Tits, Tatts and my new life

This year I have had my life turned upside down, quite literally.  I am no longer a home owner, a business owner or have a little boy.

Now don't panic at the last statement, it's all for the better.

We sold our house.  If you have ever owned a Colonial Queenslander you will  know that whilst they are beautiful, they are a bastard to maintain and basically a money pit, sapping your time,  money and all your energy.  I had loved my house, no doubt about it, but it was time to move on, a lot of bad shit happened in our lives while we lived there.

We now live in a lovely townhouse, in a beautiful quiet part of town, with no maintenance, not even gardening, an en-suite, WIR and all for 2/3 the price of our mortgage!  Loving it...and the stairs are doing wonders for my legs and arse but my knees do seem to crack and creak rather alarmingly, but as my doctor revels in telling me, I'm not getting any younger!

I finally accepted that my business was not doing me any good, it's demands had overtaken my whole life and quite frankly I just didn't have the strength left to keep it going. So it's sold, gone, kaput.

My little boy has turned 18, a shocking event that seemed to come from no-where. One minute  you are up to your eyeballs in shitty nappies and night feeds, the next they are working, out on the piss with their mates or sleeping.  We have just been informed that he intends to move out as soon as he can, and whilst I am sad I also have the packing boxes ready...

Recently I wrote about my run-in with a charming gentleman who loudly, and publicly appreciated my "magnificent tits", so I blogged about it...as you do.

Since Christmas I have lost almost 20kg.  Great I hear you say, I wouldn't recommend my method (illness) but I am happy with the results...still a long way to go though.

Of late, and by "late" I mean the last 20 years or so, I have barely bothered with make-up, blow dried my hair about twice a year and was often to be seen out and about in baggy old trackies and sandshoes.  But no more.  In a case of fake it until you make it, I have started wearing make up, doing my hair and wearing better clothes, which makes me feel better, which in turn gives me confidence and a boost to me almost non-existent self-esteem.  It is habit forming, in a good way. Now I don't spend hours batting my eye-lashes at myself in the mirror but am starting to give a shit about how I feel about me.  I have spent years worrying what others thought of me, deciding that it wasn't much, so I just didn't bother.  I am not doing it for anyone but me (and maybe hubby, he appreciates that changes but loved me for who I has before) and I'm enjoying it.

I have decided to reward myself for every 5 kg lost.  The first 5 was with a navel piercing, the second a teeny, tiny piercing in the top of my ear and the third...

...those of you who follow me on twitter will know that I got a tattoo this week. My first.

I have always wanted one but was too concerned with what people would think of me to go ahead, but no more! (sorry Mum)  I now have a lovely butterfly tattooed on the inside of my wrist.  It gives me hope and strength and represents the positive changes I am making in my life.

Now you may ask, did it hurt? Hell yes, it hurt. But only when the needle was in my skin, and it was a good pain, a cathartic experience washing away a lot of old baggage.  The most painful part of the whole experience though was the crap music playing loudly in the background, dunno what it was but is it too much to ask for a little Adele? I think not! Made me feel so, so old.

I am now very close to the 4th target now and am going to get some pampering from the girls at Ella Bache...

So in a nutshell, a big one I'll agree, that's where  I'm at.  Taking some time out, getting well and working out where life will take me next.

And loving it!

Jo xxx

Have yourselves a merry little Christmas...

As I write this we are sitting in a sparkling clean house, food (and booze) in the fridge, presents under the tree, ready to go...except that we have a teenager (who could sleep through a riot, and kinda did a few days ago, but that is another story)...and he isn't awake yet despite the Christmas CD blaring!  The older kids will be coming for lunch...always a good thing.

Our hairy house guest is pottering around the garden enjoying himself...the cats are furking through the gifts...

Unfortunately the cats aren't as welcoming, they head for the hills when Wilko is in the house!

... I am reflecting on our blessings, which are many (even if I don't recognise them most of the time), and wishing you all a safe and happy festive season.


Jo  xxx

Wordless Wednesday - Nearly Spring...

