If I had chickens I'd call one Aunty Linda!

Yep, If I had chickens in my backyard I'd call one Aunty Linda.  It's all Bronson's fault though!  In that great Australian kids TV series "Round the Twist" Bronson finds a baby in the cabbage patch and his sister becomes "Aunty Linda".  That's a great name for a chook I reckon!  But I don't have chooks.  I like the idea of chooks but I think the reality would be a vastly different. At night driving home I often see a fox scurrying across the road and I don't fancy encouraging them into the yard.  Also my big brave pussy catto "Pilchards"  is scared of his own shadow so I think he would be pretty put out with chickens roaming around in his domain!    A friend of mine in Victoria has just made the tree change and got four chookies today.  Her 5 acres is filling up fast with talk of sheep, beef cattle and alpacas!!!  My 1/4 acre might hold a couple of goats, but there isn't enough room for much more. Definitely not for a pack of alpacas anyway!

I have turned over part of the yard to production though.  My one 1200x900mm Hills Adda Garden raised veggie bed has now become SIX veggie beds.  I have read up a little on companion planting and crop rotation and even keep a veggie bed book, so I can easily look back on what worked and what didn't.  I'm planting veggies that are more resilient to bugs as I don't use any pesticides or herbicides.  Large African Marigolds are my only line of defence.  So I don't grow cabbage because you cant see the bugs inside until the crop is complete, picked and cut open.  Instead I grow broccoli because the bugs eat the leaves not the heads and they are really easy to pick off and throw to the local birds as a treat.

At the moment I am growing sugar snap peas, red emperor beans, dwarf french beans, brocolli, brussel  sprouts, 3 different kinds of cucumbers, 2 kinds of chillies, silverbeet, spring onions and herbs in pots.  Just the usual suspects thyme, mint, chives, parsley and rosemary.  I have a dwarf lemon tree too, which has good sized fruit, but it seems hesitant to ripen.  I don't use much by way of fertiliser, rather I treat the soil between crops with worm wee and my own compost.  That one compost bin just wasn't enough, I now have 5 on the burst!

At times there is an excess and I'm happy to be able to share it.  Couple a chicks at work do keep chookies, so from time to time I get eggs in return.  6 beds will not mean I can avoid trips to the fruito, but it does mean that I get super fresh veggies to supplement the bought stuff.  How many more beds would I need to be self sufficient?  Probably more than I have room for.  Another 3 or 4 would mean greater variety and, naturally, more produce,  but the backyard would begin to look a bit....... a bit less like a backyard I suppose.

I took some pics with my new toy camera today, so here they are.

Jenny

On monday 4 March 2013 my mate Jennifer Gai McGregor died, just 5 days before her 52nd birthday.

I met Jenny in 1992 when I was transferred from Newcastle to Belmont Police Stations.  Jenny had been transferred there just a few weeks before me.  She had previously been at Gosford Police Station, having joined the Police Force as a civilian in 1986. 

We clicked, something clicked and she made the transition for me easy.  I'm just 3 months older than Jen, we both have one female sibling and similar upbringing.  Similar education but varied interests.  As the years rolled on the friendship grew. Most of the time we worked in the same building, but from time to time Jenny was swapped around to other stations.  That just meant we talked by phone or email instead!!  We celebrated special days together. Birthdays, Christmases, Easter and any other reason to a shared meal or party.  

Jenny loved netball. I HATED netball.  I love Australian Maritime History, she thought that was naff! 

Jenny read Mills and Boon, I love colonial history.  Jenny loved "Take That" magazine, I was more a "Country Style" kinda girl.   We both enjoyed reading though. So I helped Jen write her netball annual reports and she proof read my Uni assignments. It was a fair swap. I taught Jenny how to play backgammon and she became a great player.  Many many lunch hours were spent locked in backgammon battle!  

In 2007 Jenny told me she had tingling in her left hand. She had already had carpel tunnel surgery on her right hand so I nagged her to go see the doc and get her left wrist fixed.  The nagging took quite some months, but eventually she went to see her GP and some tests were called for.  Days later she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  Well that blew everyone away!  Totally unexpected.  The mass under her arm was affecting the nerves that caused the tingling effect in her fingers.   Treatment began. 

