Thundering Through The Raindrops

I am thoroughly enjoying the drop in temperature.
Almost wintry!
Yesterday I took the bus into town, wandered about, and came home again on the bus.
It’s the first time I’ve done the whole trip since we’ve been here, although I’ve caught the bus home a few times. Not enough rain to get drenched while I was at the (ingoing) bus stop, but needed the umbrella.
I was reflecting, while gazing through the rain on the bus window, on what someone recently said to me – that I had a “child-like excitement”. On that occasion, it was referencing my enthusiasm over our street library odyssey last week (books! who wouldn’t be excited?) but I felt it yesterday as well.
It’s all new, and wonderful, if you look at things that way.
I was sifting through past selves, as well as enjoying the moment.
I used to ride the bus to high school, although I don’t have major memories of that. Mostly, my internal movie screen was taking me back to my first journeys in England, when I didn’t quite know where the bus was taking me, but anything was possible. There were bus trips across European cities too, but not as much rain…

So I sat, and smiled, and remembered.
Drifted through the city centre.

The flowers were also reveling in the rain.

Tried out a pink latte, in honour of Valentines Day.

Something to do with white chocolate and strawberry?

Contentment!

Contemplated an interesting question.

And treated myself to a small etching and aquatint snail.

I looked up the artist – she’s based in the U.K. Looks like her work generally goes for a bit more than the $2 I paid!

I got home not long after lunch, hurtling through the rain-swept streets until we reached the bus stop down from my place.

Tired. Hungry. And very happy.
❤

Published in: on February 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Books, Birthdays, And Country Drives

I went on a bit of a road trip today, checking out the Little Free Libraries in our local area.
I turned 57 today – an age I can’t quite believe I can apply to myself, but an age I am thankful to have reached.

It’s been a lovely day.
We started at the far end of the route I had decided on, and found ourselves in a kind of fairyland…

The idea of the street libraries is to “take a book – leave a book – share a book”. It’s quite OK to just take a book, but I somehow ended up with a stack of books that I already had, so I left one wherever I took one.
Some places had other things as well.

(this is where fairyland comes in 🙂 )
The trees aren’t free (there’s instructions on payment, by donation, I think) but it is free to talk to them.
They like it.

There are a few places around the area with honey.

Some with eggs, or herbs and other things to pick.

There was a good selection of adult books at most places, and also a good lot of kids’ books.

A cool, sunny day

but I was about ready for a nice, cold drink…

Caramel (LF) milkshake.
Yum!

So, we wended our weary way home, stopping here and there, until we got back and I could rest and relax.
Our household has various dietary differences at the moment, so it didn’t make sense to get a whole cake that I would end up eating, mostly by myself.

My birthday doughnut!
(lemon pavlova flavour)

Happy Birthday to Me!
😀

Published in: on February 4, 2026 at 5:30 pm  Leave a Comment  
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A Little Bag Of Lollies

We’re getting closer to moving – should be done some time over the weekend.
Went down to the Post Office to get mail redirected, and also picked up a little bag with a smattering of the kind of lollies I remember from childhood – bananas, milk bottles, and spearmint leaves (although not the real ones in this case!) I enjoyed the little splash of reminiscing 🙂

There are a lot of boxes around at the moment.

It’s all pretty organised, though.
Tomorrow evening we’ll start with packing the truck, ready for the morning, and then it’s full steam ahead!

Still should be time for a cuppa now and then!

Published in: on July 31, 2025 at 9:37 pm  Leave a Comment  

A Pearl Of A Weekend

Yesterday was our 30th (Pearl) anniversary.
Where did the time go?!

My Mum made us a photo framed with pearls.

I remember those youngsters!

We got back today from an overnight stay in the country.

Our room – the kitchen is behind on the left, and the bathroom on the right.
The price includes fresh bacon, and eggs from the onsite chooks, for breakfast.
It was a peaceful place, and we had a lovely time walking around the garden, sitting with a pot of tea enjoying the view, or talking over crackers with pate and a glass of wine.
Yes, we do know how to party!

