Up and down

Monday:

I lost another 0.5 kg this week, bringing me down to 72.8kg. Not as much as I was hoping, I admit, but it’s true there were a lot of temptations and a few treats this week. Jasmine’s birthday party, her actual birthday and then her family dinner, and family celebration for Chinese New Year. I never ate a lot, but some sugar crept in. Speaking of which, I’ve managed tea without sugar for three weeks now (my record is six weeks), still not used to it, but I learned to appreciate it more after yesterday trying tea without sugar OR milk. Yuck! Bitter and horrible. Probably not cause and effect, but I then spent the whole morning lying on my bed with waves of sickening nausea. I think I’ll keep my tiny splash of milk, thank you.

I tried the tea without even milk because I am trying TRE - time restricted eating - where you extend your overnight fast, which means I don't snack after dinner and I often don't eat breakfast (I do if I'm hungry, or if I'm worried about not having access to healthy food when I do get hungry). The internet is divided if a splash of milk in my essential morning tea - 14 calories - breaks the fast and undoes all the benefits. After my one day trial I'm just going to have my tea with milk and not worry about it.

Wednesday:

By the middle of last week my weight was down to 72.7kg then overnight bounced back up to 73.2, nearly where I started. I didn't worry, daily fluctuations are normal. I was hoping it was just a blip and would disappear as quickly as it came, it didn't but by Monday I was down to 72.8kg, a moderate loss of 0.5kg for the week. Then yesterday the scale bounced back up to 73.3kg.... half a kilogram reappearing by magic (black magic obviously). Arg! This weight is pretty much what I maintained at for a lot of last year before I put on weight over Christmas, clearly it is my body's current 'set point'. I know if I keep up the low-carb calorie deficit it will shift eventually.

I've had no energy and I've been sitting around reading and watching TV a lot. I think low calorie or low carb was making me feel weak and tired and a bit listless (depressed is much too strong a word, but I didn't feel much motivation to do anything). I still haven't got back to the gym. I've also started to feel a bit hungrier and was finding it harder to resist temptations. So today (after a biggish breakfast and a couple of hours of reading instead of going to the gym) I decided to increase my Duromine from 15mg to 30mg and took an extra pill - this was always my doctor's plan, to start with 15mg then increase - and I already feel more energetic and chirpy. I bustled around doing some neglected housework and when the doorbell rang I positively bounded downstairs. So we'll see how this goes.

I came across some photos of me from just after we moved three years ago. I must have been at my highest weight then and I looked awful. So puffy and unhealthy. I'm so much happier with current photos, even one of me in a swimming costume by the pool. It's only 3 or 4 kg difference, but it makes a big difference to my eyes.

A section of our fence blew down in a big storm and it's in the process of being fixed, but in the meantime our neighbours dog Casper keeps wandering into our yard. I don't mind, he's a nice old Golden Retriever, about 15 years old and very gentle. He can't get into our pool area so he's safe. His owners have a pool and he loves swimming with them (Retriever's were originally bred to retrieve shot ducks from water, they love swimming) but I'd worry if he went in unsupervised. He's currently having a good sniff outside my window.

Baby photos

Saturday:

I've spent the past couple of days putting together a collection of favourite family photos, which I plan to print out. I haven't printed physical copies for a few years! We lost a lot of photos once when a computer died, so it's good to have backups and physical copies of the best ones. And I'm scanning in some of the old prints so we have both physical and online versions!

So hard to choose favourites among the dozens of baby photos. I know everyone thinks their own children are cute, but honestly mine are the cutest!

Clearly they take after me!

Haircut

Tuesday:

Who invented the photograph? Horrible things! I'll think I look ok, pretty good actually, rocking an outfit, the mirror is being kind, but then I take a couple of selfies and... oh. Damn.

Here is me in my new dress a couple of Sundays ago. Not the best lighting.

I took some photos yesterday of me 'dressed up' to work in the school library, but I'm not very happy with them. I look fatter than I felt, and having my hair pulled back like that is not kind to my face. But I'll post one here anyway.

