A day out in the hills

I was feeling glum and sooky today, so my friend Julian whisked me away to the Dandenongs for some fresh air, exercise and lunch. Isn't he ace?

It's so pretty up there - almost like stepping into a fairytale - especially at this time of year with autumn colours on display. We bought some lollies at the lolly shop in Sassafrass and then ate lunch at Pie in the Sky before heading to the top of Mt Dandenong to enjoy the (rainy) view. It was bloody cold up there! I remembered to bring my fat puffy parka with me - and was looking forward to wearing it - but I foolishly thought I'd be OK without it when I got out of the car. Wrong! It was below 10 degrees C. Very wintry indeed.

My lime spider

We warmed our hands on a hot chocolate, had a look at the very well sign-posted Secret Garden and then drove to Silvan Reservoir as the late afternoon sun slanted through the trees and lit up the greenery with a golden glow. But when we got to the dam, it wasn't open. Dang. We did contemplate clambering over the gates, but the possibility of getting caught stopped us.

We consoled ourselves with a walk in the damp, drippy forest. It was nice - dark red soil, glistening leaves, fungus sprouting in the undergrowth, mossy rocks and lichen covered tree trunks, and a quite pleasant earthy smell.

Demented koalas at the Skyhigh giftshop

Tonight Julian and I met Anna at Hu Tong in Prahran for a feed of dumplings. Yum.

When I got home I had a present in the mail from one of my blog readers, Margaret. A cute little Kimmidoll canvas pouch for me to take on my trip. How lovely is that? I've 'met' so many wonderful, kind and caring people on the interwebs. It makes me warm and fuzzy inside.

Tuesday night I got a message from my former osteo on Facebook that made me happy but teary (not hard at the moment). I'm glad we've stayed in touch.

PS 8 days until I leave for NYC!  

A tough day turns out well

A quick stop at the Williamstown waterfront before the funeral

It was my Dad's funeral today and I amazed myself by delivering a speech and doing it pretty well. I never imagined that I had it in me not only to speak in front of so many people, but to speak publicly at such an emotional time.

I haven't done any public speaking since....well, probably since Year 12, and I'm not an outgoing type who loves being centre stage. But I did it! I even ad libbed a bit.

It was weird how calm I was leading up to it. I thought I would be wobbly-legged and all a-tremble, but I wasn't. I was determined to do it for my Dad and I did.

I felt elated after it was over - a combination of relief that it was out of the way and immense pride at doing it as well as I did. It's wonderful to discover strength you never knew you had.

And to have everyone tell me how well I did, that they were proud of me and that my Dad would be proud was the cherry on top.  

It's been a sad day, but also a good day. Laughter through tears.

Homemade

I made gluten-free pasties today. I was delighted to discover gluten-free pastry in the freezer section at the supermarket. Although it was very expensive, I thought I'd give it a go, just for something different.

I made low-allergy lamb and vegetable pasties - no recipe, just making it up as  I went along, which is how I do most of my allergy cooking. The filling was nice, but I overcooked them a little and made the pastry a bit chewy. Oh well. I'll know better next time.

It was nice to finally cook a meal at home at least.

Hmmmm...

OK, I'm cheating a little by back-posting this...but I was sick Sunday and slept almost all day. It's hard to find anything gleeful about the day, so I'll just say, mmmm...porridge. Porridge and tea. Very comforting.

And yay for painkillers.

Cuddles, secret smiles and pudding

I did get me some cuddles today. As I mentioned yesterday, I went to visit my friends and my two quasi nephews, who are three and seven months. Both are adorable. I'm quite besotted with them.

Master 3 was a bit rambunctious in the evening after not sleeping in the afternoon, prompting his parents to have stern words with him at the dinner table. I looked at him and gave him a little secret smile, and he gave me a little secret smile in return. 

He let me take home two of his kinder art creations for my fridge - a fish and a jelly fish.

My friends cooked me my favourite corned beef, mashed potato and vegies for dinner, with self-saucing chocolate pudding for dessert. Yum. We used to eat chocolate pudding often when I was a kid, so it was the perfect comfort food. It felt great to be looked after.

I got home late and cold, had a very hot bath, put clean pyjamas on and now I'm ready for bed. I'm not setting my alarm. Sweet.

Free time, expecting cuddles and yum

It's Friday night and I'm enjoying having it to myself for the first time in about a month. Even if I'm just sitting at home on my 'puter listening to The White Stripes and eating crackers and dip.

I'm looking forward to visiting my friends and their two little boys tomorrow - my quasi nephews, one of whom is the three year old with Spiderman on speed dial. Hopefully I'll get a cuddle.

I know I'm definitely getting corned beef for dinner. Yum. My favourite. It'll be the first decent home cooked meal I've had in quite some time (I haven't been looking after myself very well, even when I've had the chance...). They're very good to me.

Speaking of anticipation....THIS TIME IN TWO WEEKS I'LL BE EN ROUTE TO NEW YORK!!!

I discovered some old White Stripes songs on YouTube today that I'd never heard. Sweet.

Watching over me?

Tonight while I was sitting at Grill'd on Degraves Street waiting for my burger to arrive, one of my Dad's old favourite songs came on the stereo - Judy in Disguise by John Fred and His Playboys. I couldn't believe it.

I have seriously never heard this song played by anyone anywhere else in all my 37 years, except for when my Dad played it (and now when it comes on my iPod). I got a bit teary, but it was nice.

It was a number one hit in 1968 when my Dad was 18. He and my mum used to hoon around in his Mini Cooper S (with giant daisies on the doors) with Judy in Disguise blaring.

This is the song: