where were we at...........

Well I've done a few posts of things but I realised I missed August and Sept completely..........

So here's a quick summary of the last few months.........

August.......

Got some new chooks and they are doing great.........laying heaps of eggs..........

No idea now what I cooked scones for but hey they were good.............

Bridget had lambs.............Milly and Billy.............They have grown up and about to leave home...........

Loving seeing livestock drinking off mum............

We'd had some rain and the paper daisies were insane..............these yellow ones were the best I have ever seen..............

I picked lots..........

The countryside was a picture of green and flowers..............

I dried lots of bunches for the retreat I co hosted in September..........

more on that later...........

&&&&&&

September was full on...........but I did survive..........

on top of everything else I hurt my back and its sure taken it's toll........

A very big wakeup call with everything piled on death and illness makes you reevaluate many things..........

This beautiful grevillea was in the hospital garden when I was with Dad...........

Sadly he passed away.............

We had a crazy trip to Darwin for my son's wedding............what an emotional roller coaster..............

random photos.............

I should have said no to this drive that Fairy Girl wanted me to take her on as I was in agony with my back in the car but I the enjoyed the early morning light and the calm was nice...........

Here's a photo of Fairy Girl and I at the wedding............

There is so much water around Darwin............

That brings us to an end for September..........

&&&

Onto October..........

Lots of cousins to see at Dad's funeral...........

then I really just shut down for a lot of it as I needed too..........

We sold most of these steers............they did well.............

Fairy Girl went for a photo shoot at the pink daisy paddock and I got to go with her..........

There was a few zooms.............more on the Cancer Fundraiser in another post.............

I had been doing some gardening and heard this garden was open so I took myself off for a visit..............

It was beautiful..........

I was so inspired..........and been enjoying plenty of time in my own garden............

Boy Wonder and family were home for a few days which was such a surprise and I thought only Boy Wonder was coming..........they helped with some gardening also.........

Mr Chooky was rarely around for weeks while he helped friends with harvest.............

&&&

Then November came around......... 

I ran away from home with my Quilting buddy Miss Jules to a retreat in Qld for a few days..........

I went back to work just part time last week........

I've been off since early September when Dad got sick...........

I took a longer break...........my poor body was in need to repair and some extra care.........

Addy and the lamb are doing well............The dodgy lamb died - it just wasn't doing well or drinking enough either...........and another one accidently got run over.......not by me thankfully.........but someone did get told off............

Its been a firey month.........mostly machinery starting fires while harvesting..............

In our area we have been pretty busy..............

This was my view to one of the fires.........Mr Chooky has been picked up by one of the neighbours to get onto our brigade truck.............I was coming along with a ute and tanker trailer..........a young bloke I found at the fire jumped on my hose............I think we made a good team..........

I know this posted started off nice and green with heaps of flowers but it has hardly rained since.............so everything has been tinder dry.............this one took off in the wind from the crop stubble and into grasses.............

We had some big trees that caused issues during the night and sparks were blowing long distances into dry grass over the road.............It was very windy that night..............

Sunrise the next day and lots of trees burning on the edge of the fire...............

We managed to hold it and all was good but you can see the dust and ash that was being picked up by the strong winds in this photo............grit kept being blown into our eyes...............

A pretty sunset...............

the clouds to the east had the sun on them as it was setting............so pretty...........

there was 3 layers of clouds............one going east, one west and another south..........they were hiking it too...........

We have just started feeding sheep this week and it is raining today so I hope we get more..........

Agapanthus have started to open which I love............

Finally I put some christmas lights up...........

the only decorating I will be doing here............

"The lamb" was helping as the poddies are in the extended front garden yard.......

There have been some cracking storms around...........

we got 20mm overnight and I stayed home from work as they have forecast 40-80mm today...........and there was lots more rain between home and town............

we'll see what happens............last time they said forecast 25mm and we got 2mm............

I am hoping to do some zoom time over the weekend since I don't need to water the garden..........

 fingers crossed it will be way too wet to garden...........

Have a great weekend..........

Chookyblue........

 

International Women's Day

International Women's Day...........

I am so thankful that i live in a country where women have a voice...........

I can go where I want and do what I want to.........

And it is a day I think of all the amazing women I have in my life..........

friends and family.....

virtual and in real life..........

Catch you later

Chookyblue.....

10 mins in a sauna?????

no pics.........I missed getting into the Chookshed this morning cleaning up from the dust..........when I went in this arvo it was 40deg in the Chookshed......the air was so still in there I set my timer for 10 mins and got it done and out of there ASAP before I melted........suppose it could be good for weightloss?????

Never been in a sauna before......

Catch you later...........

Chookyblue...........

Goodbye 2017.........

wow what a year.........

went to the 10th and final GDITC.......

Pushed myself in March Charge.........

started a new job full time in town........

we fed for 11 months of the year........

moved a whole property.....

finish a student with Distance Ed........

