. At least some of the time !!

I also plan on heading off to the shops to pick up the latest Harry Potter novel ... oooh, I can't wait. I have just started re-reading the 6th book, to remind myself what had been happening, so that I can be up to speed for the next book.

Oh yeah, and I will hopefully be dropping by and visiting all your blogs. Looking forward to catching up on all your news.

So, what's on your agenda for the weekend ?

Take care,

Postcard Exchange Blog Update ...

Hello Everyone,

I hope your week is going well.

It is Tuesday night here, and it is very, very cold. The weather people are saying we have had probably the lowest maximum daytime temperatures in a decade. Wow !! It was a cold, windy, haily, rainy, yucky day. A great day to stay inside, near the heater. Well, guess who had to go outside, into that yucky weather, and go to work ... I know, I know, I'm not the only one ... but this post is all about me, so there (pokes out tongue!!). I am, however, greatful that it is raining again ... we need the water. I just wish it wasn't so cold. It even snowed in the nearby hills ... for goodness sakes, this is Australia ... it doesn't snow here, other than the ski-fields ... not normally, anyway !!

I only worked a few hours, which was OK, and had plenty of time to come home and warm up, before sitting down at the computer and (finally) updating my Postcard Exchange Blog ... I hadn't scanned and posted any postcards since August last year ... OMG, how slack am I !!! Anyway, I have posted over 30 postcards that I have received since August last year. They are not in the order they were received, unfortunately (due to my disorganisation), except the last few. I just want to say thank you again to everyone who took part in this Postcard Exchange, and to all you wonderful people who continue to send me postcards. I think you are all amazing, and am greatly appreciative of all your efforts. A big Mwuah to you all !!

I have the next 2 days off, then back to work Friday for a full day. At this stage, I don't have a lot planned for my days off, other than grocery shopping on Thursday. I know I will be spending time on my computer, though, as I have created a list of things I want to finally get done. Stuff I have been putting off for ages, for whatever reason. I am in "get it done" mode at the moment, so I will use it !!

I hope you all have a great remainder of the week, and manage to stay warm (in the Southern Hemisphere), or stay cool (Northern Hemisphere).

Take care, and have fun,

Aaaawww, The Weekend's Over !!

Hi Everyone,

It's Sunday night, just after 8.30pm, and my weekend is just about over.

I have spent alot of it fiddling with this computer, doing stuff I have been meaning to do for ages. I have also dropped by all your blogs to visit ... if I have missed out on your blog, please forgive me, and let me know so I can rectify it !!

I have (finally) updated my Photo Blog ... please pop on over and check out the photos. Some of them have been shared on this blog before, but I know you won't mind seeing them again. You can either click on the link in this paragraph (above), or click on the link in the side bar. Please leave a comment, if any of the pictures take your fancy (or not !!).

I have mentioned this in the past couple of posts, but please take some time to drop over to my friend Melinda's blog ... she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She also has a link in her sidebar, for her Photo Blog. Check it out !!

You may have noticed that I have officially revealed my identity on this blog !!! Many of you already know me as Connie (which is my real name ... obviously Meow is an alias !!), so I thought I'd change it from just "Meow", to "Meow (aka Connie)" ... feel free to call me either Meow, or Connie ... your choice !! Just a trivial thing, but I thought I'd mention it anyway !!

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend, and have a great week planned.

Will catch you again soon.

Take care,

WD-40 ... Who Knew ..... ?

I received the following in an email a few months ago, and thought at the time that it would make a good blog post to share. You may have already seen it, or known about it, but here goes anyway !!

I had a neighbor who had bought a new pickup. I got up very early one Sunday morning and saw that someone had spray painted red all around the sides of this beige truck (for some unknown reason). I went over, woke him up, and told him the bad news. He was very upset and was trying to figure out what to do probably nothing until Monday morning, since nothing was open. Another neighbor came out and told him to get his WD-40 and clean it off. It removed the unwanted paint beautifully and did not harm his paint job that was on the truck. I'm impressed!

WD-40 who knew?

Water Displacement #40. The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and degreaser to protect missile parts. WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a "water displacement" compound. They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40. The Corvair Company bought it in bulk to protect their atlas missile parts.

Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40 that would hurt you.

When you read the "shower door" part, try it. It's the first thing that has ever cleaned that spotty shower door. If yours is plastic, it works just as well as glass. It's a miracle! Then try it on your stovetop... Voila! It's now shinier than it's ever been. You'll be amazed.

