I'm A Neglectful Blogger ...

Just a quick hello, to let you know that I am still alive. It has been hard to find time to blog ... not that I haven't wanted to, because I have ... it is still Summer Holidays, Chicky is still home (back to school on the 31st January), and we have been busy doing all sorts of things, but nothing really exciting enough to write about !!

I have done a heap of house-cleaning ... sort of a spring clean (even though it's Summer!!). I rearranged my lounge room ... it looks great now, I love it much better than how it was. We have had visitors, gone here, there and everywhere ... you know how it is !!!

Gattina, I apologise for not doing a "Cats On Tuesday" this week ... hopefully next week.

As you may have heard on your news programs, Victoria is still in the grip of some wicked bushfires. We have also had some mega-hot days ... thanks goodness for air-conditioning. Although that was no use in many parts of the state on Tuesday late afternoon ... the bushfires burnt out something which caused a huge power blackout for a large part of Victoria. We were fortunate, ours didn't go down, so we could still relax with our air-conditioning ... it was 39C (just over 100F), and very, very warm !

I hope to be back to regular blogging again soon ... please continue checking in ... I am here, I haven't left you all. I hope to drop by and visit many of you over the next 24 hours. Thanks again for being patient blog-friends !!

I will leave you with some photos taken during our holiday at Bonnie Doon, of a time long gone, which has been uncovered by the low lake levels.

Enjoy the remainder of your week.

Take care,

MEOW

Another Quote ...

If you can imagine it you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.

--William Arthur Ward--

Hmmmm ... Friday Again !!

Where has the week gone ??? It seems the older I get, the more time flies ... what's with that ?!?!?!

Anyway, what have you been up to this week ???

I finally took down Christmas today. It took me hours ... didn't realise how much stuff I had throughout my house. I was almost tempted to just leave it ... save me some work in December, putting it up again !! But, I did take it all down. Now I need to do a thorough houseclean ... dusting, wiping, vacuuming, windows, etc. Looks like that's what my weekend will be all about !!

Did I mention I got an electric rice-cooker for Christmas ?!? What a wonderful invention. I have done some experimenting, and have even made a risotto in it. I have been on the internet looking up rice-cooker recipes ... there's some beauties. Looking forward to doing some more experimenting !!!

Did some shopping with Chicky today, getting most of the stuff she needs for the start of high school ... stationery, school shoes, drink bottle, lunch box, sports shoes ... all we really need now is a few moreitems of uniform (I got most of it last year ... the school uniform shop doesn't open till the 25th Jan, we'll get the rest then.), and a school bag, and we're done !!

Poor Bambi got beat up again yesterday, by Evil Max - the cat from over the road. Poor little thing is so frightened of him, it's so not fair that he stalks her, and attacks her out of the blue. She seems OK today, although was limping a bit yesterday. I'll be keeping an eye out for any abcesses that usually appear after a fight. Hopefully he didn't get any claws or teeth into her.

It's been incredibly hot these past few days ... today was almost a reprieve ... 26C instead of 36C+ ... the weekend is looking to be mild, with temps hotting up to the mid to high 30s again early next week. Those poor fire-fighters, still fighting the continuing bushfires in the east of the state ... there doesn't appear to be any break in sight for them. We had a ripper of an electrical storm overnight, which apparently started a fair few more fires for them to contend with. My hat goes off to those guys, they work so hard, at the risk of their own lives, to protect life and property. I think they deserve to be in all our prayers.

Well, I think I have gabbled on enough for now. I'm off to come visiting ... hope you've got lots of interesting stuff for me to read !!!

Take care everyone and ...

Hugs and best wishes,

MEOW

A Quote To Share ...

Our time here is magic! It's the only space you have to realize whatever it is that is beautiful, whatever is true, whatever is great, whatever is potential, whatever is rare, whatever is unique, in. It's the only space.

--Ben Okri--

CATS ON TUESDAY # 4

Since picking up my darling Bambi from the boarding cattery yesterday (after 2 weeks away from us), she has been such a loving kitty. It's always wonderful to see that she appears to have missed us, and gives us lots of rubs and licks. She is constantly in and out of the house, just checking to see if we are still there !! I must say, I really missed her, too.

She is still losing her Winter fur ... you can pat her, and end up with handfuls of loose fur. Brushing barely does the job, the loose fur is never ending !!! She still looks gorgeous, though, even though her coat is somewhat thinner ... not quite as thick and luxurious as it is in Winter. At least we know that when the weather turns, the fur will grow back again !!

