Changeover

Hi Readers,

I don't know about you but every year around this time I get those nervous itches to change a few things, or get the things done that have constantly been nagging at me.

Why this time of the year?

For my overseas readers, we had the Grand Final on Saturday, the last game of the Australian Rules Football season. Sort of like our version of the Superbowl.

As soon as the game ended my first thoughts were "Well, there's nothing on tv for the next 6 months!!", so I may as well start getting some things done around the home.

Many use the crossover to Daylight Saving as the impetus for spring cleaning etc, but as we have a bit of a wait until that starts I thought I'd get a head start.

Hang on, just after writing that last comment I went and checked when it starts and it is in 5 days!!! I had it in my mind that we had a month or two to wait. Just shows how on the ball I am!!

Well, I've been busier than a mosquito at a nudist camp the past few days, just getting so many piddly tasks done, that in the end made me feel as if I'd conquered the world!!

For instance, there are a few windows in the house that I keep slightly open at times to let fresh air in, but even with the flywire screens covering them, levels of dust and dirt still get in on the ledges, especially when I have the sprinklers on. Every time I look at them I make a mental note to clean them, but of course many months later I was still to do it. Until these past few days!!! And it took all of 5 minutes as I ended up vacuuming the entire rooms afterwards for good measure.

Now I was on a roll!

A strip on the exterior of the oven had worked its way loose. Another 3 minute job that had been put off repeatedly. Glue, done!

That was enough for that day so I went back to my relaxed lifestyle.

I watched the Grand Final and had the obligatory beers and rubbish food. I held out for the first half, but then cracked a beer and some of those horrid (but very tasty!) mini hot dogs.

                              

Later that night after enjoying the junk, then starting to regret it I decided that tomorrow would be more changes and jobs done. The body would be a temple once more!!

As I was laying in bed on Sunday morning, having a very rare sleep in, for some reason I had a sudden urge to have some soft boiled eggs and toast fingers (with a layer of butter of course - hello heart attack!!) I hadn't had them for over 3 years, and why I suddenly thought about them is anyone's guess. 

A quick google search on how long to cook them for and I was ready. At this point I should have possibly looked at more than one website for cooking times, as when they were ready they were only slightly runny, and not far off being hard boiled. Rather than dunk my toast fingers in I was stabbing the egg instead!!

While they were cooking, I searched for an egg cup. Surely we had some in the house as I'd seen them before. But was that in one of the other 4 houses we have owned?

Despite turning the kitchen upside down I just couldn't find one, so I sufficed with a coffee cup with a scrunched up paper towel inserted to hold the egg.

So I sort of enjoyed my sort of soft boiled egg but decided there and then that I needed to go and buy some cups. That took visits to so many shops, doesn't anyone stock them anymore??

But as I was rummaging through the cupboards and pantry, I noticed that there were a lot of food items that I either didn't use or were just out of date. When various people come to stay they invariably add items to my pantry when they are cooking, but many of these I just don't use. When one discovers things that have a Use By date that goes back to when I was still in my 50's, alarm bells start to go off.

Recently one of my sisters stayed here while I was away in Qld. On the day I returned she very generously offered to cook a roast, something that I rarely if ever do as it is too much for me. When I came back into the kitchen after a session on the bike in the shed, she was nowhere to be seen, but there was a can of tomatoes laying on its side with half the contents on the bench. Strangely, the lid was only slightly off and the top of the can was bulging slightly.

When she returned she explained that as soon as she started to open the can it just exploded everywhere. It turns out that the expiry date was 2022 and these cans had been hiding in the back of my pantry since then!!!

So what other dangers were also there?

After realising that I needed to do something that I'd been putting off for 3 years, I decided to empty the pantry and be ruthless in throwing out anything that was way out of date, or was something that I just wouldn't use, or didn't know how it got there in the first place. 

