Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

MizT and Heidi enjoy yourselves. Don't overdo things before you get together.

MizT and Heidi, have a great time together.
A belated Happy Birthday to Don.
Pleased Daniel is an easy baby. It does make such a difference if Dana can get sleep.
Our 50 th. Anniversary has is finally here. My sister(my bridesmaid) and her husband are taking us our to dinner tonight. We have had a 'discussion' about Ken playing bowls today. I told him he is headed for a divorce next week!

Happy anniversary June and Ken. Hope you have a lovely meal. I'm sure you don't mean what you told Ken, but also hope he doesn't play bowls.

Congratulations June & Ken on 50 years
of marriage. A marvelous achievement.

♥ Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary June and Ken ♥

All ready to go..
We're being picked up and taken to the airport by a friend. He will here in about 1/2hr.

I will see you this afternoon Cyn ♥

Well Ken has gone to bowls! They are playing in a competition and one of the other players pulled out and you cannot put in two substitutes! I am not impressed.
I did think of travelling to the church where we were married tomorrow but they have cancelled the 10am service and I do not feel like getting up driving 1 hour for the 8.30 am service.

Congratulations on 50 years June! I think I would have told him to let the bowls team forfeit the game!! One game compared to 50 years??? I suspect you have been so cool and collected over the years that he had no idea you meant it. Men!

Suzy,I guess I have become used to coming second place to all his sporting activities over the years.
I have put a wedding photo on my page. I did make my own dress.

Greetings to Everyone!

Just a few minutes for a quick read and a comment or two.

I think Heidi and MizT should have met up sometime today.

Suzy, Happy Birthday to your hubby! What fantastic news that Alie has come around and accepting both little ones! Also, excellent news that Daniel is a good and easy baby!

Safe travels, Rolanda and Peter!

June, Happy Anniversary to you and Ken! I'm sorry he chose to go to bowls. I, too, suspect he didn't realize how important it was to you for him to skip it today.

Have fun, MizT and Heidi!

Heading off to dreamland soon. Thinking of all of you and sending healing vibes, positive thoughts, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and prayers for everyone!

WARNING - SWEARING TO FOLLOW It has been quiet in here. I'm feeling pretty good right now. I have decluttered 3 surfaces that were collecting stuff while I worked, cleaned the stinky bird cage, swept the floors, washed some stuff from Alie's bathroom that I thought were ruined for good and saved them!, emptied bins, shortened my talons to a manageable length (Alie talked me into fake nails in Melbourne). Can't remember what else.

Now we just have to be ready to head out the door at 4pm, including buying and delivering some diapers for Dana (it's harder for her to get out now) as Alie has her end of year performance for her music school tonight. They don't do it at Xmas because there is so much on then.

I did warn you there would be swearing! Hugs to you all.

June, is Belinda still safe??

Wow! Quiet day! Thinking of all of you and sending the usual {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, , positive thoughts and healing vibes!

Hoping all travelers are safe and have arrived at their destinations, or will soon!

Suzy,Belinda's place is OK but she is going to the country tomorrow for two weeks marking HSC art work. I will be staying there to feed the animals. I am a bit worried as the fuel pump is on the bottom dam and I could not move it to the top dam to get water around the house. (top pump is electric). Also I could not move the horses.
I will be doing a lot of clearing around her house. She has two big gum trees nearby but otherwise other trees are a fare way back. Last time a fire went over her there were about 6 of us there to put out any spot fires and we had filled the gutters(they leaked) with sheets and towels and wet them all with muddy dam water. took a lot of washing to get them clean!

Thank you all for the lovely messages for our anniversary.We had a lovely dinner last night. Tonight we drove to our favourite beach to go for a meal. Had fish and chips and watched the waves. The wind was quite chilly but it was very relaxing.
I do hope Heidi and MizT are having a lovely time together.
I did see that Rolanda is enjoying catching up with all the Brisbane sudokuists.

Well we now have the replacement speakers. Set off at 9 this morning, to a place not far from Ipswich, got back just before 12 noon. First thing Richard did was wire the speakers up, didn't even have a cup of coffee. Listening to Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd at the moment.

Greetings friends. I am home and Heidi is still traveling back to Kentucky. We had a lovely visit. Friday was beautiful day, it rained Friday night and Saturday morning, but we were snug and dry. Took a few walks together, and Heidi took a few more with Angle, her collie. We did not get a photo together, bummer, but I snapped a couple of inside her RV and one of her, if they turned out OK. LOTS of light from all the windows in the RV. Turned cold overnight Saturday night, we had to turn on heat. but temps warmed up quickly once sun came up. We cooked and enjoyed some good food, and taked and talked and talked. Great fun, I really had a great time.