Click here to join in:

How does your garden grow?

...by sheer dumb luck it would appear in my case!

I am not known for my green thumb, I tend to enthusiastically plant potted colour around the place with visions of a splendid display of flowers.  I furiously sow herb & veggie seeds in every available space anticipating a magnificent harvest and near self-sufficiency…I water and feed my darlings religiously for a few weeks, then get distracted by something else…one by one they  die off, leaving a few disreputable specimens that never bear produce but that I feel so guilty about I can’t chuck away.

My current efforts, winter frosts have not been kind...

So in a huge move and after much discussion, nothing gets done around here without a LOT of discussion, it has been decided that we will be building a veggie garden.

There is talk of retaining walls, soil mixes, compost and worm farms…

Land has been allocated - how grand – and currently materials are being sourced.

We are as yet undecided as to what will be grown but are thinking of veggies for stir-fries & salads.

I am very much looking forward to enjoying the “fruits” of our labours.  Last summer we grew a lot of our salad veggies in pots on the back deck, that was OK but this year we are going to attempt something bigger.

I already grow most of the herbs we use and will be trying some extra ones now that we will have more room.

There is even talk of some fruit trees…

Pretty things…

I am sometimes a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to all things online but yesterday I discovered Pinterest.   I have seen many bloggers mention it before but I didn’t go and check it out until now.

OMG… I am in heaven, and MrQ is scared.

Love that I can now get the inspiration I sought from magazines online, and can collect my ideas together without having to have piles of paper and magazines around the place.

So that is where I am if you need me…playing and planning our renovations.

Now I just need to make more money to pay for it all!

20

Twenty years ago today MrQ and I took a leap of faith and moved in together.

We had not much more than each other and the kids but were blissfully happy…

                  and SO YOUNG!!!!!!

I was thinner, he had more hair, God we were spunks!!!

20 years on, we are still happy, everyday life wears the edges off the bliss, but life is like that.  How boring would it be if there were no ups and downs, no challenges to work through together?

Life is more comfortable now, settled.  I wouldn’t change a thing.

Love you more than ever babe.  xxx

It’s getting cold out there…

I love winter as a concept, in reality it kind of sucks.

I hate the wind we tend to get here; it will freeze you to the bone.  I also hate the flu and colds, coughs and snot, you know, the things people share in shopping centres…don’t like dry skin, chapped lips and cold feet…and every year the need to get firewood from the shed seemingly every couple of house shits me to tears! It isn’t that often of course, it tend to be days between trips to the woodpile, and it isn’t usually me that does it, but I hate having to nag…and there’s never enough small bits of wood to get the fire re-started in the morning!

I don’t like the slate floor in the bathroom, so lovely and cool in summer, it is like ice in winter.  Going to the loo in the middle of the night isn’t any fun.

I do love snuggling up in front of the fire, steaming cup of coffee or a nice red in hand, something lovely bubbling away on the stove, listening to the wind and rain outside and knowing I don’t have to go out in it.

That lovely feeling when we are all home and safe while a storm rages outside.

I can actually sleep in winter, electric blanket, flannelette sheets, feather doona and blankets piled on…robes and slippers, bed socks and fluffy ‘jamies.

I love scarves and layers, gloves and boots. 

As I work from home there is no commute, our school run is no more and with the advent of online shopping the groceries are home delivered…so I can mostly choose when I go out.

What do you love, or hate, about winter?

Muzak? No thanks...

...far to quiet and mellow for me!

I used to listen to music ALL the time; at the very least the radio was always going in the background...

...there was live music in pubs and clubs, music in nightclubs, live concerts...loud enough to feel, the louder the better, so loud it hurt! Smash Hits on a Saturday morning, Rage at night...

These days I generally only listen to music in the car, and now I work from home I don’t get out nearly as much as I used to.  I do still listen to it LOUD though.

I will listen to anything from rock and roll to pop, hard rock and country. Some Eminem brings a smile to my face, Black-eyed peas, Nickelback, Dixie Chicks, The Corrs...

