Its been raining for days and everything is so damp. Its weird after such a long drought to have such a lot of water around but typical of Australia, droughts and flooding rain. Its kind of strange for the kids as they havent seen this much rain since they were little. We have had exciting times on our corner. One time a big gum tree (about 30ft) got undermined by flood water and had to be cut down. The family in the units underneath it had to shelter in our place. There is a death every couple of years of someone camping under a gum tree, they blow down in storms, especially after a long drought. Gumtrees deal with droughts by killing off limbs and the limbs fall in storms. Another storm brought heaps of coalwash from the mine down and thru some peoples houses, there were lots of streets unpassable the next day. If you go and look at the council maps you can see where the water courses were and the water goes back to them. In that storm the retirement village got flooded and one of the residents who had lost his legs was floating around in the water before they remembered to rescue him. He was quite funny about it I suppose when you've been thru what he had a bit of a flood doesn't bother you.
They thought we'd have big fires this year coz of the bush being so dry not a worry now I guess. Been just on the computer watching the stock market not too nice but interesting times.
Gardening quite a lot a lot of trimming and weeding finally the nice bit planting: ferns, a sesanqua camilla, some lettuce, prob all drowned!. I am trying to be kind of japanese in that i am trying to trim things and give each plant its room, which is hard coz things are packed in. Garden design really interests me but then I get carried away with the plants that are in flower and want them instead of thinking of an overall plan. My first mistake was reading too many english garden books and wanting a garden like theirs. Cant tell you how many silver birches I killed off well me and the climate. I have one left multiple trunks and a cold spot in a corner. I was looking at a blog Laura's garden full of pictures of plants I mostly lost. Then I had my native phase but that got destroyed by the roses which I like esp David Austens.
We have been exercising a lot in the pool but the motor is broken so have to get a new one and the pool is green from all the rain its a hard life not.

uck last post so boring I didnt publish it for few days but too lazy to delete so published anyway, Such a wacko few days. The dog got out of the yard into next doors garage and wouldnt come home, I went over to get her and she had a fish hook through her mouth. We tried to take it out but couldnt, so took her down to the vets, it was a public holiday so there was an extra charge. She had to have an anaesthetic and antibiotics $570 !!! We wont be going on any holiday. same day we'd ordered the ipods for the kids [so cool new pink one on the apple site]. Then the cars need servicing, so no dinners out either. Maybe we can still have lunch and our beaches are as good as anywhere.
Want to have a litle rave about the health system in NSW cause there is so much crap talked in the paper and from politicians, point form easier:
The bloated management are self.serving and incompetent
There has been a failure to train enough doctors or nurses to run the medical system, because these people cost money, buying them in from Africa, Egypt Russia etc is so much cheaper thru it has some fundamental problems, language only the beginning.
There are not enough beds for the population.
NUMs or numb bums as they are now known nursing unit managers formerly charge sisters have so much administrative work, organising pays writing rubbishy safety stuff [how to use the toaster], endless meetings and of course searching for staff, wards are leaderless.
Experience is not valued at all, anyone can work anywhere. Teaching and supervision is minimal to non-existent and for many workers hospitals are the most fightening work places. Often one disaster will mean the end of someones career.
Blame when things go wrong is always shoved downward to the least powerful in the system. Investigations into deaths etc take too long and have no outcomes in terms of patient safety.
The only policies that get are up are cheap ones.
Ignorance and laziness are commonplace and often rewarded by promotion. Disillusionment is mandatory for survival.
There is too much to do and more things are added all the time such as IT with almost no training.
Thats a bit depressing dont get sick best advice.

We had two nice dinners in a row, must be a record. Just a bacon and egg roll yesterday simple but very nice. I cook the bacon in the oven which is much nicer than frying it, just had tomato sauce on the roll through cheese, lettuce tomato are options.
Tonight we had corned beef, the eye piece [through I dont know what that is its the best bit according to my mother] The meat goes into a pot of water with a bay leaf, some vinegar, pepper corns, onion mustard powder and some ginger. I dont think they are the usual things altogether but I thought well I will just put in the flavours I like and simmered it for 2 hours. It tasted very nice. We had potato salad in lettuce leaves and slices of cucumber. I made potato salad with a vinegar and olive oil dressing. I dont like that slimy white stuff. I cut up an onion very thinly and put some dijon mustard (the one with the nice little seeds), sweet chilli sauce and salt and pepper. Sometimes I put lots of fresh herbs in the dressing and sometimes use different oils like mustard oil or macadamia oil.
I did aquarobics with a friend and after we had breakfast at the beach. I had fruit and banana bread. Then we brought some plants some lettuce, a rododendron, some ferns. Visited my mother, we had another swim in the evening and that was my day.

Kinda boring day. The morning spent sorting thru papers paying mothers bills and sorting papers for financial advisor. The afternoon talked to financial advisor about her money. Used to have it with Goldman Saks JB Were but they dont manage people with money under 2mill expected her to set up a website and discuss her investments with them, just at the moment she lost her short term memory thanks boys so long and thanks for all the losses HIH and Centro. These people are locals which is easier for us and smaller so might be more interested in her. Anyway they will give us a quote to do a plan so we will see.
We went to the beach to have coffee looking over the harbour.



Well daughter helped me create a account with photo bucket to import a photo I dont think I followed too well but maybe it will work so here goes its very beautiful.

Sometimes I think I am going to get it all together, make that list, do those things, be in order but days never turn out like that I will learn to download photos thru, one day. Today I had a different day planned but you have to be more organic. Was going to see my mother after the gym but my friends father has had a stroke so I went to have lunch with her at the hospital. She has been very good to me with my mother. There are times in your life when friendships make a big difference. With my first baby I was very tired, she never slept and mothering brought up lots of issues about my own childhood, I suppose I had postnatal depression but that was not acknowledged much then. A girl I worked with, who I hadn't really known outside work rang me and dragged me off to a mothers group she was going to. I think it really saved me from a much worse time and taught me to reach out to people more. After all whats the worse can happen they reject you and the best that you gain a new friend. Not that I'm very good at it but at least I try with friends to be there for them. I think its impossible to bring up children without help and it is amazing how you are just about to despair with all you have to do when another mother will offer to help.
The other day I was lying in the pool counting all the trees in my little rainforest they are: a macadamia nut tree, a white cedar, two bangalow palms, a cabbage tree palm, a rainforest tree I dont know, an illawarra flame tree, a silky oak [grevilla robusta]
a japanese maple, a cane palm, still little native frangipani {hasnt got room to grow yet} a camilla struggling on. Our old neighbours told us there was a spring in that corner of the yard I think I believe it for all these trees to thrive right through the drought with no watering only a bin for mulch making. There is also a white banksia rose and a wisteria growing up the silky oak. A garden designer Sorenson liked to put silky oaks with jacarandas and illawarra flame trees then you would have magical years when they all flowered together so you would have yellow with purple and red. I've never seen that done anywhere else but it should be.

We went to the races it was so cool. I have never seen those beautiful horses running down the track. Things in real are so much more powerful than just pictures or TV. We put bets on 4 horses and won three, the last one came fourth. It was interesting coz you can see the people really like the horses so much the jockeys and the people leading them. We went out to look at the horses to choose one which was the only way that made sense, thru there is no way we could choose. So I just picked the prettiest. Its funny to have got so old and never to have gone to the races my grandfather was a handicaper whatever that is and went to all the races in Adelaide. He never missed a Melbourne Cup. I like to do new things, its amazing how many new things you can do in your own town.
We were talking today about getting old, how it seems to consist of going travel and coming home to be surveyed for disease its funny I do not want to be tested and xrayed and jabbed. So much of medicine is about testing and so little about curing. Then the great payoff, survival in a nursing home. Eat drink and be merry we say. I am reading Michael Crichtons " Next." The genetics of us is so complicated you can see the disasters coming these nutters are playing very dangerous games and the consequences are so unpredictable. I dont worry much I dont know why. Don Juan says he has not agreed to get old I am with him. That matters and to love the earth which nurtures us. The nagual says that only love of the earth will take away our saddness. I think I look at the earth at the edges of things but it is the centre.

I put down as an extra interest the aussie stock market so I could look up other blogs with same interest but only one in Melbourne good ideas but hasnt written for ages prob being paid for advice and who would want wade in at the moment stock market yuck except for gold a bit buying opportunity or it hasnt bottemed yet. I've only taken an interest last few months (when the taxi drivers are talking shares its time to get out....) Oh well have made quite a few mistakes thinking Leighton was over valued at $24 haha. Did buy BHP which is all that is keeping us a little afloat its been lots of fun and houses are still fairly cheap in Broken Hill if we go out backwards. Got some Nab the other day now down a dollar but I do like the banks figure if they really go it wont matter much we'll all be gone. Of course after I brought news that they are involved in some subprime slime. Prob should have shoved the money with investment fund but not as much fun.
We have 2 new TV shows Dexter and The Riches they are so good there hasnt been much since Buffy, Angel and Firefly. We like the Gilmore Girls most of the time. I must try Joss Weldon as a link mighten get so many christians there seem to be a lot of them. Dexter is worth watching for the titles alone and how many shows can you say that about despite the wonderous tech.
Oh my tip is Austen engineering haha its been good to me well that should burn the market up.
See you got to have my evening swim before it gets too dark. Going to the races tomorrow first time wish me luck.