The week so far

I’ve been a bit out of touch with my blogging the last few weeks. Even behind on my reading a bit :( Mainly because I’ve been spending a lot of time doing some freelance work. So you know in between work and well, more work after work I haven’t had much time to write for myself. But it’s cool, I love my freelance work :)

Anyway, so this week hasn’t been the best. Mainly because of ex-Cyclone Oswald deciding to pay Queensland a visit. We had incessant rain on Australia Day but it was still no warning for what was to come. Then on Sunday the weather started getting a little crazier and by night time it was full blown out of its mind. The wind was nothing like I’ve ever seen, felt or heard before. Things were rattling and falling off shelves. The skylight in my bathroom fell through and smashed on the ground and everything put together, I was so on edge.

Storms normally don’t scare me but this one was different. I didn’t sleep well at all that night. At about 7am on Monday, J got out of bed worrying that the wooden fence in our backyard may have gotten blown away but although battered, it was still hanging on. But then we looked over to the other side which is part brick, part fence and the entire brick wall had fallen over!

The sight on Monday morning :(

 It was the biggest shock and the weather on Monday was so bad it didn’t do anything to ease our worries. The only consolation was that it was public holiday and we didn’t have to leave the house in that weather. On top of the things-falling-apart drama, we also lost power late Sunday night. This meant our phones were also barely charged. Not that it mattered because we barely had any signal anyway. It was quite surreal feeling being so cut off with no news, no phones, no social media.

We spent about half an hour in the pouring rain on Monday night putting up a piece of tarp to cover up the space left by the now missing wall. Luckily (and thanks to the hard working peeps at Energex) we got electricity back at about 8:30pm and were able to have a hot shower. But sleep was still elusive.

My suburb and the next suburb up from me got very badly battered over this last weekend. My local beach is looking very beatdown and forlorn. Gold Coast beaches in general look sad and dirty, very dirty. As do the roads, because of all the debris lying around.

Wait, it doesn’t there though. On Tuesday evening, we could feel something was wrong with J’s car. Another problem we didn’t need. Got that fixed on Wednesday and it was closely followed by more bad news. A tile has blown off the roof and there is now a leak as a result.

You have got to be kidding me.

It’s Thursday and while the weather is still PMSing between hot and humid and raining cats and dogs, nothing else has gone wrong. Yet.  As for us, we are ok. Physically of course we were unharmed but mentally we are both just so exhausted.

There are people in so many other parts of Queensland such as Bundaberg and even Brisbane who were affected much worse than J and me and my heart really goes out to them. I feel so sad thinking about all the people whose homes have been destroyed and for some of them they have barely recovered from the 2011 floods and it’s hitting them again.

From heatwaves to cyclones. I’m not sure what Mother Nature has in store for Australia next?

Weekend treats

Normal people make rum balls at Christmas time, I made protein balls...as a present for J. And he loved them. So yesterday I made some more.

When I say protein balls, most people make a face that says "I can't believe you eat that tasteless shiz". But I actually really like them. They taste good (well, some of them do) and they're so filled with protein-y goodness...mmmm. The problem is they can become an expensive habit at $4 to $5 a packet so I figured the internet would have a solution to this. And the internet did not disappoint.

I found Teresa Cutter's website and this recipe for protein balls. They are absolutely yummy and so addictive! 

These are my protein balls from yesterday:

My tips for the recipe:

1. I used almond meal instead of whole almonds. (laziness)
2. I added pepitas and sunflower seeds to the mix.
3. Last time, I rolled the balls in sesame seeds, cocoa and quinoa flakes as I didn't have dessicated coconut. 'twas yum!
4. If the coating doesn't stick to the balls, wet your hands a little bit when forming the balls. This will help the coating stick better.
5. Instead of spreading the dessicated coconut out on a plate, I put it in a bag and threw the balls in one at a time and tossed them around. I find this coats the balls much better.

My green smoothie

I am also VERY into smoothies right now. I have a little Sunbeam stick blender that cost me all of $40 to buy and I reckon it's one of my best investments in kitchen equipment. It was really hot on Sunday so I didn't feel like a thick, heavy smoothie. So I tried my hand at a "green" smoothie for the first time. It was delish!

Ingredients:

1. Flesh from 1 grapefruit
2. Flesh from 1 lime
3. Handful of mint leaves
4. 1 banana
5. Handful of spinach leaves
6. Honey (if you'd like a touch more sweetness)
7. 1 scoop protein powder (optional)

Simply blend all ingredients together.

Green smoothies seemed a repulsive idea to me before but I actually really like them now and definitely recommend them. It's a whole new way of eating spinach, that's for sure.

#NaBloPoMo - Cleaning Day

I've spent half my day cleaning and inhaling fumes. Cleaning product fumes. And I'm feeling lightheaded and a bit woozy. I even vacuumed. I HATE vacuuming. It's usually J's job to do it but he had other exciting cleaning-related tasks to carry out so I had to (wo)man up and take charge of the vacuuming today. Yuck.

Exciting start to the weekend, I know. But the house is sparkly, neat and everything is in its place and I can sit back and enjoy the rest of the weekend :)

(Terrible excuse for a post I know, but it's the fumes...they've cleaned (pun intended) me out of ideas).

*This post is part of the November NaBloPoMo blogging challenge.

#PhotoADayJune - Empty

It's a cold, rainy miserable Saturday on the Gold Coast and not too many people out and about.

This picture is taken just outside J's house, normally a pretty busy street on a Saturday with heaps of people walking their dogs. Today the dogs have decided to stay home however.

I love this street. Normally I'll leave the door open and I can look out onto the street and just people watch. Dogs and little children. Skateboards and short shorts. Crackheads and fast cars.

It's cold today, the door is shut and it's an empty street. Empty.

This post is part of the #PhotoADayJune Challenge.