Yay, yum, haha

Morning walk

I walked to and from work again today. I thought I might wake up more weary than usual or run out of energy during the day after yesterday's efforts, but I didn't. Yay. I've walked just over 16,000 steps (or 10kms) today, well over my goal of 10,000.

Yummy smells from (home made) dinner tonight: sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds, fresh mint and basil, fresh lime juice, passionfruit pulp. Yum. 

Speaking of cooking, on Sunday I was frying a pan full of small bacon pieces. There was a loud POP and a piece of bacon shot up into the air and landed on my head. Haha.  

Evening walk

JBPM: day 21

I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm obsessed with citrus, especially lemon and lime. Eating citrus, drinking citrus and smelling citrus.  I can't get enough. It's so fresh and zesty and zingy. 

My obsession intensified recently when my osteo put a citrus blend in the oil burner in their waiting room and the scent made me feel good (well, better. I rarely feel good physically). I know citrus oils are said to be uplifting and energising, but I assumed that was marketing bunkum. Maybe I was wrong...

Since that day I've been on a quest for smelly stuff for my flat so I can be uplifted and energised in the comfort of my own home, and today I found Glasshouse's diffuser with lemongrass fragrance and it's divine. Fresh, zesty, zingy.  It's only been on my mantelpiece for a brief time so I'm not uplifted and engergised yet me.

I like saying "zesty". And "pudding" or "puddin'" or just "pud". I've been using pudding words more than usual today in reference to last night's cobbler. Pudding is actually one of my favourite words. It's so warm and comforting, and kind of silly too.  

I have been listening to Norah Jones' two country music side projects for the last day or two after an online friend mentioned Norah was in an all-girl country band call Puss n Boots. And while looking up Puss n Boots I found she had another country band called The Little Willies (teehee). I really like both bands. I don't own any of Norah Jones' music though. I love the twangy stuff. 

Here's The Little Willies' cover of Diesel Smoke and Dangerous  Curves. 

Sunshine, Henry again, roasting

Twas a glorious spring day in Melburnia today

Luke and I enjoyed the Henry Wagons show at Hamer Hall yesterday. Henry's an engaging personality and loves a chat when he's on stage with the band, so it wasn't surprising that he was entertaining when doing more talking than rocking.  The Performance Enhancers series features musicians talking about their inspirations and influences, musical and otherwise. 

I had a good spot right in the centre of the third row, with no-one in the seats in front of me. I managed not to swoon.

Henry performed several songs, including one of my Wagons' favourites, Never Been to Spain, a cover of a song written by Hoyt Axton and performed by Elvis. "Fat Elvis" is one of Henry's musical inspirations - he even had fat Elvis as his special topic when he appeared on the music quiz show Rockwiz. 

Here's a stripped back live version with just Henry and his guitar, which is what we saw yesterday.

I've been listening to Wagons all afternoon while pottering around at home, with all the  windows open to let in the fresh spring air. There's couple of large windows in my living area, so I don't feel like I'm missing out by spending a sunny day inside. 

I have a lamb shoulder in the oven, with loads of vegies, garlic and rosemary. My flat smells like roasting garlic. Yummmmm. 

I love these symmetrical photos of underground railway stations. 

Deni, chilly, smelly, zingy

Foggy morning

Luke and I are off to Deniliquin, my hometown in southern New South Wales, tomorrow afternoon for a family get-together to celebrate my birthday. We'll be able to stay a day longer than our last visit in July last year, which means more time to spend with my mum and to take photos. I'm really looking forward to it. 

It's going to be really cold overnight while we're there - down to 0 degrees C one night and -2 the next. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I'm looking forward to wearing my super warm parka though. I haven't worn it at all this winter. The days are meant to be fine and sunny, and not too cold. Perfect. 

I'm still loving The Etymologicon. It's marvelous - it blows my mind a little bit on every page. Some of the origins of words and connections between words are just so bizarre, you couldn't make it up. I'll save up all the mind-blowing bits and regale you with them in one (probably very long)  post.  

I bought two bunches of jonquils on the way home last night - one yellow and one creamy white. When I opened my front door tonight, I was met with their heady aroma. It can be a little strong, but I like it. 

Speaking of nice smells, I gave my Docs a coat of beeswax leather conditioner tonight. I love the smell of that too. 

I had blood orange gelato for dessert tonight. It had a zing to it almost like sherbert. Yum. 

Lost and found

Last week I was sad because I lost one of my favourite necklaces. Boo. I put it in the front pocket of my handbag when I got changed to go to the gym and it must have come out without me noticing when I pulled out my keys or lipbalm. It wasn't expensive or a gift - I just really liked it. 

Today at lunchtime I thought I'd go to Myer's jewellery department on the remote chance that they were still stocking the necklace more than five months later. AND THEY WERE! I got it at a much lower price than I originally paid too. Double win. 

I saw a pair of ducks sleeping standing up on a fairly steep section of river bank on my way home tonight. I'm starting to think ducks can snooze anywhere.  

I have been using coconut oil/butter as a body moisturiser for the last few weeks. Every time I get a whiff of it I want to eat coconut ice. 

I love autumn (and ducks)

We're officially two days into winter and the weather has been delightful, with blue skies and sunshine. I made the most of it today by heading to the Fitzroy Gardens to take photos of the autumn colour. A lot of trees still have a lot of leaves left to lose. 

Heart-shaped leaves

Say it with leaves...the waterwall at the City Square 

Autumn not only looks good, it smells good. I like that earthy smell of leaves on damp ground.  Of course I had to kick up the leaves. 

If I can't see you, you can't see me

Dog joy, leather, ice

It's hard not to smile at the unrestrained joy of dogs at play. Tonight a little black dog playing in the park with its owner came running towards me so boisterously I laughed out loud. A few weeks ago I saw a little terrier spinning in circles on the spot with excitement as he waited impatiently for his owner to throw the ball to him. He was spinning around at such a dizzying speed I'm surprised he could run in a straight line.

I bought a new handbag made of beautifully supple leather a few weeks ago. The leather smells fantastic.

I've got a thing about Zooper Doopers at the moment, even when it's not hot.  (A Zooper Dooper is  flavoured ice in a tube). I like to leave them for a few minutes to get a bit melty before I eat them. I don't know why, it just makes them better.

Verbivorous

So. Canderflabble. For those of you who haven't asked Google, canderflabble is a made up word to describe a situation where some action obviously needs to be taken but no one is putting up their hand to volunteer. I'm sure we've all been there.

I like that there is a word for that and it's fun to say.

It's from the book FUNKtionary: a cheeky collection of contemporary words which a friend gave me recently. Some other favourites:

Accellervator: (n) a person who mistakenly believes that the elevator will respond faster if the button is pushed frequently and in a frenzied manner.

Ambipathy: (n) a state of inner conflict when you're both attracted to and repulsed by something.

BBQionist: (n) the person in charge of the barbecue.

Blurfle: (v) when you are caught talking very loudly at the moment the music at the bar stops.

Dumbsizing: (n) management decisions, such as banning chocolate biscuits at morning tea, which save minimal money but incur morale-damaging hostility among staff.

Eyerworks: (n) the little fireworks display you see when you close your eyes (especially when you squeeze them shut or press on your eyelids).

Happicle: the smallest unit of happiness, as icicle is to ice.

Mouse potato: (n) like a couch potato, only time is spent on the computer instead of the telly.

Obfuscake: (v) to talk indistinctly while eating (cake or other food).

Penciventilate: (v) the habit of blowing on your pencil after sharpening it to remove any stray scraps, to the (ahem) point that is more stylistic than functional.

Sheeple: (n) People who are very influenced by what other people think.

Timefable: (n) a short fictional work displayed in public showing an idealised program of arrivals and departures of public transport (aka timetable).

Verbivore: a person who studies or loves words.

Tomaaaahtoes

I bought some truss grown tomatoes at the supermarket tonight, the ones that are still attached to the vine. I just love the smell of tomato vines. It reminds me of when I was a kid and my brother and the neighbours kids would have tomato fights with the fruit we found growing wild behind our houses.

Cool

Aaaaah...After three days of hot and at times windy weather which appeared out of the blue, a cool change has just swept through, bringing a refreshing cool breeze and showers. What a relief!

The temperature dropped more than 10 degrees in a matter of minutes after being in the low 30s all day. It was 28 degrees C (82 F) when I left home this morning!

The smell of hot, wet bitumen is wafting in through my open windows. That, for me, is the essence of summer (although it's not quite summer yet). No sign of the thunderstorms that were forecast, but the night is young.

I can see some pleasing specimens of cumulonimbus out the window too.


The decluttering continues

My decluttering drive continued tonight. The local council is conducting its annual free hard rubbish collection tomorrow, so I've carted a bunch of stuff down three flights of stairs in the heat and dumped it on the nature strip. (The pile includes the hideous vase my ex gave me last Christmas!)

I had more stuff to get rid of than I realised and I'm happy to have cleared some space in my spare room, not least because someone might have to move in there.