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Thank you all for thinking of me 
@Mazarita @Appleblossom @eth @Zoe7 @outlander @Shaz51
I'm heading off to the city tomorrow to catch up with both my Sisters, the Sister that keeps in contact with me has been trying to set up this coffee date for a couple of months! My estranged Sister has had a stroke, so it's hard to tell if she's genuinely been busy, found ways out of it, actually had other commitments or simply forgotten - it hasn't happened yet, so any of those things may still happen. At the very least I'll get to go to an Aldi's, they've got good dog treats, I always end up with a trolley full! 🙂 My trip away is now 3 weeks & 1 day off {& counting 🙂 } so I wouldn't mind going to a big charity shop & finding a new single quilt cover for the Staffy's mattress; I always change it when I go on holiday 😄 I had the firebox blazing again last night, it's been getting down into the crispy below 2's during the night & no higher than the 20-25 through the day 🙂 {Simply bliss 😄 } I don't have much else to write about, I think that's a big part of why I'm so looking forward to going away . . . I'm bored! Though when I get back from the beach I'll have to tighten that financial belt until I'm nearly in halves!!! I've obviously been spending too much on holiday stuff, I had an automatic bill rejected the other day, when I checked I had $8 less in my bank - so I paid the whole bill from my savings, so I still had 50 in case I needed it.
Love to all that need or want it & Thank you all again for the love that's been given
Hugs @Exoplanet
Good luck with irl sisters.
Love your tighten the belt metaphor!
I dont have a lot of new things to say. Just chugging along.
Goodluck tomorrow with everything with your sisters falling into place for you all @Exoplanet A bonus you can get some good dog treats and maybe a new doona cover for them. 👍
It does feel a bit like this upcoming trip is taking ages to get here but I have no doubt in the location you are going it will energise and revitalise you Hon.
We too have been getting down to the low single digits at night but unlike you only in the teens during the day - winter is certainly on it's way in Tassie.
Sending you both love and hugs sweetheart
Hi @Exoplanet, may the meeting with at least one of your sisters happen tomorrow and may it go well.
Great to hear your trip is coming up so soon now. Hope and trust you will have a wonderful time. It will be a strong antidote for boredom. A bit of shopping therapy for the trip sounds enjoyable, and useful purchases. But I hear you on the limitations we face. I too have to slow down on enjoying too much the shopping therapy!
As with you, mine is always very modest in expenditure, mostly second hand, but income is fixed at pension level. At least lately I've been hearing my own voice of caution when I'm about to buy. I have probably been resisting the expenditure a bit more than I was a little way back.
Glad the weather is cooler for you now. That must be a big relief with the climate you are in. Your weather sounds very similar to the south east just now, except we are more like 7 degrees at night, but about the same as you during the day this past week. Fires are lovely. I miss them and sometimes wonder if it's one reason I smoke!
It's going to be so nice for you at the beach.
Past couple of days I've spent hours making new bead necklaces from old broken ones. I no longer wear silver or metal jewellery because it irritates my skin in this moist climate. Totally digging beads at the moment, for colour, and more fun.
Each of these ones below have sentimental beads in them. One contains four pale pink river pearls from a broken string my close friend gave me, along with two real cream-coloured pearls my father's mother gave me when I was about 14. The other necklace has many beads from one belonging to my mother's mother. When Mum and I visited her when I was a kid, I always wanted to dress up in my grandmother's jewellery. 
Love to all. @outlander @Appleblossom @eth @Sophia1
Gidday Mazy & everyone,
I've started packing 😄 ! It's just under 2 weeks before I go away 🙂 I can't
imagine myself going {I never can}, I guess I'll just go through the whole 'this
isn't really me, this isn't really happening' thing, to get me out the door 😉 I'm
pretty tired of being alone really & yet I feel safest when I'm on my own, safest
& clearest - it's the only time I can actually think. I am looking forward to this
trip, to stepping outside my door & going somewhere new, somewhere I've
chosen; & yet I find myself thinking 'why am I doing this, it's already starting to
cause anxiety', I think that's why I focus so much on packing & making infinite
lists . . . thinking about everything I can - while I can. Perhaps being able to
think is why I enjoy the packing & planning more? From the moment the trip
begins, actually probably from the night before as I'll most likely have trouble
sleeping & that I believe is a sign of 'the blur' beginning: It will be a blur &
the blur is exhausting, & I mean uncomfortably exhausting . . . why would I
look forward to that? Why would I deliberately make myself uncomfortable?
To answer my own question, 'cause I think I'm just sound-boarding, I feel it's
to do with my perception of living; in my opinion life is all about experiences
& I want to seek out good ones. I'm doing the best I can to improve my life
with positive new experiences, & if that involves discomfort - so be it. I can
feel discomfort whilst continuing the flat-line existence I need for everyday
contentment anyhow, so if seeking a new positive results in the same {& it
does, every time I return from a trip there is pain}, perhaps subconsciously I feel
it is a better discomfort? The flat-line existence becomes a problem of it's
own when it goes for too long, I need a few twists & turns & the occasional
loop-de-loops, so that when the roller-coaster gets back to that flat-line it will
give me contentment again.
Well that was a little blurb that just came out of nowhere? I really just wanted
to say 'Hello' 🙂
Lots of love to you & all that need or want it ❤️
I feel exhausted for you reading that @Exoplanet so can imagine how much it all affects you ...but you always enjoy your trips when you get there so I hope this one is just as enjoyable. I cannot wait to hear all about it when you return - love reading about your adventures and where you have been. Having those experiences and breaks from everyday life are important - just get there and the rest will take care of itself
Hi @Exoplanet
Great to hear you are an enjoyable part of your trip now, the packing and preparing. I had to giggle on the inside a bit about 'infinite lists'. There was a comedian on TV last night whose routine included being very drunk and getting breath tested. He described himself as having had 'infinity beers'. Made me laugh every time.
You have talked about 'the blur' a number of times before over the years. Questioning why you would put yourself through that is understandable and I relate in different ways. I agree with your answers to yourself about life needing variation, inside and outside experiences, colourful and big experiences to balance with the much more common and flatter qualities of our everyday lives.
I particularly liked what you said about these challenging trips renewing your contentment with the longer periods of regular living.
Went for a 3km bush walk today with my support worker. We've agreed to do at least some of our walks without talking, for a more direct experience with nature. I probably walked 4km all up with the to and from public transport on top. That's quite an extension on the usual 2km limit I've had for years. Needed a foot spa and three hours log-like sleep after the walk, but worth it.
Near the start of the walk we saw a kangaroo moving strongly and steadily across the path about 3 metres from us. I let out a big happy exclamation when I saw it coming through the scrub and yet it was so unbothered by us it didn't even look our way. I can't remember seeing a kangaroo in the flesh for a very long time, only rarely been that close to one in my whole life. An example of the marvellous surprises that can happen when we leave the home!
Lots of love and hugs,
Mazzy
Love to you as well, @Zoe7 and other friends who may be passing by.