I generally don’t mind the odd bit of classical, but I won’t go out of my way to listen.  Show tunes don’t do much for me either.  Lady Gaga doesn’t make the list, but Katie Perry does...

So what do I love?  My tastes are stuck in an era that corresponds to my childhood and teens...ACDC, Cold Chisel, The Angels, Choirboys, Jimmy Barnes, Meatloaf,ABBA and a lot of the power ballads of the 80’s & 90’s...pretty much anything that I can get a really good howl going to in the car!  I love to sing; yes I am awful, but alone in my car with the music turned way up I am truly happy bellowing away...

MrQ enjoys much the same, with the addition of The Doors, The Beatles and Crowded House.

My son hates “popular music”, he is into alternative, it just so happens some of what he likes has become mainstream thanks to movie soundtracks, which disgusts him!  He is a complete music snob about manufactured “crap” as he calls it...but with the advent of the iPod we tend not to be subjected to it.  I’m sure the same applied when I was young; I just wouldn’t have voiced it quite so forcefully to my parents!

What is your favourite type of music, artists or musical era?

My feet hurt...

Even though I have lived in Queensland for over half my life I haven't really travelled outside the South-East of the state.

Last week changed that, with a trip to Carnarvon Gorge. 

Carnarvon Gorge © J Traill 2011

I had heard that it was lovely out there, but was unprepared for just how magnificent it really is.



Carnarvon Gorge © J Traill 2011

Ward's Canyon, Carnarvon Gorge © J Traill 2011



We walked for over 5 hours along the gorge, with several side trips (up bloody great sets of stairs) to see the sights.

It was gorgeous, however two nights was nowhere long enough...so we will have to go back!

I will write a review about or stay and experiences but as the sign says when you are leaving the resort:

Good for the soul, bad for the feet!

Happiness project

In early April, Seven Cherubs initiated a Happiness project where we were to record one sentence a day about something that made us happy or that we were grateful for.
I decided to participate, thinking it would be a quick and easy project. Little did I know just how tricky it would be some days to find something to write down.

Here's my list...

10/04 Had a lovely, quiet day with MrQ.

11/04 Happy to spend some quality time with my teenage son.

12/04 The weather is simply gorgeous today, gives me a real lift.

13/04 Grateful for the new business opportunities passed on.

14/04 Love simple things – a big pile of junk mail to look through.

15/04 Happy MrQ is coming home tonight after a week away.

16/04 Watching movies with my boys, bliss.

17/04 Walked to the markets with my guy, beautiful day.

18/04 Lit the first fire of the year, always makes me feel good.

19/04 An exciting time in my business.

20/04 Happy to have had a good night’s sleep.

21/04 Grateful for good friends.

22/04 Loving that we have 5 uninterrupted days together as a family.

23/04 Happy that home delivery exists for shopping, supermarket is ridiculous today.

24/04 Love the way everything looks and smells fresh after a storm.

25/04 I am eternally grateful to those who sacrificed all so that we may live the lives we choose.

26/04 Happy pottering around at home.

27/04 Glad to be busy with work.

28/04 Love picking some last flowers from my garden.

29/04 Happy for Wills and Kate!

30/04 Grateful to have such a loving son.

01/05 I love walking in Autumn.

02/05 Gotta love a long weekend with family.

03/05 Love watching the parrots at our bird feeder.

04/05 Happy to discover I have won a prize from Woogsworld!

05/05 Wow, great day – happy to also win a Tron DVD from Dosedannie.

06/05 Love snuggling with my cats when it’s cold.

07/05 Happy to sleep in today.

08/05 Grateful to my fantastic Mum for always being there.

09/05 Loving the cooler weather.

10/05 Grateful for the outlet blogging gives me!

So there it is.

I was surprised that some days I struggled to find something positive to write down. I think in the rush that is my life I don't take enough time to think of the things that make me happy, or that i am grateful for. And that's sad...

So I will be continuing the project for myself, taking the time each day to look for the positives, because they are there, I just don't pay enough attention.

What makes you happy?