And so it is September and the official start of spring!

Here in south-east Queensland, we have been cursed blessed with the return of warmer weather in late August and even some storms. One even knocked out our power which is a rare occurrence even in the height of summer when the storms are usually at their peak. I love spring for the sole reason that it reassures me that my pot plants only look dead and given a bit of a haircut and fertiliser, they resuscitate fairly well from the brink of death. I am trying to be a better parent to my pot plants….I often forget to water them for weeks days at a time so it is a miracle they survive at all.

I’ve found that impatiens can survive my neglectful ways quite well….as does anything which I have planted in the ground. Our grevilleas have taken off wonderfully and are attracting loads of birdlife to the backyard. The rosemary plant in the rock wall often grows up to the same height as our roof and no matter how severely pruned, it always takes off again. The oregano is loving the clay soil and has taken over the lower section of the rock wall. Even the dwarf callistemons are out in flower and the tree fern which I had pruned before the winter has shot up again.

So in this pile of photos, there’s a lot of photos of plants. There’s also a heap of photos of our new house being constructed. To think that when I started this batch of photos, it was just a frame with a roof on it. Only a few weeks later, we’re almost ready to move in. Correction. We are more than ready to move in, it’s just that the house is not quite ready for us to do that. As far as building a house goes, the experience has been pretty painless. That’s not to say that there hasn’t been frustrating moments but it hasn’t gotten us to the point where we are tearing our hair out.

Of course, we haven’t moved yet so I’m sure there will be plenty of hair-pulling, teeth-gritting moments to come….of that I am sure.

September 14th, 2009 | Category: Home and Lifestyle, Phoney Photos, Photography |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

When I was a kid, I spent quite a bit of time on buses on long trips back and forth to Brisbane for various extra-curricular events. While all the cool and hip kids passed the time away on their Nintendo Game Boys playing Tetris, Donkey Kong or Mario Brothers, I passed the time sleeping, trying to read a book or listening to a CD. If only my parents had known then what valuable skills I was missing out on, I might have been able to build a business case for the purchasing of one Nintendo Game Boy.

At first, you might not think that Tetris is the be all and end all. Certainly it can get to be a very frustrating and time consuming experience if your reaction times are slack and you have  little to no spatial awareness. Late last year, Leigh posted about how packing a moving truck isn’t that dissimilar to a game of Tetris. I remember her writing those words but can’t find the original post so you will just have to take my word for it that my memory is correct.

I’m finding that packing moving boxes is a similar experience. Good Tetris skills are essential otherwise you end up with all these gaps which are big enough to put something in but not the something that belongs in the box. I’m no Martha but I get extremely irritated if like cannot be packed with like. CDs MUST go with CDs or at the outset, DVDs. Books are not to be packed with CDs or DVDs because they are not electronic media. Kitchen goods under NO circumstances are to be packed with anything from any other room. So you can understand how packing all our stuff up to shift to our new house could get a little frustrating for me. I know I probably could be a bit more leniant on the packing rules but of course, then it makes the unpacking process at the other end that much more difficult.

Dammit! I knew I really did need that Game Boy when I was a kid.

August 30th, 2009 | Category: Ramblings |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

I can’t believe it’s been more than six months since I posted anything on this blog. I could have sworn I did a few more posts since we adopted Warrego Martin. Not long afterwards, we adopted two more koalas through the same koala hospital – Bermuda Barb and Tuffy Tuffin.

I know many native animals perished in the Victorian bushfires earlier this year but there is something particularly endearing about koalas. Perhaps it is their human like face – eyes facing to the front, ears at the sides and prominent noses. That is one of the reasons why Sam, the koala rescued from the blackened scrub, managed to warm the hearts of a nation. Sam has since died but I am certain that her carers would have ensured there was no suffering.

I’m hoping that this year brings milder summer weather for the southern regions of Australia which were so devastated by the bushfires. But it is heartening to know that even in the face of that kind of destruction, nature always fights back. It’s hard to believe the photo below was taken only one month after bushfires swept through Kinglake VIC.