I feel a nap coming on now, more later. Hugs to each of you, with extras.

Pleased to hear you had a nice visit with with Heidi, MizT.

Hi everyone.
Looks like many of us have had a lovely gathering of Sudokuaholics.
It was so nice to meet everyone, some for the 2nd time. Lunch was just beautiful....wish I could have stayed longer but we arrived early and I knew that parking would be costly.
Greg and I are now in 'The Wave' motel at Broadbeach. Not much of a view of the ocean (have to look thru buildings) but it has everything we need and very nice.
It is only a few streets from the beach so we will go for a walk this morning and also visit the pool and spa on the 43rd floor. Our room overlooks the pool on the 4th floor. It is good swimming weather too. Yesterday was quite warm but for lunch we sat outside where there was a cool breeze.
Happy Birthday Kate.
Have a good day all!

I am home but very tired.

I loved the visit with Tricia, and wish it could have been longer, but had to get home for a dental appointment and a few other things. It was great just sitting and chatting with Tricia... we have so much in common.... and Angel fell in love with Tricia, too. I'll be heading back there in a few weeks to visit again.... especially since I forgot to give her the lamb chops I brought for her in the freezer.

Heidi, I am glad you found the lamb chops before turning off your fridge in RV. If that is the only thing I left, doing good! It is said if you leave something at the end of a visit, means you will return. I do hope that is so!

Heidi brought the most delish wild rice and chicken soup, a very filling and yummy to taste soup. She also brought home made corned beef, cut into thick, flavorful slice. We had those for sandwiches before leaving the park today. I made at home and took with us a vegetable slice or crust-less spinach quiche, (I did not get to the grocery to buy a ready made crust, and too achy to bake one) which we had with a salad of white asparagus and heirloom tomatoes in a Parmesan vinaigrette made with extra virgin olive oil. We grilled out some Angus beef patties on a nice disposable charcoal grill, everything included in one small package, great for traveling. I made steamed broccoli with cheese and mashed potatoes with gravy to go with. Had some wonderful sour dough rye bread for sandwiches or just with meals. OH, the pumpkin muffins I made other day for one breakfast and Heidi's blackberry syrup for the frozen waffles the other. Everything easy, but oh so good, we ate like royalty. Used only the microwave, coffee pot and toaster.

Heidi brought (for me to borrow) a wonderful Halloween costume, I will get photos of that. Of course it has a WONDERFUL hat with huge feather, Heidi has a great collection of hats. I got to try on her Alpaca cloak, it is very warm as she said and very light weight. OH, she has alpaca cap with the softest fur ever, and teddy bears of Alpaca also. I slept with the bear this morning when it was so cold in RV, it kept my nose warm hehehe. Temp went to 41 in Birmingham, down there in the 9,900+ mostly wilderness acres, it possibly went into the 30's. AND Tricia had opened a window Heidi was unaware of when she closed all windows, it stayed open overnight. Did I say it was windy out too? Bad Tricia!

OK, just a taste of our weekend, more later. I am tired too, and I had a nap as soon as I got home, while Heidi was driving home!

Hugs to each of you, with extras.

Hi, Everyone! Just a quick visit tonight.

June, please take care of yourself while you are at Belinda's! I hope no fires come any nearer than they are now! Stay safe please!

Brenda, I keep thinking how fortunate you were that just when you needed to find a replacement speaker, someone was selling the exact item you wanted on eBay! And you and Richard were able to transport them safely and get them wired in and working!

Nola, I am so pleased for you that your Sudoku gathering was successful and enjoyable!

MizT and Heidi, it seems your weekend was a hit, in spite of some poor weather. It sounds like a lot of fun - and a possibility in the not-too-distant future to do it again!

I need to get some sleep, but plan to visit again tomorrow. Positive thoughts, healing vibes, prayers, and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} for everyone!

Thanks Suzy - I think I took it harder than my awesome son. Glad your family is settling down after the arrival of Daniel - Alie will make a great auntie. Nola - hope you enjoy your time at the GC - I was there a week ago and it has changes so much from when I lived in Brisbane in the 70's.

