A Nomination

It appears someone has nominated my blog in the PetWellbing.com Pet Website Awards ... here is the badge I am allowed to display on my blog ...

Pet Health Store

I'm not sure who nominated me, but a huuuuuge THANK YOU to whoever it was. The awards program ends in September.

Hello ....

Hey There,

Just letting you know I'm still alive, but still pretty busy, so haven't had the chance to get around to visit you all yet. I have been visiting here and there, but not everyone. Life is still keeping me away from blogging ... but I don't intend quitting ... I'm here for the long haul.

Work, as usual, is keeping me busy ... three days a week, and the remaining weekdays are generally full with various things, running around, cleaning, shopping, and all sorts of other things.

I have become a little bit obsessed with Facebook at the moment ... I have been playing a number of Scrabulous games (a form of Scrabble), which has been fun.

This Sunday is my mum's 60th birthday (although she really doesn't want to acknowledge that she is turning SIXTY ... OMG !!! We went out and bought her a lovely present today, and I have put together a great collage / poster thing for her, which should embarrass the heck out of her, or make her cry, or both !!! Hopefully she doesn't read this before her birthday, or she will know all about it !!! I will take a photo of it, and share it with you another time.

We have a long weekend coming up soon ... not this weekend, but the next. Our aim is to go camping, however the new tent we have bought, hasn't arrived yet, so we may be just heading up to Bonnie Doon, as usual. We decided to buy a new tent (as our old one has a gazillion pegs, and takes ages to set up, and we like to do short overnight stops, so taking a lot of time setting up is just a pain !!). We chose to buy a new tent in the interim, until our caravan sells, and we can get the money together to buy our Tvan (off road camper). We love camping and getting away, so it was either this, or not go !!

School holidays (2 weeks thereof) are coming up in mid-late March. We have a 10 day trip planned, a very busy 10 days, with a fair number of stops, and a lot of travelling. This is the sort of trip we love, and I just cannot wait. The camera is raring to go, and I can't wait to share some photos with you when we return.

Here is what we have planned ....

Day 1 ... Melbourne to Pink Lakes (in the Murray Sunset National Park, north western Victoria), set up camp (the only facilities here are toilets ... no other amenities), and explore
Day 2 ... Dismantle camp, explore the Murray Sunset National Park, then head to Rocket Lake (still within the park) for an overnight stop ... set up camp (facilities ... toilets only).
Day 3 ... Dismantle camp, head into Mildura (on the border of Victoria and NSW), then along the Sturt highway into South Australia, for our next stop in Renmark ... set up camp (full amenities ... a beautiful caravan park).
Day 4 ... Explore Renmark (and hopefully catch up with some friends who are houseboating on the Murray River, in the vicinity of Renmark). Overnight again in Renmark.
Day 5 ... Dismantle camp, head back into Victoria, then over the border in Mildura to NSW. Head up approx 90 km to Lake Mungo National Park. Set up camp (full amenities, I think), and explore.
Day 6 ... Explore Lake Mungo National Park. The last time we were here, in September 2006, it was mega-windy, so we were unable to stay, and the photos turned out a bit wierd, and we didn't catch the magnificent (so they say) sunsets and sunrises. Hopefully this time all will be perfect. Overnight at Lake Mungo again.
Day 7 ... Dismantle camp, head back to Mildura and Victoria, head down the highway a while, then turn into the Wyperfeld National Park. Explore, and set up camp at one of the camping areas therein (facilities ... toilets only)
Day 8 ... Head south, through the Wyperfeld National Park, through Dimboola, Horsham and down into The Grampians. Arrive at Halls Gap, set up camp (full ameneties ... a glorious caravan park). Explore (if there is enough hours left in the day !)
Day 9 ... Explore The Grampians. Overnight at Halls Gap again.
Day 10 ... Dismantle camp, explore a little more, then head home, back down to Melbourne, and the end of our trip ... sigh !!

All in all, when written down in this manner, it sounds like madness, too much driving, too many putting-ups of the tent ... all in all, too much !!! But .... we're gonna love it, it's what we love to do, and we just cannot wait. It is just the three of us going, so it will be some bonding time, too. I hope to take heaps and heaps of photos ... I will then put together another DVD of them all, putting them to music, with transitions, and stuff. It's great fun.

We haven't ever been to the Murray Sunset National Park, or Wyperfeld National Park. There are quite a few salt lakes therein, and apparently, some amazing scenery. We've also never been to the Grampians, so that should be fun, too. Totally different areas will be visited throughout the trip ... desert, Murray Riverland, desert, desert, lush rocky mountains. Cool !!!

So, that's what we will be getting up to.

I hope everyone has been well, and keeping busy, and out of mischief (or in mischief, if that's what you prefer !!).

I hope to get by and visit you all eventually (I'm sure I have said that numerous times now ... but it will happen, I promise).

Till we next catch up ....

Take care,

The Brain Test

I found this on someone's blog the other day (for the life of me, I cannot remember who it was though ... sorry!), and thought it was interesting. I took the test, and here are my results ... mostly fairly accurate, I thought. Let me know how you go, if you give it a go !!

The Brain Test

My Result: Right-brained

Most right-brained people like you are flexible in many realms of their lives. Whether picking up on the nuances of musical concerto, appreciating the subtle details in a work of art, or seeing the world from a different perspective, right-brained people are creative, imaginative, and attuned to their surroundings.


People probably see your thinking process as boundless, and that might translate to your physical surroundings as well. Some people think of you as messier than others. It's not that you're disorganized, it's just that you might use different systems to organize (by theme, by subject, by color). Straight alphabetization and rigidly ordered folders are not typical of right-brained behavior.


You are also more intuitive than many. When it comes to reading literature, you probably prefer creative writing or fiction over nonfiction. And when it comes to doing math, you might find you enjoy geometry more than other forms like algebra.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=brainogt&c=50652

Take care,

Friendship

Hello everyone, just a quick one from me today, basically to let you know I am still alive. Life, as usual, has been keeping me away from blogging, but I am always thinking of you all, and when I get a chance, I pop onto Google Reader to check out what you all have been writing.

I have a day off work today, and have been busy doing housework, changing sheets, vacuuming ... you know, same old, same old.

I am now quickly fiddling with the internet, then I have some other stuff I need to do (I will go into that in a week or so ... it's still a secret, for reasons you will eventually find out !!).

I just spent a wonderful almost-45 minutes chatting on the telephone to a gorgeous blog-friend on the other side of the big pond. I won't say who, but you know who you are !! It was a great catch up, with both of us talking over the other, in order to get in what we wanted to say (the time delay makes it confusing, as one person starts talking, while the other is still listening, or something like that. Anyway, the time delay makes it wierd !!) The time just flew, and I know for sure that I still had heaps I wanted to say, LOL ... oh well, there's always next time, or MSN, or Facebook, or emailing ! It's funny how someone who I have never physically met, can feel like someone I have known a lifetime. When we talk, we can usually relate to what the other is talking about ... it is almost like we are two peas in a pod, or kindred spirits, or something like that. Whatever it is, I am so very thankful to have made this friendship, and hope it can last a lifetime. The following picture is for you, dear friend ...

Anyway, must go and get onto my next project. Hope you all have a wonderful week.

Take care,

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

Happy Valentines Day, everyone

Hope your day is magical, and filled with love and happiness.

Take care, huge Valentines Hugs to you all .....

Life Continues ...

Hello again, thought it was time for another post ... it's been nearly a month since my last one. I feel like I am being a bad blogger, and all my readers are forgetting me through my neglect. I haven't been by and visited like I promised last post ... life has just been such a whirlwind ... will it ever slow down again !?!?!

Anyway, since I last wrote, we have been pretty busy. I have been working 3 days a week, usually Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and the other days have been full of other stuff. It has been school holidays, too, which has kept me busy, although the kids returned to school last Thursday (31st January). My Chicky is now in Year 8, her second year of Secondary School (High School). She is happy to be back, I think, as she missed many of her friends, who she didn't have a chance to catch up with during the holidays.

