Posted in Uncategorized

Weekend Wander- A to Z

Snip20180303_1I don’t do a lot of memes but I have always enjoyed the alphabet post that Beyond Eden Rock does once in awhile (here). I thought it was time for one to go up here.

I am busy doing last minute tasks around the place and packing for my trip to San Francisco next Monday, 4th September to see my sister. I’m really looking forward to it.  The Penguin will be teleported off the pages here and into my suitcase before returning to Australia.

But more on that later- here’s to alphabets.

A-  A Bike Ride today but too much wind so I turned around, came home and will spend the day reading and writing.

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Wedgetail Eagles in Rehabilitation mode

B- Birds of prey- I will post photos of the Raptor Refuge site I visited last weekend.  I also saw two wedge tail eagles soaring on wind currents this morning. Wonderful.

C- Classics Club posts have been coming fast and furiously since new moderators have taken over.  I might participate a bit more next year. 50 Classics to go on a list but I will only take them from books I already own if I do participate and many will be modern classics.

D- Diary of a Provincial Lady is nearing its last chapter. Such a very funny book. I might read some of the others after all down the track but need to keep working on that TBR pile.

E- Beyond Eden Rock- Inspiration for this alphabet task.

F- Festivals I wish I could have attended the  Melbourne and Canberra Writer’s Festivals happening this winter. I will hopefully attend one of these days.

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Some of the books being discussed at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival this week.

G- Good Reads shelves need updating. I am almost caught up with books I’ve read and books I want to read.

H- I have 44 books on my shelves that start with the letter H. Who would have thought. Quite a few are “How to” books.  How to have Kick Ass Ideas, How to Keep a Pet Squirrel (fiction of course).

I- Illustrations. In journals and children’s books. Don’t all bibliophiles love them. I am signing up for a drawing class in Feb. I’m hoping to get past stick figures for my own journals. This will definitely present a challenge for the instructor.

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José Naranja’s journals (Spanish) are stunning. I follow him on FB and Instagram. Would love to be able to do this. 2019?

 

J- Journals are one of my favourite things and I plan to keep one on the trips I have planned in the next six months.  Illustrations may be stick figures but jotting down notes in a journal is lots of fun

K- Kick Ass Ideas (How to Have) by Chris Baréz-Brown is a fun book of motivation and ideas for completing any project.  Might need to pull it off the shelf again.

L- Linc Tasmania is the name our silly government gave to our State Library system several years ago. Who is going to associate Linc Tasmania with a library. The state liberal government has recently changed the title back to Libraries Tasmania so people actually know what is being talked about. Why do governments waste their time and money on such trivial tasks as renaming a perfectly good library “Linc”. There are so many other things to spend money on. eg. homelessness, drought, health, education. (Don’t get me started!)
M-Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare is the Dominic high school play I am attending Friday night. My friend’s son has a major role in it and he has been busily learning his lines.  He can’t quite get his head around all the ‘buts’ and ‘doths’. Should be fun.

N- November book club book is The Lucky Galah by Tracey Sorensen. An Australian novel told from the point of view of a Galah.

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Looking forward to this for November book group.

O- Odie and Molly accompanied me to the dog beach yesterday where we had a great time. Beautiful sunny winter weather and the beach was packed with people and dogs. They loved it.

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Left: Molly, aged 13                            Right: Odie, aged 7

P- Politics in Australia- I promise not to talk about it…never, ever, ever …on any post.

Q- Quiet time. How I love my quiet time to read, reflect, walk and spend time in my own company.  One can’t do this much whilst working but once retired it is important to learn how to enjoy your quiet time as there seems to be much more of it once a career is over.

R- Reading about Sri Lankan food from a book found on the newest app I’ve acquired, Libby- linked to the library. Mr Penguin and I are spending 15 days there towards the end of November and I am looking forward to the variety of food. So many different religious cultures and each has their own food.

S- San Francisco- here I come.  I am looking for places to spend our days walking, taking photographs, spending time in nature and eating really good Mexican food.

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Golden Gate Bridge

T- Still making my way through the Melbourne cold case in the book Trace by journalist, Rachael Brown.  Can’t believe the secret events the Catholic priests were involved in that included human sacrifice and cannibalism in the state of Victoria.  I will never stop feeling incredulous at the depravity of some of these priests.

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These possums are a genetic mutation. They don’t have enough melanin and are more rare than the ordinary ones. So privileged to have one living in our yard.

U- Under a tree in the middle of the night in my front yard is often a large Golden Brush Tail possum looking for the sunflower seeds I sometimes put out for the birds. He is beautiful.

V- Tomorrow will see us spending some time at the Vet’s office.  Odie has been treated for an ear infection and his beagle anal glands that we won’t discuss here and Molly gets her arthritis shot and her heart condition monitored.

