1) I rode my new bike to and from work today. It felt great 🙂 I will have to take a photo of my bike to share – it is very very very pretty 😀
2) I saw a line of furry caterpillars crossing the road today. The line stretched for a good 3m! Each caterpillar was about 8cm long. Sadly, the lesson here is that little furry caterpillars shouldn’t cross the road at 0720 if they don’t have a death wish. I don’t think that many survived the trip across the road.
3) I was stuck in the lift at work today for 45mins. That is now something I can cross the list of things I didn’t really want to experience but now can say I have experienced it. I was bringing a candidate back up to Medical and the poor kid freaked out a little bit. He was not all impressed about been stuck. I guess I would have been too if it was my enlistment day and I was stuck in the lift with an ever increasing ETA as to when the tech would be there.
4) I took this photo walking home from the bike shop on Saturday arvo. It makes me laugh.
5) So I don’t forget before ANZAC Day on Saturday, I polished my SES boots tonight after training. I have one question, how on earth do you use black shoe polish and not get it over yourself?
(secret track)
#6 I first heard about /saw Rodrigo y Gabriela a few years ago. I thought yeah some pretty sweet as guitar playing. I got home tonight to find the guys watching the Live in Japan DVD and cripeamole. That is so impressive. I almost started dancing in the living room (in my SES gear…)
Well I am well and truly back from Melbourne, though I would move there in a heart beat and a half if offered the chance. I figure I got about 80% of the things I wanted to do in Melbourne done and I managed to get about half the things on my pre-planned shopping list.
Lesson #1, Qantas time and Helen time are not calibrated. I was supposedly 1 minute too late to drop my bag for my flight. I had already checked in online the day before but had to queue for the bag drop. I was in the bag drop line for about 4 minutes. The lady at the counter said they had put an announcement over the loudspeaker for people to come out of the line. I just shook my head and if I hadn’t been so tired I would have argued it because there was no announcement. She also tried to tell me that I had to have my backpack in a bag before it could be dropped. WTF? Never heard that before – you just buckle all the straps up and it is fine. Though I must admit I heard her a little later telling another passenger that the wooden box they were checking in as luggage had to be in a bag. WTF? I didn’t queue in her line the next time. Back to the story. $44 later I was on the next flight to Melbourne – it left Brisbane at 0655 instead of the 0555 I had been booked on. Still I was ahead because the Qantas fare was still cheaper than Virgin or Jetstar and they would have made me pay the entire fare again to get on the next flight.
When I went back to check in and drop my bag for the next flight, I joined a different queue and the man at the counter had no problems with my backpack just as long as I buckled the straps up. Silly lady.
Lesson #2, do not make eye contact with the person with the explosive trace wand, because she will target you and wave the magic wand over you.
Lesson #3, Helen ♥s Melbourne.
I picked up the May issue of Real Living at the airport, so that with The Australian and The Courier Mail courtesy of Qantas were my reading material for the flight. I ♥ Real Living. I had a really pleasant flight down. The breakfast was good and one of the flight attendants, commented on my ear-rings which was nice, I returned the comment by saying I would love to be able to style my hair in the way she had done it.
Some photos from the flight.
This is the view as we flew over the Murray, I love the patchwork.
I landed in Melbourne to drizzly rain and grey skies. ugg not the Melbourne I wanted. Still this is the city of “four seasons in one day” by the arvo it would be blue skies. I again stayed at Greenhouse Backpackers. I can not recommend them enough. $30/night, free breakfast if you are up early enough and in such a fantastic location. On Flinders Ln between Swanston St and Degraves St and it has a rooftop 🙂 It is great. Once I had unpacked my bags and grabbed a bed. I was off to explore.
I started on the corner of Flinders and Swanston and walked down to Spencer, back up Flinders Lane to Swanston, down Collins etc in a similar manner till I reached the corner of Little Lonsdale and Swanston. Oh the sights I saw and the sights I didn’t see.
Flinders Lane was great and I must say I loved living above it. The Aesop store has the most incredible fit out, the entire shelving system is made from cardboard. Didn’t go in but I loved what I saw. There was another shop just down from the Greenhouse entrance that had the most gorgeous emerald green wool shift dress in the window. If I was a size 10 and lived in Melbourne I would have stolen it from the window. Had a browse in Polyester Records but didn’t find anything that tickled my musical fancy. Had lunch at Le Petit Gâteau but that will be another post. Really enjoyed walking round the court district, lots of nice buildings and nice looking people.
Saw some lovely bicycles, one great thing about Melbourne is that because it is so flat it is very cycle friendly. I was suprised to see many ladies in full office wear, cycling home after work in high heels and all. I guess you don’t really work up a sweat cycling home in the cooler Melbourne weather.
Had a fantastic time on Little Bourke between Elizabeth and Queen. Wilkins and Kent was a fantastic shop, I picked up a cute little wooden tree brooch from States of Nature, a lavender heat pillow from Tonic Australia and placed a Jo Luping tile on hold that I would pick up from the Fitzroy store the next day. If you go to this article at Lost My Way and scroll down to the Jo Luping section, I got the tree tile that is in the middle. I love it! I had a little look in Paddy Pallin and tried on a great pair of shoes but the size 9 was too tight, tried on the size 10 in a similar style as they didn’t have the size 10 in the style I wanted. The good news was that the Fortitude Valley store had a size 10. Called Pabbi and he went in the next day and picked up a pair for me. Score!!! These are the new shoes, that were waiting on my bed when I got home from Melbourne. They are made by Simple (a shoe company that I just adore) and they can be found on Zappos here
Went to Metropolis Books and oh my I l ♥ that shop. I love how much space they were – it was great not having a really cramped bookshop. I picked up the Sublime Stitching Pad which I had been looking at for a while and a book called It’s So You, edited by Michelle Tea, writings from thirty-five women about personal expression through fashion and style. It looks like it will be a really great read. The lady behind the counter said she had loved it, so should be good.
I also stopped by Made in Japan where I picked up three very lovely ceramic pieces. I got the 18cm open shape bowl and 25cm large shallow bowl in Embossed Asanoha, they looked lovely nested together. I also got the 25cm large shallow bowl in Blue Blossom.
Mmm what else did I do? I walked and I walked some more and took photos! Took some street art photos for Karl
Another thing I ♥ about the Melbourne CBD is all the rooftop spaces with gardens on them etc as well as all the balcony/window sill gardens.
This photo made me laugh
I loved the grid of the tram lines against the blue sky and the number 39.
A little lane way off Little Bourke
This photo reminded me of a show called Loot I once saw on the ABC.
Something a little arty.
The Myer windows in the Bourke St Mall, had costumes and props from Australia. I loved this outfit in the movie.
dead umbrella, no longer needed, the sun is out.
and I leave you with one last photo. You would want to hope that this building never changes street numbers 😀
I retired back to the hostel with a bag full of goodies and a very tired Helen.
Well in about ohhh four minutes, I will be walking out the door and heading to the airport to catch a plane to Melbourne!!!! I am currently eating a quick breakfast and then I’m off. I stayed at my parents last night and Pabbi is about to take me to the airport. I am soo excited. Excited to be having a real mini holiday away from work. The last few months have just been hectic. I have a big list (ie 12+ pages) of things I want to check out, places I want to go etc etc. I haven’t got my Rudd money yet, but that is what I am going to be using this week!
I’m back Sunday night as I have to work on Monday morning.
A few pictures from last time I went. I am not taking my 12-24mm this time, just my 16-35, the 50mm and the 135mm. See you on the other side 🙂
We went to The Farm (as we do) yesterday and I had a glorious time basking in the sun, taking photos and reading. Matthew cooked a veal roast, which was quite a treat. Grandad has two pecan nut trees planted in the lawn and currently they are in season so to speak. Each week I methodically work the lawn picking up the nuts. Yesterday I made a heart with what I had collected.
Whilst I was collecting the pecans though I got a little side tracked though taking photos. These are the photos I took.
This is the Fried Egg tree otherwise known as Gordonia. It is named as such because when the flowers fall to the ground they look like eggs sunny side up.
Aren’t they so pretty?
Then these balloons caught my eye. They are from Christmas Day, when the trees were full of streamers and balloons. This trio had long lost their air but had stayed hanging on a branch, fused together in the sun, swinging in the wind. Then I pulled the branch down.
Between the two pecan trees is an African Tulip tree, it is also flowering at the moment.
This is my hand and the sky. My fingers look quite slim and long for some reason in this photo.
I know Mum will hate this photo when she sees it when she returns from Africa. I was laying on the grass looking at the world upside down and out of focus and took this photo. I strangely like it.
One plant that I closely link to The Farm is crucifix orchids. A large mass of them grows on a tree stump outside the kitchen window.
This is Matthew, yes that is true, a photo of Matthew. He was on the lawn finding the strongest wireless signal. He didn’t know I took this picture. 🙂 He is in his final year of uni this year and had dived into this honours year.
This little frog gave me a scare as I was putting stuff into the car, he jumped from the tree, over the top of me and onto the bonnet. He was such a little darling of a frog.
This photo is from the week before but I will share it today. The passion fruit vine at the farm, is not just on some joe average trellis or fence, but it runs wild over the avocado trees, a gum tree and some other trees in the same patch of land. These passion fruit grow high in the canopy, metres off the ground. When they are ripe or a wind has gone through, they fall to the ground below, finding little homes in the leaf litter till they are collected.
Yet again it is a Sunday morning and I am on the deck with the laptop. Thinking back to the week it has been and thinking ahead for the coming week. Another week at work, we have been trying some new processes, paring our working hours back to a more reasonable 37.5 (what we have been doing has been excessive). I’m trying to balance my life out again. I’ve been really slack in the cooking department. I need to start walking to work again or getting a bike so I can cycle.
Monday night at SES was spent doing knots. That is one thing that I am grateful for my years as Guide as I have no problem what so ever with them.
Wednesday night, I decided at the last minute to head out to the Troubie to catch Coby Grant, Rhiannon Hart and Georgia Potter. I’m glad I did. Coby Grant was a very nice discovery and of course it was great to finally catch a set from Rhiannon Hart as I have read a bit about her in the street press over the times. Georgia Potter, well really there is nothing to say there, a great set as one would expect and the perfect music to get you through the rest of the week.
Friday at work, we made hot dogs as one of the interviewers was shifting to a promotions job downstairs. Was really great to see everyone pitching in to help make the hot dogs and generally taking some time out of the day to have lunch. Friday night I had a great night. The Red Eyes, Dubmarine and The Cool Calm Collective were playing at the Step Inn. I took no camera, no handbag, just me. I missed the first half of the Cool Calm set which is life but I would have loved to have caught it. I spent the entire night dancing and feeling really free. More free than I have felt at concert in a long time. It was a great night out.
Yesterday I got up a *little* later than I normally do on a Saturday. A trip to the markets at Kelvin Grove picked me up some fruit and veg for the week along with a hot chocolate and a mini “pizza” for breakfast. I look forward to the KG markets each week as that is here I can get the best hot chocolate in Brisbane. I think the stall is run by the Blackstar Coffee people. They offer a white, milk and dark hot chocolate but each week they have different flavourings. This week they had white with lime, straight dairy milk and dark with peppermint. The previous week they had white with rosewater. I have had the white chocolate the last two weeks and oh my they are soo good. I’m hoping they have the dark with orange or the white with lavender next week.
I had a very leisurely read of the paper and then took some assorted photos. I tried to start read Far from the Madding Crowd
by Thomas Hardy but gave up. I love how he describes the scenes but I just couldn’t get into it.
This morning, I did some weeding in the garden, some more planning for my upcoming trip to Melbourne (I’m going from April 7 to April 12). Can’t wait. I had so much fun when I went to Melbourne in 2007. If you have any suggestions for must visit places, please leave a comment.
Now it is about time to start organising my self to head to my parents and then onwards to the Farm to see Granddad.
Well, Mum should now be firmly on the ground in South Africa, she flew out on Friday for about month away in Southern Africa (i.e. not just South Africa). She is going to have a wonderful time but it will be strange not been able to pick up the phone and call her when I feel like it. Things are starting to settle down at work which is nice. Last week I switched from looking after the medical side of the applications for all the Navy and Air Force full time general entry candidates to now looking after the Army full time general entry candidates. It means that I am looking after a larger number of candidates and am now faced with enlistments every Monday as opposed to three times a month like I used to have.
I went to see Two Fists, One Heart yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed, especially the strong WA music presence in the soundtrack. With a broad brush it had some similarities to Two Hands, in terms of fighting, cars, bouncers and the not the girl ordinarily expected girl as the romantic interest. I would definitely recommend checking it out. Parts made me laugh and parts made me sigh.
This morning I gave the kitchen an autumn clean, top to bottom, I scrubbed, wiped and shined. This photo was taken two weeks or so ago but it gives you a fair idea of what the kitchen looks like.
I also did the seemingly weekly clean of my room; vacuuming, dusting and tidying. I don’t believe I have shared a picture of what my current room looks like. It is small but I do quite like having everything at an arm’s reach.
Talking of my room, that reminds me, I must share the incident that happened earlier this week. I was getting ready for bed, I had closed the deck door, turned off the lights, started the dishwasher and gone to clean my teeth. As I was brushing my teeth, I heard a tumble. I thought something had dislodged in the dishwasher and thought nothing much of it. I finished cleaning my teeth, looked at the dishwasher and it was fine. Then as I stepped into my room, I saw that some of the things from my bookcase had fallen onto the floor, as I looked up I came face to face with a Possum sitting on top of my bookcase. I was slightly shocked to say the least. Possums on the roof, possums on the power lines or possums in the back yard are fine. A possum on my bookcase is another matter. As you can see from the above picture, my room is narrow and there is only one way in and one way out. As I entered the room further the possum jumped and I ducked, it landed on my bed and scattered up to the desk. I started yelling at it to get out of the my room. Johnno hearing my yelling came to investigate and we managed to get the possum out of my room and into the kitchen, then with some fancy footwork the deck door was opened and the possum was let free. As the light was turned on in the kitchen and I walked back into my room, I discovered something the possum had urinated all over my room; the carpet, my bed, the wall, my desk, my laptop etc. Cleaning up possum urine is not pleasant. It is a tick slightly gelatinous liquid and cleaning it off the laptop is not at all fun. Normally I close my laptop when I switch it off at night. That night though for some strange reason I had left it open… if only I had closed it. Now that that story is off my chest…
Something that would surprise most people would be that I actually scapbooked today! I know! It has been a good handful of months since I last did something but the other week, I packed up a fair amount of stuff from my old room and brought it over here. In the picture below you can see the little chest of Ikea drawers that I have covered. They hold my computer cables in one little drawer and then in the others scrapbookig goodies.
It is now just gone 10pm and means it is time to retire to bed with a book and prepare for tomorrow been Monday.
