NaBloPoMo: day 1

Today is 1 November, the first day of National Blog Posting Month. I've been pretty slack with posting the last couple of weeks (mostly due to an extreme lack of energy), so I'm going to use NaBloPoMo to help me push through the fatigue (as well doing stuff to help overcome the lethargy).

Today is also the last day of my five-day extra-long weekend. I had plans to make the most of the break, but I've ended up doing very little. I spent most of the weekend horizontal, often asleep but not always. Part of me feels I've wasted the whole five days, but mostly I don't feel bad about it because I needed to rest...and I think I feel better. 

I only have to work three days this week. I moved my day off this week from Friday to Monday, which meant I didn't need to use a day of annual leave, although I would have happily taken a day of leave and worked only two days if I didn't have to contend with monthly billing.  It will be a short week, but a busy one. 

I've been back on anti-depressants - the very small dose I was on before I weaned myself off them - and I feel so much better already. I'm much nicer to be around. If I have to stay on this low dose, then so be it. 

Earlier bird and extra long weekend (hopefully)

Prince's Bridge and Eureka Tower 

I walked to work for only the second or third time this year. I haven't been walking in the mornings because it's too hard to drag my weary body out of bed early enough, even though I don't have to get up much earlier to make time for the 40-minute walk. I got up at 7.50 this morning instead of 8.00...or 8.10 on some days...and I got to work a few minutes before 9.00. 

It was a pleasant morning for a stroll, and it was also a relief to avoid the trams, which never seem to run as often as they're meant to and which are full of people who have a tendency to annoy grumps like me.  

I hope I can repeat the feat of getting up 10 minutes earlier again tomorrow. 

It's a long weekend this weekend, with Labour Day on Monday. I think I have this Friday off as well. Wooh, four-day weekend for meeeee!  I don't have any plans to go away, just to potter at home doing stuff that's been on my to-do list for months and resting. 

Tiny banana

Day 1 of my long weekend

Look at that furry tail! LOOK. AT. IT

First day of my extended weekend and I did very little. I didn't leave the house at all (unless you count taking a few steps onto the fire escape to water my pitiful herb garden). 

I had a sleep in, did a few domestic things, pottered about on the internet, indulged my guilty pleasure (wedding shows), made and ate some cookie dough (eggless, Dina!) and that's about it. 

Oh, I achieved perfection in folding a fitting bedsheet. That was pretty thrilling. 

I'm looking forward to leaving the house tomorrow for my neurologist appointment in the city at 11.00am.

 

Fake Friday, sunshine and pavlova

Today was the last day of the working week for me. I now have four days off. Yay! I don't have any special plans; I'm just worn out and need a rest. I've had a pretty full-on year and haven't had a week off since Christmas. (I'm not taking a week now because I went into negative leave at Christmas and it's taken months for me to catch up.  I don't want to use too much of what leave I on resting at home.)

I probably will leave my bed/couch/house though. I have an appointment with a neurologist about my migraines, and dinner with the girls on Friday night. I might get a massage, maybe an eyebrow wax and tint. Thrilling stuff, I know.

Happily, the weather is on the improve from tomorrow, with sunshine and milder temperatures than we've had for the last month or two. Good timing, me! 

I've had delicious mini-pavlovas for dessert the last two nights. Makeshift pavlovas, anyway - pre-prepared meringue nests with whipped cream and berries, no cooking skills required. I did whip the cream though.  I have enough for the several more serves too. It's pavlovapalooza. 

I've worn different pairs of new shoes to work the past two days and have no blisters or tender spots.  

Gippsland glee - part I

So, our little getaway! We hit the road at about 9.00am on Friday and made our first stop for morning tea at Kilkunda, a small seaside town not far past the turn off to the tourist hotspot Phillip Island. 

We ate at an overpriced café ($10 for 2 small pieces of fruit toast!) overlooking the gloomy grey ocean, and then went for a wander to the beach...where I had an accidental paddle in the sea. I was bending over writing in the sand, thinking I was out of reach of the water, but no.  My sneakers, socks and the bottom of my cargo pants were saturated and sandy. Thankfully my pants dried quickly - I didn't have another pair - but I did have another pair of shoes. My socks spent the rest of the trip drying on the dashboard of the car. 

