A night out with the girls!

Last night, after MANY attempts to have a 'get together' we finally all caught up to have dinner at 'The Vintage Cafe' in 'The Rocks' and a chat. There was Mel, Sheryl, Geri and Clare. Sheryl is still at my work, where as the other girls have all gone to greener pastures...

Out with the girls 04022010, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

We originally met at Löwenbräu Keller (also in 'The Rocks') for a drink where I had a German Beer, which really, was not that nice for me... I think mainly it was to malty?

Anyway, we had a starter of Garlic Bread, yumm (there goes the diet!) and then, needless to say, we had a Seafood Paella with Crab, Prawn, Calamari, Mussels, Fish, Chicken & Chorizo. It was a MAJOR yumm!!! It wasn't until after we had finished, that I remembered I should have gotten a photo, DOH! After dinner, since I knew I had already blown the diet, I thought blow it, in for a penny in for a pound (or two or three) I would have a dessert. It was the most wicked Dark Chocolate Cake, served on a chocolate, raspberry and a sweet syrup that was to DIE for.

Thank GOODNESS for going back to the trainer today to work of all of the calories I had put on last night alone!

Thanks girls for a wonderful night, I totally enjoyed myself... We must do it again, but a bit more frequent OK!

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WW No. 1: - Doha Inland Sea Dinner Table

Doha Inland Sea Dinner Table, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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A Road Trip South...

Last week, I had a bit of a road trip to get my mind back into, well, horticulture stuff. So I headed down to the South Coast to visit my old boss, Dr AH. He has a lovely property on 6 acres. I was asked ordered to bring Mr Macc with me, so I folded down my seats, put his bed into the back of the car and we headed off. Now I could have taken the F6 south down past Bulli Pass which overlooks the Illawarra:

The Gong from Above Bulli Pass, originally uploaded by .sarahjane.

But instead, I took the M5 down south to Picton, turned left, and headed past Cordeaux Dam:

Cordeaux Dam, originally uploaded by titancatwoman.

Cordeaux Dam, originally uploaded by Daniel O'Connor.

Again, I could have taken the easy way and re-joined the freeway, but instead I headed down the escarpment via Mt Kiera and Mt Kembla, through Kembela Heights and then onto the Princess Highway at Dapto.

Lookin South, originally uploaded by e0nn.

Mt Kembla at Dusk, originally uploaded by Momentary Glimpse.

And finally, arriving at Meroo Meadow...

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Happy Birthday to the F-I-L

Today, we celebrated (early) the FIL's birthday... Now I am far to much of a gentleman (cough cough I hear you say) to mention his age, but the card I got him went a little something like this

"Age is like a game of golf, The higher the score, the more you lie"

Now, naturally, this was taken with the pun to which was intended, and the celebration lunch was quite good. A morning rain shower did make it incredibly steamy though, but a great time was had. I guess you could really tell by the way the kids enjoyed themselves! I & O have also done a wonderful job on the house and gardens, not to mention the cubbyhouse and Chook House!

Sedgewick House, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Sedgewick Cubbyhouse, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Michael, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

The Boys, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Cousins, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Will & Rosie Swing, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Riley 2, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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Happy Australia Day!

Just a quick one as I am about to go out to enjoy Australia Day, and have a BBQ followed by Australia Day Fireworks this evening!

And whilst the makers of Vegemite (an Australian icon) KRAFT is no longer an 'AUSSIE' company, there isn't much more that typifies Australia...

Happy Australia Day, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Have a great day everyone!

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On yer bike!

Today, I went for a ride... Partly as I was invited, but to also clear my head... I had been sorting through L's crafty stash of material for quilting and chenille. I have only cleared out one room, and there is so much junk stuff!

Lous Crafty Stuff, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

So, A,S and the kids arrived at 11.30am and were hit the road at just on midday. It is a cycleway I had done a few times before, so as I used to it. But only when I was a little fitter than I am now and also a little lighter! We joined the cycle way not far from home, and by the time we reached 'Pipehead' we were now on what was Sydney's water supply before being decommissioned in 1995 and converted into the cycleway in 2004.

Boothtown Aqueduct - 1883-1907, originally uploaded by yewenyi.

So we rode along the 7.7klm odd cycleway and were greeted at the picnic area by S, M & W with lunch, we were so spoilt! I actually didn't feel to bad either after the ride! W was feeling a little out of sorts, tired mainly, but he is the one who enjoys staying up much later than bedtime! But this was more out of sorts than normal, maybe he's coming down with something...

Alex and William, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

So we hit the road back home, and the first hill was a killer for me, but it was all 'downhill' after that. I say downhill, as it was a canal that carried water down to pipehead, but it was such a low gradient that it felt flat ALL the way! And I was so glad to be home with a cold glass of water (or four!) to drink!

Now I had been thinking of ways I can either keep the outdoor lounge clean, and/or Macc of it, so I went to the linen press and got an old odd quilt cover, so hopefully this will work! I will still be shoeing him off if he is so stupid to hop back on, but at least I will be able to pull of the slip cover in a second for a party or similar!

Lounge Throw protection from Macc, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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Training and eating (and GREAT Neighbours!)

For those of you who know me, you will know that I have not been a fan of vegetables... Not only do I not like them, I have a very strong DISLIKE for them. My mother had failed, my ex had failed, and to some extent even L (and her mother) even failed. But prior to L dieing in April, I had started to eat peas, at least it was a start, right?

