The Daily Blog experiment – hello winter

Yesterday was a top of 20 degrees Celsius. Today, it was 14, and even cooler up in the Hills. MidWife and I had lunch at Miss Marples’ Tea Rooms in Sassafras.

I don’t know why people rave about the Devonshire tea. Because I have never had a good scone out of that place. The gluten ones are cut and have the consistency of a cake slice. The gluten free one I had today fell apart, was coated in flour, and tasted like flour all the way through. Dry as buggery too. Urk. Oceans of butter might have saved it, but all I had was good raspberry jam. I gave the scone up as a bad job, and contented myself with the pumpkin soup, which was excellent.

It was very obviously a tourist bus day. Every company tells their mob to eat at Miss Marples, which they dutifully do, then run around a Sassafras in the 90-120 minutes given to them to find the epitome of a Sassafras souvenir. Will it be raspberry jam? A tea cup from Tea Leaves? Woollens? A plush flying possum? whatever it is, it must be packed and if a size to go on the bus.

We trooped in and out of every shop, skittering between rain showers, and increasing cold. Fog lingered in the folds of the hills.

I can’t wear wool, but I do like stroking it, so I searched for skeins to buy and knit with over the winter. I didn’t see any. I suspect I’ll have to head to Healesville for that.

I got back into my car around 2.30pm, and drove slowly down the mountain, heater on, and Joan Anderson’s A YEAR BY THE SEA chattering quietly.

A happy, if chilly, day.

The Daily Blog experiment – perfect morning

To be honest, the morning can’t get much better.

It’s warm enough to do without socks.

I’m in comfy leggings, a favourite tshirt, and no bra.

It’s Sunday morning.

My grandkids are having a lazy morning gaming, or playing on iPads.

The house is quiet.

It’s pouring rain.

There’s the smell of Holy Smoke incense faintly from where I have it burning outside under the verandah.

My iPad is fully charged.

I have a cup of chai.

My hair is now long enough to pull back into a ponytail off the nape of my neck.

The light is soft, if a little gloomy.

I have just started a new book.

Perfect

The Daily Blog experiment – Australia Zoo

Even though it wasn’t on my bucket list, I ticked off a bucket list item, yesterday. (And yes, I know it’s not a daily blog if it’s not daily, but I’m with my grandkids, so shut up). Australia Zoo.

ThirtiesGirl and her family have been Queenslanders for five years. While I secretly hope they will come to their senses and move back to Victoria so I can get weekly grandkids doses, I know they love the Sunshine Coast lifestyle. I have to say, it’s enticing. Warmer weather, slower life. I’d have moved already if it wasn’t for my parenting-caring-guardian responsibilities with ThirtiesPerson. Who DOES NOT WANT TO MOVE NORTH, THANKS.

Here are: PizzaBoy, myself, Miss J, Logie B, and Super C.

We hit the ground running with an early soccer game for Logie B, then off to the zoo.

Cheetahs, tigers, and lemurs, oh my!

I haven’t been to any zoo in years, so it was good to get amongst wild animals again, and see some up close that I’d never seen before. The lemurs are just as cute as you think they are. Those long fluffy tails – why can I not have one of my own. And if you’ve ever thought something similar, go read ‘The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party’ by Robert Silverberg. I don’t care how that story turns out, I still want a lemur tail of my own.

As you can see, it rained. Welcome to northern Australia and monsoon season. It was still warm, but the lemurs and many other animals were moving towards their heated shelters. And yet, we humans were waking around, buying up cheap plastic ponchos. (@Australia Zoo, how do you justify the plastic ponchos when you’re all about reducing plastic use in the world, especially one-use plastic?)

The giraffes, zebras, and rhinos live together in a large communal enclosure. This giraffe seemed to be going out of his way to bug this zebra, continually breathing on, nibbling, licking and nudging. I guess your older brother can be from another species, and you can bug him like the brat you are.

The croc show in the Crocoseum was headed up by Bindi Irwin’s husband, and two young women. This pale croc is called Casper, and ‘always brings 110%’. Must’ve been a slow day, because he shlumped around. Then again, this show must be a bit like a sushi train. If you don’t fancy the rats and chickens today, meh, because you’ll have another opportunity in a few days.

Even so, I cheered and yelled ‘Crikey!’ with the best of them.

Super C and I kept commenting on the ‘excellent bin chicken show’, whenever some wild ibis landed and poked around. “This is what I flew north to see,” I told him.

“I moved here for this!” he replied.

And I don’t care what species these snakes actually are. Miss J and I called them the Stacks On snakes.

By the end of the day, we were all chilly, and worn out, so home to dry couches, soft blankets, and down time on iPads.

I’m really happy to have had this day with my family, and to have made some new memories.

The Daily Blog: home almost alone

My husband is interstate, visiting our daughter and her family. I’m home with TwentiesPerson, who lurks about upstairs mostly, and comes downstairs occasionally to burp at me, or fetch food. I’m not used to PizzaBoy being away. It’s usually me away, and him home holding the fort. However, this isn’t a fair deal, so I made him to visit.

Which means extra chores for me, but nothing dramatic. Feeding the animals, and walking the dog. And now that the dishwasher’s empty, it probably won’t get full again for a couple of days. So I can pretty much please myself how I spend my time.

I decided to declutter my personal development books. I kid myself that I’ll just have a quick flip through unread books, but I never do. I end up speed-reading one book at a time, having a brief flirtation with ‘this is the method that fixes everything’, until I wake up to myself that nothing outside of me is going to change my habits. I’m reading AWAKENED WOMAN by Dr Tererai Trent. I bought it, along with other books, from kikki.k. Oh, it’s a tempting store, full of ‘this will solve your life beautifully’ file systems, calendars, pens, pencils, planners, notebooks, and stickers. It’s heaven, and all in Scandi minimalist design. But honestly, I ain’t gonna go bury my dreams in a tin can in the back yard, and tend to it like an altar. I no longer have an all-encompassing mission, drive, or desire.

Interestingly, with PizzaBoy away, I can think more clearly. Usually, it takes 3 days of me on holiday in Byron Bay to wind down enough to start seeing clearly sections of my life. Today, I didn’t need a single Post-It note, and ambled my way through my day, with plenty of time and room for anything I might want to do. The only thing missing is chocolate. I know, I know, my naturopath has taken me off chocolate for a while, to see if one of my antibody levels come down, one that’s known to be affected by theobromine. I’m succeeding about 2/3 of the week. Yesterday, I not only had caffeine, but chocolate as well, and didn’t sleep well. So, today, neither.

It’s raining solidly for the first time in weeks, thank the gods. The sound of it is lovely, and I hope it’s still raining when I go to bed tonight. If I can tear myself way from the audio book of THE DOOMSDAY BOOK by Connie Willis (5th reread, and 1st listen) for long enough, I might be able to hear it.

4pm – time to feed the ravening hordes.

Bushfire lament

Today the Dandenong Ranges are visible. A cold front whirled in from the south, and we have clear air, mild grey clouds, and over in the east, there are the blue chunks of the Dandenongs. We are no longer blanketed in bushfire smoke. Yet, I know we are fortunate damp little pocket of Australia. Large swathes are still burning, and the words of a guide walking me around Canberra’s Arboretum last year ring in my ears: “Fire learns. It learns at what temperature to burn through a certain stand of trees to sustain itself.”

Fire learns.

As a pagan and witch, I believe the elements are sentient. So I am not surprised that fire can learn how to sustain and grow itself. It’s a frightening thought as Australia becomes a climate catastrophe.

Today, my air is clear and cool. It’s been raining My cats slept on my bed last night, and it was cold enough for my to put my comforting weighted blanket back on the bed. My nervous system, prickled to jumpiness by the roar of the word ‘fire’ wherever I turned, calmed, and I could sleep.

Today, I can see the Dandenongs, which are not alight.

Today at least, I can see the Dandenongs.

Spring Rain, and The Colours of the World

The Australian landscape can seem pretty pale in full sunlight. the trees are somewhere between green, blue, and grey. While the Aussie outback is brilliant orange and red, with deep ochres, and browns, the soil around here is grey, and if I dig down a couple of feet, clayish, which means a yellowy brown colour.

At sunset, the vibrant greens of the trees and plants come out, and again, during and just after rain. This morning, I walked during light rain, and the world was alive with scores of differing greens, and huge rain drops puddled onto leaves. Bedraggled magpies were on fences and pecking the ground, shaking off water, and their feathers were clumped together.

My rose bushes were so bright they were glowing against the dark grey of the wet wooden fence.

Now, a few hours later, the sun is out, and the colours are hiding again. My roses are no longer separate colours of yellow, pale pink, and apricot, but appear a bleached off -white. the trees have their disguise of blue-green-grey back on. Nearby brick houses have tucked their petticoats of deep red back under the weathered brown of their tiled roofs. The dark grey of clouds has given way to higher, whiter patchy clouds, and pale blue sky.

The air smells fresh and cool, even with humidity on the rise.

I might have time for a little dig in the garden before I do some reading, and rest up for tonight’s Argentine Tango class.

The world is magically made over, with the application of water, which reminds me that I should have some, too. gulp gulp