W- Walking. A favourite thing to do. It’s not always aerobic but climbing hills can make it so. Taking photographs, spending time with our dogs, exploring suburbia and reading books about it. We just never tire of the concept of a good, long, interesting walk. Time to clear your head and relax.

X- Xerxes Invades Greece – 480 BC. The story of when Greece invaded Persia.  How on earth did this book come to be on my TBR shelves?  Part of Penguin series of Great Epics.  Will it ever see the light of day here? I’m not sure.

Y- Y’all have a good week and make sure you do something each week you enjoy so you always have something to look forward to.

Z- Zeitgeist- definition: the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era. And isn’t it fun that it is always changing. Think how boring life would be if it didn’t.

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Y’all have a really good day. (Mates). Need to express both our cultures.

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized

I have been….

Snip20160609_6I saw this meme from A Literary Odyssey and as I’m having a hard time getting organised to write a post after the past couple of months I thought I would try it. Consider it a starter for more posts to come.

I have been:

{writing}
Only little notes to myself but I begin attending my writing group today so I am hoping to get back into the swing of things.  I am looking forward to some old structured activities in my life.
{reading}
I have read two books this week. A Salty Path which I loved and will talk about more soon and Eleanor Oliphant is Fine which is a quirky tale I listened to from audible.com. I will talk about this book also.  I just picked up three books from the library yesterday which I will also share very soon.  In my U3A Play Reading Class we will begin Arsenic and Old Lace next Tuesday afternoon.
 {listening}
I haven’t listened to music in a long time. Maybe I need to. I listen to audible books every chance I get and when I wake up in the middle of the night I listen to the ABC radio programs. I hear some interesting interviews in the middle of the night along with all the other insomniacs across Australia
{watching} 
I am addicted to BBC First on Foxtel. If it’s not a British drama series I probably won’t see it. I shy away from the news quite often and immerse myself in the sweeping vistas of the British countryside. Shetland is one of my favourite programs at the moment. I am waiting to see if Vera has a new series that I haven’t seen too.
 {looking}
I look at quite a few new blog posts every morning with my coffee.  I enjoy seeing what everyone is reading and doing and they inspire me to get off my big behind and look for new things to interest me.
{learning}
I’m in a photography club and I am learning Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop in order to complete the monthly challenges that are theme based each month. I have learned so much from the members of this club and watch a lot of You Tube videos that are instructional and so very useful.
{feeling} 
I have been feeling quite flat since returning from our big trip and know it is a combination of having lost my mother in February and then completing such a huge, challenging African trip in March.  I am home now and my brain is digesting all that has happened in the past two months. The reason I have been holing up at home and not been “out there” too much. I am starting to emerge from the shell though.
{anticipating}
Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary is holding their Quiz Night in early June and I have bought tickets for a table of 8. All of the money raised will go to their wildlife hospital they have up and running now and it will be a hilarious night out. Our table is filled with close friends who are participating and it will be a great night of laughs and fun.
{wishing}
I am wishing I could turn on the news one day and Donald Trump wasn’t the President of the USA.  I get so tired of him and hearing about him.
{loving} 
Being at home. It is warm and safe and it is full of love, security and animals. I love having a different animal in my lap every time I sit down though sitting in a chair with two cats and two dogs is a bit tough at times.
This post has kick started my interest again in blogging and I will return soon.
bluejumper
Posted in Travel, Uncategorized

Best Intentions- Africa continued

With starting times to most days at 5:30 am, long days on the road and not finishing with even longer buffet dinners at lodges there was no time for writing on this blog. We were also exhausted at the end of each day and internet connections were dodgy at best.

We arrived home Easter Sunday night about 10:00 pm and although this trip was incredibly beautiful, challenging, often confronting and glorious we are very happy to be home. I will now attempt to catch up with the myriad of photos taken and put some of the highlights here during the next couple of weeks or so.

I am sharing another Namibia day here with photos from a living museum we visited. The day was hot and dusty and the people we met here were so friendly and eager to share their way of life with us. Here are some photos.

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This village was a display of life as a bushman.
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She explained how the various local plant life is used for medicinal purposes and how they work. Another tribesman translated for her.
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We were treated to a method to light a fire. It was amazing how fast the fire started and how quickly they could make it larger.
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The people then shared a dance of greeting for us. 
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The dance continued. 
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Outside of the museum we gathered together to have our lunch which we carried with us most days to eat in the desert. This guy helped out with the dishes. He is earning money to study at university in Windhoek. He wants to work as a tour guide and speaks four languages including German. Lovely man.

 

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This is the lodge were checked in later that day.
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Later that day we went on a desert tour to look for the desert elephants. We came across this old guy.
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The desert elephants are different to the ones we saw elsewhere. They are tall and this one was reportedly about 45  years old. It is incredible how they survive in the heat of this desert. 
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While touring this desert we came across this common form of transport out here.
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On the way back to the lodge were were treated with our first sighting of a giraffe in the distance.
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A glorious Namibian desert sunset. This land is truly spectacular.