There were so many packets of various sorts of flour so they all got emptied into the green waste bin. I kid you not when I say that this amounted to nearly 3-4 buckets as so many had been opened and only a bit used, while others were in sealed ice cream containers that you couldn't see into or weren't labelled so they were just never used.

I wasn't risking using anything that had been opened and didn't have a use by date, so out they went.

I was blown away by the amount of crap I tossed out, but it has given me new incentive to shop more economically and sensibly.

I was however worried about my green waste bin getting emptied the next day as there was bound to be a fair bit of flour etc causing a bit of ruckus.

I hope this video opens, it shows the green waste bin getting emptied while I hide behind the gate hoping that I don't get into strife!

Anyway Readers, after more than three hours I was done, the pantry was spotless and all I have to do is try and keep it his way and try to remember where everything is stacked as I put everything into new spaces.

Early into the battle

Wondering why I started this in the first place!

Done!!!

Now that this was done, I had some containers that needed to go through the dishwasher after I pried out the previous contents that had well and truly moved in and were not ready to leave!

So where would all these containers go, as my container drawers were well and truly areas that should only be entered at your own risk.

You guessed it Readers, I jumped out of the fire and into another frying pan immediately and started on the container draw.

Surely each container must have a corresponding lid?

After making two big piles, one of containers and one of lids I began the process of making partners, and ended up with only 6-7 spare lids.

That was just he first part of his problem, as I now had to get them back into the draw, and in a manner which would prompt and encourage me to keep it this organised. So far so good, and if any visitors stuff it up, look out!!!

Every container has a lid, they are kept in the same pile and they all fit in the drawer!!

Ask me for a photo in 3 weeks and see if I stick with it.

After reading through what I've just banged on about, you must be thinking that I have the most boring existence if something like this gets my juices going. I agree! 

But it is amazing how getting those little things done can change one's perspective on so many other things, and change your mindset towards all other things that you do.

Sometimes we just need to stop and focus on the little things in order to get the bigger things done.

How is this for you??

My next venture took me into the laundry where another clean up occurred, but by this time I'd spent all my enthusiasm tickets, so the poor old laundry will have to wait for the real makeover.

Speaking of the laundry, a question that someone might help me with. Please feel free to post a response in the comments section at the bottom of the post.

I have been really putting in an effort to keep my whites seperate from my colours ("Derrr" I hear you all saying) but this one thing has been bugging me for ages.

I have a blue and white striped rugby top.

Should it go in with the whites, or the colours? It's a sort of 50/50 option, so which way should I go? Earth shattering problem I'm facing I'm sure you'll agree.

And while sorting out and discovering the various things in my pantry, I discovered a cake mix for a chocolate cake, and to my surprise it was well within its use by date. 

I haven't baked a cake in years, so I've decided I just might give it a crack this week.

If you hear about me being in hospital again, it just might be because of this cake!

And while on the subject of cooking, while I was in QLD recently I went down to the Tallebudgera Creek kiosk and bought one of their unbelievably delicious bolognaise sausage rolls. These are to die for, and are a must on every trip up there.

Maybe I could make some sausage rolls?

Rather than googling it, I decided to go commando and see if I could do it myself.

After buying the pastry (as if I was going to make my own!!) and making the bog sauce I dutifully filled some sheets of pastry, rolled, cut and basted them and gothem ready for the oven.

But hang on, this is a great opportunity for Sausage Roll Surprise! (See previous posts where I make "Surprise" dishes 😳)

So in the remaining bog sauce went some cannellini and kidney beans, god only knows what type and amount of spices and just like that some 'other' sausage rolls.

Not only was the making of these a load of fun, it was the anticipation of altering the recipe and then looking forward to tasting them that had me on tenterhooks.

Readers, I'm on a winner!!!!!

Speaking of hospital, and getting things done that I've been putting off, I contacted my doctor yesterday to make an appointment to get a referral for my shoulder that I hurt last year when I crashed my bike when visiting Jen at the cemetery. Thinking that I wouldn't get an appointment for a week or so, I was booked in straight away and she saw me yesterday. 

