Underwater Wonderland

Just a quick little update;

I've been making the most the most of the warm weather and the Gold Coast lately and have been snorkelling the past two weekends. It is my new favorite thing. The first weekend was lovely, blue and clear but we went out too late and the boats and jetskis started to push us into the rocks.

Last weekend, we went prepared. We packed up the boat with pizza and chocolate biscuits, I bought a disposable water/shockproof camera and we headed out for Wavebreak and South Stradbroke Islands. Unfortunately, it had rained the night before so the water was a little murky. We fed the fish (they are very tame) but one bit me on the belly button - ouch! Then we went for a little trek to try and find the Wavebreak Island deer (without success) and were home by 10am. I haven't developed the photos yet because I would like to go out again and get some nice clear ones.

Just for fun, (and also like Shell, I don't like posting without a picure, here is a photo of a lovely little heart padlock I bought myself.

Happy Puppiversary

I brought my little puppy home from the farm a year ago today! Happy puppiversary little one.

Op Shop Adventures

The best thing about my job is its location. One hundred metres from the broadwater and walking distance to seven op shops and four second hand book shops (as well as a shopping centre but that is pretty boring in comparison). I have a look around these op shops a couple of times a week, sometimes I can go weeks without finding anything and then go crazy in one day. Its the luck of the draw.


January has been a good month for thrifting. I found a beautifully handcrafted dress which was dated 1973 by the seamstress. Only eight dollars, what a bargain!





I also found this teacup and saucer made by Australian Potters, Sovereign for one dollar and this very photogenic little poodle for free! (with $5 Polaroid camera).





The last item of note is a nautical Yves Saint Laurent scarf which I intended to make into a dress after seeing a dress made out of scarves on a girl in line at Bunnings. Although, I don't know if I will be able to bring myself to cut it up - maybe it will live out its life with me as a scarf.

Note to self: Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it's done right. Even a pancake. - Julia Child.

More patches

Here are the second and third patches for my Grandmother's flower garden quilt. They are getting to be rather tedious to blog about, but they take so long to do (about a week - I'm all about instant gratification) I feel like I should post them. Also I do love them so, I can't wait until it is finished.

Feeling a little bit frustrated with the direction my life is travelling in at the moment - I think it is just a New Year thing. I also seem more dissatisfied in the beginning of the year. Also I think I am feeling a bit unfulfilled after going from Tafe two nights a week to nothing. I have been trying to completely ban television from my life but unfortunately it goes so well with hand quilting. I need to do things that require me to be away from the television. Although I have been consciously trying to reduce television for a couple of years, reading Keri's ad-free blog really brought home for me how much garbage I have been filling my head with my whole life and how much of my memory I am wasting on stupid television shows and advertisements! Then I started to think, it is just a coincidence that as a whole the people of the world seem smarter than they were before television? It's hard to tell. Anyway, I think no television is the way to go for me.

Note to self: Growth demands a temporary surrender of security - Gail Sheehy

Rhubarb (and Apple) Delicious

Yesterday I turned this;

into this;

The rhubarb is home grown, I bought it from a little stall on the side of the road at Mount Tambourine.

Speaking of home grown, I've been growing some produce of my own.

I have been making this salad from it for about a week - mmm healthy. Why does food you grow yourself taste so good? I also have some basil, cherry tomatoes, mint, fennel, rocket and chillies in pots. It's a lot of fun watching them grow and then heartlessly ripping them out of the ground and eating them - ha ha.

I checked out the 2006 Conrad Jupiters Art Prize and Surfing the 60s: A journey of discovery exhibitions at the Gold Coast Art Gallery yesterday. It was wonderful to see all the diverse works of art by artists from all over the country. I cast my vote for the People's Choice award, which was really quite difficult - I do not envy the judges!

I also read The Secret History by Donna Tartt on the weekend. I heard a lot of good things about this book when The Little Friend came out a few years ago and while I enjoyed The Little Friend it didn't blow me away. The Secret History did. I found myself drawn into the story from the prologue. The characters are fascinating and different, the setting for the story is unique and the story itself explores character, remorse and lack thereof. Although the

characters did a terrible thing, I somehow sympathised with them.

I also read Magic for Marigold by L.M. Montgomery early this year . I enjoyed this book but didn't fall in love with it like I have some other books by L.M.M.

Phew, all in all, it was quite a productive (for me) and photo heavy weekend.

Life is sweet

I received my set of three Cahier Moleskines today (I only ordered them yesterday), and I am already hooked! The Cahier notebooks are the bottom of the range Moleskines, but they are a perfect introduction for me. Not too flash or expensive so I am not intimidated to use them, the perfect size and page number and having three means I can segregate my thoughts, ideas, sketches and souvenirs. I bought them from Remo and if I must be consumerist (and yes, sometimes I must) I can't think of a better place to do it.

Apart from being back at work already, I have had a lovely start to the year. On new year's day I went for a drive to Mount Tamborine. It is only half an hour away, but everything is so much more vivid and fresh up there. Some of my favorite things were; the way the red clay dyes the concrete footpaths and driveways, the agapanthas - we have them down here as well but the colour of them is so intense up there, sweet little butterflies enjoying the mass of plant life and the rolling hills and valleys stretching for miles and barely inhabited by humans.

In the evening Graeme and I took Dane to the beach for a run. The water was lukewarm despite this extremely temperate (for Queensland) summer. As lovely as this summer is, the change in climate is concerns me. It makes me feel a little helpless sometimes. The earth is such a beautiful place it makes me sad to think of the damage we are doing to it, even when we try not to.

Two nights ago I had a moonlight dance in the rain. The droplets were fat and happy, the clouds were purple and the moon was full. I would say the moon made me crazy, but it is too late for that. My soul was refreshed and my heart full of joy.

I hope I can have many more lovely times with nature this year.

I am kind of glad not many (if any) people read this because a lot of the things I write here are a little queer and don't come out quite right - maybe I could keep some things in my Moleskines only.

Farewell 2006, Hello 2007

Sometime in late 2004, I got it into my head that 2006 was going to be "my year". I don't know what made this occur to me and I didn't expect to have to work for this change, I just expected things to magically go right for me. Now that 2006 has come and gone I no longer think that this past year was predestined to be a wonderful year for me - I think the positive changes that occurred had more to do with my thinking that it was going to be a great year.

While 2006 hasn't turned out exactly as I imagined (when does that ever happen) it has been a good year and I have learnt some important lessons.

I have learnt to find joy within myself rather than allowing my feelings to be dependant on other people or external circumstances.

I have learnt to be a little more wary of who I trust. My life has been fairly untouched by devious people until this year (lucky me) and I have learnt that some people are very good at hiding their true selves. However, I am not going to let this make me bitter or close my heart - I am just going to take a little more care.

I have also learnt that I can do just about anything I am put my mind to it. Completing my part time diploma with such good marks has been a much needed confidence booster. Even though I do not really want to pursue a career in my area of study, doing the course has motivated and prepared me for continual learning and self improvement.

Come on 2007!

This year I am going to be true to myself, stand up straight, keep learning and go to Canada. I am hoping that putting these hopes in writing will solidify them in my heart and allow me to enable them.