Long Time. No Write.

Okay I hope the format of this post isn't all over the place as I'm writing it on my tablet, not my pc (my tablet never seems to keep the right format for some reason?). It's been quite awhile since I last wrote. I don't have the usual "I didn't have time or I've been busy working" excuse. I was actually sick, the sickest I've ever been in my whole life! 

Almost two months ago I felt a bit yuck like I was catching a cold, so I went to the Drs and got checked over. The conclusion was that I had a bit of a chest infection, so my Dr gave me a script for some antibiotics and I was on my way. I was a good patient and took the medication as prescribed for a week. In the meantime my wife was working nightshift, so we weren't seeing much of each other so she wasn't seeing how ill I was. Anyway on the morning that my wife finished her last shift she was still awake when I dragged my backside out of bed to get a drink. I actually hadn't heard her come home. My wife took one look at me and started taking my observations and asking me a bunch of questions. After she had finished being a Registered Nurse with me, we had a backward and forward conversation where she told me I was going to hospital and I kept saying no. 

So why wouldn't I go to hospital? Well my temperature was so high that I was delirious! Yep! I was off with the pixies lol! Finally I was convinced that I needed to go to hospital so off we went. My wife was still wearing her uniform lol When we got there, I couldn't believe it but the first nurse that I saw on entering the emergency department was one of my customers lol Anyway after having more observations taken, blood and xrays done I was hooked up to a drip and spent 3 days and 2 nights in a 4 bedded ward with 3 old codgers lol.

It turned out I had septic pneumonia and if I had put off going to hospital longer than I had, they would have had to knock me out for 2 days while a machine did my breathing for me. When the Dr's agreed that I could go home they told me that for 2 weeks I was to do nothing and that the following weeks I would slowly start to feel better but would be quite tired. Yeah they weren't wrong about the whole tired thing! I pretty much slept for the first 2 weeks. Since then I feel ok, but get tired soo quickly! It's so frustrating! I wake up feeling okay but between 11am - 12pm I seriously run out of energy. If it wasn't for my android tablet I would have gone crazy! I was too tired to do anything. 

One thing I did do just recently is finish a small cross stitch pattern that I had started a while ago. It's called "Queen Rock Band" from Clouds Factory.

Queen Rock Band.

Sorry about the crease, I'm yet to wash and iron it lol I've just started another one called "Tribal Cat", it's supposed to be stitched in black floss on white 14 count aida. I've decided to stitch it in pink floss on black 14 count aida...... Yeah, I'm just trying to my life easy lol I've never stitched on black aida before lol It's a wee bit hard on the eyes, especially without one of those lap light thingamajigs. Here's my progress over the past two days. 

First day.      Second day.  

The pink (DMC 3608) is actually much darker/brighter in real life, for some reason is photographs quite pale :/  

DMC 3608

Tribal Cat - White Willow Stitching

This is what is will look like (hopefully lol) once it's finished. :)

Okay, well I'll be off now! I hope you all have a great Easter and get lots of nice chocies and have a bit of a rest! 

Echovox - Church

Yes, I'm still playing around with the Echovox app lol. I did a couple of recordings yesterday, both on my tablet and on my phone. As I'm still experimenting, I'm not sure if I prefer the tablet version or the phone version. After I listened to two of the recordings that I made on my phone, they both had a high pitched 'sonar' type noise in the background, which was quite annoying. However in saying that, I haven't experimented enough with the phone version settings. So I will need to have a bit of a play around with it, to try and figure out if I'm the problem or if it's my phone :o)

The Echovox home screen.

So here's one that I cleaned up this morning, I took some of the background noise out, so I hope that it's clear enough for you to hear. Speakers make the world of difference!! All of the recordings that I've made so far, all sound different - depending on whether I listen to them on my tablet, phone or laptop, and all three of those, with or without headphones. So what might sound clear to me, might just be busy noise to you. 

So could you hear what I could hear? Did you hear something I missed? There are other 'noises' in there, but I simply just couldn't detect what was being said, which is why there isn't any text to accompany them. You'll also notice that the background isn't black!!!! lol It's actually a photo taken at sunset, from my front door. I've also started to upload my clips to my own YouTube Channel:- Click Here

Before I sign off, I just want to give Ryan O'Neill a huge shout out! He has been so helpful! Seriously, no question is too big or small for this guy. He has offered me so many tips in the last few days! So Thank You Ryan!

This is his website:- Haunted Scotland Investigates this is his YouTube Channel:- Ryan O'Neill this is his Twitter page:- TrueInuitive and finally, this is his Facebook page. So pop along and have a look :o)

The Pantry Nightmare - Solved!