Over the years Jenny had multiple surgeries, multiple injected chemotherapy, multiple radiation doses and then a couple of years of oral chemotherapy. She had a port seated into her chest, her skin was burnt by radiation and she lost her hair a number of times. Jen actually looked good bald!  Wigs are provided but they are very hot and she preferred to go without.  When she was well enough she worked.  She continued to work because she loved work. She enjoyed people, she was a real people person. She had a great memory.  I could say to her "what's the name of that bloke who always wears a flanno to court?" Or "that cop that transferred to "insert obscure station here""  and she would be able to recall names.......in an instant!   She knew the names of every co-workers kids.  She remembered everyone and recalled everything!!!   And she loved kids!  Kept stamps in her drawer to ink up any kids that came in the station.  

In December 2012 she found coming to work just too hard and she sought a medical discharge.  Just 6 days after she ceased coming to work she was taken to Gosford Hospital in uncontrollable pain.  The cancer had eaten its way into her hip and she needed URGENT surgery to help control the pain.  It took 9 days for her to make it to the top of the URGENT list! She spent her last Christmas and Boxing Day in horrible pain. Every time she moved a fraction of an inch she would scream in pain. The morphine couldn't hold it. No matter how much Morphine they hit her with it never  touched the pain she endured.  After surgery the pain in her hip became controllable by drugs.  She smiled again.  She never complained about the pain, never said "it hurts",  never spoke of it.  But when it was really bad she would yell and howl.  

The medical team came to a decision about ongoing care and after a 5 day wait a place became available in a Rehab facility. The intention was to get her walking again. She was given the news to pack up her gear as she would be collected by ambulance and swifty moved on in 30 minutes.  She rang me at work, she was so excited.   15 minutes after that news she was told the cancer had progressed to her brain and she would not be going anywhere.  She rang again, she was devastated.  Instead she would be undergoing 10 days of intensive Radiation.  The cancer had already spread to her lungs, spine, femur, hip, liver and skull, but in Gosford  Hospital tests revealed it had also spread to her brain and there was some suspicion it had gone to her oesophagus.  She was unable to eat more than pea sized bites and everything had to be cut up for her.  Even then she had trouble keeping food down.  Meal time with Jenny was horrendous.  Everything had to be cut up into tiny pieces for her as she had lost a lot of fine motor skills.  She would struggle to eat more than a few spoonfuls and then the majority of that would come back up anyway.  I don't care to remember how many times I sat with her, cut up her meals, handed her a purple spew bag and then took the walk to the fluids bin to dispose of them.  She seemed to be able to keep KFC and Ice Cream down. So as the new year began her KFC consumption rose.  At least she was eating.  She had already lost about 60 kilos.  

Jenny undertook that last round of Radiation and again, her hair was gone.  In Gosford Hospital she met a wonderful woman called Gail Scott and they became good friends.  Jenny was upset when Gail finished her radiation and went home,  she really missed her, but they kept in contact.

Jenny was home for 17 days before her breathing became compromised and at noon on Sunday 3 March she was taken by ambulance to Wyong Hospital.   At midnight Doctors tried to drain the fluid from her lungs, but fluid forms in pockets and they could only remove about 200mls from what could have been as much as 4 litres.  At 2am the procedure was finished and she was sitting up in bed, but her breathing was laboured.  She had already told the doctors that she did not wish to be resuscitated.  She had made her intention clear.  Cindy sent me a message at 2am that Jen had sent her home, but that things weren't looking good. In fact the term the Doctor used was "grim".  

The following morning I arrived at Wyong Hospital with Jenny's parents.  We sat with her all morning. Jenny's friend Cindy and Karen left for a while. Cindy had been there for most of the morning. She may well have left at 2am, but I know she was back there not long afterwards! Karen had just finished night shift. We had had a discussion that one of us would stay all day and all night until things changed.  I'd had the most sleep so I stayed and the others tried to get some sleep.  At 2.20pm Jenny's conditions changed markedly and I sent the girls a message to return asap, but Jenny left quickly.  At 2.35 pm Jenny passed away. Her mother, father and I were by her bedside.  

