Karen In Sydney, Australia

1920s Morley Style

Embee Louise

In The Navy (with Brisbane in the background)

08 March, 2012

This Blog Has Been Moved

Hi Groovers,

Just incase you are still visiting this site, We have moved to http://www.themorleyreport.com

Please update your bookmarks and follow us on the new site

27 February, 2012

While I was sleeping....


So last night was a rough night.... you know one of those nights where you don't get much sleep and the next day is mighty long!

But I can share this bit with you, cause I know you pretty well by now...

Soooo in my dream or should I say dreams (as there were two!) they consisted of one famous guy and one not so famous guy. Gotta love it when you have those kinda dreams :)


Interesting isn't it why things or people pop into our dreams.


But then comes that moment, when you wake up and realise it's Monday morning and time to start the working week all over again.

And tonight I am watching the movie While you were Sleeping, you know the one with Sandra Bullock from many years ago. I've been watching it in bits and pieces over the last two days. It's such a lovely little movie.


Ahhhh sleeping, geez it's good isn't it when you can get it that is!

And you know one of my most favourite times of the day or night in this case, is when I get into bed and put my head on the pillow and know that I have 7 or 8 hours of sleep ahead of me.... ahhhhhhhh pure bliss!


And tonight as I type and you read, James is putting the finishing touches to The Morley Report's new website andddddddddddd believe it or not, I have been told that after midnight tonight all will be revealed! So this may be the very last time that I write to you from this older version.
Now the thing you need to remember is that the web address isn't changing, you will still find us at www.themorleyreport.com


We are just moving over to another host, which will then in turn make it so much easier to subscribe to email updates, to leave comments and there will also be a few little surprises along the way....

Well this little Morley needs an early night! So see you tomorrow night with a brand spankin new look!

Nighttttttttt

Me xxx

26 February, 2012

Roller Boogie memories....


Yesterday I read a story that brought a few little sad tears to my eyes.

It was all about the redevelopment of the Red Hill Skate Arena as it was called by all the hip and happening kids back in the day!



OMG the fun I had at that place. It was situated in the neighbouring suburb to where I lived and from memory (which is a little blurred right now...) I would frequent it on a Saturday afternoon and on the odd occasion maybe a Friday or Saturday night, as I got older.


The music & the kids were a big part of it. Ohhhh and of course the skating too hehehe but prob in that order...




And of course in the early days I had to hire the "boots" from the Arena and of course this made me look not so cool BUTTTTT of course deep down I was :)


I begged my Grandparents and Funny Nana for the holy "White Boot Skate with the very BIG Stopper at the front" butttt alas they were very very expensive and we couldn't afford it. So that meant I had to keep wearing the "used rented type of skate" and I was a little sad but understood. :(

But then came the MOST AMAZING DAY ON THE PLANET... you see from time to time my Nana would spend the day at the Horse Races here in Brisbane, and at this point I should add (because my Nana would have liked you to know this bit) she honestly didn't go very often and so a couple of times a year Grandad and I would drop her to Eagle Farm Racecourse and then pick her up in the afternoon.


Actually looking back now it was a pretty big thing I would have thought for a woman back then, and we are talking the 1970's here, for a woman to attend the races by herself!


Anyway the point is she never went very much. So this one afternoon Grandad and I go to pick her up anddddddd she had a huge smile on her face because you see she won BIG TIME! Shame that I can't tell you how much because even I am curious to know but back then, being a child I wasn't privy to that type of info!

But here is where the story gets good!!!! My Nana bought me.......
yep you got it! These:


Now this was the closest picture that I could get to what mine looked like. I didn't have the pink wheels though mine were more like a brown with wood grain. I know sexy right! LOL

And I can only imagine my face the day Nana said we could go buy them! I mean here I am some 30 something years later and I can still see those skates and still see me skating in them :)

Ohhh and I can remember cleaning the wheels with Methylated "Metho" Spirits and the white boot polish... ahhh those were def the days my friends!!

And a fire on Boxing Day in 2002 cause so much damage and it has sat derelict and vacant since then...


Here is the clip that I watched and they have big plans to keep as much as they can of the site but to now turn it into something beautiful. To see the back of the rink where at the start I used to hold on for dear life not to fall over, well that was the bit that made me sad for the building!

Here is the link:

Plans roll on for Red Hill Skate Arena to turn it into function centre

And whilst we are kinda talking about wonderful parenting I soooo have to share this little bit of GOLD from a lovely male friend of mine, who is the BOMB at Parenting Teenage Girls..... hehehe

This is what I read this morning via his Facebook:

Having trouble getting your kids to clean their room? Roll up a sultana, squeeze the ends, lay it next to their bed. Next morning walk in to their room, ask what that thing is, suggest it's rat poo, then gently pick it up and eat it in front of them! I love being a Dad! The reactions you get!

I love this guy sooooooooo much. Mind you when I was 14 and at high school he along with another guy, would put my pencil case on top of the ceiling fans in Speech & Drama because me being short, I couldn't reach it and ohhhhh they would laughhhhhhh! LOL

And on other news, last night James and I worked a little more on the spankin new website and the plan is to launch it sometime during the early hours of Monday 27th February, so stay tuned for that one Groover's.

So the rest of my weekend ie. Sunday was spent doing my "homework" HUH? I knowwww me tooooo! But I had homework aka My Book to start and I have to say I had an enjoyable day doing this :)



Oh and before I leave you tonight I have an update on my Dove Family! Okkkkk so last I left it there was one teeny little egg as you saw via this pic!


So since then both Mum & Dad Dove have been taking turns to lay on the egg to keep it warm, safe and protected. And finally this morning I saw either that Mum or Dad feeding the little baby dove! Then a bit later in the morning I heard a little noise and Mum/Dad had finally flown off the nest to go get some food soooo when I had a look this is what I found:


TWOOOOOOOO babies!!!! And they are sooo tiny! I tried to get a good pic for you guys but this was the best I could get because it didn't take long for Mum or Dad to return and I didn't want to be caught out!!

Oh and before I forget here are the pics of my manicured hole!!

Before:


Meets after:



Isn't she pretty!

Oh and tonight I had a wonderful chat with my good friend Chris, it's been a long time in between phone calls but geez we had some good laughs. And I promised that I would mention him in The Morley Report tonight and confess that he had the inside scoop to the stories that appear in tonight's Morley Report! A high honor indeedy Mr Chris :)

And that my friends was Sunday. Nice quiet weekend doing things that I love. Not bad if you can get it :)

Night

Me xxx

25 February, 2012

Saturday Escape.....

Well the rain overnight wasn't as bad as predicted.... down in Brisbane anyway! But having said that still glad we cancelled our weekend away.

So to make it up to Funny Nana, I took her shopping.


Now the one thing you need to know about me is this - I don't like shopping! I knowwwwww and I call myself a Girl LOL.


I guess it all stems back to when I was a young single mum and had no money, mind you it's not like I have that much more now.... but back then it was pretty tough and I guess you condition yourself not to look at things you cannot afford. I mean what's the point? You only get yourself upset and sad about the things that you wish you could have, but instead need to save your money to feed your child! Silly Jake for needing to eat....

So I'm the kinda shopper that is in and out. Get what I need and I'm gone with the wind...

This meant that today I needed to fill in my time at the shops, as I let Funny Nana go do her thing (it pains me to watch her shop what can I say...) and then I go do mine.



But what should I do?

Well Groover's I decided to treat myself to a few "Me Things" as you do.

First up was a pedicure. Of course I normally only do this when I want "Holiday Feet" for that special holiday butttt I wasn't going anywhere this time, just home... but I thought it might be nice to see nice feet. The biggest thing I wanted to take care of today was to get rid of what I like to call "My Old Woman Feet"! You know the heel area. I would just like to say right now out loud WTF happens to us when we get older and our heels somehow turn into elephant skin, with 532 layers!!!!


And just so you know, I think elephants are cute. Dry, cracked heels - not so much!!

It's the one thing I hate about getting older, so far anyway....

So I took care of my Old Woman Heels and boy they look swish :)

And thennnnnnnnn I decided to have a nice little massage!

Now I haven't had many massages in my life and I normally wait until I am down at Kingscliff on holidays as there is this amazing beautician there that doesn't charge the earth. The other thing (for me that is) is that I guess to have somebody touch my body like that I kinda have to feel comfortable. I mean I have never had a man do a massage (unless of course it was a partner... mmmm let's not take me down that train of thought thanks!) and feel way more comfortable having a woman do it.


Because you see to me a massage really is something more intimate that you do with your "Special Friend" not some random stranger in a shop!!! But hey that's just me I guess and we all know that I am a freak of nature :)


But I was brave (not brave enough to have a man do it.... TODAY ANYWAYS hehehe) and my goodness me it was just divine! Loved it and today with all the rain around it was just a lovely day to have it done.

I also took myself to a lovely little cafe and had a nice breakfast. Let me ask you kids something - Have you ever gone and eaten alone at a cafe/restaurant? Maybe taken yourself off to the movies, with it just being you? Or even gone away on a little holiday for a few nights just by yourself?

