What a bloody cold morning here this Tuesday and it’s creature day today it is something called the European River Lamprey. It is of course a fish.

This jawless eel-like thing attaches itself to larger fish and drinks its blood.

It’s round sucker like mouth contains two rows of circular teeth that help it cling to the host as it swims. It has one nostril and seven breathing holes along each side of its body behind the eyes, and grows to 30cm in length.

Similar to salmon, European river lamprey migrates from coastal waters to inland breeding grounds to spawn. They swim up stream in autumn and winter, lay eggs in the spring and die. Their young take 2-3 years to mature, feeding on bacteria in the stream before heading out to sea.

Well here we are at another Monday, so it is facts day, this weeks facts are about my home state of New South Wales.

The current state flag of New South Wales was officially adopted in 1876. The flag is based on the defaced British Blue Ensign with the state badge located in the fly.

The lion in the centre is the English Lion derived from the British Arms. The first and fourth quarters are the Golden Fleece, a reference to our great achievement in the wool industry. The second and third quarters are the Wheat Sheaf, representing our second and great primary industry.

Animal Emblem: Platypus

The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), is the animal emblem of NSW. The platypus is a furry creature, about 30cm to 38cm long, it has webbed feet and a large duck-like bill which it uses to gather its food from the bottom of rivers.

State Flower: Waratah

The New South Wales waratah has been the floral emblem of New South Wales since 1962. Brilliantly coloured waratah blooms can be seen for miles. No wonder the New South Wales waratah was given the Greek botanical name of telopos, meaning seen from afar

Bird Emblem: The Kookaburra (Dacelo gigas) is the bird emblem of NSW

Gemstone Emblem: Black Opal

Fish Emblem: Blue Grope

Fossil Emblem: Mandageria fairfaxil

This morning when I got up to pee at 4.40am I took my medications and went back to be for an hour when I got up. It is bloody cold.

Last night when I got up to pee I noticed that Tim had locked the door to his office, when I asked why he was angry saying Sam had done some and pissed me off and he would tell me in the morning. Saying no one gives a damn about what I do not know.

Tim is a very negative person.

I asked Tim what Sam did he rambled off a number of things nothing bad, the most annoying was that he coloured in part of the remote control for his fan no biggie it still works. Tim was going off that no one disciplines Sam but just because he doesn’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. I know Jess is often going off at Sam and doing her best to discipline him.

Cold enough today to wear my long sleeve singlet.

Another cold morning, no school today it is the King’s birthday public holiday.

Tasha came down and put socks on my feet and said my socks are too small, I reminded her that she bought them.

Kathy and the girls came over Kathy changed the sheets on our bed, Sydney vacuumed out while Summer emptied the bins.

Tim bought KFC for lunch but I didn’t really feel like it.

Up at 5am as per and usual not overly cold. Jess popped her head in before leaving for work to let me know that Sam didn’t sleep well and might be tired this morning.

Kathy rang at 7am to have a whinge about how her fridge died overnight and of course it is full of food.

Natasha got a phone call at around 11am telling her that her surgery has been cancelled for tomorrow, she is rightly pissed.

Damn it is cold today. I feel really pissed off about many things today.

A cold morning, don’t know if the cleaners are coming but I do have an appointment to have my boobs squashed aka a mammogram.

The cleaners came at 9am and left at 9.40 just before Tim and I left.

The mammogram went fine no issues, Tim was surprised how quick I was in and out.

Kathy’s new fridge arrives today and of course they figured out why the old one stopped working it was tripping the circuit breaker and Micheal did something, I think he turned something off and when that was turned back on it started working but as Kathy said if it keeps tripping the circuit it isn’t any good. Anyway she said they move it to the garage and see how it goes.

A cold morning as is usual now had the heater on for an hour this morning.

Sandy came over to drop of postage stamps and then she took the letters to post for me.

Got a text letting me know my Aunty Pat passed away this morning she was dad’s older sister. Kristine said there will be no funeral but a celebration of her life in the next week or so.

Tasha rang at 3pm asking if she can help me get ready for bed tomorrow as she was committed to helping someone else. I said that would be fine, of course Tim had issue with it but that’s Tim.

Slept in till 5.25am as after I got up to pee at midnight I was unable to settle back down till after 2am.

It another bloody cold morning.

Kathy reminded me that Summer is preforming in Starstruck tonight and tomorrow night. I hope she has a great time.

Sam refused to take his meds this morning but I didn’t argue with him, the school rang at 9.20am asking if he had his meds I explained he hadn’t and gave permission for them to medicate him now.

I have had a good day with little pain and discomfort.

A later start this morning woke at 4.40am looked at the time decided I would lay there till 5am the next thing I knew it was 5.36am, so that’s when I got up and it is bloody cold.

I am so cold my head hurts and my chest hurts.

I have felt like shit all bloody day.

Hello world, it is Friday and of course that means it is my thoughts day and today I am thinking about death, not a pleasant topic but it is something that comes to us all and touches as all.

Last night well early hours of this morning like after midnight I found myself laying in bed shaking while trying to settle and go back to sleep. Laying there I started thinking about my Aunty Pat who passed yesterday morning, she was dad’s older sister so in her 80’s.

My mind went to the first time someone I knew and was related to that being my cousin Bradley way back in the mid 80’s. The next death that upset me was that of my Uncle John, Aunty Pat’s husband and Bradley’s father he was also my favourite uncle.

Both my paternal grandparents have passed but I wasn’t close to either of them, I knew my Poppy Jenkins better but we were not close.

The next death to affect me was that of Poppy James, Mum’s father he passed on the 4^th November 2010, I had a good relationship with him. It wasn’t till 19^th November 2016 when my Nanna passed away I was very close to her and it hit me pretty hare. Although in no way as much as the death of my dad on 21^st April 2019 that rocked me and I was just starting to get over it when on the 12 April 2021 mum died. I am now at last starting to feel like Jo-Anne again and not a body going through the motions.

I truly feel for those who have lost children, I really don’t know how I would cope with such a loss.

I thought again last night how lucky I am to have lived over half a century without being seriously affected by the death of a loved one. Also I believe there is an afterlife and we will be reunited again. Some people don’t have such a belief.

Here we are at another cold morning, my feet are so bloody cold and my jaw is annoying me a lot but since it is Thursday it is word of the week day. This week’s word is: skillion

It is a type of roofing design that consists of only one slope and a single flat surface

Damn my feet are cold this morning, I will be pleased when Tasha puts some socks on my feet, anyway here are some more old Aussie slang words, words that are rarely used now days, if at all.

Back of Bourke……a very long way away

Banana Bender……Someone from the state of Queensland.

Coathanger…….Sydney Harbour Bridge

Coldie……..A beer

Corker…….Something excellent a

Hello everyone it is Tuesday also known as creature day and this weeks creature is the Walrus, heard of it, I have.

The walrus is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobenidae and genus Odobenus.

Walrus tusks are actually big canine teeth. Walruses use their tusks to help them climb up on ice, fight predators, and threaten and fight each other. Both male and female walruses have tusks. As it uses its tusks to pull itself from the water has earned it the nickname “tooth walker”, it also uses them to to break breathing holes in the artic ice from underneath. The tusks can also use them in fights over territory or females.

Their whiskers are called “vibrissae” and help if feel for food especilly shellfish on the dark ocean floor.

Some walruses kill and eat seals and seabirds.

It has wrinkled pinky-brown skin and a blubber-filled body combine to make this 3.5m marine mammual unique.

The Atlantic walrus lives in the seasonally ice-covered northern waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia. The Pacific walrus has a wide range between Russia and the US (Alaska), from the Bering to the Chukchi Seas, as well as the Laptev Sea.

Walrus tusks are continually growing so they regularly outgrow their caps, which then loosen and fall off.

Females begin breeding at 6-7 years of age and generally give birth every 2 years. Males are mature at 8-10 years of age, but generally cannot successfully compete against older, larger males for females until they are 15 years old. Walruses may live up to 40 years.

It is a cold morning and as it is a public holiday for the King’s birthday so here are some facts about said holiday.

The King’s Official Birthday is the selected day in most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those countries. It does not necessarily correspond to the date of the monarch’s actual birth.

All but two Australian states – Queensland and WA – will enjoy a public holiday on June 12, 2023. Previously named the Queen’s Birthday public holiday, the day off is also known as the Monarch’s Official Birthday.

In Queensland it is on Monday 2^nd October an in WA it will be on Monday 25^th September.

The Monarch’s Birthday was first celebrated in Australia in 1788. In that year, King George III was the Monarch and Governor Arthur Phillip declared a holiday to mark his birthday.

Originally, the Monarch’s birthday was celebrated on the anniversary of the actual date of birth of the King or Queen.

I I am doing a casserole for lunch as it is Jessica’s birthday on Tuesday and that is her favourite meal that I make.

Kathy came for lunch but Tasha is pretty sick with the flu. Even Tim ate some of it and he doesn’t like casserole. Sam came over and tried the casserole and liked it he had two bowls.

Kathy isn’t happy with work at the moment in fact she is rightly pissed off and I understand why. Although I am not going into here.

Not a cold morning which is good but had to restart the computer in order to get my office program to work, all good now.

Kathy is off work today she isn’t feeling well.

Sandy came over to see me this morning.

My back is aching a lot.

Another warm day.

JESSICA’S BIRTHDAY SHE IS 34 TODAY

Tim was up and in the kitchen cooking himself bacon and eggs for breakfast when I got up. By the time I had my morning wash he was done cooking and eating, when I asked how was it he said it was crap and he didn’t like it.

It is a colder morning but not cold enough for the heater.

Tim went to rehab and also spoke to his surgeon about getting his DA back but no, not going to happen till his hand is all better and working how it should. This wasn’t a surprise to me and Tim said he was expecting it but I am not so sure he was.

Colder this morning, turned the heater on for 30 minutes while I had a wash and got my fruit for breakfast.

Tim is in a right mood today snapping at me about little things. At one point he suggested we watch Ghost Adventures but after 15 minutes he got up and walk out of the room. I thought he had gone to the toilet but he didn’t come back I went looking for him and found him sitting outside in the sun. When I found him I said he could have told me. He didn’t get why I was annoyed.

It was a cold morning and when I was getting my fruit Tasha walked in with some washing to toss in the dryer which didn’t bother me as the dryer heated the room up. It would have pissed Tim off.

Thankfully Jess is home as Sam’s phone went straight to voicemail so I sent her a text to go and wake Sam.

Tim had an appointment with the podiatrist I have been telling him he should see one as he is unable to cut his own toe nails and it isn’t a task any of our girls will do. He was pleased he went didn’t cost him anything as our GP put him on a care plan.

Tim is also complaining a lot about how little the girls do to help us but really we don’t much help well I no longer need as much help as I did a year ago.

TIM AND I MET 40YRS AGO TODAY

Had a shocking nights sleep it was ok for a few hours till 10.40pm when I got up to pee but after that it took me over 3hrs to settle back down, I got up to pee again at 3.50am and went back to bed till 5am when I got up.

Damn it is cold this morning and I have the hiccups and it is so annoying.

Tim off to see our GP this morning and to take more paper work into work he is off now till the 24 July.

I need a little help at the end of my day with my bedtime routine but the way Tim acts like I need a lot more help then I do.

Had a better nights sleep woke to another cold morning. I considered getting up later but no still got up at 5am.

I have a lot of back pain today and can’t sit without pain.

Tim has been sitting out in the sun a lot today. I would like to also but not so easy for me plus we only have one decent chair out there.

Staying up later then normal and I have started doing my exercises earlier in the day as I find that between 1 & 2pm when I sit in my armchair I have no back pain and feel comfortable. So I don’t want to get up and go and do my exercises and stay seated till I am ready to get ready for bed.

Well here we are at another Friday and what a bloody cold morning it is, when I laid away trying to sleep during the night I found myself thinking about hobbies. I have a few such blogging and writing to pen pals, which I have been doing since I was 14. I have always loved reading which I have done since, well as long as I can remember. I wrote my hobbies back in 2013 but this isn’t just about me.

Tim, however, doesn’t have any hobbies and hasn’t had since I have known him when he was younger it didn’t seem to matter but now it is different.

He is seeing a counsellor who has commented that he really should try and find a hobby but he says he has no idea what type of hobby. I suggested he think about what type of thins that he might like to try or take up just to see if it is for him but he seems to thinks he is to old to do that. Rubbish…………….

My dad never read a book till 2009 when going through lung cancer he wanted something to do instead of just watching telly. He discovered he liked true stories Australian history and always had a book with him from then on.

When dad retired he got interested in our family genealogy, well he was interested before then but got right into in after he retired.

Mum was a knitter from a young age and for most of her life she was a reader of books in her later years she just read magazines.