Just the other day when I wrote about Frugal Queen's July challenge, I stated that I had no idea how I was going to deal with the pantry inventory side of the challenge, due to the fact that our pantry is bursting at the seams. Well I found a solution! I've mentioned before that I'm always looking for new apps for my mobile phone and tablet. . . . So I did a quick search for a pantry inventory app, and I found "Out of Milk". This free app will allow me to scan the bar codes with my mobile phone to create an inventory of what we have. It will also synchronize across devices, so I can also view the inventory on my tablet or send the inventory to my wife's mobile phone or tablet. So I'm very happy that I've found a solution! It will still take some time to scan it all, but no where near the amount of time it would've taken to type or write it all down. It will also allow me to move items that have been used up, into a shopping list.

I've also had a quick look through the pantry and freezer to see what we have, just so I can start to get some meal ideas going in my mind. In the pantry we have loads of different pulses which can be made into soups, stews, patties, etc. We have tons of dried herbs and spices, so nothing will ever be tasteless! We have rice, pasta, noodles and couscous that can accompany just about anything. We have tinned crushed tomatoes, pulses, soup etc, plus various bottles and jars of sauces and packets of dried fruit.

After raiding the freezer I made a quick note of what was stored inside, we have a whole chicken, cuts of chicken, frozen vegies, bread, tofu puffs, various faux meat products such as quorn and bounty burgers. No seafood, as my wife doesn't eat it, so I don't cook it at home for just myself. Also we're not big red meat eaters, occasionally we'll have something mince based, but not all that often so there isn't any red meat in there. So already, I'm thinking chicken pie, stir fries, curry, soup. . . Something in the slow cooker, the list is endless! As it's currently winter in Australia, you won't see me serving up any salads for a while yet, at the moment it's all about hot food!

After having a peek in the fridge, I find jars of minced garlic, ginger, chilli, and jars of Indian and Asian curry pastes. There is also a number of bottles of sauces and various condiments, which will all come in handy. All the usual fresh vegies are also there, which will be topped up as required. I'm really looking forward to this challenge and so is my wife! The next two weeks can't pass quickly enough for me lol

Crystals And Runes

This will be a short post as I've not been up to much and I have a rotten cold at the moment :o( and I really don't feel like doing much of anything. So rather than sitting around playing on Facebook and feeling sorry for myself, I thought I would just post some info about a rune reading and a picture of a pendant I bought recently.

I'm an app junkie - I'm always looking for new and improved apps for my mobile phone and my tablet. I do however have three apps that I have never changed or deleted and they are the Galaxy Runes, Galaxy Crystals and Galaxy Tarot Pro. These are great little apps and they're so informative. Anyway.... Wandering off the topic here, as I do.... Sorry lol The other day I opened the Galaxy Rune app - now I hadn't used this app for quite a while. 

I asked the runes if I was on the right path? This question was regarding the Lisa Williams course that I had recently decided to undertake. As I have previously written, the course really requires you to take a step back and examine yourself. The rune that was drawn was the Ehwaz rune. It said:- "It means horse and is also the rune of transportation and movement and may pertain to a positive successful trip. This often means trips in the physical sense but may also signify movement in the psychological sphere in which case this is likely change for the better". I was hoping that I was on the right path as my gut told me I was, I now feel that this rune confirmed this.

A week or so ago I had been online looking for a new pendant to wear, as the one I had been wearing had broken, just as the one before that - strangely those pendants were exactly the same (they were little owl pendants) and also from the same shop.... I am also a believer that if you lose a piece of jewelry or if breaks, that it's not meant for you or your time with it is over - I should have known better than to replace the broken one, with one that was the same! So back to the shopping... lol.. I had been looking online at various items with nothing in particular in mind, until I saw a blue stone called Kyanite. So I opened my Galaxy Crystal app to find out what kind of properties this stone had. 

I found out that Kyanite is calming, balances masculine and feminine energies, assists with dream recall, logic, mental stamina, psychic awareness, connection to spirit guides and it does not absorb negative energies. It was perfect for a couple reasons.... I liked the fact that it doesn't absorb negative energies, as I do have someone in my life who does leave me feeling negative. I also like that it assists in connection with your spirit guides, as this is a module further down the track in the course that I'm doing.

It's funny, I've worn crystal pendants before and I've always been aware that I was wearing them. This pendant is different, I don't know if it's because it's smooth or if it's the nature of the crystal, but I don't feel it. I can feel the cord that it hangs on, but not the actual crystal. The other thing is that it never feels cold or hard, like you might expect a crystal to feel like. 

Well so much for writing a short post lol I hope it makes some kind of sense as I'm under the influence of cold and flu tablets.