Sudokuaholics Anonymous 8

Gotta run for a bit, but will try to get back later if I can.

Just stopped in for a quick hello. It has been a busy weekend.
Mamacita, I don't mind doing the cooking for the holidays. I am a better cook. I have the only grandkids. If everyone comes to me, the boys have stuff to do. They go nuts at my mom's house because there isn't a lot for them. I also enjoy the feeling of doing what my mom, grandma and great-grandma have done before me. I cook a lot of the same (traditional) foods that they did.

I am going to say good night and tuck myself in. I am watching the Dolphins and I hope they win. To paraphrase the Grateful Dead, "what a long, strange week its been."

Zusy it twas vewy blowy here yesterday, guess it reached your neck of the woods, and collected the dusty Nullabor on it's way to you !!

Good Morning everyone.

The boy's move went ok. Glad I dont have to share the wee house that they have moved into. But hey they are happy!!!

Hi everyone.

Has anyone heard from CynB. I haven't seen her on site for a while now and hope she is OK. I know it is school holiday time and she may be busy with the grandkids. Hopefully she is just busy doing non-sudoku things.

Very late in the day to log on and start reading...
Such good value this exercise... I'm already chuckling...
Suzy... cheeky varmint you... of course coffee will help me make more sense.. LOL
Nola I do not know who is the most excited... me or Vici...what if we don't like each other...ha ha... seriously for those that don't know me well... I'm JOKING!!
Oh Mama...LOL...there certainly will be
"no wucking furries about a good time being had by all!"
When did you become so educated with Australianese... he he
Actually ditto all Mama's comments re Greg, Possum, Suzanne, Liz, Stella.etcetera...etcetera...

Oh...ditto ALL of the comments Suzy made except the one about me and coffee...
Still reading...

What a fun surprise package Suzi...
Broni what a bummer that there is no diagnosis for Possum...at least it isn't something arwful that they found but I agree, it is good to have answers...
We have had the dust down here as well...you should see the colour of my car...it looks like I have driven through the red centre... will need to go for a drive next time it rains.. make use of natures car wash seeing as we aren't allowed to use water washing our cars...

Evening all!
Quick pop in. The surprise and lunch went really well. The birthday girl cried when she saw her friend from Coffs. 6 of us went out for lunch and had a good laugh and caught up on all the news. The lady from Coffs is staying with me tonight as I was told on the quiet that the birthday girl's hubby has surprises planned for tonight and a surprise house guest would kill them. I suggested that I would be more company tomorrow when the birthday girl has to work, trying not to spoil hubby's surprises.

It rained this evening and it was normal rain. We had all been joking that it would be raining mud but most of the dust must have cleared by then....

Have to rush, she is finishing her phone call....

Sounds great Suzy, love it when a surprise works well.

Suzy sounds as if you all had a good time catching up and your friend had a wonderful birthday.
Your comments about the dirty rain due to the dust being blown in, reminded me of a town near where I was born. It was a 'Steel' town with a rather large steel producing foundry. Nothing was ever white there for very long as there was always red dust in the air which stained everything. Not a very health environment to live in. 30 yrs ago the foundry closed, the town looks so much cleaner now, unfortunately that put thousands of people out of work, though they quickly found new businesses to take the place of the foundry.

Hello all -- many thanks for all your well wishes for my girlfriend Jan, and her Mum,
she passed away peacefully today at lunch time, went to see Jan after work, there is some relief there but a huge ammount of grief,
I took her some flowers, and gave her a huge hug.

On the Wings of a Snow White Dove

Liz my thoughts are with you friend at this sad time.

Liz, thoughts and prayers for you, your friend and her family.

Good morning all! Looks like it will be warm enough to finish painting the back of the house. It takes so long!

Vici, so glad that everything is finishing up in the addition and it is time to move in. I will be living vicariously though you on your trip to Oz. It's hard to believe that it's less than a month a way!

Suzi, sounds like a fun birthday gathering! What a great surprise. Good of you to help out with the accommodations.

Must get moving to see what everyone is up to. Have a great day!

Gooday everyone.

Stella...how is the painting going?You must be almost finished the back now!!Hope so for your sake.
Broni...lets hope that possum gets help from his own Dr.
Lizzy..it's better that your friends Mum slipped away pain free fairly quickly.My sympathy to the family.
Bean...you made me laugh saying "What if we don't like each other"hehe Is Vici coming with family or by herself?
Suzy...I saw the dust storm on the news and it really is an eerie sight.How are the bushfires down there now?
What a lovely surprise for your friends 50th.
I bet the 28 yr old with MS,getting the worlds best dog groomer award is thrilled.A great achievement.

I had a good 8 hrs sleep last night...straight through without waking for a change.
I'm off to do a puzzle and hope your day/night is a good one.

Morning all!
I am looking out of my window at something I have never seen before. The sun isn't up yet but it is starting to get lighter outside. The whole sky is shades of orange and red. It must be red dust. I just woke hubby up so he could see it. Spooky!

Liz, sad news, though I suppose it is good too.

Broni, I hope Possum gets a diagnosis soon. It seems though that if they don't find it right away it takes forever!