We three girls, mum and dad sat with Jenny for a couple of hours.  Jenny had never mentioned what she wanted after her death.  We all agreed on a cremation as once about 17 years ago she had commented to me that that was "for her".  She had never been mentioned again..... to anyone!  Karen went thru the phone book and a list of funeral homes were given to Pat.   Pat's sister and brother in law arrived from Sydney and at 5.30 pm we all left the hospital.  We all had tasks.  Mine was to locate the Police Chaplain. I had already sent a message to the Commander at Lake Macquarie and rung a number of Jenny's special work friends.  When I read back now the message I sent to the boss, I  wish I had worded it differently.  But that's the past now and I can't change that. 

Jenny had a MASSIVE funeral yesterday.  Over 160 of her friends, family, netballers and companions turned up.  I spoke.  This is pretty much what I said.... 

When Pat asked me to say a few words here today I really struggled with it. 

I thought about sharing stories of Jenny and our 20 year friendship. 

About all the fun times and later about that which consumed her life.

About that crazy trip to Sydney for her first MRI.

About visiting her in more hospitals than I care to recall.

About our Saturday joyrides in the big red wheelchair.

Or about sitting by her side and counting down how many hours till her blood transfusions ended.

I thought I could speak about her long battle with the insidious disease of cancer that was raging out of control in her body.

OR about how she never once complained or asked “WHY ME?”

It was then I realized I wanted to say THANK YOU.

THANK YOU to Pat and John for making this fantastic creature.

THANK YOU to Sue for a childhood filled with adventure.

THANK YOU to Karen and CINDY for the decades of friendship.

Thank you to Nurses Tim and Alison and Dr Evelyn for making Jenny’s last day comfortable and ….. easy….

But I especially wanted to thank someone most of you will never have met and probably never have heard of.

GAIL SCOTT

Jenny and I met Gail on December 29, when late in the evening we gatecrashed her previously peaceful room in M2 at Gosford Hospital.

 Gail and Jenny shared that room for the next 5 weeks.  24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 Gail became Jenny’s arms and legs.  Helping her with her meals, fetching drinks and towels and blankets.  Encouraging her to try and walk again.

 Gail was an inspiration to Jenny and Jenny became very sad when Gail was discharged.  But their friendship continued by phone and email and facebook!

So THANK YOU Gail.  The last weeks of Jennys life were all the better for having known you.

I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have been able to say goodbye to Jenny in person.  So there is nothing more for me to say here, but I know Cindy has a tale or two she’d like to share.

So Jenny is gone and life for family and friends has changed forever. One thing that has come to light since her passing is that her friends were kept in compartments.   Karen was the "saturday netball friend",  Cindy was the "thursday night dinner and sunday markets friend" and I was the "weekday work" friend.  I had met Karen once before the day Jen died and I had spoken to Cindy before Jen died, but had never met her. Karen and Cindy had never met either!    We have theorised why Jen kept us all apart...... but we are all in constant contact now and Jenny is the glue that brought us all together.

Last Saturday night we celebrated what would have been Jenny's 52nd birthday.  Her parents Pat and John, sister Sue, Sue's friend Donna, Cindy and myself went to Club Mingara and had Jenny's favourite meal, Calamari. It was an odd night, but one we all enjoyed.... and Jenny would have too.

42! Douglas Adams would be proud.

Blog post 42 has finally rolled around and just like a good read of Douglas Adams it will make no sense at all!!!

It has been 14 days since I left isolation and I kinda expected it to be a bit different.  The fatigue or lethargy is relentless.  Head and neck aches, constant. But I am home, comfy and not eating bread or gravy!!!

I'm trying hard to get the veggie patch up and productive.  It has not had a lot of care in recent times.  The prolific summer crop of cucumbers, tomatoes and spring onions is coming to an end.  My three raised beds have become 6 thanks to the hard labour of my nephew Russell. Last sunday morning I had 2m of top quality soil delivered and Russell carted barrow load ofter barrow load from the front yard to the back and filled the 3 new beds.  It was a hot and humid day, but like the Duracell Bunny he just kept going!!!  Since then it has rained and rained and rained.  At least now the beds are ready to receive and I have been reading up on companion planting.

