This photo was taken at Nobby Beach. I haven't been to this part of the coast for years, but it's the beach that we always came to when I was growing up so it holds a special place in my heart. While I love our place in New Farm, I think I could happily relocate… Continue reading Our first weekend beach escape for the year
We hope you had a fabulous night and that your year ahead is filled with fun and adventure. I know ours will be!
It's been a busy year this year, filled with new adventures and more than a few rediscovered pleasures. We've travelled overseas and within Australia. We've acquired a range of exciting new toys. And, as always, we've had a lot of fun together. These are just some of the things that stand out when I look… Continue reading Farewell to 2012
It's been far too long since we've been to the beach, so today we remedied that. It was a gorgeous day, with the kind of weather that makes South-East Queensland such a lovely place to live. We folded down the roof on our little Fiat and soaked up the sunshine as we drove north to… Continue reading Holiday Fun
After the usual amount of research and careful weighing up of all the options, Geoff has a shiny new toy. It's our most exciting post-Christmas sales purchase.
When we moved into our tiny New Farm apartment I got rid of a lot of my baking stuff, assuming (rightly) that I would be buying fabulous locally produced things rather than making them myself. But recently I've started to get back into it, making biscuits and slices for Geoff to snack on. Today I… Continue reading I’ve been baking a lot lately
I've embraced the Christmas spirit this year, and am still adding to the Christmas sparkle around our place. A few days ago I happily discovered that decorations get heavily discounted this close to Christmas, so I stocked up on a few shiny baubles to go with all of our felty creations. It's funny, despite the… Continue reading Just 4 sleeps until Christmas
I did tell you that I was likely to share more of my Christmas craft adventures. Here are my felty Christmas pudding and holly. Aren't they cute! Christmas is one of the few times of year I get quite nostalgic about living in England. There's something so lovely about a cold Christmas, with real holly… Continue reading More Christmas Craft
What do you do when you want a Christmas Tree that will fit in a small apartment and you can't find one you like in the shops? You make one, of course. We started with a trip to Lincraft to purchase a polystyrene core, several sheets of felt in slightly different shades of green, flat… Continue reading Homemade Felty Christmas Tree
At times the lead up to Christmas can seem a little frenzied. There's the rush to get things done before the end of the year, the pressure of finding perfect presents for the special people in your life, and the flurry of end-of-year gatherings. In amongst all this, it can be nice to take a… Continue reading Fallen
Highlights of our weekend: * Coffee and croissants at Reverends on Brunswick Street. * New shoes. I'm rediscovering Nike in my quest to find shoes that I can spend all day in. * A visit to The Tea Centre resulting in the purchase of a new teapot from The London Pottery Company. * Shopping in… Continue reading Highlights of the weekend
I had a wonderful day filled with good friends, lovely food and beautiful new shiny things.
Tonight's weather made for another spectacular show in the skies over Brisbane.
Brisbane was hit by a series of amazing storms today - strong winds, heavy rain, lightning and thunder, the works. We were out and about when the first one struck.
I watched today's solar eclipse the old-fashioned way - with a homemade pinhole viewer.
I've always loved the colour of the sky here. At times it has an intensity that doesn't look real.
There was a second layer, but it obviously disappeared pretty quickly…
This weekend we decided to treat ourselves to a long, long weekend at the coast. We filled it with adventures – spotting the cute creatures at a wildlife sanctuary, visiting a regional art gallery, sailing, kayaking, and snorkelling. Then we finished it off with an amazingly indulgent morning of relaxation at Enrich Retreat and Day… Continue reading The perfect end to a weekend of adventure.
A koala at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary doing what koalas do best.
The rain provides some interesting opportunities to have a bit of fun with the camera.
A few highlights from last night's Riverfire. It would have been more fun if I hadn't locked myself out of the house while taking photos. 🙂
This piece is by Dawn Conn of Ruby and Iris, an artist I've mentioned before. I loved her work so much from the first time I saw it that I knew it was only a matter of time before I ended up owning a piece for myself.
The flowers in New Farm Park are in bloom which means that part of my run is beautifully rose scented.
These are so pretty that I'm sure they'll inspire me to run faster and further.
There's nothing like training in a beautiful location with a good friend to kick start your weekend.
It was a beautiful morning for a run. The sky was clear, the air was cool and crisp. The result was a great run with a faster time than I expected.
Have I mentioned my love of shiny things?
During a scouting trip to the location for an upcoming wedding we discovered a bonus feature of the resort - live bunnies trimming the lawns. I'm interested to see whether they appear during the ceremony!
It's amazing how much mess I can generate when given the opportunity to play with flour. The result was worth it though. Pumpkin scones are an old favourite of mine and I love making my own. They're especially lovely made with pumpkin fresh from my parents' garden.
I'm forever being amazed by the things I can walk past every day and not notice. I didn't realise there were so many gems hidden in plain sight in the Queen Street Mall. All I had to do was look up.
I love our weekend escapes to the beach. Running along the foreshore makes me appreciate just how beautiful the place I've chosen to call home is.
Beautiful blue sky, a light smattering of clouds, and the sunshine sparkling off the river. This was taken during my lunchtime run, and yes, I am feeling virtuous!
The kitsune (fox) statues at Inari Shrines remain some of my favourite things in Japan. This one is at the Jorinji Shrine in Matsumoto. Worshippers often place hats and/or bibs on the statues as a sign of respect.
Matsumoto is proving to be the perfect place to slow things down, relax and unwind a little after the bright lights and near constant bustle of Osaka.
Street style in Matsumoto, Japan. So cute!
These lights are part of an art installation using recycled materials. They're largely made from recycled plastic shopping bags.
Yesterday was a day of shopping. The overwhelming range in Yodobashi Camera - if only I could fit it all in my suitcase. The lovely, girly fashions in the shop windows of Umeda. And finally, the bright, bright lights of Japan by night.
Yesterday we did the Choishi Michi (pilgrims' walk) to Koyasan, Japan. The walk itself was beautiful - 18km up and across mountain ridges, passing through fruit orchards, bamboo and pine forests. And the town of Koyasan itself was just as amazing as I had hoped. It's a buddhist monastery town filled with traditional buildings and a… Continue reading Resting. Koyasan, Japan.
This picture was taken in Dotonbori in Osaka - it's a sign for a restaurant. The amount of effort that goes into creating signs and advertising here is just amazing. Their advertising execs and graphic designers must be working on a whole other level.