Next it was off with my referral to the reception of the surgeon who did my other shoulder a year or so ago as well as my hands to make an appointment. Imagine my surprise when the reception rang me before I could even get there, as the reception at my doctor had already emailed the referral through.

Normally it takes months to get in to see him, so I wasn't too flustered, but they said they'd had a late withdrawal and would see me next week.

Bloody hell!!! Here is me thinking that I'd have a few months grace before going through the potential surgery merry-go-round again, and suddenly it's all happening at warp speed.

I'd had some shots into the shoulder three weeks ago, all to no avail, and with past experiences I'm not crossing my fingers about this one (not that I can cross my fingers now anyway 🤞

That teaches me to try and be so organised, I end up getting more than I expected.

Not complaining though, I'm extremely fortunate to be in the situation I am in to get these things done.

Two funny things happened when I was at the surgery reception this morning though.

While at the desk, the surgeon who did my ankle walked past and greeted me and had a quick chat. He then says "Am I seeing you today?" to which I reply "No, I'm booking in for this" pointing to my shoulder, and is done by another surgeon at the practice. He just rolled his eyes and started to laugh before apologising at my predicament. Didn't worry me a bit as it is what it is. I'm not sick, just a bit sore whereas others are doing it so much tougher.

Then when I was finalising my appointment, the receptionist says "We also have a new specialist here. He does knees and hips. Do you need anything done there?"

OMG!! Do I look that bad?? My hips are good (touch wood) and I've had more than enough knee ops, I'm sure they will be okay for now!

So this week, which is only a few days old I've managed to get things done in the house, jobs that are apin in the arse but give a huge sense of achievement once done.

Then I've started the ball rolling with some more panel beating of the body that needs doing, but I've been putting off. Admittedly I had to wait to get off the crutches and walking stick, but the sooner it is sorted the better.

And I've saved the best for last.

I freely admit that I'm the worst gardener. Jen looked after that job here, I was just the free labour. Being more mobile now I decided that I need to try and do more in the garden, especially as we are blessed with such a nice one and I want it to stay that way.

What I did yesterday looks so purile and mediocre, but to me it was a big goal being kicked.

I actually went and bought some seedlings and planted them!!!!

I don't know what prompted me, perhaps an ad on tv for Bunnings (overseas Readers, that's a home and hardware superstore here in Australia) and I saw tomato seedlings being advertised. So down I went, bought a few different ones as well as some soil mix and duly inserted them into a spare section in our garden that I'd prepared.

Just three random tomato seedlings, but it gives me more purpose out in the yard now to see them through to harvesting and proving to myself that maybe I do have some gardening skills after all. And I have been out to check them more than once today!!!

Well Readers, a glorious morning sitting in the swinging chair in our garden and realising how lucky I am to be doing this today. I also realise that I tend to let little things be perceived as big things, and unnecessarily so. How refreshing it is to just make that effort to knock some of them over, as the big things then seem to be so much smaller.

So what piddly little things do you keep putting off, when in reality you could knock them over in the next 15 minutes? Go and try one and see if you get a similar reaction as I did. And then you might get on a roll and end up cursing me for strating you off in the first place 🤣

Just another totally 'nothing' sort of post today Readers, but one that always finds me relaxing as I ponder the things that have been happening lately. The next two weeks have something significant possibly occurring, I just have to wait and see if I'll follow through with it, so I won't say anything yet. Physio this afternoon, which means another step forward in my recovery (pun not intended) which really puts me in a positive frame of mind.

Until my next post,

Cheers 😁

p.s. Help me out with the rugby top washing!!! 

 Don't Count Your Chickens...

Hi Readers,

Another post inspired by some things that have happened recently that appear so mediocre, but still prey on my mind until I get off my butt and write about them.

I guess that's where I make the most sense out of the things that happen in my life, when I write about them as it always gives me clarity. 

