2023 was a year for the mushrooms. For one, some woman in some regional town outside of Melbourne tried to murder her family by inviting them to lunch and offering them a mushroom salad. Unfortunately a few died from the meal served but it turned out that it wasn’t the first time she had tried […]
Are These Types of Books Hot or Not?
Last week I created this fun video to talk about whether certain genres of books listed alphabetically, were hot or not, according to me. I was inspired by Renee from The Left Handed Book Reader on YouTube but I didn’t tag anyone else to respond (it just feels plain awkward and wrong like some kind […]
What To Do More Of….
This paragraph from Charlotte Wood’s new book Stone Yard Devotional. I’ve been a fan of her writing ever since I read The Weekend but this time her book is a little bit different about a middle aged woman who goes to an abbey in the Monaro Plains (outside of Canberra) to escape her life and […]
Crazy Weather, Crazy People
I have never been through weather as turbulent as we are experiencing in Melbourne. While the rest of Australia is burning up with the hottest temperatures on record creating bush fires that rage for days, our city has been battered with constant torrential rain, storms and floods. The humidity is 96%. This is unheard and […]
Champagne & A Little Bit of Bûche de Noël
So it seems my little virtual jaunt through Rimes recently to explore the champagne houses, vineyards and underground caves stocked with champagne came in handy. While YouTube can only go so far in firing up my imagination, there comes a time when you simply need to “do it for real”. So it wasn’t exactly a […]
What Day is It?
I’ve reached that stage where weekdays and weekends run into each other. “What day is it?” I ask my husband. “Unfortunately not the weekend,” he groans getting out of bed to get ready for work (He’s on the countdown towards retirement and cannot wait for that day he stops work). Guess I shouldn’t be complaining […]
Virtual Tour Day 6: Not Nice, France but…Salisbury, UK
I’m supposed to be continuing my virtual journey through France and I was ready to go to Nice. However the town strikes me as “too flash, too touristy” and I didn’t feel like going there although it’s on my virtual route. Instead I made a note to find places in Nice where there aren’t too […]
French Markets in Melbourne
Our weather in Melbourne has been wet, cold and miserable. As an indication, I’m wearing a scarf and beanie at the moment – unheard of at this time of the year. The constant grey dampness is affecting my mood. I don’t mind cold weather – it’s when it just constantly rains for days that affects […]
Looking at Books on Shelves
Just a short video about perusing books in shelves at a book store. I ended up buying Clive James’ interpretation of Dante’s Inferno as a gift for my husband.
Virtual Tour Day 6: Grenoble
“Isn’t that a wine?” I mused. 🤔 I had heard of this town but to be honest, didn’t know where it was in France so I checked the map when I was in Annecy and saw that it’s quite near – only an hour and a half drive. However as this is a virtual tour, […]
Virtual Tour Day 5: Annecy
Today I take to my car (I hired a 1955 Citröen DS – don’t ask about the cost because as it’s a virtual tour – money is no object so I splurged) and decided to drive around Lake Annecy in the French Alps. The reason is that it seemed that Annecy had SO MANY PEOPLE […]
Virtual Tour Day 4: Heading for the Hills at Chamonix
Strap on those skis and let’s get ready to hit the slopes…. Well, not exactly. It hadn’t started snowing but as I went further up into the mountains, the weather started to get cooler but I saw that around me was the grandeur of the mountains. I couldn’t wait to get up to Mont Blanc […]
Representing My Golf Club at the Meg Evans Plate
Last week on Friday, I played at Heidelberg Golf Club which is north east of Melbourne to represent our gold club, Woodlands, as part of a team of six. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit daunted to be invited to play because I’m still relatively new to golf and my handicap is […]
Virtual Tour Day 3: Dijon…the City of Mustard and a Stop at the Beaune Wine Auction
So I’ve left the Champagne region and headed over to Dijon for my next stop. It’s the 19th November and my aim is to also try to get to the Beaune Wine Auction which is on this weekend. But first, Dijon. Imagine my delight to find out that there are owls all over the town. […]
Virtual Tour Day 2: Onwards to Rimes
I decided to head to Rimes today. There’s 6 direct trains every day at a cost of 27 Euros and the trip lasts for an hour and a half. Of course, as it’s a virtual tour, I’m going first class. Really, there’s no need for train travel on this virtual tour in all honesty, so […]
Some Thoughts About The Writing of Annie Ernaux
Here’s the latest video I shared on YouTube about some thoughts of the writing of Annie Ernaux. I pontificate about her style of writing, her openness sharing her entire life to the public. Why does the written word evoke so much “rawness” rather than say, watching some vlogger online share their world to the public?
Virtual Tour Day 1: Arrive in Paris
Today I arrived in Paris. It was a beautiful, sunny day. (My imagination means that every day will be a sunny day). There’s no need to book any accommodation but hell, it’s Paris and you may as well stay in the best it has to offer. So I headed to Place Vendome by a personal […]
Heading Off To France…Ummm, Virtually
I haven’t been on an overseas trip since…well 2019, before COVID. Since that time, the only time I’ve been away from home has been a weekend away in country Victoria in 2022 and an overnight golf trip this year. I’m not saying that for pity, it’s what we have decided to do save money. It’s […]
Dreams About Flying
Last night I had a dream that I was flying through the air. I love these dreams when they happen. This time, I was above the crystal blue ocean and I could see small rippling waves beneath me. I was directly above a motor boat and I remember at one stage being dropped quickly towards […]
Monetising my YouTube Channel
Well I finally turned on the Monetisation switch of my YouTube channel. I had been thinking long and hard about it because part of me was (1) embarrassed but mainly (2) having an existential crisis about what it means to fold into the algorithmic-driven capitalistic agenda that pushes you to be a product of the […]