365 – Page 3 – helenthura.com

March 11, 2010April 18, 2010

We like photos.

I will once again say I had no intention of 11 days passing between posts. Oh well. Photos, we all like photos.

Curtains!! 226/365

Yep, at last I’ve finished my curtains and they are up. I went to Ikea between Christmas and New Years. Amongst the things I picked up was this fabric, I had planned to purchase a more “demure” fabric but there was no way I could say no the slightly kitsch, slightly folksy fabric that is Annamoa Fabric … I picked up lining at Spotlight a week or two later… Then the wait happened whilst I tried to find curtain eyelets, eventually I found curtain eyelet tape at Lincraft. I made one curtain at my house on a Saturday. Yeah, let me tell you it was quite an adventure using the kitchen floor as a cutting table. The next day I headed over to Mums and borrowed the kitchen table (such bliss for cutting fabric) and some of her advice. I didn’t quite get the other two curtains finished that day but did the rest of the sewing the following Sunday when I was next over.

They make my room feel so cheery! And oh for lining as well now my room isn’t so bright in the morning and slightly warmer at night.
Yay for new curtains!

Patterned Legs, 227/365

There a few fashion rules I have for myself, one of these is no tights/stockings in Spring and Summer. Really because unless they are 8 denier or less it is just too damm hot to wear stockings in Brisbane during those months. I picked this pair up from Coles over the New Year for a very nice sum of $3.something!

Romatherapy Tomatoes???? 228/365

Yeah this is what Woolies calls baby Roma tomatoes…

Peach Upside Down Cake, 229/365

At what point did it seem like a good idea to make an upside down cake in a spring form pan….. Common sense did question it but no I was going to be good and follow the recipe. Let’s just say I had a ball cleaning a black sugary mess in the oven…. Upside down cake + spring form pan = mess!

Other than it was quite a success. The recipe is off Taste and here is the link Peach Upside Down Cake. I had almonds on hand but really didn’t feel like breaking out the blender to make almond meal so used hazelnut meal I had on hand instead and I think it made the cake even nicer. Had a slightly nutty flavour. One thing to note though is that I made this cake Thursday night to take to work on Friday. For morning tea, the cake was fantastic, just the right amount of moistness. When it came to divying up the last few slices for afternoon tea the cake was a bit dry.

Looking Up, 230/365

I saw The Blind Side on Friday night – man oh man what a movie. I was happy to see Sandra Bullock win the Oscar, man oh man that dress was gorgeous and the hair!
I was kicking back on my bed when I got home with a million thoughts going through my mind and I was struck to a degree by the way the posters look from below.

A single flower, 231/365

A single flower, a single plant. This dahlia is the only thing in the front garden at Mums currently.

Sore Toe, 232/365

A change from photos of metal adorned teeth… For the last week or so the tip of the toe next to my big toe has been quite sore. I thought my toenail was digging in but trimming the nail didn’t help it all. I just tried to ignore it, thinking that yeah it will get better. It’s no longer sore but when I decided to change my toenail polish on Sunday I discovered why it had been so sore! Check out that bruise! Four days after taking this photo, I can tell you it is a bit darker as well.

Welcome Lights, 233/365

On the same trip to Ikea as the one when I got the curtain fabric I also picked up these Welcome Lights/Christmas Candolier from Ikea for something like $3 after Christmas. I love them! I’m keeping these out all year! A much more modern version than the set my parents brought out from Iceland with them.

Melbourne snow dome, 234/365

I picked up this snowdome for next to nothing at Borders one day. I was going through photos the other day and finally found the perfect photo. In saying that, I’m still trying to decide what photo to put on the other side!

This hat, 235/365

I’ve posted photos of this hat before but I love it too much not to share more. I’ve moved it from hanging on the curtain rod to a hook on my door. Now it greets me when ever I walk into my room! I do wish my head was a few cm smaller so it did fit me.

Yeah, that is a whipper snipper, 236/365

Our lawn had a hair cut today or really it got a buzz cut. I’ld call it a number 4. Before it could be mown they “trimmed” the lawn with a whipper snipper!