A bit more of the view –

We reminisced about the years gone by, and talked about plans for the years to come.
It’s fairly common for us to take time to sit and talk, but there’s something about a cuppa tea on a wooden verandah, with mountains in the distance, that just takes it a bit above the ordinary…

We had hoped to see the stars last night, but it was too cloudy.
We caught the sunset, though!

❤

Published in: on September 16, 2024 at 11:58 pm  Comments (1)  
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Loving The Serenity

Finally, the rain came!
My weather app was promising full on rain most of the day, but we didn’t get that until not long ago, and then, not for long.

Here’s a bit of colour, if you want a break from the grey!

🙂

It’s pleasantly cool, and peaceful in my little nook.
I’ve had a “Positive Vibes” incense stick burning, and have been meandering through time.
This morning I started a book – a memoir of time spent in Venice in the summer of 1957, apparently a transition time between the days of the “Grand Tour” and the advent of the package tour.

I spent a small part of the summer of 1994 in Venice. It’s one of the places I would have liked to see again, and to see better. My summer was firmly in the time of package tours, although I wandered round Europe on my own.
Sometimes I think about writing my memoirs of my travels. They wouldn’t be as glamorous as the book I’m reading – no taking care of titled children in the palazzo, rubbing shoulders with the elite! More stumbling around in my big boots and Tyrolean hat, trying not to collapse in the heat…
I want to remember what I can, though,
while I can still remember it.
My travel style was a bit chaotic – turning up to places and finding hostels when I got there, finding interesting nooks and crannies, but probably missing any number of tourist landmarks. This was long before you could look up your itinerary online. I’m sure I would be more prepared if I were to go again.

But, if I close my eyes, I can just hear the sound of the canals, the gondolas (and other water craft) clunking against the docks, the sound of many voices and languages… I can still, faintly, feel the heat radiating fom ancient stone.
And, just for a second, feel the serenity.

Published in: on September 12, 2024 at 5:56 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Shedding Light On Years Gone

It’s hard to believe half the year’s over.
This week has galloped past me – is it time itself speeding up, or am I just getting old?
I’ve been rearranging bits and pieces around the place, and admiring the light at different times of the day. At the moment afternoon light seems to make my room look sort of pinkishy-orange.

It also brings out the beauty in a woven bag.

…as well as the stack of baskets I have yet to find a use for.

I still go out to the verandah after dark to look over our part of town, before closing the door to the night.
I took some photos in the darkness – my phone seems to have a night setting!

At times, ploughing through the mass of memorabilia, I wonder whether I should throw more stuff out.
Then I find myself looking again at tickets, receipts, letters and postcards from my journey through Europe when I was 25. I remembered more than I thought I could (and startled a largely uninterested son with reminiscences, when he had just come in to ask me a question…)

Disregard Frodo staring out at us.
Pretty much everything is in as good a condition as it was then. That plastic bag at the top contains my hair (which Biggest Boy thought was creepy…). I kept it because my hair had been quite long at the time, but Europe was so hot that I got it all chopped off very short, and didn’t want to just throw it all out. I’m not sure what to do with it now!

I also kept bits of currency, which is no longer used in the countries I visited in Europe.

The Netherlands 10c piece is the tiniest I have. You can see that the Eire (Ireland) coin fits in the hollow of a film canister lid – it’s roughly the size of an Australian 5c piece. The Netherlands 10c is tiny, and very light as well.

Bits of paper.
Random coins.
It all seems fairly useless.
But I can hold them in my hands, and once again feel the cold of a wet Irish night, or the heat of baking Roman stone. And I can remember younger me, heading out to see the world, still able to hike any amount of miles with a huge backpack on my back.
Life is strange, sometimes.
But still sweet.
❤

Published in: on July 2, 2023 at 12:11 am  Leave a Comment  

A Moving Experience

At least just over half of one!
We moved a whole lot of stuff to the new house today (and thank you to the wonderful people who came to help us!)
The most important things had to go first, of course.