We had a long weekend a week or so ago ... Australia Day Weekend. We, as usual, headed up to Bonnie Doon. We went for a drive into the High Country again on the Sunday ... this time with only one other car. It was a nice day, not too hot, but apparently very windy down at the lake (which we missed out on whilst we were driving ... yay !). I have some photos to share with you .....

This first photo was one evening at Bonnie Doon, we thought a storm was coming, the thunder and lightening sure happened ... but ... no rain.

This time, we headed around to the right of Mt Buller. We went up toward the Bluff Hut, which had suffered terribly during last Summer's bush fires. Here is just a photo of some burnt trees ...

The following photos were taken a few years back, but they show what the Bluff Hut used to look like (before the fires) ...

They have now started work to rebuild it. This is what it currently looks like ...

It is terribly sad to see how much of the high country was destroyed by the bush fires ... it is even sadder when you see how much of the bush is actually still black (besides the undergrowth). In so many places, the trees are just dead ... no regrowth is happening at all.

We headed in the direction of Lovicks Hut (which is also gone, and apprently no restoration has started), although we decided not to go there, as there wasn't anything much to see, anyway. We stopped at a little clearing for some photos. This one shows a distant glimpse of Mt Buller resort ...

More trees ... this one looks like it is trying to regenerate !!

The following photo was taken through the car windscreen, which had a fine film of dust over it, hence the photos may be a bit milky looking !! This one shows more forest, which doesn't look like it will ever be green again ...

After driving some distance, we arrived down at Pikes Flat, and this wonderful river. It is quite shallow, and crossing over it brings you to another track, taking you further up into the hills again. We didn't do this, this time, but the kids did paddle a bit in the river. It is very beautiful here.

From here we drove a short distance to Bindaree Hut, where we had lunch. This is an old hut, full of spiders and webs, but quite photogenic.

We had to do a bit of a river crossing here, which was quite rocky. If you weren't careful, some damage could be done here. This photo is of the river, near the crossing.

From here, we travelled some way, heading up towards Craigs Hut again. It was the grand opening weekend, for the newly build and finished Craigs Hut. Some of the tracks had been graded, taking away much of the challenge for 4WDers ... I'm sure these tracks will become chewed up again in no time, though. It was like the city centre up there, with so many cars. We had to move aside to let cars pass, in places where the track was just barely wide enough for one car, let alone two. We had never seen it so busy. We weren't actually aware of it being the opening weekend, we only discovered this on the day. We missed all the pomp and ceremony (thank goodness), but there were still many cars in the carpark when we arrived. Someone had even towed up a trailer-load of porta-loos !! There were many people using the facilities that had been built up there ... picnic tables, shelters, bbqs ... it was amazing to see. Although, it has now lost it's sense of loneliness up there ... it used to be just the hut ... very touristy now, unfortunately, but still beautiful.

This photo was taken inside the hut, showing what it used to look like, and how it was after the fires went through.

A view of the surrounding mountains from outside Craigs Hut. The views from this mountaintop are just incredible, and you can see for miles. It was a little bit hazy, though.

The group of us, minus the photographer ... that would be me ... on the verandah of Craigs Hut (a typical pose ... I'm sure many people have, and will, take a similar photo with their own groups of people) ...

The finished hut ... it is just beautiful up here ...

Driving through the Snow Gums on the way to the top of Mt Stirling. It was like driving through an avenue of trees, that were trying to reach over and touch our cars ...

From the top of Mt Stirling, a view of the Mt Buller Ski Village ... the opposite side of the mountain to an earlier photo in this post ...

We had a great day, leaving at around 9am, returning to the caravan park around 5pm. We were all tired, and dusty, but very happy with the day we had. The cars did wonderfully ... it never ceases to amaze me the places one can go in a 4WD vehicle. There were many, many campers in many places throughout the high country. This is something I haven't ever done, but when we sell our caravan, and get our off-road camper trailer (a TVan), we intend to rectify this. Apparently, the TVan can go anywhere the 4WD can go. We aim to prove this !!!

