Extreme Weather Happening In Both Hemispheres.

Saturday 11th January, 2014

We are in for some extreme weather next week.  The Northern Hemisphere, in particular the United States has just had an extreme polar vortex that has covered their country in snow and ice, while England has had rain causing severe flooding.  Our weather is going to be the opposite.

It looks as if the temperatures for next week are going to range from 40C- 43C (104-110F) or higher.  Next Saturday they are expecting them to fall again to the mid 20C's.  It's going to be a week of sheer hell and I fear for the elderly.  We nearly fall in that bracket and we will definitely be having our airconditioning on.

I know that the elderly have some trouble regulating their body temperature.  I know my Dad, as he got older, wore a jumper even when the temperatures got to the mid - high 30's.  A friend of ours father, who is 90 years of age, wears a jumper when it's hot.  Maybe it's because their circulation is not very good.

On Friday evening we decided to go and have fish and chips on the beach for dinner.  It was such a beautiful night, warm with a gentle sea breeze but once the food comes out so do the flies.  They really know how to spoil an otherwise perfect night.  I don't like sharing my food with those critters.

Several other people had the same idea and so the kiosk at Largs was very busy.  They were lining up outside it was so busy.

It was nice to see other birds other than the seagulls fighting over the chips and bread people had dropped.  These sparrows get just as agro as the seagulls over their food.

Good News!

Wednesday 8th January, 2014

The year is 1 week old!!  Can you believe that New Years was just a week ago and Christmas 2 weeks ago?  To me it seems like they were months ago.  Maybe it's because we haven't been doing too much, just taking it easy and so time is slowly passing us by. 

The weather is starting to warm up.  By next week the temperatures will be in the high 30's, low 40's.  That's a bit too hot for my liking but I'll cope.

Robyn rang to let me know of her results.  The doctor rang her and told her that he got all of the tumour and that it was also negative.......no cancer.  

That was very good news indeed.  Even though they had already told her that the tumour was benign there is always a little bit of doubt, and so to have it confirmed puts your mind at ease.

She only has to go back to the Doctor to have her dressing removed and for him to check the progress of her healing.  

When she goes back to see the Doctor next Thursday we were going to go strawberry picking again but if the temps are going to hit the low 40's I think we'll be giving that a miss.  Let's hope there's a cool change on the horizon!

The Year Is Off To A Good Start

Saturday 4th January, 2014

All is going well in the New Year so far.  Robyn went into hospital and had her operation on Thursday and everything went well.  We took her into the hospital and then picked her up yesterday morning.  The doctor thinks he got all of the tumor but it still has to be analysed.

Several of the nurses thought that we were twins....lol.  The only difference is that my hair is darker than hers, and I am older.  I have dark brown hair and hers used to be auburn but with age, if I didn't have mine coloured I'd be grey, practically white and Robyn's is now a blonde colour.  

I'd be happy to be her twin if it meant I was her age, then I would be three years younger than what I am.  Hey! I wouldn't have even turned 60 yet.

Guess what?  While shopping on Thursday we saw that hot cross buns are in the supermarkets.  Fair suck of the sav......Christmas was only a week ago!!!!  Easter eggs will be appearing too I suppose in the next couple of weeks. 

While in the Mall we were entertained by these gorgeous polar bears.  They played Christmas Carols for the shoppers.

This afternoon Tony and I went to the movies and saw "American Hustle".  It was a bit slow early on and I think I had a 'nanna nap', but once it warmed up it turned out to be a good movie.  

It's about the corruption that goes on with the Mafia, FBI, politicians, local mayor and a conman. Parts of it were based on a true story.

After the movie we went and had coffee and decided to stay for dinner at Cafe Primo.

Apparently 2013 was the hottest year on record here in Australia and Moomba, an outback town in South Australia was the hottest place to be.  It reached temperatures of 49C plus.

At the moment our weather is cool.  While outside this morning I could easily have had a jumper on.  It is overcast, windy and no sun.  I don't think any rain is forecast, but as I'm typing this a shower is passing overhead.  By the middle of this week the temperatures will be up in the 30's again. 

First Day Of 2014 And Everything Is Looking Good

Wednesday 1st January, 2014

Yay 2014 is here!!  I don't know what I'm getting excited about, it's just another year and we'll all get another year older.  It will be interesting to see what the year has in store for us all though.

Last night after dinner, Tony and I went for a drive down to the beach.  When we left home the temperature was showing 39C and it was HOT.  We went to Largs and got ourselves an icecream.  I think we'll make this our yearly tradition now, we did it last year too.

There were a lot of people down there enjoying picnics on the beach and the lawns.  

After eating our icecreams we drove onto Semaphore and there were people everywhere.  Whether they were waiting for the 9.00pm fireworks I don't know but there were hundreds there.  They were early if they were waiting for the midnight ones.

We decided to come into the city and see the fireworks there.  They had just started as we drove in and so we pulled off onto the side of the road to watch them.  They lasted for about 10 minutes and then we headed home.

We got back home around 9.45 pm and the temperature was still 33C.  We watched some shows that we had previously recorded and then watched the fireworks from Sydney.  

It was fairly quiet where we live, not too many people having parties but some one had fireworks and was letting them off.  It is illegal to have your own fireworks here because of the fire danger and when we woke up this morning we heard on the radio how the firemen were busy throughout the night with fires that had been started by fireworks.

I think with the drink driving laws parties are becoming a thing of the past.  By seeing just how many people were out and about last night, maybe that is what they prefer to do these days.    

Most areas, like at the beach or in Elder Park, and wherever there is free entertainment are declared dry zones.  Alcohol is sold in a restricted area and you are not allowed to bring your own. 