I can't even remember what program I was watching when someone said something like "We should always take that next step as we never know what we are really capable of".

Dang!!!

It just stayed with me for days, why I don't have any idea, but it just resonated so much.

Which is how I came to the title of this post.

Recently I had a few things happen and I began to feel that I had no control over them and that my future was already defined and not really looking like changing. This really bugged me as I have always been a generally optimistic person, and to be thinking in this manner really shocked me. I was counting my chickens way too soon and locking myself into a future of mediocrity.

I received the most lovely message yesterday from someone whose child had suffered horrendous injuries in an accident earlier this year, not long after I had my own knee and ankle surgery. Here's me getting frustrated with how long my recovery is taking and what I will or won't be able to do in the future, and here is this child with so much ahead of them looking at a recovery period far more challenging than anything I've ever had to endure.

Talk about a case of taking some Perspective Pills!!!

Rather than see his injuries as a massive handicap, this child has the most positive attitude knowing that this hiccup will pass and his life will get back to normal again. Who knows, he may be even more capable at what he loves doing as he has nearly had it taken away from him. He is already taking that next step and although they will be tiny steps to start with, in my mind they are huge as he has hope and ambition in his recovery.

It would be so easy for him to sit back and say "I'll never be able to do that again", but knowing him that thought will never get past first base and he will be itching to be back better than ever before. He just inspires me to never count my chickens too soon, even at my age.

When Henry Ford said "Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right", I think of this child and his confidence and positive outlook. This setback will no doubt inspire him through life in overcoming challenges and achieving objectives. It's not always what happens to you, but what you do about it, something that we have all probably heard countless times, but do we do anything about it?

Last week I had an appointment with my surgeon who gave me the okay to ditch my boot after around 16 weeks. I was then on crutches and a walking stick for two more weeks, and on Thursday I was given the okay to start walking. I still look like a sniper's nightmare as I am hobbling a lot when I walk as so much has stiffened or wasted away.

For the first few days I was feeling like this was my future until I heard that comment that I mentioned earlier. Talk about a change in mindset!!

The next morning I was hoping to do a lap of the lake here in Bendigo, but as usual my ambition exceeded my ability. Let's just say I'll need to gradually work up to that distance as just walking from my car and doing a few laps of the supermarket is a challenge. For now!!!

Rather than counting my chickens too soon and adopting the view that walking is going to be a continual challenge, I have renewed vigour to do the rehab as best as I can and come back better than ever.

During my recuperation there have been so many things that I thought would never happen again, and perhaps this mindset was fed by being housebound for so long. It's easy to let the mind wander at these times and today I just want to slap myself for allowing myself to think like that. I sold my caravan and 4WD a while ago, but even since then I have developed a new perspective about what I might be able to do next year when I want to start travelling again as I know that I will be so much more mobile. Limited still, but more mobile with a more positive attitude.

There will no doubt be more overseas travel as some family members are moving overseas. That's incentive enough to get this recovery happening, as I just don't want to end up just hanging around the house all the time.

I also want to do more travelling around Australia, and have been making plans as to how to do this already and am genuinely excited by this prospect. When I do get this started I can guarantee that most people who know me will say "Yep, he's totally lost it!!"

When I ran this idea past our boys recently, all they could say was "Dad, just do what makes you happy". No judgement, just wanting me to be happy. Love them!!

Back in the day when I was able to run a lot, there were times when an injury would arise and I'd have to take it easy. Jen would say to me "Why don't you just go for a walk?" 

And I'd reply with something like "What, who would bother to walk??" This was at a time when if I only had time to go for a 2-3km run, I wouldn't as it wasn't far enough. How things have changed!!!

Now I'd give anything to go for a walk, but rather than counting my chickens and thinking that it won't happen, I'm just patiently waiting for that time when it will be something that I just won't have to think about.

