Hurtle Turtle Outta Here (Turtle Facts)

Recently I was fortunate enough to be at the beach as a bunch of baby turtles headed out to the big wide ocean for their first swim.

It was all kinds of awesome.

Part of watching it meant that I also got to listen to a rather interesting talk about turtles, which brings me to today's post.

Did you know...

Darwin is the only capital city in the world that has flat back turtles that nest on it's beaches

Turtles return to the beach that they were born on to procreate. Only 1 in 2000 turtles live to actually do this though.

When they reach maturity, somewhere between the ages of 20-40 years depending on the species, they may travel up to 3000 km to reach said beach.

Turtles are all about family and helping out. They form a ladder in the nest and help each other climb out. They then wait for everyone to get out before heading to the sea. It can take 2-3 days between hatching and actually climbing out of the nest.

The preferred time to head to towards the sea is a night on a high tide. There are less predators at night and the high tide means less to walk.

When the female is ready to lay her eggs she also prefers night and high tide. For much the same reasons as her offspring choose to leave at that time.

Essentially mating season is just one big turtle sex party with all parties trying to get it on as much as possible. The males hang around for about a month and get as much action as they can. The females stay for up around three months and in that time they will lay up to five clutches of eggs in that time. The sperm gained from the sex party seems to just hang around inside the female and fertilizes the eggs for each clutch. 

It is possible to know the species of turtle purely by looking at the mother's tracks and the eggs laid. Flat back turtles have larger eggs and lay between 30-70. Green turtles have smaller eggs and lay up to 100 eggs at a time. While other species have even smaller eggs again and may lay between 150-200 in a season.

The temperature of the sand can determine the sex of the eggs. The hotter the sand the more females are likely, however the sex can only be determined by dissection.

Before leaving the nest the turtles eat the last of the embryo from the egg they were just in. This will sustain them for the next 3-4 days while they swim out to find the oceanic current that will drift them to there new home.

Turtles can drift in oceanic currents for 10 years till they find a place to call home.

Death by plastic bags are not uncommon for turtles. DO NOT leave plastics laying around or near water ways.

Getting my button geek on

Ok well maybe not the best title I know but it is late and I am tired and I do kinda feel like I made some small geeky steps forward.

As a regular reader you will probably have noticed the odd little change here and there. Some have not been that little I guess, like the modified banner and new background colour, but none have been actually stand out and go OMG that girl has had a face lift. Drastic and sudden change is not really something that sits well with me. Everything must be carefully thought out. At least at some point in time.

One thing that I have wanted to change for a while has been my blog button. Now I know that not many people have actually ever grabbed my button but it is nice to have laying around just in case someone asks if I have one. Of course there have been a few rather awesome bloggers that snuck my button on to their blog and I get all kinds of happy feelings whenever I stop by there pages.

When I made my first button I used this rather awesome button generator site that just gave me all the code and stuff that I needed. Naturally once I had decided on the new image I wanted to use I headed straight back there.

If you are in need of a new button for your blog quick step it over to here

You do need to have the image you want to use already saved on the web somewhere, like over at somewhere like Photobucket or own your site,but other than that you just type all the info in and press get code. So so easy.

In case you are wondering here is the new button

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.aparentinglife.com" title="A Parenting Life" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z380/lourhi/Newbutton.png" alt="A Parenting Life" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I made the image in Pixlr
This rather cool, and free, web based program that makes me feel like I have photoshop. I could go into heaps of detail of how you create a canvas size of no more than 150 x 150 pixels but truth be told I fumble my way round and right now do not feel nearly qualified enough to be writing that kind of how to.

Feel free to grab the new button code and paste it all over the place. I know you want to!

Instagram Weekly

Busy week here in the photo department. Since I just love this linky so much I am ensuring I snap plenty of shots so I have something to share.
Here is this week

Sunday saw a trip out to Great Grandma's to get some mangoes. Our first for the season and my oh my they were yummy.

Beautiful lilies at my mum's house. These beauties don't flower nearly enough.

Tuesday was the race that stopped the nation and gave mother an excuse to finally crack open this little lovely. She has only had it sitting there ten months or so.

Since we were living the high life with Moet, oysters seemed only fitting as well.

Due being stopped with the rest of the nation on Tuesday, Wednesday became washing day. Only no one told the big black rain clouds that.

My mother is a knitting fiend. She has taken to creating this gorgeous little creatures. Miss Two just loves to play with them.

Homemade cheesecake and great coffee. All served in bright cheery and matching crockery. Does life get any better than that?

Mr Awesome had a birthday last month and as such got to treat himself to a few little things here and there. I am less than impressed at the thought of being seen out with him in these.

This has been sitting on my camera roll for a week or two now. I had planned to edit it and do something amazing with it. What I didn't really know. In a bid to avoid doing something else I had a play the other day.

Getting my bake on with some rather awesome choc caramel brownies. They are so awesome I even went to the trouble of sharing here Little Miss Two is always so keen to help in the kitchen.

She is particularly keen when if comes to the whole licking of the bowl thing as well. Not that I could really blame her. This photo was because I forgot to take one before I put the pan in the oven. Blogger fail right there I tell you!

And last, but certainly not least a few  beautiful flowers that are growing in my back yard. We have a bit of frangipani thing going on in the garden actually with three or four different variations.

