lemonade award

Sunshine was gracious enough to pass the Lemonade Award to me.

The way the “When Life Gives You Lemons, make Lemonade” Award (for short, The Lemonade Award) works is:

1) You must link back to the person you received the award from.
2) You have to nominate 10 bloggers who are deserving of this award!


Now comes the hard part. Since I don't know that many bloggers, I'm going to pass this on to everyone who is interested (leave a link if like). I'm giving a big shout out to the following people for their beautiful blogs.

** Abra for her fantastic way with words.
** Giggles for her art and great blog.
** An English Girl Rambles for her stunning photos.
** Rambling Woods for all her informative posts and amazing photos

From baskets to trolleys

Boyfriend and I decide to do a late night supermarket run.
"Okay, let's not go overboard this time," Boyfriend suggests.
"No problems, I just need some stock up on food for my lunches," I reply reaching for a shopping basket.

I check my mental shopping list and head straight for the items I need. Boyfriend disappears. I find him half an hour later intently studying the label on a packet of cramp bark.
"I should get this," Boyfriend tells me.
"What about the magnesium powder your chiro gave you."
"I keep on forgetting to take it."
I raise my eyebrows. Boyfriend snickers, "Okay, I'll put it back."

Boyfriend mysteriously disappears again. Twenty minutes later, we meet at the check out line. Boyfriend has swapped his shopping basket for a trolley. I raise an eyebrow.

"It's not my fault. You left me unsupervised," he says defensively.
The eyebrow moves another inch higher.
"Okay, I'll put this one back,' Boyfriend says reluctantly reaching in the trolley for the packet of 100's and 1000's.
"Here, take this with you," I say handing him a box.
"Not the garden light. It's for the garden gnome."
"We don't have a garden gnome."
"We do now," Boyfriend announces excitedly.
I give him the 'look'.
"And you can return the butter as well," I say quickly scanning the items in the trolley.
"But we're out of butter."
"No we're not, we have two tubs at home. The Anson's left a full tub when they came to stay."
"But this is different, it's organic butter"
"Anyway, you're not supposed to be eating butter...or cheese...or bacon," I say removing the items from the trolley.
"You never let me have any fun," Boyfriend whinges.
"It's not my fault you have high cholesterol."
"I knew this would happen. I was good, I walked away from the chocolate section."
"So is that a bag of carrots I see disguised as a bag of violet crumbles?"
Boyfriend snickers guiltily, "That's different. It's for work."
I mentally count to ten before asking, "How is that diff -"
"Shh," Boyfriend says, placing a finger over my mouth. "You're so much prettier when you don't talk."
I poke him in the stomach.

Ten minutes later and $203.05 poorer, we head back to the car.
"Not bad," Boyfriend says.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"We spent $100 less than the last time. Next time we'll do even better."
I laughed, "Next time, I'm leaving you at home."

Scibble soup for writers' block #46: the art of gift giving

For my 25th birthday Boyfriend presented me with a non-stick frying pan.
"Happy birthday! Look what I got you," Boyfriend exclaims, waving the unwrapped pan around. "It was on sale," he adds, oblivious to my 'I can't believe you got me a frying pan for my birthday' look.
"Uh...thanks," I say packing the pan away.
"Don't put it away yet, we can use it tonight."
"You mean, I can use it tonight to cook you something." My sarcasm falls on deaf ears.
"Yeah, I got some salmon steaks to celebrate."
I picture a big fat dent in the shape of a frying pan on Boyfriend's head. I pack the pan away, just in case I give in to the temptation to use Boyfriend's head as batting practice. I count to 10 slowly, before saying, "It's my birthday, why don't you cook me something instead."
Boyfriend finally realises that I'm not as enamoured with the non-stick frying pan as he is, "It's a fantastic pan. You never have to scrub ever again!"
I give him 'the look'.
"Okay, I'll take you out to dinner instead," he grumbles.

A few months later for his 26th birthday I inform Boyfriend that his present was a pair of binoculars.
"Where is it?" he asks.
"I haven't bought it yet."
"Why?"
"I've been busy."
"But you work only a few doors down from the store."
"Okay, you'll get them next week," I promise.
Months passed. Boyfriend waited.
"Guess what!" Boyfriend shouts from the doorway one afternoon.
"What?" I reply.
"Happy birthday to me," Boyfriend sings, entering the room with a pair of binoculars hanging from his neck.
I giggle guiltily. I had forgotten about his birthday present.

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Scribble Soup for Writers's Block #45: the great outdoors

It's another stinking hot day.
"Let's go bushwalking," Boyfriend says.
"Okay," I mumble in reply, not taking my eyes off the t.v.
In an unusual spurt of energy Boyfriend gets up and showers, while I lounge about.
"Are you ready?" Boyfriend asks 15 minutes later.
"I will be soon," I reply, not budging from my seat.
"Come on, hurry up!" Boyfriend calls from the dining room.
"Well have you packed the water bottles?" I say as I throw on some clothes.

Ten minutes later I ask, "So what's happening with the water?"
"It's coming! Where are the bottles?" Boyfriend asks, not having moved an inch from where he'd been standing.
I point to the bottle sitting on the table to his left, "Oh look, it's a candle disguised as a bottle."
Boyfriend gives me 'the look'. "I guess you want me to fill it up with water now." He says sarcastically, walking to the fridge. He opens the door, stares, then walks away. "We're out of juice. Can you put it on the list?"
I add it to the list, "Anything else you need?"
"Yeah, cereal."
"There's a box on top of the cupboard," I say.
"It's empty."
"Then why isn't it in the bin?" I ask in dismay.
Boyfriend laughs guiltily, "It was easier than throwing it into the bin."
I give him 'the look'. "The bin would have been closer."
Boyfriend snickers even louder.

In the car, Boyfriend gives me his hourly update on the temperature, "I can't believe how hot it is. It's only 28 °C but it feels much hotter."
We arrive at Forest Island. It's stinking hot and I'm covered from head to toe in my anti-leech combat gear. For added insurance, I spray myself with tropical strength bug repellent. Five minutes into the walk, the battery on my camera dies. Without the constant activity of photo taking, my mind is free to analyse the likelihood of a leech attack. I mentally list all the places on my body that a leech can latch on to. I feel exposed and vulnerable. I start to sulk. Boyfriend decides to climb down the ravine to take a closer look at the creek. I calculate the chances of a leech attack. I don't like the odds. I sulk even further. Boyfriend forces me to follow him. So I do, protesting all the way down. It's a beautiful spot, but I am ever vigilant of leeches. I keep my eyes wide open. I am not deceived by the creek's beauty.

We follow the creek until we can no longer do so without getting wet. Boyfriend decides it's time to head back to the track. Our climb is impeded by a patch of stinging nettles. This is not a problem for me, after all I'm covered from head to toe. Boyfriend is wearing shorts. I suggest he places some palm fronds down.
"Good idea," he says. Unfortunately he slips. The buggers get him. He is in pain. We march on. He trips over a loose rock, and twists his ankle. We march on.

An hour later, we return to the car. Boyfriend has a hankering for banana bread. He asks me if I feel like stopping in Deena for coffee.
"No, I'm all sweaty and yukky," I reply.
He doesn't tell me he really wants to stop in Deena, until right before the turn off. With five cars trailing closely behind us, he says, "I really feel like banana bread."
"If you really wanted to stop at the cafe, you could have just said so," I reply.
Without slowing down, Boyfriend takes the turn-off. I hold on for dear life, Boyfriend's camera bag falls to the floor. He turns to me and says, "What? The other cars were right up my arse. I couldn't slow down."

Our stomachs full with banana bread, we decide to stop off at Crystal Waters. Boyfriend discovers that his stunt driving has broken his very expensive camera lens. Now it's his turn to sulk.

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Sunday Scribblings #142: Late

"Yay, the Birthday Girl is finally here and only 43 minutes late," Bestfriend says, clapping her hands as I slide onto the seat beside her.

"It's not my fault. It was the tiger snake."

"What snake?" Everyone asks in unison.

"Well, I was sitting on the sofa watching t.v, when I saw something moving from the corner of my eyes. I turned and it's was a snake crawling on the floor next me. Of course I automatically went into denial and convinced myself that it was stick. Then it reared it's head. That's when I did my superman leap and ran like hell upstairs," I say pumping my arms in illustration.
Everyone laughs.