I decided that a haircut was in order. I had been growing it longer but it wasn't working for me. I had a cut this morning. I like the hair, but my face looks tired and jowly and old...

Oh well, I wasn't wearing any makeup apart from mascara (that makes eyelashes darker, for you non-makeup types) and I am 47! And tired. I need a photo with a thick layer of foundation to cover up the dark circles under my eyes!

I know that a) I've never been photogenic at any age and b) I'm no good at taking photos either! But I feel like I should have some record of what I look like at this time. So just be aware that actually I look much better than that. :)

Eleven red-back spiders

Saturday:

At TAFE this week we did a practice exercise where we had to brain-storm and then mind-map a random topic. My group got the topic 'diabetes'. In case this is the first time you've read my blog, I had gestational diabetes with my second pregnancy and now have pre-diabetes, I've been to government-run classes and am active on forums and have read just about every book out there on diabetes and know a lot about the history of treatment and recent scientific breakthroughs. Anyway, it was funny because it was supposed to be a team exercise so I had to button my lip and let other people contribute! That was kinda hard for me!

I was cranky (quietly) at the teacher of my online 'integrated' subjects (three subjects related to the work placement I'll be doing next term) - she only gave us access to the material at the end of last week - two weeks after the term started - then sent around an email this week to remind us to get going with it and not get behind! Arg! I mean, yes, but she could have acknowledged it was her fault we're behind in the first place!

Yesterday I came around the corner of the house and startled Draco the water dragon (and he startled me!) and he ran along the path a bit but then stopped and posed for photos. He's an imposing fellow, longer than my arm and very fast when he runs. I haven't seen the blue-tongue lizards for a while, I know they spend some of their time next door.

The big frangipani that we moved from a pot and put in the ground has finally flowered, months after everyone else's, and to our surprise ours is pink! White with a yellow heart is the usual colour combination, this one was left behind by the previous owners - probably because the roots had snaked through the pot holes and delved deep into the ground, we had to saw them off - and I don't remember ever seeing it flower before. Hopefully it is happy now in the ground with lots of sun. I don't know if it flowered so late because of the cultivar, or because of being moved. It only has the one flower cluster so far.

We have a lot of spiders around, I let most of them get on with eating bugs and only swipe down their webs if they are right in the way, but we had quite a few red-back spiders which seem to prefer living under our garden furniture or in cracks between bricks rather than in the garden. Very venomous and nasty, though small by Aussie standards. Today I emptied a whole can of surface spray in the various danger zones, gave the spiders half an hour to die them swept them all up. I counted eleven red-backs! And that's just the ones I saw, some probably didn't come out of their cracks to die. Quite a few egg sacks too. Shudder. I'm glad I didn't know how many there were, before. Scary.

We're into the start of autumn now and have had some cooler weather, so less swimming. Today was quite hot so we put the pool heater on in the morning and had a swim in the afternoon. Lovely. I hope we get a few more swims in before the weather gets too cold. Even with a heated pool, I don't think it's pleasant to swim in winter.

Jasmine had a band concert tonight, with a sausage sizzle and cake stall to raise money for the school band program. I stole an idea I'd seen in Canberra to contribute to the cake stall, fun-size Milky Way 'cars' with smartie wheels and a Tiny Teddy driver. I think they are so cute!

The concert was great, it was two school bands combined plus the local Fire & Rescue service band(adults) because one of them is the music teacher plus they have a precision marching team. Most of the extended family came along and it was all very entertaining, even the little kids seemed to enjoy it. The only bad thing was that the audience was in a flat hall but the stage was very high, so we could only see the front row of musicians plus the top of Jasmine's head in the second row. Everyone else was hidden. Jasmine's own school has a much better venue with the band on the floor and audience raised in ranks so you can see everyone, but the room is much too small for a combined event (not enough seats even for just Jasmine's own school concerts). Oh well, we still got to listen. It was a good evening out.

Days in the sun

Tuesday:

I got out to the park and did some good editing in the lovely winter sunshine. Then I walked around a bit. It's a shame that there are no paths along the river, houses are right next to it or else it is native bushland. The roads are set further back and have only very narrow footpaths. I did a lap of the park and over the little footbridge and back. The ground wasn't muddy today so at least I was able to walk on the grass right to the other end of the sports field. It was lovely to be out and I also felt that I got some work done and achieved something for the day.

