Riding the Rough.

This post will be interspersed with totally unrelated pictures of various plants in our garden. I need to lighten some of the dark patches of the rough. (or should that be trough? as in trough of despondancy.)

This past week has been somewhat strange.
I have spent time lying about in public.
As opposed to lying about the public!

Gom would not 'play' with me, so I had to recruit some staff... mostly women!
Test driving beds can make one feel so ridiculous! Especially when the portly other half skulks and lurks around the edges of it all, refusing to prostrate himself for anyone.
Conversation in one shop went something like this.
Pretty saleswoman. "Come on, have a lie down. Don't you want to see how the different beds feel?"
Gom. "I can sleep anywhere I dont care what it feels like. I am happy with the one we have."
Pretty woman. Looks with disbelief then nervously laughs. Gets on the other side of the bed, so I can see how little disturbance there is.

Round & round I go. Sampling the delights of each bed- or not! Some were really hard, I could never sleep in a rock hard bed!
I suggest to pretty saleswoman that what they need is a Coffee Shop, so customers can go off to discuss things, & mull over the choices, in between hitting the mattresses. Another couple around our age, are also shopping for a bed. They agree a coffee shop would be good. Pretty woman agrees. I tell her to suggest it to management. I tell her I know just the person to run the shop. She asks me do I have a card? Good grief, I nearly sold myself!!
The shop is somewhat isolated, so no coffee shops nearby.
Pretty woman was very nice, & I wished I had bought a bed off her.

Eventually a bed was chosen. A deal was chiselled- well, we kid ourselves it was a deal, but most shops were offering enticing extras to try to drum up sales. It can be quite miserable strolling about vast expansive shops full of no one but furnishings, & a small sprinkling of staff.

One shop was full of young lads with spikey hair & ear rings & other facial piercings, along with the inevitable crop of zits, poor boys. They were very busy unpacking huge lumps of furniture for a huge sale to be held over the weekend. Lashings of cardboard lying about, paper flying, piles of tapes. Assembling shelves & hanging doors on the huge lumps of furniture. Fit to fill a mansion they were, but who can afford a mansion these days?

I offered to buy lunch for Gom. There is a nice shop called Pie in the Sky. It boasts having the best pies on the Coast. I would agree. There is another Pie maker close to the Beach who wins at Royal Shows in Sydney & even in Melbourne. The thing is, both my daughter & I dislike his over priced pies! Perhaps we are just contrary..

But Pie in the Sky never disappoints. There is a little Rotunda where one can sit in the sunshine or shade, to enjoy the delights.

I nipped into the nearby Sewing Centre to see about some free motion quilting lessons. A woman 'might' be going to give some lessons. I hope she does.

I fear Gom is 'abdicating' his life.

He has certainly changed over the past few years since he retired. He drives me crazy with his obsessive rearrangements of the pantry, the freezer, the fridge, my cupboards. I can't help but see this as some perverse arrogance. He obvioulsy thinks the placement of crockery, dishes, cookware, containers as defective in some way. A part of me knows it is not really, but it is an affront, somehow, to my organisational skills. The garden vanalisms have been blogged about in some depth. Parts of it all are not without humour. I am finding it somewhat harder to see the humour in much of what occurs.

The final straw came when I could hear him thumping about in the bedroom. Upon going to investigate, I found him with all my books from my To Be Read pile, on my side of the headboard/bookcase, about to take them off downstairs. It bloody well infuriated me! How dare he? I was angered & told him so. He just does not see why I might feel annoyed that he would presume to take my books away. He stacks them in inaccessible places down in his precious garage. Some I never can find! I caught him offering some unread books of mine- yes Gom they are mine!- to someone who never returns books. To be fair, to the recipent, why would he, he thinks we have finished with them.

I was infuriated to the point where I rushed into the laundry & thumped things about.

"That's right go bashing things about!"

