Here we are at the start of another year, and to carry on from before the Christmas posts starting with a creature post and this weeks creature is the Platypus. Yes I did a post about it back in 2019 but here is another one.

When first discovered by Europeans this odd looking mammal was described as a cross between a duck and a beaver. Today we know it is as unique to Australia and one of two egg-laying mammals, the other being the echidna.

It has a rubbery bill, streamlined body and flat club-like tail that stores fat. The claws on its front feet are used for digging burrows in riverbanks, while its webbed legs and feet make it quite a swimmer.

The platypus is one of the worlds few venomous mammals the males have a sharp spur on their ankles which is connected to a venom gland in the upper leg. The venom won’t kill you but the pain is suppose to be excruciating.

Hello all this years Mondays are still my facts day, kicking off the year is a few facts about the Earth’s Beginnings, no one really knows how the universe came to be.

It is believed to have started around 14,000 million years ago with the Big Bang.

10,000 million years after the Big Bang our Sun and planets and solar system formed a galaxy called the Milky Way.

Each planet has a fixed path around the Sun, closest to the Sun is Mercury, then Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and lastly Neptune.

The Earth orbits the Sun at a distance of 149.6 million kilometres which makes it just the right temperature for water to exist as a liquid as well as ice and as a vapour.

The name Earth is believed to be 1,000 years old, all the other planets were named after Greek & Roman Goddesses the word “Earth” is an English/German word meaning “ground”.

NEW YEARS EVE

Had a good night but managed to stay in bed till 5am I dosed on and off from 3.30am till I got up.

David and Leigh came over to drop off the bag of empty cans and bottles for Tim.

It has been a much cooler day

Had a good night remember getting up to pee at 11.45pm and seeing Jessica and Sam before I returned to bed.

I rang Kathy at 7.15am as she hadn’t rung me she sounded more asleep then awake so it was only a short chat.

Tim had some kind of disagreement with Jess about Sam’s gender as in he wanting to be referred to as a girl. Tim doesn’t want to do it which caused the problem. Tasha said she is with her dad I also agree he shouldn’t be forced to call Sam she or her.

Although I do not agree with her saying that if Sam and Jess don’t want to respect Tim the can piss off and not come back till they do. This will hurt me as I love seeing them.

Had a good nights sleep up and dressed at 4.50am. Going to be another hot day and I am out of shorts so I will stay in my pj pants today, not like I am going anywhere.

A quiet day spent doing bugger all just no motivation.

Tim however agreed to take Blain for a driving lesson this afternoon and Tasha has asked if he could take him 5 days a week to get Blain’s hours up and help his conference, he said he would.

I am down to my last clean pair of shorts and these ones are too short for my liking but they are all I have at the moment.

I turned the air con on around 9.15am due to the heat.

The cleaners arrived around 11ish and did a good job.

Had a little sleep in, not getting up till 5.20am, in for another hot day.

Tim got up at 8.30am and shut the back sliding screen door, because he doesn’t get that there is a nice breeze blowing through the house. He thinks it makes no difference if it is open or shut he is wrong.

Turned the air con on around 10am as I was fed up being drenched in sweat.

A wet morning and of course I have to go to the doctors. The raining had stopped by just after 7am.

While talking to Kathy this morning I suddenly noticed that our car wasn’t parked in its spot nor was it on the lawn. Turned out Blain had parked it in our carport.

I walked up to Tasha’s for her to take me to the doctors and of course she was in a right mood. The appointment went well he has changed my diabetes medication again as my blood levels are so good.

I was sweating so much my feet were slipping in my thongs so I took them off while at the doctors.

Sue called in to see us, she just wanted to share how good her trip to Qld to see Kirsty and family.

I sent an email to Dr Babu about my feet moving so much enquiring if the new medication “Alziras” is the cause or is it just a progress of my condition.

Had a good night, although I was somewhat restless around midnight but in managed to settle again and slept through till 4.25am after peeing I decided to go back to bed for a but but ended up getting out of bed at 4.55am.

I finally heard from Snapfish and they are going to redo the lost project for free and I should have it by the end of the month.

Kathy and Summer came over as Summer wanted to see Tasha.

Hello everyone, I had planned to do a post yesterday with Jo-Anne’s thoughts but it didn’t happen after going to the doctors I just didn’t feel like it.

When I was having my wash this morning I thought why is it some mornings when I look in the mirror I thought I looked ok as in ageing well, although yesterday when I looked at myself I thought differently. Now I do not think I look older then my years generally speaking but there are times when I wonder if I am being a tad vain.

My grandmother always told me to make sure I moisturise my body not just my face but my neck and chest and upper arms and I still do each morning, although now I also have to moisturise my legs as they are drying out causing me to scratch which causes the skin to break and bleed, something I find very frustrating.

I like to dress nicely when I go out wearing if possible a nice dress or skirt some jewellery, including my train broach that I wear in honour of my Dad. I also like to wear some lip colour either lipstick or lip-gloss and perfume.

                                                         My word of the year is ACCEPTANCE

ACCEPTANCE:  The action of consenting to receive or undertake something offered.

                              The process of fact of being received as adequate, valid or suitable 

                               Acceptance in human psychology is a person’s assent to the reality of a 

                              situation recognising a process or condition (often a negative or 

                             uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest it.

 As many people would know I listen to audio books downloaded from my local library, I use to listen to audio books when I was driving but when I stopped driving I  stopped doing it then a few years back I started to have trouble holding a book and reading it and due to Covid I wasn’t able to visit a library I took to downloading Eaudiobooks and this is something I enjoy and I do get through a lot each year as you can tell.  This is 2023’s list of books listened to, 

BOOKS LISTENED TO IN 2023

THE BARRAKEE MYSTERT ARTHUR W UPFIELD

THE HOUSE OF CAIN ARTHUR W UPFIELD

THE GREAT MELBURNE CUP MYSTERY ARTHUR W UPFIELD

WINGS ABOVE THE DIAMANTINA ARTHUR W UPFIELD

DEATH OF A LAKE ARTHUR W UPFIELD

MURDER MUST WAIT ARTHUR W UPFIELD

THE MOUNTAINS HAVE A SECRET ARTHUR W UPFIELD

BONY AND THE WHITE SAVAGE ARTHUR W UPFIELD

THE SANDS OF WINDEE ARTHUR W UPFIELD

WINDS OF EVIL ARTHUR W UPFIELD

BONY AND THE BLACK VIRGIN ARTHUR W UPFIELD

THE BONE IS POINTED ARTHUR W UPFIELD

MR JELLY’S BUSINESS ARTHUR W UPFIELD

AN AUTHOR BITES THE DUST ARTHUR W UPFIELD

DEVILS STEPS ARTHUR W UPFIELD BUSHRANGER OF THE SKIES ARTHUR W UPFIELD THE LAKE FROME MONSTER ARTHUR W UPFIELD THE WILL OF THE TRIBE ARTHUR W UPFIELD BACHELORS OF BROKEN HILL ARTHUR W UPFIELD

VENOM HOUSE ARTHUR W UPFIELD

DEATH OF A SWAGMAN ARTHUR W UPFIELD CLUE OF THE NEW SHOE ARTHUR W UPFIELD CAKE IN THE HAT BOX ARTHUR W UPFIELD

BONY BUYS A WOMAN ARTHUR W UPFIELD

BONY AND THE KELLY GANG ARTHUR W UPFIELD

TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ HEATHER MORRIS

CILKA’S JOURNEY HEATHER MORRIS

THE CODEBREAKERS ALLI SINCLAIR

GULPILIL DEREK RIELLY

OUTBACK MIDWIFE BETH McRAE

WALZING AUSTRALIA TIM BORTHWICK

THE CHILDREN’S HOUSE OF BELSEN HETTY E VEROLME

THE TUNNELS GREG MITCHELL

OUR VIETNAM NURSES ANNABELLE BRAYLEY

BAREFOOT IN THE BINDIS ANGELA WALES

THE KELLY HUNTERS GRANTLEE KIEZA

MIDWINTER MURDERS AGATHA CHRISTIE

THE SOLIDERS STORY TERRY BURSTALL

IMMIGRANTS AND SPIES BARABRA MACKAY CRUISE

RAT CATCHER KIM KELLY

THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND ADAM COURTENAY

THE MIDWIFE MURDERS JAMES PATTERSON &RICHARD DiLallo

THE LOST AIRMAN SETH MEYEROWITZ & PETER F STEVENS

THE QUEEN’S COLONIAL PETER WATT

INSIDE STORIES TIM BOWDEN

STUBBORN BUGGERS TIM BOWDEN

LARRIKIN’S IN KKAKI TIM BOWDEN

SURVIAL TIM BOWDEN

1913 PAUL HAM

KOKODA PAUL HAM

HITLER’S DAUGHTER JACKIE FRENCH

PENNIES FOR HITLER JACKIE FRENCH

A STUDY IN SCARLET ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

SIGN OF THE FOUR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

VALLEY OF FEAR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

HIS LAST BOW ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

THE CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

SONG OF COMFORTABLE CHAIRS ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH

THE HOUSE OF UNEXPECTED SISTERS ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH

STRANGE CASE OF THE MODERATE EXTREMISTS ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH

ALL THE COLOURS OF THE CATTLE ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH

THE JOY AND LIGHT BUS COMPANY ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH

THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACSMITH TOM KENEALLY

SEARCHING FOR SCHINDLER TOM KENEALLY

SCHINDLER’S LIST TOM KENEALLY

Here we are at the last day of 2023 and this year I will end with a post about New Year’s Eve.

So when was the first New Years Eve, well wouldn’t it be the year after the start of life on Earth. Anyway the first know record of New Year’s celebrations goes back to around 2000B.C in Mesopotamia. It occurred at the time of some equinox which is around the end of March.

So we all know why it is New Year’s Eve but did you know it was only since the 1300’s that the word Eve has been used to refer to an evening before an event, such as Christmas and New Years.

When did the first of January start marking the start of a year well that was back during the reign of Numa that the Roman republican calendar would mark January and since January was named after Janus the Roman God of all beginnings.

Google tells me the first country to welcome the new year is Samoa followed by Kiribati and Tonga, as they are close to the International Date Line. This is also the reason Australia is also one of the first countries to welcome the New Tear.

Google also tells me that Rio hosts the world’s largest and wildest New Year Celebrations. Of course the classic ball drop in Times Square or the fireworks displays at Central Park are also big celebrations.

Here in Australia NYE can be celebrated on boat cruises, in parks or at the beach, all we just have a barbie at home with family and mates. Sydney’s celebrations are televised allowing many to celebrated in their home even if alone.

CHRISTMAS EVE

Up at 4.50am another cool start to the day. By around 8.30am it started raining and has been raining on and off all day.

Did the grocery shopping it will be delivered Tuesday afternoon between 1 & 7pm I will ask Tasha if her, Blain or Sam can be here when it arrives and unpack the cold stuff.

A quiet day spent waiting for the computer to load and work like I wanted it to.

CHRISTMAS DAY

I have been up since 5am, sent a Christmas text to different family members, have received some replies and had to restart my frozen computer before doing anything but I cannot get my email program to open, make one want to scream.

Sent Christmas messages to my siblings, niece and Jonathon and received replies.

Had a video call from Kathy and that really made me happy seeing their lounge-room looking like mum & dad’s on Christmas morning.

Jess & Sam came down and gave me and Tim a present each, a coffee cup for dad and a nice black necklace for me. The best present was although a photo of me and Sam.

Tasha cooked lunch and brought it down and we ate here all except Blain who wouldn’t get out of bed. He did eventually come down for his gift which was just a $50 gift card.

All in all it was a good day.

BOXING DAY

I have been up since 5am as usual and I am drenched in sweat, while sitting here Jessica came over and dropped off a chocolate muffin for me.

The shopping should be delivered around 6.40pm.

I feel frustrated this morning with the shaking and sweating and other things not going the way I would like, aka my computer…..

Went over to Kathy’s for lunch which was nice Michael made sow cooked ribs and a baked ham with spuds and carrots.

Just as we were leaving it started to hail and we had to pull over for a bit.

Came home to a hot house and Tim saying he should have turned the air con on before leaving.

Not as hot this morning, I have been up since 4.30am had a good nights sleep.

A busy morning working at the computer which took longer then is should have but I was chilled and just rolled with it. I did get things done even if it took a while.

Kathy rang as she does every Wednesday but as I had seen her only yesterday I wasn’t expecting her to ring. We chatted about nothing much.

Another hot day, I turned the air con on around 11am and shut the house up to block out the heat.

Had a good night till about 3am when after getting up to pee I struggled to settle down again. Tossing and turning and after what didn’t seem very long I looked at the time and found it was 4.50am so I got up.

I was in the kitchen getting breakie ready when Jess turned up looking for bread but sadly I didn’t have any bread.

I decided to watch one of the many things I have recorded between 8.30am and when Tim gets up which is usually between 9.30 & 10am.

Another hot day, I am not handling the heat well it is giving me headaches and an unwell feeling.

I had a mostly good night sleep till 4am when I started to feel restless, I also started to feel like I couldn’t breath and needed to take my Cpap mask off, so I ended up getting up at 4.30am.

Tim was up at 9am and of course turned what I was watching on telly off so he could watch his show.

Had to turn the air con on around 10.30,at least Tim isn’t complaining about it going on, maybe he can see how bad the heat is affecting me.

Saw Kelli she came to borrow the wheelchair she was in a car accident yesterday and wrote off her father’s car, she will need surgery on her right leg but not sure when. The kids were with her when the accident happened but are ok. She looked ok which lessened my concern. Her friend Jay who is down visiting drove them over to pick up the wheelchair by them I mean Kelli and her dad Rex.

Up at 4.30 again after a slightly restless night, had to get up during the night and eat some cheese & crackers as I was feeling unwell with hunger pains.

Had an early morning visit from Sue she isn’t in a good place feeling she is poison and toxic and the world would be better without her, I gave her a hug well a few hugs and told her I don’t like to hear her saying such things. I said a lot more to her gave her a stern talking to in fact

I am so tired I fell asleep while trying to watch TV so went and had a lay down for an hour. Did a bit of research and discovered the new medication I am on causes sleepiness and sudden onset sleep.

Well it’s Friday and it’s hot again but it is Summer as my daughter reminded me.

A new year is fast approaching and what do I hope for the new year, I have been giving this some thought and what did I come up with……….

I would like to see Tim return to work, and if that’s not going to happen I want to know what is going happen next. At the moment we just don’t know what is going to happen, there is a meeting next Month that might give us some answers.

Both Natasha & Blain want jobs so I hope that happens for both of them. I feel that neither of them are really happy with how their life is going.

I hope that 2024 see’s me still improving in regards to my health. I hope to also lose a little more weight.

I want to see Sandra move into a 4 bedroom home so she has more room.

I also want to see the differences between Kathy & Tasha can be worked out and their relationship can improve.

I am also trying to decide if I will post 6 days a week, like I have done this year or should I drop a day and post 5 days a week.

How about everyone else, do you have any idea what your hopes for 2024?

The photos above are of my brother’s house and yes that is a photo of my brother and sister in-law

                        This next  lot are my house with decorations and presents ready to hand out.

                                                                 Christmas Day lunch

                                       Photos taken of Kathy’s  house and what she had for lunch

      A few photos of me with sister Sandy, Granddaughter Sydney-May and one of one me & Sam