That evening we went to another swords and sandals evening at Macquarie Uni. The film was David and Bathsheba, 1951, starring Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward and Raymond Massey. The saying that someone is more than a pretty face definitely doesn't apply to Susan Hayward. There were times when it appeared she had difficulty in remembering even simple lines and her acting was totally wooden. Whether she was facing death or the death of her son or in the throes of passion, her expression was much the same. Not that there were too many throes of passion, as the film was made in 1951. Not even a dress off the shoulder, let alone anything more. Gregory Peck as David was only slightly better.

MIL has fallen once again. It is only a matter of time before she has another serious fall. This was in the bus owned by the hostel. She has a nasty graze on her elbow which is very swollen. Both my husband and I spoke to her about the use of her pronged walking stick. She has no idea how to use it properly and will not learn. There is usually only one prong on the ground and she leans on it at an angle. One of these days, it will give way and down she goes. We had no sooner spoken to her about this than she walked down our hallway, trailing the stick behind her. We just looked at each other. I think he accepted the inevitability of the falls.

Eating? I haven't been counting points, but if I check, they are reasonable. I have been trying to remember that no food is bad food. However, some foods need to be eaten only occasionally and most foods need moderation, something it's easy to overlook.

My son has asked me to cat-sit for him next week. He and his wife are going to Brisbane for a wedding and will be away a few days. Their housemate is also away. I have plenty to do and am looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to treating myself in their big spa. I'll still have net and general computer access.

It's amazing how quickly the days pass. Tuesday again. I'm house and car sitting for #1 son tomorrow till next Monday. I am looking forward to it. Lovely house overlooking a bushy valley. Quiet cul-de-sac instead of a busy suburban road. I have plenty to do to take with me and Sarah has a very good library as well. I also plan to do some gardening for her. She's had the flu and a couple of nasty secondary infections, so has been housebound for a while.

Do you like my little helper pictured? Little Mya who is getting towards three years old absolutely adores helping. It's much easier to do it myself, but it's good for littlies to learn about food and cooking. Not only that, but they seem to eat more if they helped make it. She peels and cuts potatoes under supervision and last week floured chicken strips for me and put them in the pan. She was pretty good about telling me when to turn them over too. She helps her aunt make bread. Covers her ears when Sarah grinds any special flour. she doesn't like the noise.

I had a small piece of rump steak last night which I bought cheaply. I BBQd it and cut about a third for me. That was about 80 grams. Husband is very busy telling me how much meat he should be eating. Dietitian at work told him he obviously wasn't listening to her instructions because he was gaining weight. He showed me where she had drawn on his hand the size of the amount he should be eating! Remember a piece of meat about the size of your palm? I've tried that in the past and have been informed that men like MEAT. At the moment he's following her words. She also told him to have a sandwich for lunch so he won't pick at sweets an hour later. He prides himself on a healthy lunch of fruit, but forgets to tell her about the jars and jars next to his desk with lollies, dried fruit, dates, etc in them.

Anyhow, back to last night. I had five different vegetables - broccoli, small potato, carrot, BBQd eggplant, tomato. He added a banana to the grill as well. They were too ripe for me. I like my bananas just turning slightly yellow. I was full, and I think he was too. We're having Mongolian lamb tonight made with trim lamb steaks. Stirfry vegetables and some rice too.

I need to go and think what I want to take. I'm going by train and will catch a cab at Hornsby. However, I don't want anything too heavy.

High time I did some updating here. A week gone, although I have been away for most of that time. Updates are slow, a bit like the alarm clock. Actually, I'm dragging my own feet this morning. It's been really hard to get moving today, although it's a beautiful day. I was too late to bed last night and didn't want to get up this morning.

When I've hung out the load of towels in the washing machine, I'm going to walk to Burwood. It's a lovely day and I've been too slack and idle.

I had a great time by myself at son's last week. I went up there on Wednesday afternoon. I minded Miss Two on the Thursday and her parents came for dinner before going home about 9:00pm. That was an interesting day. She used to live there and had all her things there. this time they had to bring stuff for her to do. What she really enjoyed was playing with her aunt's Upwords puzzle. She sorted the letters into groups, covered the board with them, named all the ones she knew, which is quite a lot. Then she packed them all into a small velvet bag there which I think came off a bottle of Cinzano. Then she'd start all over again. By the end of the day she was able to look at the instructions, right way up, and pick out some letters from the illustrated words and make that word on the board. I was amazed as she did this. Wouldn't accept any help from me. She also did lots of drawing in a scrapbook and signed her name to each. This was a series of spiky letters all joined together. Then I realised that her name, MYA, looks very similar to what she had written.