August 28th, 2009 | Category: Adoption Programs, Wildlife |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Image courtesy of Threadless

When I saw this shirt on Threadless, I just had to buy it because it sums up fairly well how I feel about the whole weight loss thing. Women  who are overweight can be their own worst enemies at times and I suppose I’m no different. Permit me a few generalisations here. We see photos of other people, pass them in the street and we tend to compare ourselves to them in some way. We play that “do I look that fat” mental game quite a lot and it’s to our own detriment.

When I first decided that I needed to do something about my weight, it was because I felt incredibly unhealthy and it was stopping me from doing the things I liked to do. I’m now able to do a lot of those things again and even though I have a fair bit of fat left on me, I feel quite good within myself. To a point.

I don’t loathe clothes shopping nearly so much as I used to but I’m still frustrated  about the attitude that clothes designers seem to have about larger women. Again, permit me some generalistations. They seem to think that larger women all want to wear gaudy, flouncy clothes that accentuate their size rather than slim it. They also seem to think that if you have a plus size tee shirt, then it’s because you have a hideously big neck and thus need a massive hole in the top of the shirt to fit your head through. And they also seem to think that if you are a size 18, you still only have a B cup bra size and the only reason why you take an 18 is because you are so ridiculously fat. So consequently, it’s hard to get a fitted business shirt that neither gapes at the front  from going up a size to accommodate my bust nor looks like I’m about to explode out of it.

Like it or not, I’m always going to be a rhino. I’m always going to have an hourglass figure with wideset shoulders and hips. I’m never going to be the unicorn that has graceful slender long legs with the perfect proportions that allow for miniskirts and shorty shorts. I’ll just settle for being a slightly thinner, fitter and hopefully in the process, a healthier rhino.

August 23rd, 2009 | Category: Health and Fitness |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (1)

I had a feeling that this year….the year of being 30….was going to be a good year. Towards the end of last year, things just started coming together for me.

I scored a new job.
I started losing some weight and surprisingly I’ve managed to keep it off. Although I do keep weighing myself every week to make sure that the winter kilos are not creeping back on.
I discovered a new enthusiasm for some exercise and realised that it wasn’t going to kill me and could actually be enjoyable at times.
I got back on my bike and found I could still ride it – although not without some significant degree of buttocks pain afterwards.
We found our perfect block of land and our perfect house is getting built on it.
My “skinny” cat has gained a little weight and my fat one at least hasn’t got any fatter.
I learned how to cook a few new things and surprisingly they are edible.
I’m working my way through a self-study CD and getting some nice results from my time out in the great outdoors.
I’ve managed to stick to a 365 photo challenge (that astonishes me more than anything).
We finally finished installing our spa and it looks great!

Our house is coming ahead quicker than we possibly could have imagined we quite possibly could be in it in under two and a half months from the time construction started. It still has a way to go but it’s getting closer every day. We finally got ourselves a bedroom suite – how grown up!  But the best part of the new house?? Three words – polished wooden floors! I can just see myself skating across the floor in my fluffy bedsocks a la Tom Cruise in Risky Business. I even have a pair just suited to the job.

In the meantime, can I be 29 forever?? I suppose not but if the lead up to the 30s are as good as the 30s themselves, I’m sure I’ll be happy even if I have to turn 31 at some stage.

PS – If you love the look of my bedsocks as much as I love wearing them, check out the range at My Socks Rock. I can vouch for speedy service and comfy, warm socks!

August 4th, 2009 | Category: Home and Lifestyle |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (2)

I imagine most people south of the border are accustomed to days starting pretty much like this – overcast, bleak, foggy and miserable. I love being a Queenslander, purely for the fact that although some winter days start out like that, the sun soon rises and brings with it a gorgeous day.

Seriously, what’s not to love about most winter days up here? Once you make it through some of the rainy days in June, for the most part is is brilliant blue skies, dazzling sunshine which warms the bones without burning the skin – unlike most other days of the year. People are out running, walking, riding bikes, playing with their dogs.