I do it all the time and I have to tell you Groover's - I LOVE IT! I think it all stems back to being an only child and having to entertain myself when my Grandparents and Funny Nana would have their lunch time nap! (the joys of living with Grandparents..) but it taught me to enjoy my own company and as I grew up I can honestly tell you that I think this is a great skill to have.


I have a friend who has told me over the years that she thinks that I am strange that I like to do these kind of things by myself.

With the movies I like to go to what I call "The Nana Session", you know first thing in the morning 10am when all the ladies and Nana's go. I would never go say on a Saturday night and be surrounded by couples all in love! Come onnn I'm a crazy, but not that crazy... And sometimes when I am out, a coffee, maybe lunch or breakfast is something that I am not shy to have by myself. And over the last so many years on a couple of occasions I have gone away by myself to a resort, where of course I feel comfortable and just spend a couple of days just being me and enjoying the peace & quiet!


The way I see it, esp with going to the movies is that sometimes if I wait until someone is free to go see that movie that I have been hanging out for, by the time that we do get around to go and see it, it has finished andddd let's face it, when you are sitting in the movies and the lights go down, really who are you going to talk to anyway!


So there you go Groover's a few little sad insights into what makes me, ME! Exciting isn't it hehehe.

So after a morning of pampering, I spent the afternoon working on my book and had a teeny eeny Nana Nap (cause all the hip kids are doing it!) and tonight my friend James is coming over to do some last minute touches to the spankin new website!

It's funny because James is Jake's friend and when I told him yesterday that James is coming over, it freaked him out that I am hanging out with HIS FRIEND! But as James so kindly put it last night "I've known you almost along as I've know Jake. I'd say it's safe to say we're friends too". Isn't that nice of him to say :) And it is very true.

Well that's another Saturday done and dusted, how did your Saturday turn out?

Me xxx

24 February, 2012

Have you ever jumped the gun?


So last night I eluded.... okkkkkkkkk I PROMISED! that there would be BIG, HUGE NEWS tonight! But I was about 48 hours or so too early!

Sorry kids! But because we are close, I wanted to share my news just with YOU!

So this week my friend James and I, okkkk more James :) has been working on my new website, which will look very similar but here is the BIG THING - you will, I PINKY PROMISE have no problems whatsoever with leaving me comments and Groover's this is something that I really want to happen as I want to hear your thoughts, suggestions, your feedback more than anything!

What can I say "I like to start them young!" hehehe


Otherwise it feels like I am just talking to myself and YESSSS whilst do talk to myself and sometimes myself answers back - I like to hear other voices! Except those "Voices in my head" hehehe. But if I tell you about those voices I might be locked away and as it is Baby Jake only let's me out of our house on certain days!!!

So the website should be launched very late on Sunday night which means that come Monday 27th February, 2012 all will be revealed! :)

This week as well as working on the Website, saw me taking a GIANT STEP and sign up for a 12 week course to write my very own book. At the end of the 12 weeks I will have a book ready to publish!


Watch out kids I'm a comin hehehe


And so part of my new website launch will be asking you Groover's for suggestions on what you might like me to write about. What kind of things interest you and what things don't. But more on that next week.


On other news Funny Nana and I had big plans for this weekend to go away (shhh don't tell Embee Louise) but alas due to the bad weather anddd there is A LOT MORE RAIN TO COME OVER NIGHT and tomorrow we had to postpone it for another weekend!


Now I am pretty sure that it had nothing to do that little "Rain Dance" that Embee Louise did last night whilst doing her "Before Bed Wee-Wee!!".


And today my small hole got a manicure! You see it's been a bit neglected lately and tomorrow I promise to bring you photo's of it. Provided it doesn't float away overnight!!!!

And I have to share with you kids just quietly that whilst it is sad that we aren't going away tomorrow, right now I am really happy to have a very quiet weekend, especially with all the rain that is currently around. It's always great to stay in, watch some movies, maybe make a nice meal and have a little sleep in and I might sneak in a snappy little Nana Nap!!! OMG I am so excited just typing it out loud hehehe.

Ohhhh and Guess What? The biggest news of all and I nearly forgot to share it with you. Today I booked my tickets to fly over to see Baby Jake :) Will be going in early May, so stay tuned for those pics & stories.


And you know the funny thing today was that I emailed Jake to make sure it was ok to book (and also a big THANK YOU to my friend Tracey for telling me about the great deals that ended today!) I accidentally wrote the date for March instead of May and Jake had a heart attack that I was arriving next week. Which would mean him having to clean up his apartment!!! Funny Boy.... and ohhhhh so true!

So Groover's wherever you may be tonight keep dry!


Keep safe, keep smiling ohhh and don't forget to keep BREATHING!! Just a tip I like to share with close friends hehehe.

Nighttttttttt

Me xxx

23 February, 2012

Morley's excursion to The Mountain...


So today Groover's I went on a little "Work Excursion" up to Mt Coot-tha which if you live in Brisbane, is where all the Television Stations have their studios and antenna's!


Look how knowledgeable I am hehehe.

Here is a pic of Mt Coot-tha:


The poor boys in my car on the way up! They were the "chosen few" who got to listen to alllll The Morley stories, as we travelled through various places we have lived over the years, the primary school that Baby Jake attended etc. I am sure they had wished that they had picked a different vehicle to get a lift in hehehe. Poor kids!

And you know it wasn't until I started to tell the stories that more came to me, some that I hadn't thought of in a very long time.

Let me condense them as best as I can for you:

1. As I grew up with my Grandparents we didn't go out at night time and THE BIG THING was going for a drive on a Saturday afternoon with my Grandad, and we did quite a few drives up to Mt Coot-tha. I remember going up there after the 1977 floods in Brisbane and seeing the raging creeks.

2. Grandad and I also used to drive up there to the creek beds and "steal" sand and shovel it into hessian bags for our Cat - Fluffy No. 2's kitty litter tray. I guess in those days you couldn't really buy it.. not sure really why we did that!

But it also had me sharing the story of when we first got little Embee Louise and our old cat Herman was around 17/18 years old. Quite simply - Embee lovedddddddddddddd eating CAT POO! I knowwwwwwww how is this girl ever going to get a husband with bad habits like THAT!!!


So in the end we had to put Herman's Kitty Litter tray in the bath tub (in the tray... remember) so that he could jump his old bones up and into the bath tub and then into the litter tray. Embee would stand on her hind legs and put her paws on the side of the bath and watch poor old Herman do his thing. I guess to her it was like watching a "smorgasbord of food" hehehe. Sorry for those of you eating right now..........

It looked at little like this, but imagine a kitty litter tray under the cat!


No. 3 Back in the early 1990's there was a story in the news of when this poor young girl had been taken up to Mt Coot-tha and raped and murdered I believe from memory... And a friend of mine at the time had to go and work at night up at one of the television stations, I think maybe on a function etc. Anyway after she left and was driving down the mountain she was busting to go to the toilet/bathroom BUTTTTTTTTT was too scared to pull over and do it in a bush because of that poor girls story. So do you know what she did? Yep she wet her pants and did in on the car seat!!!! hehehe

No. 4 I can also remember when I was really young my Father came up to Brisbane to visit me (as Funny Nana & Dad were divorced) and took me for a drive to Mt Coot-tha but the only problem was that he was trying to make it fun and was kidding to open his driver's door and jump out. Of course this had the other effect on me and FREAKED ME OUT! I don't think Funny Nana was a happy chappy when she found out... sorry Dad!!

So as you can see there is a little bit of Morley History in them mountains...

Anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back to my Excursion to the Mountain!

So today I got to go back and revisit Mt Coot-tha and I haven't been there for quite some years.

When we arrived at the top one of the guys from my team was working up there today and we shall call him Mr K! :)

Mr K had the lucky job of giving me my very own personal tour whilst the other boys did a more technical tour and as I said to Mr K, let's call it the Girlie Tour, you know as in Madonna hehehe.

He was very patient and only LOL at one of my silly girlie questions... there were many don't worry! So thank you Mr K for being so kind to me!

Here are a few pics of my visit and since uploading this post yesterday I have had some feedback that I need to explain my pics in "Girlie Language" Soooo you ask for it YOU GET IT! Enjoy.....

This is the big Antenna that transmits the TV and Radio out to the people of Brisbane!



Now this one Groover's is especially interesting, even to me.... because in the case of a natural disaster when they tell us to have a radio and batteries, this is what helps us listen to the ABC Radio when all our power is out! It is a special generator that kicks in when there is a power failure! I sure know STUFF!! Thanks Mr K :)


Copper Pipes.... they do something with things.... hahaha


Some more transmitters with some pipes :)


Not sure what this really is, but when I saw it, it reminded me of a Rollacoaster tee hee.


Now this is their home brew set up for when they get thirsty LOL


Big Satellite Dishes that receive the radio waves and stuff.....


Beautiful Big Tree!


It was great to get out of the office and see something different...

Andddddddddddd Groover's speaking of something different tomorrow night there is BIG HUGE MORLEY NEWS..... so make sure you tune in!

Love

Me xx
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