Wednesday:

You wouldn't think this simple piece of furniture could be the cause of eight months of phone calls and annoyance, would you?

Well it was. But huzzah! This morning the handyman arrived with the correct piece (they ordered the wrong one twice) and it took 5 minutes for him to put the last drawer together and Aiden now has a complete chest of drawers! Yay!

It seems that Skinky has learned to read. I was about to pick up a book from the floor when I saw a little brown head poking out from under the front cover. I lifted it up, and there he was. He has an interest in science fiction apparently, it's Asimov's The Robots of Dawn.

It was another warm sunny day and my foot was feeling good so I decided to go on the longest walk I've attempted for ages. There is a Thai restaurant opposite Jasmine's dance school and I fancied trying it for lunch, so I walked there. Nearly 30 minutes. I took my takeaway to a nearby park and ate it, then escaped from the heat into the nearby shopping centre for a while, then walked home again. All up it must have been an hour walking, with a break in the middle.

My foot was fine but I don't know about the rest of me! My legs and hips are aching! Just not used to all this movement. And it was so hot! I could hardly believe it was still winter. Everyone else seemed confused too, clothing choices ranged from shorts and T-shirts to heavy winter coats. I always get hot walking, I was suffering in my jeans and light-but-long-sleeve top.

I took my backpack with my manuscript, planning to sit in the park and edit after lunch but there wasn't a table with shade available, I ate my lunch (which was delicious) on a bench with a tiny bit of dappled shade under a small tree.

The shady way home...

An amazing array of plants seemed to be in bloom considering it is still winter here, I took photos of wattle, roses, violets, iris, lavender, and other things I have no name for.

What on earth is this thing?

A more recognisable camellia.

A rather exotic and aggressive bird of paradise.

I've been having a bit of pain in my left hip for some years now, it never occurred to me it was arthritis (I'm not old!) until I had that recent scan. I'm not sure I like knowing, I think it was easier to dismiss as transitory and unimportant before I had a name for it. But today I was researching a bit about it especially regarding diet and they talk about avoiding foods that trigger inflammation. Guess what number one is? Sugar. Sugar, then saturated and trans fats, refined foods, gluten. They recommend increasing fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, olive oil, dairy... sound familiar? Sound a bit Mediterranean? I keep getting shoved towards this same healthy diet that will apparently cure everything wrong with me, so why can't I stick to it? How come other people can? Is there a switch somewhere I can flip to turn on the will power?

Exploring

Thursday:

This morning I set out to find the perfect spot to write. Sometimes I need a change from my desk at home. My criteria for the ideal spot were:

*Attractive view
*Table/bench for notebook or laptop
*Choice of sun or shade - or possibly indoors - for comfort in all weathers
*Neither too crowded nor too isolated
*Toilets
*Café to buy cups of tea
*Not too far away from home

I hadn't found a suitable café near home, so I went a little further afield (but not very far) to the river. I've driven over it many times on the long high bridge but never been down by the banks. After a little preliminary internet investigation, I crossed the bridge and drove down a winding road on the other side to the first park.

It was far from ideal. I felt very isolated, it was surrounded by bushland and there were only a few other people there; a guy packing up his canoe and a middle-aged couple who then left. There were benches next to the river, which looked muddy and unappealing, no tables for writing. Further back, behind trees, was a nice area with a playground and tables but scarily lonely. Also too shady. It probably has people on weekends.

This is the bridge I drove over, and the muddy bank.

I crossed over to my side of the river on a little low bridge because I saw a café there with tables outside. I ordered a hot chocolate and got a bit of writing done. It was very nice sitting in the winter sun. Then I started getting splashed with water. Another patron pointed out some birds (rainbow lorikeets) up in the gutter having a bath. My notebook got quite wet (very dirty water). I changed tables.

Although I liked the sunshine, it would be unpleasant in any other season but winter. And to get my view I had to look over a little road and a carpark first. The road wasn't busy, but the cars were fairly frequent and noisy. There was a shady park next to the café that might be nice in summer, I was considering it as a possible spot for the future.