We headed down to the Gold Coast today and did the unthinkable thing for winter – we sat by the beach and ate a picnic lunch of fish and chips, polished off with a Ginger Beer and a chunky Kit Kat Cookies and Cream – have you tried them? Delicious!

All around us were people in boardshorts and tee shirts – even girls in bikinis and shorty shorts. If not for the occasional person in jeans, jacket and a scarf, I could have been fooled for thinking it was the middle of summer while we were cruising through Burleigh Heads on the way to the beachfront. On days like today, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

August 2nd, 2009 | Category: Ramblings |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (3)

I can’t believe that I’m still going with a 365 challenge when it is almost 7 months into the year! I’ve well and truly eclipsed my last record of around 36 days. Lots more photos of construction this time around because the house is well and truly up and running, so to speak. The whole process has been so streamlined – one trade finishes on one day and the next trade is out the following morning doing their bit. My only other experience with builders was when my sister built her first house. I think they took around 4 months just to put a slab down from the day her block was cut. So you can imagine my surprise when we are around 1 month out from the block being cut and already we have a slab, drainage, frame, roof, doors, windows, electrical and plumbing done!

The house is turning into somewhat of an obsession – I feel like I must go and check on it every day. Not that I am worried that the builders aren’t doing the right thing but more because if I don’t go out for just one day, I might miss a huge phase in the construction. I love seeing it all come together.

July 25th, 2009 | Category: Phoney Photos |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (1)

I do sometimes wonder what the cats get up to when I’m not home. Take Rosie for instance – we just went out for nearly 4hrs and she was sitting in the exact same spot as she was when we left. Mojo on the other hand was doing the usual prowl around the perimeter of the house, ensuring that there are no intrusions from the outside world – not so much as a whisp of air gets past him.

Sometimes, when my imagination takes me, I wonder whether they are secretly plotting. There COULD be some secret tunnel into my house whereby hundreds of cats gather in my house to plot the demise of the human race. After all, they already have us under the paw and they know which side their milk bowl gets placed. You might think I’m crazy and if I was actually serious about this, you’d probably be right.

But there are things I can’t explain.

Like at least 4 to 5 neighbourhood moggies who have taken to hanging out around our house. They don’t fight, they don’t cause a fuss. They just sit and well, they wait. A few of them have even waltzed right on into the garage of our house – almost as if they think they live here. I can’t explain why my house has suddenly become a magnet for moggies.

Has the word gotten out about the plush pet beds? Or maybe the cat park and promises of a bigger, better one at our new house? Or maybe Mojo’s boasting about how he gets roo meat at least two times a day and more if he asks for it? Hmmm….

I swear, if I see a white fluffy persian start frequenting my turf and he just happens to answer to Mr Tinkles, it may seriously do my head in.

( Yes, Cats & Dogs is one of my favourite movies of all time – maybe I’ve just watched it too much lately. )

Hey buddy - this is a two cat household ONLY!

July 3rd, 2009 | Category: Cats |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

365 / 171 = 2.13 and a lot of other decimal points.

That can only mean one thing – the middle of the year is rapidly approaching. Halfway through this daily photo grind. I can’t wait until the house starts (yes I know I said that last time) because then I can take photos of all sorts of interesting construction type things – like bulldozers, post-hole diggers and pieces of timber off cuts. Initially I was really happy that construction was due to start in the middle of winter…after all it’s supposed to be the driest time of the year for where I live. But lately we’ve had more rain than I can recall from previous years. Perhaps it is that we need it to be dry for construction that I’m noticing it more. In any case, I’m hoping for reasonably fine weeks ahead so that we can be in our new house by November.

The past few weeks have been insanely busy – winter flu season means work is busy, our house will need to go on the market soon which means I personally am very busy making it presentable. One of our greatest achievements over the last month has been the finalising of the spa area – just in time for one of the cooler early winter weeks on record. I can finally walk outside and enjoy using our alfresco, again just in time for winter. Just as well the winter weather doesn’t deter me from using the BBQ.

June 21st, 2009 | Category: Phoney Photos |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment