Bruised and battered

The bruise is a beauty thanks to the bus driver slamming on the brakes and me going into a steel pole.
This is the same driver who wouldn't put the bus lower for me so I had to haul in like Indianna up a cliff and wrench my left knee.
Over the weekend I was metaphorically slapped in the face by three people so I've been under the bed eating chocolate and trying to rid myself of some very bad feelings.
I wish I could say they've gone but they're lingering and festering in some dark corner of my mind where they'll die or I'll lash out and mortally wound someone.

Actually, it's very strange about the chocolate. I expected the BGL to go skyward but it didn't, almost normal reading. I am now supposed to eat different food and test to see how they affect the level. The last thing I could imagine enjoying is eating an apple before going to bed but doing that drops the overnight level down to the 5's which is normal. And stupid woman didn't tell me that testing two hours after eating means from the moment the first mouthful is swallowed. I'm such a slow eater that I've been going way over two hours.

On the way to the Home yesterday, I called in to the Council Offices and asked for a bio-hazard waste container. Diabetes educator said to get this at the Pharmacy, Pharmacy said to go to the council, booklet with the lancet cartridges says it's okay to put them in the bin since there are no sharps as they retract. This is the kind a round-a-bout that goes on with trying to get the right information. Anyway I now have a bio-hazard container of bright yellow and it will take me at least two years to fill it. Huge yellow bottle that goes nowhere but in the laundry.

The sky is blue, I've nearly finished the washing so I might go and dig out the water meter and all my river stones that have disappeared under the dirt from the fence digging. Next door is already mixing paint for the fence but I'm going eco friendly and leaving it au natural. Life is too short to paint a fence.

Happiness is.....

Knocking 5 minutes off the walk to the doctor's.
Restraining oneself from telling an expert to go f*** and stop trying to get me down to 100kgs. Ain't gunna happen lady, not while chocolate factories still churn.
Finding my blood pressure down from 188 over stroke to 130/110. Okay so 110 needs works but hey, 58 points down.
Cholesterol is 3.3. So LDL is still higher than HDL but as Doc says at that level it's no big deal.
In four weeks, overall BGL is down from 8 to 7.5. Huge says Doc, who is wearing a Pink Panther tie today.
Vitamin D blood tests weren't back but he'll ring if I need boosting, like a large needle in backside. Another thing that ain't gunna happen.

Dr. Marvin says not to take day to day levels to heart, it's the overall figures that count.

Dr. Marvin never mentions weight once.

I'm celebrating by having a delicious salad for tea. Believe that and I have a bridge I can sell you.

I won't sell you the strawberry filled chocolate frog I am celebrating with.

The fence is built.

They starting building it at 8 in the morning and finished at 5 p.m.
Now I have to go out and dig up the water meter and all my river stones around it.
There's a pile of Mondo grass from next door's garden so I'll put that along the fence bottom and see how long I take to kill it with my black hand of plant death.
All the flat bricks along the fence bottom are everywhere so I guess I'll have to pick them up before the mowerman arrives.

But nothing's being done today because a tow truck is coming to take away the half fixed VW which has been residing here rent-free for a year. Why do people do this to the BOH, pay him for half the job then tell him there's no more money just yet. 12 months and still no money to finish the car so it's leaving....today....or I take an geologist's pick to it.
Then there'll be room for the ute in the carport unless a fully engined up Mazda returns to it's nesting ground. Apparently the rules were sneakily changed so that one size engine couldn't be put in a different size car. A bit like putting a 747 engine in a Piper Cherokee but the BOH finished the job because he was more than half way through the work. Everything was passed except for the tuning which he paid another 'professional' for and it wasn't done professionally so the little beast had a nice smoke trail. The nephew has this problem constantly, he does his job with every care while everyone around him faffs it. The seats are in, engine re-built, tyres on and now for the panel beating and painting. To be really authentic, it should be the original colour but even I would baulk at bilious lime green so it's going to be his favourite colour, black, quel surprise!
It doesn't pay to be an honest workman sometimes. The ute hasn't been sold because the gear box hasn't been fine tuned by a mate who was supposed to help in return for help with a panel beating problem and that was more than six months ago. It's the only thing he can't do himself.
It looks so nice in the drive, all black and shiny silver. And this is the work of someone who has trouble putting a fitted sheet on a mattress.