So there you have, my week over at Instagram. If by chance don't already follow me there and would like to click the button

 

Joining in with Tina and the crew

Chocolate Caramel Brownie

Now before you go any further you must be warned.

This is ridiculous sweet and full of lots of icky sticky goodness that can only be found in copious amounts of chocolate and gooey caramel. If you are on a diet or restricting your sugar levels in anyway you should probably just walk away now. There is no healthy component to this delicious goodness other than the joy and endorphins that come with eating the pleasurable delicacy that is chocolate.

Mr Awesome and I can have a particularly sweet tooth at times. Which is both a good and bad thing. Thankfully we are generally able to portion control out our sweet treats. Since they are reliant on me actually baking them they are not something we have all the time.

However, when I do get my bake on, I get my bake on and create a sugar hit that will send any sugar fiend crazed. For a while my specialty was caramel slice but I really found it a bit of a pain and particularly messy. There were saucepans, bowls, baking dishes... too many for my liking really. Not to mention all the different process that involved heating, cooling and waiting.

In the past I have made a rather mean brownie however it did not have quite the same sugar hit as te caramel slice. When I discovered this chocolate caramel brownie recipe today I was sure I had hit the jackpot. After making it I think I can safely say that this is the sweetest most yummiest thing I have made in a very long time.

The recipe, which is so easy and do able in one jug, was found on the tin of caramel. It can also be found here

Only I did things a little different because the recipe is actually for a Caramel Choc Pecan Brownie, but I didn't have the pecans. What I did have were some super yummy caramel drops though and they worked just as well (if not better).

So here is what you need to do.

• Get a microwave glass jug that hold around four cups of stuff. In there put 150 grams of butter. Whack that in the micro and melt it.


• Add half a cup of baking cocoa to the melted butter and mix it in.


• Then add a cup of sugar a teaspoon of vanilla essence and mix some more. 


• Add three lightly beaten eggs and keep on mixing.


• One cup of self raising flour can now be added and mixed in well. If you are super keen you can sift it but I never have. I have all of this going into the same glass jug that I melted the butter in because I don't want to wash up more than I have to.

• Once the flour is mixed through, gently stir in some caramel drops. I tend to go about half a packet. But remember I after super sweet.
  
• Pour mixture into 28cm by 18cm lamington pan that you greased and lined earlier. Pour tin of Top'n'Fill caramel over mixture and oh so gently swirl the two together.
  
• Pop in the preheated 180 degree oven for around 35 minutes or till the skewer comes out clean.
  
• Stand in pan for ten minutes or so before turning over.
  
• Eat and enjoy

Mo Growing For Movember

November is a busy month. Not only are writers the world over trying to pump out a mere fifty thousand words in thirty short days, men all around the country are throwing their razors in the bin and growing a mo in bid to raise awareness, and greatly needed funds for mens health.

Before I was the blogging superstar (or wanna be take your pick) that I am today Mr Awesome once took part in this wonderful initiative. Of course I possibly wasn't as supportive as I could have been. I don't kiss men who have a mo and that's all there is too it. It's just not right.

Anyway, it's needless to say Mr Awesome hasn't bothered growing one since. Which was kind of a shame because last year I really wanted to blog about it but for the life of me couldn't find anyone I knew who was taking part.

Turns out I may not have looked very hard because as I recently discovered, my gorgeous nephew is taking part in Movember. In actual fact this is his second year, I missed the memo about it last year. Whoops!

And when I say gorgeous nephew I really do mean gorgeous, in every sense of the word.

Of course when I say my nephew I also feel incredibly old as well.

Now I know I might be a little biased but I just think it is awesome, actually beyond awesome that a group of young guys like Nathan and his mates are taking part in this fantastic campagin. It certainly gives hope to the men of tomorrow. Well it does for me anyway.

So lovely bloggy friends and followers I implore you to go and throw a few dollars towards this dashingly good looking mo. The link to his page is right here

I asked Nathan if he could share a few words about why he wants to be a part of Movember. Here is what he said

In the month of November I observed the gradual progression of Christmas lights, illuminating the usually lacklustre existence of the neighbouring residents. A sudden influx of wrapping, treats and trees adorned shop windows as I passed during my usual stroll. The wind attacked me with its newfound summer heat and I took shelter in one such shop. Relieved to have escaped the wind, I found an inviting bench where I could rest my weary legs. Looking around, I couldn’t help but notice a somewhat peculiar occurrence. Along with the usual changes of the impending Christmas, there was a high proportion of males with moustaches. I enquired to one such individual about these moustaches and he explained that he was involved in “Movember”, a campaign to raise awareness and funds for Men’s health issues including prostate cancer and depression.”

Almost a year later a group of friends and myself decided to try and make a difference on these vital issues. As part of the process, we attempted to grow the best Mo possible, often will dismal results.  We hope that we can raise awareness of prevalence and problems of prostate cancer and men’s depression. These are two issues that many men find difficult to talk about and these problems often go unnoticed in the public sphere. This is the second year that I have been involved and I hope that I can raise more funds than last year. I also hope that I can grow a better mo, as last year it failed to grow in the middle area right under my nose. 

Regardless of my poor efforts with my Mo, it is the cause that is important, so please donate generously.

Naw bless him.

Please if you are in a position to help out in anyway it is a vital cause and will be greatly appreciated.