As I mentioned, Chicky is now back at school, so my life is back to being routine. I drive her to school in the mornings, and Mon, Wed & Fri I head off to work. She then comes home by bus. This week, Tuesday, I am heading straighto over to my parents, after dropping Chicky off to school, for a visit. We haven't been catching up as often as I would like, which makes me sad. On Thursday, I will be doing some work over at the boarding cattery, where I always take Bambi when we go away. I often help out there, in varying capacities, usually bookwork or computer stuff, though. Chicky's dance classes resume Monday night, 1/4 to 6 until 7.30pm ... I take here there, and use the time she is dancing to go to the library, do some shopping, or just sit in the car and read. A bit of "me" time, really. Her netball training resumes on the 21st Feb, and the matches resume on the 1st of March. So, that's my life again ... busy, busy, busy.

I have been getting in some reading, though. I have gotten into Di Morrissey novels ... wow, she's brilliant, and her books are set in this wonderful country of Australia. Her writing is just amazing, and I find I cannot put down her books once I start (this has also contributed to my lack of blogging, I'm afraid !!). So far, I have read "The Valley", "Barra Creek", and "The Reef".

I also enjoyed watching alot of the Australian Open Tennis recently. I had many late nights, through watching some amazing matches. Too bad my favorite, Roger Federer, didn't make the finals. Also, it would have been nice if our Aussie, Leyton Hewitt, had've made it to the finals. Oh well, there's always next year.

Anyway, I need to get moving, I have a spare bedroom which I need to attack. It appears there is a floor in there somewhere ... time that I found it again !! I guess it is fortunate that I can keep the door shut on this room, and nobody needs to know what it looks like in there (except me ... sob !!).

So, sending you all big hugs and best wishes. Hope to drop by your blogs soon.

Take care,

What Have I Been Up To ?

Hello Everyone, and Happy New Year !!

So ... How are you All ?? I'm doing great, and hope you are too.

Before I tell you what I have been up to, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has sent me wonderful Christmas Cards, emails and messages, and New Year emails and messages. And a thank you, too, to everyone who has been commenting on my blog ... I am sorry I haven't replied to you all.

Well, we are home again, after being away since Christmas Day.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve with my family, exchanged gifts, ate ourselves fat, and had a great evening. Christmas Morning was for Chicky, who was very happy with her gifts, both on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. She got some great presents, as did her dad and I.

On Christmas Day we headed up to our Caravan at Bonnie Doon. The traffic was light ... I guess everyone was at someone's house from Christmas Lunch. We arrived at Bonnie Doon around lunch time, unpacked, set ourselves up for the holidays, and relaxed ... aaaahhhhh, the serenity. The park was quiet, as most people hadn't arrived yet. During the afternoon and evening, people started to arrive at their 'vans, and even more came on Boxing Day.

Christmas Day evening, we headed over to my cousin's place, who have bought a house in Bonnie Doon, and had a meal there, with various family members. It was a nice evening ... lots of food and drink, and interesting conversation. We headed back to the caravan park around 10ish that evening.

Boxing Day we were meant to head to Benalla to catch up with Hubby's sister and her family, however that didn't happen, as one of the kids had fallen off a horse, and needed medical attention (she is OK now, nothing life threatening, thank goodness). Poor thing, being laid up with a fractured rib and bruised kidney during the Summer holidays.

The day after Boxing Day, my parents came up for a visit ... more eating, drinking, chatting, and a bit of 4WDing (somewhat carefully, though, as my Dad had cracked a rib falling down some stairs a few weeks earlier). He, too, is doing ok now ... thank goodness. We had a great day, as we always do ... my parents are great people, a lot of fun ... we thoroughly enjoy their company.