Oh yeah, I'm heading back down there after Hallowe'en so MizT doesn't have to worry about returning the costume. I can also drop off the frozen lamb chops, AND the mug that she got at the Wildlife Rehab Center we visited. That was also left behind. This next time, I'll just spend the night in her delightful little apartment. It's light and bright and full of greenery, and perfectly charming. I also got to see all of Tricia's pots of plants outside. Much bigger and more flamboyant than I'd imagined! She has such a green thumb!!! And yes, their parking lot is way too small for the number of apartments it's for. There's MAYBE room for 1 vehicle for every 5 apartments!

As soon as I got home, I plugged in the RV so I didn't have to worry about unloading the leftovers in the fridge and freezer for a while.

June, I'll be thinking of you!!! Please try to keep in touch so we know you're okay out there on your own.

Brenda, a good choice of song to test the quality of the speaker!

MizT and Heidi, I'm glad your visit was so nice! We're never that organised with food for trips - but we don't really have room for anything anyway. We're usually looking for things to leave out. Though now I have spiffy roof racks on my car that will be easier in future.

Midge, I hope you are feeling better about your son's diagnosis.

We had Dana, Tahli and Daniel over for dinner last night. It was nice, but I fell asleep as soon as they left.

Happy Monday Evening from here to where you hat your hat. Happy to read of the from sounding meets this weekend...glad travel was safe and fun was had. I only wish I could have been everywhere and enjoyed with all of you.
Hope those who have experienced bad weather continue to stay safe and those with other challenges are hanging tough. Nothing new at my end..hope to talk to the doctors to see if there's any news regarding possible gallbladder surgery...I've made up my mind to have it,if the doctors agree...so its now a wait and see.
Still a little pain, but mostly sinus due to continued weather swings from chilly to warm and wet...temps will soon settle and all will be well..nothing to worry myself about since I can't do any thing about it...lol.
Brenda...enjoy your music and Suzy...make a copy of current Allie to continue the enjoyment. Babies do have a way of tiring the grandparents out don't they? Wouldn't have it any other way!
Take care all..know that I care..Peace.

Wow! First sentence makes no sense whatsoever....
'hang your hat', and 'Happy to read of all the fun sounding meets....' not even going to check for more errors..lol...I know you all read what I meant to write...

Heidi, I do thank you for all you did to make the trip easier for me. Special thanks for making the detour to Aldi's, saved me from having to get out today, as I was out of essentials. Milk, fruit, bread and half and half. I am not my usual sweet self when I have no cream for my coffee .

Heidi, I am glad you are coming for the costume, not only so we can visit, but because that costume is too nice to trust to the postal service. This pirate outfit is not costume quality, friends, it is even better than theatrical quality. A lovely long flared vest of velvet, fully lined, with velvet loops for button closures. Lovely big collared, very full white blouse with ruffled cuffs, you get the idea. I( think I already mentioned the hat. I would not want to risk post office loosing this.

OH, I think I left something else. I put the Quiddler game in the cabinet over table, one closest to the door. I did not even think of it until today, when I saw some of my Scrabble and Quiddler playing friends.

June, I too worry about you at Belinda's alone and fires around. Take care of yourself, you are not replaceable, material things are.

MIDGE, have you told us about your trip to the GC? Would love to hear details.

Julie, I hear from my E-bay friends that you can find anything there. Just ask Heidi. I asked her several times, 'where did you get that?' about items in the RV. Her answer? 'E-bay, you can find anything there.' hehe.

Angel falling in love with me was not one sided, I fell in love with her too. Heidi had to leave the RV to register at camp grounds. Angel stayed with me in RV. she whined at the door after Heidi left. I started talking to her and she came and put her head in my lap, with this sad 'OK, you will do till Mommie returns' look. Won me over right then.

Hugs to each of you, with extras

Now at Belinda's place. Cooler and cloudy. We even had a 'few' spots of rain. I should be out clearing the rubbish from around her house but feelin lazy so here instead. Your trip sounds like great fun Heidi and Tricia. Enjoy your stay in Brisbane Nola. You really nead that break away from Bundie.
Suzy, You now have two Grandies to love and enjoy. I agree they do tire out the gandparents in a lovely way.

Greetings to all!

Midge, you do, indeed, have an awesome son to take his diagnosis in stride. With a good attitude, he will do well and make the changes he needs to make and go on with his life. Good for him! Stay well and take care of yourself!

Heidi and MIzT, how nice that you can look forward to another visit within a month! Seems like it would be a good idea to make a list of the things that will need to change hands when you're together! Will you just drive down in your truck next time, Heidi! Thanks for letting us know that MizT's outside flowers are larger and more flamboyant than you imagined. I guess I should 'up-size' my imagined pictures, as well.