It’s hard to believe that I am 236 days into my 365 day quest! When I tried in 2008 I lasted 75 days. I’m just about two thirds of the way through now, really happy with that. 😀

And that is a wrap!

February 28, 2010April 18, 2010

Clem7 completed

Well I did it.

10 and a bit km in 1:27:04.9. At the end of the race I wasn’t happy with my time as I did the Bridge to Brisbane in 2008 in 1:24:16. Talking to people after the race and comparing times when they released this afternoon I feel better about my time. Still I want to my next 10km in under 1:20:00.

Leading up to the event, my #1 concern was the humidity in the tunnel. Turns out that concern was very well founded. It was an absolute stinker in the tunnel, the fans are quite spaced out and they were operating at different speeds. It was an absolute relief passing under some of them and no relief passing under others. This is what it says on the Clem7 website.

Will it be humid or uncomfortable in the tunnel?
Conditions inside the tunnel are dependent on conditions outside the tunnel. There are a number of jet fans inside the tunnel which will be operating to keep air flowing through the race.

Yeah the tunnel is designed for motor vehicle traffic typically with aircon not 5000 people completing a 10km!

These are the time comparisons I mentioned before. Quite interesting to see, would be cool to do a bigger comparison but it is a slow task.

Name_______________Clem7 2010_____Bridge to Brisbane 2009
HINTSA MEBRAHTU_____00:32:56.2 _____00:31:25
PATRICK NISPEL________00:37:19.7_____00:32:25
KEITH WILLIAMS_______00:36:49.8_____00:34:50
DENNIS FITZGERALD____00:36:35.2_____00:34:52
MASAYUKI ATSUMI_____00:36:40.0_____00:34:58
ROB GARDNER_________00:39:15.2_____00:35:57
MATTHEW BOURKE_____00:38:30.4_____00:36:04
TONY SHAW__________00:42:45.8_____00:36:13
JOHN TUCKER_________00:40:04.3_____00:36:30

My time also might have been a little quicker if I didn’t take photos (I only took one photo doing the Bridge to Brisbane) but we have to have photos!

Waiting for 6am to come around, isn’t the dawn light glorious?

And we are off

Halfway point

Ohh shiny!

To those who sponsored me a really big thank you!

Till next time 😀

February 27, 2010

Once again, slackness comes to mind

Slackness is a word that comes to mind when I compare my plan to post and actual posts. Each time I plan to become more “regular”, sometimes it works, more so not so much.

As history would predict, here are the last two weeks of photos.

Sunlight on Sandstone, 227/365.

I have had one hell of a week this week. A week that has me questioning my morals in ignoring immoral behaviour of others. A week of trying to decide when to rock the boat and when to keep my mouth shut. One of those weeks that really drains everything out of you. After work yesterday I headed down to the mall to unwind in the library, enjoy the music on the mall and just wander around.

The view from my chair in the library.

Swing, Swing, Slide, 226/365.

The playground in our park.

Chocolate from Melbourne, 225/365.

It is a bit of a tradition at work that if anyone goes to Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide they will bring back some Haigh’s.

The long view, 224/365.

One of the many things I adore about this is house is the central hallway. Standing at the back door you look straight out the front door and vice-versa.

That time of the fortnight, time to restock the pantry drawer and fridge.

BBall, 223/365.

I don’t play Basket Ball and don’t think I have ever managed to land a ball through the hoop but with a Basket Ball stadium round the corner, it plays a part in my life.

Sex on Wheels, 222/365.

One of the cars that my Uncle owns, a car that whilst supposedly crap to drive, I would quite happily own it. Oh to drive it round the streets of this town!

Old Curtains, 221/365.

Why are these old curtains? Because soon I will have new curtains up. They are just about finished and then my room will look quite lovely.

I â™¥ this skirt! 220/365.

Is this not one of the most adorable skirts you have seen?
I’ve looked at this skirt a few times in Alannah Hill but never tried it on (you can also get it with black ribbon instead of red). Last Friday I had time to spare waiting for Georgie and I just couldn’t resist trying it on. I adored it! Not about to shell out nearly $300 for a skirt though… Here is to hoping that it appears on the sales rack….

Dan Sultan, 219/365.

Went to see Dan Sultan with a mate from work and his partner. We had a ball. Man oh Man that man can move his lower body!

Here I rest, rest one one leg, 218/365.

Mr or Ms Ibis chilling outside work.

The view from a window, 217/365.

I was watching the light on the house next door and then looked at my louvres and thought mmmm improvised tripod. Photo taken with camera sitting on open louvres.

Even Wars Have Laws, 212/365.

This was quite a sight to see outside work on Monday morning. Like everyone else I work with our first thought upon seeing the children with guns was it was a protest against us, however it was actually part of a Red Cross campaign (link 1, link 2). It was quite effective, it bucketed that afternoon though so all the cardboard would have turned to mush.

Collection, 211/365.

I love the sewing room at the farm, shelves filled with wood turned by Grandad and crafty bits from Grandmum.

and what better way to close this off than with a video?
[youtube KP-nVpOLW88]

February 14, 2010February 14, 2010

The weeks goes round and round

Bringing the 365 photos up to date and a few links that I’ve collected.

This is cracking me up – Angry Norwegians

I adore the ability to JFGI or the more polite JGI, if I want to know something, it’s just a matter of tying in a few words and seeing what I get in return. This Google ad makes me smile.

I like this news. Really not at all liking this news. As much as I love this “urban wasteland” as it is for want of a better term, it could do with some developing. This proposal though is soooo not the answer. A scaled down version perhaps, I would like to see something like the Kelvin Grove Urban Village, a mix of public affordable and private housing, a vast green space and without the grocery store – so many options around here already.

When I first saw this on Mad Men, it really irked me but the more I see it, the more it makes me smile.
[youtube 2wKoVAQkGLc]

The last *few* 365 photos.
About time, 210/365

I’ve been thinking about a better way to store my shoes for awhile, mainly to free up some more space in my wardrobe. Went to Indro yesterday and picked up a rack. Love it!

Not my train, 209/365

After work on Friday, I caught up with Georgie for a browse of the shops and a movie, saw Valentine’s Day. Lots of laughs and a teary moment or two ie *that scene with Julia Roberts*.

Waiting, 208/365

QR to say the least is having a *few* problems with the trains and signals at the moment.

Mr Pelican, 207/365

From my Origami a day

Breakfast partners, 206/365

I’m subscribing to The Australian again and wondering why I stopped!

Back in the Orange, 205/365

SES went back last week after the summer break. Monday nights now mean orange overalls again.

It has rained, 204/365

Not even one bite pears, 203/365

Found at the Kelvin Grove Markets

Matching Nails, 202/365

All of a sudden noticing that your nails match the binding tape on a PM004? pretty funny, nails are Changeling Midnight by Kit.

Oh Toowong Library, 201/365

The feeling when all your holds come in at once? Overwhelmed at which book to read first.

Dude, that ain’t a car park, 200/365

This ning-nong, couldn’t be f’ed finding a car park, so decided to just park on the footpath instead.

What a view, 199/365

They are doing a fit out on the ground floor of our building and the plans are spread out on this bankers desk. I have a feeling if I sat at the desk doing my work I wouldn’t get much done!

Such a lovley colour car, 198/365

I adore this shade of blue

rain, rain, rain, 197/365

Care to bowl? 196/365

A set of lawn bowls with very lovely markings for sale at the Salvos at Alderley.

a drop, 195/365

Starting Friday we have had on and off rain.

Knit Graffiti in Stones Corner, 194/365

Wilted, 193/365

Summer is here and the plants show how I feel.

I want to say, 192/365

There has been some stencil poetry popping up round Auchenflower/Toowong in the last month or so. I quite like this one.

Breakfast, Dinner, Desert, 191/365

Breakfast/Dinner – fruit salad, yoghurt and toasted muesli.
Desert – replace the yoghurt with frozen yoghurt!

Puzzling about, 190/365

At the bookfest I picked up a few puzzles to occupy my time instead of bumming round the net. Since I don’t have a space where I can keep a puzzle out, I picked up a puzzle mat as well 😀 This puzzle is just about all done now too, I only have the sky left to finish.

Fishing Cake, 189/365

Grandad wanted a plain fruit cake with no icing for his cake. I couldn’t leave it undecorated though! We used to play with this fishing set when we were kids at the farm..

Gorgeous Sky, 188/365

Last Friday we had a gorgeous sunset, this however was the view to the east which I much preferred.

And that’s a wrap!

February 7, 2010

the family I’m from

We’ve had a lot of rain this morning. It started bucketing round 2am and kept bucketing till round 5am, since then we have had showers on and off.

My phone just rang, it was Matthew, my younger brother does not typically call me so I was a little concerned at first as to what might have happened. However, Mums voice came over the speaker wanting to know what my back yard looked like. After I gave her the run down she told me that her and Matthew were at the Toombul car park observing it in all its flooded glory. Matthew must have gone out last night as Mum had picked him up from the bus stop due to the rain. He had told her that Kedron Brook was over the banks. They then proceeded to check out Kedron Brook at as many vantages as they could to watch the flooding. They are now headed on to Downfall Creek to see what it looked like.

Mum was telling me they were taking photos on Matthews phone of the flooding. I didn’t comment then but I will now since I know Mum will see this fairly shortly, that is why I take my camera with me wherever I go!

Yep, that’s my family, well really the Stephenson part of us, straight down the line from Grandad, a man who has kept weather records dating back to the war. The family for which the first thought when it buckets, is “mmmm I wonder how high the creek is?” or Mum’s favourite idea when it has rained is to go waterfall chasing. Yeah, we like our weather.

I got up close to 5, thinking there must be a fair amount of water in our backyard by now, sure enough there was. (A fact of life when living at a bottom of a hill on three sides, is when it rains our backyard will fill with water.) Our street is more convex than most streets to help the street drain in such events. There was probably about 10-20cm over the “top” of the road and about 30cm at the kerb. In our backyard, the water was over the retaining wall. I took a few photos but was not in the mood to get the tripod out so they have been pushed a little bit in Lightroom.

204/365

I went back to bed for a little while but wasn’t in a mood to sleep, instead I took my book (it seemed quite fitting to be reading a tales of Brisbane, whilst watching the water drain off the street) and my quilt and cozied up on the couch on the deck, watching the taxi drivers trying to decide whether or not to drive the street. By 6ish I was ready to go back to sleep and returned to my bed to doze to the sound of the drizzling rain for you know, oh 45mins or so. I’m not one to sleep in!

The street now just has a little bit of water in the gutter and the water in our backyard has gone down a wee bit, it’s no longer over the retaining wall. I won’t have to water the veggies for a while….

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain, as a child when I first saw My Fair Lady, I thought they were referring to a plane not a plain and could not for the life of me figure out why the rain would stay in the plane!

The rain in ‘Bris stays mainly in our yard!

January 31, 2010January 31, 2010

the sound of rain

It’s 2120 currently and I’m kicking back with a cup of tea and listening to the rain. The rain sounds different at night to it does during the day, have you noticed that?

In tribute to the rain we have had on and off this weekend, today we have a video instead of a photo.
[flickr 4318532724 640 368]

Unless you are reading this via the RSS feed, you might (well should) have noticed that I’ve changed up the design a little bit. Swapped some new colours in, changed the photos in the header and made it a bit more 24 something me instead of 22 something me. Not 100% settled on the background colour yet but we will see. I’ve also been thinking of renaming the blog most probably just changing the words round a little but who knows.

Mum and I went to see Bright Star this afternoon, it was slightly sad as expected but gorgeous nonetheless. I have some questions regarding the historical accuracy of a few aspects of the costuming, mainly the earrings that Fanny wears and the machine knitted jackets/cardigans. I did adore however the ledge that ran at waist level round Fannys room in the house that the Brawnes shared with Mr Brown and Mr Keats. I loved the shots in the fields of wild flowers and in the orchard, all those flowers! Oh to be able to bask in a field of flowers like that.