Simple Raw and Natural

I slept until 6:30 although I had to get up three times through the night to go out to the bathrooms.  I am finding that I have less fear about going out into the dark.  I don't even flinch anymore at the sight of a gecko in my room, and I can let a small spider crawl across my floor without feeling like I need to kill it.  Now big spiders and snakes....I'm not there yet. I read this morning in my Bible.  I still have 776 chapters to go and 77 days in which to read them.  I need to bump my daily readings up from 6 chapters a day to 10 chapters a day if I am to finish reading the entire Bible before I leave Australia. John's car wouldn't start this morning, so he didn't leave for Cairns at 4:00 a.m. as usual.  I decided not to go to town today.  I don't want to go anywhere.   About 7:00 the neighbor, Charlie, came over with a load of wood chips, and he jump-started the car.  John went to the markets, but he is not doing his radio prog...

I slept later today...got up at 6:00.  I got to chat on Facebook with my friend, Linda Morris.  So good to hear from folks at home. I got everything packed and ready to go back to the farm.  John and Sarina arrived to pick me up at 9:00.  The hotel billed me for my internet usage at a very high rate even though I had paid $15.00 for 20 hours access time.  Turns out I had plugged into the broadband service which is different from the wi-fi service I had paid for.  They refunded my wi-fi payment, but that left me paying about $95.00 for internet.  By the time I learn everything I need to know to smoothly navigate through this world, it will be too late to use it! Sarina took us around to get some supplies.  Rusty's Market is not open on Thursday so we went to Woolworth's at Raintree Shopping Centre.  I bought some water, and John bought fruits and vegetables.  We went to Kuranda to check out the organic shops there.  John got some...

I'm getting up too early.  3:30 is too early.  I used the time to work on my Facebook page.  I put up some of the Sydney pictures and talked to Travis on Skype for a little while. I walked from my hotel to the Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises Terminal.  It was a 35 minute walk.  At 8:30 we began to board our boat.  I met a young couple from Peking, China (aka Beijing, China).  She was fluent in English, and we talked during most of the cruise.  I learned some things about China  It reminded me of my conversation on the airplane with John Newton who said China is THE new super-power. I am interested to learn more about China. It is very expensive to live in Peking, but most people want to live there even though it does cost much more.  This is where parents can get their  children into the best schools so they will have a chance at getting into a good university.  There is a strong emphasis in math in these desirable school...

I woke up at 2:30 a.m.  According to the Paton Learn to Knit book my stitch tension and my row tension are a little tight.  It says to try again with the next larger size needle.  If I can't find a 7.5mm needle at Kuranda, I may just unravel what I have done and try to use less tension. I got to say hello to grandson Caleb on Skype this morning.  He was finishing his school work and getting ready to play World of Warcraft. I checked email and Facebook and read my Bible readings.  And I was suddenly very sleepy. I walked to Cairns Central Station to catch the train to Kuranda.  It was about a forty minute walk.  On the way I stopped at a place called Fusion and got a fresh orange juice. The Kuranda Tourist Train departed the station at 9:30.  The ride to Kuranda took about 1-1/2 hours.  We stopped at Barron Falls to get photos and enjoy the scenery.  A little two year old boy named David sat beside me with his family.  It was...

This morning one of my chapters in the Bible was Exodus 5.  I found it to be quite beautiful.  I looked at it as the 10 generations from Adam to Noah describing our spiritual growth and the way we think. 1.  Adam = Red Earth 2.  Seth = Fixed, Put, Who Puts 3.  Enos - Mortal Man, Sick 4.  Cainan = Possessor, Purchaser 5.  Mahalaleel = Praising God 6.  Jared = Ruling, Commanding, Coming 7.  Enoch = Dedicated, Disciplined, Fearless, Just, Solitary 8.  Methuselah = He has sent his death. 9.  Lamech = Poor, Made Low 10.  Noah = Repose, Consolation, Comfort, Rest, Peace, Silent, Strong, Slow, Loyal Friend At 10:00 I caught the Mercure Shuttle to the center of Cairns.  This shuttle runs every hour from the hotel to the city center and back to the hotel.  It's about a twenty minute walk, otherwise. I followed two young ladies on the shuttle to Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises.  For tomorrow I booked the Ku...

I dreamed about SIL Ken and grandson, Zac...something about a casino, a beauty shop, going to eat at a burger joint, and Zac slipping on a snow covered step and getting his foot soaking wet. I was up at 5:30...way ahead of the 7:00 alarm.  I am ready for 3-1/2 days at the Mercure on the Esplanade with a little luxury.  And I'm ready to get back to the farm on Thursday. David dropped me off at the airport a little before 9:00 a.m. on the way to visit his brother.  David was a good host, and I hope he'll come to Arkansas next year. David Fielder using his fry pan. Toll roads here are managed much better than they are in the States.  There are no toll booths...no stopping to pay tolls or show your prepaid cards.   Tolls are paid electronically.  The tag goes behind your rear view mirror and is read by a sensor as you drive past a tolling point.  When David drove through there was a little beep that meant his toll account had been automatical...

I got up at 6:30 and read from the Robert Fulghum book, the Bible , and Heidi. I washed my hair and showered.  My next shower will be tomorrow at my hotel room in Cairns.  I did one last load of laundry and packed my bags as much as possible.  David was at work so I used his computer to check on everyone at home.  I ate seed/nuts and watermelon. I decided to take the bus into Brisbane to the Queen Street Mall and get the things for my knitting project.  I got Patons Learn to Knit book with 19 easy projects, 4 balls of Patons Inca Yarn, bamboo knitting needles (7mm), a tape measure, and a wool & yarn needle.  Grand Total:  $52.05.  This will give me something to do besides eating!  Can you take knitting needles on a plane?  It would be something to do on the 20 hour flight home in December, if they allow it. I ate lunch at Queen Street Mall.  I don't want to tell anyone what I ate.  It was a horrible choice.  Fish ...

I am glad I don't have to do anything today.  I had a crazy dream about someone with emphesema.  I tried to tell her what I have learned about natural healing, but I knew she would not have "ears to hear". I stayed in bed until 8:00, then I did my laundry.  David does not have a dryer, so I hung the clothes out on the clothes line.  They were dry in less than an hour.  David was gone to work, so I had free access to his computer.  What a way to spend a morning!  Loved it! My Bible readings are going good.  I have finished 27 books, 39 to go in 84 days.  It's been enjoyable reading through the Bible again and seeing what resonates at this time. I ate grapes and raw peanuts about 10:00. I walked to an op shop called Vinnie's and bought three paperback books for $6.00... Heidi, which I already own at home, but I want to leave it at the farm.  It illustrates some of the principles of the simple, natural life...Robert Fulghum's Maybe ...

I talked to grandson Caleb on Facebook Messages.  His newest interest is playing Doomsday Defense.  He has a strategy worked out.  He is a neat kid. I was struggling a bit with tiredness, but nevertheless, the Gold Coast was calling.  I caught the bus at the Capalaba shopping center into the city, then caught the Gold Coast Express train to Nerang.  I had my lunch on a bench on the train platform while waiting on the train to arrive:  avocado, grapes, orange, banana, and seed/nuts.  The train ride from Brisbane to Nerang is 70 minutes.  At Nerang, I took the Surfers bus to Pacific Fair.  It's about 100 km from Capalaba to Pacific Fair. At one of the train stops three young men, teen-agers, got on the train.  One was a very dark Aborigine, the other two were white.  For some reason, I got an uneasy feeling about them.  I have my passport, credit card, drivers license, and some of my cash in a separate small bag that I can ke...

