The BB cafe

[Kazzl]

The BB cafe is open for business!
Welcome all to a new chill and chat place for everyone on the forum.

The BB cafe is whatever you want it to be. There are comfy sofas, tables and chairs, coffee machines, a kitchen stocked with everything. There's a pool outside, a bbq area, an annexe with comfy beds for a quiet sleep, tv, dvd, books and whatever else you would like to have here.

Most of all, it's a place to meet friends and fellow travellers for a bit of company. Talk over problems, tell jokes, share your day, escape into a world of your making. Grab a coffee and pull up a chair ... 

So, with a nod to the wonderful Carole King (Hard Rock Cafe) ...

Now if you're feeling just a little bit lonely
Don't sit at home just mopin'
Come on down to where the friendship flows freely
You know the door is always open

At the BB cafe
Come to the BB cafe
They will help keep your blues at bay
At the BB cafe

Important Message from ModSupport: 
The main intention of the BB Cafe is to encourage light conversation. Please look after your fellow community members by nuturing the BB Cafe as a place to escape some of the more pressing issues in life and save those conversations for personal threads. 

[mmMekitty]

Hello Quirky, Fiatlux, Paul, new members & everyone

Hello!

There was a small storm pass over my place this morning. I was raining fairly heavily for about ten minutes, when the rain seemed to be decreasing, as if the storm was ending, but suddenly a huge thunderclat crossed the sky & I felt I could easily have jumped clean out of my skin! Truly, it startled me so bad. I grumbled, to the storm, "that was mean, storm. Stop that!" & didn't want to get up for another five minutes, when I felt sure there would be no more such thunder claps from that storm.

*

One of my support workers has a salt-water pool, & they put other chemicals in that along with the salt, so no, it wouldn't be good for the ducks either. Probably not good for her dogs, either, who may easily get lots down their throats while having fun in the pool, themsselves. We can reason out why to not drink the water, but we can't expect the furry friends & feathered visitors to understand.

They also live next to a wildlife preserve, & they have to have their cats in an cat enclosure, which is made of something like chicken wire, & has chicken wire across the top too, so they cannot climb their way up & out.

If I had a house, all my own, I'd have a cat enclosure like that, attached to my house, so cat/s could go in & out of the house, but not out of the yard.

It wouldn't keep cat/s from getting at any small animals, if the animals can get into the cat enclosure.

Hugzies

mmMekitty

[Fiatlux]

Hi Quirky,

You are always welcome to drop into our chats. The more the merrier 🙏🏼

[Fiatlux]

Good morning again BB cafe friends,

I definitely need a second coffee this morning. Been feeling exhausted lately. The late night tennis watching may have caught up with me this week.

mmMekitty, I love thunderstorms. We had a pool when we were kids and it was best when on a hot day, the heavy rain and storm came in. We’d stay in the water until my mum usually would freak out and order us out of pool. We’ve had one of those loud thunder claps recently that had he jumping out of skin. Today is just sunny and too hot to even sit outside for coffee. But tomorrow we are expecting a storm. That’s when the humidity goes way up. 

I really don’t feel like working at all this week, or should I say this entire month. I am doing just the bare minimum. It’s still very quiet as far as business is concerned. I am going to take it easy as much as possible and enjoy this.

Have a lovely Tuesday wherever you are. Fiatlux 🙏🏼

[mmMekitty]

Hello everyone

I'd loved thunderstorms when I was a child, staying awake at night just to watch the lightning, then count the alligators to determine how many miles the lightning was. (Yeah, back then it was alligators & miles - probably still is in USA today).

But, since living upstairs & the noise being so loud, all the time, with traffic mostly, then the storms as well, I began to feel anxious when the storms wer severe. Alt hough I am now living on ground floor, I still get anxious when the storm is severe. Traffic noise is simply annoying, but here, too, it's not so bad as it was near that other unit I lived in.

This morning there was another rainstorm around the time I was leaving for my exercise group. Not severe, just got us wet.  After that, it was cloudy, with a little rain, & a lot of humidity.

The lights were out near the gym I go to after lunch. don't know why, but the road we'd use to get into the parking lot was blocked, too, so I couldn't go to the gym today.

I have some nice, crumbed fish tonight. I thought it was not crumbed when I bought it online. The text on the website never said so, like they usually do when the fish is crumbed or battered. Much as I like them, nowadays, I'd prefer to not have the crumbs.

Hugzies

mmMekitty

[Fiatlux]

Good morning BB Cafe friends,

The Paul Kelly songs about Melbourne rain and rain in general are on my playlist today.

It has been bucketing down since I woke up this morning.

mmMekitty, it’s wonderful that you have an exercise group. Sounds fantastic. I cancelled my gym membership many years ago as I couldn’t get there due to work commitments. Instead I have a home gym that I used to use. Last year I barely left the couch let alone the house. Some days I feel motivated to go out for a walk and I have. But I find it so hot and humid and I had terrible hay fever last year. But I definitely need to move more. Give me some motivation please.

With the cooler weather I instead decided to bake. I have a carrot and walnut cake in the oven. I am going to top it with cream cheese frosting. I have cream cheese left over from the cheesecake I baked. Something a little naughty but delicious. And I might start making a zucchini frittata with ham… my Christmas ham will be almost gone. I swear that thing started growing.

[mmMekitty]

Hi Fiatlux & everyone

I like the idea of a never-ending ham! & Carrot & walnut cake is one of my favourite cakes.