When I saw the news last night the weather prediction for here wasn't really that great, so I was envisaging being inside most of the day waiting for the football to come on later in the day. It's amazing how just a burst of sunshine can change the way one looks at things, even if it is still quite cold here today. I've been up and about getting all the usual jobs done and all that has changed is that the living area is basked in light, I have great music playing and I'm at the bench writing this. When we bought this house the open living area was the thing that grabbed us as we could just see ourselves enjoying the space just as I am doing now. If my chickens had been counted last night, then there's no way that I'd be enjoying the day as much as I am now.

And to add to the greatness of today, even my weekly visit to the cemetery to visit Jen was okay. To me, it is both the best and worst time of the week and I don't expect anyone to understand that. I look forward to going there, but I hate it when I'm leaving. But by being able to look forward with a positive attitude always makes things easier. Someone is always doing it worse, so when I go to the tablet cupboard and have one of my perspective pills I am on track again in no time at all.

Just as I said earlier when referring to the child with the terrible injuries, in comparison I just have a splinter, so my life is pretty easy.

So Readers, the point of this indulgent post is to suggest that when we count our chickens too soon we can end up resigning ourselves to a life of mediocrity, and by the time we realise we could have done so much more, it may be too late. I don't mean that we might fall off the perch and miss out, we just might not identify what we can still actually do. I'd love to run a marathon again (I'd just love to be able to run!) but I fully know that just isn't going to happen. So it might just have to be a walk from now on 

Yes, I'm following your advice Jen!!!

And probably the other thing that has me so excited lately is the fact that I can now get back on my bike and get some aerobic fitness going again. I'm not on the road yet, just on the roller in the shed, but a little of something sure beats a little of nothing!!!

Readers, I hope that you can identify some ways that you can look at what chickens you have counted, and see if there are some that that have not been counted yet!!

And to the big increase in Readers from the USA, welcome aboard, please feel free to leave a comment if you want. 👌🇺🇸

Until my next post,

Cheers 😁

 Giving Yourself a Green Light

Hi Readers,

As usual, been very slack between posts. Not because I haven't wanted to, but just because I didn't know how to frame this topic.

I've spent most of this year getting some things done that were both planned and unplanned. The first part of the year was just getting accustomed to retirement and enjoying this new form of freedom that I knew was not going to end. Previously while enjoying holidays or long service leave there was always the thought of having to go back to work dangling, and it often took the shine off having the time away from work. 

Don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike my work, more the opposite, but holidaying sure beats work any day. For me at least.

How dos the saying go? "Your worst day of holidays is better than your best day at work!!"

 I had my time overseas which was great, then it was time to start organising some more things at home. I had an upcoming operation on my ankle that I thought would only lay me up for a short time, but due to some complications that turned into quite a lengthy recovery period which is still ongoing.

During this period I have had more than enough time to think about things and what faces me in the future. While we generally have a plan for the future, we just don't know exactly what we will be faced with and what will happen out of the blue. We can make plans, and often these plans might be really practical, other times they can turn out to be total failures, and I think I've been experiencing a bit of both.

In the past few weeks I have sold my motorbike, mainly due to practical reasons beyond my control, and also because I think it was a smart thing to do as well.

Then I sold my caravan as it just wasn't getting used and I couldn't see that it was going to get much use in the future due to some of my ailments. I also felt that it was too big for me anyway, I didn't enjoy the amount of setting up and packing up required for it and I was never comfortable towing a thing that size. As I no longer had the van I questioned whether I still needed the 4WD that I bought to tow it. While it was a great car, I just wasn't comfortable with driving around in such a larger car when I didn't have a reason for having it anymore. Furthermore, it was difficult to get in and out of with my bung ankles and bung shoulders. So that got sold and I downsized to something more practical and economical. It seems now that my fire sale is over!!

Readers, I can hear many of you saying "What an idiot!" I sort of agree with you, but these are things that I didn't come to realise until I tried them. An expensive way to find out!!

Which brings me to the point of this post, 'Giving yourself a green light'.

