Sudokuaholics Anonymous 8

everyone.

Am going to a Morning Tea tomorrow, and have been requested to make Mini Quiches. Been putting off all week to make them, but can no longer... so I', off to the food prep room.
Also been ignoring that bottomless basket that lives in the Laundry, 2 loads being fed to that machine this morning!!

Good Afternoon everyone!
I didn't get in this morning, my connection was messing up again, and I have no idea why it is okay now!

Fionafest is almost underway. How exciting! Can't wait to see pics and hear all about it!

Rolanda, your visit with Ingrid sounds wonderful! A trip down memory lane... almost always a nice thing...

Julie and Broni, I'm about to hit the ground with a thud. I was so up in the air yesterday that I wandered around starting all sorts of things and didn't get anything finished! Now we have visitors coming tomorrow and I have a disaster area to rehabilitate! First I will be getting a much overdue haircut...

Rolanda, you are busy!!

Gail and Bean, congrats on getting all that work done! What an achievement! I was laughing about your 'hick from the hills' comment. I drove in LA for 10 years - freeways etc, heavier traffic than I have seen anywhere in Oz. We'd been back here for a few years when some road work was being done on a side street which increased traffic on the main road. I remember feeling impatient because there was a whole 10 cars in front of me!! A flash back to LA had me laughing at myself for the rest of the trip...

Stella, you are going to have a house full! aaaahhhh!! I'll send you a PM to let you know what about your message had me smiling...

Vici, the retreat sounds wonderful! I'm sure you are so relaxed right now!

Phew, miss a morning and you turn into a chatterbox!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who has congratulated me on you know what! I can't describe how happy it made me to read your words of encouragement and support! You are all tops!!

Travel Trivia:
I definitely am no Mountaineer!! My feet firmly belongs in the land of 'below sea level', 'yummy cheese' and 'Droste hocolate' !!

29th June ~ The Rice Terraces http://www.chinahighlights.com/guilin/attraction/longji-terraced-field.htm
Awesome view: In the hot humidity had to walk up steps, and more steps up and down and up and round and up to the viewing spots.. 3 of them.. I went to 1. boy the Calfs were complaining.. and ended up with swollen ankles, calfs,knees for nearly a week.

3rd July ~ Jade Dragon Snow Mountain: http://english.cri.cn/6566/2009/02/09/1881s451641.htm The view was WOW !!!
Bus to 3300Metres, Cable Car to 4500metres, then steps up to the Glacier.. I got out of the Cable Car, and immediately had Altitude Problems, sat for a while outside viewing, cloud came in and it was damp, went to get up and had to be helped to the first aid station ( for oxygen), helped to the cable car, helped to the bus, left extremely exhausted for a couple of days and breathless.

9th July ~ Yellow Mountains: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Huang
The view/scenery WOW, around everycorner up or down. totaly awesome http://www.hpmuseum.org/china/trip4/ymnt.htm
Again, very exhausting going up and down and around, lagged seriously behind. Thankfully Uncle carried my backpack for most of the way, and kept pace with me. We stayed in the hotel at the top, and I got up to view the Sunrise at 5.15am. No swollen ankles this time.. Again the weather was quite Hot, not too humid though.

Hello, All! Nearly 11 p.m. here, so just have time to say Hello, G'Day, and Good Night. Rolanda, your comments on the China trip sound very interesting - and confirm that it would NOT be for me - too many issues with knees and back to enjoy all of the walking/climbing. I'll enjoy your pictures, though! Thanks!

And now, it's off to bed for me. I hope Fiona Fest got off to a great start! We'll miss the posting for a few days, I guess.

Will wait & change to another avatar sometime tomorrow!

Good night friends, I did read to catch up again, but now I hear my pillow calling me. Hugs to all, and see you on the flip side. BTW, my laundry did not get dry, just barely damp still but too damp to put away. I have things hanging about overnight, as Rolanda says, looks like a Chinese laundry here.

With the Full Days, Exhaustion, Sore Calf Muscles, Swollen Ankles, a Cold, Diarrhea, Heat, Humidity, Rain etc... I didnt let any of that stop me from doing anything..

