Back in the Harness

Yep the tart's latest trip is over - and what another fabulous one it was.  As I said I haven't posted any of the photos or stories on here but if you flip across to the left hand sidebar you can see the link to Travel Pod and if you click on there you can check out how much fun we had.

So we got back on Sunday and Monday was the day of reckoning to see how much I had gained in the four weeks away.  My stomach and spare tyre felt considerably increased and I was ready for a major shock - however it actually wasn't as bad as I had thought - I'd gained 2.6kgs over the four weeks and considering there was a lot of alcohol consumed and some incredible food savoured - particularly on the cruise - I was reasonably happy with that.  I guess we did do a fair bit of walking which provided some damage limitation.

I knuckled down straight away on Monday - back on the WW plan - counting points, lots of water and no alcohol.  I feel much better already and by this morning had lost 1.6kgs of the 2.6 - so feeling much better already.  But I need to maintain the effort - Clive and Jo get married in April and I want to be feeling really good about myself by then - which requires a good few kilos off.  However I do believe I'm finally in the right headspace - after all those months before we went on holiday when I could have been doing clever things but I just couldn't get it together!  C'est la vie!

We're driving to Brisbane tomorrow afternoon and staying overnight in our DinL's parents unit and will pick up Merlin - our new four legged friend and bring him home on Saturday.  So there's another weightloss accessory - one young active large dog who will require lots of excercise - that'll get me out pounding the pavements again - not before time!

I've been talking to his carer a few times this week - he sounds fantastic but I think will be quite a challenge until he settles down a bit.  He had a very restricted and neglected puppyhood - no toys, no bed, tied up in a square backyard with no walks so now although he's 14 months he's revelling in doing all the things he missed out doing as a puppy.  Anyway watch out for a plethora of photos of our new family member.

On Monday night we were at Grant and Tiff's for tea as it was Josh's birthday - 10!  Can't believe it's 10 years since that special lad came into our lives.

Not that much else in the way of news.  To my delight our local Woolworths introduced online shopping.  I've waited soooo long for this to become available.  Food shopping is one of my pet hates  - along with housework and ironing.  I was obviously meant to be one of the aristocracy!!  Anyway placed an order on Tuesday and it was delivered last night around 7.30pm.  Absolutely wonderful - the lovely man didn't just bring it to the front door but all the way up the stairs and on to the kitchen benches.  I can see the start of a beautiful relationship between him and I - lol.

So I think that's the latest from the Tart - I'll be back soon - I need my 'blends' to help me stay focussed and get back to where I want to be.

Hope you're all having a good week
Love Z xx

Josh carrying in his cake

Posing for a pic

                                            

Only a few days more

Sorry guys - it's been a pretty poor show on here lately - and it's not going to improve I'm afraid.  But.... there is a consolation prize - I have started a travel blog and I've posted a few pre trip entries there and I will be updating it regularly as we travel with stories and pictures.

The main reason for the other blog is that whilst I'm not private on this blog I haven't told any family or friends of  it's existence.  Many of them know that I'm a blogger but no-one has asked for details of my blog and I haven't volunteered and I'd like to keep it that way.  However many people want to know more about our travels and in the past I've updated here and Facebook and via email.  With Travelpod I can update once and it goes everywhere and sends notifications to my specified contact list and also posts to my status on Facebook that I've updated it.  So if you click on the link at the top right of my blog it will take you to Travelpod or if you want to receive an email notification then just leave me your email as a comment and I'll add you to my list. 

So only a few more days till we're off - and I'm working right up to the last gasp so busily trying to get everything all sorted.  Think I'm almost there - hairdresser tonight and beautician on Thursday night, cases virtually packed, house sorted out and trying to do a handover for work.  But by Saturday around 7am I'll be on that plane and I'll be focussing on nothing else but having another wonderful holiday.  I need to rush off to work now. 

Take care my lovelies
Love Z xx

So much happening!