Flogging this post With Some Grace

Tied in knots

A few months ago, actually quite a few months ago now we went camping. We have a special little spot that we like to go and hang for days at a time with our bestest friends. They have kids that match the ages of ours and everyone gets along just beautifully.

This magically spot that we like to visit is on the beach. Which makes it just perfect for kite flying. Oh how I love kite flying. We even went and purchased two new kites for the kids to fly. One was just your ordinary stock standard kite shaped kite. The other was a fang dangled flash one that came with two stings to control it. Apparently this enables you to do tricks and things.

Do not ever give such a kite to six year olds.

The only trick they will be able to do is one that makes the string look like this.

Hours upon hours I have spent trying to detangle this stupid string. Hours.


This is the part I am currently working on. Doesn't look like much does it? Oh but it is.
Of course once I do this little bit there is still this to go.

Sigh.

Mr Awesome thinks I should walk away from it. Toss it in the bin and by a new reel of string for the kits. In fact since the kite was only $5 he thinks that perhaps I should just buy a whole new kite. But I can't.

The thought of this string and these knots getting the better of me is just too much to bare. I will not be defeated. It is almost like these knots represent the mess I feel my life is in at the moment. If I can just sort these knots out then life will just unjumble itself as well.

So if it's a little quite here you now know why.

For now though I am joining in with the #IBOT crew over at the very new and very lovely Essentially Jess

Facing the day

With her coffee cup now empty Sally pondered what to do next. On the one hand the possibilities seemed almost endless but at the same time she wasn't sure if she really could be bothered to do anything. The quandaries of life when you had no one but yourself to think of.

Letting out a deep breath she didn't even know she was holding she took her cup to the sink and rinsed it out and placed in on the empty dish drainer. Looking at the small pile of dishes patiently waiting to be washed Sally decided that they could wait a little longer. Even though there were only a few there she just couldn't face them right then.

The pounding in her head had reduced somewhat but was still present enough to remind Sally it was there. Nothing two panadol and a gallon of water wouldn't fix though. Reaching for the box off the shelf she promptly popped two out of the packet and headed to the fridge for some cold water. Picking up a glass up on the way, she lingered with the fridge door open so she could once again enjoy the cool relief that came with it.

Gulping down big mouthfuls of water at a time Sally immediately felt a little better. It was like the cool liquid reduced her temperature from the inside out. All Sally could think about was submersing herself in water. Only who had a cool bath before eight in the morning? The public swimming pool wasn't really an option either. It was always heavily chlorinated and not conducive to the relaxing submersion that she longed for.

Looking at the weather app on her phone it appeared as if the heat was just going to keep on rising as the day went on. The expected maximin was 35 degrees. Not that Sally really minded. She much preferred to be hot than cold. At least cooling down was much easier than warming up. Once the cold got into her bones Sally found it hard to shake. One of the reasons she took the job in the dusty little mining town was because it was guaranteed to never drop below 18 degrees. Just the way Sally liked it. The other reason was because it was in the middle of no where, where no one knew her which made it easier to try and escape her past. The life she left behind before moving to Tieri was one that she had no desire to remember in anyway. The pain of it all was just too much to bare. Even the slightest detail of it could send Sally into a downward spiral that she feared would one day be the end of her. And while living was not exactly easy some days, it was something that she still wanted to do for a while.

Realising that sitting around the house was not going to do her any good Sally decided it was time to head out for the day. She had heard the locals talk of beautiful walking tracks and natural waterways not too far from town. She had been meaning to investigate them but as yet had not gotten around to it. Generally by the weekend the last thing Sally felt like doing was leaving the house but today she could already feel the walls closing in on her and she just knew it was best to not to sit and dwell today. Today needed to be a day of action else she would fall into the trap feeling sorry for herself and turning to her good friend Mr Alcohol. Thanks to last night's effort she was already on the verge of feeling quite sorry for herself. Besides she tried not to have her first drink until after the pub opened. There were still a few hours before that would happen.

With as much enthusiasm as she could muster Sally filled a couple of water bottles, grabbed a few snacks, her shoes and socks and headed out the door. With any luck a bit of fresh air and hopefully a swim in some rock pool somewhere would be just what she needed.

Instagram Weekly

Compared to last week I think this week was much more interesting.



A trip to the local dump gave me this beauty. As well as some super cheap fencing which we need for a little project at home.



I was thinking of doing NaNoWriMo with a bit of a twist this year. I had hoped to write 30 stories in 30 days. I asked my wonderful readers to give me some suggestions.



I snapped these little beauties at my mum's. I love watching tadpoles grow



The gorgeous Jess had a launch party for her fab new site essentiallyjess.com All was well till I left a comment that got sent to spam. For some reason wordpress blogs seem to hate me.



To say it has been ridiculously hot is an understatement. It was 9.30pm and just under 30 degrees. Just crazy I tell you.



This was also a little crazy, but in a good way. For a brief moment the other day this was the average number of pages that my visitors were viewing. It made me all types of warm and fuzzy.



And lastly but certainly not least my new prize possession. This is what happens when you go shopping in a bad mood.

Joining in with


-fairy wishes and butterfly kisses

Having a coffee

Walking into the kitchen Sally headed straight to the coffee machine. There wasn't much that coffee couldn't fix and Sally was certain it would once again be her magic fix. Popping the pod into the slot she pulled the handle down till she heard the crunch of the pod's seal being pierced. Taking a deep breath she tried to wait patiently for the little blue light to flash at her and indicate that it was now time to press the button. Some days, actually most days, waiting for that little flashing light was like waiting for eternally.

