Summer of course means overcast afternoons and rain … or sunshine and the beach.
I had an RDO on Friday so N and I decided to make use of it and have a long weekend away. We headed up to Noosa to enjoy it in all its glory on the last weekend of theschool holidays … the weather was lovely on Friday, rainy and overcast on Saturday and a mishmosh today. We detoured via Pomona on the way up on Friday and I made a lovely find at one of my favourite second hand shops – A Juicy Junk Shop. Saturday was a Eumundi day; the markets, the bookshop and things like that. Saturday was also a day when the TV was turned on in hope of the Saints winning and then turned off when the difference became too painful. Sunday was today, Sunday is today. We drove the beach roads back home, stopping at Mudjimba, Cotton Tree and Caloundra for a walk. Found the most amazing tea cafe/store in Cotton Tree – The Silva Spoon (1 and 2), I’m so going back to this store! Had the most amazing raspberry hot chocolate. I can predict spending some time browsing the various teas and tea paraphernalia they sell. They had at least a hundred different tea cups and pots on sale. A quick stop off at the farm on the way home to say hello to Grandad and then the weekend was over.
There is one thing that I always try to make time for on at least one morning of the weekend and that is to have a slow breakfast on the deck couch with a pot of tea (Sencha Peach from T2, muesli with yoghurt and fruit or toast with Vegemite and some reading material. It may be the most recent book I’ve got out of the library or it will be an issue of Real Living.
Whilst, the above activities are not affected by the weather, the following is. If the sun is out and I can’t tell you how happy I was that it was out this morning, the hum of the washing machine downstairs is the sound of a weekend morning. This of course provides the following outcome.
Georgie took me to the Valentino Retrospective at GOMA this mid-afternoon as a belated birthday present. Whoa, those outfits are amazing, some are plain crazy, some are beautiful, others are amazing. The work and detail is just incredible.
I took this photo on the way past QAG heading towards GOMA.
Well I’m most certainly 25 now; I had a lovely weekend, went to Gerties on Saturday night with some friends, had breakfast at Sassafras on Sunday with N and then a browse at the Paddington Antique Centre, where I picked up the most amazing find; a Figgjo Lotte Salt Box/Cellar. I remember when I first saw one of these listed on ebay, I just was awe; the amazing shape, the placement of the designs, the everything. I also remember the price the auction finished, whoa that was some money. The next few times I saw one come up on ebay, the auction finished at similar prices. I can happily say that I picked up mine for a whole lot less.
Isn’t it beautiful? I’m not sure what I will put in it yet but I can assure it won’t be salt.
Yesterday I had a great day. It was a training day at work so no candidates and a chance to have lunch together as a department. I went to the orthodontist and got the news that I’ve been wanting to hear for the last nine months or so, it’s time to go see the prosthodontist, yay! I have an appointment on Oct 5, which will hopefully be an x-ray to confirm root placement and the like and that we can move forward with the implant procedure. Cross your fingers. It’s now week 9 at Uni which is hard to believe, it seems like just yesterday I was looking at my lecture notes for week 1 and thinking it sort of makes sense. I’m really looking forward to next year. When I got home from uni I was presented with the most amazing bunch of red, magenta and orange gerberas from one of my flatmates as belated birthday present. It’s gorgeous, I’ll have to take a photo later.
Now to to the meat of this post. 25 things that I wish to do/complete before I turn 26 next year.
Be finished with orthodontic work.
Challenge myself to take more thoughtful photos.
Ride my bike more.
Get a will.
Get better with my practice of one thing in means one thing out for my belongings.
What a whirlwind it’s been since 18:00 last night when the booths closed and the counting started … I spent the night glued to the ABC coverage,  #ausvotes on Twitter, the AEC Virtual Tally Room, etc etc and wishing I had more than my two computer monitors so I could keep up on all the changes. I fell asleep before the coverage finished for the night and consequently had all sorts of dreams and nightmares about the possible outcomes when I woke up this morning.
I’ve had ABC News24 on most of the day and have had a fantastic time drawing my own conclusions from polling data on the AEC website. It’s really interesting to look at the first preference breakdowns for individual booths (Auchenflower Booth for the seat of Ryan). I’ve compared the swings, the informal votes, the two-candidate-preferred results and more. Looking at the results on a booth basis can confirm what you already may think as the general political feel in that area.
I would really love to see the booth results mapped and to have the ability to toggle layers to show first preference votes for each party. There would be some very interesting gradient changes shown.
However, all this talk of polling data and the such does not talk about what has been on my mind the most since about 17:00 yesterday and that is of Pabbi; my late father.
For as long as I can remember on election nights, he was always glued to the TV (well glued in a Pabbi way, which meant going back and forth to the verandah for a smoke or a drink). When he was younger he was quite active in politics both in Iceland and in Australia. One of the things I remember most is the fact that in Iceland he was a member of one of the right-wing parties. When he came to Australia, he realised that right-wing in Iceland was closer to the left-wing in Australia…. He was a member of the ALP for some time and he would often talk about his time as a scrutineer or about ALP identities  from his era.
I would love to know what Pabbi’s views would have been on the removal of K-Rudd, the rise of Gillard, the shocking campaign that has been run, the numbers that have resulted and the hung parliament situation which we are extremely like to be faced with. In wanting to know his views on the current events, part of me is happy in a way that he is not here as I do not think he would have been impressed with the actions of the campaign, the way in which Australia has voted and well everything Tony Abbott has done. Pabbi was very much not an Abbott fan … and I am happy that he doesn’t have to even contemplate the possibility that Abbott might be the PM.
As a side note though, if you are looking for the most up to date results go to the AEC site. Currently the ABC says the ALP has won 72 seats and the Coalition has won 70 seats, Channel 7 says ALP 72 and Coalition 71, SBS says ALP 70 and Coalition 72….. The AEC, you know the Australian Electoral Commission, says ALP 70 and Coalition 72… ahh numbers