"I swear the snake followed me, because when I turned around it was at the foot of the staircase. I ran to the phone. I didn't know who to call so I called directory. When the lady asked me who I wanted to be connected to I said, 'I didn't know'. I told her I was trapped in a house with a snake. She didn't know too, but she eventually put me through to the police. I called them and told them my story and they laughed. They then gave me the number for the zoo and snake catcher. I called the zoo but it was after hours and no-one answered, so I called the snake catcher and waited," I pause as the waiter filled my wine glass.

"Well go on. What happened next?" Bestfriend asks.

"When the snake catcher came, he tried to get me to come downstairs to open the door, but the snake was still at the bottom of the staircase. There was no way on earth, I was going down. It was sort of strange because when I usually come home, I leave my keys on the kitchen bench. Today I carried them with me upstairs. I'd left them beside the phone. So snake catcher guy had to get a ladder and climb to my window and break through the safety screen so that I could pass the keys down to him."

"It took him less than 2 minutes to catch the snake. By this time it had crawled to the kitchen. He put a tea towel down and it crawled to it. Piece of advice everyone, if you ever have a tiger snake in your house, put a towel or something down. They'll move to it."

"Are you serious?"

"That's what he told me."

"How'd you know it was a tiger snake?" Bestfriend's boyfriend asks.

"He told me that too. And that everyone is why I am late. Now can I eat, I'm starved."

Sunday scribblings prompt

Scribble Soup for Writers' Block #37: Serendipity

Your word prompt is "serendipity". Have you ever stumbled upon an opportunity by accident...or design?


As I alighted from the tram, I cursed myself silently. I'd overshot my destination again, this time by several stops. It took several more choice swear words before I noticed the store. Actually, what I really noticed was the pair of ruby ear-rings displayed in the window. I pressed closer, mesmerized by the intricate red and black, rose design. I did a little jig on the cold pavement, waving my arms around, until I caught the sales assistant's eyes. I mimed, "price?" through the glass. The lady walked towards the display and turned the price tag over, $149.95.

I couldn't afford that on my lowly student income. Disappointed, I turned around and walked towards the bus stop. It started to rain. Heavily. I fished blindly in my bag for the umbrella and came back empty handed. I dropped the bag to the ground, squatted beside it and ventured where I'd never dare gone before, into the dark recesses of my bag. I pulled out an envelope addressed to me. Curious I opened the envelope and pulled out $50 and a handwritten note.
"Thanks for the loan, sis."
It was from my brother. He'd left the envelope on the kitchen table earlier this week. I'd grabbed it on my way out, put it in my bag and promptly forgot all about it.

It stopped raining. I smiled to myself as I repacked my bag, then something smacked me on the head before falling to my feet. It was a $100 note. I looked around me, searching for the owner. There was no-one around. I picked the note up.

Ten minutes later, I was the proud owner of pair of ruby ear-rings. As I walked passed the store for the last time that day, I finally noticed the shop sign. On the window, painted in large black letters were the words, 'Serendipity'.

Scribble Soup for Writers' Block #40: Self-portrait

What is it about you that makes you different?

* I hate writing about myself, but I've been set a challenge by some of my friends (you know who you are), so here I am.

* I'm allergic to lavender. Despite my skin (namely my face) turning red and splotchy everytime I came into contact with the stuff (and lavender seems to be in everything), it's taken me years to figure this out. The big clue came after I ate lavender chocolate. My body swelled and my neck was covered in tiny black spots. I had to test this theory out a few times, by eating some more lavender chocolate. Yep, same thing. Boyfriend (well he's actually my fiance, but I like to call him Boyfriend) gave me a gift certificate for a spa treatment. Everything they used on me contained lavender. My body was covered in itchy rashes for 3 weeks.

* I'm a keen mountain-biker, who's afraid of speed. Consequently I spend most of my time off the bike.

* I think I'm partially dyslexic. I have a tendency to read things back to front, especially numbers. Despite this, I started my university degree studying geological engineering. It took me 3 years to figure out that I couldn't read a map, let alone be able to visualise these things in 3-D.

* I don't like milk. The only time I drink it is when my body craves it. And the only time my body craves it is just before I come down with the flu.

* I'm a lucid dreamer. Does that make me a control freak?

* I started this blog, because for a week my dreams were filled with writing. I have a short attention span, and find it really hard to complete any writing project, so I thought blogging would encourage me to write everyday. Hmm...

Scribblesoup prompt