With hopes of finding something better, I crossed the low bridge again and drove alongside the river until I came to another park. And yay! it fulfilled just about every one of my requirements (except the cups of tea, and I could always take a thermos). It was pretty, with lots of tables and benches in sun or shade. Not too isolated with houses both sides of the river and quite a few people there; parents with children in the playground, a group having a BBQ, an old guy practising his golf swings on the football oval, people walking dogs. I could sit with my face to the river and still have the murmur of human voices nearby.

There were ducks on the water, kookaburras in the trees, and a little footbridge to walk across. And quite decent public toilets. Having found the perfect spot, I didn't manage to do any more writing! I sat enjoying the sun and the ducks for a while then, my foot being quite good today, I went for a little walk around including over the footbridge and back. I enjoyed myself very much, and had a lovely morning. And I did get some writing done, after all, at the second place. It was approaching lunchtime so I left, but I will definitely be back there.

Cupcake decoration

Wednesday:

The unrelenting heat is set to continue through the rest of the week at least. I went out for a walk this morning as soon as I'd got the kids off to school and nearly melted. Luckily I don't have to go out again, it's going to get a lot hotter. Poor Jas on the crowded school bus on the way home!

One of Jasmine's school subjects is Cooking or Home Science or whatever they call it (it was Home Economics back at my school which is a weird name for a cooking class, as far as I recall there was no budgeting or anything like that). They've been doing mostly healthy food but they have an assessment task of icing cupcakes. She's chosen an animal theme with a sheep (mini marshmallow wool) turtles (spearmint leaf lolly shell) and paw prints (oreo cookie and brown m&ms) - all researched on the internet by herself - so I walked up to the shops and bought a truckload of sugary junk for her. This afternoon she did a practice batch.

Not bad! Not sure about the sheep's head. And she used pink marshmallows for practise, saving the white ones for the real thing.

These (banksias I think?) are just outside our front door, in full bloom. I think this variety is called "birthday candles".

And these grevilleas are overgrowing our mailbox. Both plants attract lots of native birds. And some interlopers. I got dive bombed by a pestiferous Indian Minah Bird on Monday. Little bastard. It's early autumn, not even the season for making nests from my hair or protecting nests, unless he had late chicks.

Same same

Wednesday:

Pretty normal day. I did the things I usually do.

My walk this morning was to the library. I took a couple of photos of a "scribbly gum".

This is a type of Australian eucalyptus tree that gets marked by beetle larvae and looks like it's been scribbled all over by a child. As far as I know it doesn't do any major damage to the tree, and looks quite pretty. Beetle graffiti!

I saw a teaser for an upcoming news show (which I didn't watch) that seemed to be saying the Australian nutritional guidelines are being changed to reflect that "low fat" isn't the most healthy diet. Yay! Finally the government is catching up to what studies have been showing for many years.

Although I do wonder what research in ten years will tell us. Too much bacon, not enough bacon...

Breakfast, coincidentally, was crispy bacon and salad.

Lunch was half a steak and a huge pile of mushrooms and onions, snow peas, and cucumber. No skimping on vegetables today! And I had no need for an afternoon snack, no hunger except as mealtimes approached.

Dinner was lemon roast chicken and diced vegetables. And a bit of potato. And went back for a bit more chicken. I wasn't especially hungry, but I am a good cook! So tasty.

In the evening Jasmine had some Nutella on toast and went I walked in the kitchen I saw the jar still on the counter and had a yummy spoonful. Hmmm, not exactly on plan. But choco-licious.

Another Monday

Monday:

Monday morning and I'm all fresh and new, ready to recommit. I don't know why I gave myself permission to eat all that extra stuff yesterday, but I did, and the scale shows it. After a pretty dodgy week, I'm up 1.1 kg since my lowest point just over a week ago. The horror! But I can lose it again. Can, and will.

