10.06.2011
8.27.2011
Such an Eighties Girl !
Are you an eighties person ? Are you smiling knowingly when you look at these images ? The photos were snapped on a phone so the quality is poor, but you will still be reminded of a piece of the past.
I love this teen bedroom ! One of my friends ( Hi Trudi if you are reading) had this exact Ken Done bedspread, I am sure of it!! And what about those movie posters? Who remembers Flashdance and The Breakfast Club? What about Dirty Dancing ( a personal favourite... I now own the (hmm hmmm) 25th Anniversary DVD. Can you believe it was so long ago ?
Oooh the beginnings of the lycra movement - love a good leg warmer !
Oh, and the music!!! Some of the best rock songs ever written came out of the eighties. Khe Sahn anyone ?
Strawberry Shortcake !
This is a really blurry photo taken through glass, but I just had to add it. Do you remember when the top hits were printed each week and appeared on Countdown and you could get a free copy at the record shop ?
Some of these record covers are instantly recognisable. Can you spot Footloose ? What about John Cougar .... or was he Mellencamp then! lol
Oh dear... I am such an eighties girl! What are your memories of the eighties ?
10.19.2010
I'm On A Diet - A Mental Diet
For more on imperfection visit Brene Brown and watch the video on imperfection.
5.23.2010
Re-Using Success.
I still have a lot of plastic in my cupboards.
I have been making a real effort to re-purpose a lot of it because I don't think there is any sense in just throwing it all into landfill. It defeats the purpose.
Slowly but surely I have been changing over some of the storage containers in my cooking cupboard, a cupboard I have above my main prep area so I can just reach up and grab everything I need.
The large glass jars are from buying coffee in bulk and the smaller jars are from local oysters. They have a plastic lid unfortunately, but I still like to re-use them.
I have labeled the jars very simply with a permanent texta.
I enjoy opening the cupboard and looking at all the cooking supplies. I can see at a glance what needs to be topped up, often from a bigger supply in the pantry. I especially enjoy decanting the farmer's market honey into my little pour bottle which makes it easier to manage and easier to pour out a little for a cup of tea or to add to a recipe. I also like having my spices in bigger containers because I use so much of them.
But most of all I love the fact that the containers are NUDE. There are no brand names, no bold colours and no in your face slogans. It makes me feel all 'Little House on the Prairie -ish' LOL or maybe even a bit 'Waltons-ish' - knowing I can send John Boy to the store for a pound of sugar any time soon!
- Gotta love a spoon full of madness each and every day.
5.22.2010
5.14.2010
{CLICK} {CLICK} Hello .... Are You There ?
The first few times I had emails asking me to give 'permission' to read my blog, I thought they had me confused with somebody else!
Then more emails came...... then more...... then more.......
It seems I somehow defaulted to a 'permission only' blog that would default back, even though I would untick the box.
Anyway........ enough of all that boring tech stuff.
I am just popping my head in to say the following:
- hello
- no I haven't abandoned you
- thank you to all the concerned emailers. Sorry I can't answer each of you individually, but take this as a collective {hug}.
- and most importantly..............................
holy crap - check out those crows feet in that untouched photo. I could sit here for four hours and 'photoshop' them out, then again I could post the photo as is, for all the world to see and claim them as a trophy of a life well lived and know that they came about after chasing two beautiful boys around the place.
So.... if you can read this..... send me some lovin' via comment or email so I know that you can read me loud and clear.
4.26.2010
What To Do On A Dreary Day ?
So, when it's rainy and dreary - what do you do ? You jump in the car and drive up to the lighthouse and run around like mad people because it is so windy and cold and everyone is hyperactive and the wind somehow gives you permission to yell and scream and let out all the energy that builds up when a storm is approaching.
Don't you love this mural ?
As the rain eases and the sun breaks through you get back into the car and drive home like a 'normal' family and become 'normal' and refined and well behaved once again.
You drive back up the driveway and the neighbours will never know how crazy you all really are.
4.23.2010
Our Grandparents Never Went to the Gym
Can you imagine trying to set up a gym or fitness centre in 1940. You would have to convince people that it was of benefit to them to come in and use the equipment.
I can imagine a farmer being told to get onto the treadmill so he can walk to get some exercise. He’d be saying – he get his exercise in the paddock thanks!
What about the gardener. She would be told to get on the weights machine, but she would argue that she gets enough of that pulling weeds and digging potatoes.
What about the woman told to jump on the bicycle to ride her way to fitness, she’d be saying that there was no point in doing that because she just rode four miles to get here on her own bicycle and still has the return journey ahead of her!
Yes, I agree with you that the 1940’s gymnasium would be a total flop!!
