Me!

Not doing much because I am injured means there is not much to put on my blog- so being desperate have had to resort to a photo of me! This is me with my top from London- purchased in 2009, my earrings purchased from Bratislava, and my necklace from Paris that mum brought me for my birthday!

Fall from Grace- or Bike!

Thank goodness I wear a helmet- I really appreciate my helmet- I think it saved me a lot of pain and suffering this week! I was going for my normal Monday ride with a group of friends, we had gone up to Woods Reserve on the Corin Forest Road. As we were descending, I thought I had a flat back tyre. As I slowed down, I looked back to see if I could see anything wrong and in looking down I veered off to the left. Unfortunately I was near the side of the road so as I veered I went off the edge of the road and onto the uneven and gullied shoulder of the road. Fortunately I missed the rocks and the white post but could not get out of the little gullies and ended up going over the handlebars hitting my head, shoulder, back and knee. I lay their stunned for a bit and realised that I didn't have any broken bones and could move my arms and toes so knew I was okay. My next thought was my bike, but decided I needed to not verbalise that question just yet and to cooperate with my fellow cyclists who had stopped to assist this silly woman who in a momentary lapse of concentration had ruined her days riding! I managed to sit up and then discovered my bike was okay. I needed to check that my bike was really okay so I then got back on and rolled down the remaining 4kms to the bottom of the hill. Yes I am crazy!

By the time I got to the bottom of the hill I had worked out while my bike was capable of riding home my body was not, so I wimped out and got a lift home- one of my fellow bike riders called her husband and he came to the rescue!

Fortunatley I work for a physiotherapist so I went in to see him to see what the damage was. It looks as though I have not done anything major- apart from a major blow to my pride. I narrowly missed breaking my collar bone, I have a lump on my head, a sore shoulder, a bruised knee, relatively few scratches, and a sore upper back. 3 physio visits later and a week of doing nothing much, I am still a bit sore, but the upper back is the only thing really giving me some grief. After standing or walking for 10 minutes I am sore, I can sit at the computer for a bit longer but then have to get up and move and curl up. My biggest concern is because I am not exercising I cannot eat as much - so I have to get better so I can start eating more yummy things again! In the meantime I am reading lots, getting the kids to help out and am sick of being injured!

Working in the Garden!

Spent Saturday working in the garden, tidying up a few things and planting some more plants.

The top photo is of the brussell sprouts I am trying to grow- not sure if I will get a crop, but they didn't do much over winter and now are growing -so will wait and see!

Got some herbs to plant in my garden and have also planted my tomatoes. In Canberra you are not supposed to plant them till after Melbourne Cup as we may still get a frost and they can get damaged, but I have planted them close to the house and will cover them if we are expecting a cold night!

We also got three new chooks this weekend. I have told the other chooks to be kind to them and stop picking on them as over the next 12 months they will climb the pecking order and be the big tough chooks- it is amazing how cruel and racist chooks can be!

Also worked on tidying up my raspberries, we had our first crop last year so am hoping for a good crop this year! Also went to the Australian Native Plant Sale at the National Botanic Gardens, with hundreds of other and got some natives for my garden.

Proud of My One Year Old Lawn

The lawn I planted last year is nearly a year old! We had to water it at first but since about January we have not watered it, it survived winter and was still green, and then with all the rain it has just kept growing and growing and needs cutting every week at the moment. The poor lawn mower has not had such a work out in years!

Suffering from PHD

I am now safely back home after a wonderful time. Suffering from a bit of Post Holiday Depression- glad to be home - more the fact that it is time to get back to reality and go back to work and housework etc!

I wondered how long Amy would give me when I got home before she asked me for her presents! I got 5 minutes, then made her wait another 5 minutes before she closely inspected the unpacking of the suitcase! She commandered the hat I brought for me and it has barely been of her head since! Lachlan was suitably impressed by the gas mask I got him in Budapest!

Taipei Stop Over

We had a two day stopover in Taipei on the way home, which gave us a bit of a chance to rest and for our bodies to adjust to the time lag. We went up the Taipei 101- the second highest building in the world. We went to the Taiwan Natural History Museum, wandered through the Botanic Gardens and visited the Longshan Temple right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Taipei.

Sacher Torte

One of the few things we never got around to doing was to sample some Sacher Torte- an austrian cake of chocolate cake and apricot jam. So after we checked in and before we flew out for home Bindi and Mia organised for us to sample this Austrian delight!

Saturday 25th September- Salt Mines and St Wolfgang

Next Simon took us to the the salt mines at Hallstat. This was quite an adventure especially for a 74 year old. We had to catch the funicular up the side of the mountain, then it was about a kilometre walk up through the forest to the beginning of the tour, climbing numerous steps then going 300 metres inside the mine to begin the tour. Then we had to slide down a banister like ledge, with mum holding onto me screaming in my ear! She thought she was so brave doing this and was saying how good it would be if we got to slide down another one! Little did she know there was another one to slide down - even longer- 64 metres this time, so more holding on and squealing. Finally we had to take a squashy train ride out to daylight and then walk back down the mountain to the funicular- it all made for a grand adventure!

We finished off the afternoon in a delightful village - St Wolfgang, by the lake before heading back to the Vienna for our final night in Europe. It was a wonderful overnight adventure in Austria and a chance to see another lot of stunning Austrian scenery.