I have two weeks left of this blood-sugar stabilising diet. I can do it for two weeks. Then after that I continue to eat the good food, just without such tight calorie restriction. The Mediterranean diet (lots of vegetables, moderate protein and fat including nuts, olive oil and full fat dairy, and fruit, almost no processed food) is a "lifestyle" rather than a restrictive "diet" in the modern sense, but because I have insulin resistance I'm trying (with varying success) to do the eight week low calorie introduction that is suppose to help with my blood sugar levels. Since I haven't stuck to it that well, I'm not sure what to do at the end of the eight weeks - continue a bit longer? Have a glucose tolerance test to see if my blood sugars have improved? I might keep going until I have lost 10% of my starting weight - I got halfway there before this little regain. Then have the GTT. My goal, of course, is to get out of the pre-diabetic range and back to normal. I was dangerously close to a diagnosis of diabetes at my last GTT. My health is worth a little calorie restriction!

On an evening walk on Saturday with the family we saw two rabbits in someone's front yard. They seemed fairly tame, although we couldn't get right up to them, and didn't look like wild rabbits. But if I had pet bunnies I wouldn't let them wander around at dusk with cats hunting!

I walked for 40 minutes this morning. It was a bit hot, and I got very tired by the end, but those hills must be good for me! I saw a cluster of very weird mushrooms. Some had flies on them, so they might be a kind that smells like carrion. I didn't put my nose up close! I've never seen them before.

After the walk and a shower, I did my Headspace meditation. I had quite a bit I wanted to do today and it seemed a ironic that I was getting stressed about the time taken to de-stress! But I hadn't done it for quite a few days and it's important. I really concentrated on the breathing and all that instead of letting myself go to sleep. Then shopping, lunch, social media, guitar, ferried Jasmine to and from dance classes, dinner. No writing today. And my guitar playing sucked! Went backwards.

Breakfast today was chicken and salad and tea.

Lunch was roast beef and vegetables, broccoli (I only ate half) and strawberries. I felt uncomfortably full for over an hour afterwards. Too many strawberries? The calories were fine, but I shouldn't be eating until my stomach feels distended.

A cup of tea in the afternoon, then dinner was bolognaise on a big bowl zoodles.

My calories were perfect today, and all healthy food. I wasn't hungry, if fact the only thing I'd change if I wasn't restricting calories would be a bit more cheese on my bolognaise! I did my exercise and my meditation. Good day.

Avoiding temptation

Tuesday:

I went for a walk this morning before breakfast, 30 minutes along the other side of the creek and back. Like on this side, there are houses on one side of the road but often the other side is bushland. (That dirt track isn't the road, by the way, it's a path leading down to the creek!)

I diverted into every little side street as I went, there were lots of short cul-de-sacs on the quite steep hill. The suburb name over there starts with a B, and so far every street I've traversed on a couple of visits starts with a B. Some town planners idea of a good time. Seems a bit confusing to me, if you are looking for a particular street and they all sound the same.

I got home and had breakfast, home-made Greek-style yoghurt with fresh mango. Delicious! I had that for dessert the other day, but it feels like a virtuous breakfast too. I don't know how to turn the photo right-side up.

My sister-in-law invited us out for lunch at Yum Cha. If you haven't had it, Yum Cha is authentic Chinese food they bring around endlessly on little trolleys and stamp your card for what you eat so you know how much to pay at the end. It can be a bit challenging if you are used to Westernised Chinese food, and also the waitresses might not speak a lot of English, but Ping is Chinese so she can translate everything and tell us what is in all the dishes. I love Yum Cha (some of it! not the chicken feet or beef tendons!) but I just couldn't see how I could negotiate it on day two of a new diet. Lots of dumplings and rice noodles and salt and who knows what in the sauces. Either I would be tempted to overeat or frustrated trying to pick out a few prawns and vegetables. So we declined. I won't avoid restaurants for the rest of my life but that was just a tricky one. One temptation conquered!

For a morning snack I made myself some vegetable broth. A variety of vegetables simmered for half an hour with a dash of chilli flakes, then strain the mushy vegetables out (and simmer them again with more water for another batch, still full of flavour). It makes a tasty and surprisingly filling snack, and counts as a drink as well. I'm not really sure how many calories it has. I don't eat the veges (too mushy), but the broth is full of flavour so something from the vegetables must permeate it. Well, vegetables don't have many calories anyway so I don't worry about it. I count it as 20 calories per mug, which my tracker suggests for commercial vegetable stock. But mine has no salt!