Meggie is heard to reply, "I have to, I cant very well bash you, but that is what I feel like doing!"

I think he must have felt he had gone too far, since concilliatry moves were made.

I do feel sorry for him. He is losing his sight. He knows it will get worse. He insists on driving when he knows he should not. I live in terror every time we go out. His vision seems to fluctuate, so he cant always read, & he has always been an avid reader.

He even admits that his TV viewing is not the pleasure it once was, which is sad.

I have begged him to talk to our Doctor about things, but he refuses.

I hate to whine & feel sorry for myself, but it is very hard living with someone who basically cannot see the point in living. I know this, because he tells me...often.

Our son can see the changes when he visits. He knows how it is increasingly hard for me to keep upbeat.

Recently we had a quote done for replacement drapes for our kitchen & dining room. For the cost of an extra room they could be custom made!! Holy Cow! I know it is some time since I last bought custom made curtains, but I had no idea! Since the windows are not standard sizes & I feel too tired & clapped out & I dont feel I could tackle making curtains, I wanted the easy way out.

Friends were shocked also at the cost, so it was not just me. I have compromised & bought some drapes that will need some alterations, but since they cost me half the quoted price for custom made, I am confident I can 'unclap' myself enough to do the necessary.

It was made quite clear to me, that I was to choose the drapes & Gom wanted no part in selection.

Some days I dont get spoken to all day, & have no reason why. Some days the only person Gom speaks to is Leo!

Speaking of Leo, he had a right royal feast last evening. Friends came to visit, & Gom sparked to life & produced some crackers & Pate.

While we were out in the dining room discussing the new drapes, Leo made off with a large slab of cream cheese, and one container of Pate. I walked into the lounge to hear slurping noises, & I found him hurriedly attempting to devour the second container of Pate!

Haha, I know what my Beloved Brother would say!

Speaking of BB, he is recovering slowly. Says he is very tired, but that is understandable. He is very relieved he does not have to have the remaining side of his Thyroid gland removed.

Other family have not fared so well. As one Cousin said "It has been a sh!t year!"

Yesterday, while shopping for drapes, I saw the most beautiful quilt! It was in jewel colours of blues greens & turquoises. The proud maker was choosing a valance to go with the quilt. I wish I had had my camera. She showed me the back, it is reversible. Absolutely gorgeous. She made it to give to a friend. Lucky friend!!

Scenes.

Scene One.
At the Medical Centre with a relative, who wanted support, & company for the wait, which is often over 2 hours. We had gone away, -on advice- only to be informed on our return, that "Your name came out. You are now at the back of the queue!" Nastily told.

A very well dressed, well coiffed, elderly woman, wearing makeup, & well..., to be honest, literally Reeking of Money, comes to sit next to us. We see a Taxi pull up outside the entrance to the Centre, then a grill & partial front of a cream car. Up gets Elegant Ms R of M, & totters on her expensive shoes, out the door. Not to the cab.
No, to the cream fronted car. Out leaps the driver, very neat & swish. He opens a back door, we cannot see. Next thing, he moves forward, opens the front passenger door.

Elegant Ms R of M, climbs into the front seat...... of what turns out to be an ENORMOUS, s- t- r- e- t- c- h limousine!! It took a 4 point turn to get the wretched thing around the turn to leave the pickup area.
We were left to ponder why someone who obviously had money to spare, would come to a humble suburb, to attend a Bulk Billing -ie, free, Medical Centre??
My son suggested that may be why she was Ms R of M?

**************

Scene Two.
Son is a smoker, and since it is now illegal for smokers to be indoors in Pubs & Clubs most have provided outdoor seating areas for the wretched addicted.
Son is sitting quietly puffing. Large, loud, woman is on her mobile phone at the next table. He described her as being of the sort one would gnaw off one's own arm to escape from. Overweight, loud & aging gracelessly.