My soggy state didn't deter me from taking photos of the lovely old trestle bridge that runs parallel to the the shore. 

We stopped at Cape Paterson (ho-hum) before heading on to Shack Bay, a pretty little bay with a rock formation we thought looked like Australia rising out of - or sinking into - the ocean. It's called Eagle's Nest. A google search reveals we aren't the only people who see the resemblance to northern Australia. 

Tiny snake - about the size of a big worm - beside the 

steps down to the beach

Luke with big seaweed

Our next stop was our destination - Venus Bay. Before heading to our accommodation we did the rounds of the surf beaches, which are evocatively named Surf Beach 1, Surf Beach 2 and so on. It was very windy on the Bass Strait side of the narrow peninsula where Venus Bay is located, but a few hardy fisherman and paddlers braved the conditions. 

Beachgoers in the mist

We checked into our cabin and then headed to the nearby Tarwin Lower pub for dinner. We stopped on the way to take photos of the sun setting over the Tarwin River. 

 Cow waiting for its close-up while Luke takes sunset shots

We both had a huge T-bone steak for dinner at the pub which has one of those set ups where you get a ticket with a number for your order and they announce it over the PA when your order is ready.  We got a giggle out of the rather nasal voice of the announcer. "Nointy-noin. Your order is ready. Nointy-noin." 

Then it was a back to our cabin where we were lulled to sleep by the sound of the surf and the wind in the trees. 

Sharing the love

A friend who is visiting Melbourne in June (hello, Wendy!) asked me for tips on things to see and do here, apart from visiting the La Trobe reading room at the State Library. The dome is  already at the top of their to-do list so of course I like the cut of their jibs. I recommended a bunch of things I thought would appeal to people for whom the dome is a must-see. I could have gone on and on, but it was late and I had to go to bed.

It was really fun thinking about all the things I love about Melbourne that I think others would also enjoy.  Maybe I should become a tour guide? I would never* tire of traipsing around the city pointing out all the things that I love about it. Melbourne doesn't have Sydney's breathtaking natural beauty. It's very nice, but its true charms are less obvious. I'd get a real kick out of helping others discover what makes Melbourne great. (*OK, maybe it would be a bit tiresome on a wet winter's day.)

I now have four whole days off work. Wooh! Tomorrow I plan to sleep in and go to the gym and not much else. Then on Friday morning we're off to Venus Bay. The weather's actually going to be fairly decent too.

A woman at work I've never met before complimented me on my hair today. A few weeks ago a barrista asked me what brand of hair dye I use. I said I don't know because the hairdresser colours it, and she asked if I could ask next time I'm at the salon. It makes a nice change from people who look at me as if I have two heads!

The bright side of the dark

I'm not sorry summer's over, but I am a little sad about the end of daylight savings. Walking home in the dark isn't all bad though. The sun was setting as I crossed Prince's Bridge and once it got dark, the lights of the city and the traffic on Brunton Avenue reflected on the black water of the Yarra.  

After I took the photo above, a colony of bats flew over my head, silhouetted against the clouds, which were lit up by the city lights. (Incidentally, 'cloud' is another collective noun for bats.)

The end of daylight savings also means I get to see the city glowing during the late afternoon 'golden hour' from my office window. 

 

I'm having yet another long weekend soon. The Anzac Day public holiday is on Thursday 25 April, and I'm taking the Friday off as well. Luke and I are heading to the seaside town of Venus Bay on Friday and staying the night (Luke works Sundays). I've never been there before. I'm looking forward taking in some coastal vistas. 

I got an unexpected email from a woman I used to work with in my old old job (the one I left in 2010). We lost contact, but her email was a pleasant surprise. It made my day. 

Another long weekend, kinda fun, home grown

Look how leggy I am! 

And how tiny my head is!

I have another four-day weekend coming up. I was going to arrange to leave early next Tuesday for the Ghost Sign Hunter event, but then I realised Monday is a public holiday for Labour Day so I'm taking the whole day off. A four-day weekend and a three-day week. Wooh. 

I started a new program at the gym tonight. It wasn't quite as hard as I expected and it's even sort of fun. There's one exercise where I throw a ball at a wall and another one that's like climbing a rope, only I'm sitting down and the rope's on a loop.  I climbed 100 metres. 

