As is my usual custom every year, I started on a health kick. We have a wedding to attend in March so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to lose a few kilos. I’m not going overboard. Simply mindful eating, more whole foods and proteins, less sugar and refined foods, lots of rest […]
How to Lose a Library – Public Books
How ironic that the most quaintly analog form of research possible, using physical books in a physical library, has been devastated by the hijacking of a digital system. — Read on www.publicbooks.org/how-to-lose-a-library/ “Certainly in the context of the United States right now, public libraries are hot potatoes of the culture wars, and public librarians the […]
Happy New Year
Goodbye 2023 and hello 2024. I can’t believe how quickly the years go by now. I stopped work in October 2022 and decided not to return to the corporate world of learning and development or social and virtual technologies ever again. That ship has sailed and in some way, when I think about my past […]
Lake Tuggeranong
A morning walk around this man-made lake in Canberra that was built in 1987 to trap sediment for the Murrumbidgee River, is a picturesque start to any day. All along the east coast of Australia, there has been a lot of rain. Torrential rain resulting in flooding and entire towns cut off. I’ve never heard […]
The Day Before Christmas
The day before Christmas and I’m spending it outside again lapping every bit of sunshine. I thought I’d enjoy the sunny day because as of tomorrow on Christmas Day, there’ll be torrential rain and hail again all week. The only negative out here are the mosquitos. That explains the can of Aeroguard on the table…. […]
Gigantic Mushrooms
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Changing Behaviours
My husband wanted to help out with the housework and I was surprised. “I’ll help with the vacuuming,” he said. Here I was thinking that he could help me lug that heavy Dyson vacuum cleaner around the house until he showed me a Robo Vac on sale in some advertising material he removed from the […]