Bring on the sunshine

21 June
Originally uploaded by yublocka

Inspired by a combination of Mary's beautiful winter solstice post, my desire for warmth and sunshine, my new found vigour in uploading to flickr and my intention to start taking more photographs I have decided to track the lengthening of the days via a daily photograph from our verandah.

Today I was struck by how quickly a glowing orange sunset was enveloped by darkness. Initially I wanted to capture the moment in it's orange brilliance, but by the time I had walked the 15m into my bedroom and retrieved my camera, the sunset had dulled into a mauve blur.

A mere ten minutes later at 5:30pm the sky looked like this.

From now on every day I am home at 5:30pm I'll try to record the view from the same position. Bring on the sunshine!!!

In a few months time I'll be cursing the intense heat that pours through all our windows at that time. For now I'll enjoy the feeling of expectation while it lasts!

Back from the dead!

OK so being in the OC was not even remotely like being dead - unless you're trying to find an open restaurant on a Sunday night - but it just sounds dramatic, doesn't it?

I've actually been back for a grand ole 5 weeks now. Ever since I have been intending on positing a massive photopost run down of my time there, but I simply haven't had the time or the motivation to be honest.

Two things this week have changed that: firstly I have been sick and had the last 2 days at home, and secondly thanks to one of my 43things I have been madly organising all the photos on my laptop and uploading them to Flickr. I haven't finished all of them, but the OC ones are well and truly there.


So fiiiiiiiiinally I've picked out a few to share with you here: the last 4 months of my life in 8 photos!!!

1) This was my room in our 6-bedroom house. Despite being demountables they were actually quite nice inside. The best feature was the individual air-conditioner and heating in each room (including the bathrooms). In the 4 months we were there the weather changed from boiling hot to freezing, so both features were well and truly appreciated.



2) Our courtyard between the 3 houses. The site of many a BBQ.



3) This is us! Believe it or not this mugshot made it onto page 3 of the local paper. How embaressment!!



4) One of our many BBQs. Good food, good company and lots of wine!!



5) A came up to visit one weekend. The weather was glorious so we went to a berry farm and went berry picking. The raspberries and strawberries we picked were simply to die for. Apart from stuffing our faces whilst picking them, we made berry pie, muffins and slice and still had heaps left to freeze for smoothies etc!



6) One of the most "scenic" features of the OC: the electrical towers on top of the mountain that overlooks town. Needless to say every visitor that came up for the weekend was subjected to this magnificent tourist attraction.



7) We didn't just have BBQs, there were also lots of local pubs that we frequented. The wine bar was a firm favourite, although it started getting very chilly outside in late Autumn! Luckily they were all within walking distance of home, just what you need at 3am right?



8) The town itself was just beautiful. This is the hospital - isn't it cute? This photo was taken on one of our last days there. I miss the beautiful autumn trees!




And there we have it. If you liked any of there there are a lot more where they come from!!!

Random acts of kindness that make your day

Rewind back to Monday lunchtime. It was cold (about 11 degrees, eek!) and rainy. I was about 15 minutes from home without an umbrella and not wearing warm enough clothes for the occasion. Luckily there was a kmart across the road so I ducked in to buy one.

Halfway home it stopped raining, so I'm waking along cursing the rain, the cold, the fact I just bought an umbrella when I didn't need one anymore, my PMS, my tiredness, the fact that I was on my way to present a patient case in a pretend exam I wasn't really looking forward to because at the end they always ask tricky questions and pretty much life in general.

As I'm crossing the road an elderly man man on an electric mobility scooter zooms past and says "you've got lovely long black hair" and continues on his merry way.

And with that, my proverbial frown turned upside down...

20 April 07

Good:

• Relaxation yoga in the AM to try and stretch out my poor back.
• Porridge for brekky – I love Fridays!
• Didn’t eat too many lollies at the PPD presso.
• 1 coffee.

Needs improvement:

• Need to get my back fixed!
• Big night at the One night stand – surprisingly I feel fine this morning though!!
• Pigged out on mint slice and pizza shapes when got home from Cowra.

See more progress on: do 3 healthy things per day, and pick 3 things i could have done differently each day to improve my health.

19 April 07

Good:

• Did BodyAttack at gym.
• 2 coffees.
• Made salad to go with my gnocchi from the lettuce and rocket I have been growing.

Needs improvement:

• Had 2 glasses wine whilst watching Amazing race – should have made it an AFD!
• Hurt my back during BodyAttack.
• Didn’t need to eat the FreddoFrog for dessert but I did anyway – I’m not good at resisting when I know it is in the cupboard!!

See more progress on: do 3 healthy things per day, and pick 3 things i could have done differently each day to improve my health.

16 April 07

Good:

• Another AFD.
• Went to gym PM (20min jogging, 10min rowing, 20min elliptical thinggy)
• Only one coffee!

Needs improvement:

• Ate too many sweets in afternoon!
• Silly to eat cheese and biccies one hour before gym!

See more progress on: do 3 healthy things per day, and pick 3 things i could have done differently each day to improve my health.

15 April 07

Good:

• Went to AM pump class.
• Rode out to tennis and back and played singles for 1.5 hours.
• Alcohol free day!
• Made a massive, yummy tofu stir fry for dinner.
• Only one coffee today.

Needs improvement:

• I was going to say I ate too much, but you know with all the exercise I think I needed it!
• Had aforementioned coffee at 5:30pm. Didn’t make me feel wired at the time, but I had a really restless nights sleep, so perhaps that was the culprit, regardless!

See more progress on: do 3 healthy things per day, and pick 3 things i could have done differently each day to improve my health.