Sorry my 'blends' - life has been fun and crazy lately and my blog has been sadly neglected. Fortunately many of you also know me on Facebook so have been able to keep up with me there. I see it's almost a month since I last posted but it's been a good month with many wonderful things happening.

Big news No 1 - I got a call from Clive on Wednesday 27 July - he was back in Oz and in Melbourne with Jo - they went up to the snow for a couple of days then were heading up to see us for the weekend. I had already had a couple of conversations with him since he arrived back the previous Saturday and was wondering why he was ringing me at 4pm on my way home from work. Well he was ringing me to tell me that he and Jo had just got engaged. You should have heard me squealing with delight - I was driving home so this was all taking place via bluetooth on my car speakers - hilarious. Anyway one very happy and delighted Maw here. They came up to us on the Friday and stayed till Monday so we got the chance to get to know Jo a bit better. Think she's just great and they seem so relaxed and happy together. Clive headed back to Korea again last night for a 10 week stint this time. By the time he gets back the two townhouses he's been building in Melbourne will be ready for occupation - he's renting one and they'll live in the other and so they plan to have a housewarming/engagement party - that'll be towards the end of October. They're planning to get married next Easter but still in the throes of sorting out venues etc. So terribly exciting.

The rock - I asked what colour gold the band was as I couldn't see past the diamond!!



The happy couple

On the shores of the river when we went for breakfast last Sunday morning

Big news No 2 - we're going to have another new family member after we get back from our trip.  I've been browsing around the animal rescue pages to see who was in need of our love and who looked like they were meant to be ours.  Last Friday I spotted this lovely fellow who seemed to touch a chord - his eyes reminded me so much of our wonderful Zanna.  But of course we'd decided that we wouldn't get another dog until after our trip - would be unfair to bring a dog home for a month then put it in the kennels for 5 weeks while we're gone.  However I emailed the shelter to say that we really liked the look of this guy, explained that we were going away  but if he was still around when we got back we'd definitely be interested.  The lady from the shelter replied and agreed that it made sense to wait and that if he wasn't available there would certainly be other K9s in need of our love.  All good.  Then a couple of days later she emailed me again and asked me to ring her.  I did and we had a long chat and she said that there was always the possibility of adopting him now but leaving him with his carer - all their dogs are fostered - until we got back but she said that she'd obviously have to check with the carer first.  I said I'd discuss it with Bloss.  The carer is in Brisbane and the problem was finding time to go and meet him in the next couple of weekends before we go - a trip to Brissy takes out a whole weekend.  Then thought a bit more and realised that it was a long way to go for a 10 minute meeting which wouldn't tell me much more about him.  So after further discussion with Bloss - he's so wonderful and long suffering and puts up with my 'everything needs to happen now' approach to life!!  He was saying why the rush and I've got my long face on and he says - you really like this dog don't you - yes I do but even so it would depend on whether or not the shelter agree to out proposal and whether the carer can keep him for another 9 weeks.  Anyway put the proposal to the shelter and she said she'd check with the carer and get back to me.  This took from Wednesday night to Friday afternoon and then I got an email saying the carer would keep him and that I should ring her and have a chat.  I did - she was a delightful Kiwi lady (Belinda) - aren't they all - from Nelson (about 20 years ago) and after talking to her I'm even more convinced that he's the lad for us.  So now some photos

Introducing Merlin :

How could you resist that face - he's 12 months old.

Belinda says he learns really quite quickly

I think he'll be a bit bigger than Zanna

HIs history is that he wasn't abused but was quite neglected - only fed scraps I think and so was painfully thin when Belinda got him 2 months ago

So he will certainly make our holiday coming to an end a lot easier to bear!

Other news - weight loss is crap - not gaining but just not losing - I go well for a few days then something happens and I lose my focus.  I'm annoyed with myself for not knuckling down and losing a few kilos but even so I'm just not getting in the groove.  However with a young dog to train and walk and a wedding early next year that should make me get my act together when we get back from holidays.