From then on, it was relax time. Unfortunately, the weather was way too hot. I don't think we had a day under 35C (95F), with many being around 38C (100.4F) and more !! Bl**dy hot, I say !! Fortunately, we had air-conditioning in our caravan/annexe, so we were able to hibernate in there (which we did, frequently). We spent some time down by the water, although the heat was unbearable even there, most of the time (unless you were in the water). At least it cooled down in the evenings, most days ... which made it easy to sleep. There is nothing worse than a stinking hot day, with a hot night also ... no sleep on top of a draining day is not good !!

One day, as we were by the lake, it was getting late in the evening and the sun was beginning to set. Time for some photos, I thought ...

As you probably know by now, I have a thing for strange cloud formations, and trees ... here's another one ...

New Years Eve was a fun night. There was a band playing in the park, and parties going on everywhere. We visited the band, caught up with friends, and attended a party or two. Overall, a fun night ... think I went to bed around 2am ... not bad going, I thought !! I didn't drink too much, as I am not good with hangovers ... don't like that feeling, don't want to do it anymore, I'm getting too old !!

On the 2nd of January we decided to go for a drive into the High Country. We had 3 cars, 3 families. The weather was nice ... fortunately a somewhat cooler day (only around 30C / 86F) ... and a few degrees cooler up in the hills, too !!

As you may remember (or maybe not !!), we suffered terrible bushfires last Summer, in our High Country and many other regions of Victoria. Most of the tracks and roads have re-opened, so we were able to explore. It is really interesting to see how much the bush has regenerated ... although there are many areas where the fire must have been so intense, that the trees haven't come back at all ... they are just dead. The undergrowth has sprung up, though ... I guess it is hard to kill bracken and ferns !!

The track we took, took us through a few river crossings ... lots of fun. Fortunately, the rivers were low, so the crossings were no trouble at all ... very beautiful to look at, though. (And the underneath of the cars got a bit of a wash, too ... bonus !!)

During our drive, we came across a number of huts. A quote from the VHCHA website says ...

"Over the years many huts have been built through out Victoria, serving a variety of purposes. Each has stood as a monument of our history, from the humble dwellings of our pioneers, to the evening retreat after a mans hard days work. Others have been safe havens for those in need or a resting place after trekking some of Australia's most majestical terrain -each one has been a welcomed site, no matter how small, how primitive or for what reason."

I have always found the huts truly interesting, and have developed a real fascinationg and love for them ... unfortunately, we lost a few during last summer's bushfires. Some of those have been rebuilt.

The hut in the following picture is at Pineapple Flat, where we stopped for morning tea.

After leaving Pineapple Flat, we headed up what is known as "The Staircase" ... a very steep, rocky part of the track, which takes after it's name. It is a very challenging track, for most 4WD's, particularly those with not a lot of ground clearance. Fortunately, our 4WD is set up for this sort of stuff, and seemingly walked up the hill ... not a crash or bang was heard. The same can't be said for the other 2 cars in our group ... luckily nothing was damaged ... the noise just sounded awful !!

We continued driving, until we arrived at Lake Cobbler ... a little oasis in the high country. This area was badly burnt last summer, too. Much of the forest is quite dead, as you can see from the following photo ...

Another hut ... Lake Cobbler Hut ... people must have fought hard to save this one, as much of the bush surrounding it was burnt.

We had our lunch whilst at Lake Cobbler ... we all took fresh bread rolls, and all the necessary fillings, along with chairs, and whatever else was needed. Some of the kids decided to go for a swim ... the lake looked so inviting !!

After packing up here, taking more photos, we climbed back into our cars and back-tracked up to Craigs Hut. Craigs Hut was originally built for The Man From Snowy River movies, and has been rebuilt twice now (I think). The last hut was burnt down last summer. They have now built a new one, as can be seen in my photo below, although it is not quite finished. It is still fenced off, and we cannot go near it yet. I think they need to add more finishing touches to make it look "old". Anyway, it already looks fabulous. I just love it up here ... it is the top of a mountain, and the views are just amazing. If you ever get a chance to visit here, please do ... I know you will love it.

The following photo is just of the bushland whilst driving from Craigs Hut, and over the top of Mount Stirling.

