Holiday Hangover

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Posted on November 30, 2014

It is now 10 weeks since we arrived back from our overseas holiday and no matter how hard I try, I just can’t seem to get properly back into the swing of blogging. With less than 4 weeks until Christmas, I suspect that it is going to be next year before I get things really back on track.

Apart from trying to get things done at home, I am finding that I am particularly busy at work. I constantly feel as though I am trying to catch my tail as there has been quite a backlog from while I was away. I have almost got that under control and now am trying to fit in a couple of additional projects which I will be working on next year.

Yesterday we attended our Christmas drinks celebration with all of our neighbours. The road we live in is about 3km in length with only about 26 houses scattered along its length. Some of the residents are permanent and others homes are weekenders so we see some of our neighbours very infrequently. The annual get-together is a fun evening and everyone brings theirs drinks and a plate of food to share. I took a bowl of Pumpkin & Feta Balls and some homemade tomato sauce for dipping. The recipe I used is here. I adapted it slightly as I used standard feta, chilli powder (1 teaspoon) and 1 teaspoon of powdered coriander. I rolled them into small balls rather than as fritters.

Today I picked 2 large bowls of cherry tomatoes. These grown wild in our garden – sometimes in rather inconvenient places. Here are some of them. I remove the stalks, discard any with blemishes, rinse them and then freeze them whole in recycled bread bags. I now have about 6 kgs in the freezer.

I am off to Sydney this week for 3 days for work but more about that next time.

Open Your Eyes

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Posted on November 4, 2014

Today I was reminded of how often we really do not take notice of what is going on around us. I read this post by Zoë Boccabella. I had never heard of Little Free Libraries but worst of all this one is actually located in the closest small town to where I live. Why is that bad? I go to town usually once each week and I have seen the Little Free Library and know exactly where it is but I had never bothered to investigate what it was or its purpose. Now I have found out, thanks to a blog by someone who does not even live here.

Little Free Library also has a Facebook page if you are interested.

Thanks, Zoë, for opening my eyes.

Why Blog?

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Posted on October 31, 2014

It is not that many years ago that most of us had never heard of a blog, let alone read one, or heaven forbid, actual written a blog post. Some days now, it seems as though everyone is writing. All of this got me to thinking about what made me start and why I continue to blog.

My blog is not an advertising vehicle. It is not a money-making exercise.

My blog is a diary. I am able to share my thoughts and ideas on a wide range of topics. It allows me to connect with others who share similar values and interests. It is me. Pure and simple.

Shiny Shoes

Behind the Scenes

Sorting the Photos & Myself

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Posted on September 26, 2014

Some of you will remember this blog post from last year when I shared the awful realisation that I had deleted all the photos from my blog posts. While I have put that experience behind me and moved on, I am aware that many of the older blog posts really do not make a lot of sense without the photos.

I am forever trying to sort out all of my digital photos and naturally my recent focus has been on getting all of the ones we took during our holiday into order. However, I have been looking at many of the others and have found that most (if not all) of the ones that I deleted are still in various folders. It will be a huge job but I am going to attempt to reinstate them in the relevant blog posts.

As with any big project it is best to do a little bit at a time so I have set myself the goal of fixing at least one blog post every day. There will be no particular sequence but one day it will all be fixed, I hope.

It is now almost a week since we arrived home from overseas and I have worked 4 full days and am exhausted. I am definitely looking forward to the weekend and the family coming to visit tomorrow. We are looking forward to showing them the photos and giving them the small gifts we bought.

Carpet Cleaning

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Posted on July 28, 2014

We have carpet in the three bedrooms and I generally keep it clean by vacuuming regularly and a sprinkle of bicarb soda on any grubby marks. However, I get it cleaned every 2 – 3 years and today was the day.

We removed everything from the 3 rooms apart from the cast-iron bed frame in the main bedroom. The other rooms are completely bare.

Moving everything out of 3 rooms makes you realise how much stuff you have. Here is some of it stacked in the study.

The two chests of drawers fitted in the hallway just past the bedroom.

The mattress and base were in the bathroom and more stuff in the living room as well. Smaller items found temporary homes in the wardrobes.

It was a sunny day and I took the opportunity to wash and air all of the bedding.

The carpet is still a bit damp underfoot so we have re-assembled and made our bed and plugged in the alarm clock but other than that the rest of the furniture and effects will not be returned to their rightful homes until tomorrow evening.

I have cleaned all of the louvres in the living room (79 of them) and The Duke washed down the outside of the house and cleaned all of the outdoor furniture.

Blog posts may be a bit hit and miss for the next couple of weeks as we are really busy. In between full-time work, preparations for our overseas trip in 11 days ( who’s counting?), a milestone birthday celebration for The Duke, guests arriving on Thursday and preparing the house for the housesitters who will be here while we are away there is not a lot of time for blogging.

What’s happening at your place?

Spreading the Love

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Posted on July 17, 2014

If I am speaking to someone about a particular topic, I often find myself referring to something I have written on my blog. Then comes the inevitable question – what is the blog address? I then find myself scrabbling in my bag or surroundings for a pen and paper.

Even though it is purely a personal pursuit, I have often thought about creating a ‘business card’ for my blog. I finally designed one a few weeks ago and here it is.

The quality of the photographs is rather poor but I can assure you that they look great in real life. The web address for the blog and a contact email are on the front of the card while the reverse contains a brief description and a quote.

I ordered them online through Vistaprint. 500 cards cost me a little over $50.00, including postage.

Hello Again

Simple Pleasures

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Posted on June 18, 2014

I have been absent a bit recently for no reason other than the fact that I have a life to live as well as a blog to write. I am busy at work and it is a little over 7 weeks until our overseas trip and the days are filling up fast with appointments as diverse as dentist, retirement seminar, work conference, tax accountant, haircut and so on.

I am able to work away from the office some of the time and yesterday was one of those days. After spending the best part of the day at my desk, I ventured outside in the mid-afternoon. This is the peak season for the citrus that thrive in our climate.

The netted tree in the foreground is the mandarin. The birds do not touch the oranges, lemons or grapefruit but they love the mandarins. It may be because of the thinner skin but the scrub turkeys would take them all if it were not for the protection that the netting offers.