I used some basil from our herb garden in my lunchtime salad today. 

A productive day

I've just collapsed on the couch after a very productive day, the last of my extra long weekend. *sad face*

Today I have: 

• been to the gym (walking there and back);
• watched the final three episodes of Pride and Prejudice. I liked it, but I remain immune to the supposed charms of Colin Firth. And I was very let down by the famous wet shirt scene women go ga-ga over. I even watched the scene on YouTube just to make sure the DVD hadn't been altered. And of course it was just the same. Is that it?!;
• made a batch of banana and oat muffins. I tweaked the recipe by using cow's milk instead of almond milk, blueberries instead of choc chips, and adding brown sugar, maple syrup and protein powder. Turns out I accidentally improvised by forgetting to put the eggs in too, but they turned out fine. A little rubbery perhaps, but tasty. The over-ripe bananas didn't go to waste;
• roasted pumpkin and cooked chicken for my lunches during the week. I'm still having chicken, roast pumpkin and beetroot salad for lunch. If I really like something, I can eat it every day for weeks - months even - without getting sick of it;
• stewed rhubarb;
• prepared my breakfast, lunch and snacks for tomorrow. This eating well business is quite labor intensive, but it's worth it; and
• completed assorted other boring domestic chores.

I'm quite tuckered out.

Short week, first run, gifts

On the way to work Tuesday: dark clouds in front of me, 

sunshine behind

Tomorrow is the last day of the working week for me before four days off. *happy dance*  I don't have anything special planned. Just stuff. Maybe crossing a few things off my Christmas holiday to-do list that didn't get done while I was on holidays. 

Tonight I went for my first run/walk around the Tan for the year.  It's the first time since I've been back at work that I've had the energy to even contemplate a run. I probably walked more than I ran - my lungs were willing, my legs less so - but that's better than sitting on the couch for an extra half an hour. And I do walk super fast. 

I forgot to mention that the calendar my online friend Erin sent from the US has arrived, along with an extra little present - a word nerd book called Who Put the Butter in Butterfly...and Other Fearless Investigations into Our Illogical Language. How very thoughtful! 

The calendar has very fetching photographs of Erin's home state of Oklahoma, including  lovely autumns scenes and picturesque waterfalls. (No, there are no pictures of corn as high as an elephant's eye...Sorry, I couldn't help myself) To my surprise, the calendar mentions Australia Day on January 26. Quite unexpected. 

It includes holidays of other countries too, such as Burns Night in Scotland, which is the day before Australia Day. Burns Night probably isn't as dangerous as it sounds. *googles*  Oh, it celebrates Scotland's "national poet" Robert Burns, who penned Auld Lang Syne. It's traditional to eat "haggis, tatties and neeps" (the latter being potatoes and turnips). 

According to some random site I clicked on, this is what happens on Burns Night: 

The haggis is carried into the room on a silver plate and a piper pipes the haggis into the room, while we are eating people recite and sing Rabbie's songs.

Haha...but also...WHILE WE ARE EATING PEOPLE!!! I thought it sounded dangerous. Punctuation matters!

Speaking of eating, we had black rice with dinner tonight for the first time. It's black until it starts to cook, and then it turns a really dark purple. The flavour is much the same as brown rice, but it's meant to be even more nutritious.  

Scorching, tennis, long weekend

Pretty clouds yesterday morning 

Yesterday was searingly hot - a top of 40 degrees C (104F) - but I still walked home. I'm grateful for shady trees and a Calippo for making the trek slightly more bearable.  

I'm off to the Australian Open tennis tomorrow. In the eight years I've lived walking distance from the stadium, I've never been to the tennis. I was much more of a tennis fan in my teen years than I am now, but I'm sure it will be a fun day out. If nothing else, it will be a new experience. (Thankfully, it will won't be anywhere near 40 degrees.)

I'm having an extra long weekend for Australia Day on 26 January. I've taken off the Friday as well, giving me four days off on a row. I can't wait. 

Hot chips are ace, but I especially like the really crispy ones that have probably been through a few fry ups before making it onto your plate. They're probably about 90% oil. They're bad, but they're good. 

Good timing, deliciousness, not Sunday

The clouds cleared and the sun came out just in time for the wedding Luke and I went to yesterday afternoon.  The ceremony took place outside, on a lawn right at the top of the dunes at Sorrento Back Beach.  Mother Nature could not have been more obliging. 