It was truly a wonderful experience to see another country, it's culture, food, way of living, history, scenery.........

fellow SA8ers

I was completely knackered after yesterdays efforts and had forgotten that hubby said today would be the best day, weatherwise, to get out in the garden!
We started the day going into our fav little cafe in the next town for our traditional Friday brunch. I knew we were in for a big day so I had the Big Brekky!
We got home and planted the two chinese cedars I had bought (sorry Bean), the second of two liquidambers, a flowering ash and five pink hebes. We also positioned a lot of other plants in the places where they are to be planted, but 10 a day is good fishing when you have 'soil' like ours, solid clay! We dig larger than necessary holes and use a mix of potting soil and compost to fill in, otherwise the plants remain pot-bound even though they are in the ground.
I temporarily hopped off the wagon because I decided a bourbon and coke to celebrate was in order.

Evening all!
Just got my connection back again - grrrr.

Rolanda, that sounds exhausting! A medal for you for not giving up and keeping on keeping on!!!

Gail, I think a celebration sounds like just the thing after the two days you have had!

Rolanda, when I read the travelogue of each days activities I thought that a lot was being pushed into the holiday, never thought much about the climbing etc. Well done you for doing it all even though you must have felt like giving up and just having a rest.

Bean I hope you have been taking before and after photos of all this work you and Gail have been doing. It would be wonderful to see what has caused all the aches and pains you two are suffering.
Stella, hope you manage to make room for all your visitors, I would offer the use of my shoehorn but don't think it would help much

I haven't had an up date since wednesday on my friend, she is still in ICU, but progress is being made. Her ventilator has been turned down so it is just helping her rather than breathing for her. The drain in her lung was supposed to be taken out yesterday. She is awake, but rather confused at where she is or why she is there. Hopefully this is the start of her recovery.

Maybe Bean could take a photo of the pile out the front of her house, awaiting hard-waste collection!

This IS the start of her recovery Brenda, I can feel it in my waters.
How are the rest of her family coping?

Her parents, both in their 80's are exhausted. Her daughter is tired but keeping strong. The son, who as I have said has asbergers on the surface seems to be coping well but I think he is really concerned. As visiting is restricted to family only it has fallen on the shoulders of parents and daughter.

Good Maen SA8ers!! We arrived here in Washington last night around 7 p.m.!! Nothing like a 14 hour drive to bond a 18-year relationship!!!! Got to see the family last night at SIL Laura's house. My niece Heather got fired from her weekend job (still not sure what happened). She was VERY upset last night, she definitely needs the 2 incomes to pay off student loans, etc. Had a good time at dinner, going to look around at some houses this morning, my nephew Bret's future mother-in-law is a real estate agent, we will call her Sunday when she gets back from out of town. Going to get ready for the day. Had other stuff to say, but CRAFTS set in, TTFN all

Happy house hunting Suzanne.

Greetings all, another busy day. I made a meat loaf for dinner, and steamed cabbage, folded those clothes that dried over night, sloshed another load. Froze some banana peppers, tidied my bedroom, and the morning was gone! Does not take long when you are a lug a bed till 8 am again. I am ready for a nap. Having a back problem so the above is alternated with sitting on a heating pad for relief. Doc and I shall discuss this on the 30th.

Rolanda, on a forced march to see it all and you with that many ailments? You deserve a metal. You sure did pack a lot of seeing into the visit.

Suzanne, good to see you posting from Washington. I am not sure I wold want 14 hours in the car with my hubby now, he is a bit grouchy lately. We once enjoyed traveling together, all except he insisted on doing all the driving. I would have enjoyed doing some daytime , but he just cannot sit in a car when anyone else is driving.

Brenda, it is so sad that rules in hospitals are so strict that they cannot be bent in a case like your friend's. That poor family has to be exhausted! I think I would be asking for an exception and let others help with the visits. NO, I KNOW I would be asking.

Gail, you are gardener extraordinaire! and a supper friend on top of that.

Later friends. I need my heating pad again.

Good Afternoon to you all! This has been a slow day for posts. Does that reflect on those who aren't posting today? Happy continued FionaFest to those who were able to be part of that. And now, off to do some ffuts.

Aaaahh! My long post is gone! Blasted connection! Now what did I say?

Brenda, I hope your friend continues to improve. That definitely sounds like good news.
MizTricia, I hope your back is feeling better after some time on the heat pad.
Suzanne, have a great time!

Good afternoon all. I was here yesterday but could not post. Somebody stopped on the bottom of the page and I DID NOT want the TOPP. I could have posted as my mom, but that would be cheating. I waited around as long as I could, but finally had to get some sleep.

I just loaded my van for my drive to Fionafest tomorrow. The big day was today. Tomorrow is just hang out at the beach day. Not even sure if Fiona will still be there, but it is the only day I can go. We had the camp olympics today against three other cities. My city did pretty good. My group won 2 of the 4 events and took too 2nd places. It was a lot of fun competing against all the kids. We stressed fair play and not winning and losing.

Brenda, glad to hear that your friend is doing a little bit better.
Rolanda, your trip sounds wonderful, but tiring. Can't wait to see the pictures.
Gotta go fling food. I will try to get back later. I will try to post tomorrow night and let you know how everything went.

We had a great night last night. First hubby cooked us a yummy dinner of chicken and veges baked in foil, then the four of us headed out to see the Beatnix. The first half of the show they were dressed in black suits and sang some of the older songs. They wore wigs (I think) and the stage was a replica of the way the Beatles set up their stage. The second half of the show they came out in Sergeant Peppers brightly coloured clothes and sang newer songs. Only the rocky ones though, not the soft ones like Let it Be. They put on fake accents all night! I had a great time an dhope th ekids did too. We got home so late that they went straight to bed. Ally is still asleep and hubby and Ebob have headed off to baseball...

Hi Tami, you snuck in while I was typing! Hope you have a great time tomorrow...

Good morning everyone. I had a nice chat with Tami on webcam this morning and then she was about to have dinner.
Suzy, pleased you had such a great night out. Sounds like fun.
Tricia, thoughts going your way with your bad back. I fully understand and feel for you.
Hope things keep improving for your friend Brenda.
Rolanda, we saw China the easy way without quite as much climbing, but then it would have been great to go to the less touristy areas.
Suzanne. pleased you had a safe trip and good luck with the house hunting.

Good mAen everyone. Thanks to everyone for the good luck wishes on the house hunt! Hello to Brenda, Rolanda, MizT, Julie, Suzy, TTT, June...everyone else who I might have missed! Went out to brekky this morning, looked at properties we printed before leaving Utah...Some are good prospects, some not. I need to be near a bus line, so there is one property where the house needs to be knocked down & ground levelled...Utilities already exist, that'll save some $$...We are looking at manufactured homes too, so that is a reasonable financial option for us. We'll know more when we sit down with my nephew's future MIL next week. Dinner at SIL's tonite, going to BIL's dad's beach for a bbq on sunday!! Did that last time, lots of fun. TTFN!

Finished loading the van. I have 4 beach chairs and an umbrella. Towels, beach toys, mask and snorkels, bathing suits and change of clothes. I also have the cooler ready to load up in the morning. I am going for one day and feel like I packed for a week. Enjoyed my chat with June even though I had to cut it short.

I am going to say good night. I will try to stop in tomorrow night when I get home from Daytona Beach. I have about a 4 hour drive each way. We will stay for 2-3 hours. I might even let my mom do some of the driving. Have a great night everyone.

Safe driving and pleasant times, Tami.

Suzanne, please add my best wishes to the list. Good luck with the house hunting.

MizT, sending you warm thoughts and back rubs.

So nice to find you all here...hope you are having a restful sleep ready for the big day out tomorrow Tami. I hope Heidi made it safely. Has anybody had any contact with them? I know Vici tried to skype but found that the connection was not good and gave it a miss.

What a good idea about the photo Gail...LOL...
The scavengers circle... sifting through our hard rubbish... and, surprisingly... NO BODY takes any of mine!! AND...I haven't dragged any of it back inside!!

It is a bit cool outside today so I think it is a good day for sorting junk indoors... We are meant to be going out for dinner tonight and I DO NOT feel well enough... have been out far too much this week already...

Should be at MIL's painting but the workman turned up to fix our ridge capping which the white cockies had been demolishing. Do not feel I can leave the place with someone working up on the roof.