Over the last few years I put seedlings in wherever I had a spot, but now with 6 beds I can plant to a plan. 6 beds, 1 fallow, 5 in crop.  I had planted sugar snap peas, emperor beans and brussell sprouts, a punnet of silverbeet and cucumbers......  but the relentless rain had waterlogged them and whilst some may recover the peas are gone. The bean, rhubarb and silverbeet are on their last legs but the brussell sprouts and cucumbers look like they will survive and thrive.

I also planted a couple of punnets of Giant Africa Marigolds.  I don't use any pesticides so marigolds are my first and only line of defence!  They seem to like the wet too and have grown noticeable over the rainy days.  Some violas I planted are struggling too, but I have high hopes for their recovery.  A few days of sun will either make or break my first attempts with the new extended veggie patch.

But that is not all I have been up to. I bought a new camera and lens this week too.  I decided to celebrate the end of my treatment. A new camera for the handbag to replace the one in the handbag!  The one in the handbag was a top of the range point and shoot, that shot raw and had total manual focus control and full HD video. But I struggled to love it.  It turns out a damn fine picture, but I wanted MORE control.  So I bought an entry level DSLR (Canon of course) and a lens called a pancake.  Its a flat 40mm f2.8 bit of fluff that gives some great results! I am super happy with my acquisition...... now I just need to get out and use it!

Getting out is a bit of a problem.  I can't get a clearance to get back to work because of the side effects of the Radioactive Ablation a fortnight ago.  I admit the side effects are still pretty debilitating, I am the Queen of the Nanna Nap,  but I need to get back to work because if I don't get back there soon I'll never go back!!   The results of blood tests taken last friday will be considered on Tuesday and I am hoping they are good enough to get me over the line.  Fingers Crossed!

So what does today hold.....    Well I have been up nearly 90 minutes and I have to go have a nanna nap now. Then I need to hit the supermarket and do a bit of cooking, interspersed with more nanna napping of course and that is pretty much my lot for the day.  At least it is not raining .......for the moment!



I guess the appropriate photos for this post will be of the veggie beds and the new camera......  ohhh and here they are .....

                                   Six veggie beds and one dwarf lemon in a pot..... the rest, jungle!

                    first shot from the new camera                         Mumma bear and baby bear

Radioactive Iodine Ablation... just like a weekend camping!

This latest offering comes to you from the lead room at the John Hunter Hospital.  F1 Room 30 is the place to hide if there is ever a nuclear accident.  It's a biggish private room in the orthopaedic ward, right down the end of the hall so no one walks in mistakenly while you are radioactive.  Double doored, air lock style. For those of you reading for the first time the quick version of what lead me here was April 2012 found a lump in my throat.  Diagnosis and surgery found a rather large malignant tumour called a Papillary Carcinoma (Hurthle Cell variant) but it was commonly know as Mr Lumpy Bump.  So he got whipped out in two separate operations and that lead me to this latest phase of treatment known as Radioactive Iodine Ablation.  Or 'newking' as it became known.   It could also be known as cruel and unusual punishment, but that is more an indiction of the tastiness of the food than the treatment itself.   Naturally I had read up on all the side effects, but as I type this (Saturday evening) I've been spared.  So I'll go back to the beginning and finish this off when I get home, with photos of course!   Hopefully you will enjoy the read.

Prep Day 1:-  Prep injection of Thyrogen at the John Hunter Hospital. The injections are horrendously expensive, but Medicare picks up the bulk of the cost.  Later that night I was pretty crook with the standard, run of the mill, written on the side of the box, side effects.

Pre Day 2:- Same as day one.  Lots of laughing as I get jabbed again.  The two nurses that administered the Thyrogen where both riotously funny.  Well they were jabbing a bloody great needle into my rear end at the time.  They held all the power.  Strangely NO side effects on night 2.



Radioactive Day 1:- Up at stupid o'clock to be at the John Hunter for 8.30am blood tests.  Of course the forms written out 3 months ago had something written in the wrong column and staff were hesitant to assist. So I took matters into my own hands and rang the Nuclear Medicine section. They were great.   Sent a staffer down to correct the error and pushed me up the line with an URGENT request.  The vampire taking the blood obviously had her day jobs confused because she thought she was still at the vets and used a syringe suitable for a pit pony on me.  I never bruise from blood tests.......except today! OUCH!

After the vampire had her chop I was sent away for a few hours, which was handy as I had not packed my bag and I needed to take a swift detour to the Apple store as my MacBook wouldn't recognise my Dongle.  They, unlike the blood collection assistants, were totally awesome and got me online in short time!

Back at the John Hunter at noon with sister in tow.  We met the Doc and had a chat, went to admissions and signed up and, as you do at the John Hunter, run into someone you know!  Finally made our way to F1 and ran into someone else we knew, before being shown to the "suite".   Suite MIGHT be overstating it if you were looking for some tourist authority stamp of approval.  It contained a bed, 4 chairs and an ensuite that had seen better days.   We sat for a while enjoying the ambience. There would have been a delightful bush view, if you could see through the inch thick layer of dirt on the windows (outside). Of course the windows are locked shut as breeze is bad..apparently.  Kinda makes every window having a fly screen irrelevant.    But still I prefer the JHH spend spare dollars on more staff and better equipment than window washers.  Nola left and I just hung about waiting.

2pm Doctor Tim turned up with two other blokey looking blokes with a stainless steel wheely tray and a sneaky looking canister on top.  Introductions all-round and pleasantry exchanged I knew these dudes were about to make me very sick and very radioactive.  We went thru all the safety stuff we had to go thru including DON'T LEAVE the room and if you are going to spit it out.......aim it in THAT direction!!! Humourously that was the direction Dr Tim was standing is so we joked about was there time to paint a target on his shirt so I could get a score if my aim was spot on.  Len and Nick went thru the process in fine detail.  Who would do what, what I could and couldn't do immediately after being given the capsule and we did three dry runs, just to get it right.  When the time came to actually take the capsule I did two things I was told NOT to do.....  I looked at the capsule instead of putting it straight into my mouth and when I bit down on it I heard it crack, but I expected it to break in half and it didn't.  So I kept trying to break it in half and momentarily opened my mouth.  Len knew I needed some help so he told me he had heard the crack and to now swallow.  I'm glad he said that or I'd still be rolling that capsule around in my mouth now!!!  Two big glasses of water washed it down and the 3 blokes couldn't get out of the room fast enough!!!  I was glowing!!!

For the next four hours I had to eat lollies. Hell job but someone has got to do it!!  Yeah, NO!!   Being diabetic is was a bit of a challenge, but if I didn't my salivary glands would get fried.  So I ate Fruit Tingles and let me say if I never taste another one, it will be too soon!!!   I washed them down with 4 litres of water and something resembling food.   It must be difficult to feed every patient in this big nursing hospital and they do their best....... but dinner at 5pm is actually really afternoon tea!!!  It was chicken with a tomato and onion sauce, pasta and carrots.  Dessert was sago and that was delicious.

So I had my first of many many showers and headed to bed with a DVD playing on the MacBook.
Old Man Sleep unfortunately didn't realise I was in a different bed and avoided me.  Probably the sugar hit and going from a super luxurious brand spanking new bed to a tiny metal bed with a mattress made of something resembling crushed bricks didn't help the cause!  2.19am was the last time I recall seeing the time.   The door has a sign on it saying how long visitors can stay for.  Today visitors were allowed to stay a total of 4 minutes.

Radioactive Day 2:-  5.55am!!!!  Mmmmmmmmmm  not best pleased AND a headache to boot!  Well I drifted in and out of sleep till breakky arrived at 8.30am and it was a welcome relief.  Dinner at 5pm, breakky at 8.30am, that a HUGE fast to break!  Try as I might I can't shake the headache so it is back to bed with some painkillers.  My sister woke me up at 10.30 with a rescue pack of popcorn!   Last night I was craving chips or popcorn and today she delivered.  Unlike staff she has no issue walking into the room.  I can understand it though.  The nurses and food porters get this every weekend and I can totally understand they need to keep themselves safe.  Some open the door all the way and will have a short conversation.  Others open the door and hide, they talk thru the crack.  Plenty of people to talk to though. My phone is going off like a frog in a sock!  Nic called from Perth to tell me he has moved off base and found...IKEA!  That was great call.

The rest of my day was spent on the internet, reading and I got a great surprise when flowers were delivered in the afternoon.  My niece Rachel sent them and they were lovely!

The menu lady brought only bad news.  Just about every meal was swathed in gravy and I'm not a gravy kind of girl.  Oh well, only a few days, I'll be right!

As the evening wore on I was chatting on Facebook when I realised I was running out of credit on the dongle.  DRAMA!!!  I had no idea how to recharge it and every number I rang was "not available" as I was ringing from a non Telstra phone.  I was getting pretty cranky.  90 minutes into my quest I found a number I COULD call and spoke to a woman who couldn't assist me....... but she went all out and transferred me to someone who could!!   5 minutes later I was all recharged and ready to roll!

Back to bed about 11pm and I watched a DVD. Nighty night day two!  Todays visitors were allowed to stay 15 minutes up close or 1 hour at a distance of 2 metres.  Thats a vast improvement on yesterday!


Day 3:-  3am  Side effect city!!!  Luckily these Doctors know exactly what to do and had already charted medicine to suit me.  I buzzed and nurses promptly assisted and I felt much better.  5am they woke me to give me meds not due till 8am!!!  But I drifted back to sleep.  The breakfast porter woke me at 8.30.  Today has been spent drifting in and out of sleep, in and out of bed, a bit of internet play and I watched most of a DVD, but kept falling asleep. I can't seem to stay awake, one side effect I struggled with.  Dinner delivered 5.30pm, supper delivered 6.30pm.  Mmmmmm  not too sure if they are aware the meals are so weirdly spaced.  Supper was raisin bread.... it was the 8th slice of bread delivered today!!!  I wouldnt normal eat 8 slices of bread a week!!!! Most made their way to the bin!  So I'm settling in for my last night here...finger crossed.  Full body scan in the morning but only if Nick with the geiger counter will let me out of the room.  Time to take my flowers and head on home.   Special thanks to Russ tonight for bin duty.  Todays visiting hours were 30 minutes up close and 4 hours at 2 metres.  Tomorrow I find out how long the residual will take.

Day 4:-  Another night with broken sleep and an early start only to find my 8.30 scan was now at 9.30 due to a unit meeting.  First was the Geiger counter, then 5, yes FIVE scans on two different machines and finally a discharge certificate and I was outta there.  There was some messing about with the scans and I had to return to isolation twice before all five were finished.  On the whole I had an excellent level of care and feel very lucky that Australia has Medicare to assist with the enormous cost of this kind of treatment.

Due to the time and day of my admission, it was not possible for me to make my own food choices until sunday.  Everything I was served was palatable and hot..... if not interesting.  And EVERYTHING was served with bread!!!  Strangely I was served soup, jelly and ice cream.....all without a spoon!

Oh and if you were wondering about the title   "Radioactive Iodine Ablation ..... just like a weekend camping" is because the bed is uncomfortable, the showers are nowhere near hot enough and you eat food you would normally avoid.  There is plenty of time to read, no TV!   It's just missing the sand and the fish and the mossies!


Let me just say that I am sure there are typos and verbosity in this post, but I am soooo tired and just cant proof read anymore.  I hope you enjoy it and if you are about to undergo Radioactive Iodine Ablation you have nothing to worry about.  Be prepared for sleepless nights and daytime lethargy. The ongoing lethargy apparently lasts weeks if not months. So take good care of yourself!

UPDATE:

The weeks following the ablation were pretty damn HORRIBLE.  For the first 6 weeks I was lucky if I could scratch myself.  Well maybe not that bad but being newked sapped all my energy and whilst I tried to get a clearance to return to work, it was continually refused by my doctor.  I was a danger to pregnant women, small children, but strangely NOT to my cat or my mother (as they both have a fair bit of age about them).  The Nanna Nap ruled, I was asleep more than I was awake.  When I did finally return to work it was a struggle for the first 3 weeks or so, but I am now feeling better, but not yet back to my post op level of activity.

Radioactive Ablation is the prime example of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

My 40th!!!

Yep, My 40th blog post.  If you thought it was my 40th birthday you are in the wrong millennium and probably need to seek out a trustworthy optometrist !!!  I don't even remember my 40th to be honest.  Never paid much attention to the whole counting off the years thing.  Sure, I love the cake, but living in the land of plenty we can have cake whenever we want!  So nope, not 40th birthday .... 40th blog post.

3000 views too, well actually a chunk over 3000, whoodathunkit!!!

So what do I use my blog for?   That's an interesting question that I'm not sure I have an answer to.  Most of the posts for 2012 were about me.   Me me me!! It's all about me,  Me being sick and me feeling better and I hope that someone who is diagnosed with Papillary Carcinoma (Hurthle Cell variant) can read up and see that the treatment on the whole is pretty good.  One post that received a heap of viewers was the one about no longer being able to be an organ donor, but Sharm came forward and took my place in that line!  I thank her for that!!  Organ and blood donation are poorly patronised in Oz and many many people die waiting for a donation that never comes.  If you aren't registered..... give it some thought.  It really is the last thing you will ever do.

Prior to getting cancer I think my blog was mostly about my photos.  A place to share the ones I liked and to be able to view them on a black background instead of the usual flickr white.

I'm not sure who in Trinidad is reading this, but they are an avid regular reader! Hello from me!
The stats functions with Blogger is interesting.  It can tell me whether the viewer is a Mac or PC user, what browser they use, what page they look at first and if they then move to another.  I have no idea why i need to know that stuff, but it is interesting.  I guess if the blog was a commercial venture then that kind of info would be important. But it isn't, so it's not!

I do read a few blogs too.  Ms Moo has a couple of interesting ones happening.  Now you know I am crap with links, but I shall try. http://lilmsright.blogspot.com.au/ Homespun Field is a goodie too.  http://homespunfield.blogspot.com.au/ and my mate Rebecca has a newie happening too at http://hambyhomeinstead.blogspot.com.au/ .  There is a top blogging magazine called "Artful Blogging". It is from the USA and is often hard to acquire, but there are heaps of great blogging links in it.  I'm trying to get my sister to blog. She has an obsession with quilts and quilting, dolls and dolls houses and I'm pretty sure there a a number of other freaky people worldwide into that kinda stuff.

No point blogging without a photo or two to make the reading worthwhile, so here's a couple I was messing about with earlier.  I do like a car, but real ones are better!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Not that the last one was unhappy!  Just a commonly heard salutation at this point in time.
I know I've said it quite a few times in the last 6 days.

So 6 days in what have I achieved?   Well not a great deal I must say.
New Years Eve was spent with the boys. Abundant food, great company and a top view of the Newcastle fireworks. Home at 3am after driving some of the youngest nephews friends home from the city.  All "P" platers there are rules about who can be in their cars after 11pm.  So I drove 2 to their cars and another 3 to their homes.  All totally sober!  Bed at 3am and a 5am phone call slowed me down for New Years Day!

Back to work a couple of days later and a massive clean up of the office took place.  Just need a nice armchair and a few more framed photos and I am done!

I had a bit of a cleaning frenzy this morning, although that thankless and never ending job is......well...... never ending!!!   I did make cupcakes this morning too.  Outside needs an army of workers to make right!   Yesterday afternoon, after a blistering hot day, I mowed for about an hour and haven't scratched the surface!  I also installed another compost bin, and bought two more,  just to deal with the lawn clippings.   Did some weeding, but no planting.  I need to plant some more stuff  but I am space poor until those WONDERFUL NEPHEWS of mine (yes, I do mean you Nic and Russ)  fill the three new raised beds I have built.  Nic goes back to Fremantle mid week and Russ starts his first ever job tomorrow, so I am thinking they need to get their act together .......... tomorrow afternoon, tuesday at the latest!!!!

Not sure what to plant this time of year.  I planted 5 different varieties of tomato and all but the Cherry Tomatoes were eaten by bugs.  I don't use and pesticides.  If I see bugs i pick them off and if I had chickens the bugs would make for a nice treat..... but I don't have any chickens.  The beans and capsicums are coming along nicely. The silverbeet has seen better days, but has provided a lot of leaves thru the season. The last of the first run of spring onions came out yesterday, but versions 2 & 3 are progressing nicely.  I'd like some pumpkins, not spuds though.  Beans and peas are always handy too. Caulflowers are hard to keep bug free, but broccoli is tops!   I still have a tiny bit left in the freezer from last crop!  MMMMmmmmm  even though it is a zillion degrees out there just typing about it makes me realise how I need to be out there digging, mowing and watering rather than in here typing.

Best I get moving then, but as always a photo.

This one is the first I took on New Years Day, when 2013 was about 3 minutes old!  I put it on flickr and it made explore!   If you don't know what that means it is enough people looked at the shot, made comments or added a fave star that it was one of the 500 most looked at images on a given day.  So here it is........  fireworks.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The year that was

Well almost time to eat more seafood, listening to the music wafting up from the foreshore and to gaze at the fireworks lit from Dyke Point once more.  Another year over and what have I done?   Well I was sick for a big chunk of it and while short on energy I do feel mighty fine. Photographically speaking I completed a massive section of my 100 Strangers Project.  I was generally happier with the quality of the images for the Strange, Not Stranger Project over the 100 Strangers Project, but am still astounded at how easy it is to get a total stranger to pose for you.  Friends are not so easy!!  I appreciate those who had faith in me. If you want to see those images you should go here www.flickr.com/photos/nammo/

 The 135mm lens I bought late in 2011 is totally worth its weight in gold and I did lash out of some awesome Pocket Wizards in 2012 which brings new technology to the way I light a shot.  Still more practice is needed!!!  Another highlight was the Disposable Camera Challenge.  Three rounds of fun with cardboard cameras and the "fantastic Ektanar" lens.  2012 also saw my Mater Hospice exhibition come down and my Planet Islington exhibition go up!  Both great fun.   Friends met through photography never cease to amaze.  They willing share knowledge and equipment and are generally heaps of fun to go out with.  They also call a spade a spade and if an image sucks they will tell you.  For that I am grateful.

Old friends also filled a big part of 2012.  The memorable  "April 11 Lunch with Moo" where Mr Lumpy Bump was first found and which lead to being diagnosed with cancer 7 days later was one I will never forget.  The totally crazy Chrissy lunch with Ella and Julie is another that will go down in history for fun and laughs.  Florida Beach Bar often have some great acts and fine food to make a great day.  The hundreds of meals shared with friends inbetween these two events also bring a smile to my face.  Workplace Wednesday Lunch club was great and the inaugural "Building 3 Ladies Fishing Club" burgers and chips at Wangi was also a memorable day..... if not only for watching Stella spew up the peanuts she had scoffed and Lexi catching the weirdest looking fish I have ever seen in my life!  Friday afternoon coffee with Geoff and the Peabury visits with Scotty also highlight the year that was.

Other memorable moments of 2012 would have to be the photo day trip to Brisbane, Anita's farewell after 42 years of service, a car accident (not my fault) and the fun and games that followed to track down the lying little cow that gave me a phoney name and disconnected phone number! I won that battle!!   Family wise there were some milestones too.  Nic flew to Hawaii and on crewing the sub back to Fremantle he was awarded his Dolphins, a fully fledged Submariner.  Russell won the job of his dreams in a big company up the Valley, Rachel turned 21..... the less said about that the better!!!   Admitting that I finally needed to retire my beautiful big old bed and replace it with a brand spanking new ultra mod version, was a long time coming.   Naturally I needed a whole new bedroom full of furniture to go with it.  Had a great trip to Sydney with some 100 Stranger photographers and a couple of freakishly funny trips to Ikea for stuff that we "simply don't need"!  There was also abundant cake in 2012!!!

There are by far too many people to thank for making my 2012 a great year.  If you are reading this, you are one of them. THANK YOU!

So on the whole it has been a year full of happenings.  Some totally unexpected and some coveted and long anticipated.  And of course...... here are the photos to prove it!