Conversation goes like this.
"Oh Hi! Hi it's me, yeah, I'm at the Club. Yeah.
You know whathisname? Yeah, Yeah, well apparently I slept with him the other night! I was p!ssed outa my brain. Yeah. Woke up in the lounge naked. Yeah the kids said I was really really drunk- passed out! Yeah."
Son was flabbergasted to say the least.
As he said, why would someone boast about something like that?? In a loud voice?

***********
Scene Three.

Gom took the long suffering M out to lunch today. It is his birthday month, & a Club we belong to, has a free birthday meal for members.
The Restaurant is an All You Can Eat Buffet. It is really nice, with a huge variety of food, so all tastes are catered for.
It seemed to be Ferals Day Out today.
I watched as a family of what I assumed were the parents, with two teenage girls & one 9 year old son, entered to do the troughs buffet tables justice. I know he was 9, because the children are charged a dollar per year of age, for the meal.
Who ever knew that one 9 year old boy could drink 8 huge glasses of soft drink?? As I watched him gallop from table to drinks machine I began counting.
Being a buffet it is all help yourself. And help yourself again, and again, and again!
It is not nice to watch a girl pick her nose, knowing she is not going to wash her hands, & she is going to be handling the utensils for dishing up the food, that I will have to also handle, if I want any of the dishes she has chosen.

Another family of Ferals. Two skinny girls. Running (Why?) to the sweets, again & again. I wonder if they will remain thin. I note the mother appears very thin, so they might have thin genes. Or maybe they only dine once a day.

**************
A family member has been very ill with a stomach bug, which is apparently currently making life miserable for many. Another family member also got it. Of course, no matter how careful you are, it is not always possible to stop the spread of such things. Particularly if the first sufferer is in the incubation stage, without knowing he/she has been afflicted.
Hopefully it has gone, with no other members getting infected.
Explains why I am somewhat nervous of eating where contamination can occur.


******************
Scene Four
Honey was very unwell. Vet visit. Wallet thinned. Antibiotics prescribed.
Wont go into details, nothing life threatening, but also nothing one wants to think about really. At least it was not eating anything inappropriate, like her brother.

She is well on the mend. She is her happy self again. We are told a further wallet lightening visit is needed.

Leo the Lad himself. The only thing he needs is a good grooming. He hates being brushed, clipped, or otherwise prettied up!

Did you ever play...

I did not want this to be my lead story. If I move the pic, it wont enlarge for reading purposes. It appeared in our local paper published for Wednesday 19th August 2009.
Is it just me, or does this seem wrong on so many levels?
I know the feral pigs are an introduced animal, which does a lot of harm & damage for native flora & fauna.
Somehow it seems wrong to think of men treating the hunting & killing of the creatures, as 'Sport'. In the name of Conservation.

********************************

As a child, did you ever play that game of "What good luck... What bad luck"?

My Beloved Brother, aka BB, & I used to play it often, on wet days, or bored days.

It went something like this.

Player 1. Scene is a man offered a flight in an aeroplane- what good luck.

Player 2. Plane crashes into bush- what bad luck.

Player 1. Plane landed on bushy trees, which prevented it crashing- what good luck.

Etc etc. You made it up as you went along. We loved playing, & it required nothing more than imagination, & a partner.

As there were only the two of us, we alternated. It could be played by any number of people. It could be as realistic or as ridiculous as you wished it to be.

I find life is much like that game. A series of What good Luck events, with possibly an equal number of What bad Luck events.

August is such a month for us.

My beautiful Daphne is still flowering, & filling the breeze with perfume. Good.

BB had some surgery, which could have been very nasty. A sudden large mass, to be removed, from a delicate dangerous area, involving great skill. Bad.

The result of the surgery has been successful, and it looks to be benign. Good.

The lemon tree looks to be sickly. Bad.

The lemons are divine, So juicy! Good.

Our son has been in stress. Bad.

He came to stay, relaxed, felt better, & OH how we loved having him! Good!