The light in my room burned out.  I pulled the bed over to stand on but wasn't able to figure out how to remove the cover.  I left David a note, and he called maintenance to come fix it.  The won't come until tomorrow, though. Today is the day to go back on all raw.  I don't like the way I feel...hemmoroids, puffy face, and swollen hands and ankles.  The body is doing the right things with what it is being given to work with.  I just need to give it better stuff to work with! The philosopher's stone:  Each of us has a God-given right to individual freedom. I took the bus into Brisbane and got off at Elizabeth Street.  It's just a block to the Queen St. Mall.  I took the escalator up into a shopping mall and browsed in a craft store.  I almost talked myself into buying a "How to Knit" book, needles and some Australian wool to knit a scarf.  Almost.  I'm still trying to decide.  Pros...It's a useful skill and it's some...

I walked to the bus stop this morning without any trouble.  It only takes about 20 minutes if you don't get lost and keep back-tracking. I paid $6.90 each way to take a bus into Brisbane.  Based on the driver's suggestion, I got off at Elizabeth Street.  I had no plan, so I just started walking.  Brisbane does not have the European feel like Melbourne and Sydney.  It is a city of corporate headquarters...more like Dallas or Oklahoma City.  The city does not cater to tourists as much as Melbourne and Sydney, either.  You see a lot of corporate types walking briskly to their next important meeting (or lunch). The Queen Street Mall is several square blocks with no motor traffic.  There are many, many shops with nothing I want to buy.  I found a place called Oasis Juice Bar and ordered a large Jamacan Juice...watermelon, orange, apple, and more.  I sat on a bench to rest and drink my juice.  I chatted with the young man sitting next...

I dreamed about friends that have passed on again.  This time it was Max and Benny Weisenborn.  Max had just started redecorating the house when she died.  There was lots of food brought in as is the custom.  I offered her son a chocolate chip/raisin cookie.  He said, "I love chocolate chip/raisin cookies."  When I told him his mother had made these particular cookies before she died, it made it even more special.  Benny then began to redecorate the house, and he was choosing lovely things.  That's when I woke up.  It was a day of learning my environment here in Capalaba.  I packed my lunch and took off down the trail that David showed me yesterday.  Nothing looked familiar, but I walked it out all the way to the highway.  I thought possibly I had walked the wrong way...so I turned around, retraced my steps and walked the other way.  Nothing looked familiar.  A man walking towards me told me he was walking to a shop...

This was a travel day.  My flight to Brisbane was at 11:05, but the Sydney Shuttle picked me up at 7:30.  After my experience with Sydney Shuttle coming into Sydney, I decided not to take any chances by taking a later shuttle. I talked to Travis on Skype message this morning.  He was watching football and waiting on the Razorbacks to play.  Woo Pig Sooie!  Missing football season is not a good thing.  They play a type of football here, and they refer to the game as a footie.  You can go into a sports bar and watch the footie on television. When I left Sydney Central Hostel at 7:10 a.m. there was no one at the reception desk.  Someone had thrown a rock or something at the glass front door and shattered it.  The glass was still in the doorframe, but was totally shattered and swinging back and forth when you opened the door.  It had masking tape running across it in numerous places to hold it together.  I carefully opened the door ...

Something I ate made my body work hard to detox...head aches, congestion, and my face feels puffy.  My first guess is something in the Thai food (maybe MSG)...but possibly the salad dressing...or maybe too much salt...or a combination of those things.  The body lets you know when you are out of balance.  Detox symptoms are a good thing, but they are also can be a clue that you are taking in more toxins than you need to.  Weight gain and fatigue are other clues. When I went across the hall at 7:00 a.m. to use the toilet someone had recently been in and made a mess.  I can tell a lot about this person by his urine.  It was a male, he was drunk, and his body is in a highly toxic state because his urine is very dark brown.  He will certainly feel bad when he wakes up.  Possibly he never feels very good.  I was nice and cleaned up the bathroom for the next person. My DIL Amy is headed to a big wedding in Minnesota and leaving her husband and t...

