
Welcome to ‘Gaelyne’s Sanctuary’. If you’ve visited in the past (welcome back!) you probably noticed I’ve given my site a new name and look. I’ve spent several months working on this revamp – mostly trying to find the time to work on it. I chose the name ‘sanctuary’ because I found working on it has given me a sense of peace while the rest of my world seems to be falling apart. My husband was fighting lung cancer, so life was a little crazy then. It’s a place where I can come and make one small corner of the world a little brighter.
I have a variety of interests but they boil down to cooking, writing, taking photos and playing Bingo on Facebook. I hope you enjoy your visit and feel free to talk to me in comments or on the contact page.
What's in my Sanctuary?
My Blog
I had a few off-site blogs before deciding to have a blog on my own site. I don't blog very often, but when I have something I want to share, I'll write about it. The topics range from general, fitness, cancer, diabetes, vaping and maybe a rant here and there.
Recipes
I love cooking, sharing recipes and enjoying myself in the kitchen. Most are recipes I wanted to share with my kids or have available so I wouldn't lose them. I don't do fancy stuff, but I like challenging myself with learning to cook something I've never made before.
Photos
I enjoy taking photos with my camera and have a few projects I do such as Photo of the Day, and 12 of 12 days and a group on Flickr and Facebook called Challenge Friday. If I happen to cook something I'm pleased with, I'll often take a photo of it for my pic of the day. Mostly the photos I take are snapshots of my life, which is pretty mundane, I think. But my world is different from what my family in the USA experiences so sharing seems a nice thing to do.
What's New?

Highlights for 02-27 May 2019
Finally, the rain has come! Thursday, May 02, 2019 We’ve been needing rain for months now and last night and today we finally have had

Highlights for 22 April – 28 April 2019
This was a weird week because Monday was a public holiday – Easter Monday – and Thursday was also a public holiday – Anzac Day.

Highlights for 14 April – 22 April 2019
I’ve had an interesting week… Sunday, April 14, 2019 This past week had some super wonderful highs, some majors lows and lots of in-between. As

Highlights for the Week of 31 March – 7th April 2019
Sunday Beach Highlight Sunday, March 31, 2019 I had a lovely walk by the beach this evening, and I’m not sure what magic made it

Highlights for the Week of 26-29 March 2019
It’s here! Tuesday, March 26, 2019 My new rowing machine is here and man is big. I love it – and even learned how to

Highlights for the Week of 18-24th March 2019
Monday, March 18, 2019 I have an old rowing machine and I’ve been working at using it more but it has issues. (Like you come
Don't Miss...
Roof Restoration
Last year I had a roof leak repaired and they showed me photos of work that needed done on the roof. It took quite a
Photo a Day 2020
These photos are 2020 my Photo a Day selections. I try to take photos on most days, even if it’s just what I made for
Photo a Day 2019
These photos are my Photo a Day 2019 selections. I don’t take pics everyday, but I try to on most days, even if it’s pretty
Photo a Day 2018
These photos are my Photo a Day 2018 selections. I don’t take pics everyday, but I try to on most days, even if it’s pretty
Challenge Friday
I’ve joined another photo group, where a challenge word is given on Fridays and we have a week to take photos that represent our interpretations
Random Instagram Pics
My Facebook Fitness Page
10Feb21 I bought myself some workshirts for ... working outside or when I cook, etc. I'm so tired of ruining my shirts! I bought them oversized and these are lightweight with shortsleeves and they even have mesh arm pits. Cool breeze! I took this selfie to show off the shirt to my kids. #2021pad #workshirt #workingfromhome

10Dec20 I couldn’t find round pie tins so used mini BBQ tins instead. It still worked fine. These pumpkin pies were for Erik and Anne and one for myself that’s now in my freezer - I completely forgot to get it out for Christmas! The one I shared with Erik and Anne turned out great. Hopefully the other one did too! #pumpkinpie #earlychristmasnibbles #latergram #2020pad

08Jan21 If you look closely you can see where Noble’s fur is coming in and where his ‘older’ fur is there’s a bit of a line where the taller black fur stops and then the white fur is lower because it’s all new. It seems to be coming in much faster finally and I’m so pleased for him. It can’t be comfortable having just skin showing. It’s fine for us, but not for a cat. #tripodkitty #threeleggedcatsofinstagram #catsofinstagram #cf21 #animal

21Jan21 The white thing with the cord is the recharge thingy for my robovac. I was trying to get the cord out from under the sliding door. While I was in the process, my right shoe got itself caught in the plastic divider between the carpet and the tile. On my way to falling over sideways and breaking my leg, I grabbed at the door and saved myself from certain doom. In the process I set the healing of my hand back a week and had quite a sore inner thigh muscle from my balancing act hop stepping...

08Jan21 Neurmal stops to pose for a kitty pic. She probably just woke up after a catnap out in the backyard. #catsofinstagram #cf21 #animal
#2021pad

12Dec20 My only 12of12 pic for the month because taking pics wasn’t really very easy to do with one hand and a new phone. I was told to keep my arm up in a sling for the first few days as well. #latergram #2020pad #12of12 #carpaltunnelsurgery

My new wrist brace for my TFCC (Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex) injury. There’s info about it at wristwidget.com.au - so when I thought I broke my wrist, this is what actually happened to it. I saw a great doctor today (all the right questions and pokings and stuff) and have been additionally referred to the physical therapy department. The therapist gave me the strap and showed me how to use it as well as gave me clear instructions on exercises for both the wrist and the scar from the ...

03Jan21 Gee this turned out nice. It’s Prawn Scampi with rice and It could have been a disaster, but I bumbled my way through and saved it. The recipe called for Jasmine rice - I used Basmati. It wanted frozen jumbo prawns with the shell on. I used what I had - frozen medium sized prawns, already peeled. So after following the recipe, I found the prawns were perfect inside the bowl (I cooked them in my Corning Ware dish), but the rice was still uncooked sitting in a lovely smelling broth of...

30Dec20 I went to the ER for my hand because I was worried maybe I’d broke my wrist or something. It’s not broke. They agreed the swelling was worrying, so urgently contacted the plastics team to bring me in earlier than my 19 Jan appointment. Then they sent me home. A couple days later I still have swelling in the pad of my hand and it’s still quite sore. My new appointment is on Monday so we’ll see what they have to say about it. I saw this on exiting the ER and thought it was a ...

02Jan21 Better late than never! I remembered to take the pumpkin pie (not that you can see it) from the freezer. So pumpkin pie (still lightly frozen), vanilla ice cream and a whole lot of whipped cream on top. I had a hard time getting the nozzle to work right on the can, so once I got it going I may have got carried away. Verdict: Delightful! #pumpkinpie #whippedcream #vanillaicecream #yum #2021pad

01Jan21 I’ve been napping a lot lately and often find the cats have joined me. Today they looked as tuckered out as I felt #2020pad #catsofinstagram #catsnappingwithme #catsnapping #exhaustedcatsofinstagram

24Jan21 There was a fire a few suburbs away. The wind changed and the smoke started coming in our direction. When the sun went down you could see the glow of the fire in the distance. Fortunately some much welcome rain came through and helped put it out. #2021pad #fire #wildfiresmoke

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