Featured Image: View from my front door
The view from my front door

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?

Don't Miss...

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

Read More »

Random Instagram Pics

My Facebook Fitness Page

flitterbyg

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18Jan22 Noble, using portrait mode. It seems to really show off his soft side. #catsofinstagram #tripodkitty #threeleggedcatsofinstagram #2022pad #latergram

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18Jan22 Noble, using portrait mode. It seems to really show off his soft side. #catsofinstagram #tripodkitty #threeleggedcatsofinstagram #2022pad #latergram

18Jan22 My shutters in the 'Ready Room' (the front bedroom) had quit working with a loud "thunk" sound on the weekend so I made a couple calls and was put onto this company. Ray and his workmate came and were able to work out that the last time the shutter had been repaired (I have no memory of it ever needing it while I've been here), they used curved bars instead of straight ones and that eventually caused the whole thing not to work. They had some straight ones they...

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18Jan22 My shutters in the 'Ready Room' (the front bedroom) had quit working with a loud "thunk" sound on the weekend so I made a couple calls and was put onto this company. Ray and his workmate came and were able to work out that the last time the shutter had been repaired (I have no memory of it ever needing it while I've been here), they used curved bars instead of straight ones and that eventually caused the whole thing not to work. They had some straight ones they could replace it with that weren't a stock item, and not quite a match, but the repair worked beautifully and then they checked the shutters for the gym window and found the timing was off by a few ticks so quickly fixed that as well. The fee they charged me was minimal. So I have no problems sharing their business card. I felt they were absolutely looking out for me rather than lining their pockets. Good guys! #fair #tradies #shutterrepairs #latergram

17Jan22 And here it is all built and ready for a ride - my new, much better fitting recumbent bike. If you know me and have an interest in my old recumbent bike get a hold of me. My preference is for a friend to have it to use. If I don't get any takers then I'll put it up for sale. #2022pad #recumbentbike #bike #homegymlife #keepmoving

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17Jan22 And here it is all built and ready for a ride - my new, much better fitting recumbent bike. If you know me and have an interest in my old recumbent bike get a hold of me. My preference is for a friend to have it to use. If I don't get any takers then I'll put it up for sale. #2022pad #recumbentbike #bike #homegymlife #keepmoving

11Sep22 I take a photo of these whenever I do a test because with catarachts I don't trust my eyes. It's easier to see for sure if there's a bottom line from the camera. Then I let them hang around so I know the date I last checked. Anyone else do that? This is called a RAT test in Australia. #2022pad #covidnegative #justchecking #covidrattest #rat

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11Sep22 I take a photo of these whenever I do a test because with catarachts I don't trust my eyes. It's easier to see for sure if there's a bottom line from the camera. Then I let them hang around so I know the date I last checked. Anyone else do that? This is called a RAT test in Australia. #2022pad #covidnegative #justchecking #covidrattest #rat

7Jan22 My Christmas card from America came with an official NASA First Moon Landing stamp. Which I'm keeping. That was part of my childhood. #nasa #moonlanding #stamp

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7Jan22 My Christmas card from America came with an official NASA First Moon Landing stamp. Which I'm keeping. That was part of my childhood. #nasa #moonlanding #stamp

5 Jan22 Neurmal hides herself in one of her little cubby holes. I think she's checking to see if anyone is watching. #catsofinstagram #playinghideandseek

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5 Jan22 Neurmal hides herself in one of her little cubby holes. I think she's checking to see if anyone is watching. #catsofinstagram #playinghideandseek

24Dec21 This is baby HH! I don't know if I'm allowed or should use his actual name so I will just use his initials for His Highness! What a sweetie and just look at him enjoying the little wrist and foot rattles Santa brought him! #2021pad #xmaseve #babysfirstxmas @daynax98x @kurtishoey

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24Dec21 This is baby HH! I don't know if I'm allowed or should use his actual name so I will just use his initials for His Highness! What a sweetie and just look at him enjoying the little wrist and foot rattles Santa brought him! #2021pad #xmaseve #babysfirstxmas @daynax98x @kurtishoey

30Dec21 Oh thank goodness! For the last few years I'd been trying to get a 'permanent' 5yr disability parking permit but my previous GP kept writing that my issues might clear up or might not. My new GP didn't even need to ask what problems I had and listed the most serious (and permanent) ones first. I was so pleased to get this in the mail. #2021pad #disabilityparking #finally #latergram

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30Dec21 Oh thank goodness! For the last few years I'd been trying to get a 'permanent' 5yr disability parking permit but my previous GP kept writing that my issues might clear up or might not. My new GP didn't even need to ask what problems I had and listed the most serious (and permanent) ones first. I was so pleased to get this in the mail. #2021pad #disabilityparking #finally #latergram

04Feb22 No, I'm not into baking aquarium gravel for fun. This gravel was used in a clean litter box so I could get a urine sample from Noble for the vet. It took him all day in a room by himself, but he did finally get desperate enough to use it. I was then able to use a syringe and extract enough into the vial from the vet and could wash the gravel for use in the future. There's a whole big process of washing aquarium gravel, because you absolutely do not want any of falling into...

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04Feb22 No, I'm not into baking aquarium gravel for fun. This gravel was used in a clean litter box so I could get a urine sample from Noble for the vet. It took him all day in a room by himself, but he did finally get desperate enough to use it. I was then able to use a syringe and extract enough into the vial from the vet and could wash the gravel for use in the future. There's a whole big process of washing aquarium gravel, because you absolutely do not want any of falling into your drain. It'll sit and fill up the U-joint and you'll need a plumber to come fix it. I followed all the procedures and very thoroughly washed the gravel. Then to dry it, I put it in this glass dish and into a very low temperature oven (150c or about 300f) for a couple hours. There were still a few damp pieces but the gravel and dish stayed very warm for several hours and any moisture left had dried by time I checked it in the morning. It's now been bagged for the next time I need it and the pyrex dish has been put through the dishwasher. So if you ever wanted to know how to get a urine sample from a cat - this is one way to do it.

20Feb22 I was searching for something to make for my Sunday dinner that was a bit different. This was different! This was roasted sweet potatoes covered with prawns and then a fancy Piri Piri topping. It was stunning. I found the recipe at New Idea Food (17 April 2019) - "Sweet Jacket Potato with Piri-Piri Prawns" and the recipe was actually for one person. It turned out amazing. #2022pad #cooking #cookingforone #sundayprawns

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20Feb22 I was searching for something to make for my Sunday dinner that was a bit different. This was different! This was roasted sweet potatoes covered with prawns and then a fancy Piri Piri topping. It was stunning. I found the recipe at New Idea Food (17 April 2019) - "Sweet Jacket Potato with Piri-Piri Prawns" and the recipe was actually for one person. It turned out amazing. #2022pad #cooking #cookingforone #sundayprawns

6Jan22 It didn't last more than 5 minutes! They both like sleeping in the chair but Neurmal generally gets there first. Noble decided he'd try to fit in too. He didn't like it. LOL! #2022pad #catsofinstagram #Iwasherefirst #stopcrowdingme #getyourownseat

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6Jan22 It didn't last more than 5 minutes! They both like sleeping in the chair but Neurmal generally gets there first. Noble decided he'd try to fit in too. He didn't like it. LOL! #2022pad #catsofinstagram #Iwasherefirst #stopcrowdingme #getyourownseat

This is my new computer that I hope will help me upload photos more often - and I'm hoping it will help solve neck issues with straining to see the the larger screen I had before now. #mbp #newcomputer #2022pad

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This is my new computer that I hope will help me upload photos more often - and I'm hoping it will help solve neck issues with straining to see the the larger screen I had before now. #mbp #newcomputer #2022pad
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