Chopping Wood And Carrying Water

Today I was walking home from breakfast with Peter when I got caught in a light spring shower. Instead of putting my head down and making a run for cover, I decided to just enjoy the combination of the mild day, the sun, and the light rain and continue my stroll. I'm glad I did because I spotted these pretty flowers growing beside the footpath and decided to stop in the rain and take a few pics.


Time to stop and smell the flowers, or at least take a photo of them.

The past few weeks have been a bit up and down. Peter's work has been very stressful for him of late, and although we are going great there are times when stress creeps into the relationship. His shift work hasn't helped either as it leaves him struggling with tiredness and a lack of routine. My own sleep has been a bit up and down as well, with my old insomnia problem rearing its unwelcome head again. So just lately we seem to both be struggling with on and off bouts of crushing tiredness. Despite that we've still had some really fun times together, and even on the hardest days a sweet little text exchange will work wonders to lift the spirits.

I also started a new position at work and received confirmation that my contract has been extended until at least 31st March next year, which was fantastic news and means that I can plan a bit for the immediate future. However, for two weeks I was essentially trying to juggle training and starting my new position, with finishing a 5 week stint relieving in another position for someone who was on leave. As understanding as both my bosses were it meant I kept having to shift mental gears (as well as locations) several times during each day and it became surprisingly tiring.


Some days I've had to just "chop wood, carry water" as Peter would say. Just knuckle down and get on with what needs to be done. That may sound unduly negative, because I've also had some great times over the past few weeks; fun nights out with Peter, a friend's spectacular birthday party that I helped organise, dinners and drinks with new friends I've made through Peter, and some quiet nights in cuddling on the sofa. So there have been definite "ups".

Worst of all though I had a bit of a health scare recently too which made me anxious for a while. I found a roughly pea sized lump under my sternum, next to the edge of my ribcage. My forebrain was telling me not to worry and that it was probably just a cyst or something, but the darker recesses of my brain were going holy effing shit. I still have to go and have an ultrasound test done next Tuesday, but my doctor examined it very carefully and pointed out all the signs that say it's a cyst rather than anything worse. So I do feel relieved now that I've seen him, but I'll be much happier after the ultrasound when I have an answer as to exactly what it is. Exhaling a little easier.

(I debated with myself about whether to write about that until I have had the test done, but I figure I should just be upfront about everything that's going on. I really am convinced now that I have seen my doctor that it's nothing serious.)

By the middle of next week I should have positive news on the health front, and from Monday I only have one (enjoyable new) job role to perform. I'm going to work hard at resolving my sleep problems as best I can, including talking to my doctor about maybe even going back on my old treatment regime. So I fully expect this little rollercoaster ride to slow down pretty soon. Until then, time to chop wood and carry water, and smell the flowers along the way.

A Walk Through Enmore

I'm having a lazy sort of day today. Sydney is being treated to an unseasonal blast of Spring/Summer weather, and I have the day to myself as my beautiful paramour Peter is home sleeping after working a late night shift last night. I decided a lazy day was on the cards because I'm going out tonight to a big leather themed dance party, and so conserving energy and some later afternoon napping were the two priorities. I had a few minor errands to run, so I grabbed the camera and went for a walk in the sun through Enmore.

Go back through this blog, or my flickr photostream and I guarantee without fail there will be annual Magnolia photos. Bigger men than me have tried, so who am I to fight the power of the Magnolia?

I thought this yarn bombed old telegraph pole was charmingly done. Not just "Let's wrap this in a piece or knitting/crochet" but a bit more thought had been put into making it pretty.

But don't stop there, because telecomms switching box thingies need some love and pretty too.

And just a couple of houses down from the yarn bombed telephone pole this little someone came over for a cwtch*.

Once the cwtching was done, I ran my errands and then strolled home through the glorious sunshine. I even got a couple of texts and a loving call from the boy, before he turned in to catch some zzzzzs before he heads to work this evening. All in all a pretty glorious afternoon.

* For some reason, despite being 50/50 Scottish and English in our house ever since I can remember my family usually always used the Welsh word cwtch in relation to the necessary and important cuddling of animals.

Postscript: Here's a sampling of past Magnolia Madness.

Winter In The Garden

As I write this the rain is thundering down outside. It has rained relentlessly all day today, and my normal view of the city from my cubicle at work wasn't. (A view, that is.) Were it not for the fact that my office is on the 9th floor there could have been gorillas in that mist for all I could tell.

Apparently we're rounding off the coldest May in 40 years in grand style.

I took these photos of my sprightly new sweet pea shoots yesterday, and I'm hoping they're dealing with the beating they're getting out there. Is this what parenting feels like? The worry? The protectiveness?

Who will think of the children?

