THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

TWO OF THE GREATEST SECRETS OF LIFE ARE...........PATIENCE AND WISDOM !!!!!

My new slow cooker...I can see a long and happy future for us.

Tomorrow nights dinner.....yummmmy

O.K. guys...where to next ???

I seem to have a gazillion pictures ....every time I go to discard some, I find I can't really do it !
I took this about a year ago, at the small marina a very short (5 mins) walk from the front of our home.
Today I bought my first slow cooker and have a delicious smelling original beef stew cooking. I have lots of packets of out of date "helper"mixes and know that they actually don't go out of date until sometime past the year 3000, so I have decided I will be thrifty and start using them up. I could have added potatoes along with the onions and carrots that are already in in the pot......however we have both had an intense love affair with MASHED POTATOES since about 1945 so MASHED potatoes it will be !
I resisted the slow cooker till now because Perry's mother gave us a dutch oven and a skillet that are both around 80-90 years old, having formerly belonged to her mother. I have used them very regularly, but now the dutch oven will just have to relax in the bottom pot drawer. Mom gave them to us with the proviso that if we were only being polite when we accepted them....we should not take them as they had enormous sentimental value to her. I assured her that that definitely was not the case, and have used them both countless times during the many years I have had them. I feel a certain amount of guilt, but "I CAN GET OVER IT." One of the reasons I have switched, is that the heat settings on my stove don't allow me to simply "set and forget". Continually checking and stirring...adding more liquid etc....just hope tonight this meal turns out well because I haven't had any failures with the dutch oven....plenty of close calls tho due to food starting to stick. I'm feeling HUNGRY !!!
Time for a cuppa.......(tea....that is).... hopefully that will stave off the hunger.

One of my very best friends. Robyn

One of my very best friends...Robyn left the island after spending three weeks at the Woorim Caravan Park with her husband Jack.
Robyn and I met over five years ago when we took golf lessons together at Rosebud Country Club. Jack is a former club president and has been married to Robyn for 12 years.....Robyn decided to give in to pressure to "give golf a go" and I had tried lawn bowls...which didn't particularly grab me even tho Perry was very anxious for me to "give bowls a go". Perry has always loved playing golf, so he decided he would "give golf a go"!!!! I fell in love with golf right away even tho I found it very difficult for about six months, whereas Robyn still struggles with it to the point where she had told me many times that if it hadn't been for the fact that I had so much patience when playing with her, she would have thrown her clubs into the creek. I remember when she had been playing for about a year and was REALLY ready to give it up....Jack had secretly ordered a top of the range set of clubs and matching bag to be presented to her by the pro at the golf shop on the morning of her 60Th birthday....well.....after we all oohed and aghed over this magnificent gift...Robyn just had to press on ! These days Jack's health isn't too crash hot and he had to buy a buggy to ride the 18 holes, which Robyn says has improved her enjoyment of the game immensely. They drive north for the winter each year and play various courses up and down the coast. Most enjoyable I say. When they are near us we meet for dinner at a restaurant the night after they arrive, then during the next several weeks we get together either here for dinner or their caravan park for lunch....first year we played golf together three times, but now they play golf, we bowl and get together afterwards. It is lovely to see them and I know we will be friends always whether we see them very often or not.
I have three other women friends that I have a similar rapport with and when we get together it's as tho we have seen each other just a few weeks ago instead of over twelve months or more. Val is one of these women and obviously I see her quite frequently these days, but it is pretty amazing to keep a friend from when you were only 5 years old ! Margaret Davis and I just pick up where we left off also. I see her about every 5 years. Next time I visit I may not be able to see her tho as Perry won't be visiting the U.S. and I am not up for driving all that way alone... whenever it is that I visit Glen and my grandson Christopher. My trip which will cost several thousand dollars is being paid for by Glen....Perry and I just don't have that kind of money to spend on trips to the states anymore....already been over there 6 times since we moved here 24 years ago. If Glen can see his way clear to drive me to Coleville it will be fantastic, but his life is so hectic that visiting over 500 miles away may not happen. I may not even get to visit Glen the way things look at present. He is riding out the slowing down of his latest venture and worrying about the fact that it may take quite awhile for things to get back on track. If not this year then next. I miss him terribly, but that is the price I pay for letting him go when he was just eighteen years old. Far better that than not allowing him to spread his wings when he felt he was ready...and he was ready. Still, he was and still is my baby boy. His business is at www.dragonfireracing.com

Video of Perry practising bowling

This is a first for me ....if it works. This is a short video of Perry practising bowling this morning. We try and practise fairly often, but haven't for several weeks due to flu and various commitments. Both playing quite well for such new bowlers!

Homegrown

This is a picture of luscious fruit and veggies that we grew in our garden year before last!
We don't have room to grow much where we are living now....but I have such an urge to plant tomatoes that I am going to have a go at planting in pots. I also think I may be able to plant beans on the fence in among the flowering vines. YES !!!!

I am finally over the bout of flu that lasted two weeks.....Perry has escaped so far....having gotten this far past it I think he is pretty safe.

Played bowls Tuesday and Wednesday.....felt pretty pooped after, but played well considering. We belong to two clubs. The main club is a regular bowling club, and the second is strictly a social club that plays out of town games once a month. It is a great way to meet lots of people and also get taken all over the areas that we wouldn't normally visit. Sunday week we set off again in a luxury bus to a town that I vaguely remember visiting many years ago, to play a club select three bowl triples game .....54 of us and 54 members of the club that is hosting us. We pile onto the bus at 10 am....drive for about an hour and on arrival at the host club we are treated to a very warm welcome that consists of a quick cup of coffee or tea....then around noon a three course meal is served and then we stagger outside to play the game...back in for afternoon tea halfway through the game....back out....finish....back in for winners and losers announcements and prizes which are usually bottles of wine or spirits...then the presidents exchange gifts....back to the coach and the ride home. Usually home by 6pm. A great day out ....all for the amazing price of $44 for the two of us.

Dentist today....one filling needed, but have to wait for three weeks ! I STILL hate visiting the dentist. Perry has one coming up also...he has to arrive an hour early to take an anti-biotic first, due to his health issues. His health has improved tremendously over the past few months. Anemia has been completely reversed.....kidney function is back up to 70% (great for his age)...from a very low 27%. BP is still high, but his doctor is not concerned as all the tests he has before a visit indicate the reading is more than likely due to simply having driven for an hour in heavy traffic and then the actual consultation. We shall see tho as he is due to have a left knee replacement surgery around the end of October....all going well. The ortho doc may not be happy with the hypertension....we shall see.

Let's see...what else is news.....heard from Glen...his latest romance seems to be on track....Christopher is playing football with Glen as one of the coaches. Pop Warner I believe. Pam, Stu and family are all well and no news to report there. Phil sounded very good last phone call....still no date set for his wedding. Phil turned 46, August 15....where oh where have the years gone !!!!!!! Seriously !!!!!!!!