I have trouble with the old motivation myself, especially with getting myself to exercise alone at home. This weather really doesn't encourage me at all. That's why I found this group, which NDIS will pay for, because it is designed for people with disabilities, & the exercise physiologist working for the organisation, she is able to modify the exercises we do each week, to suit our abilities, & are challenging enough as well to be useful.

I thought about aqua-aerobics, but I can't find a comparable group with someone who can show me exactly what do do to do the aqua-aerobics - in a group it's very difficult for an instructor to cater to each group member's needs. & of-course, they will have very loud & annoying music playing too....

I have joined a gym, & after my support worker learns from the gym workers how to adjust the machines I want to use, we can get on with the exercises. My s.w. counts, & keeps time, so I can concentrate on what I'm doing. Otherwise I lose track.

My motivation for doing any of this exercise is for my health, looking after myself better than ever before, which also includes eating better, too. If I don't the odds are very much skewed towards my becoming more & more unwell, & having more illness into my old age. I don't like feeling physically weak & vulnerable, don't want to be always at doctor's appointments, having treatments or surgery, being or having to ever totally rely on support workers, say, to even get up in the morning... The way I was heading my future was looking bleak, but I am determined it won't be so bleak as I have feared it could. that's my motivation.

I didn't have that motivation before two years ago, when I had a major surgery. With advice about future possibilities, I have changed how I live, at least as far as exercise & my food choices go.

Hugzies

mmMekitty

[HamSolo01]

Howdy folks

Beena  while since I came by here

Bit more world travel under my belt since I last came by 

And a new place to live too

Just sitting outside in the shade after eating

Hoping to come by the Cafe for a light refreshment and a coffee if there's one going? 

See you round 

[Fiatlux]

Good morning BB Cafe friends,

mmMekitty, aqua aerobics is so good. I used to go to a couple of classes a week. Sadly the swim centre where sessions were held was sold and they stopped running them. Now the one where hydro therapy etc. is run, is a bit of a drive. I used to be able to walk to the old centre and back. I have a backyard pool which I could use but I haven’t been motivated enough to get wet. But I bought a new swim dress last week and I will start as soon as we get some suitable weather.

Quirky, you asked about coincidences and whether I have noticed any. I haven’t noticed coincidences exactly but more like me loosing my mind. I could be sitting at my desk and think I should take my vitamins and when I get to the pantry I get distracted by something and forget why I went to the pantry. My son will open a box of crackers and leave the box open so they go soft, which really irks me. So I transfer crackers into air tight container and go back to my desk without taking my vitamins. Even now I’m thinking I will take them after this post. I do things to try to keep my mind sharp but I am noticing a slow decline in short term memory. I only had this previously when I was pregnant or when I had babies. I am sure that stress can be a contributing factor, that and aging. I am going to start making check lists for myself this year.

Yesterday the only physical exercise I did was running out to the pool to rescue a frog that found its way into the pool. The frogs usually use the front pond which is safer for them to breed. I managed to get it out and back into the front garden. 

Apparently physical exercise is the best thing for cognitive function and health.

Stay healthy dear friends, I will take my vitamins and have a nice breakfast. Have a great day. 🙏🏼

[mmMekitty]

Hello HamSolo. It's always a pleasure to see you around.

There is always a pot brewing, tea or coffee, as you like. No worries!

Biscuits, scones, cheese & crackers, or vegie sticks, too. I'm even cutting up fruit these days - very refreshing when the weather is so warm & humid.

How are you settling into your new home?

& I'd love to hear about your travels, please.

*

Once you get into the water, Fiatlux, you won't want to get out! I find that's just as true as wen I don't feel motivated to get myself showered & clean. Once I'm in, it feels so good.

I do feel the exercise is helping my mood.

I was listening to a podcast about body image & how exercise is beneficial to us (who have had our bodies changed by surgery, in this podcast, though I thought this could be more broadly applied).

I quote Charlotte, a psychologist with a lived experience of cancer, from the transcript: 

Charlotte [00:43:13] Yeah, I mean, I'm a big advocate for changing your focus, so it's a cognitive shift. So instead of looking at like what your body looks like, it's about not what my body looks like, but what my body can do. And to that end, linking that with being physical movement and in my case, a lot of exercise. And that's because when we exercise, we get a whole lot of positive outcomes. We get the psychological hit from things like endorphins. We get the stamina, we get toned. But we also send ourselves a message, which is I am not broken. I am able. I am investing in myself, in my well-being and in my future. So there's a lot of positive messages that we get reinforced from things like exercise and focussing on what our body can do rather than what my body looks like.

She is really expressing so very well what I've been feeling is my own motivation for caring for myself better than ever.

*

& Fiatlux, I am getting very similar forgetfulness, too. It doesn't feel right.

Hugzies everyone

mmMekitty

[blondguy]

Hey everyone...New Posters/Members are always welcome too! 

Hey Fiatlux and Kitty...I agree 100% that physical exertion is the best for our mental well being! After a few decades of counselling it can be really difficult (just for myself) to read a wall of text when we have a tired mind.

Lets hope that Woolworths can help all Australians be part of one flag without encouraging division. This is important as every year I purchase an Australian flag from Woolworths for $5-00  and send it overseas to relatives and friends. I hope everyone has a Super excellent Weekend!

I am rapt that there are so many caring people on the forums! 😀

Paul (((Hugs)))