CREATURE DAY

Good morning everyone such a lovely morning here in Newie it is creature day and this week's creature is the Coconut Octopus heard of it, I haven't till now.

This octopus is named for its habit of carrying coconut shells across the sea floor and using them to build fortresses. Before construction can begin the octopus must dig up and thoroughly clean its building materials. During this time the shells afford no protection leaving them open to attack from predators including  fish and crabs.

They are the only invertebrate known to use tools and one of only two octopuses known to walk on two of its legs.

When threatened they retreats into two halves of its coconut shell and pulls them together, forming a near impenetrable orb. 

AUSSIE FACTS

Hello everyone here we are at another Monday so here are five facts about Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.

Newcastle is a harbour city in the Australian state of New South Wales. Its plentiful beaches are linked by the Bathers Way, a coastal walk stretching between Nobbys Beach and Merewether Beach. The walk provides access to Bogey Hole, a convict-built ocean bath from the colonial period. Also on the path is the 1880s Fort Scratchley, a historic site and a viewpoint for spotting migrating whales.

Founded in 1804 with an area of 261 square kilometres

We are famous for our coal, Newcastle is the largest coal exporting harbour in the world, exporting 159.9 million tonnes of coal in 2017. Beyond the city, the Hunter Region possesses large coal deposits. Geologically, the area is located in the central-eastern part of the Sydney Basin.

We like to be referred to as Novocastrians.

Newcastle and the lower Hunter Region were traditionally occupied by the Awabakal and Worimi Aboriginal People, who called the area Malubimba.

WEEK 8 OF 2023

Sunday again I woke at 4.50am to pee and decided to stay up, it is nice an cool at this time of the day.

By 1pm I had to turn the air con on as I was drenched in sweat again.

Monday is here and I am up washed and ready for the day, in for another hot day.

Sandy came over to take a phone call in private, as in away from Ed.

I went to the podiatrist and my feet are good.

Upset Jess as I forgot she is working tonight ans so she was sleeping when Tim rang her to go meet Sam's transport.

SUMMER'S BIRTHDAY SHE IS 10

An early start up at 5.10 after the 5am news as my body was shaking too much to settle. We are in for another bloody hot day.

Tim off to yet another doctors appointment this one with our GP, as soon as he left I turned the air con.

This afternoon while waiting for Tasha I managed to change the bottom half of my clothes granted it took me 10 minutes to do so but still I did it.

DAEMON'S BIRTHDAY HE IS 11

Up at 5.10am again same reason as yesterday. Going to be a much cooler day today.

Pissing down rain when it was time to leave taking our last umbrella.

Sandy dropped in to give me postage stamps and to use the loo

Tim at last has at last been able to reset the pin on his computer so he is happy now.

A new day is here no rain this morning, hope it stays that way.

Took Sam up the front not long before it pissed down rain. Sandy had just turned up to get some forms I printed out for her. Turned out fine no more rain today.

Friday again and again I was up at 5.10am needing to pee. I have to wake Tim at 7.30am, he has more medical appointments.

Well Tim needs surgery on his elbow before they will operate on his wrist, not sure how long before that happens.

There was a blow up between Tim and the girls because they said he was told stuff that he can't remember but I also don't remember being told so I maybe we were not told.

I will need to talk to the girls about helping me after Tim's operations as he will not be able to use his right arm for a few weeks.

Up at 5.20am opened the house up and had breakfast before ringing Tasha. I needed to check that she didn't need her dad's help this morning.

Had a good talk to her about yesterday's carry on with Tim and Jess. I explained that we were not told about needing to take Sam to an appointment next Friday despite what Jess is saying. I also pointed out that Jess work schedule changes often and us checking that she is off or working is normal.

Kathy & Syd came over so I had a good shower and Kathy vacuumed while Syd cut up and divided my fruit for the week.

FRIDAY'S THOUGHTS

Hello Friday, today I am asking what do others think of milk, I like a class of chocolate milk each morning with my breakfast but have no liking for plain milk.

While talking to Kathy-Lee the other morning she said milk isn't that good for us and flavoured milk even less so. I don't get that she wasn't raised to think that way.

My Mum would always say if you don't feel like food have a class of milk or better yet have a egg-flip. If you are unfamiliar with the term egg-flip it is just a milkshake with an egg in it. Mum would make it in whatever flavour we wanted, chocolate, strawberry or caramel.

I also would make egg-flips for my daughters in different flavours but Kathy doesn't do anything like that for her girls. I know Jessica has always given milk to Sam who now at 15yrs old likes a large class of Milo. I believe Tasha use to give Blain egg-flips when he was younger.

THURSDAY'S WORD OF THE WEEK

Hello to Thursday's word of the week and this week's word is: inductance

This means property of electric circuit in which variation in current produces electromotive force

PHOTO DAY

  

MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER ON M Y DAD'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY RICHARD THOMAS JENKINS 1ST

CREATUE DAY

 

Hello everyone this week I am starting a reference book called World's Most Freaky by Elizabeth Ginis and is published by Australian Geographic in 2019. This book belonged to my grandson Sam aka Leo and he gave it to me to use for my “online thingy” aka my blog.

The book covers Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania, North America and South America

Within the animal kingdom there's no shortage of creatures that have evolved specialised bodies and techniques for killing their prey or defending their territory. Understanding these animals is the most important step in conserving these species for the future.

Our first creature is the Proboscis Monkey no other primate has such a large, fleshy, dangling nose as the male proboscis monkey. It's believed the nose helps increase the volume of their call, impressing females and intimidating rivals.

They have evolved webbed feet and hands to swim quickly a great help when evading the crocodiles that lurk in the rivers of their native Borneo.

Enthusiastic swimmers, both male and female are often seen launching themselves from trees to belly-flop into water below.

They are unable to eat ripe fruit as the sugar ferments and expands in their bellies causing them to bloat which can be deadly. They eat unripe fruit as well as leaves and seeds.

Habitat destruction throughout Borneo means this big-nosed primate is endangered.

AUSSIE FACTS

 Here we are at another Monday which is Aussie Fact day number two and today's facts are about my state New South Wales.

New South Wales is a southeastern Australian state, distinguished by its coastal cities and national parks. Inland are the rugged Blue Mountains, rainforests and outback towns where opals are mined. Along the coastline are long surfing beaches. The Hunter Valley region, in the north, has dozens of wineries.

It consists of an area of 801,150 square kilometres and a population of something like 8.200 million.

The capital is Sydney, which is home to iconic structures such as the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.Based on a total site area of 12,368.2sq km, the current population density of the Greater Sydney area is 442.3 persons per square kilometre which includes a number of surrounding national parks. The built urban area is estimated at 4,196sq km which translates to a density of 1,279 persons per square kilometre.

The second largest city is Newcastle or Newie as us locals say it has a population of around 350,000.

The coat of arms of New South Wales is the official coat of arms of the Australian state of New South Wales. It was granted by royal warrant of King Edward VII dated 11 October 1906. Wikipedia

Motto: Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites; "Newly risen, how brightly you shine"

Crest: On a wreath of the colours a rising sun each ray tagged with a flame of fire proper

WEEK 7 OF 2023

 An early start today up at 4.45am as I had to pee so just stayed up.

Sandy came over just to hang out for a while. She helped with a few small jobs around the house.

Damn it is a hot day.

Up at 5am found Tim already up, he was restless so got up at 4.30am. A much cooler day.

Went to brush my teeth only to find that my toothpaste was missing, along with Sam's toothbrush, teenagers..........

Also while toasting my banana bread the baking paper caught fire, I turned the toaster oven off and it went out.

People from the DoH turned up to inspect the renovations, sometime today someone will be here to finish the ramp and paint the side guards.

Blain is back at school and Tasha is back helping me get ready for bed.

NATASHA'S BIRTHDAY SHE IS 36

The ramp looks completed but when I asked Tim about using it he said no and he will talk to me when he gets up. Also it is wet out and I don't use the scooter in wet weather. Saw on the family chat that when Tim attempted to use the ramp there was some damaged caused to I don't know what. The damage is to the bottom part of the door frame.

Tim say we need a board on the outside of the door.

Sam (Leo) didn't take his meds before school and surprise surprise Jessica rang and asked if Tim could go and fetch him as he was having a bad day.

Been a much cooler day

Another wet morning so no taking the boy up the front by the look of it.

Tim has another doctors appointment as well as another physio appointment for his wrist.

Sandy called in to sort out some paperwork without Ed around. Temika has started at Cardiff High within half an hour she was texting her mum saying she didn't like it there and wanted to leave.

I will shower myself this afternoon as I have a doctors appointment in Sydney tomorrow.

Had a decent enough sleep up at just after 5am. Not sure what time Tim wants to leave this morning.

The trip to an from Sydney went well, she (neurologist) increased my medication, I am now working my way up to 2 tablets 3 times a day.

Also she referred to my condition as Parkinson's, so after years of being told I don't have it, I am now told I do. The medication is for Parkinson's.

She said I need to get my knee seen to I am still waiting to see a specialist about my knee.

A bloody hot day but we have air conditioning so we coped.

Friday at last and we are in for another hot day.

Took Sam up without a problem.

Sent an email to the neurologist asking for her to give my GP permission to give me copies of her correspondence with him.

Tim off to hand rehab he feels like he has a medical appointment nearly every day. He is also fed up with helping me get ready for bed he doesn't do it every day but still it is getting to him. It also gets me down needing help.

Saturday here, had to wake Tim to take Tasha to her course and hopefully Jess will be able to pick her up this arvo. When I asked Tim if Jess was getting Tasha he reminded me that Jess & Sam have gone away for the weekend to see a friend who lives up near Casino.

Kathy arrived at 1pm to give me a shower and run the vacuum over the floor. While she was shaving my legs Sandy turned up for no reason other then to get away from her husband (Ed) who was getting on her nerves.

Another stinking hot day.

HOW I FEEL ABOUT MEDICAL DIAGNOSES

Well this Saturday and maybe future Saturdays I am posting how I feel about stuff, starting with the neurologist saying I have Parkinson's. This happened on Thursday at our visit twice she referred to my condition as Parkinson's, so I asked if I had it and she said yes, with a look that to me said “I thought you knew that”. I could hear my Mum who always thought it was Parkinson's.

How do I feel about this well I am happy that this diagnoses may help me get help around the house but Parkinson's isn't a condition one wants to have. Also this is the third diagnoses I have had, first it was a Functional Tremor, then a Dystonic Tremor and now Parkinson's. So will it change again.

I know I have gone down hill the last couple of years and expect to continue to go down hill, I just hope the medication acts like a brake an slow me down.

The road ahead is covered in fog and full of pot holes.

I often feel like I am a burden to family and it will only get worse.

So really I am all over the place with how I am feeling.

WORD OF TH E WEEK

 

Here we are at Thursday and that means it is word of the week day. This week's word is “pantomine” a word with two meanings

Pantomine.........Theatrical entertainment based on a fairy tale

OR: Gestures and facial expressions conveying meaning like in drama and dance

PHOTO DAY

 

MY NANA FLORENCE MURIEL JAMES ON HER WEDDING DAY IN1950 I  BELIEVE

CREATURE DAY

 

Well is is again Tuesday,so it is creature day and today it is the Leichhardt's Grasshopper, another creature I have never heard of.

This grasshopper is an incredibly rare Australian grasshopper long thought extinct until 1971 when it was rediscovered.

It lives in the top end of Australia where it feeds on a special selection of plants.

The

species is named after Ludwig Leichhardt. It is known as alyurr in the Kundjeyhmi language.

AUSIE FACTS

Ok everyone since I have no fact book, I will just give you some facts about Australia.

Australia is officially the Commonwealth of Australia, it is a sovereign country comprising the mainland, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands.

With an area of 7,617,930 square kilometres, Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country

There are 6 states and 2 main territories but in total there is 10 territories

The capital isl Canberra located in the Australian Capital Territory ACT for short.

Our largest state is Western Australia and the smallest is Tasmania.

WEEK 6 OF 2023

 What a bloody restless night I had I managed to stay in bed till 5.30am. A much cooler start to the day but won't last top of 30 degrees again.

Workmen here at 8.45am to do the finishing touches to the ramp. Took them all day to do.

I turned the air con on as I can't stand the heat.

Tim did a load of washing and hung it out to dry.

Blain has covid.

Had a reasonable nights sleep up at 5.30am a warm start to the day.

Spoke to Tasha about Blain he is sleeping a lot but feeling like he has the flu.

Sandra called in for a visit she said Centrelink has finally recognised that her and Ed have separated. This means her Centrelink payment will increase.

She has been applying for rentals every week between and 20 places with so far no luck.

Had a restless night from around 2am found it difficult to settle after going to the loo. Got up at 5.20am opened the house up, there is a nice breeze coming through.

Heat set in around 10.30 so I put the air con on.

Blain still sleeping a lot but is otherwise ok.

Wednesday again, I slept better last night, I have opened up the house but no breeze this morning.

Tim went to have a look at a car he saw advertised but didn't like the look of it.

He also got a text telling him our electricity bill had not been paid. This pissed me off as I have been asking for the P O box to be checked since the end of January.

I got up at 5.30 after sleeping all night to find a mess on my table, which included the electricity bill which I will pay today, we have of course lost our pay on time discount which was $47.

Late yesterday arvo I had a phone call from the Occupational Therapist wanting to know if the ramp and bathroom had been done. She will be here next Monday to check out the work.

Managed to piss Tasha off by not getting that she was feeling stressed. It went right over my head.

I have to put myself to bed a task that is becoming much easier to do. Tim has medical appointments.

Friday here and after a good nights sleep I feel good, the house is opened and a slight breeze is coming though.

Had a visit from Kelli and Freya she needed some rental applications printer off. They have been given 14 days to move, like that is enough time. It is very hard to find a rental place she has already applied for over 20 places with no luck.

Also her baby is due in 20 days time, so she is very stressed.

Tim has his Dr's appointment this afternoon about his elbow.

Saturday morning and I slept in till 5.50am, got up opened the house up made breakie and had Tasha message me to if her dad was driving her to her course, he is so had to wake him up.

Came back to the lounge-room to find the groceries being delivered.

Kathy and family arrived they had been out and decided to call in so Kathy could shower me.

SOMETHING FOR FRIDAY

 

THURSDAY'S WORD OF THE WEEK

 Hello and welcome to Thursday's word of the week and this week it is something I am.

Sexagenarian: To be aged between 60 & 69

PHOTO DAY

 

                                                      My sister Sandy and her daughter  Denni

CREATURE DAY

 

Hello everyone it is creature day and this we have the Jewel Beetle, here in Australia we have a treasure trove of jewel beetles, in many colours including red, blue, spotted and iridescent ones. In fact there is around 1,200 types of jewel beetles down under.

The key to their beauty lies in the outer skeleton which reflects light in such a way as to create an unusually vibrant shimming colour.

With over 15,000 species in the family, Jewel beetles can be found in almost every country. However, not all species are found everywhere in the world. Most have a preferred type of tree or plant and are found where those grow. With many species in the Buprestidae family, they are widespread.

FACT DAY

 

Well hello world, here we are at Monday well for me it is Monday and that means facts.....

The world's first stone built lighthouse was the Smeaton Eddystone built south of Plymonth in 1756. It was lit by only 24 candles.

Plant eating dinosaurs did not eat grass because there wasn't any, there was only shrubs and trees.

A one minute kiss burns 26 calories

There is about 5,000 different languages spoken on Earth.

That was the last fact in my book of facts

WEEK 5 OF 2023

What a hot night was last night I turned the air con back on at 3am as I was so hot.

I was up and washed ready for the day at 5.30am. Found the kitchen a mess as per usual.

Tim got up at 7am which was a little annoying,

Saw Sandy she needed a hug.

MUM'S BIRTHDAY SHE WOULD BE 83

A cooler morning but going to be another stinking hot day. I am frustrated with being drenched in sweat.

Men turned up to do the guttering at 7am only to find out the gutter hadn't been delivered.

Raining when I went to the doctors so I wore shoes.

When I got home from the doctors the men were here doing the guttering.

Also found the driveway blocked by tree removal people this pissed Tasha right off.

Saw Sandy again just for a hug as it has been an emotional day.

A much cooler day I have a nice breeze blowing through the doors.

Blain and Summer go back to school today.

Ok Blain didn't go to school as he wasn't sure which of the time tables he was to use. Tasha tried ringing the school but no answer so got pissed and gave up.

Tim had a visit from a private investigator from the insurance company, (Youi). To get Tim's side of what happened.

Awoke at 4.47 needing to pee so decided to stay up. Another nice cool start for the day.

Sam and Sydney-May goes back to school today.

Looks like Sam has a new driver this year.

I am unable to get the scooter out.

The men came and started work on the new front sliding door and new cement ramp. They had a bastard of a time getting the old frame out.

Thursday has arrived and all is well with me, the morning is cool but suppose to be 30 degrees today.

The front door is done, the ramp should be done today, the men turned up around 7.15 and have been here all day doing a lot of digging.

Tim had his ultrasound done on his wrist.

Another warm day top of 30 degrees.

Workmen arrived at 7.15 at 8.05am Graham (a boss guy) arrived to check out the work, he was none to happy. Looked for a bit like they rip out and redo part of it but all good I think.

Tim went for anther ultrasound as well as an Xray.

The ramp is done pretty much a couple of little things left to do as well as fixing a small ramp on the inside

Up at 5.30 had to wake Tim up at 6.30 as he drove Tasha to her training course so she doesn't have to pay for parking.

Going to be another stinking hot day.

Kathy and Summer came over Kathy did some housework and showered me. Summer walked down and posted my letters and then divided my fruit.

It has been bloody hot but not enough for Tim to want the air con on.

SOMETHING FOR FRIDAY

 

WORD OF THE WEEK

 Thursday again after a few interruptions I am again doing word of the week, this weeks word is “pedagogy”. Which is the science of teaching.

PHOTO DAY

 

MY BEAUTIFUL NIECE AND SOON TO BE MUM OF 3 WHEN BUB IS BORN IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS HER NAME IS KELLI AND I LOVE HER LIKE A DAUGHTER.