
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
This month I'm uploading all of my 12 of 12 photos (such as they are) in two parts. This is the 2nd part. 12th February 2021 was on a Friday and it was just a normal day in my life. I had fish and chips for dinner and then finished the Valentines Day rowing Challenge (14,000 meters within 6 days).
7 of 12 My walking stick. The hand therapist put a soft wrap around the handle to make it more comfortable to use. And then gave me an extra sheet so when this one wears out I can...

09Feb21 This was my pre-dinner glucose reading. That's pretty low and I had no knowledge it had got that low except by testing my blood. I went and made dinner immediately. #type2diabetes #t2diabetes #lowglucose #mysugr

This month I'm uploading all of my 12 of 12 photos (such as they are) in two parts. The first six in one upload and the second 6 in another. 12th February 2021 was on a Friday and it was just a normal day in my life. I didn't go anywhere but I did 'see' and spend time with my sister. I had fish and chips for dinner and then finished the Valentines Day rowing Challenge (14,000 meters within 6 days).
1 of 12 G'night! I was up rather late and realised it was ...

23Feb21 Beef stir fry with ramen. I tossed some frozen cut up green and red bell peppers (capsicum) in along with some soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. It came out lovely. The beef strips were from @gdaymeat and I chopped them into bite size pieces. These were very tender. I'm thinking I'll order more next time. #2021pad #gdaymeat #ichoosesa #cooking #foodies #cookingforone

04Feb21 Got my hair cut! Yay! Second, for those who know me really well, I have an issue with scratching my forehead on that side in my sleep. It's a very intense itch and I've no control when it comes or goes. At the same time a couple of my nails had broke during the night so were quite jagged. Luckily it's mostly healed up now. #2021pad #selfie #haircut #nightscratching

29Jan21 Salmon and cream cheese on sour dough rolls in profile. #2021pad #cf21 #profile #smokedsalmon #sourdough

27Jan21 I spent some time back on the rower again, testing out whether my hands would be ok with the handle with the damper set on 0. There's vibration in the chain as you move on the rower and it's that which causes an issue for carpal tunnel. I wore my splints as a precaution. After doing drills and a warm up, I rowed 15 minutes. I didn't have a problem until a day later so had a couple days before getting back on the rower again. #latergram #2021pad #rowing #darkhorserowing ...

No texting while walking down steps Use Handrails". I saw this while out shopping and had to laugh because it was at the bottom of the stairs! I sure hope there's a sign at the top of the stairs too! #cf21 #hope #sillysigns #dumbpeople

22Feb21 I saw the hand therapist today for continuing my recovery from carpal tunnel surgery. She tested my grip strength, which was very good (22 on BOTH hands) and gave me a small bit of silicone to keep over the scar at night time (preferably for up to 10hrs a day or at least when I go to bed). She cut some light gauze hand/wrist supports to put over the silicone so it stays in place. The silicone helps to soften and smooth the scar tissue. #hand #silicone #treatment #therapy #carpaltunnel

02Mar21 My new glasses have arrived. These are for the desk only. I keep forgetting take them off when I get up from the desk to do my hourly walks, and it feels really weird not to have glasses on when not at the computer. #2021pad #newglasses #glasses #pink

24Jan21 I wasn’t looking for a keyboard or a case for my iPad but happened to see a few YouTube videos on this keyboard that really caught my attention because it’s backlit, good quality and uses the ‘snap’ connector on the iPad - so it connects instantly and is powered by the iPad instead of using batteries or needing to be recharged. Plus it’s a fraction of the cost of Apple’s keyboard. I found it locally and figuring this is going to disappear and never be around again, I ...

25Jan21 This was an experiment. I took a kilo package of frozen buffalo wings and used the pressure cooker part of the Instant Pot to thaw and partially cook the wings. Then I used the air fryer part to finish cooking and crisp them up. They came out perfect! This is the finished product. They were falling off the bone done, tender and crispy. This was a few meals worth for me. #2021pad #cooking #cookingforone #instantpot #chickenwings

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