The message for the day was balance. I walked up Pitt Street to Circular Quay and bought a ferry ticket to Manly Beach.  Price $13.50.  Senior citizens of Australia pay $2.50 per day for a ticket that will get them on any government ferry, bus or train.  It's a great deal.  A couple sitting beside me on the ferry use those tickets as their means of getting around. Manly Beach was beautiful, of course.  I walked in the sand and along the water's edge to let my feet come in contact with the Pacific Ocean.  It was cold, but that didn't stop a few brave souls out there surfing.  How do they do it? Manly Beach I sat on the cement steps overlooking the beach and the ocean and had an orange and half an avocado.  I got into a conversation with a lovely lady named May who was there with her little grandson, Jack.  May lives in Manly.  She immigrated to Australia from Scotland forty years ago.  We spent about an hour together, talki...

Hostel life....I had to get up at 2:00 a.m, 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. to go across the hall to the bathroom.  My kidneys are working overtime. I heard from John Fielder finally.  He is doing well in the UK, but he had no internet service in Brisbane.  Since I will be staying at his son's house next week, I have a premonition that I am in for the same plight.  Hopefully, the i-phone will still work.  I consider internet a necessity!!! I thought I would go to Manly Beach today, but when I stepped outside it was chilly and raining.  I quickly decided to wait until tomorrow to go to the beach.  I walked all the way up Pitt Street (about 2 miles) to Circular Quay (pronounced key).  I did not find anything I wanted to buy along that whole street.  Amazing how many things I don't need anymore.  I stopped in a couple of bookstores, but even there, I could not make myself buy something that would add weight to my luggage.  The food was rea...

I walked to Darling Harbour .  Since I got there before Captain Cook's Ferry Service opened, I walked across the harbor and back on the foot bridge.  My ticket for the zoo and the ferry ride was $50.50.  The ferry made stops at Central Quay and Fort Denison on the way to Toranga Zoo.  I thought the people that worked for Captain's Cook's were not very customer oriented.  They were friendly with each other, but didn't engage with their customers very much. Captain Cook's Ferry  At the Toranga Zoo, I took the sky car up to the zoo.  I shared the car with people from Atlanta.  I went to the Seal Show first.  The seals were little darlings.  So cute!  Then I went to the Free Flight Bird Show.  The peregrine falcon can fly over 300 miles per hour.  The birds flew very close over the audiences heads.  One of the birds touched my hair.  It was a good show.   I ate my lunch while waiting on the bird show to sta...

I got to talk to Travis on Skype this morning.  I was lucky enough to find free internet for a little while this morning from my room. I commented on one of Richard Crozier's posts on Facebook about personal responsibility and a guy named Steve Dupere followed up.  I thought what he wrote was good and worth sharing..."High blood pressure...take a med?  Try eating celery daily and dropping the bacon, ham, potato chips, coffee and so on.  Put down the soda and try a smoothie or, God forbid, water." I walked to Central Station to catch the HOHO bus at 8:30, but since they weren't going to leave until 9:00 I walked to Darling Harbour.  It's a nice area and the view of the harbor is beautiful. I went to the Imax Theater which has the largest screen in the world.  It's over seven stories tall.  I saw Born To Be Wild in 3D.  The 3D was awesome.  It was an inspiring story about Dr. Birute Galdikas who adopts orphaned orangutans in Borneo and D...

I dreamed about Jenelle Peterson last night.  It was quite real.  We were talking about all the things that had been done and said since she passed away.  I needed to tell someone that she was talking to me, but no one else had heard her. When I woke up this morning my bathroom was occupied, and I had to wait a long time to get in.  I needed my Lugable Loo bad! About 8:30 I walked a few blocks to Central Station and bought a two day pass for the Hop On Hop Off bus.  I asked if they had any discounts and the lady said, "I hate to ask but are you...."  I said, YES!  So since I am a senior I got two days for $40.00.  The HOHO bus is good for getting the feel of a city.  You see all the major sites plus get the commentary. I hopped off at the Sydney Opera House.  I bought a ticket for the Saturday matinee performance of La Boheme.  The ticket was $155 but it allows me to see the English subtitles.  Then I spent $8.00 for...