But, as a 2010 girl I have a gym membership. We have a community owned aquatic and leisure centre about half way between my house and town.
Sure, I could get my exercise walking in the paddocks, digging potatoes and riding my bicycle like they did in 1940, but there is one big difference. They never allowed do get themselves overweight in the first place.
Have you noticed when looking back at old photos and hearing people’s recollection that very few people were overweight ? I believe it is a combination of an active lifestyle and limited food variety and quantity.
Today we lead a more sedentary lifestyle and have an abundance of food all around us, and like any cow on a good pasture we are bound to add a few kilos each year until you hit middle age and ........... Last week I read that obesity is now the biggest health problem in Australia and is responsible for all kinds of preventable diseases and conditions.
If exercise was a pill it would be a wonder drug. It reduces stress, makes you feel very very happy, reduces blood pressure, corrects type 2 diabetes, makes for strong hearts, great skin, hair and nails. Who wouldn’t buy a box of that pill ?
So. Quite ironically I drive to the gym to get on the exercise equipment. One of the trainers told me I am close enough to ride my bike there and back, which I am… but if I rode my bike there, I wouldn’t have to go inside!!! ( That’s my logic …..and I am sticking to it for now!)
Is it worth the money ? I think so because I use it almost every day so the actual cost of each visit is less than a cup of coffee and I feel so damn good after a class. Today during a bodypump class with the music blaring I had a massive rush of endorphins and could barely stop myself from yelling out ‘damn…yeah!’ as I threw that weights bar over my head.
You can check out all about bodypump here.
3.01.2010
Paper Crafting Distraction
My youngest son went for his first sleepover. He was so excited that he was finally old enough to be let out! He turns nine in May.
I was excited for him as well. He was acting super grown up and playing it really cool. As he marched out the front gate with barely time for a cuddle and for me to spit on a hankie and wipe his little face like the embarrassing mother that I am - he was off!!
I was........ lost..... reflective maybe ? Can't quite explain it, just a little .......... delicate perhaps.
So, what better way to distract oneself that cracking out some coloured paper, some good wine and some great music.
These are some of the cards I made. You can see more of them at my stamping site www.splendidstamping.com
Do you want to know something really funny (?).......
When my eldest son went to Sydney for the first time on a school excursion it was the day of the major dust storm that brought Sydney to it's knees. So, you could imagine how I felt when I packed the youngest boy off to one of our local beach suburbs and they announced the tsunami warning for that area ! LOL
Coloured paper....... red wine..... loud music........ {thank goodness for the distraction}
2.28.2010
Indulgent Ironing
8.24.2009
Yesterday Was That Day
When that feeling comes, there is no denying the need to ditch the long track pants and pull on something shorter. Often it means bearing an ankle, perhaps a mid calf as you move into a ¾ length pant. But, yesterday was hot and to my surprise the temperature demanded that I move straight to the short shorts.
As I applied sunscreen and headed out into the garden I wondered whether I would do damage to any low flying aircraft as the glare coming off my beautiful lily white legs was enough to blind anyone within a 200 metre radius. But alas, I pushed on with my gardening feeling half naked as you do when you pull on your first shorts for the season.
The good news was that last year’s shorts can be pulled on without undoing the buttons which means there must have been some body shrinking compared to summer last year, hence the proud baring of flesh in the back yard.
8.14.2009
The Smell Of Spring
11.04.2008
I'm Taking My Sanity Out To A Movie
Over the years, my sanity money has dropped down to $10 per week. It seems I have weaned myself off buying things to make myself feel better or feel less deprived. I often don’t spend all of my sanity money and have some ‘carry over’ amounts which build up. Other weeks I blow it all on my addiction, - my signature vanilla latte on skim. The more I space these coffees, however, the more divine they are to sit and sip.
It’s important that you have sanity money, for without it you go mad! You start buying things willy nilly because you are not allowed to. When you are given an amount to simply blow on magazines, lottery tickets, coffee, wine or cigarettes you find you are a little more careful with it.
I keep mine in this ridiculously small old style purse. It reminds me of one my Nanna F had, before the days when you have to carry around 125 different plastic cards. The purse is so tiny I can’t even fit a credit card in it ( he he he I am outwitting myself! ) But it’s MINE! All MINE!!!! ( I say as I rub my hands together evilly) My other ‘sensible’ mother type purse has all the cards, library cards and all the household money for when I am shopping, putting fuel in the car etc.
So tonight I’m taking out my ridiculously small purse and I’m blowin the lot! ( she says now, but will probably be rather conservative when it comes to the crunch) I’m taking my sanity out to a movie with a girlfriend and will probably then paint the town red ( meaning will most likely have a hot chocolate after the movie) so…. Look out…… I’m gonna kick up my heels!
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