Four days, no sun…Cabin fever setting in?…Dogs, flowers and beaches…A little bit of “this and that”…

Simple, but delightful.

We’re anxious to get out to explore, but with rain over the past four days, most likely we won’t be doing so today. Neither of us sees any reason why we should get soaked on a walk in the rain (not our thing).

On a walk across the street which is lined with a wide variety of blooming flowers, we spotted this unusual plant.  Any comments from locals or flower enthusiasts?

Nor do we see any purpose in driving through the countryside with limited visibility, making photo taking annoying to say the least. There’s strong storm conditions in the Australian continent and we suspect we’re getting some of that inclement weather as well.

Instead, like many of you, on bad weather days, we choose to stay close to “home.” In our old lives, when we had to work, we never hesitated to go out when it was below zero or on rainy or snowy days. 

Note the purple/mauve borders and veins on the leaves. 

Now, in this life, we don’t have to go out in bad weather unless we have a definitive reason, such as a travel day; to catch a flight or when boarding a cruise. We love how flexible we are in this life!

Two dogs swimming in the ocean on Christmas Day, the last sunny day in Penguin.

Do we get cabin fever on days like this? Tom, who can easily occupy himself online for days at a time, has no problem to prevent cabin fever. For me, spending little time online after posting the day’s blog, conducting research or logging future travel plans and financial matters, I have little interest in using my laptop. 

Aside from vast expanses of white sand beaches in Tasmania there are rocky areas.

Somehow I find myself with plenty of tasks that easily consume part of each day, whether it’s preparing a meal, doing laundry or organizing and rearranging our “stuff” to make the next packing session all the more seamless.

Little bells.

Today, I’ll be rearranging our pill bag. I take three prescriptions, while Tom takes none. Recently, we received a shipment of a one year’s supply of my three meds each of which is wrapped in blister packs.  

Having used all the loose pills I had on hand, I decided today would be a good day to open all the blister packs putting the individual pills in the appropriately labeled plastic pill bottles from past purchases in Australia. 

Walkway along Penguin Beach on Christmas Day.

Yep, I must admit, as an old timer myself, I use a monthly pill container case since I take the three meds together once each morning. It contains space for 28 days. Thus, like many of who are taking multiple medications, it makes sense to use a pill case to ensure errors aren’t made. 

Looks like this possible Great Dane was looking for her/his owner to return from the shop. We took this photo on a very cool day.

Pressing the pills through the blister packs for an entire year’s meds could take a few hours. For three different meds for 12 months, that is 1095 “presses” in the blister pack. 

Dogs allowed.

I realize that keeping the pills in the blister pack may extend their freshness, but in an effort to eliminate excess weight, getting rid of the superfluous paper and plastic makes more sense due to our circumstances.

Also, today, I have to use a needle and thread to sew a few items. I don’t mind doing this, but have trouble threading the needle unless I use that silly little tin thing that is often included in a package of various sized needles. Its this thing:

Ever use this thingee when trying to thread a needle? I’m lost without it. Must be old age.

Yesterday, I made enough low carb, grain free, starch free pizza for several meals, leaving only a salad to chop for today’s meal. We left out enough pizza for two days, freezing three packages we can later reheat as  additional meals. 

Specifically, Penguin Beach.

Sure, I have a touch of cabin fever, but with plenty to do plus a few favorite downloaded/streaming TV shows we’ve been binge watching in the evenings I’ll be fine. We’ve been watching these shows: “This is Us,” “Victoria” and “The Crown.” We seldom watch TV during the day, although we may have local news or talk shows on in the background.

More of Penguin Beach.

We hope you have a great day today filled with a little “this and that” to keep you occupied and entertained.

Photo from one year ago today, December 29, 2015:

We’d been warned against purchasing locally caught fish in Fiji when it’s often caught close to the shore where bacteria is heavy in the waters from sewage disposal.  As a result, we never purchased any fish for four months. For more photos, please click here.

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