There was no doubt about it, Sally was a coffee girl. Sally found it hard to believe some days, just how badly she wanted, if not needed, a cup of the hot steamy liquid that she was certain could bring world peace if everyone just sat down and had one with some cake. She would often happily quip that she thought there was nothing that a good coffee and some cake couldn't fix.

As good as she knew them to be though deep down she knew that there were some problems that the old cake and coffee just couldn't fix. Problems that cut her to the core and would never leave her be. Problems that she was certain would haunt her for the rest of her life. Problems that while coffee didn't fix it did make them bearable. Some days Sally was positive she only made it through the day thanks to the coffee.

She was unable to pinpoint when this caffeine addiction was actually formed. She suspected that it slowly evolved. A natural progression in life that is really just part and parcel of growing up. Wasn't it the drink of adults?

Noticing the light finally flashing Sally pressed the required button. The delicious smell of the fresh coffee beans wafting through the poky little kitchen as a light steam from the machine quickly dissipated into the air. Her nostrils greedily inhaling the the aroma, tantalising her taste buds and kicking her impatience for her fix into over drive.

Opening the fridge door she enjoyed the cold blast that came with it. Now more than ever she was thankful she stood in that awful checkout line last night so she could have milk in her coffee. Yesterday, pouring curdled milk into her fresh brew was not a start she wanted to repeat again any time soon. On the upside, because Sally believed there always was an upside, at least the milk fiasco hadn't happened on a morning where she felt like she did today.

Placing the milk into the froth creating jug and switching it on the buzz of the machines began to drone in her already tender ears. She just kept telling herself it would be worth it in the end. The glorious first sip would gently seep into her soul and spread it's wonder through her. By the end of the cup she would feel ready and set for the day.

Or at least that was the plan. The way it was supposed to go. On many days it was that way, but whether or not today was one of those days remained to be seen. Sally felt she was yet to determine the fate of the day that still lay before. Saturday was one of the few days where Sally felt the was her own. There was no entitlement for her to think any needs save for her own. It was one of the things she loved most about her little shanty style country life.

From Monday to Friday she worked twelve to fifteen hour days that saw her constantly interacting with a range of people. From truck drivers, to geologists, managers, door operators and everything in between. None of them were people that she really had a chance to connect with. If by chance she actually had such a desire. Which for the most part she didn't. Not that it mattered, given the transient nature of most in the industry the turnover of staff was exceptional high. With just over six months of service under her belt Sally was virtually considered a long term employee. Most tended to say for three months. Few could stand it much longer than that, given the toughness of the conditions that were continually faced.

Unlike most of the workers at the mine who flew in and out on a regular basis, Sally actually lived in township that co existed with the mine. She found it easier that way. She had no one to fly home to every week or two. Or at all. There was no where else she needed to be and there wasn't anyone that needed her to be anywhere for them either. Besides she didn't need to regularly go to an airport. They were her most hated place on earth. Or one of. There was no way she could cope with all that regular flying, regardless of the size of the plane or anything else. It was just easier to live near the mine.

The upside to not having a fly in and out position was Sally only had to work Monday to Friday. The shift crews could work for ten to eight days straight. Sally wasn't interested in that kind of life. After five days she needed a break. In fact some weeks she needed that break after only a day or two. There was no way she could last longer than five days with out a break, and if there was then she didn't want to know about it.

Picking up her coffee cup she hoped to find at least one last mouthful left. She nearly felt like she could face the day. Not wanting the fate of the day to be determined by coffee dregs Sally took a deep breath and peered down into her coffee cup.

Oh sweet joy. It looked like there was at least one good mouthful. There was hope for the day after all.

NaNoWriMo Day One

Well the first day of NaNoWriMo is done and dusted. I am happy to say that while I didn't make the recommended daily target of 1666 I did at least get something out. In fact I managed to get some 1200 words out. Words that right now even seem to make sense. Of course given it is some ridiculous time after midnight I am not really sure whether that sense will still be made in a few hours when I get up and re read it.

Mind you that didn't stop me from hitting the publish button. The first 30 in 30 story is live and can be read here if you are so inclined. Did I mention how good it feels to have one already under my belt?

I need to keep reminding myself of the positives because there are a few little not so positives about it. Firstly it was supposed to be a romance set in a forest and involve a basket. (Many thanks to Deb over at Home Life Simplified for the prompt.) Without giving too much away, because obviously I want you to go over and read it, so far the only part that rings true is that I did use the word basket.

The other little problem is that even though I am only 1200 words into it I am a bit attached to this character. I don't really want to give her up and start a new story just yet, particularly because I have just kind of left her hanging. I want her to get to that forest and all that comes with it. In my head I know exactly what fun and excitement is waiting for her. I just couldn't get it out right now and I couldn't not publish what I had. (Sometimes my head just has crazy notions that I must obey)

I wanted to keep going with it when I stopped but I really need sleep. Apparently it isn't just for the weak, it is in fact a necessity and one I am very short of at the moment. I feel like I have been hit with a rather bad case of insomnia the last few weeks. Now though I am just about running on empty. Three to four hours a night is not really enough, but what can you do hey?