Jasmine did my Dance game for over an hour (so much fitter than me!) and I joined her for 15 minutes of that, getting in a bit of extra exercise. Then made a delicious salad with slices of lamb and cheese on top - I forgot to take a photo. All this healthy eating is time consuming!

Second temptation of the day was after lunch when the kids were eating treats from their Christmas stockings. I love Cheetos but they are a real trigger food for me. Not ready for that level of difficulty yet. I left the room and brushed my teeth.

In the afternoon we went to Putt Putt golf (mini golf) with Ping and family. It was an indoor course with the theme of having crashed a plane in a shanty town in the middle of Africa. Half a plane, crates everywhere, open market, shabby homes. Strange theme to chose, especially the dark "public toilet" room with gobs of ... um ... mud on the walls. But the course was challenging. I hit a hole in one on the first hole but it all went downhill from there. It was fun, and an hour of gentle activity that wasn't spent sitting on my well-padded behind.

I made satay chicken for dinner, mostly vegetables for me with cauliflower "rice" instead of real rice. Most of the calories were in the sauce! Yesterday was pretty easy but today I was hungry. I had my third temptation of the day after golf when the kids were having ice cream. There was nothing at the little café that I was willing to eat, so I waited until I got home, had half a banana, then waited for dinner. I am very full and satisfied after meals, but today I did get hungry between.

Still finishing my daily allotment of water, but I've done great with food and exercise. I tried to put myself out of reach of temptations instead of relying on will power, and it seemed to work.

Lunchtime walk

Wednesday:

Lovely start to the day; breakfast in the covered courtyard (I allow myself bacon around once a week) after everyone else had left. I don't usually read newspapers, but this local one was delivered so I decided to get into the spirit of the area.

I went inside to my desk and the kookaburra visited. I mentioned yesterday I was giving them cooked meat, well a lot of it was left behind so I guess they didn't like it. This morning I put out some raw meat - trimmings from my steak - and that went very quickly.

I did deskwork most of the morning while waiting for a registered letter to arrive. You'll remember settlement on our Canberra house was supposed to happen last Monday but there was a document missing, well that was all sorted out and we settled on Thursday. Today we got the cheque. As soon as it came I walked up to the shopping centre and deposited it into our account. As soon as it clears it will of course go on the mortgage for this house! It was a great relief when settlement was finalised.

It was very hot outside, but I walked the back way along a path in a very narrow strip of bushland, only a couple of hundred metres wide at most. Sometimes you walk along directly behind houses, other times you have native bush on both sides and can only see houses and streets off through the trees. I feel safe because I can see civilisation at all times (but I still wouldn't walk it at night). Much more shady than walking along the roads, and about the same distance.

It was nearly lunchtime when I went out but this time I made sure I wasn't hungry! I did buy myself a food treat while I was there - a mango. Yummy. And I dropped into the library to exchange my books. Then I walked home to a house about 10C cooler than outside, had a drink and recovered, and had a lovely lunch.

...

It turned into a very stressful afternoon. Jasmine texted to ask if I could pick her up from school as it was too hot to ride home. Timing was going to be an issue with Aiden getting home soon, so I told her to ride part-way and I would pick her up at a particular side street. Getting out of our quiet street took forever, with three or four schools within a couple of blocks of here (two private) the pick-up traffic was horrendous and there were cars backed up all around the round-about as if they were parked there. But I got out eventually by being a bit pushy and drove to the meeting place. Jas wasn't there yet. So I kept going, all the way to her school. The bike path is right beside the road, how could I have missed her? Drove back to the appointed corner, waited, stress levels rising. Where was she? Time was ticking on as well. As I got out my phone to call, she texted me. She'd gone down the side street instead of waiting at the corner, and was right down the other end!! Miscommunication there. That street is blocked off to cars half-way down, so I had to go round the block. Got there eventually.

