A day to remember...

Today is a day that plays close to my mind and heart. I have now lived for 23 years with HIV and I am grateful for everyone of those years. I can remember back in 1986 when I first found out I was positive and the doctor told me I had six months to live. There were no medications available to help fight this disease at that time and I believed that my life would be over before I could explore and enjoy it more than I already had. Some how I got lucky because those 6 months came and went and then it became years. Through the years I went from surviving to being very ill. I lost many friends and acquaintances over those years. Somehow I kept going. I lost my partner of six years in 1993 just before the new miracle drugs were introduced in 1994. I have been on those medication ever since they became available. Every day is a constant reminder that I have to keep on going and that every day there is a battle being fought inside me. I lost another partner in 1998 even after the new drugs were introduced. I am very aware that this disease only wants one thing and that one thing is something I'm not willing to give iit.

At the same time millions of people around the world have and are facing the same day by day existence some doing it better than others. This disease is not going away and with no vaccine still to this day and on going newly diagnosed individuals occurring every day I am concerned that we have forgotten what this disease can do. How it can destroy lives, tear families apart and bring pain to so many. I don't mean to preach I just want people to remember that we still need to talk about HIV and to respect ourselves, our partners and one another. Respect yourself by using protection and keeping your self and your partners safe and well. Respect others and open your hearts and minds to lend someone a helping hand if they need one. Most importantly don't be afraid to talk as we need to keep the conversation going so we can continue to fight and maybe just maybe we will eventually win.

You can find out more information by clicking the World AIDS Day picture below. As I said be safe, take care and stay well and don't be afraid to talk about it.

Hectic is as hectic does...

As the title implies things around my world are just plain hectic as all get out. We are into full swing with our moving plans. The moving people will be here on Friday to give us a quote for the move. We have set a date and we will officially be moving back to the mainland the last weekend in January which will make the house ready for rent as of 1 February. We still have to get the rental agents out here to also give us a quote as to how much rent they think we can get for the house. We would like to get at least $400.00 a week but we will wait to see what they have to say.

There is a whole list of things that need to be done, like getting painters in and buying a new dishwasher, which I'm bitter about as I have been hand washing our dishes for months and now as we are leaving we are going to get the new one for the tenants. It's not fair but that's life. We also need to have some light fixtures in the hall replaced. All of these thing will make the place more appealing and at the same time when the time comes to retire and if we are still going ahead with the current plans the house will be all ready for us to return.

The main reason we are leaving is because we can not get adequate work here. Hubby has finished his Masters in Education and wants to change fields unfortunately that won't happen on the island as there are limited opportunities. I have had no lucky finding work for over year now. So we will head to the mainland and there will be ample choices for new employment. It will also give us a change of pace in our life. We haven't decided rather or not to buy another house or not. If we do the payments will have to be the same as the rental we are getting from the house or possibly a little more as we also get the rental from our apartment in Sydney and could add that to a repayment for the new house. I know a lot of you would say why not move back to your apartment and the reason we don't want to is that it would feel as if we had somehow failed in out venture down here to the island. We also don't want to be right in the middle of the hustle an bustle of Sydney, which unfortunately is where our apartment is located. I hate to think we will have a new mortgage since it's been over three years since we became mortgage free. We will just have to wait and see what come our way.

Well, that's what is going on in my neck of the woods and it's my excuse for not posting as much. I will try harder and as usual I will always do my 12 of 12. As a matter of interesting facts it will be fives years ago to the day 1 Dec that we moved to this island. Funny how things change. Well until next time take care, stay safe and enjoy...

And the answer is....

Well, I've given you all a few days to have a look at the picture I posted to see if you can tell me what is wrong with the photo. It's great that several of you tried to figure it out. So to those of you that did, here are my responses and the answer. I will say one of you got close and one of you was on the right track.

Larry - I take some bad photos but this ones not that out of focus and that's not what I was looking for but a worthy answer none the less. It just means that I need to practice on my focus.

rjjs - Now you just didn't even try....

Brett - Nice observation but not the answer although at first I wasn't sure what you were talking about and then I saw what you thought you saw. For the record the flowers are not outside they are in the room but I can see how you might have seen that.

Torn - You are correct that there are no people in the picture but in this case they were not necessarily supposed to be in the picture. Alas not quite what I was looking for.

Janelle - Last but not least you were at least on the right track. First, the table in question belongs that way. Secondly, the large coffee mug is actually a water pitcher. However and thirdly the point of having too many flowers was what I was looking for. You see as in the picture I have too many flowers and not enough vases. As many of you mentioned in the most recent 12 of 12 photos that you really liked seeing bits of spring especially with winter on your doorsteps. So I decided to go out to start collecting some flowers seeing that you were right I might as well enjoy it while I can. Well the next thing I know I'm over run with flowers.

So there you have it that is the answer to "What's wrong with this picture?" I know that the answer is a bit anticlimactic but maybe I'll do another one at a later date and the next one will be something really tricky. Thanks to everyone who commented and made a guess. Until next time take care and enjoy...

