Looking at nothingness in space.....

I had this site sent to me by a friend. Take a look, it is not long, but just amazing to see what is out there.

http://www.flixxy.com/hubble-ultra-deep-field-3d.htm

German shepherd, funerals and funeral homes.

 I have been absent from this site for a while….it has been a very busy few days. We left one house sit to go to another short term one at a moments notice.

 This house sit was lovely, with a German shepherd dog, a bird which roamed free quite a lot and some fish. I am a bit nervous around large dogs, but this one was lovely, very obedient, and very friendly. He had a very regal look about him too, sitting like the sphinx and surveying the surroundings. The house also was very clean and neat and tidy, which is always a bonus. We have had very few dirty homes to care for, and although I am not a cleanliness freak, I like things clean and tidy.

Ah well, I am having trouble putting up some pictures on this post...the computer has a mind of its own today......

We had just moved in when I got the phone call to say my mother has passed away. We were half expecting it, she was 93, and going downhill very fast. My sister and I went over to New Zealand to see her just a few weeks ago, but now a message from the doctor gave her a few days, and then the message came that she had gone.

Peter and I had already talked about what we would do when the time came. Peter did not feel up to the trip, and leaving this house sit would be complicated, and he was happy to stay on and I was happy to go over alone. My eldest son and his wife also came over for the funeral so I had family with me.


Kapiti Island just off Paraparaumu.

My sister and I had already worked out the main plans, so once I landed in NZ everything was fairly settled, but I was amazed at how much there was still to do. I stayed with Donna, who cared for Mum in the last few years, a family friend who was really like a sister to us and a daughter to Mum. She did a wonderful job, and then over there she ran me all over the place to make arrangements. Our family  had lived in Paraparaumu for some years, (we abbreviate it to Pram), and our friends were just wonderful, helping with all arrangements, putting on an afternoon tea, and generally give tip top support to me and the family.

I was also thrilled to see so many old friends turn up, some driving long distances to be with us at the funeral. I was really grateful for their support too, and to see them again, seeing I live in Australia now, was just lovely. We spent some time together after the funeral service and friends had some of us round for dinner that night too.

So it has been hectic, and then travelling back to Aussie, and the three hour difference in time zones sort of throws the body clock out of synch.

Paraparaumu is only a small town, and it was while we were living there that my dad died, so we used the same company to arrange the funeral.  It is called Kapiti CoastFuneral Home.

I have to say that funerals can be difficult things to arrange because you are already emotional, but they do a wonderful service, and do all the legal work too, stuff that would be so difficult for most of us to do.  They cared for Mums body, arranged the cremation, and gave us back Mums ashes in a rather lovely box. Her ashes have been taken back to another city by friends who attended the funeral and they have been laid with my father’s ashes . .  something I wanted done.

 So now I am staying with my eldest son for a week, then we will go to Bundaberg for a quick visit. In the meantime I am trying to catch up on my sleep.

Had some doozy storms yesterday afternoon.

We had some severe storms yesterday. The heatwave has finally been broken and we are down to more manageable temperatures today. Yesterday’s storm was probably the worst we have had this summer so far.   There are some good pictures on this site. 

 

 

There were about 27, 000 lightning strikes during the storm, about 70,000 homes lost power and some local flooding caused some problems.

Storm clouds rolling in over the Gold Coast area.

At our house sit it was not too bad, we had some heavy rain which helped to bring up the level of the swimming pool, but probably only about 50 mils all up.

From the travellers.

What's a trip to Sydney without a visit to the famous Bondi beach.

 

 

 

 This is the Palm Beach just north of our friends place. Gorgeous spot. It is the location for the famous Summer Bay in Home and Away.

 

We all had a gorgeous swim at the end of our walk up the lookout.

 

Our friend goes sailing every Monday night. Hubby went along with him last night. He had such a great time. Sharon and I sat and watched and ate cheese and drank champagne. It was so tough!!! Lol

Today we are starting to head north. We have 1000 kms to go. Thought we might do a big day today and try and get to Yamba, about 8 hours. If we do that then we will be able to stay there three nights and have a couple of lazy days on the beach. Sounds like a good way to finish the holiday.

