A Picture A Day 3 &4

A beautiful autumnal sky and fading roses. My last weekend in Australia for a month has been a perfect one for eating good food and reading my book. These are my kind of weekends.

A Picture A Day #2

Today I started my long journey back to England for my sister's wedding. It's a nine *yawn* hour drive from my current nest in New South Wales to Melbourne but I'm so excited to see my family in a few days time that all the miles are worth it.

I've decided to try the socks and flip flops combo for the drive. Yep, definitely think this look is for me.

A Picture A Day #1

Dear all, I have really fallen behind on my blogging lately. I seem to have put it by the wayside as a whole heap of life has got in the way.

Well anyway, enough excuses! I have decided that whilst I am busy with whatever life throws at me, I will endeavour to blog a picture a day.

So, here is picture número uno. Meet the calves. These are the young ladies I have been rearing over the last five weeks. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I am a dairy farmer now!

A Very Late Happy New Year

Hello all and a belated Happy New Year! 2013 has started off very busy for me. So far I have had surfing lessons, encountered a tiger snake in the veggie patch, settled into a new job, welcomed a new puppy, met some new faces and seen some old ones. I should be back to regular blogging this week with a new look blog! Enjoy your Sunday!

A Melbourne Christmas

For the first time in my life, I have spent Christmas away from my own family. I'm a real home girl and Christmas is one of my favourite times of year so I don't give up this time with my family easily. However, I am in Australia after all and The Boy and his family showed me how to do a real Aussie Christmas.

The festivities began with a bumpy start. The Boy was admitted into hospital with a rather unpleasant malady for ten days before finally being released back into the wild at 4pm on Christmas Eve. With all that this entails, the pre Christmas preparations seem to have passed me by but not before I got myself into the city to sing some Christmas Carols.

With The Boy safely back at home and my friends Fran and Charlotte invited to the farm, Christmas could get under way.

We had pork roasted on the barbecue. Unheard of where I come from but totally delicious.

And on boxing day we had salad and cold meats on the veranda in the sunshine. The girls and I drank white wine all afternoon and basked in the sun.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas.

Suzuki Night Market

During the summer the Victoria Market in Melbourne opens itself up to the Suzuki Night Market. I've been in Melbourne since September and have so far failed to visit either the day or night market and so last Wednesday evening Fran and I decided to go and see what all the fuss was about. 

Following the throngs of people to the corner of Elizabeth St and Victoria St we were instantly hit with the scents of a multitude of cultures emanating from the hawker style food court. Dishes from Afghanistan, Lebanon, Turkey, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and of course Australia were being devoured by hoards of individuals perched on plastic garden chairs or cross legged on the floor. With so many delicious aromas surrounding you it was difficult to see how anyone could possibly choose wich dish to sample.

Beyond the insatiable variety of food stalls begin the assortment of gifts, crafts, clothes, tea, jewellery and anything else you could possibly imagine. There is something for everybody. If you can squeeze through the crowds and be prepared to have a rummage, you are bound to find yourself a real treat.

I would love to show you more pictures but sadly modern technology is not of the same opinion. At 15 minutes upload time per photo I am going to bid you farewell and head to the city for my coffee date with Miss Frances B. Ta ra!

100 Books

It was drummed into me by my English teacher that you should always strive to expand your reading repertoire. He was not one for choosing a book by it's cover and would insist on seeing a book through regardless of whether you enjoy it or not. It's quite simple really, by pushing your reading boundaries there is a whole new world to discover. At the time, despite loving literature I resented my teacher for this but over the years I have come to learn how right he was.  

 

Now, back somewhere in the past, I was in a bookshop when I noticed a display advertising the Big Read. It caught my eye but was at some point pushed to the recesses of my mind. Years later I remembered the display and the incessant lecturing from my English teacher and decided to uncover what I had forgotten.

 

Essentially, The Big Read is a list of 100 books voted for by the public and compiled by the BBC. Reading all the books on the list is a great way to uncover a huge array of literature that you would not necessarily ever attempt to read. Since beginning the list I have developed an unequivocal love for Steinbeck, a deep respect for Wilson and a high regard for Orwell. I have also uncovered new genres that I had long forgotten about or never tried. Who is to say that children's literature is exclusively for children? I find it remarkable how children's authors can write in such a way as to appeal to a mind frame that many of us left behind years ago. This is not to say that I haven't uncovered a personal distaste for some authors or had to struggle through a novel gritting my teeth in irritation. I am never going to love every book on the list but at least I can formulate my own informed opinion.

 

I am about half way through. Why don't you give it a try? You may find something you love.