Here are some of the uses:

1) Protects silver from tarnishing.
2) Removes road tar and grime from cars.
3) Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
4) Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making it slippery.
5) Keeps flies off cows.
6) Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7) Removes lipstick stains.
8) Loosens stubborn zippers.
9) Untangles jewelry chains.
10) Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11) Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12) Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13) Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14) Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15) Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16) Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17) Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes
18) It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for those nasty tar and scuff marks on flooring. It doesn't seem to harm the finish and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.
19) Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly! Use WD-40!
20) Gives a children's play gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
21) Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers.
22) Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
23) Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
24) Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25) Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.
26) Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27) Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28) Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling.
29) Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.
30) Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31) Removes splattered grease on stove.
32) Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33) Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34) Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35) Removes all traces of duct tape.
36) Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.
37) Florida's favorite use is: "cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers."
38) The favorite use in the state of New York WD-40 protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39) WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a LITTLE on live bait or lures and you will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose. Keep in mind though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states.
40) Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.
41) WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray on the mark and wipe with a clean rag.
42) Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and re-wash. Presto! Lipstick is gone!
43) If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would displace the moisture and allow the car to start.

P. S. The basic ingredient is FISH OIL.

P. P. S. I keep a can of WD-40 in my kitchen cabinet over the stove. It is good for oven burns or any other type of burn. It takes theburned feeling away and heals with NO scarring.

WD-40 ... Who Knew !!

I found this informationfascinating, as I had only ever thought that WD-40 was used to stop squeaking hinges, and to spray on bits of the car for various reasons.

I think I'll have to buy a can and leave it in a useful spot. Also, another one to add to my camping kit !!

Hope you find this information useful.

Also hope your weekend is going well.

Take care,

Yay ... It's Friday ...

Hello, everyone !!

Well, it's Friday morning here in Australia, and I'm a happy girl. If you had've read my last couple of posts, you would be aware that MSN gave my computer a really annoying virus ... it turned off my System Restore, hijacked my Internet Home Page, stopped me using various cleanup/computer housekeeping programs, turned off part of my Anti-Virus software, among other things !! Anyway, it appears I have it all fixed ... yay !!! For that reason alone, I am celebrating !!!

I was just about to write that it is a beautiful, sunny, Winter's day .... well, on looking out the window, the sun is gone, it is clouding over, and looks like rain ... darn it !!! I was hoping to get some washing dry (because, of course, the last 2 days I have been in front of this computer, and nothing else was getting done LOL). Oh well, looks like it will have to wait, and I will have to sit here and go blog visiting ... what a shame !!! It is well and truly time (overdue, actually) that I came visiting you all ... please forgive me.

So, please look out for me, I will be by to visit.

Oh yeah, don't forget to please go and visit my friend Melinda, who has started a new blog ... she is a good buddy of mine, and also has a caravan/cabin at Bonnie Doon (where we always go!). I'm sure you'll love her just as much as we do.

Have a great Friday, everyone ... and enjoy your weekend.

Hugs to you all ....

Take care,

Whoo-hoo !

Whoo-hoo ... I think I have it fixed !!

What happened was ... I was in MSN, checking out who was online, and a message popped up from a friend, and said something like ..."check out your photos I found on the internet", then offered a link. Well, this link included my hotmail address as part of it, so automatically, without thinking, I clicked on it ... oops, it started downloading something to my computer. It was a virus, or worm, or malware, or something, which played funny buggers with some files ... not critical, or multiplying, or exceptionally nasty ... just really, really annoying. My Windows Defender picked up that something odd was on the computer, and cleaned it (apparently). It stopped my registry editor to work (I noticed this when I was trying to do a cleanup), and some other cool clean-up programs, and it stopped me accessing any websites which would offer fixes to this problem (Symantec, McAfee, and a few others). It also turned off my System Restore. My anti-virus software didn't pick it up, either. It was a very clever critter ... it hid itself in my files, and I had to search for it. It was called "Isass" ... not friendly at all. But I found it, and (hopefully) destroyed it ... nyah-ha-ha !!

I have heard from a few people that something similar had popped up on their computers, but they had the sense not to click on the link (unlike me LOL).

Anyway, to cut a long story short ... I have spent the past 2 days trying to get rid of it ... I even was resigned to reformatting the whole computer. But, this evening, I seem to have found the hidden files in the registry and elsewhere in my Windows System 32 folder, have deleted them, and did some clean up, and it seems OK. I have temporarily uninstalled MSN ... will put it back when I am confident the problem is definately fixed !!

Thus, I think my computer is all better !! I am now smiling again. Here's hoping that tomorrow morning when I turn it on again, that everything is still OK (I have restarted it a number of times, and all seems OK ... fingers are still crossed, though !!)

So, please remain aware, friends.

Oh, yeah ... please pop on over and visit my friend Melinda's new blog. She is a wonderful person, and a fellow Bonnie Doon chick. She would love you to visit her.

Take care,