Annual Service Time!!

My teeth are fine, my eyes have improved , my blood sugar is within the normal boundaries, just a pity about the rest of me!!

Seriously, I am grateful that I am as well as I am, when I look around I realise what a lot I have to be thankful for.

Thankyou.

All the Double You's

Wine, Women and Welshcakes in case you are confused by the title of this Post!

We had a good weekend, got through a few bottles but what do you notice about the bottles, especially the first two, first they are empty (not really surprising) but they are the first plastic wine bottles we have encountered. Don't worry, the contents taste just as good!

The second photo, or knowing this blog, it may come out to be the first, is of my Welsh heritage coming out, my Dad and Auntie Florry would be proud of me, that I still make Welsh Cakes when in need of a quick fix!!

As for the Women, you will just have to imagine them!

Wow, that hurt!!

>About three weeks ago, whilst weeding round our giant (spiteful) cactus, I felt this almighty pain in the middle digit (finger!) of my right hand!!

I moaned a lot to Ken, but didn't do anything else. It didn't swell up, or throb or do any of the things splinters sometimes do.

Today I went to see Doc Martin (!) and just as an afterthought, at the end of him telling me how well I had done with my blood sugar level, I threw in the finger!!

He obviously likes a challenge, he disappeared and came back with head torch, magnifyer and various instruments of torture which he then proceeded to use on me. After a lot of squeezing, bleeding and excruciating pain, and after he had got me back down from the ceiling, out came this almighty splinter, half a centimeter long. He was very pleased with himself, got out the camera and proceeded to photograph the foreign object, along with my finger, for his records. He explained that in the old days they would have kept the splinter, but they were running out of room (?? how much room would that have taken up??)

BUT that was not the last of it, it was then advisable for me to have a tetanus jab, AND a Whooping Cough Jab as WC is rearing its ugly head again, especially for older citizens whose jab as a child would have worn off!!! I think they get a special payment for giving jabs!

So the moral of this story is STAY AWAY FROM THAT NASTY CACTUS!!

Feathering the nest!!

We have spent a bit of time over the past couple of days feathering our nest, ready for winter!! We needed to insulate the garage ceiling/living room floor so that we can be all snug and warm when the cold weather comes. Ken and I managed to put up the polyester bats and Tim came over today to help put up the silver foil lining to make sure the heat stays where we want it to. With the beautiful weather we are enjoying at the moment it is hard to imagine that the cold weather is just around the corner.

Muvvers Day!!

What a day it was yesterday, the night before I was told by Heidi to be ready at 8.3o, to have my camera, tripod and raincoat, and that was all.

We set off, and it was some time before I realised that we were heading for Mount Field, so I suspected Platypusses!! We had a great day, as you will see, and on the way back we had Morning Tea by the River.

Even Ken surprised me with a bunch of flowers from my favourite stall by the roadside, and Tim and Mandie invited us up for dinner in the evening, what a lovely family I have, I should be (and am) really grateful.

A Blue Fahrt! or a Fahrt ins Blau, or in plain English, a Mystery trip

I bet you didn't get a card like this one!! Different isn't it?




Heidi taking photos of the Tasmanian Devils, funny little things, they look so touch and chunky.




It is good to see that there are still some healthy devils around, as many in the wild have developed a facial tumour disease which has just decimated their numbers.
Apparently their ears go red when they are excited, and not like us, when someone is talking about them!!

Some of the animals we encountered on the way!

Koalas




Cuddly Wombats, they will be released back into the wild when they have been rehabilitated!!




The Quoll was a sweet little thing, no bigger than a small cat, with all his spots.



The Golden Possum, an albino, not our favourite but in beautiful condition.

and here we are, the photos you have been waiting for!!

We made our way down to the Tyenna River, where we were told we had an 85% chance of seeing a Platypus!! Fingers crossed.




and after a short but anxious wait, there he was!! But oh, how hard to get a good photo,




Thank goodness for 'burst mode' on our cameras, we had a lot of rubbish to delete when we got home, but what a day, what a great experience to see these rare little creatures and IN THE WILD, not in some giant fish tank in a shed!!

Thank you Heidi, I will remember this Mothers Day for a long time.

Going away for a short break.

On Sunday we packed up and headed up to Orford for a couple of nights. It turned out to be quite an eventful time, as you will see if you read on!!

Off up the East Coast for a couple of days.

On our way out we passed this lovely little family of scarecrows, someone has gone to a lot of trouble, I was very impressed so I took a few closeups!!

Talk about an upgrade!!

This was our motel style room at the Eastcoaster Resort. We knew it was not going to be The Ritz but it was a bit sad looking even though we had already changed the first place we were allocated for this one, which was at least a bit sunnier.
So after we had made a cup of tea we decided to go for a drive. About five minutes away we decided to check out Claire and Bobs newly built 'shack'





We had not expected to find anyone at home, but when we peered through the window, there was Claire, reading a book. She immediately suggested we check out of the Eastcoaster and check in with them!!! What could we say? Certainly not 'no'.

The 'shack' is lovely, a very unusual shape with two 'wings' and the main living area, which is huge. They have a big family who all come down at various times, so they need lots of room, the shack will easily sleep ten people as it has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. They already have an established vagie garden so we had newly dug potatoes and carrots to eat. Ken, Claire and Bob also enjoyed a big pot of mussels, freshly caught locally, but needless to say, I gave them a miss, apart from fish I am not a lover of seafood and still remember with horror the times as a child on a Sunday afternoon my parents had bought winkles from a barrow in the street and we would sit there with our pins, winkling out the winkles, how I could eat them I will never know!!

Early morning walk.

Claire and Bobs 'shack' has a garden which goes down to the beach, or should I say bay. I popped out early for a little walk and was blown away by yet another aspect of Maria Island in the background and the jetty.




There were a couple of pelicans wading around in the shallow water so I spent a bit of time photographing them.

Bicheno

We drove up to Bicheno to visit Heidi and Karlo on their campsite at Bicheno. They looked very comfortable, it was a pleasant small site which welcomed dogs, so they must be nice people who run it!

Heidi slaved away over a hot stove and produced a very enjoyable lunch which we ate alfresco at the picnic table provided.




and for 'pudding' we had an ice cream!

Last coffee on Raspins Beach

We met up with Heidi and Karlo on our way back to Hobart. The weather has been great for our little two day holiday, and the scenery on the East Coast is just magic. Mo seems to enjoy his holiday too, lots of exciting sniffs and lots of lazing around with nothing to do.

The island in the background is Maria Island, and it dominates the coastline around here.