The service was followed by a cocktail style reception. The food included the Mother of All Fruit and Cheese Platters:

It was  HUGE, looked amazing and was loaded with deliciousness. You can't really see it in my photo, but the cheese was garnished with two green olives made to look like mice, with little ears and a tail.

I wore my red shoes and a dress I bought for under $50, which somehow manages to be figure-hugging and super flattering. I always feel good when I wear it. Luke looked very handsome in his grey suit.  

I had a massive sleep in today (not on purpose). It was early afternoon by the time I emerged, so we didn't end up going to the St Kilda Cemetery. Instead we went to Demitri's Feast, another Greek-influenced café, on Swan Street for brunch. We sat in the warm sun in the rear courtyard. I had honey oat crumble which was very tasty. It looked good too - those little pink bits are flower petals.

I keep thinking today is Sunday because I had Friday off work. But it's not. Yay!  

Long weekend, wedding, no plans

Today is the first day of my 5-day long weekend. I had a sleep in and then a big bowl of fruit salad and yogurt for brunch at Book Talk Cafe in Richmond with Luke.  

Booktalk sells Sesame Street plush toys. There was Mr Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch, complete with trashcan,  and our favourite, The Count. Ah ah ah aaaaaah. 

Luke and I are heading to Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula for a wedding later this afternoon. I'm going to wear my new(ish) red shoes. I might wear my Alannah Hill black satin coat, but I'm not sure it will be warm enough. The official start of summer is only a month away, but it's a rather wintry spring day today. 

Apart from  seeing Henry Wagons and The Unwelcome Company on Monday night, I have nothing else planned. Plans are good, but I love not having plans too, and making things up as a I go along.

Oh, we might visit the St Kilda Cemetery tomorrow. Coz that's what we like to do for fun. I didn't even know there was a cemetery in St Kilda until a few weeks ago when it came up on a google search.  To my amusement, someone had posted a review of the cemetery on Google+. They gave it an overall rating of "excellent" and they listed "the graves" as the highlight of their visit. 

Trivia highlights, long weekend, dotty

The Fairy Tree in the Fitzroy Gardens

I went to my old work's trivia night last night. It was fun and we were pleased with finishing in the middle of the field, considering we were four people short and had no sports-loving men or brainiac lawyers on our team. Another team (all lawyers) from the department I used to work for was triumphant after many years of finishing second or third. 

Some highlights: 

* Q. Where does Paddington Bear come from? Of course, most of my team said 'England', except for Lauren, who was adamant he was from Peru. Say what? Surely that was the wine talking? She said this question came up in quiz on a Contiki tour she did once and she'd remembered it because it was so unexpected. She was insistent, so we wrote 'Peru' on our answer sheet. A. Peru!  Or Deepest darkest Peru, to be precise. Like Lauren, I don't think any of us will forget that any time soon! 

* Q. Which German physicist came up with the idea of putting mercury in thermometers? We were drawing a blank, then I took an educated guess and suggested Fahrenheit. It's  German, it's related to temperature. And yay! It was right. 

* I also took a stab at naming the monk who perfected cuvée in relation to making champagne. I don't know much anything about wine, but for some reason I remembered  'Dom' was a monkish word and also related to booze (eg the liqueur Dom Benedictine), so I suggested Dom Perignon. Also correct. 

It was nice to catch up with my old work buddies and also to tell the HR manager how much I loved my new job! 

Weeeeeekend!

Monday is a public holiday in Victoria so I have a three-day weekend coming up. I don't have anything special planned, but I do have a to-do list. I've already done a bunch of domestic chores tonight to free up more time on the weekend for fun - crafty stuff,  maybe a yoga class at the gym (if I can drag myself out of bed early enough), perhaps a photo excursion.

Sleep talker

Last night in his sleep, Luke told me I look good in polka dots. I did wear a spotty skirt yesterday.

Long weekend, parka weather, bird watching

Yay! My extra-long weekend is here! Luke and I are planning a day trip to Mt Macedon and Hanging Rock tomorrow, where the top temperature is only going to be around 9 degrees. Brrrr! But you know what this means? My puffy parka will get its first outing for the year. it should be a mostly fine day so I'm looking forward to giving my new camera a work out too.