Deaths have been recalled, & mourned. Bad.
Birthdays have been celebrated, with joy for the gift of the person to our lives. All Good.

This little chap's parents do Search & Rescue work, when people are missing or lost in Bush. Bad.

They do really valuable work, even if the person has not made it alive. At least there is closure for the family. Good.

It looks as if he will be a bush walker too! And probably a Rescue worker, one day.

This little chubby chap is called Possum. Brings much joy with his antics. Good.

Gets into a little mischief... not too Bad.

Appliances broke down. BAD.

Appliances were repaired for very reasonable rates. GOOD

One appliance I have previously blogged about here had a nervous breakdown in the control area. Bad.

I contacted the manufacturers -again- & was told to return the item for a replacement. Good.

Upon return, there was no replacements available. Bad.

A refund was offered. Good.

We purchased another brand of blanket, with better placed controls! All Good!!

The Good Son mowed the lawn for his father. Good.

He did not cut it to the roots. Also Good.

The Violet plants flourish. Good.

They never ever flower... BAD.

Any tips?? Why??

The Lillies look lovely... well, the leaves do. Good.

There seem to be no flowers this year. I think that is ok actually, as I enjoy the leaves, they are interesting, & green & soothing. Good.

We seem to have plenty of pests to eat leaves in the garden. Bad?

Well maybe not so bad. More of the Good I feel, since we dont use ugly chemicals, so the snails have a great time. The snails provide food for our lovely lizards, in turn, so that is all Good.

These are so pretty. Good.

Dying, as they are is not so good, but part of the cycle of life.

I love the gold of the colours. Of course it is deceptive, but the beauty is undeniable, & should be enjoyed as each person that we love, in our lives, should be enjoyed.

These Tibouchina leaves lying on the rock amid the lichen & the weeds, seem symbolic to life's tides, somehow.

My intervention in the placement, also reminds me that I must not always believe what I see. It may not be so.

Appearances can decieve.

Cat Stevens. Miles From Nowhere.

Because..

.. it is all about the journey.
..the destination is final.
..Birthdays are the milestones along the way.




..the milestones pass too quickly, sometimes..
...destinations are reached.

.. the journey can be lumpy, and terrifying.

...I want you to be safe, and well, BB.

.. sometimes, I get homesick for the land of my birth.

..the ones who have gone, the ones who still remain.

..Honey is getting older.

..I love her more than necessary..

..it can be dark within.

..the outlook can be brighter.

..a hideaway in a leafy bower seems very attractive.

..sometimes our fears are never realised.

..you will never feel bad about something kind you have done.

...you may regret an act of love or kindness, left undone...

Cat Stevens, Bitter Blue

What do you call it?? Elderly shopping.

This will be another of those muddling along, 'Brown's cows all over the place' posts.

I seemed to think of many profound things to blog about over the past week or so, but all ideas have fled.

I find visiting other blogs is often inspirational, & this morning, I found a lovely blog, with some wonderful posts, & some wonderful bags!! Please go & visit Marigold Jam. I particularly enjoyed her day trip to London, but there are more lovely posts I intend going to read.

Before I get onto the day's wittering, here, in her beauty, is a Beloved Cat, called Mindy.

Mr Catalyst, does she remind you a little of your Smoke??

Isn't she beautiful! She is an adoptee of my beloved cousins, & she has become the light of their life. She goes for walks with them, & she goes visiting with them. She probably thinks she is a dog or a person! On second thoughts, I am sure she knows she is a cat, therefore a Superior Being! The stories my cousin tells of her adventures would make a good blog.

I keep pleading with Gom to let us have a cat, but he is adamant he doesn't want one. I suppose 2 dogs are sufficient, but when it comes to animals, I am such a fool.

We have been out shopping for a very mundane item. A new toilet roll/tissue holder. Who knew there were so many varieties? Who knew you could pay up to $200 for such a functional, boring, item. We had a perfectly useful one, but it was made of plastic, & as everyone knows, plastic seems to become brittle with age & usage.

I broke ours, so decided that we would get a metal one this time, as this is the third replacement we have needed. When we bought the house, there was an old broken radio-roll holder- remember those? Ugh.
As an interesting aside here, yes, another of my digressionsit has been an idle pastime trying to think of all the names there are for the "smallest room in the house". They range from the terribly twee to the crudest, depending upon where you live I guess.
Toot, WC, Toilet, Loo, Bog, Head, Powder Room, Bathroom, Guest Bathroom, Facility, Thunderbox, Lavatory, Washroom, Lavvie, Crapper, Outhouse, Dunny, Sh!thouse, Potty, Throne room, Library, or my most despised, Little Girl's Room. this is probably because it is usually the 'little girl' of the house who has to clean it!I am sure I have missed some out.

Back to the ordeal of buying a new anything. Picture Gom & Meggie stumbling around Bunnings. Lost in the aisles. Finally find a non~friendly shop assistant, ~what is it about Bunnings assistants?? they all have faces like thunder! Or is that just me?~ we finally find the selection. There is drastic plastic, at hideous prices for such small pieces of junk. There are shiny gold plated edifices- yes, that is what they are! -they need a whole room to themselves, never mind one that contains a toilet suite as well.

Finally after much discussing, examining, several rudely muttered words from Meggie, along the lines of offs, how can this take all day we decide on a metal one, which seems suitable, does not cost the earth, appears functional without being too prominent, as our small room, is just that, small. Who would have thought it would take almost an hour!!
Then, we have to go traipsing after insect repellents. I won't bore you with those details! Because there is the "New Bed" story to add.

************
Here, by way, for some light relief, if a pic of my lovely Cousin J's Chook bags. Aren't they cute. I think she makes them for her sister to sell at her Doll stalls.


After we finally got out of Bunnings, alive, sort of, I suggested we go bed shopping.

Now I have read Molly's bed saga, also Persiflage's saga, & remember one of our previous sagas, so I do know that bed shopping is not for the faint hearted, & not to be taken lightly. I also know that male cooperation is likely to be almost nil.

As a light relief, in this harrowing tale, here is a winter sunset, taken about 3 nights ago, from our balcony. Looks cold, & it was.



On with the bed shopping. We did not do a serious round & round the rounds look. We went to a local shopping centre close to Bunnings.
I test drove several likely looking/sounding candidates. (I did not, however test drive the one named "The Workbench", which was being sniggered at by an elderly mother & her daughter!) None seemed particularly wonderful. Of course it is impossible to really relax on a bed on public display. I met with other people who were shopping. Most of them were mother/daughter couples, & I think that option is the wiser choice, since Gom would not deign to lie upon one mattress. Indeed, he tried his best to appear totally unconnected to the plump lump testing beds.

Twelve years ago, we bought a new ensemble. It had a certain type of mattress with a particularly comfortable style of innersprings. Box coil?? I forget now. The sad part was, though it was the best mattress I have ever slept upon, Gom's side collapsed! It sort of caved in, after about 4 months of use! So we had it replaced. The second replacement was faulty also, so we had our money back & bought a completely different style of bed, from another company. It is now past it's use by date. It was never as comfortable as it should have been, & it has become hard, & particularly unkind to aching bodies- mine in particular.

I was advised that latex is very nice, it moulds to your body? I wonder? There has been no decision yet. I will look a bit longer, & perhaps take my daughter with me. I must say, mattresses have increased in price beyond my wildest dreams. haha.

Catalyst, you may avert your eyes. I know you are not fond of Camelias.
This is a 'free' one we get from our neighbour's lovely tree, which leans into our garden, to get away from an ugly conifer on it's own side.

I took this pic at dusk, after taking the sunset.

Also this pic of another bloom.

Now, Gom is attempting to attach the new Roll holder.

I wonder how many days before it is actually in place???

I wonder how many nights I will toss & turn, & be haunted by words of Leonard Cohen songs? I wonder if a new bed will make sleep come easier?

I never had a Neil Young album. Not sure why. I love this song.
Neil Young, Harvest Moon.

Current Crop of Queries..

Ok, the current crop of queries or questions, on my mind are not all of a ~shall we say~ 'pleasant' nature.

So I have interspersed some odd pics, to lighten the mood~ perhaps.

This is Tara. She is a Settlers Bear, which are supposedly "collectable bears". I don't care one way or another, I just like her, & her small embroidered dress. She watches me compose my posts... & I suspect she sniggers, as she reads my thoughts!

This is the "Fisherman" from some other "Collectable Hug", but I just love his air of supreme disconcern. I applaud it, because I have forgotten how VIP it is!! haha. Even though it appears he has dropped his fish!! Just too Snooty to Care!!

Here is one of the Questions.

I heard on some news bulletin, about sporting people or persons, which I dont actually regard as NEWS that some "Player" had fractured his Big Toe in (seven), 7, places!!??

WTH? How can a Big Toe have seven places??

Here follow some hideous images of my two Big Toes. One is diseased by arthritis,( I am presuming, not having had it diagnosed, professionally) one is seemingly 'normal'. Neither have been broken, to the best of my knowledge. But I still ask you, "How is it possible for a Big Toe to be broken in SEVEN places???" The mind boggles.
Supposedly "Normal" Big toe.
Hideously Abnormal Big Toe. Deformed by arthritis...one assumes

A solved mystery, about the wonderful perfume wafting over my senses, is the blooming of my Daphne Shrub. I had forgotten this is the time of year it flowers. Because it is in a garden out of sight, I forget to check upon it's growth...( which is perhaps, why) it has flourished, & survived to present me with wonderful blossom every year!

This is a blurry pic, sorry it is so indistinct. Somehow it indicates the lovely ethereal quality of the perfume.

Here it is again, slightly clearer. Such small blooms, giving such robust & gorgeous scent to our world.

Here, our wonderful reality, of days of Winter Splendour!

Our lovely Neighbours, Mr & Mrs NN, take out their neighbouring children, for a time at the Waterfront.

Could a day be more perfect?

Look at the blue sky. The blue reflected on the water in the bay. This is our local Waterfront. Paradise?

I think so.

A little girl & a dog, a sunny day, blue skies, calm conditions! Such joy in this pic!

I swear that "little dog laughed, to see such sport"

"And the dish ran away with the spoon!"

It seems to be Full Moon time again here. The dreams increse in intensity. The primal longings are perhaps awakened?

Family have health crises.

I find August to be a month of tension, trying times, & challenges. It does seem to be a recurring, tense, & highly charged time in my life.

This month will see the anniverary of my mother's death, my father's death, plus his birth, plus Gom's birthday, my fahter's birthday, & some loved rellies birthdays, & unfortunately some deaths. A very crucial month I think.

Such an old song.
I still love it today.
Sam Cooke, You Send Me.

Seeking the Gold.

When I was younger, I loved silver, & seemed to prefer it over gold, for jewelry.
As I aged, it seemed I 'grew into' gold. I decided I did like it, & chose a wide, plain, gold band for a wedding ring. Wide was not fashionable when I got married, narrow had become the fashion, but I stuck to my choice. I had always loved my Grandmother's wedding ring, which was wide & plain.

As I have matured I have discovered there is much gold in the world to be discovered & the best gold of all, is not a cold metal.

When I was a teenager, I had an Autograph Book. It had Black Watch Tartan silk on the the cover, & had been my mother's when she was young. She had not collected any autographs, so she told me I could have the book. One of my first autographs I got was from a dearly loved Uncle.

He wrote, "All that Glisters is not Gold. Sometimes it is the buttons on my tunic." He had been a soldier, who spent most of his time in World War 2 in a Prison Camp. He returned a very ill man, who probably would have died had he not been released, and returned to New Zealand in the nick of time.

I collected a lot of interesting autographs in that book, & sadly, when I went nursing some one took it & never returned it to me. It seemed odd, because the autographs were so personal, I always wondered what a stranger would find as a reason to keep the book.

These days I find Rich Gold lies where ever I look.
Gold more precious than the cold metal variety. Gold of such warmth, your heart is almost burnt from the contact, ~ certainly warmed to a degree no metal could impart.

There is the rich gold of friendship, that stands the test of time, & endures through ups, downs, good fortune, and bad.

The gold of young love, pure, innocent, given & recieved so trustingly. Even the trust can be golden.

The gold discovered with the joy of marriage. The gold of children, whose lives bring a special magic, golden glow. The absolute Gold of Grandchildren.

Leaving all those aside, because of course, not everyone marries, nor has children, there are many other sources of gold to be had, with no mere monetry value to be gained, or lost.

Look at these gorgeous golden funghi. I have no idea if they are mushroom or toadstool, poisonous or benign, but I fell in love with them, growing so bravely up through the leaf mulch under the Gum trees. Little Golden Miracles.


I also love spring flowers, love bulbs with their special magic of perfume, & beauty. Gold to me. Gold I managed to rescue from Gom's 'Garden Vandal' fork!
Look at the rich gold in the heart of the blooms.

There is gold in the gorgeous lemons on our tree. Their fruit is so sweet I can drink it pure. I know the leaves look a sickly yellow- gold!- but the fruit has been great this year, & it has more young fruit, plus more beautiful delicate blossoms, so it can't be too sick? I hope not. The idea of a male, preferably, a beer drinker, peeing under the tree has been suggested, but I can not find any one to oblige! The tree is situated on a somewhat raised bank, & I am sure should anyone 'go' out there, they might be spotted, & then who knows what would ensue. Accusations of 'flashing' from the neighbours, spring to mind! We have great neighbours, & would never wish to offend anyone! Perhaps when the Maple regains its lovely screening leaves??

There is gold in the warm sun, which has been pouring into our back yard. I spend time reading, with the warmth pouring onto me, as I lie on the sun lounger. Goms sits dreaming or reading on his swing seat, waiting until I come indoors, so he can lie on the lounger. We have 2 other loungers, but he has packed them up, & does not care to use them.

There are my golden sunsets I love, though we have not had any spectacular displays lately. No clouds & the fine clear skies blush very softly at sunset.

I have noted these past few days, there has been a beautiful, mysterious, perfume in the air, but I cannot locate the source. Some tree or plants in the neighbourhood must be blooming, & the soft scent is so soothing on the light breeze. Golden to my senses.

Ben Harper, Gold to Me.

Crapsticks. Or HELP!!!

Edited to add: It is now Sunday morning, & I see all is working again! I left the new counter but have moved it down the page. It is quite interesting to see the new visitors. I tried to add a counter to my other blog, but it won't play with me at all this morning.
Thankyou Warty for your support!!

Today I tried to change templates for my blog site.

DISMAL failure would seem to be the order of the day.
I had previously clocked visits from 161 various countries. I have successfully ported this info from one template to another.
However it seems this time I have lost the lot, & am back to 1 visitor from 1 country? How can this be?? I have tried to 'go back'. to restore. to no avail. I am slightly fuming...
I must remind myself, this is a cyber site, & nothing is guaranteed.. but still I fail to understand why, in previous changes, I did not lose any of the statistical sites or figures?? GRRRR!! Perhaps some computer whizz can help me??

I suppose this is all related to my change of ISP. Who knew it was so problematical?? I suppose computer savvy people know or knew. But dumb old me, did not. So now I seem to be up the creek with no paddles, & less current?
SOM... Silly Old Moo?? Yep that is me!!