What's wrong with this picture???

I took this picture the other day and realised something a bit odd with this picture. So I'm posting it here and asking the question of you of "What is wrong with this picture?". I'll give everyone (all 2-3 of you) a day or two to have a guess and in the next post I will reveal what is actually wrong with this picture. You will also notice that this is my lame attempt at making a viable post. Anyway, have a look at the photo and leave me a comment as to what you think is wrong with the picture. Until the next post as always take care and enjoy...

12 of 12 for November 2009...

Well, as promised here are my photos for this months 12 of 12. Now for those of you that know, this is a project that I take part of each month which allows me to have a bit of fun with my camera and also fills in a large hole when I don't post as often as I should. Everyone will also know that the 12 of 12 project is not my initiative but rather that of a very nice man named Chad and you can find out more about 12 of 12 from his blog here.

This months 12 of 12 was a bit difficult once again due to the fact that I was stuck at the house and I needed to become overly creative in my picture taking. Since I don't drive, it is difficult for my to get to different places when the 12th comes along but in saying that maybe next month come hell or high water I'll just walk into the city and when I'm finished I'll take a taxi home. Now see how much I'm willing to do just so you get quality in each post.

Anyway, this months 12 of 12 has a distinct floral feeling, mainly because spring is in full swing here and all of the flowers, especially the roses are starting to bloom. So indulge me and have a peruse of this months photos and hopefully one of them will make you smile and until next time take care and enjoy....

This list is on our fridge and it is the beginnings of our preparations for the big move back to the mainland. For those of you who don't know and who might care to know, we are moving off the island we have called home for the past five years because we are unable to find sustainable work on the island. We will keep this house and someday when we get ready to retire it will still be here when we need it.

This month also saw me get a year older and last week I celebrated another birthday with a very dear friend who also shares the same birthday as myself. She came over from New Zealand and spent the week with us and on Sunday we celebrated our very special day. I'm telling you all this because the next photo (the one above) is one of the presents she gave me. It is a piece of glass art that comes from New Zealand and it is called "The Twist" It represents the eternity of a special friendship or relationship. I can say without a doubt that I have always had a special friendship with this friend and it will continue for many years to come.

This is another gift I received, also from the same friend. This gift was not actually birthday gift but an early Christmas present from her to both myself and my hubby. This piece of glass is called Spiral - Koru and the koru is the Maori name given to the new unfurling fern fronds and symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace.

Now, I know that by now most if not all of you has either seen or already owns an iPhone or iPod Touch. Well I had neither and since I have a phone of which I just started a new two year contract and so do not need a phone, hubby bought me an iPod Touch instead. I love my gadgets. It's all about colour, lights and movement. Give me those and I'm amused for hours. Anyway, I love my new toy and I love my hubby for being so good to me.

As I mentioned it is spring here and a lot of things are blooming in our garden. Some of the best things growing in our garden are our roses and this one is called "Blue Moon". This particular plant is well over 50 years old. The previous owners gave us it's history along with the history of a few other plants we have in our garden. Needless to say it's a wonderful rose bush with these beautiful purple blooms accompanied by the strongest fragrance. Also if you look really close to the right of the flowers you'll see a wee little visitor, come to do what they do best for all of flowerdom.

Just a close up of one of the bearded irises I planted a couple of years ago. There is something oddly strange about the purple and yellow together that make this flower pretty, or at least I think it's pretty.

A lovely closeup to another lovely rose that, as you can see, is almost fluorescent in a red and yellow combination.

This lovely yellow rose is growing outside in our front garden and is just outside our bedroom window. So we are greeted not on by the sun and the river down below but also this little bit of sunshine right from our garden.

Here's hubby, in the office, on the computer, being so kind as to be a model for one of this months photos. Actually, I believe he was paying bills so it probably wasn't the best time to take his picture.

This little cast iron cow door stop works a treat when we have all the windows open around the house and the breeze picks up momentum down the hallway and keeping the hallway door from slamming shut every few minutes.

The lavender around the house is also blooming like crazy and it smells so good when it drifts into the house from the open front windows.

Last but not least yet one more flower shot but this time they are not in the garden. No, moments before this picture was taken they were in they garden and then the next they were sitting on the fireplace mantle. One of life's wonderful little things where what we grow we can also harvest and although a few cut flowers from our garden is hardly a harvest the point is we grew them and instead of buying flowers for the house each week all we have to do is go out and pick what we want and these are what I pick for the next few days.

Well that's it from me so I hope all of the flowers didn't bore you and if they did well I don't know what to tell you other than check back next time and who knows maybe I'll spend the day taking pictures of your favourite things..

Guaranteed...

... a new post that is. Yes, I can guarantee that there will be a new post besides this one coming soon. Of course I'm relying on my monthly 12 of 12 post to make this guaranteed post happen. So, wait for it patiently as you always do and a new 12 of 12 will be here before you know it. Anything after that is totally unpredictable. Until then stay safe and enjoy...