I planted up two pots, one has the lovely burgundy red heirloom sweet pea Sweet Velvet and the other has a heavily scented dark crimson through to purple variety called Busbee. Both should grow to around 2m tall, so by the start of Spring I should have two tall towers of blooms.

Weather permitting.

Spring Colours

A few pics I took recently while out walking with my camera.





There is so much beauty to be seen in this world. It's the looking that's the real skill, and I'm grateful to my camera for helping me to really see.

Steamy, With A Chance Of Thunderstorms

It has been so unbelieveably hot and humid in Sydney these past few weeks, with little respite. Even on the days when the temperature hasn't been that bad, the humidity has been so high that it feels like the tropics. In the past few weeks I've had poor wilted tourists visiting the yarn store where I work, not having realised just how tropical Sydney can be. We've also had lots of rain, heavy, drenching evening rains especially, that haven't done much to relieve the situation.

The aftermath. It was raining when I set out to pay a visit to my doctor this morning, and the footpath in front of the doctor's office was awash in Frangipani flowers that had come down in the heavy summer rain squalls.

My neighbours have a Mango tree in their backyard, and one heavily laden branch is growing over the fence and is drooping down just outside my back door. This rather small mango seems to be the first to start to ripen. It's just a shame I hate the taste of them...

The rain we had this morning left beautiful silvery droplets on the other, larger fruit hanging from the tree.

Yesterday I had headed into the Art Gallery of New South Wales for an hour or so, before being due to meet up with friends at Sunday arvo drinks. On the way I passed the steps of one of the older a buildings in the area (I think it's some sort of courthouse building) and spotted this Frangipani flower. I liked the contrast of the soft, crisp form against the dark stone of the column and the column's base.

I had a nice little wander around the gallery, visited a bunch of my favourites, but realised as I walked in that I was just catching the end of a free talk given by artists Gilbert & George. Bugger, I would have liked to have seen the whole thing. I capped the rest of the afternoon off with drinks with friends, before heading to another venue to keep on drinking and watch a few drag shows. I'm currently working Tuesday to Saturday, so Sunday and Monday are my weekend.

Which now brings me full circle to my Monday off, a day of rain showers in the morning (and steamy, bright sunshine in the afternoon), a slightly hungover doctor visit (me, not her), the rest of the day hanging out and shopping with my friend Judy, and an afternoon movie. ("It's Complicated", which while not actually being a terribly complicated movie was a real good laugh, and enriched by the performances of Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and John Krasinski.) Not a bad weekend indeed.

Fireworks

I had a late night last night so I started the day with a lazy sort of morning, a sleep-in, a bit of interwebs cruising, a coffee... all rather sedentary activities. Late morning I popped my head outside and got a pleasant surprise. Today was beautiful! Sunny, mild, less "Autumn" and more "Spring".

So I kicked my butt into, well not exactly high gear but out of 'park' anyway, and climbed out of the gravitational well of the sofa. I decided to take a wander with my camera at lunchtime, making my way slowly to The Courthouse Hotel for pub knitting at 2pm.



Look. At. This. I'm sorry, Autumn? Look at these showstoppers! These attention seeking show-offs! Clearly they are meant to be blooming at this time of year, which is actually Autumn, but whatever.



Right around the corner from these was a shady wall covered with grape vines, grape vines that were covered in leaves turning russet reds and and dark browns. Which I tried to make some nice pics out of, and they were quite beautiful, but my heart just wasn't in it. Not compared with the hot pink fireworks. No contest.

Och Aye!

I found this thistle growing as a weed in the street the other day. It quickened the Scottish blood that runs through my veins.

Cirsium Vulgare, aka the Roadside Thistle. Invasive weed or not I was still happy to see it.

Precious Purple

Some colours are like magnets. They draw your eye to them, red is one of those colours for example. Purple is a magnetic colour for me and it always draws my eye in.

I'm especially drawn to dark, rich purples. One of my favourite shirts is a purple so dark it's almost black. I can appreciate the beauty of lavender and pale purples though. I especially love the combination of sage-y grey greens, leaf greens and lavender in the picture above. The little tiny touch of yellow in the flower centre that gives a punch.

I manipulated this pic to up the contrast and give it some drama, but I didn't really alter the colour much. I tend not to play around with my pics that much generally, because I like to capture what I see as naturally as posible, but I like the end result of this one. The high contrast gives a sort of solarised effect that I kind of dig. We all need a bit of drama now and then.

I suspect that if I went through all my photos I would find and a very high percentage of purple flowers and objects. Magnets are there to attract, after all.