Suzy, so glad you were able to invite Dana, Tahli and Daniel for dinner. I hope the 'new' Alie continues being a super auntie to the little ones. 'It takes a village.' Good for you for getting to bed shortly after they left. I suspect you have a lot of catching up to do on your sleep!

Mamacita, good news that you are feeling better and less pain! Best of luck in getting your doctors 'on the same page' about your gall bladder surgery. The good new is that it is much less invasive than it use to be - sometimes done in a day-surgery or out-patient setting laparoscopically with just three or four small incisions.

June, stay safe at Belinda's! I hope the fires stay well away from there so that your stay can be essentially worry-free!

Time to head to bed here. Sending lots of {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, positive thoughts, prayers, and healing vibes for all of you and those you love!

Gekko all....
I'm a trifle concerned that we aren't hearing much from the Aussie contingency here (except June and Suzy... Bless you) during these scary weather conditions. I would like to know if everybody else is safe, and their loved ones, too.
Kentucky forgot to have Autumn again. We've gone from temps in the upper 80's (~ 30 C) to hovering around freezing, in just one week. Everyone I've talked to believes that this will be a NASTY Winter this year. If that just means the ground will be frozen ..... good! If that means lots of snow and ice storms..... VERY bad!

Heidi, Bronni is away on holiday as is Rolanda, who is staying with CynB. Not sure where everyone else is.

Hello everyone.
Mama..good luck getting a quick appointment for the gall bladder surgery. Yes, the weather is so unseasonal everywhere lately. And yes, we understood what you meant.
June...as I haven't seen any news on TV, I hope the fires are under control but doubt it. Just get out if they get close.
Suzy...glad you got some well earned sleep.
Heidi...Angel sounded like the perfect companion for Tricia and lives up to her name. The Halloween outfit must be really tops.
Greg and I had an enjoyable visit with my sister
on the Gold Coast.
Sonny the dog is getting spoilt by sleeping on Renaes bed at night. He is much happier there than the dog kennel where he didn't eat for a few days.
I have had a sauna and swim but it is very cold when you get out because it is so high and windy on the 34th floor not 43rd like I said.
Having a very relaxing time.
Catch you later.

Gekko my friends.
I am back! No time to comment or catch up this morning as it is back to work.
Hope everyone is safe and well.
Luv and Hugs.

We had some storms last night so hope the rain will keep the humidity up a bit which will make it a bit easier for the fire fighters. They were predicting 35*c this afternoon with very strong winds and low humidity. I have not listened to the news this morning so not sure if they got rain in the fire effected areas.
One of Belinda's cats (who mainly lives in the bush) had been missing for about 5 days She is tiny and old and these days lives more under the house. She was here this morning and I fed her. Then rang and told Belinda as she had been worrying.(called 'spew'. She is tortoiseshell and Belinda said that is what she looked like!)

Good news about Spew, June.

I wasted half the day at the Dentist's today. I was supposed to get the finishing touch on the implants today... the new teeth.... but the lab messed up and they were the wrong color and didn't fit. Molars look ridiculous bucked. We tried and tried to alter them, but ended up giving up and sending them back to the lab that made them. My dentist called the lab and read them the riot act for such shoddy workmanship. It seems they let a new employee make them unsupervised.
While in the office, I saw some news broadcasts. One was pictures of the big fire near Sydney. After seeing that, and hearing so much about the annual fires every summer there, I think I'll keep living in the USA, imperfect tho' it is.

Waaaa! I pushed a wet, floppy thing all over the kitchen floor and now I can't make a cup of tea!!

June, don't work too hard! Remember you are not 20 anymore, though you seem to do more work than most 20 year olds. I'll be watching the fire news... It's very windy here. Not dangerous winds, but not good for fire winds. I hope you are as lucky as I am and not have to worry too much!

Nola, your holiday sounds amazing!

Warning - swearing!
I didn't get much housework done while I was working the block as I'm still getting used to working hard. We had a few days after that to recover and get ready for Melbourne. When we got home I'd barely got the bags unpacked and caught up with that stuff when Dana called to tell us she'd had Daniel. Well every day there has been something. Somewhere she has to be actually. And if it wasn't her it was Alie - who had the performance last Sunday and has one this Saturday. Yesterday I had my nails done then turned myself over to Dana and drove her all over the place to get ffuts done. Today I thought, no, today I will look after the house as I've only been getting bits and pieces done. I get a phone call asking me to take her grocery shopping! I've told her I can't come until 2 and she'll just have to live with that. I at least got the floors washed - which they badly needed. But they won't be dry in time for me to do the other stuff before I have to go :(