mja blog

Author: Melissa

  • Dicky Beach Holiday

    Jo and I spent a week up at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast, staying at a resort hotel across the road from Dicky Beach. It was a great time of year to be there – not too hot or crowded. We had a great time visiting all the local beaches and window shopping along the main drag.

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    Dicky Beach was named for the S.S. Dicky, a steamer ship driven onto the beach by a wild storm in the 1880’s. Above is what is left of the wreck after 130 years.

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    Lifesaver “nippers” practicing on their boards in the early morning surf. Dicky Beach is a dog friendly beach, as the paw prints testify!

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    On the horizon you can see the busy shipping lane.

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    A cooling drink in the Dicky Beach Surf Life Savers Club.

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    Our self-contained accommodation at Portobello was very good with almost every convenience we could want and proximity to shops and beach. Also a friendly hairdresser (Carly) who gave me a much needed trim and general pampering! Easy access for Jo and lovely surroundings contributed to an easy and relaxing time away.

  • Where I go on the net

    Looking at my browser history, I seem to spend a lot of time checking my email and social networking (short, frequent visits). This is in between exercising my brain on Lumosity or logging into OTEN, with whom I’m studying. I also do a lot of Wiki and Google, which is mostly study related but I often also search for recipes (especially for the Thermomix). With the recent change of guard at the Fed election, my interest in Australian politics has rekindled and I’ve been spending more time on news sites like Guardian and The Conversation (don’t bother with the rubbishy news sites any more). These days I probably spend less time watching TV and DVDs than I do watching ABC iView and movies on Quickflix.

  • Days Like This

    I love having days where you feel you are leading a full and contemplative life with plenty of things to look forward to. This John Burroughs quote sums it up:

    I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.  The longer I live the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and wonder of the world. I hardly know which feeling leads, wonderment or admiration.

  • Checking in

    Been a while since I posted here.. although to be honest I thought it was much longer, I see my previous post was only last April. Cool. I’m still taking Pristiq and doing pretty good, with only the rare low mood now, but I seem to be able to pick myself up out of it. A few months ago I gave up 16 hours a week at work to hire a job-share partner and it has been working great. She works 2 days, I work the other 3 days. We get on well together and I have more time for home life. I’ve joined the slow lane and I’m enjoying the pace.

  • An Hour in the Garden

    We’ve had a few drops of rain in the last couple of days, not enough to saturate the ground but enough to give the grass a green tinge in some spots. I’ve been keeping the water up to the vegie garden and my potted plants, they are doing me proud.

    I’ve been picking the tomatoes (took a few over to Lee-Ann’s yesterday) and the eggplants and capsicums should be big enough soon.

    Did a spot of re-potting today, including a couple of new plants from Bunnings and a local nursery – Lilly Pilly,  Crepe Myrtle and Butterfly Bush. I’d like to plant out in the garden eventually, soon as I can work out positions where they will be safe from Spook and Ebby lying or trampling all over them.

    Potted Plants (1) Jan 2013
    Potted Plants (2) Jan 2013
    Capsicums Jan 2013
    Chillin' Out Ebony Jan 2013
    Herbs in a Tub Jan 2013
    Tomatoes and Eggplants Jan 2013

  • My christmas

    Christmas began this year with vigil mass on Christmas Eve, held under the stars outside one of our little country churches. Dad and I sat on a rug on the grass, surrounded by hundreds of other parishioners. It was a beautiful evening and a lovely, simple ceremony.

    The next day I prepared a couple of dishes to take to Christmas Day lunch at my parents. I made:

    • quiche lorraine (from Thermomix Every Day Cookbook, prepared the day earlier)
    • rum and banana trifle
    • a layered salad of avocado, tomato, cucumber, lettuce with a simple lemon dressing

    That done, and next door’s chooks and pony fed (while our neighbour is away), hubby and I sat down to a morning cuppa and exchanged our gifts. I gave hubby some of the later seasons of Old Harry’s Game. I discovered this funny BBC Radio series earlier in the year and hubby enjoyed it so much I promised to get him the remaining seasons. Hubby gave me some old episodes of Doctor Who (Spearhead from Space, and Terror of the Autons) and season 7 of Supernatural. Looks like I’ll be watching some TV!

    Lunch at mum and dad’s was really pleasant. We had a lovely spread of food – barbeque chicken and turkey, some yummy salads including mum’s delicious ripe tomatoes sliced, sprinkled with fresh basil and topped with sliver of bocconcini cheese (mouth watering at the memory).

    We did our gift exchange and settled down after dessert to watch the Sound of Music and let the food settle!