A Beautiful Day

Right from the first moments of waking this morning, I knew it was going to be a hot and lovely day. It just had that taste in the air. The breeze coming through my bedroom window was unseasonably warm, and full of that summery, pollen-y, it's already hot at 7am sort of feeling. I spent a very lazy morning futzing about, eating hot buttered toast with a cup of tea (I'm out of coffee, but it was fine because I enjoyed the tea for a change), cruised the interweb for a while and then set out just a few streets over to visit my friend Christopher for an early lunch.

Christopher is a good host, an excellent conversationalist, and a man who's not afraid to open a lightly chilled bottle of Pinot Noir at 11.30am on a hot day. We sat out in his small backyard under the shade of this beautiful Wisteria, ate risotto and then worked our way through a second bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

Well, hot days are thirsty work. I shot these pics before my second (third?) glass of wine and before we scarfed down coffees and some delicious chocolates. Num. Lunch was early because I had my usual date at the pub for knitting, and although there was a mix up with the table booking this week we had a good turn out and it was a fun afternoon. By 4 I could feel myself starting to sunburn, and so it was time to head home.

Sydney weather is famously changeable at this time of year, so I could be moaning about cold and wet this time next week, but in the meantime it really feels like Spring didn't happen and we've started Summer early. No complaints from me.

(Not until next week anyway...)

An Enduring Love Affair

I have a long and enduring love affair with my neighbourhood of Newtown. I appreciate it in Autumn, and I mostly have a fondness for it in Winter, but when Spring and Summer roll around I think I fall in love with it a little bit more every year. Once the days get longer, the parks full of people later into the early evening, and the percentage of beautiful cloudless days increases, I just enjoying being in my neighbourhood. I hope I capture a little bit of how I feel about where I live when I post pictures here.

I spotted these gold pumps mounted high up on the side wall of a house on the way home this afternoon. Tucked away in a little side street, they're a bit of silliness and surprise that made me laugh out loud.

Most of my neighbourhood is quite high density living, full of old workers' cottages and narrow terrace houses, and while we could probably be a little bit more actively friendly with each other, everyone in my end of my long narrow street gets along and generally leaves each other alone. (Bin thief or two excepted.) Some of my favourite residents are the street full of friendly pusses. It can take me double the time to walk up my street if they are all out and ready to be paid their due. From the demanding ginger tom that starts yelling for a pat when I'm still two houses away, to the inscrutable Burmese that accepts but never seeks scritches.

Beautiful morning light and a luminous bloom growing through a fence near my house.

It's not all about the felines. A few blocks from home there is a big park where dogs are allowed to romp off the lead. In the morning and in the dusk of late afternoon you'll find groups of people from old Greek grans, to inner-urban Goths and hipsters, and of course lots of The Gays, standing around chatting while a large well natured pack of pups of all shapes and sizes chase each other and any ball that's being thrown.

A fantastic vintage Dodge truck I passed in the street last weekend. I didn't spot the driver, but I'm picturing a white tee with some Malboros tucked in the arm. Wishful thinking maybe

I've talked about the diversity of my neighbourhood before, but I think that's one of the strengths. The uni students, old residents that have lived here forever, and the vegan right-on sisterhood (and brotherhood) stop it from getting too precious, while The Gays (of which we are many) and the young families bring special flavours and colours of our own. The cafes are good, the shopping likewise, there are chi chi and grungy pubs... in a word, variety.

Some rear laneway street art I chanced upon last weekend.

It's a good fit for me. I like the peaceful part of the street I live in, while less than 10 minutes away there are cafes, restaurants, funky shops and bookstores open late into the night. Pretty much what I had hoped for when I moved from sleepy old Adelaide all those years ago. It just took me a while to find but, but now I'm here I'm in no rush to ever move... ever!

Pink & Blue

Oh joyous day! OMG you guys, it's hot. Today has been the most glorious day. Bright, sunny, hot. It's only Spring so this blast of early Summer can't last too long, but I'm loving while it's here. I wandered out to cast my vote in the local election, strolled along King St, went to knitting at the cafe for a couple of hours, and on the way home shot these pics below.

Azaleas! It's most definitely Spring, everything seems to be bursting into flower.

I love the shapes of the kooky equipment in this little children's playground near my house. In my head I've always called these things the BlueFOs, because that's how I roll my friends.

Shortly it'll be time to get gussied up and meet Pete (a friend, who I sort of dated for a short while about a year or so ago) for a drink and some dinner. Nice! Maybe we can find somewhere that has tables outside, because this weather needs to be reveled in!

One Perfect Lily

When I went outside into my courtyard yesterday I noticed that the first lily of the season had opened its little face to the sun. Hey there happy face! Some people think these lilies are a bit, I don't know, funereal? Maybe? I don't think so though, I think they are happy flowers and I love their sculptural form.