On my walk this morning I saw a magpie toying with a wriggly worm (aka breakfast) it had pulled out of the ground. Tonight I spied a Nankeen Night Heron standing as still as a statue in the reeds on the river's edge. They are an odd looking bird.

Have I mentioned how much I love my warm flat? No? I love it a lot. It's so nice getting up to a warm flat and coming home to a warm flat. (It's an old building and we have no control over the heating. It seems to be on all the time, which I know isn't environmentally friendly, but what can I do? I do what I can for the environment on other ways).

Sunshine, rolling, long weekend

 

Another gorgeous winter's day in Melbourne. My walk into the city this afternoon to go to the gym (again!) was very pleasant. The autumn leaves are still falling. I saw sleepy ducks and children rolling down the big hill at Birrarung Marr.

  

I have asked to take this Friday off work, which would give me a four-day long weekend (and two four-day working weeks). Can't wait. It's too hard to go away (even overnight) while I'm on this allergy elimination diet, but a day trip or two is on the cards.

I've been on the diet for two weeks now and I'm finally making some good progress. Yay! At last!

Men of Letters, crepes, music binge

Today I went to the inaugural Men of Letters, an event at which a very impressive line up of Australian creative types including Bob Ellis, Paul Kelly, Eddie Perfect and Tim Rogers, read out letters they had penned to women who changed their lives. 

It was a perfect mix of humourous, heartfelt and  poetic letters, and also a few songs. All this as well as yummy mini cupcakes served to our table by co-curator Marieke Hardy in the fabulous Thornbury Theatre.

Crepey

My friend Luke and I had brunch before the show at a nearby cafe - I had a delicious crepe filled with summer fruit and topped with honey and yogurt. Who knew brunch could be so tasty without any bacon in it?

My music binge continues

I've been downloading heaps of music lately. My latest 'discovery', thanks to the iTunes 'listeners also bought' feature, is Fabienne Delsol, a Frenchwoman  living in England, who sings catchy retro ye-ye style pop songs - some in French, some in English, and several covers of Serge Gainsbourg songs from the 60s like this one: Vilaine fille, Mauvais garçon (Naughty Girls and Bad Boys).  

Coincidentally, Fabienne Desol is signed to the same label as Holly Golightly and Ludella Black whose albums I've also bought in the past few months, but I came across Fabienne when I was downloading a song by Lisa Mitchell. It's like the internet knows me.

I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO WORK TOMORROW!  I haven't really planned anything except going to see Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones with a friend tomorrow night.  I want to finally complete my self-guided Walking Melbourne tour either tomorrow or Tuesday too (what horse race?).

Another offer and long weekend

What the? Someone's given him shoes but he has no feet...

Today I was offered a job in a different department of the firm I've been temping at for the past three months. When I told the HR adviser I'd accepted a position elsewhere, she was obviously disappointed. She said the solictors in the new department (whom I'd met with yesterday) were "excited" at the prospect of having me join the team. Aw. It feels a bit like when a date wants to see you again, but you don't feel the same. I like you, but...

I declined. The HR people hinted at offering more money to persuade me to stay with the firm. It's a great confidence boost to know they are keen to keep me, but my mind is made up. They said they'd be happy to have me back if my new job doesn't work out and, although I hope it does, I'm glad I'm leaving on such good terms.

I found out today my new job doesn't start until Wednesday because of the Melbourne Cup public holiday on Tuesday. Hurrah! A four day weekend for me!

Long weekend, new music

Hot air balloons near home Wednesday morning. Getting up early isn't all bad.

Yay! It's Friday. Even better, it's a long weekend and I have fun stuff planned. Another date - this time to the Moonlight Cinema in the Botanic Gardens to see Fantastic Mr Fox - a cemetery trip with my camera (yes, fun!), probably a visit to Moomba, sleep ins, and to top it all off, I have the flat to myself all weekend. Sweet.

I have in my hot little hand five new CDs which were burnt for me by a friend. It's stuff that's new to me anyway - Dex Romweber Duo and his earlier band, Flat Duo Jets. Currently listening to the former and its bloody great. I love discovering new music and just the very thought that there is a whole world of amazing music out there just waiting for you to listen to it.

Here's a video of the Dex Romweber Duo: