A Big Week Coming Up

Ha! I am sitting here catching up on reading blog posts I have missed over the last few days. It is hard to keep up with some of you. (You know who you are!)

Mishaps this week😉😉😉

I bought a little Ninja blender, looks like a water bottle but has a swirling blade at the bottom. I like a smoothie with my protein powder and oat milk in the morning but wanted to branch out a bit with different fruit or veg.

I filled it up with frozen blueberries this morning, added the powder and the oat milk. Fully charged, I turned it on and BLUEY! I had blueberries congealing into a frozen hard ball and oozing out the sides. Blueberries everywhere. I think I used too many. Made me laugh. Don’t you love learning new appliances. After tamping them down and adding more liquid I got to a sorbet consistency. I don’t think I’ll be drinking it but eating it with a spoon… all day. Nothing like frozen blueberries all over the counter. My day is starting out well, lol. 😆

Book 😃 ☕️

I have finished another blockbuster of a book this week. Am I on a roll or what? I have spent the week with women spies in Germany, just after WWII. There are different groups of us swanning around Berlin, mucking our way through snow and drinking a lot of martinis in our cocktail dresses. Everyone eyeing everyone else.

There are two groups of people. One group looking to remove Nazi war criminals and send them to South America or other places they can hide from their dastardly pasts. Another group trying to get the evidence gathered so these monsters can be prosecuted for their war crimes. Throw in the ongoing Nuremberg trials and it is almost a free for all.

But, who is on what side? Suspicious behaviour, double agents, car chases, brake cables being cut in cars, raised eyebrows and is that woman really your best friend or has she been leading us all on a merry chase. What a wild ride. However the atrocities the author writes about are , of course, extremely disturbing and I have had my fill of another war book.

You’re by now wondering what book I’m talking about. Miss Graham’s War by Celia Rees.

What is fun about this story is the secret code these women use. One pretends she can’t cook. Well, she really can’t, the other loves cooking and collecting various recipes. They develop a code through the recipes they share. Numbers, methods, temperatures and food all relate to certain messages. One Nazi does become interested in their high exchange of recipes as all mail is read but can he figure it out? These women are clever.

I have enjoyed reading about this side of the war but am now ready to move on. I won’t ever look at recipes the same way. The food is really interesting. As you would expect, there is a lot of cabbage.

Life includes photography

On Tuesday I am being picked up by a professional photographer who is very good, Luke. We will have a few others on this mini bus but not many. Our camera bags are packed. Where are we going? The northwest of Tasmania to the Tarkine rainforest. The weather is predicting rain. It will be cold. We have been told to bring our thermals. I went out and bought Merino thermals. I have my pants with all the pockets. Need a place to carry batteries and camera cards. Have my camera bag packed, tripod hanging on its side. The Tarkine is a beautiful ancient rainforest. It is one of Tassie’s crown jewels. We will always spend time traipsing to a couple of waterfalls. We spend one morning on our bellies photographing fungi. We get muddy, we get cold. Fingerless gloves are the thing. We do a couple of river trips where we might see the beautiful white sea eagles. We spend 6 wonderful days receiving Luke’s instruction and suggestions.

I am looking forward to seeing how I hold up. We have sunrises and sunsets. Night skies, fungi, seascapes, rocks, waves, rivers, tall trees. We’re going to get gritty.

I won’t be on line for a few days as there is no reception. No phones or iPads Just one landline used for emergencies in the small area we spend nights in. Corinna is the tiny place we visit. Three nights. No camping, we do have meals and accommodation.

Then on to Smithton on the coast- 2 nights. So no post next week.

I’ll devote one future post to this trip, maybe two for those who are interested. After all this blog is called Travellin’ Penguin. So we’re travellin’. This is a real trip, not from the pages of a book. So stay tuned. Here’s to learning new skills and meeting new friends.

Do something fun this week, no matter how big or how small.