Just to show that Winter hasn't entirely quit the scene yet, today was rainy and a bit stormy so this lily is not showing quite the sunny disposition that it was yesterday. I love the way water beads on the big waxy petals though, so it was nice to shoot these slightly more dramatic shots this afternoon.

I guess every happy face has a tear now and then!

It's That Time Again

If you have read this blog for a while, or kept tabs on my Flickr photostream, you'll know by now that I essentially take the same photos and write a similar blog entry at roughly this time of year every year. This time of year being Magnolia Time! I can't help it.

There is something about seeing these guys towards the end of Winter each year that gives me a lift, puts a kick in my step. Especially when they are combined with a blue sky day. Spring is just around the corner! Sure, they are a Winter flower but they seem to be heralding Spring in exaggerated fashion.

Shall we make it a date for next year?!

Organic Markets

I while back my friend Meaghan mentioned that there was an organic food market that had started up at the Addison Road Centre, a community co-op type place in Marrickville, about a twenty minute walk from my house. That information sort of lurked in the dark recesses of my brain until I saw an ad on tv for the website www.organicfoodmarkets.com.au. This weekend was lovely and mild, so after a bit of searching on the website I discovered a listing for the Marrickville market and decided to head on over on Sunday.

The Addison Road Centre is a funky place, a collection of buildings around a central green space and car park, that houses a number of co-op businesses and community services.

It was a lovely mild day and I had a nice time wandering around the markets. Aside from a number of places selling organic fruit and veg there were stalls selling cheeses, bread, pastries, hot food, second hand books and a big selection of plants grown by the community garden.

Stunning bromeliads on sale from the community co-op garden.

One of my most favourite places in the world is Reverse Garbage, which is part of the Addison Road Centre. OMG. It's like an Alladin's Cave of... well... stuff. Industrial offcuts. Factory seconds. Odds and ends. Crap. It's a great resource for schools, kids, and middle aged gay men with an overactive Graft Gene. So. Fabulous.

Behold the wonders of Reverse Garbage!

It's even a home to things that could be best described as: Nice. Different. Unusual.

A little something for the "Kath & Kim" fans.

Best of all I scored a bounty of yummy organic vegetables, and some awesome natural Light Rye Sourdough (made by an equally yummy baker) from 13 year old natural sourdough starter. A world of delicious! The baby asparagus were so cute I felt like cuddling them. (But that would be weird, right?) And Rhubarb! OMG, favourite wintery comfort food.

It was such a nice morning, wandering, spotting cute puppies and cute young dads (like, really), sipping coffee and shopping for spectacular quality veg. I'm definately going to make it a regular thing.

Summery Sunday

The absolute best thing about Autumn 2008 in Sydney so far, is that it's Summer. Apparently. The torrential rains of this Summer have gone, and it's warm and delicious. I took myself off for a late breakfast on Sunday morning, with the paper and my camera, and sat and people watched, and turned to follow the sun like a sunflower. Glorious! Afterwards I spent the afternoon knitting in The Courthouse beer garden, and celebrating my friend Pong's receipt of Australian Citizenship.

Many beers were had. Life is good.

Truth in advertising.

Beautiful pink hibiscus in my neighbour's front garden. Also enjoying the delayed Summer.

Pretty purple litter.

Whorls

I took my camera for a little spin at lunch time and got shots of some of the roses growing down the street from my office. I cranked the lens aperture open as far as it would go (in this case F1.8) to get as shallow a depth of field as possible, to give the soft dreamy quality.

If all you heard was blah blah, don't worry about the technical stuff. Just enjoy the pretties!





I'm really pleased with the results. I hope you like them!

Flower Power

On Saturday morning I got up with the sparrows (scratch that, before them) to join my friend Judy and her son John at the monthly Pyrmont Growers' Market. Saturday was warm, grey and rainy for much of the day, but the weather held off long enough for us to have a nice wander around the markets.

I didn't buy much, just a jar of seriously yummy tayberry jam and the paper. I never buy very much at the markets, the pack sizes of most of the produce is too large for lil' ole singleton me and inspiration is sometimes slow to strike. Much of the food on offer is at the 'gourmet' end of the spectrum. I enjoy the market experience though; coffee and pastries, people watching, puppy dog watching, hanging out with Judy and John, and taking photos. As Judy pointed out I'm a voyeur.

This time around it was the flowers at the market that really drew my attention. Their cheery little faces brightening up a gloomy morning.

Australian native pink gumnuts


Sunflowers. What could be cheerier?


Lotus pods. "The jewel is in the lotus ~ Om Mani PadMe Hum"

Colours Of Summer

Red Passion Flower, passiflora coccinea.


My new and thoroughly awesome vintage Hawaiian shirt.


Fashion standby, the classic plastic flower bra.


Not so much 'grass', as raffia and plastic. Beware naked flames.

Don't feel a little cheerier now?