Next challenge, the bike wouldn't fit in the car. I'd been worried about that. She's now using my old bike, so it's small adult size. I tried to take off the front wheel like Tim does, but with no idea what I was doing. It wouldn't come off. Flashbacks to when Tim broke his shoulder blade and I had to get his bike into the car to drive him to hospital. That bike needed more doctoring that he did to get it back in working order after I was done with it. With my stress levels at exploding point, I got the wheel half off which meant the bike could no longer even be wheeled along, let alone ridden. I used brute force and wrestled the bike into the back seat where it stuck out at one side. Drove home with the car door slightly open, to find Aiden waiting but fine. I was probably silly to stress so much, but I honestly don't know what he would have done if he was waiting for a long time. We don't know any neighbours and we hadn't discussed it. I don't envy Tim trying to put the wheel back on the bike, I may have left some random parts behind in the gutter.

Photos

Tuesday:

We finally got internet last night! So I'm spending some time this morning catching up on Facebook and blogs and emails - in my own home! I find I haven't taken a lot of photos of the house as such, particularly since it is still pretty chaotic with full and empty boxes everywhere, but here is some of our friendly wildlife.

This is one of the two kookaburras (Australia's famous laughing bird, a type of kingfisher, its call really does sound a lot like a laugh and also like its name: koo-koo-ka-ka-ka-ka) that visits regularly. The previous owners put out meat for them and apple coated in sugar for the parrot types (not sure how healthy that is!), I hadn't planned to feed the birds but how can I resist when they come and ask?

 A magpie, very common bird which can get a bit aggressive in breeding season. Tim often gets swooped at when on his bike. I do like this one because it will take food right from my hand.

 Sulphur-crested cockatoos just outside my back door.

 A butcher bird, another meat-eater who comes to the window and calls me.

My children ready for their new schools. They are going to different schools, for the first week I drove/walked them but from yesterday they rode their bikes alone. Aiden's school is only one long block away so I shouldn't worry, Jasmine has my old phone and texts me when she gets to school. I still had a nightmare Sunday night about it though! I dreamed Aiden was only five (he is nine now) and separated from me in a crowd and I couldn't follow into the lecture theatre because I wasn't registered... woke feeling very anxious!

We spent most of Sunday furniture shopping. We came home with a couple of very bright fluffy rugs.

We were actually looking for a new kitchen table. Ours only seats four and is looks very small in the big room. We will be hosting Sunday dinner for Tim's family every second week, alternating with Nick and Ping (grandpa gets free food every week!) which means eight people plus a toddler in a high chair - and she is growing up fast. So we need an eight seat table minimum. Ten is huge but maybe an extendable one? I really liked this table:

but it's too French Provincial for Tim. It's my favourite style, but I agree it's a bit girly. Most other tables that we didn't hate were more solid respectable things. Nice enough, but not exactly exciting. We really need one before Christmas so it will have to be next weekend.

We went to Nick and Ping's this past Sunday for dinner. Lovely to have family so close.

Another thing we want is a pool! I need to get someone to come out and assess our backyard. I'm worried that it is expensively rocky, with lots of trees to clear (and I think there are laws about planting new ones when you remove native trees) and difficult access up the narrow side of the house. Have to see what they quote.

The previous owners left lots of the quirky little elements they had in their garden, which I love. I'm surprised they left this one, which apparently represented their four grandchildren:

There are lots of others, like this chicken.

I've been for a couple of walks around the neighbourhood. There are some very impressive houses. Like this one:

But think of all the cleaning! No, wait, if you had a house like that you would have a maid or something. Anyway, I'm happy with our house.

My desk looks out into that courtyard next to the kitchen (the same angle as that first photo), so I just went out to feed to kookaburra who came and sat on the roof and laughed at me. I hope it's not a problem that I am giving them cooked meat - leftover roast beef with various spices. They don't seem to be complaining. It is a lovely spot here at my desk.

I am still a tiny bit unnerved here alone sometimes when all is quiet and there are little noises around the house or outside. I've planned my escape route for it a homicidal maniac breaks in.

Well I do have other things to do today, so I'd better get on with it. More unpacking awaits!