This is another hut, as we were heading down the mountain. I'm not sure of it's name, but it is well used.

Overall, we had a fantastic day ... good friends, good scenery, good times ... what more could we want.

Another day, Hubby and I decided to go for a drive and explore the countryside. Chicky decided to head into Benalla with another friend, so she ditched us for the day !!

We headed for Tolmie, another area badly hit by the bushfires last summer. I had never been there, and was eager to explore. It is a gorgeous little town, with a great little pub (which was fought for during the bushfires), but the bushland had been terribly destroyed. Fortunately, much of this has begun to regenerate. Time will be a good healer.

We left Tolmie, heading for Powers Lookout, where we got an amazing view of the countryside. I have a little video, which I will share with you another time, which shows the pretty view, as well as sharing with you the noise made by all the cicadas and other insects ... oh my goodness, it was SOOOOO loud !!!

Leaving the lookout, we arrived at Whitfield, where we stopped for lunch at a little Take-away/General Store, and had the yummiest hamburgers ... mouthwatering !! Bought some drinks, and headed for Lake William Hovell ... a small lake which is part of the Goulburn Murray Waters system. It was interesting to see that is was totally full ... in comparison to the 23% which is what Lake Eildon currently is. You cannot take power boats over 10HP on this lake, and the speed is no more than 5kph. No good for skiers, or wakeboarders and the like. Simply beautiful, though ... there are a few camping areas nearby ... might be a good place to come someday.

There was a track from the bottom end of this lake, which on the map, looked ok, and would take us to the Mt Buller Road eventually. The map didn't mention it was difficult 4WDing, so we thought we'd give it a go !! Little did we know what was in store. The following photo shows a relatively flat section of the track, where it was still fairly wide.

As we drove, the track got narrower, and steeper. We didn't know for how much longer we would be climbing, but it seemed to go on for ever. In hindsight, it was not the sort of hill we should have tackled alone ... it is generally safer to do this sort of stuff with at least one other 4WD, in case something goes wrong. But, we didn't have that, and we just kept going ... higher, and higher and higher !!! There was nowhere to stop and turn back, so we had to keep going. Eventually, we got to the top, and the rest of the track took us along the ridge. It was beautiful up there, a bit damp (looked like it had rained at some stage in the previous 24 hours), and easy driving ... finally.

At the end of this track, before joining another major track, we came across another hut ... Tomohawk Hut. It looked newly built, and was really, really cute.

All the surrounding bush had been burnt ... so I guess this hut had burnt down and needed rebuilding ... they sure did a good job of it.

Nearby, there was a patch of ferns, looking like no fire had even been anywhere nearby. Funny how fire is selective, leaving patches of unburnt forest, whislt devastating others.

Here we joined a major track, then back onto the tarmac, and our trip back to Bonnie Doon. Another fabulous day, and a trip we intend doing again ... this time with others, to share the fun.

The remainder of the holiday was more heat. I veged a lot, watched DVDs, did some scrapbooking, read a couple of books ... all in all, I had a nice, relaxing time, as did Hubby. Chicky was busy with her friends, swimming and the like, although she even had to take time out and hide in the airconditioning sometimes !!

We arrived home yesterday (Sunday 6th), unpacked, did some laundry, and relaxed. Aaahhhh, it's good to be home.

Today I had intended taking down Christmas ... my tree is still happily standing in the living room, and all the decorations are still throughout my house (I did, however, collect and pack up all my Christmas cards). Instead, I picked up the cat from the boarding cattery, did some shopping, and some more laundry, and played on the computer. Tomorrow is another day ... plenty of time. Then I go back to work Wednesday and Friday, with the rest of January being Monday, Wednesday and Friday for work. Chicky goes back to school on the 31st and Hubby goes back to work tomorrow (Tuesday). Sigh ... back to reality !!

Well, there goes, a brief (well, not really) rundown on what I have been up to since Christmas. Hope your Christmas break was as relaxing as mine.

I hope to get by and visit your blogs over the next few days.

Enjoy your week.

Take care,