Where will I put all the boxes of books if I don’t have my bookcases?

We’ll be doing the rest next weekend, with a few visits during the week to do bits and pieces.
We got the keys Friday. Had a look – there are some things that need fixing or changing. Definitely too many wasp nests hanging under the verandah for my taste. Of course, one would be too much for me…
It’s an old place, so some things are wonky (our built in cupboard doors slide to the middle when you try to shut them), and we’ll have to figure out keys, light switches, power points, and our bins seem to have disappeared.
However, this was the sight that first greeted us when we pulled up to the carport.

It’s all coloured glass and wood inside (tiles downstairs).

……

This makes me think of butterflies, even though they’re…not.

The shade in our “walk in wardrobe”.

Yes, that is a spa bath in the corner of our bedroom…
as tempted as I am to fill it up and have a go, it’s not plugged in, and using it would also mean cleaning it.
Maybe I’ll get a foot spa.
I’m thinking of filling it with some sort of cushioning and making it into a mini sunken lounge 😆

Also a part of our bedroom area is the magical hidden toilet.

We thought the door was part of the wardrobe, but slid the door across and there it was!
The light through the window obscures the glass slats, all painted different colours ❤
I did look in it today and surprised a spider and many ants (also in the cistern). It may need some work before we use it.
There’s also a lovely old basin hidden at the side.

Looking out to the verandah.

(I have a verandah! 😀 )

It’s surprisingly quiet, and cool.

There are still things to pack and transport. We’ll be here until the last minute, when the fridge and beds go over.
But – we’re on the move!

Published in: on February 18, 2023 at 7:46 pm  Comments (4)  

Challenge!

The days are getting hotter – there have been a few when I’ve felt on the verge of spontaneous combustion…
so of course, what better time to sign up for a virtual marathon or two? 😆

I’ve been working on a couple of races from The Conqueror site. I’ve chosen some smallish ones – a Trek to Petra, and the Flower Route through the Netherlands.
The initial plan was to increase my walking, both in distance and frequency, but the heat hasn’t made that easy. I haven’t made it back to the pool yet this season. I did find out, however, that the daily walk to the mailbox and back is about 400m, so that helps. I’ve worked out distances for walks I do regularly, whether around town, or to and from bus stops. The real help, though, comes from the handy conversion chart that is on the site – both housework and grocery shopping can be around 500ish metres every 10 minutes!
So far I’m about 30% along each route. You get virtual postcards as you go, and a tree is planted every 20% of the route.
I see some pretty things in my actual walking…

…and I also find some interesting things in my virtual walking.

Petra doesn’t seem to have street view on the map, but I’ve looked at various parts of the Netherlands – my first “stop” was some sort of shop.

Pastries? Cheese? I can’t really tell…

Wandered into a little alleyway.

And of course, there are tulips! And other flowers – daffodils?

Also, strange half people…

I still have a long way to go.
But I’ll get there.
🙂

Published in: on October 30, 2021 at 10:12 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Town Town?

This is about the town where I was born and grew up. I haven’t been there in about 25 years, so it was a strange mixture of familiarity and bewilderment…
Tony Robinson is always fun to watch, and there’s a sneaky little Baldrick reference in there as well 😉

Published in: on May 26, 2021 at 9:54 am  Leave a Comment  
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Looking Through Windows

Here’s a great new song from Wild Eyed Wonder, with clips of views from around the world that people sent in to be included in the finished song 🙂

In this year of varied stages of isolation there have been many attempts to use the internet to get out into the world again.
There’s The World From My Window, a place to share stories from various individuals from their lockdown.
Or you can travel online via WindowSwap to see the view from the windows of people around the world…

Happy travelling!
❤

Published in: on October 1, 2020 at 7:34 am  Leave a Comment  
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