Broni, Mum was telling me about my grandfather during water restrictions like yours. He used to drive his car into the back yard and wash it every week where noone could see. Mum said 'don't you think they can tell it's clean?', but he didn't care.

Brenda, I'm glad I don't have any clothes on the line right now! They would be red like the steel town you described. I'm actually looking forward to getting out there and checking out the white horse etc, other than having to stand in these awful winds. I might head off to the weather site to see how strong they are because they sound eerie!

Sydney is the same Suzy. When I woke I thought there must be a fire somewhere. I have put a photo on my page. It is eerie!! The red dust from Central Australia!

June, your photo came out great! I tried but couldn't capture the colours the same way. Wasn't it eerie???

Good Morning SA8
Liz, thinking of you and your friend.
Zusy, we have strong winds here today and expect dust storms this afternoon as well.
Great pic June.
Bean with all the dust in the air it will just turn your car muddy.
Nola, is miss sleeping straight thru the night.
Stella hope you finish the painting soon.
Vici so much happening in your life and so little time.
Brenda, glad to hear your friend is still improving.
Where is Cyn and Heidi??
Rola, I will be moving all cous's stuff this weekend.
MizT told me a funny story about her grandmother, hopes she gets back soon to tell you all.
Mama, you certainly made me smile with your Aussie slang!!
CRAFT has arrived.

Rolanda, you can take these winds back any time you want! I've had enough of them... I just drove hubby to work and it was easy to see which cars sleep in garages and which have to make to with driveways...

Cyn told us she would be away for a while with the grandies visiting, but I think Heidi just vanished not long after her last pain shot.

Good Morning everyone.

Usual Wednesday morning for me.. Take mum home, do the Grocery Shop.
Hubby's Aunt is up from Albany for a few days, staying at MIL's. Aunty is coming by this afternoon and staying for Dinner.
No doubt a topic of conversation will be the trip to China, and view the photos.
It is with this Aunty and Family that I travelled to China with .

nah dont want the winds back, or the rain we still have falling here.. I just want Spring to arrive!!!

Rolanda, you want spring to arrive and I am glad that today starts fall. I am hoping for temperatures not in the 90's.
Lizzy, Sorry to hear about your friend's loss but I am glad she went peacefully. No one wants to see loved one suffer.

It is gusting up to 90kph here. I'm having a quiet cup of coffee (my house guest is visiting a friend who happens to live on my street) and then I have to get stuck into some things (like changing the dust filled horse water) before I go and pick Jenny up.

From the news...
ABC weather forecaster Graham Creed says particles in the air have reached dangerous levels.

"They're classed as dangerous at levels above 200," he said.

"In Sydney's east they're recording about 256, in the north west 919 and in the south west 1,719.

"But Sydney is not the worst, Bathurst at the moment is 2,665."

Hello, lovely people - I thought I'd better check in and have sent a message to Victoria/Fernlands.
I hope Heidi is OK - how long has she been MIA?
Thoughts to those in Sydney and surrounds (June, Suzy) that dust storm looks bad.
Broni - best wishes to Possum. Hope his doc can help. Typical of the hospital (Redlands?) to just send him home.
Sorry if I'm not up to date on any other news, I have missed you all and I DO care.

In recent weeks, we have been hit with a triple whammy starting with the death of my niece which I did mention at the time. This was followed up by the sudden break-up of my son's marriage and the continuing fall-out from that. Long story and mostly not for a public forum. Then topped 2 weeks ago with my sister's diagnosis, after a colonoscopy, of Bowel cancer. She had only one polyp which tested as malignant but they did not get it all so she now faces a major operation in the next few weeks as soon as it can be scheduled. As you all know, we are close so this is worrying to me. I know many people who have had this with no further trouble, but this is my sister!!
I have not been feeling very cheerful lately, as you can understand. And thank you to Suzy who has been a great friend listening to me as each blow hit. And not really being able to pass it on.

The dust has reached Brissie now.

Dust has reached Brissy and visibility is about 100 meters here by the bay. Cyn so glad you checked in ((((((Hugs)))))) going your way.

This is a funny little place in the world which I am so glad is a part of my life. I never cease to marvel how connected we all are even tho most of us have never met. From the comments I read here I can tell that I am not alone when I feel the pain, the frustration and the joy that we all experience in our day to day lives...
Just deciding whether to list you individually or just leave a bundle of messages for you all to take your pick from...

and after all that we all need and COFFEE...

Suzy... you say...try to ha ha...
BTW...how did hubby like being woken to see the dust? LOL... he must really love you..

Because of the prevailing wind patterns down this away we find that Melbourne often gets top dressed with red dust. We have a really good view looking towards the city and it is an awesome sight to see shrouded in dust. When I was in New Zealand 30 odd years ago I remember them pointing out a red streak in the Franz Joseph glacier... it was from the worst dust storm we had ever experienced and it left its mark in the South Island. Quite extraordinary.

Nola..Vici is coming by herself and somehow or other this poor country of ours will cope with us both being in the one place at the same time. Glad you had a laugh at my comment... I laughed as I typed it at the very thought!!

Cyn you need to jump on a plane and come and join in the frivolity surrounding Vici's trip... Then I can give you a big hug in person.
in Melbourne or Sydney 7th November.