Her first night home, last night, was a disaster (for me !!!). She was inside before dark, as per normal. She was cuddly, and sleeping with both Chicky and me whilst we were on the computer and watching TV. But .... the minute we decided to go to bed .... Bambi goes psycho, and starts running around the house, as though being chased by a ghost !! I had to lock her in the part of the house where my bedroom is in, so that she couldn't get up to any mischief that I couldn't see or hear !! I had my spray water bottle at the ready, and almost had to use it on a number of occasions (she runs away at just the sound of me shaking the bottle !!!). Needless to say, I had very little sleep last night. It makes me wonder what the kitties get up to overnight at the boarding cattery ... mega parties, I reckon !!! Hopefully, tonight she will have settled down, and gotten back to the placid sleepy all night kitty I am used to. Fingers crossed !!

Doesn't she look like she is just the most innocent little critter !!

Back Home Again ...

Hello, my patient Blog-Friends !!!

A big thank you, and hugs to you all, for the wonderful comments to my brief posts whilst I have been away. You are all amazing ... thank you for being my blog friends.

Hope you are all well. We have returned to civilization today, have unpacked, gone shopping, retrieved Bambi from the boarding cattery (and boy, is she glad to be home !!), and am now finally bringing you all up to date on what I have been up to, before heading out to all your blogs to visit .... stand by, I'm on my way !!!

Anyway, after a lovely Christmas Eve with my family, with wonderful food and company, we left home on Christmas Day, after opening presents and stuff. We all did well ... Santa was very generous, particularly with Chicky ... she had quite a collection of goodies !! The drive to Bonnie Doon was, well ... in a word, WET !!! It actually started sleeting at one stage (I've driven through hail many-a-time, but sleet ... now that's something very odd in the middle of Summer in country Victoria !!). It had stopped raining briefly when we arrived at our caravan, enabling us to unpack in peace!! We had Christmas Day lunch (well, more like early dinner, really) with my cousins (who own the caravan park where our 'van is located) and aunt & uncle and others. A lovely, big (huge!!) meal, with lots of laughs !! More pressies, and the day was over. I guess, that was that, in regards to Christmas !!

The weather improved from then on, getting warmer and hotter. We had many days of mid to high 30sC ... thank goodness for air-conditioning. The smoke from the bush fires came and went (unfortunately some of the fires are still burning, and they were doing a heck of a lot of back-burning, so depending on the wind direction, we were occasionally smoked out !!).
New Years Eve was fun ... the park had a live band, which played great music, and the atmosphere was wonderful. We also partied on with friends back at our places ... lots more music, lots of food, lots of drink ... fortunately I stopped drinking early, so didn't suffer the next day !!

We did some driving through and around the lake bed (which, as you probably know, has barely any water ... down to around 11% now !!). 4WDing and motor bike riding is a big thing in the area at the moment ... makes up for not being able to put boats in the lake !!

Friends had their boats (we left ours at home), and we drove to a nearby lake, which has enough water to play in. Chicky learnt how to Wake-Board ... go Chicky !!! Lots of fun was had by all on all the various water toys, towed behind the boats.

All in all, though, we did a lot of nothing. I read a few books, did some puzzles, talked heaps, did nothing heaps !! Isn't that what a holiday is all about ... relaxing.

Enough of me rabbiting on ... here's some photos (hope Blogger is behaving itself today !!). ENJOY !!

Bye for now.

Take care,

MEOW

This rainbow was a special gift from Santa on Christmas Day.

An old photo of the Bonnie Doon bridges ... the rail bridge on the left, and the car bridge on the right ... when there was water !!

The rail bridge is now called the RailTrail Bridge, and is a foot bridge ... here is Hubby and my dad on it ... you can see the car bridge to the right. There is absolutely NO WATER underneath it at the moment !!

An interesting view of an old bridge uncovered by the disappearance of the lake.

Looks more like a desert than a lake-bed !!

Bits and pieces remaining of an old homestead, which was buried in the lake back in the 1950s.

Ummm, there is usually a beautiful view through these trees ... unfortunately, it was one of those days where the bushfire smoke obscured everything.

A beautiful sky.

A cheeky little Crimson Rosella, who loved to come and share our nibblies !!

This cheeky Cockatoo just had to have what the Rosella was having !!!

Mummy Rosella feeding Baby Rosella ... it is sooooooo cute !!

I've always been fascinated by clouds !!

More clouds !!!

Chicky on her first Wake-Board adventure !!!

This little (?!?!?!) fella visited us this morning !!! Hubby quickly ran inside to grab the camera. There were 2 of them, just nibbling the grass beside our decking.

I'm Still Here ... Miss Me ???

Hello everyone,

Another quickie from me ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR ... OK, I know I'm late ... sorry !!!

I hope you all had a wonderful slide into 2007 ... we did !!!

We are having typical Summer weather here at Bonnie Doon ... 30+C, and humid. It looks like it wants to rain, on and off, but it ain't happening. Oh well, it can't not rain forever.

Hope you are all well.

Sorry I haven't been by to visit since before Christmas. We'll be home next week, and then I'll be able to catch up on you all. I've gotta say, I miss you all.

Enjoy the week.

Luv & Hugs to you all.

Take care,

MEOW