I have another visit to the doc's tomorrow and another hour with the pain in the butt Diabetes Educator. The one who insisted I have 3 meals a day and 3 snacks and guess who's put on weight? I told her I would, my body doesn't understand 3 meals, 3 snacks, it understands 6 lots of food, no matter how small. I've been to this clinic 3 times now and 3 times the receptionists have misdirected, misinformed and confused me. Monday was no exception. A simple blood test for which I walked in the freezing cold for. We don't do blood tests here in spite of the fact that the last blood test I had was done there and even she forgot to do the Zinc test so had to ring and make sure I put a large sign on the form to remind her. Snooty receptionist went off to confirm and said they could fit me in at midday and it was only 11.25 so I waited. Midday comes and so does a work accident kid and I get the bum's rush. Out to catch a bus in the same freezing wind and have the blood test in Mentone which I could have done by catching the bus at 10 o'clock. Pathology has to confirm the Zinc test, nearly 10 minutes on the phone and she asks me what kind of show are they running there. I warmed up and the blood ran free but then it was out into the freezing cold again. I was heading for the nursing home but the waft of fresh coffee from the bakery called to me and I warmed up again. And afternoon with the ladies (two dropped off the twig at the weekend) and I get home in the freezing wind to be told the builders were coming at 8 in the morning.

It feels like a long winter already.

English Language

It's been a long time since I was at school but I have been reading books.
Two books lately have had sentences in them that have annoyed me because they didn't sound right and I don't know if they are right.

First book, the detective walks into a cabin and notices an unlighted stove. "Unlighted" sounds not quite right, should it be "unlit"?

Second book, the adventurer shined the light around. "Shined", should that be "shone"?

Am I out of date with English writing or is it just American English?

Monday? Halfway through June?

Okay, when one gets old the days go faster but they don't have to go at supersonic speed.
I'm losing my way here.

The fence is propped up and the builder has inspected.
We are now going to have the entire side fence replaced. The inspection revealed rotting uprights, splintering palings and if we had just done the fence to my carport, the rest would have fallen down within weeks.
The BOH has to move all his car parts away from the fence and he'd better get them out of my wheelbarrow as well. I have to cut away the lemon tree so the fencer can get in there without being ripped to pieces. He'll just have to go gently past the Camellia. Don't ask about the money, I'm trying not to think about it.

I spent yesterday with Mum who was not very well and stayed in bed. Unfortunately her shadow remained in the room as well. This lady has had a bad stroke and mum is her lifeline as she understands her speech and what she wants which is fine unless my mother is not well and needs to rest especially to sleep. She would drift off to sleep and I'd think good and start reading the paper and the next minute the shadow would be calling for her. Mum would wake up with a fright and instantly would see what the shadow wanted. I was getting very angry and it didn't help when I dropped a cup which shattered and woke everybody up.

As for sweet little Val in the bed next to Mum. This is the one we call "The Pincher" and can she take a chunk of skin in seconds. Frail little voice calls, "Can you help me?" and you go over and she strikes like a cobra. Yesterday she was in fine form, swearing like a trooper, pinching and nearly choking a nurse in the shower. I felt like kicking the bed every time I went past.

Then we had Don the Peeper doing the rounds of the windows. This one would have been a natural tunnel digger in Stalagluft anywhere. He's in the shadow zone of Alzheimer's where he still knows things, like checking the fences for weak spots and using his tool kit to get the palings down and get out. He did that the other night and they found him 2 kms away. He's also inclined to a bit of stangling, we've learnt not to wear necklaces on the outside of clothes or scarves and the nurses now have clip release ID tags.

But I digress, still fuming about the shadow who should have been down in the day room for a few hours so mum could rest, I spoke to the head nurse who was speaking to the others about it today. Mum already had permission to use the Chapel room at weekends for her craft to get away from everyone so it has been noticed that she gets used as a babysitter. I keep reminding her that she is a resident not an employee but if you can't wheel yourself away then you get stuck. I don't know about anyone else but it's giving me a headache.

From Iceland to Chile

A Chilean volcano in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle has erupted for the first time in 50 years. The volcanic chain is about 575 miles south of the capital, Santiago but because of the ash cloud and weather conditions, it's not yet clear which particular volcano of the four is erupting.

The ash cloud has been thrown 6 miles (10 kilometres) into to the sky with winds fanning the cloud towards Argentina as the Chaiten eruption did 3 years ago.

Authorities had been expecting the eruption after repeated earthquakes were reported in the area and the volcanic range then entered an explosive eruptive process. The air is full of the smell of sulphur and seismic activity is continuous.

Chile's chain of about 2,000 volcanoes is the world's second largest after Indonesia. Some 50 to 60 are on record as having erupted, and 500 are potentially active.

The photo above is a time lapse image of the lightning strikes in the ash cloud.

The ash cloud after the initial eruption.


The ash cloud reflecting the sun's rays.

Lightning strikes as the ash cloud continues to rise.

The ash cloud rising but winds are now blowing it towards Argentina.

Winter's arrived

Yesterday I walked down the drive and picked up the junk mail.
Later on I walked to the letter box and picked up the letters.
At midday I walked out the gate and caught the bus to see Mother.

I arrived back home about 4.30 and my side fence had fallen down.
It must have happened the night before when the wind was strong as yesterday the weather was beautiful, chilly but the sun was out.
I couldn't have walked down the drive three times and not noticed the fence had fallen down.

