Walking To The Cafe

Decided to jump on into another exercise session today. We’d thought we were going to go regularly, but this is only the second time… It was crisp and cold, with blue, blue skies, and the promise of coffee and cheesecake for afters (I skipped breakfast).
Just down the road from us is a free council exercise program, with walking between stations. It seems a waste to have such a resource so close to us and not use it, especially as it’s not too hot now. There are various pieces of equipment for all levels.

The last photo is a station close to the car park, and is primarily for the elderly (equipment to improve grip and flexibility) and for wheelchair users. There are benches at each station in case you overdo it, and it’s a gentle walk around the circuit. Have a look at your local council Parks and Reserves page – I searched under “recreation”, then “strength and agility stations”

Finished the morning with mocha and cheesecake.

You can tell by my coffee that were sitting at a bit of a wonky table – the cafe was so full that we had to sit outside, and the footpath isn’t quite level… here’s the view.

Obviously the place to be!

Continuing the health vibe with kale chips and chamomile tea… time to sit in the sunshine and read 🙂

Published in:

on June 22, 2019 at 3:30 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: council exercise stations, rafter and rose

Pumpkin Reprised

A few days ago I was gifted with another pumpkin – this one is a heritage variety, although we don’t know what it’s called. The last one was dark green with yellow spots; this one almost looks like a Renaissance still life.

My camera couldn’t quite bring out the subtle greens and oranges. It almost glowed in the sunshine. I think this one will be nice roasted, although I’m not discounting pumpkin scones, or maybe a pie!
I decided on a whim to search for a poem about pumpkins. There seem to be plenty of children’s verses, but I only found one for adults. Here it is.

The Pumpkin

by John Greenleaf Whittier

Oh, greenly and fair in the lands of the sun,

The vines of the gourd and the rich melon run,

And the rock and the tree and the cottage enfold,

With broad leaves all greenness and blossoms all gold,

Like that which o’er Nineveh’s prophet once grew,

While he waited to know that his warning was true,

And longed for the storm-cloud, and listened in vain

For the rush of the whirlwind and red fire-rain.

*
On the banks of the Xenil the dark Spanish maiden

Comes up with the fruit of the tangled vine laden;

And the Creole of Cuba laughs out to behold

Through orange-leaves shining the broad spheres of gold;

Yet with dearer delight from his home in the North,

On the fields of his harvest the Yankee looks forth,

Where crook-necks are coiling and yellow fruit shines,

And the sun of September melts down on his vines.

*
Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,

From North and from South come the pilgrim and guest,

When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board

The old broken links of affection restored,

When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,

And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before,

What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?

What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

*
Oh, fruit loved of boyhood! the old days recalling,

When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!

When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,

Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

When we laughed round the corn-heap, with hearts all in tune,

Our chair a broad pumpkin,—our lantern the moon,

Telling tales of the fairy who travelled like steam,

In a pumpkin-shell coach, with two rats for her team!

*
Then thanks for thy present! none sweeter or better

E’er smoked from an oven or circled a platter!

Fairer hands never wrought at a pastry more fine,

Brighter eyes never watched o’er its baking, than thine!

And the prayer, which my mouth is too full to express,

Swells my heart that thy shadow may never be less,

That the days of thy lot may be lengthened below,

And the fame of thy worth like a pumpkin-vine grow,

And thy life be as sweet, and its last sunset sky

Golden-tinted and fair as thy own Pumpkin pie!

**********************

Now you can serenade your pumpkins!

I’ve also been taking some photos of lone flowers which I will share with you, to brighten your winter evening…

May you grow and shine – even when it’s cold!

Published in:

Thinking....

on June 21, 2019 at 5:00 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: John Greenleaf Whittier

Shakespeare Sings

Sounds like one of those compilation albums from the 70s…
I’ve been having a look at Shakespeare (Sweet Bean is studying Romeo and Juliet this term) and came across a BBC article on his influence on “modern music”. There’s quite a few, and some strange pairings (Metallica? Iron Maiden?). Some may only reference a line from a play in the lyrics, or even just the title. Some are sweet, some are clever. Here’s a selection.

Published in:

on June 18, 2019 at 11:28 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Shakespeare

Palindromic Hilarity

Saw this on Spicks and Specks this evening… thought we could all do with a laugh! 🙂

Published in:

Music

on June 17, 2019 at 11:08 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Spicks and Specks, Weird Al Yankovic

Sweet Cadbury, And The Size Of Food

Have you seen that Cadbury ad? I’ve been seeing it a lot lately, and I have a little sniffle and a smile every time. Yes – I know it’s scripted specifically to tug at the heartstrings and make me buy chocolate. I love it anyway.

I’ve been trying to not eat sugar lately, but sometimes a bit of chocolate seems like a happy choice for the day. I had a bit of a wander round the shops this afternoon – picked up some bargains, and a bar of chocolate for this evening. I also decided to treat myself to some KFC, as I haven’t had any in a Very Long Time… what is with the meal deals? Who would need a bread roll and mashed potato? It seems like getting more costs you less, and soft drink is part of the deal, even though I wouldn’t want it (yes, water can be a substitute, but I don’t want a plastic bottle. That I more or less am paying for.) I asked if they did any deals on one or two pieces of chicken and a small chips. Answer – not really. The cost is the same if you buy them separately. I ended up getting one piece of chicken, which I enjoyed very much 🙂 You can specify which piece you want, as well.
Tomorrow I’ll reduce the sugar/trans fats portion of my diet… I just had a bit of a holiday today 😉
Got the bus home. Enjoyed watching “My Neighbour Totoro”… which is also sweet.
And the sun set on my Very Nice Day.

June Sunset

June Moon

Published in:

on June 15, 2019 at 9:20 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Cadbury Ad

Love Story For The Ages (Revisited)

Celebrated with Sweet Bean today, after his morning spent in a maths exam. He was calm and collected, and finished in plenty of time. We picked up some treats on the way home, in preparation for watching a movie this afternoon.
He’s been studying Romeo and Juliet this term – we’d already watched an older version which kept to the story and script. This afternoon I thought we’d have a look at Romeo + Juliet (the weird 1996 version). We barely lasted till the lovers’ meeting…
On the plus side, I can tell that he’s familiar with the source material. He was picking up inaccuracies from the start, and eventually he got quite distressed with the modern-mixed-with-original-speech interpretation. Perhaps I’ll watch the rest on my own sometime… we’ll get West Side Story from the library and watch that instead.

Walked in the sunshine after the darkness of the movie afternoon – off through the cemetery. It’s a contemplative place. Very quiet.

It was such a beautiful afternoon that the moon came out very early – it’s the tiny white circle in the bright blue sky!

Time for bed.
“Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-browed night…”
Until tomorrow!

Published in:

Thinking....

on June 12, 2019 at 11:52 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Romeo and Juliet

Musing In The Grey

We haven’t really got out of bed today.
Obviously there’s been breakfast. And coffee. That’s just been the results of a mad dash to the kitchen and back before we get too chilly…

Such a grey and gloomy old day – hasn’t decided whether it wants to rain yet, but that definitely seems a likelihood. There’s nowhere for us to be today, so wrapping up in a duvet, reading and watching YouTube seems to be the best option.
It’s been a week of fluctuating temperatures, where it’s been hard to choose between a heavy coat and a tshirt for going out. Some days have needed both. I’ve come up against memories of childhood, and had days where I couldn’t be sure of the difference between “getting older” aches and pains, and twinges that perhaps should get further investigation. I’m still standing! Well, lounging around, but you get the point.
Had a truly amazing cupcake the other day – evocative of cheerful indulgence in its proportions and calorie content. I very much enjoyed it, but it was also a bit like swallowing a bag of sugar all at once. Still, a tasty bag of sugar served on a bright and sunshiny plate!

I’ll be watching some catch up TV this afternoon, but for now I’m listening to a bit of Sara Groves… songs of remembering, and songs of hope and moving forward.
Just right for a grey day.

Published in:

on June 8, 2019 at 12:44 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Sara Groves

When Stars Begin To Fall

Woke up this morning to the news that an actor from one of my favourite TV shows died yesterday. I’m of an age now when a lot of people I remember from my childhood have died, but it’s always a bit of a shock.
I’ve always enjoyed the classic sci-fi shows (vintage Star Trek and Doctor Who, as well as their more modern revivals) but Blakes 7 was my favourite. It only ran for four years, had seemingly cheap (but not cheerful!) production, and sometimes seemed to lose its way a bit, but I still watch and enjoy it. Avon was my favourite character, so hearing of the death of Paul Darrow gave a sad start to my day. He portrayed Avon as cynical and sarcastic, but also oddly vulnerable and, at times, sympathetic. The snark is legendary…

As the series was made in the days when you couldn’t just google an episode to guard against continuity errors, it sometimes doesn’t quite hang together. The acting can be quite theatrical, the scenery in danger of falling over, and the dystopian universe doesn’t provide the feel good factor. The titular character (Blake) is only present for two series, and there never seems to be exactly seven in the crew, unless you include one or both computers – depends on who else is still alive at the time. Despite all this… watch it. You’ll be glad you did.
So, it seems that Avon is no longer with us (along with Blake, Gan, Orac/Zen and Servalan). Having originally seen the final episode back in the early 80s, and clearly remembering the shock and disbelief I felt then, I can only paraphrase a tweet I saw earlier in the day – “It occurred off camera. I choose to believe he made it out…”

Here’s a fan made music video I found on YouTube a while back. It seems appropriate.

I got the whole series on DVD a couple of years ago, so I can have a bit of a wallow in my childhood angst today. Anyone want to join me?

Published in:

on June 4, 2019 at 2:57 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Blakes 7, Paul Darrow

Absolutely Freezing

Winter appears to have arrived.

We were up at 4.45 this morning so we could get to the Rocklea Markets when they opened at 6am. That’s not too much of a problem in the summer, and our autumn’s been dawdling along so far. Until this morning. Thankfully, being only partly awake meant I didn’t quite register the cold when I got out of bed. By the time we got to the open air fruit and veg stalls I had woken up enough to feel myself becoming a slow moving icicle…
It was still worth it. The food is fresh, and there’s hot coffee after. We did have some trouble choosing the fruit/veg at first – it was still a bit dark – but we got there in the end.

Had breakfast. We get pancakes at Pappy’s Pancakes. He makes gluten free ones as well.

This is how cold it was – normally the cream is melting off the hot pancakes by the time we sit down. They didn’t really have a chance this morning.
Another good thing about regularly going to a fresh food market is that you get to know the stallholders, and can chat with them about life while you’re stocking up with good food. We decided to get some new tea today (Strawberry champagne/Earl Grey tea and Black tea with caramel), and were given some jam/marmalade/pickles samples, because we’re favourite customers 🙂 It made for a good morning tea after we got home.

Marmalade