Less than four weeks now till we're off - excitement levels mounting!  Now must be off and do some food shopping, try and sort out Bloss's packing - he tends to hang all his clothes up in a pile in the bottom of the wardrobe - so a bit of sorting out required and then G, T and the boys will be down for tea tonight.

Hope all is well in your worlds
Take care my lovelies.
Zanna  xx

Zanna - A Celebration of her Life

On Thursday morning when Bloss let Zanna in to come up stairs when he went to work - she usually spent half an hour or so up with me before I left for work - she seemed quite unwell and was moving very slowly and generally not happy. I wondered if she had had another seizure during the night. I had back to back appointments all day at work so had to leave her. She wasn't able to walk back down the stairs so I had to carry her and then she climbed into her bed and I went to work. I managed to get home a little bit early onto to find that she'd gone during the day. Needless to say Bloss and I have been a bit of a mess for the past couple of days. Many of you know me on Facebook so know this already. The loving messages and support we got from all our friends has been amazing. This is when you discover all the doggy/pet people - they really understand what it's like to lose a pet. However gradually the pain is beginning to ease and as I know from past experience what will be left is a host of wonderful memories of how much love, light and laughter she brought to our lives.  I did have a chat to our vet as I was worried that perhaps she had been bitten and I could have saved her if I'd taken her to the vets.  However he has reassured me that he's certain that the seizure a few weeks ago was a warning that something wasn't right in her brain and he believes she had either a stroke or an aneurism - and that it would have been blissfully quick.  She certainly looked very peaceful so I just have to hang on to that thought.

It's a tribute to how much pleasure she brought to our lives that we will probably get another dog. I remember reading once that the greatest legacy you can have for a dog you've loved and lost is to give another one a chance. Zanna was a giveaway - had become too big and boisterous for a young couple who hadn't given her that much training and who now had a baby. Hopefully we can give another dog the chance of a loving home. However we won't do anything until after our trip - wouldn't be fair to get a dog in the next few weeks and then stress it all over again putting it in the kennels for a month - but maybe after we come back we'll have a look around to see who needs help.

I've just spent the last half an hour or so going through all my photos and laughing and crying at the same time while seeing just what a big part she played in our family. Here's a selection below and also some beautiful verses sent to me by some of my wonderful friends.

Thank you my beautiful Zanna for the joy you brought to my life xx

She is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are her life, her love, her leader
She will be yours faithful and true till the last beat of her heart.
You owe it to her to be worthy of such devotion

I LOVED YOU BEST
So this is where we part, My Friend,
and you'll run on, around the bend,
gone from sight, but not from mind,
new pleasures there you'll surely find.

I will go on, I'll find the strength,
life measures quality, not its length.
One long embrace before you leave,
share one last look, before I grieve.

There are others, that much is true,
but they be they, and they aren't you.
And I, fair, impartial, or so I thought,
will remember well all you've taught.

Your place I'll hold, you will be missed,
the fur I stroked, the nose I kissed.
And as you journey to your final rest,
take with you this...I loved you best.


The Rainbow Bridge
inspired by a Norse legend
By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.
For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.
No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.
They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.
For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.
The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,
And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

Heartfelt thanks to Nola for these last two poems - they mean so much to me - I wept buckets when I read them but nonetheless they've provided great solace.



Zanna as I first saw being held by her previous owner



Her puzzled face

She was always Queen of the Deck - this is before we built on the new deck

Down the river with Josh

Her white sock was often commented on - sometimes people thought she had a bandage on

Such a pretty smiley face

Remember the night (Christmas Eve) she took off in the thunderstorm and we found her miles away - and then she was so exhausted she slept for nearly a while day

Queen of the new deck

Posing when I got my new camera a couple of Christmases ago

Loafing around

Both grandsons loved her but Curtis has always had  more time for her - he's going to miss her badly

Tuckered out

Clive also will really miss her - when he stayed with us for a few  months she and he spent a lot of time together

Zanna the reindeer

Sniffing around in the bush

Out in the bush with Bloss

With Curtis again

A rare one this - she wasn't allowed on the furniture but I think the boys encouraged her to overcome her normal good judgement this night

You're such a pretty girl Zanna

Pensive

Hmmm nice smells!  always on the lookout for something to chase - who remembers the possum story?

At the park with Josh

Another park trip

With Josh this time

And finally probably my favourite picture of her
RIP my wonderful Zannagirl

Sparkles and Spectacles

Well another week gone - it's now less then 10 weeks  till we leave on our trip so starting to think about what shows we want to see on the cruise and what excursions we want to do while in ports.  We can book them  online in advance - apparently preferable to make sure you get to do what you want.  So Bloss and I doing a bit of contemplating!

Weight - stayed the same - think I need to get tracking again - while I'm not being 'bad' there's no doubt I'm probably not being as 'good' as I should be - but I am now entering week 5 without alcohol and that's got to be a good thing.

I got my diamond pendant back yesterday - think I mentioned that I had bought another diamond from the wholesalers when they visited recently.  Below is how it turned out - I'm absolutely delighted with it - he set the actual diamond in white gold claws which makes it really stand out.  He actually is a chainmaker to trade and so made the chain from some gold that I had.  So a very happy customer!

Had a funny phone call on Wednesday night - the phone rang and it was Josh (grandson No 1) when I asked how he was he replied not too good. Below is a sort of a replay of the conversation

Me - Oh no what's wrong
J - I've done the wrong thing at school and made some bad choices and really disappointed Mum and Dad and part of my punishment is to tell my granadparents what I have done.
Me - so what happened?
J - I've not been eating my luch at school and throwing it away and I lied to Mum and Dad about it. 
(he sounds so sad and dejected at this point that I'm nearly in tears)
I start to say something and J says - "but there's more!"
I think OMG what else has he been up to
J - I'm not allowed to play any electronic games (which rules out the Wii, my laptop and my Iphone when he's here) and there's to be no treats (usually after tea when they're here they get a sweet treat each)
So then I launch into Granny mode and say
"Well I'm a bit disappointed in you too but you know everybody at some time makes bad choices but you know the important thing is that you realise it was a bad choice and you learn from it and don't make the same mistake again. - do you realise now it was a bad choice?
J - Oh yes (fervently)
Me - and will you make that mistake again
J - Oh no (even more emphatically)
Me - and I'm guessing that what upset Mum and Dad most was that you told lies, Mums and Dads don't like lies!
J- Yes
So then I think he's done enough penance and ask him how the weekend was - and he told me how well the footy had gone.  Then he said that his Dad wanted to speak to me.
Grant came on and apologised for dropping this on me - said he probably should have forewarned me but figured my granny skills would come to the fore anyway.  Turned out that Josh has been pushing the boundaries a bit lately (as most kids do around almost 10) and he'd had several warnings and fianlly it was time to follow through on the threats one of which was to 'fess up to his grandparents - although they let him off after me.  Apparently he'd been packing it before calling and had his speech all written down before ringing.  Anyway I'm sure another of life's lessons learned for him.  Tiff texted me later and said she'd almost been crying listening to him at the other end!!  Ah the joys of bringing up children.

Another topsy turvy week at work - I'm in charge of arranging the annual Service Awards Function at work - I've beenn chuntering along quite nicely with my plans but was struggling to get decisions on a couple of items - namely the extent of the invite list and the gift - which is only really a token (everyone gets a sizeable some of money on their anniversary date depending how many years they've been there) but causes so much controversy - you know some of the people some of the time!! and so much angst to the person doing the organising.  This is the first year I've organised this particular function.  I had most of the event organised and booked but was struggling without the above decisions.  I had a hissy fit with my manager about a week and a half ago and he turned up trumps and made both decisions - leave the guest list as it was - good idea with only 5 weeks to the event - and give everyone a gift voucher to Bunnings.  However this came out at the weekly managers meeting - which he wasn't at - and they got stuck into his deputy- didn't like the idea of a voucher.  Anyway after some discussion between my manager and me we agreed that the best plan was for me to have a one on one meeting with the GM and explain it all.  So I did - it went well and in one of my rare inspired moments I mentioned an idea I had about the gifts going forward.  He grabbed that like a drowning man - had a discussion with his Ops GM and the most vocal of the complaining managers and told me they absolutely loved the idea and could I make it happen this year - I had been putting this idea forward for next year.  This is when you realise the value of building strong networks - with four weeks to go - my local supplier has come up trumps and we should be good to go.  So of course now you want to know my idea - quite simple really.  Give a set of half a dozen glasses to the award recipients but make them different according to the number of years of service and no logos - no one uses glasses with logos!
So
10years - wine glasses
15 years - highball glasses
20 years - wine flutes
25 years - port glasses
30 years - whisky glasses
35 years - decanter
and the GM is going to up the value after 20 years and again after 25 years. And of course it makes my life so much simpler for future years. 

Anyway waffled on long enough today - hope I haven't bored the pants off you.  Hope you all have a brilliant week.

Love Zxx



The pendant with the hand made chain





You can just see the white gold claws



I love that it's a bit different

Unfortunately this shows my chest wrinkles!!

My new Osiris glases

I do love a bit of bling

The black and white shot

My second pair - Tommy Hilfiger - these are for distance only - they were actually my first choice but not deep enough to do graduated lenses unless I paid another $200 so I looked around and found the Osiris paid.

Steady Eddy

That's me - not setting the world on fire but just plodding along. Sorry haven't been around for a couple of weeks but I have been updating my total loss above - I lost 200g in Week 2 and another 600g last week - so 1.4kg in the three weeks. I'm still off the alcohol but also still not getting any proper exercise - the days just seem to be disappearing without trace at the moment.

Had a busy weekend just passed - my friend Ruth who also works for Rio has been up on site these two weeks on a project with her team and instead of going home with the rest of the team for the weekend she stayed with us and we did a power of catching up. Friday night we all went into a local club for tea and caught up with Shaz there too. Then Saturday Ruth, Shaz and I all went to Rockhampton for the day. I picked up my two pairs of new glasses - haven't got a pic yet - will need to save that pleasure for you! - and while I was sorting that out the other two went for a pedicure. Then we had a lovely lunch and a spot of shopping! Got a few really good bargains - a pair of off white shoes reduced from $89.99 to $22.40 - who could resist that. Another bargain was in Katies - a white shirt originally $39.99 now in the under $10 rack - with a further 25% off - so I got it for $7 - and you know you can never have too many white shirts. I also bought a couple of poncho style evening tops - too hard to describe - but non crush, light as a feather - so good travelling gear - and look fantastic over black pants and black cami top. I'll show you when I first wear them.

Yesterday Bloss, Ruthie and I went with our other friends Deb and Ian off on a drive to the Town of 1770 and Agnes Water - we had morning tea at 1770 and then came back to the pub at Agnes and ended up having lunch there then headed to Baffle Creek to the Golf Club there - but it was closed for renovations after the floods earlier this year, so we headed back towards home and called in at the Bororen pub for an ale there and finally got home around 5.30pm - it was a lovely day out with much fun and laughter. And I was such a good girl and stuck to soda water all day.

That the latest from me - hope all is well with all of you.

Back soon - love Z xx

Ruthie and I at dinner on Friday night

The three musketeers!

View of the bay at 1770

Another view at 1770

Ruth and I at the Agnes Water Hotel

Scary Stuff

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK : Abstinence makes the fat go faster!!! (and that's a Travelling Tart original)

Zanna

And it's all this girl's fault.  After spending a couple of days in the dog motel (kennels) while we were in Melbourne she came home Sunday full of beans and very happy to see us.  Monday night (my FB friends already know this story) about 6.30pm when Bloss was in the study and I was in the lounge pottering on my laptop and cooking tea, Zanna was doing her usual thing of deciding which of us she wanted to favour with her company - she has a mat in both rooms.  I was vaguely aware of her getting up and heading towards the study when suddenly just as she reached the top of the stairs her back legs just seemed to give way and she collapsed in a heap, lost control of her bladder and just lay there with her eyes open but totally out of it.  I was a gibbering idiot - trying to find the vet's phone number on my iphone with shaking hands and no glasses so couldn't see!!  Meanwhile Bloss is trying to mop up the water and talking to Zanna. I talked to the oncall vet and arranged to meet at her surgery.  By this time Zanna had at least lifted her head but made no attempt to get up.  We carried her down stairs in a blanket sling and as we put her into the back of the car she stood up - which was a great relief to see that her legs still worked.  When we got to the vet's she walked around Ok in the surgery and while she was far from her usual self, her vital signs all checked out OK other than her heart beating rather fast.  She slept by my bed that night and didn't move a muscle or make a sound - she seemed to be totally out of it.  Next day I took her to our own vet who did further checks and took some bloods.  The good news is that the results don't show any underlying reasons for her faint or seizure.  Our vet believes she has had some type of seizure but has no idea if/when it might re-occur so meantime we just monitor and continue to enjoy our lovely girl.  It's been a bit of a wake up call for us as although she has become quite grey round the muzzle, she's still very fit and lean and we'd kind of overlooked the fact that she's 10 1/2 now which equates to about 72 human years so is really quite an old lady now - especially for a large dog. Nola was great support and comfort to me during all this as she has had to cope with similar episodes with Harry - thanks Nola - your support was very much appreciated.  It took I'd say about 24 hours before she seemed to be back to her normal bouncy self and I'm delighted to say that she's been fine ever since.

Despite all these stressful times, I have left the alcohol alone this week and am pleased to report a loss of 600g - it was down a bit further before the weekend but I'll just report on what it is on a Sunday.  Some things to improve on - drink more water - with the weather being somewhat cooler I have to make much more of an effort to drink water so that's on this week's PIP (Performance Improvement Plan - an HR term) and I also need to get some more excercise - unfortunately life has been getting in the way but I'll keep trying.  I've put a ticker above - unfortunately it doesn't seem to cater for grammes and just rounds up or rounds down to the nearest kilo - the solution I guess is just to lose a kilo at a time!!

Other news - a busy week at work - month end is always a bit crazy but survived it OK.  Friday night we went round to Deb and Ian's for drinks (non alochol bubbles for me) - quite nice really and the kj count quite low.  Yesterday Deb's two sons were competing in a 4X4 comp on a large property about 60kms from here, so we went down for the afternoon and evening to watch - brilliant fun especially when you know someone who's competing.  Deb and Ian and the boys and their girlfriends camped overnight - we toyed with the idea but we haven't had our camper trailer out in ages and since it was all a bit last minute we opted to just drive down and back - but I reckon when the next comp is on in November we'll stay too.  Thinking also that next time we might take Josh - he would have loved watching the trucks clambering over piles of tyres, stacks of logs, going through water etc.

So that's this week - I've got a pot of chicken broth bubbling on the stove, and now I need to get something into the slow cooker ready for tea - Grant, Tiff and the boys are coming down as usual.  We're also thinking of going for lunch at the local Surf Club with Deb, Ian and Shelly and Pat but that will depend if Bloss manages to get the lawns mowed and the pool sorted first.

Hope you all have a brilliant week
Love Zanna xx

Cameron with his girlfiend Hannah as 'navvy' go down into the gully

Brandon and Zac getting ready to 'walk' the truck along a series of logs

Bloss and I at the 4X4 comp