Monday, JUNE 28, 2021

It's Monday! It is going to be hot here and Mike is golfing so I may go to the beach on my own. We will see how the weather is there because along with being hot it is quite windy.

Yesterday we had a good day at my friends visiting with their children and grandchildren. Wow what a difference two years makes! I have seen them in pictures but not in person. But WAY too much eating. I need to cut back this week before July 4 festivities

Speaking of festivities, we have an invitation to a friends home for a July 4 cookout but we are waiting to see if we are invited by Mike's kids to his place where they are staying for the next few weeks. I find it frustrating that kids assume that us elder folks have nothing else to do (they all seem to be last minute on invitations like this).

Have a safe and healthy Monday!

Hope your plans are firmed up pretty soon. I would be inclined to accept the firm invitation, but if Mike really wants to be with his kids, that makes it harder. We have 2 parties to attend on July 2 and July 3. DH has to work on the 4th, so not sure what we will be doing, probably grilling when he gets home, and fireworks in the evening, maybe. A lot of places aren't doing them, because they didn't have enough lead time when restrictions were lifted in May.

Looks like another beautiful day here. Right now, doing laundry, making sure I have enough towels etc for guests. Probably Costco trip too. More yard work. I enjoy practicing retirement :)

Just saw on the news that Sydney Australia has had to go into Covid lockdown due to the Delta variant. Yikes! While covid feels like less of an issue here, it's easy to forget that not everywhere has had enough vaccination opportunity yet. Hope it doesn't reach Shirl and her state.

Oh, I just noticed that the thread says January. Auto correct, our friend, our foe.

LOL! Fixed it!

Weeded today. What a never ending huge job! And a tick was crawling up my calf. Killed him, but now my skin feels alive with phantom bugs!

Also walked the dog as my dad is on a boat trip and I'm dog sitting. Tonight I'm having dinner at a friend's house. The husband is making ramen. Given how he cooks, no doubt he'll make the noodles from scratch too?

The sun tried to make an appearance this morning, but the clouds won.

I think I need to go shower away the invisible ticks now!

Peculiar weather here for January! (Sorry, Liz! Couldn't resist!)

Well, back to another week in Construction Central. Sidewalk and enclosed garbage/work area in the side yard were poured this morning and the new stoop and porch extensions were also poured. Ron and Reynaldo (construction company owner) are busy designing and redesigning as things progress. I've just resigned myself to writing checks and making sure what I want done gets done! (Okay, I'm being tongue in cheek here, but the two of them really do crack me up. They are cut from the same cloth, but speak completely different languages, so I find their interaction amusing.) Will post a few pics of this morning's progress on TT.

While I have not felt my eating is terribly off, I have steadily gained weight the past two weeks. Just a couple of pounds, but today I was up over my red line in the sand weight. I have to dial it back a little (or a lot).

The OTC hearing device I ordered is going back. It's horrendous. It's like having a little white noise machine in my ear. Even at the lowest volume. It also picks up my own voice with such force I can't manage it. I will have to bite the bullet, spend the mega bucks and get the real McCoy! Was worth a try though.

On Saturday I bought a plant. My desire to garden is strong and though it was premature, the Echinacea at the hardware nursery was so spectacular, I could not resist. Coneflowers are one of my favorites for the American perennial garden. By the time they are done and we have time to plant, it will be too late for most things. Sigh.....

Hope everyone is off to a good start for this week.

Good Morning All

Apologises for the absence! In short its been insane with End of Financial Year tommorrow. Its been insanely busy with clients wanting to spend their budgets before they loose them. I will be coming back to work after our appointment with the Financial Advisor tonight if needed to work with my boss to get a second stage tender submission done. We ot a time extension till tommorrow.

Delta Strain that put us into lockdown is now spreading across Australia. We have been lucky enough to have zero cases but I have learnt from 4 previous lockdowns that can change in a heartbeat. NSW, WA & NT are in lockdown and QLD are upping their restrctions. Our vacination rollout has been a complete mess - we manufacture Astra Zenica here but many have had serious side effects - the government hasnt ordered enough Pfizer vaccines - and they keep changing the date ranges almost weekly. Queue chaos. I have managed to get a pzifer vacine booked for 16th July - I have to travel 4 hours to get it but I will do it. My poor mum who also has medical recommendation to not have AZ - is having to wait till Oct or so when apparently we will have more Pzifer available - as she is in the wrong age range to qualify. My response is very much WTF. I would gladly give her mine but I cant. She on the other hand is happy Im having mine of course.

Saw our grandbabies last night - was lovely. Lots of snuggles and quality time. Im tired today but every moment was worth it.

Well I had best run, my list is off the page of the things I need to achieve today. Love to you all x

S

I'm saddened to hear the vaccine roll out is going so awry, after Australia has handled other public health issues with Covid so well. I would say, don't give up hope, it was a real mess here when vaccine roll out started, and I sent my parents on a 3 hour journey to get their shots in February/March. By April, there was suddenly a lot of opportunities for vaccine. By May, it was pretty much open to everyone who was old enough. Now, some states are begging people to get vaccinated. I hope the availability tide turns even faster in Australia.