In the past I would have only dreamed about doing these things and would not have taken the risk of doing them. But the events of the past few years have taught me that life can change in a snap of the finger, and we can spend forever thinking "What if I had only tried that?" No more dwelling for ages on decisions from now on, I'm choosing to act on things sooner and live with the consequences.

Well, that's what I've been doing, giving myself a green light to try the things I've often dreamed about, especially as I now have the time to do it.

Since being given the green light from my surgeon two weeks ago to start putting weight on my leg I am now more mobile and this has resulted in a totally new mindset for the future. Whereas for the past few months I've been pretty much housebound I had developed a sense of negativity for the future, but now I can see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. 

Many things have been falling into place on the home front and I now have the opportunity and attitude to pursue some new things, and to have a second crack at others that I had thought were not for me in the first place. Some of these might surprise those close to me and you will really think I'm a crackpot, but I am still to fully make up my mind about some of these.

So how do I make up my mind?

We all know that opinions are like backsides, as everyone has one, so I'm only really listening to the advice from our three sons as they know me best. Sure, I listen to advice from others, it would be disrespectful not to, and often it is good.

But the boys are quite honest and simplistic in what they say to me, "Dad, just do what makes you happy"

I know that something I'm considering soon will make many of you seek to have me certified, but once again I'm just giving myself a green light to do something. Stay tuned on that one as I'm still only a 70/30 chance of doing it!!

 If I don't have a crack at some of these things I can just see myself hanging around home all the time and not making the most of the opportunity to get out and do things. I could be in danger of becoming a hermit, which I can see can easily happen!!!

I'm set up so well for retirement I may as well start enjoying the benefits. I do however feel guilt that I get to do this when it was meant to be the two of us, but a show I was watching yesterday spoke about making the most of your days and this is what I'm going to try and do.

I've used this image before in a number of posts, but it means even more to me now as I look forward to whatever may be waiting for me. 

I was on a run through the streets of Vancouver a few years ago and I found this painted on the footpath. As I kept running I kept thinking about it and wished I'd taken a photo. It took me ages to backtrack and find it, but since then it has sort of been a mantra of mine and something I try to live by.

Back in the day when I was dreaming about retirement, I envisaged myself going for long runs everyday. I could never have predicted how I would find myself today, but I'm not dwelling on it. I'm looking at what I might still be able to do and taking steps (no pun intended) to get there. It means changing my mindset and just sucking it up and moving on, something that I am now hoping that I'll be able to achieve more successfully. This couldn't be done unless I gave myself a green light to have a crack at it.

And was it just coincidence that while I had music playing in the house this morning that a line from one of my favourite artists, Neil Young just slapped me across the face?

"...Like a coin that won't get tossed..."

That's exactly how I have been feeling lately. To me it's saying that I need to make things happen, otherwise I'll just become the equivalent of an untossed coin, unfulfilled.

So Readers, the point of this post is about giving yourself permission to seek the things that you may at times keep at arms length, just in case they don't happen, or might not work. We often don't take risks purely for the fact they are risky. I've had a crack at some things in the past years that haven't worked, but I feel glad that I made the choice to finally have a go at them. I just might try some again but in a different way as I still have that niggling feeling that perhaps I didn't do it right in the first place. And if it doesn't work the next time at least I'll be happy in the knowledge that I tried. No-one else has to worry about it except me. I'm at the stage of searching for my "Next thing to do" and with the body being somewhat more willing (touch wood) I have renewed confidence that whatever it is I'll be searching for ways to make it work rather than worrying about things that might stop it from working.

In just a few short weeks my aspirations have changed dramatically, maybe it's the prospect of the Spring weather slowly descending upon us? Whatever, I welcome it!!

Readers, good luck in giving yourself some green lights to pursue things that are lingering in your mind, it's actually quite liberating to commit to something without fully knowing how it will turn out. And if it doesn't, at least you tried.

Until my next post,

Cheers 😁