I went for a bushwalk on one day in the valley opposite. I stayed on the top level but walked quite a way in. I would have like to have climbed down, but I was by myself and didn't have my phone with me. It was a bit slippery after the rain we've had and I didn't want to risk a fall or slide. I would have had to make my own way out. No one would have either seen or heard me. On Saturday morning I took the shortcut through the bush at the back of their place and came out at the rear of Mt Wilga hospital on the rifle range. I then walked quite a way up to the service station on the highway and bought the paper. It has a small convenience store attached and I bought the most wonderful treat - some homecured, hickory smoked bacon. Very pricy/kilo but I just bought a small pack. Cooked slowly for breakfast for the next few days got rid of the fat, although there really wasn't much. It was sliced a reasonable thickness and tasted absolutely wonderful. I usually reserve bacon for a holiday treat, so felt justified in buying it. Other than that, I had very good meals. Lots of soup which Sarah had left, plenty of fruit, some stirfried vegetables one night when I didn't want soup. I didn't even pick at all teh other goodies which were around. One night I had a beer, another I shared a bottle of wine with my son. The contents of a very extensive cellar weren't even touched. All in all, not much damage done there.

Things have been tense at home here for a while, so the break away was wonderful. A chance to recharge my batteries. During the afternoon, the sun came streaming in onto the table I was working at. Really lovely. The house is air conditioned and they had the heater programmed to come on when the temperature dropped, so I was always comfortable, although the mornings were quite chilly outside, well down into single figures.

Somewhat of a shock to come home to a cold house and a messy table with papers everywhere. He'd finally opened three weeks of mail and bills. Fortunately the kitchen was not as bad as I have seen it when I've been away.

Another quiet weekend for me to do as I please. He's going to Inverell on Friday morning, leaving at 6:00am and won't be back till late Monday night. I enjoyed my time away by myself and will enjoy the weekend too.

I put the little yellow flowers there to cheer me up. I decided to weigh myself this morning. Haven't done so for absolutely ages. I really knew it wasn't a good idea as I'd had a drink and some breakfast, though only a small amount. According to the scales I have put on 2 kilos since I last weighed myself. My clothes are fitting better, I can do up buttons I couldn't do up before, and I feel better. I know scales can lie and other indicators are also needed, but it was like a slap in the face. I know I have been eating well and the right balance of food. NOT impressed.

I'm not looking forward to the weekend of the 5-th July. I agreed to mind the grandchildren while son and wife have a weekend away for their wedding anniversary. That means the four year old and the baby. Other DIL has just rung, asking me to have Miss Two on the Monday. They are going to Queensland for a week on the Tuesday, so I'll miss that Thursday. She manages a hair salon and needs to give a day off to someone who will be working when she's away. That means I will have Mya on the Thursday, Andrew and Victoia from Friday to Sunday and Mya again on Monday. Busy, busy. Now that I use the hearing aids regularly, my hearing is really bad without them and I'm a bit worried I won't hear the baby if she wakes. She's been teething and not sleeping well. Husband blithely reminds me that that is how one son learnt to sleep through the night. I had an ear infection and couldn't hear him. By #3 baby, husband never heard a sound!

Husband is not going to Inverell till tomorrow. Will be back late Monday. He's at work all day, but it feels different when I know he is away. He'll be back tonight for dinner and is leaving before dawn tomorrow.

Perhaps I'll be a bit more cheerful tomorrow.

Sunday, June 15th

An absolutely beautiful day here today although the morning waas cold to start with. Last night's wind blew away any pollution and things were very clear. I was up early to make mini-muffins for church. These had chopped bacon, shallots and cheese in them, and I made them with wholemeal flour. I had to try a few before I took them. It would never do to take something that wasn't right or nice! LOL. Actually they made a nice breakfast with my plunger of coffee. I run on automatic pilot in the morning before I have my coffee. things get done, but only because I've done them for so long they happen automatically.

Here's the recipe for the muffins I made. It's different to the one already in the recipe pages. Drew lots of compliments

Mix all together till just combined. Put in mini pans and bake at 200 degrees for 15 minutes till brown. I used 2 cups wholemeal SR flour and one white. Also used low fat milk. This made 48 mini muffins and the recipe suggested it would make a dozen regular size. I don't think the amounts of cheese and bacon are really critical. Suit yourself.

Have you noticed how muffins seem to be the new scones? Everywhere you turn, there are recipes for them. They, like scones, are just about foolproof, provided that they are not overmixed. I have a range of different scones and the same thin applies to muffins too.

I decided not to go to the Food Fair yesterday. I wasn't overly flush with money and there would have been the fare, $18 entrance and food at places like that always costs the earth. Instead I did a bit of retail therapy with the credit card. I bought two zip up jacket/cardigans in Millers on special. They are 80% wool and feel really nice and warm. One's black, the other a soft pink. I've been looking for a couple of years for woollen tops for winter. I really don't like acrylic. The only ones I could find before yesterday were very expensive - upwards of about $80. These two cost just under $60 for the two. I don't mind buying things like that because I can wear them and not worry about them.