How do they do it?

There are times when the retail price of something just amazes me.  When we are swimming, we like to have a couple of balls to play with. We might be two old birds, but we are still kids at heart. And just floating around gets a bit boring before too long. A good ball to chuck around is good fun.

However . . .

In China, where this ball was made, there is a factory that had to do the following:

  ü Source the material

ü Maybe import the material

ü Get it shipped to the factory

ü Make the ball – using staff, electricity etc.

ü Find a buyer for the ball

ü Pack the ball – along with others no doubt

ü Invoice and receipt the transaction for the ball

ü Send the ball from China to Australia, probably to a warehouse

ü A company in Australia orders the ball from the warehouse

ü The ball has to be shipped from some central warehouse to a Brisbane shop

ü The ball has to be unpacked and priced.

ü The ball has to be put into the shop

ü This shop is a large business that uses staff, buildings, electricity etc.

ü They probably advertise this ball in their junk mail

ü A customer has to come and look for and buy the ball.

ü The customer takes the ball to the check out and pays for it.

ü The check out girl puts it in a bag and gives me a receipt

ü I take the ball home and use it.

There are probably other steps I have not thought of at the moment.

This whole process was undergone, and I paid the princely sum of $3.00.

A bit mind boggling?

 

Our bright pink plastic ball.

 

 

 

 

Mobile Sauna.

At the moment Queensland is a mobile sauna. The temperatures have been off the scale, and today nine places in our area broke temperature records. Here, where this house sit is was supposed to get to about 42 degrees, but we only hit 38.7 or so. Even so, it was in and out of the pool all day for us.

This house sit has a lovely pool. Many homes in this area have pools in their back yards.

 

As I write this, at just before 9 pm it is still around 30 degrees. There is quite a strong wind too. Normally the wind dies down around sundown, but today it is still blowing. It is a hot wind though, not cooling at all.

We have also been keeping an eye on little Jade, the dog. She  has been pretty hot, but was not keen on getting into some water we provided.

Quoting from Yahoo  news.....

"Brisbane has been spared the full wrath of the Queensland heatwave, with temperatures today peaking just below the predicted high of 41 degrees Celsius.

The mercury reached a top of 38.7C just after 1:00pm, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Pradeep Singh said, a mark just shy of the expected peak and several degrees below the January record of 43.2C.

Cooler sea breezes worked against the hot westerlies blowing in the from the interior, Mr Singh said, keeping the temperature down.

The maximum temperature in Queensland was felt in Lochington, just outside of Emerald, where temperatures hit 45.7C.

 Other areas, including Roma, Gatton and Winton, pushed well beyond the 40C mark.

Queensland's interior has been sweltering through record-breaking heat in recent days, along with parts of Central Australia and north-western New South Wales.

 The heatwave continued as a Bureau of Meteorology report revealed on Friday that  2013 was the hottest year on record in Australia."

More news from the travellers.

Got up at 5:15 to see sunrise. Hoping the thick fog clears!!!!! What a temperature change from last week for us. We were in 37 at Narrabri. Now it's 7 and we are all in jeans and sweatshirts. Heading for 27 today.

This was what they saw.

 

This is what is out there......

They went to the show.....'The Lion King'. A real spectacle with great costumes.

 

 

Next day was around Sydney central. Been a great tourist day. Went to the Rocks markets, huge cruise boat in at wharf. Wandered to Opera house. Caught ferry to Manly. Fish n chips for lunch on the waterfront. Caught boat back and got bus home. Great day was had by all. We have just been for a 5 k run round darling Harbour and daughter has done a work out in the hotel gym. Finished off with a swim. Off to the bar for a well earned glass of wine now.

 

The Manly ferry on a good day.



The Manly ferry on a bad day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cant seem to change this size of this one..... 

Cruise ship in Sydney Harbour

 

The Rocks Markets by the Sydney Opera House.

 

 

A couple of days ago they went to the Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains just west of Sydney. This is the road to get there, going through some tunnels.