Survived to the end of Distance Ed..........

lost two immediate family members..........

barely rained less then 1/2 the average annual rainfall.............

The beauty of the end of a year.........it was stunning in real life........

its been a challenging year in many ways..........

A few highs lots of lows............

emotionally and physically draining.........

Good riddens 2017......2018 can only improve..........

Catch you later.....

Chookyblue.....

Thanks and HELP!!!!!

OMG thanks for all the lovely comments...............feels great to be achieving so with that in mind I went to the Chookshed to find another project in progress.....but with a million projects on the goooooooo I can't decide.........I went looking for a couple and found way to many more........So please choose what you like here and I'll work on the one with the most votes.......

1. Ruby Red Lips
2. Churn Dash
3. Pretty in pinks/pastals
4. Blueberry Pie
5. A New Quilt (FG)
6. A New Quilt (Pretties)
7. Another one in a plastic box I can't remember the name
8. Nine Patch

Woops that list grew way to fast............

Quick tell me what you think................

What number quilt will I work on??????

I'm in bed crusing thru some blogs then off to sleep.........then I will be in the Chookshed sewing away hopefully bright and early............if no one disturbs me..........or wants something..........

Catch you later........

Chookyblue........

Dark clouds.....

It feels like ground hog day almost.................

2 years ago we fare-welled my sister today..............

yesterday we fare-welled Mr Chookys dad...........

both gone to cancer.........

snapped this pic on the way home the other night..........the cloud was very circular........wished I could get sucked up into it and disappear for a little while........so once again it is a low key Christmas here..........

extremely stressful time with other complications thrown in for us too........

Catch you later......

Chookyblue.......

(I debated whether to allow comment for this post or not but I know I am frustrated when I want to comment and can't so I have left them on but know I will appreciated but not able to respond to them at this time.......)

1900........

I have bits of a post written in my head........none of it flows together at the moment.........so I will save it for another day...........

1900 posts later i'm still never sure what will end up written in a post until I start typing.........and since  it is a big milestone I was trying to find a special pic............can't decide what photo to choose so I went with this one which is an old favourite...........it's been the background for my phone screen for years............

onto the next 100 posts............

Catch you later................

Chookyblue...........

Pink and pretty............

Pink and pretty was the order of the day...........

pretty pink cakes.......

I had the table etc all set up outside but it was just too windy so we ended up on the front verendah and inside...........

the jacarandas are in full bloom............

Yummy  date, walnut and caramel slice.............

missed the pics of the other stuff I cooked........

these big pink paper decorations caught the wind all afternoon...........

here are some of the ladies all pretty and pink.........

raised some good money with the Girls Night In for the Cancer Council and everyone had a great time...........

Believe it or not there were 451 lollies in this jar for the guessing competition...........

Oh and Lamby is teaching her lamb naughty tricks.......like how to get into the garden...........hhhmmm.........

the journey..............

this is potentially a long post without photos.............but its one I want to write as a record for me and if you make it to the end well i'm not sure what it will be for you maybe some motivation because if I can do it anyone can do it......anyway here I go..........

I've thought long and hard about whether to write this post...........but I want it for my record.........it's my little spot in the world..........at times I wished I had written a blog along the way..........

3 years ago I started a journey..........didn't think where I would be in 3 years at all.........what i wanted to do was buy a Fitbit........I tried a few pedometers and they didn't work or I knocked them off my waist band and they cleared the step total.........I tried a couple of mobile apps but they varied way to much so I wiped them............late August 2014 I finally got a Fitbit flex..............

I had one simple goal to do 10,000 steps/day to make myself fitter.......its the bench mark they all recommend...........

My first walk was with my friend Jannimary............I remember that walk so well............OMG it was terrible...........she had some up and down country at the time............I live on the flats............I could not say they were hills but just a bit of a rise in our walk and I was puffed and it was terrible.........could barely talk walking..............NOW I cannot believe I let myself get so unfit and unhealthy..........but weight just slowly  creeps on an suddenly wham...........

I will never forget that first walk..........

So the first week I didn't do anything extra except for that walk to get a bit of a base reading of what i normally did............I was way under the 10,000 step goal...........so I got moving.......I walked out the wrong door and the long way around the house to the clothes line...........parked further away at the shops..........just tried to add in incidental walking..............do an extra lap around the house when I went out to do something...........if I was ironing I would take one item to a room at a time.........just picked up what I could where and you know all those extra steps slowly added up...........I would do short walks.............

then I paid a little more attention to my Fitbit..............it was  also showing me how many calories I may have burnt during the day............

I started looking at labels on food and thinking OMG I just walked for X amount of time and it burnt off X amount of calories.....I cannot possible walk enough time today to walk off those calories...............so I stopped eating some foods I needed to wipe out anyway.............I started looking at my meal sizes........not really much about what was on my plate but how much was there.........

At this point I was weighing myself weekly.........I found this was difficult for me.........some weeks I thought I had been good and I would not lose much or put some on...........I was losing dedication to the steps.............I started weighing myself daily.............for me this is something I would have never thought i would do but for me it works..........your weight is constantly up and down.............so long as it goes up and down in a downward direction that is all that is important..........

I started walking..........actual walks.........to start it was to the gate...........then  the ramp.......then the dam......then it was minimum 10-15 mins.......it was coming into summer...........I love walking at sunrise or sunset..............for about 5 months I didn't even really walk in joggers..........mainly slip on thongs............my girlfriend gave me a good pair of joggers she didn't fit right and OMG it was like heaven...........so much better then the crappy ones I had............. 

I slowly started changing what I ate..........and how much of it..............

there have been ups and downs along the way...........

major life crisises/changes.........

sometimes things were easy to do............somethings felt impossible............

I'd fall over so to speak but then pick myself up again and get back on track..........

I ended up seeing a natropath/nutritionist.............for me this has been wonderful............something I would recommend........not a dietitian.......they are different and better in my opinion..........

my health is so much better...........some foods just don't agree with my body...........life is better without them...........

Walking comes and goes..........over winter it is a little harder......days are shorter..........excuses easier to find.........I've discovered i still have crappy knees but know how to manage them.........also found out I have exercise asthma.........walking is like stitching for me........it's like therapy.......it is crazy but using energy to walk actually creates more energy.........revitalises you........

I've thrown out a ridiculous amount of clothes.........heaps to a friend who lost her home...........as I have lost weight i've brought new clothes and the feeling when you realise you have grown out of those is amazing..........while I look at photos I still can't really picture myself  then to now...........how big I really was.........anyway it's still a work in progress.............I still weigh myself daily............a few months ago I tried not weighing myself daily and for a month or two just did it weekly if at all and really that does not work for me........it's much easier to see the daily changes and I pull my head in much quicker.................you have to adapt what you eat or how you eat it.........think outside the square a bit to get what you want.........

ie. if I have a hamburger I still have it but just on a plate instead of in a bun..........don't add the chips to the plate.........

I drink tea, green tea, lemon and ginger tea (thanks Kris), soda water with lemon and water........I drink limited coffee.........at times I have gone months without it.............

1/4 of me is gone.........my body is healthier, I am heaps fitter then what I was, I have much more energy, I am not tired like I used to be........some of that was weight related but some due to other issues I had with my body which we have sorted out along the way.........

Winter is nearly done and the days are starting to open out so walking will be much easier again..............excuses will be harder to find........

i've challenged myself in ways with food and exercise............amazed myself with what I have achieved along the way..........

I've probably said to much here and forgotten some points I wanted to put in here............I've been writing this post in my head for ages but as I hit the 3 year mark I decided I needed to get it down on a page for me............

I wanted to change what and how I ate for the better permanently..........life changes...........not just for the minute changes that don't last.......changes that will stay with me............it has been a slow transformation but one that will stay with me hopefully forever.......

to celebrate I brought a new Fitbit HR and next time I am away shopping I need a new pair of joggers.....i've worn these ones out.....my journey continues

my words of advice........

go take that first step...........

take baby steps to start with in food or exercise........

make changes you can keep........

massive changes suddenly I think are to hard to stick with........
slow and steady wins the race............

thanks for reading if you made it his far.........

Goodluck.......

Catch you later......

Chookyblue.........

Catching up.....

I'm getting better and braver in the city now days..............

Wandering around I randomly ran into my cousin who i forgot lives and works right in the city...........conveniently he was getting lunch with his boss who told him not to rush back so he could spend some time with me.......bonus........

then I found my way walking around to Darling Harbour............enjoyed this platter with a girlfriend before Adele.........

now I don't do traffic well so to calm the nerves (no wipe that) frustrationnnnnnnnnnnn (that would be the word I need) at how people drive and how long it takes to go short distances I stitched Lucy.............

I got 3 fillers finished while away...........

95,400 people here...........the concert was wonderful......

little freakish getting out with the massive numbers but otherwise the huge crowd didn't bother me......

Sunday breakfast was so good...........OMG.......

Had breaky with friends and Miss Sonia @ Forever Always Online.......

I do love my friends..........such special people to me...

then it was time to head home..........views over the southern part of Sydney..........

Some  cliff faces catching the afternoon sun in the Blue Mountains.........

OMG they are rugged.....

some centre irrigation pivots showing up in the dry landscape.........
%%%
only a few sleeps and it's off to Girls Day in the Country...........can't wait to see all the girls
%%%%
not much other then work and walking happening here............
as of tonight I have done 67kms..........
raising lots of money.............thanks heaps to those who have sponsored me......it's not to late........and I know some of you have been following my posts on the March Charge page..........thanks heaps for your support...........
walking most days after work and have found someone to drag along with me everytime........so improving the health of myself and encouraging others too...........now I am not saying healthy people don't get cancer they can but a healthy lifestyle sure can help ward off some cancers........
are you looking after yourself????

Catch you later............

Chookyblue.......

Keeping the love of blogging alive