BUT, where L had failed in life, she has some what succeeded in death and I have started to eat 'veges'! Yes, this will come as a shock, but it is all part of my get fit regime! I started with a Personal Trainer on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, I ate healthy (or as close as I could) for the day. This included five meals, culminating in NO carbs after 3pm. So what was I going to have for dinner now? I went down to the supermarket and did some shopping, and I could not believe I was buying Broccoli... All cooked, I had a steak, corn, tomatoes and yes broccoli!

Dinner, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

After my first session, I was in pain, real pain... My arms were sore, my legs were a little sore, but it was all in my arms! I felt good though, a bit better in my mind as I had been feeling depression filtering back, but I actually managed to get a good nights sleep... I went to bed at around 8.30pm (unheard of normally) and slept solidly until 7.30am!

And in this mornings news, with it going to be at least 40c here today, I managed to get up early, run an important errand first and I was home by 7am. I had breakfast, and I got straight to doing the lawns. Whipping and cutting done, and I got quickly to watering the Garden, mainly things that I did not want to loose, and it was now coming up to 9am. As I was rolling up the hose, my neighbour D was coming in the gate. I have such GREAT neighbours... Anyway, he came with my morning (weekly) paper and some 'morning tea' wrapped in foil... He was in a hurry himself, and I quickly went inside to see what treasures were within! OMG is all I could say! See what I mean:

Neighbours Scones, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

I quickly put the kettle on, got the butter and jam, and had two (YES TWO) of these for my mid-morning snack/meal. They were heavenly! Thanks L & D for looking after me, and blow the diet for the day, I sweat it out, and more, today in the 40c heat with the Personal Trainer!

Have a great weekend everyone! ------

This is it... This time I know its the real thing...

Now the question is, name the song and the singer!

On a more serious note, tomorrow, I am off to my first 'Personal Training' session. I am not really interested in having a 'sculptured' body builder look, yuck, I simply want a return to fitness and loose some weight!

Since April, I have been eating a lot of comfort food, and not really get off my butt, until about mid December that is. Since then, I have been far more active, eating less and even more so, the right foods! A lot of people had failed to get me to eat vegetables, mum, my ex and to some extent L and her mum. But in actual fact, in her death, L has actually gotten me to eat SOME vegetables! Can you believe it?!?!?

So what am I eating? Beans & peas, corn (pref on the cob for some strange reason), pumpkin. I like onions of course, but NOT raw as the flavour is just to intense. Then there's capsicum and I even started to eat salads now! WOW!!

So from tomorrow when they take all of my details, I will be sharing them all with you (warts and all), this way, YOU can help me stay focused and on track. Can you do it?

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Who wants a Greyhound?

Remember how I said I did a clean up? Well here is a little bit of an update... My car IN the garage!

GV Garage, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Anyone want a DUMB Greyhound as a pet?? I mean, I love him and he's a great dog, but he is just so smart, he's dumb...I got a new lounge for outside and he thinks its great! So I put some things about the place to STOP him from sleeping on it...

Maccs Lounge Blockers, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

So when I got home from my BIL after dinner, Macc was nowhere to be seen... now this is a dead give away that he thinks he's in trouble, as he is usually jumping at the backdoor. So I went outside and I noticed that the tablecloth on the outdoor setting was astray... I touched the pillows think there's no way...

Macc trying not to give away his new sleeping spot, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

YES, he was sleeping ON the table!

Anyway, this morning I snuck out to the family room, and fair enough, he was back on the table... I got my camera, but in trying to get the flash up, it beeps and clicks, he heard me and jumped off quicker than I ever thought he could move. So he KNOWS he has done something wrong, right?

So I made a coffee whilst getting ready to come to work, and I snuck back down to the family room (camera already at the ready to go) and bugger me, he was BACK up on the table and when I opened the door to go out and get the pics, he just froze and didn't want to look at me!!!

Macc on table, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Damn CAUGHT, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

I am not looking at you, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

I like this one the most, it almost says "this is a comfy spot, care to join me???"

Comfy would you like to try, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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Sydney James...

Yesterday, I got to celebrate the Christening of little Sydney James Fisher... He is a funny little man!

The day was scheduled to be hot, and it was! Saturday was hot as well, which meant getting into my suit was going to be a very uncomfortable experience! I had a spa, and then a shower, but at 9.30am it was over 31c! So, I made the Executive decision to NOT wear the jacket, and I was ok with this... Thank you to the Executive!

The service was great, and Fr Michael was a funny enough fellow! At the outset of the service, he mentioned that if anyone wants to see something again, or to do it for a photo oportunity, to yell out 'Re-run' and they will do it over... But I think everyone had pity on him in the heat in his vestments, as he was constantly wiping his brow due to the heat! At the very end of the service, I wanted to get another family shot so I thought I will throw a bit of bait to Fr Michael...

Me: Father, I was wondering if it was possible to get a photo?

Father: But of course, where/how?

Me: Ok, you mentioned the word "re-run" earlier, so I would like that please...

Father: Oh ok, which part?

Me: The whole lot please... (I thought I need to run...)

Father: Not bloody likely (with a rye grin), it's too bloddy hot!!

At least he took it with the punn that it was intended... As I said, he was a funny fellow!

As soon as I got back to the house for the celebration, I could NOT get changed quick enough into a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt. We had a lovely afternoon, and the people were all very sociable... And the kids were even great given the heat! Here is a montage of the day...

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