Back to my story issues.

Thanks to some of my lovely readers I have roughly 30 suggestions, though there are a few that I am just not sure I can do. I know that the whole idea of a challenge is to challenge oneself, but at the same time I am really conscious of not challenging myself too much. I can be very easily overwhelmed sometimes and I really don't want this to be one of those times.

Thankfully though, since the whole 30 stories in 30 days was all my own little brainwave, I am able to change the rules as a see fit. Not that I really had any rules but you know what I mean. I am still not sure what I want to change or what I would change it to, or if I even will. Who knows what I may think after a bit of sleep.

What I do know though is that one way or another I will reach my 50000 word target and I will have lots of wonderful stories to share.

Here is a bit of a teaser of what I have done

It had been a long day. A really, really long day. Again. Lately every day felt like it was longer than the last. Which would have been bearable Sally were able to get more done. Instead it seemed like she was constantly achieving less and less. All the while her to do list was growing at exponential rates. She knew that life wasn't meant to be easy but she didn't understand why it had to be so damn hard all the time either.

Taking a deep breath she tried to regain some composure. She could feel herself beginning to crumble and more than anything she didn't want that to happen. Standing in what felt like the longest line in the history supermarket checkouts, with what was possibly the slowest operator since time began was not the time to burst into tears over the crapness that was her life...more

It's Friday yay!! And I am flogging my blogging with the ever lovely Grace

Saturday Morning

Rolling over Sally could feel her head throb. A dull slow throb that warned her about the perils of getting up. Even moving too much threatened to make the dull slow throb turn into more of a thumping pound. Her body was crying out for water. Both inside and out. The stickiness of the day before lingering on her unwashed skin. As hot as it was outside when she went to bed last night, she decided against having a shower before her body crashed between the comfort of her thousand count sheets. The Egyptian cotton a special Christmas present that she treated herself to every year. It was one of the few real luxuries that the enjoyed.

Her father had always said that going to bed with wet hair was a sure fire way to catch a cold. It was just something that had always stuck with her. With thick golden locks that nearly reached her waist it was hard not to get her hair wet when she showered. Sometimes it was easier if she just didn't shower unless she was prepared to have wet hair. Not only that but to her it was nearly torturous to forgo the pleasure that came with submersing one's face amongst the tiny bullets of water that were released by the shower head. Besides the air conditioner was on so it wasn't like she had to cool down.

Slowly opening one eye, Sally was expecting the brightness of the morning sun to bring a sting with it. It must have been earlier than what she realised because there was barely a glow coming through the windows. The curtains were darkish, but they did not stop all the light. Squinting she turned her head towards the clock. It felt like her brain had shrivelled up and was now rolling around her skull. How she wished she could magic some water to the bedroom. The furs on her tongue felt like they were standing on end. Filling her dry mouth and parched throat.

Barely able to make much sense of the little red numbers Sally decided that it was 5.22 or there abouts. Certainly still to early to consider getting up on a Saturday. Braving movement Sally stretched her arms and legs out. Rolling over she was suddenly reminded of the emptiness of her big bed. It made her want to curl back up into a little ball. To take up as little room as possible. All that space did nothing but sting and make her want to cry.

There was a time when she once longed to have space in there to herself. A time when the bed felt cramped and crowded. There was no room for rolling over or stretching out. Oh how she longed to go back to that time. Back to when she was never alone.

The painful reminder of the past was too much to bear. There was no way she could go back to sleep now. The risk of seeing what she so desperately longed for in a dream as she slumbered to great to chance. For some reason she felt that it was easier to shut out the painful truth if she was awake. She was able to control the thoughts that tried to flash through her waking time. When she was sleeping her mind was too free to explore it's deep dark crevices. Crevices that seemed to hold things that were both real and not. It had a habit of showing her things in dreams that she at times perhaps wished it didn't.

Being awake allowed her to remain in a safe place. One where she could block out the life she once had. A life that she wished more than anything had not be snatched away from herpecially if she was busy doing other things. Which she always was. She had to be. It was the only way that she was able to functionally exist. Though Sally questioned at times just how functional her existence really was anymore.

Unable to delay the inevitable Sally sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Moving way to fast as she did so. Her throbbing head throbbing faster and harder than before. Hoping it might ease with a shower she got up and headed towards the door. Momentarily pausing to consider whether or not to take the sheets off the bed. Saturday was sheet changing day. Or at least it was supposed to be. For now though the sheets could stay where they were. Changing sheets was the last thing she felt like doing right now. Anyway there was still a chance that she could shortly be returning to lay down. Even if she could have been bothered to take them off then, there was little to no chance she felt like putting the clean ones on. It could all just wait till later.

As she reached the door Sally picked up the air conditioner remote from the wall. It was held in a bracket next to the fan and light switches by the doorway. It reminded Sally of a hotel. Which in many ways she liked. Pointing it at the wall unit on the other side of the room she pressed the off button. It was a high powered unit so it cooled the room down quickly, there was no need to leave it running, just in case she felt like a sleep later. The price of electricity made that far from feasible. Even with all the rebates that she got given for working in such a hot, remote and dusty little town.

Returning the remote to it's cradle her other hand reluctantly went to turn the door handle. She knew that the air on the other side of the door was not going to be nearly as pleasant as it was in the bedroom. Even if it was still early in the morning.