Public transport is free after midnight, and those with children can go, see the fireworks at 9.00pm and go home.  

There will always be the idiots who will still drink and drive and hopefully they get caught.  We saw two lots of breathalyser units on our travels. 

Of all the nights, I go and leave my camera home.  The top two photos were taken with my IPhone and these fireworks photos were taken from the Adelaide Now website....

Another Year Bites The Dust!

Tuesday 31st December, 2013

                                                                                       

Well here we are, the last day of 2013.  I wonder what 2014 will bring.  I don't want for anything but if there was something I could wish for it would be to continue with good health and maybe lose some weight.  I'm not into making New Year's resolutions because by the 2nd January I've broken them.

When I was a young girl I was told that you shouldn't take any household chores from the old year into a new year, like make sure that the house is clean, the laundry is up to date and the ironing done.  They said whatever is left over from the old year you will always be doing it the following year.

Well 2014 looks like I'll be doing a helluva lot of ironing.  I have gone through and cleaned the house, the laundry is up to date but I have some ironing to do.  I ironed on Friday and so the pile is not huge but it can wait until the new year. 

Tony and I have no plans for tonight.  We aren't going into the city to watch the midnight fireworks.  We thought we may go for a drive later and if we are in time we can watch the 9.00pm fireworks that they put on for the children.  Several places do this now.

The weather is quite warm and so I reckon thousands will be heading to the beaches.  The maximum for today is 37C so later this evening the weather should just about be perfect.

                                                                                     Paper  -  Loucee Creations

                                                                                                                 Pigs and Word Art  -  High Four Designs

I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2014.

70 Is The New 50

Friday 27th December, 2013

Happy 70th Birthday Bob!!!  They say that 70 is the new 50 don't they?  

Tonight it's just us that are going out for dinner with them but he said that next month he will have a proper birthday celebration once Robyn has had her operation and all is well.

We ended up at the Roseworthy Hotel, it's under new management, and had a very nice meal.  A new Hungry Jacks has opened up in Gawler and so we decided we would go there to get an icecream.  We got there and the machine had stopped operating and so we drove onto Munno Para to their Hungry Jacks.

Tony just had an icecream cone, but Bob and I had a mango sundae and Robyn had a chocolate sundae.  The icecream was creamy, smooth and delicious.

When we finished our icecreams Robyn took us on a tour of Gawler and Hewett to look at some Christmas lights.  I don't know what it is about this year but there weren't as many houses lit up as in past years.  Even in our suburb we noticed that the houses that usually light up didn't this year.  Maybe it's because of our exorbitant power costs!

Christmas Has Come And Gone For Another Year

Thursday 26th December, 2013

Well that's it!  Christmas is over for another year.  We had the most fabulous day yesterday and overall the best Christmas we've had for a long time.  That's because I did NOTHING!  No Christmas party at our house this year, no breakfast on Christmas morning.....my Christmas was stress free and I must say I enjoyed it more.  

There was no worrying about how much food to buy, preparing and cooking the food, making salads and cooking desserts.  All we had to worry about was getting the presents wrapped and making sure I got the calendars finished.  Easy peasy!!!!

On Christmas Eve we went down to Christies Beach and had a wonderful visit with Katie, Kahra and Darrin.  

Katie was more than spoilt with her presents.  They included a Port Power top, One Direction pyjamas, Justin Bieber perfume, Hurley backpack, water speakers, IPhone 5 cover, One Direction canvas, a smaller version perfume and a Hurley hoodie plus more.

We ended up going to get fish and chips and taking it down to the park where we ate it.  It was a beautiful evening and after dinner Katie thought she might like to go for a swim.

So down to the water we went.  Katie didn't swim, she just played at the water's edge after Darrin told her that the sharks would eat her if she went in.  She wanted to go further around the beach to where the Life Saving Club was and there would be more people.  Her theory was that if a shark came she wouldn't be the only one to get eaten....lol.

On Christmas morning Tony and I even got a little sleep in.  Tony got me the perfect present for Christmas.  On my behalf, he adopted a lion club.  For this I received a cute lion and a certificate.  The Adelaide and Monarto Zoos were having a promotion and as there is not much that I need we thought that was a good idea to help out the Zoo.

Robyn and Bob came around just after 10.30 and we headed off to Christmas lunch at the Watermark Hotel at Glenelg.  This year they had a lot more people than last year and so it was quite crowded.  The waitress said that they had in around 360 people.

It was a fantastic lunch and of course we all ate way too much.  The Hotel has a smorgasboard and so there is everything........prawns, oysters, crabs, mussels, baked fish, turkey, hams, chicken, cold meats, salads, roast vegies, pizzas, lamb, beef, as well as an assortment of Chinese dishes (my favourite being the pandang chicken and chilli lime prawn skewers).  They have a huge range of desserts plus all the petit four cakes and slices.

Father Christmas came with gifts for all the children there and the adults were each given a little basket that we could fill with the cakes, biscuits, slices, chocolates and lollies to take home.  Robyn and I also got a table centre piece each.

After leaving the hotel at around 3.30pm we came back into the city and went and had a coffee.  The day ended up being warmer than the predicted forecast so we all opted for cold iced coffees.

Tony and I had nothing to eat for tea, we were still so full from lunch.  The evening was spent in front of the TV.

This morning we were woken rather early by the workmen who have come to replace the timbers etc in our courtyard.  It is going to be another warm day and so they wanted to get an early start.

I'm going to have a relatively lazy day today.  It's such a long build up to Christmas and then it's over with leaving you feeling flat the following day.  Maybe tomorrow I can be more productive.