Bad luck for next door who have just spent money on getting a new fence on the other side of their property.
Bad luck for me who's going to have to find $600 or more to pay to a fence builder.
Good luck is both of us deciding to only get a new fence up to my carport and hope the rest of it doesn't collapse.
Good luck is the supports are on my side and it didn't fall on the one remaining Camelia tree which is just beginning to bloom.
Half bad luck to next door, about the fence but it didn't fall all the way to the ground and splatter her terribly 'in vogue' and expensive Yucca plants.

The Jellyfish Ballet.

The Western Pacific island nation of Palau, 500 miles east of the Philippines, has an unique natural wonder. It's called Ongeim'l Tketau or Jellyfish Lake. It's a land locked saltwater lake which scientists think was formed when rising sea levels allowed seawater to fill the steep-sided marine lake. The lake is connected to the ocean only by fissures in the surrounding limestone. It keeps the lake isolated and the animals trapped. Mostly, the jellyfish named Mastigias which originally came from the ocean.

Mastigias jellyfish feed on small animal plankton, killing them with stinging cells on their long tentacles. But the magic is that the sting is not the powerful sting of other ocean jelly fish so humans can swim along with them as they migrate across the lake and back during the day.

Mastigias have evolved a symbiotic relationship with single-celled marine algae. Inside the tissues of Mastigias' frilly arms live millions of zooxanthellae, which use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates that the jellyfish use for energy. Swimming back and forward across the lake during the day gives their zooxanthellae plenty of light and avoids the shadows that form at the lake edges where their predators, the bottom-living sea anemones, live.

At night they stop moving horizontally and swim vertically in the lake (away from the edges) and scientists think this is to provide nutrients for their symbiots which are only available in deep water.

There are five jellyfish lakes in Palau and even though the jellyfish all belong to the species Mastigias, they look different from each other and from Mastigias in the nearby ocean. It's also been proposed that the swimming could play a part in mixing stratified layers of water. So if you don't mind hiking up to the steep rim then hiking down to the lake for the pleasure of getting up close and personal with the locals then this is the holiday for you.

Shudder!

Really some people have no sense of colour.

A regal burgundy with rhinestones

would have done wonders.

The American Gem Trade Association 2011

This year I only have four favourites out of all the categories and only one in first place.
The pendant/brooch could only rate an Honorable Mention in the Business/Day Wear section and I would like a gold chain with it.
Eva Cheng used 18k rose gold, a freeform rose Quartz set with a .70 carat round diamond and accented with 178 diamonds.

This necklace by Samuel Getz was placed first in the Classical Section. I like the colours, shape and 18th century look of it. It's made with Platinum and 18K yellow gold and features yellow Sapphires (68.77ctw), blue Sapphires (24.34ctw), red Spinels (24.20ctw) and Diamonds (22.38ctw).

This piece of whimsy straight from 'Alice in Wonderland' is titled "Who Are You" and won the Best Use of Pearls category. It was sculpted by Llyn L. Strelau and features two-tone gold and silver with freshwater baroque Pearls, Sough Sea keshi Pearls, akoya seed Pearls, demantoid Garnets (green), ruby and cognac Diamonds on a crystal Quartz base.

But this was my all time favourite of the bunch. It only managed 3rd place in the Objects of Art Section but I love its simplicity. "Dandelion" by Tigran Lementsyan features Quartz and Diamonds (.36ctw) with silver, 18K yellow gold and gold plated leaves.

I've been walking

Yes, me, walking but only because the sun is out and it's lovely.
No, I'm not walking when winter hits and it's cold and raining so I'm raking up points now.
Besides I'm hurt.
I hope our Nanny Premier is reading, I'm about to swear and he can collect the on-the-spot fine.
Yesterday the fucktard of a bus driver stopped too far from the curb and I had to do a Tarzan onto the grass and I felt my back muscle go ping.
And it kept up for the 20 minute walk home.
Today there's been a lot of oowwing and yarking but I walked.
The tree choppers have been working so walking was with my nose to the ground looking for twigs and bloody gumnuts.
Anyway I got my 15 minutes of Vitamin D3 to add to the 5000 IU I'm now taking. I have another blood test on 20th June and it had better be way up because if there's one thing that's more sensitive to needles than my fingers, it's my backside and that's where the Vitamin D shots go.
Sorry to go on and on but there's no-one else to whine to. Goddess forbid I should ring my sister to talk to. It's all 'suck it up and stop eating' with her. I did read through the food sheets about snacks for my shopping list tomorrow and holymoly, there's the Liz Hurley way to weight loss. For an afternoon snack I can have 6 sultanas, okay so it's 2 more than Liz eats but still 6 sultanas, 'food euphoria'.
I'd still like to know how in hell one measures half a cup of baked beans. That's one of the ultra snacks, one small baked potato with half a cup of bakes beans on top. Worthy of MasterChef isn't it.
Now don't tell anyone, I know I can confide in youse lot but I bought a pineapple cream Freddo Frog for tonight. It's not forbidden food, it's an anti-depressant. True, honest, really, bugger it would I lie to blogmates?