Taking a step back as she pulled the door towards her she was met with a wall of mugginess. Worse than what she expected. Heading to the bathroom she felt the coolness in her body quickly disappear. It was the thing she disliked most about the artificial temperature, adjusting back to reality. Which was why she generally only used it on the weekends. That and the price of using it all the time. Even though she was well paid and had few expenses, Sally couldn't see the point wasting more money than need be. Excessive electricity in her mind was sometimes a waste. Even though a good portion of the small house was powered by solar, the air conditioner was yet to be converted to run off the natural resource.

Slipping her knickers off she sat on the loo. Her body instantly relieved to no longer moving. It still felt like there were parts of her, mainly in her head, that were still waiting to catch up. Once her bladder was empty Sally once again gathered the motivation needed to stand up and move to the shower.

Leaning against the wall she could feel the cool tiles of the shower recess against her skin. Even though it was still early the promised heat of the day could already be felt. This combined with her body trying to adjust to the non air conditioned air was almost too much to bare. It just seemed to make her head hurt even more.

Turning the taps on she just instinctively went for the hot water. Everything always seemed better with hot water. Her body suddenly aching from the week that was. Though most it was probably directly related to the excessive beer consumption the night before.

Stepping out of the shower Sally felt nearly human again. She loved how water could do that to her. It almost felt as if the pores in her skin opened up and she was able to absorb the moisture directly through her skin. Rehydrating the dry cells, filling them for the day to come.

Deciding that the towel was somewhat pointless Sally turned the small wall fan on and stood infront of it. The semi cool air blowing straight onto her wet body. Both drying and cooling her at once. Sally had to admit it was one of the things she loved most about the heat. Towel drying her body was something that she could recall disliking for as long as she could remember.

Giving her slender body a shake she decided that she was dry enough to leave the bathroom without dripping too much on the floors. She momentarily forgot about the tenderness in her head. The shaking quickly reminding her of the rattling effect her brain was currently experiencing.

She was sure when she went to bed she wasn't that pissed. Sure she had had a few, but it was Friday night...and there was a time when she had consumed much more and felt a lot less worse.

Swirling the mouthwash round in her mouth she could feel it destroying the awful furriness that was present when she woke. She loved how the sting of the liquid seemed to just burn away the yuckiness and eventually leave her teeth and gums tingly fresh. Right then and there as she stood staring at her puffy eyes with her sore head the her tingly gums and clean teeth were near on the best feeling in the world. Sally wasn't really sure why but for some reason it gave her a glimmer of hope for the day ahead of her.

Gently bending over and careful not to move to fast Sally wrapped her wet hair in the towel. Securing it in a turban like way that somehow seemed to ease the pressure inside her head. It almost felt like the towel was holding her head together. As much as she might have been able to let her body drip dry there was no way her long locks would every drip dry. 

Beside that Sally had gone to the effort of putting a treatment through. After a long week in and out the mine it was just riddled with dust. Some days Sally was almost envious the male workers and there short dos. Though it wasn't just the males who kept their hair short at the mine. Even the few other female workers seemed to have short hassle free hair.

As much trouble as it was at times Sally just couldn't bear the thought getting it chopped off. She felt it was the last thing that linked her to the past. As much as she didn't want to remember life back then she couldn't just let it go either. Her hair was the one thing that had been with Sally through it all. Even though it was only hair and couldn't actually do anything for her Sally found great comfort in the fact she hadn't had it cut since that dreadful day.

Thankful for an awesome hairdresser

An alternative title was Thankful for being really really ridiculously good looking, but somehow I thought it might seem a little arrogant or something.

Regular readers would have noticed that I have been a little down of late (to say the least perhaps). October here, is often referred to as mango madness month or the silly season. The rate of suicide is higher than any other month and most people blame it on the weather. 

The weather at this time of year is beyond awful. It is hot and sticky and hot. When I say hot I mean really really hot. The humidity constantly sits on around 80% which makes the thick and heavy and just horrid.

There is an upside though, that being the opportunity to take some rather awesome cloud photos.

Sunset, taken last week but really is indicative of most nights

Taken on the way to school the other day
(hence the reflection of my phone in my dirty windscreen)

Mind you I do find it a bit bittersweet because I know full well that as I sit there watching the clouds gather they are just going to drift of elsewhere and deposit their precious rain. There is still at least another month till rain will begin to fall regular. I am of course incredibly thankful for the wonderful rainy morning that we had on Sunday. Pure and utter bliss.
But as always I digress.
Realising I was in desperate need of a little me time I decided to take myself off to the hairdresser. 

Before the chop

Best thing I could possibly have done. Ever.

Even though I my hair is already quite short at this time of year it drives me insane. It is or was, at that length that is not quite long enough to tie up yet it is always in the way. Hanging in my eyes, tickling my neck and just generally getting in the way and making me grumpy. There may also have been a few sparkling (silver not grey) strands that I no longer wanted to look at.

Just between you and me I can't honestly
remember the last time I put a colour in my hair

I am so thankful that I went all out and got a few foils put in as well. Miss Two was thankful for the yummy homemade cookies that were all part of the service. Yep you read right my hairdresser has homemade cookies to serve to her customers.

She is all sorts of awesome I tell you.

Not only is she wonderful at reading her customer (or at least this one) but she is wonderful to chat with (not something I find easy with hairdressers as a rule) and finally, which is really the icing on the cake for mums, the salon has a supervised playroom for the kids! 

