Red

 Gladwrap hat 

 Fair floss hair 

 Red(ish)

Half-woman, half-muppet is seduced by pudding

I took screenshots of the above pictures on my phone this afternoon and posted them to Instagram with the caption, "Stay tuned for my story 'George Brandis' uncanny resemblance to Dr Bunsen Honeydew'."  

I went back in the photo gallery on my phone later and was greeted with this: 

I'M HALF WOMAN, HALF MUPPET!!!!

That top photo is me admiring the majesty of my high quiff (although I don't think the true majesty is captured in this photo). 

I went out this morning for a muffin, but I got sidetracked by a small gourmet market that had set up near the ATM I'd visited for muffin funds. I was seduced by pudding at the Pud stall and spent $18 on a selection of chocolate coated pudding balls. 

Cranberry and white chocolate pudding ball 

Bloody expensive muffin substitute! Not that I ate the whole packet of six pudding balls in one go - they were far too rich for that - but I did eat five of the tiny puddings over the course of morning and afternoon tea and I actually saved one pudding for Luke (please admire my restraint).

I'm not a massive fan of Christmas pudding or fruit cake generally, but once I tasted a couple of the samples at the stall, I had to have me some pudding. They're made in Castlemaine in central Victoria from a secret family recipe. 

I love the word pudding. And pud. Luke thinks it's funnier if you pronounce it to rhyme with mud, but I disagree. Pud is good. Gotta love a good pud. Or you should. 

I'll go now.  

Spring is imminent, and a day out

Bright sunshine, blooming lavender

It gladdens my heart to see signs of spring appearing. Magnolias are in bloom, shrubs are budding and I saw a bee the other day. Today I was out and about with sunshine on my bare arms. It was delightful.   

Luke and I were treated to a day out at the football at the MCG yesterday courtesy of his work. It included lunch and afternoon tea in the Premiership Club, a tour down to the boundary of the hallowed turf during the team warm up and tickets to the game. 

 Luke and me boundary riding

 Me relaxing on the interchange bench

My team, North Melbourne, played and lost to the reigning premiers, Hawthorn, but it was still a fun day out. Free food and booze is always appreciated and I haven't been to the footy in years.

The stadium was only half full, but that still means we were sitting in a crowd of 50,000 people. It's a pretty amazing atmosphere, even when your team is losing. 

Football selfie with freshly coloured quiff

Yes, I know I haven't finished blogging about my Queensland holiday yet. I've been busy spending time with Luke upon his return from overseas and being too tired for blogging. 

Odd fog, good hair, new blog

Weird patchy fog lingered around the city all day today. The sun was shining where I was but I had a good view of the foggy bits, like in the picture of Docklands above. It was strange but cool. I love fog. 

Zoos Victoria shared some ace photos of the fog at Werribee Open Range Zoo this morning.  

I had a good hair day today...mainly because a tiny bit of effort into making it look less like troll hair. 

My new blog, More than Enough, is live! I'm still working on tarting it up though. Day two of my shopping ban today and so far so good! 

November: day 27

Big tree (and little tree)

I stood behind a young woman at traffic lights today and she had such a luxuriously thick plait that I wanted to reach out and run it through my hand. I didn't of course. #creepy

A saw a dog and his owner playing fetch in the park one my way to work and the dog was SO excited.  If I had to pick an image that captures the joy of anticipation, a dog waiting for his owner to throw a ball would be it.  

I thought I forgot my iPod this morning, but I found it in the inside pocket of my bag when I was on the tram (which is when I need it most).

It's the weekend and there's only 17 working days until I'm on holidays. 

November: day 11

My new hair, as cut and photographed 
by Angela at Razor Dolls

Can you believe it? I walked to work again today! Twice in one week! I woke up early again and got out of bed early again and got to work even earlier than on Monday. Who'da thunk?

My early start this morning was mainly because I was off sick with a migraine yesterday* and I had a LOT of sleep, so my body decided it had had enough well before my alarm was due to go off.

I don't feel quite so much of a physical wreck tonight. This  exercise thing must be good for you...

***

Luke made crumbed chicken drumsticks for dinner. He is an expert crumber, They were crunchy outside and deliciously tender and juicy inside.

* Also the reason I didn't post a blog yesterday. I'm not officially signed up for NaBloPoMo, so whatevah. 

November: day 7

Got my hair did today. I went bright purple all over about two months ago, but today I went back to black on the sides and a darker purple on top.  I like it. (Those are shadows under my eyes not massive dark circles, although I do look how I feel...)

Just after I took this photo a woman came up to me gushing about how "awesome" my hair is and told her 20-something daughter she should get something like it instead of her straight, natural brown hair. Hahaha. (Poor daughter though.) Having random people on the street comment on your hair happens when you go with a bright colour. 

I got my hair done at Razor Dolls on Chapel Street in Windsor, which is not your usual hair salon. All the hairdressers are pretty out there - lots of tattoos (including one facial tatt), ear gauges, piercings, and crazy hair dos. My hairdresser has bright pink, platinum blonde and yellow dreadlocks. I just want to sit and stare at all of them. 

Mirror, mirror

I took a photo of our new mirror today before I sat down on the couch and couldn't get up again (actually, when I got home today I went straight to bed for a nap for a few hours). 

We liked the really ornate mirrors, but we ended up buying a contemporary style since the rest of our decor is modern.  You can't really see it, but it has a nice bevelled edge on the glass.  

I need to rethink the mantelpiece decoration so the bottom of the frame is visible. If the mirror were hung higher we wouldn't be able to see much in it besides the ceiling (and the bare lightbulb, which needs a new light fitting). 

Our Ends are our Beginnings

The other picture the handyman hung for me was this print I bought from the site Section6. It's called Our Ends are our Beginnings by Paradisiac Picture. I love it - the dramatic golden sky, the deep blue ocean and the Parisian-looking city on the sea floor, but also the possibility of feeling as if you're sinking to the bottom, but something new 

This is a bit strange, but sometimes when I'm near the sea or watching a documentary about it, I think how terrifying it would be to fall into the deepest depths of the ocean, and I get a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach like mild panic or claustrophobia, and that's what I initially feel when I look at this. She's falling to the bottom of the sea! But she will be saved! 

(Sorry about the formatting, it's misbehaving and I'm too tired to fix it.)

JBPM: day 11

Today was Brigid's last day in our team. She gave us all homemade vanilla fudge as a parting gift. Mine came with a very sweet note attached saying I was the best desk buddy a girl could hope for. Aaaw. I gave her a tiny cactus with a little tuft of red on top just like me. 

The woman at the Myer florist who sold me the cactus said she liked my hair. As I was walking back through the store a perfume spruiker dressed as a cop (complete with baton) told me I had "cool hair", but I pricked my finger on the cactus at the exact moment he said it, and I was past him before I could acknowledge the compliment. 

Luke played me a couple of songs he thought I would like from The Decemberists' last studio album. I did like them. This is Rox in the Box from The King is Dead. 

Foys, matching, spoilt for choice

I saw this old sign quite a while ago, but had to wait for the trees to lose their leaves for a clearer shot. 

Foys was one of Australia's earliest department stores. The Melbourne store was on Bourke Street, I think where Target is now, but I'm not sure. I found a photo of the store from 1957, but can't pinpoint the location. The sign is just around the corner on Swanston Street, on the side of Curtin House. 

I went to the hairdresser again today to get my blue highlights touched up in a few places. The salon manager and I were wearing matching outfits (except I wasn't wearing a plastic apron). She and the other hairdresser make me laugh. My highlights are more of a royal blue than turquoise now. 

Luke and I dropped into The Book Grocer in the city this afternoon. I bought The Superior Person's Second Book of Words by Peter Rowler, which, according to the inside cover blurb, will unquestionably establish me as the most interesting person at any dinner party.  I hope it won't matter if I read the second book before the first.  I also bought a biography of Samuel Johnson (the "dictionary dude" as I described him).  

I'm nearly finished reading my current book....which one to read next...

There were globe artichokes in the fresh produce section at the supermarket today. I held one up and pretended to be an Olympic torch bearer and the Statue of Liberty. 

The sky aglow at sunset tonight, as seen from my window

'

Girly girl, magazine heaven, yum

The sunset tonight

I had a girly day today - got my hair cut and coloured (just the usual), and while the hairdresser was doing my colour, the other hairdresser did my nails. There was no one else in the salon. It was like having my own personal staff. 

It's actually the first time I've had a professional manicure, which is odd since I find cutting my nails a tedious chore (and I think they know this - they have their revenge by growing super fast). I think I'll keep paying someone else to do it for me.

Speaking of firsts, I went into Mag Nation for the first time today. I'd always thought it was just a newsagent without newspapers, but today for some reason I went in for a look. Wow. So many cool magazines. Some are more like books than traditional magazines ('mooks' apparently), with heavier matt paper, few ads (hence higher cover prices), lots of photographs, and different shapes and sizes (square, or landscape layout). There's surely not a single niche market that isn't catered for at Mag Nation. There's even two - yes TWO! - magazines for tractor enthusiasts. 

I bought a music mag that had Jack White on the cover, and a bonus CD of songs that Jack has covered. I also bought Frankie magazine. I wanted to buy Dumbo Feather (one of the aforementioned mooks), but couldn't justify spending so much on magazines on one visit. Next time...

After Mag Nation I popped into Hudsons Coffee because I was peckish for something sweet. I was chuffed to discover they have a range of gluten free treats. I had a chocolate brownie and it was scrumptious. I'm simultaneously thrilled and dismayed that it's so close to my work...

On the topic of yummy food, last night for dessert I had vanilla yogurt with banana, pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup. Delicious and nutritious.