Friday, June 20

It's been a busy few days. Scarcely seems a week since I last got home from minding Miss Two. I had her cousin on Wednesday afternoon and took her for a walk in the Maclaren stroller which my brother used in Europe for his two year old son. It's higher than I am really comfortable with, so on Thursday morning I had a stiff neck and shoulders and a headache from that. Also felt pretty seedy because of a stomach upset the night before.

She wanted to play hide and seek. This involves covering me with the foam lounge she has. It's like a tiny pullout sofa. I just didn't want to be involved in that as I know she would try and climb on my shoulders. After she finally realised I meant what I said she grumbled away and then said to me, "You not a very happy chappy, this morning, Grandma." I could hardly hide my laughter. It was very appropriate, but she's only two!

Later in the morning we were going over shapes and colours which she knows really well, even things like silver and grey. I had drawn a triangle which she recognised and she said she would make another. So she picked up the pen and drew a line from the angle down to the base, effectively bisecting the one I had drawn. She was very proud and told me there were now two triangles. She's pretty bright and I usually have to go with specific ideas in mind for what we will do on Thursdays, or she gets bored quickly.

It's a lovely morning here and I think I will walk to the shops. I need some fruit and vegetables and milk. Then I'll catch the bus home with my parcels.

MIL will kill herself with her eating one of these days. As I've said, she is now an insulin dependent diabetic. She has no clue about good eating and no discipline. The hostel serves her appropriate food and blood sugar is tested twice daily. However, she was out with us on Tuesday night and there were biscuits, coffee, cake etc. I saw her eat eight of those Just Right fruit slices, one after the other. She swore off dried fruit a couple of months ago because fruitcake put her levels extremely high. I think she also had other things and she had proper sugar in her coffee because she didn't have her sweeteners with her. She told me she could eat these things because they wouldn't test her when she returned to the hostel, and so wouldn't know what she had eaten. She couldn't understand that wasn't the important thing, but what she was doing to her body. My husband just says to let her go and enjoy herself. I wonder what he will feel like if she goes into a coma becasue insulin balances are wrong or if she falls again because she's high on sugar. He just said, "so what? Let her go."

I'm about to make some soup for the weekend. I love it and points are low, even for something like potato and leek. Think I'll make this just plain vegetable soup with lots of things in it. Don't think I could do that KICKSTART thing with soup. I reckon it would be hard to face at breakfast. I also need to make some more bread now I'm home for a few days. I'll make the recipe with chickpeas I think. It's tasty and keeps well. Also looks interesting with yellow flecks through it from the chickpeas.

Well winter certainly started to kick in after the shortest day at the weekend. We've had several very chilly mornings. Today it was still 2 degrees at 8:00am. This is in inner Sydney, not out at Richmond or Penrith. My new heater keeps my room good and cosy.

I seem to be on a vegetable kick at the moment. I've always liked them but have had more than usual lately. Last night I thinly sliced a piece of meat about 150 gm, stirfried it quickly. Then I added an enormous pile of vegetables and a slosh of plum sauce and served that. I gave my husband over 3/4 of the meat and I just had a very few pieces. With a glass of wine, I really enjoyed them. I've made some soup for my lunch with sweet potato,onion, some cumin seeds, garam masala, a lot of coriander seeds and a tiny tin of lite evaporated milk. It's nice and spicy without being hot and really good for lunch. It has made enough for three lunches at about 1.5 points/serve. Tonight's meal, which was for just me, was stirfried vegetables again. Another glass of red. I finished with a big fresh navel orange. Very healthy meal. Still on the vege theme... The last loaf of bread I made had chickpeas and tinned green and black peppercorns in it. The pepper stays whole but the chickpeas get ground up and leave yellow flecks. It has a lovely taste, but obviosly can have only savoury spreads on it. Can't quite see jam and pepper together. I had a slice one lunch with some smoked salmon on it. That went really well. Another loaf is due out in about half an hour. It has cooked mashed sweet potato and rolled oats in it. Smells wonderful.

I enjoy chocolate, but no one could call me a chocoholic. However, when I was at son's I had a couple of sachets of Jarrah chocolate fudge drink. This is VERY rich, chocolate and caramel together, and really doesn't need milk except perhaps a dash to cool it down. Works out at .5 points/sachet. I bought some when I came home and have finished the pack. It's almost as if having some chocolate conditions me to want more. Now I wouldn't mind a TimTam or two, and I never ever buy them. Funny way the body works.

Feel somewhat down. I don't know quite what is causing this. Don't feel like getting up and moving, although I know that would help me feel better, apart from helping metabolism etc. Husband is being very odd occasionally and I have no idea what is behind this. Spending money usually means a guilty conscience for some reason or another. He's just bought himself a new overcoat and a new TV because he is convinced our old one has totally died. He hasn't had anyone look at it yet!