Yep totally totally awesome. In fact beyond totally awesome. 

The little miss had the best time ever and how could you not when you have a fully equipped playroom and a friendly carer all to yourself? There is a cubby, mini slide, a dolls house, painting/drawing, balloons, train tracks and for bigger kids there is even electronic entertainment and games machines.

Did I mention how just much I love my new hair?

My funky new colour

Seriously I walked out of there feeling like a whole new person. The worries of the world that were weighing me done must have been cut off with the hair because all afternoon I have felt better than I have since I can't remember when. And for that I am beyond thankful.

A few other non related things that I am also thankful this week include

• being able to join in with awesome linkies like #RRRGL Monday (even though its Thursday) and of course #Thankful Thursday


• the lovely band in America that asked if they could use two of my photos on their CD cover


• my wonderful husband who can ride out the waves of my terrible moods and not complain about my lack of housekeeping skills, or rather efforts. I have the skills I just choose not to use them sometimes


• spending time with my brother, his wife and their beautiful daughter


• the fact that the weekend is only one day away


• all the lovely suggestions that I was given to help me with my 30 stories in 30 days

Joining in with We Heart Life and

The Mining Town Supermarket

It had been a long day. A really, really long day. Again. Lately every day felt like it was longer than the last. Which would have been bearable Sally were able to get more done. Instead it seemed like she was constantly achieving less and less. All the while her to do list was growing at exponential rates. She knew that life wasn't meant to be easy but she didn't understand why it had to be so damn hard all the time either.

Taking a deep breath she tried to regain some composure. She could feel herself beginning to crumble and more than anything she didn't want that to happen. Standing in what felt like the longest line in the history supermarket checkouts, with what was possibly the slowest operator since time began was not the time to burst into tears over the crapness that was her life.

With there still three people in front of her, two of which had rather full trolleys, Sally wondered whether she really needed what was in her basket. It never ceased to amaze her how supermarkets had endless checkouts, yet there was never more than one or two open at a time.

While she may not have had much to buy it was her dinner and fresh milk for coffee in the morning. Neither of which she really wanted to go with out. Especially the milk. She went with out coffee this morning and it was a less than perfect start to what turned out to be a far from pleasant day. She really didn't want to start tomorrow the same way. As it was her life felt like groundhog day, without her aid.

Sure the was still time stop on the way home and grab a bite to eat at the local diner, but they didn't sell milk. She was not going home without milk and that's all there was to it. Thanks to the size of the town she lived in there wasn't even another supermarket that she could go and try her luck at, which was probably why there was only one checkout open with the world's slowest operator on it where she was.

Sighing she slowly shuffled forward. One trolley down, one hand basket and another over flowing trolley to go and it was her turn. At least now she was close enough to grab a magazine and flick through it in the hope that time would pass quicker.

Nearly twenty minutes later she was finally on her way but at least she had milk and there was now a chance that at least tomorrow could start better than today. At least it couldn't start any worse. Since tomorrow was Saturday, with meant no work and possibly a little lie in, and now having milk the day was actually shaping up quite nicely.

Walking down the road towards home Sally could feel the heaviness in the air. It hadn't rained for months now. A layer of red dust seemed to cover everything, hovering, waiting for the next object to stick to. It was the one thing that really drove her insane. She longed for the rains to come and wash it all away, taking with it the stifling heat that even after the sunset would linger until the early hours of the morning and returning the moment the sun rose.

Even after five years of living there she still couldn't adjust to the ridiculous weather at this time of year. The nights were nearly as hot as the days and the seemingly endless wait for the relief of coolness that would come with rain. Of course within two months of the rain starting to fall she would then have to start worrying about flooding. Mother Nature sure could be a bitch about things at times, there was no doubt about that.

Opening the front door to her boxy little unit Sally was greeted by a gush of warm air that was desperate to escape the walls it had spent the day invading. Turning on the fan she hoped the blades would quickly move the stillness about and cool things, if only by a degree or two. At least it would be something.

Picking her shopping bags up she trudged through to the kitchen, on the way turning on lights and more fans as she passed by the switches. Momentarily contemplating turning the air conditioner on she decided against. As much as it might bring relief it would also cost a fortune and just make tomorrow seem even hotter.

Truth be told she had never really been much into creating such false environments. She couldn't see how it could be good for the body. How could it ever acclimatise to the heat if she kept subjecting it such drastic changes?

Plonking the bags down she opened the fridge and pulled out a beer. Enjoying the blast of coldness that came with opening the fridge door. Once again finding herself consider the air conditioner, even if just for a little while.

Twisting the top of the beer bottle she swigged down the icy cold liquid. Gone were the days where she elegantly sipped expensive champagne from crystal glasses. Living in the middle of no where, surround by rough and tumble miners she quickly learnt to adjust. As an environment protection officer amongst miners, life was hard enough. Being a woman added to that ten fold. There was no need to stand out further by drinking the likes of Don Perignon.

Not that the local bottle shop sold such luxuries anyway. Sally was actually that they even had any champagne on the shelf. However after sampling both brands they had she quickly decided to find a new beverage of choice. At least beer was relatively cheap, drinkable and helped her fit in just a little. Well as much as her highly educated, big city living self could fit into a narrow minded, close knit and very small mining town could.

More coldness and another moment of relief as she opened the fridge door again to put the milk away and look at what she could add to her shopping for dinner. She had purchased a big juicy T-bone to cook up but could no longer be bothered. Between the heat and the lateness of the evening she was fast losing interest in eating. Another swig of her beer and she found herself putting the meat in the fridge as she headed to the cupboard in the search of a tin of baked beans.

Finding none she decided that eating was over rated and headed to the couch with her drink. She could recall her father saying 'there is a steak and two eggs in every can' referring to his beloved beer as her mother harassed him for not sitting down to eat a meal with them at the dinner table. She hated it at the time but now understood. A few more beers and she wouldn't need dinner either and chances were pretty good she would forget how hot and uncomfortable she was.

After an hour or so of channel surfing and more beers it was finally bed time. Sally picked her weary self up out of the couch and trudged down the hall to have a shower and then send herself off to the land of sleep.

An insight into why I write

I should be doing the dishes.

Or hanging out the washing.

Or sweeping and mopping the floors or any other number of things that come under the dreaded banner of housekeeping. But I am not.

Instead I am here. I just can't face being anywhere else right now. I feel so totally overwhelmed by life as a whole that I just don't know where to begin. Blogging seems like the only way to try and make sense of it. A way to shuffle the pieces around in the hope that I will see the best way to put them altogether.

Someone close to me, very close to me actually is faced with a rather dire situation. I want to help them but just don't know how. I don't even know if there is anyway I can help. The solution involves money and I just don't have any. Nor do I have a magic wand to make some appear.

The worry of it all is literally keeping me awake, stopping me from eating and keeps me constantly on the verge of tears. I feel physically ill just thinking about it, which kinda sucks because I am thinking about it ALL THE TIME.

All of this is amplified by the fact I can't go and talk to my dad about it. Which makes cry even more. I have no doubt that he would be able to help find a solution. He was always good like that. My head just can't stop thinking if he was here it would never have got so bad, in fact it would probably never even have happened in the first place.

Writing it all out was supposed to make me feel better. So far it hasn't.

Writing is like my best friend. It listens quietly and patiently to whatever drama my head is trying to comes to terms with. It lets me say things I wouldn't ordinarily say in person. Words that if I said out loud I fear I may choke on so I don't even try to say them, instead bottling it all up waiting to explode under the pressure of it all.

Writing lets it all out. It stops me from exploding and keeps me together.

Help! A NaNoWriMo Plea

In just a few short days it will be November. A time when wanna be novelists the world over throw caution into the wind and embark on a crazy adventure and attempt to write fifty thousand words (or more) in only thirty days.

And you guessed it, I intend on being one of those sleep deprived crazed wanna be novelists. Which kinda works out well for me because some would say I am already on the side of crazy and thanks to my recent aversion to sleep I am already deprived there as well.

Way back in 2008, when for some reason life seemed somewhat simpler, I heard about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) just a few short days before the start date. To say I was keen was an understatement. I couldn't wait to get started, sitting up till midnight so I could start writing the moment it was the first. Come the end of the month when I had reached the goal I was beside myself with joy. Perhaps even over the moon.

It was one of the first times ever I really thought that I might have what it takes to crack this writing gig dream. Sadly though I no longer have a copy of that manuscript. Which kinda sucks. Actually it bites big hairy balls but what can you do?

Yes I know you can back up.

Well guess what smarty pants, I did. I even had a back up of my back up and today I am still left with sweet FA. But that's ok.

Well actually I have to make it ok because I can't do anything else about it. The story is still inside me, I think, perhaps even deep down know, that when the time is right the story will just write itself. Oh how I hope that time is now.

While I may have passed the required word count my story wasn't actually finished. I couldn't end it. The main character (Rayisa) had to deal with the death of her father (Grayson) only I just couldn't write it.

Naturally I felt rather close to Rayisa and she may or may not have been loosely based on myself, just as Grayson may have  resembled my own father in a few ways. At the time Dad was still alive and killing off Grayson felt like I was writing my father's yet to happen death.

Fast forward to November 2009 and I coming to terms with the fact that Dad is no longer with me. It seemed like the perfect time to write the rest of the story or perhaps even a new one. It wasn't. Neither was 2010 or 2011. Fingers and toes are crossed for 2012.

Only this year I don't think I am going to try and write THAT story. This year I am going to do things a little different.

This year I am going to go for

Thirty stories in thirty days.

Brilliant hey?

Rather than one long story I am going to try and write 30 pieces of flash fiction in 30 days and still reach the fifty thousand words. But I am going to need your help.

Now you probably don't know this, but I have another blog. One that is specifically for my fiction work. It is a little on the small side at the moment but that is all about to change. It is where I plan to post each of my thirty stories.

As you can imagine coming up with that many different ideas is not going to be easy and this is where you come into it. I want you to give me prompts for each day. On Friday when I was Flogging with Grace, I put a call out on Making it Matter for some suggestions.

The response was awesome and I have a few ideas to get me started but I need more. And what better place to ask for help than the #IBOT community?

So hit me a location, genre or theme, and an object or any other details you think should be included. Here is what I have been given so far

As you can see I still have a way to go before I get to 30. Thank you to to those who have already helped. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments below or on my Facebook page and make sure you swing by Fly By Fiction after the first to see how it all unfolds.