Wednesday, June 25th

As you can see, I'm still on my vegetable kick and enjoying them. I had the last of my spicy sweet potato soup for lunch today and for breakfast had some of the bread I made last night, again with sweet potato. Dinner tonight is a vegetable pie and there will be enough left over for lunch on Friday after I return from babysitting tomorrow. I had a small piece of meat left over from Monday night, so I have cooked that in some red wine and stock with a lot of mushrooms and have made a small meat pie for husband. Then I cooked up a lot of different vegetables and will make myself a vegetable pie. I've added a tiny tin of chick peas, so lots of good things nutritionally. I've also done some cauliflower in cheese sauce, the first for this winter and will have baked carrots and tomatoes as well. Husband will ask for potato. I don't cook potato if there is pastry, but he thinks that's a silly idea.

Not so cold here today but fairly wet. State of Origin football tonight. I'm glad I'm not going to that. Cold and wet. I'm not a league fan at all, much rather Union when I do watch.

I walked up to the chemist to get a couple of scripts made up this afternoon. As I stood waiting for the traffic lights to change I could see the cafe near the station. It used to be good, was sold and went downhill. Now it's been taken over and the food and coffee are good. They have a lovely cake called flourless Jaffa cake which is orang with melted chocolate icing. I turned the other way and hurried past. It was too late in the day for coffee for me and I wasn't hungry. Certainly didn't need the cake. When I reached home, I made one of the Jarrah fudge drinks for .5 points. Much better all round.

I have an early start tomorrow. Husband usually drops me at West Ryde station on his way to work. However the car is to be serviced tomorrow and he is catching the train to St Leonards as he will be all day at Royal North Shore Hospital. His work takes him around about eight of Sydney's hospitals regularly. I'll have to change trains at Strathfield and the trains from my station in that direction are not frequent early in the morning. I'm not looking forward to being out of here at 6:30am, particularly if it is still wet. Not do I want to spend twenty five minutes on Strathfield which is very draughty. Can't be helped.

June 30th! The end of the financial year! On the run down to Christmas! I wonder when the first Christmas carol or decoration will appear in the shops. That's just amazing to be so far down the year already.

Not only are we halfway through the year, but little Tora turned one yesterday. She's not quite walking but trying very hard. That year has gone very fast. It doesn't seem long since her mother was in hospital several times through the pregnancy. At one stage it looked as if she might have been very premature. However she arrived late, is a happy, attractive little girl and there's absolutely nothing wrong after all the scares we had.

We had a BBQ at their place yesterday for her birthday. Mainly family and a few close friends. I've not been eating much meat lately but enjoyed one of the nicest sausages I can remember. Cooked just right, not fatty, good texture, and a really nice flavour. Lots of salad, two glasses of wine and a small piece of birthday cake. I avoided the nibblies beforehand, because my husband wouldn't leave church early to get there at the time on the invitation.

He was the only sour note in the whole day. It was a beautiful day, far too mild for June. I had a shirt and skirt on and was just right. He sat by himself in the middle of the back lawn, thick trousers, heavy shirt, a jumper and sportscoat. He looked like a thundercloud and sulked. All questions from anyone were met with a grunt. He refused to get himself any lunch. Eventually my sister went and got him some. I decided I was going to have a good time myself, so ignored the games he was playing.

It's just after 6:00 am here. I've been up a while but managed to sleep through until 5:30. I've had an apple and will have breakfast in a while. I thought that if I ate at 5:30, I would have problems spacing food through the rest of the day. It was a lovely apple, new season Pink Lady, very crunchy and with some flavour. I also bought some enormous navel oranges, also very fresh. I have problems with fruit. when the boys were at home, we used to go to the markets with another family and buy in bulk. That was fine then. The mentality is deeply ingrained in my husband and he absolutely hates buying small amounts of fruit. With just two of us, there's no way we can eat a box of apples or oranges. I'd have to throw a lot out because they wouldn't keep. Not only that, but I would very soon be bored stiff with them. I'd much rather buy about six pieces of a couple of types and enjoy them and get some more. Same goes for potatoes. We don't use many and a small bag lasts several weeks. Is that what we get? Not at all. If I don't buy some at the supermarket or shopping centre, he is likely to bring home at least 10 kilos, if not 20. There are only two of us here! He says it's cheaper. Initial outlay might be less, but if the cost of what goes bad is counted, then he's spending much more. Have you ever put your finger into a bad potato in the storage box? Absolutely gross! And what goodness does fruit have when it's old, even if it's been in the fridge?

It's getting light here now. I need to vacuum and do some washing and I'd like to get a walk in as well. I couldn't walk at the weekend. There was little time available, and my whole right side ached as well. Foot and hip seem a lot better this morning, so I'll make the most of it.