Sunrise, clouds, mini egg

The sunrise this morning was beautiful and the pretty clouds lingered for ages. I'm a little sad that daylights savings ends this weekend because I won't be seeing the sunrise for a while.  

 Hot air balloons!

 On my  way to work

 Rainbow cloud!

Getting close to work

I've been getting up at 7.00am this week and that's as early as I'm going to go. I don't really have a reason to get up even earlier and, given I need at least eight hours' sleep to feel semi-human, I'd have to go to bed too early to get enough sleep if I start getting up earlier than 7.00am. 

In the almost 12 weeks since I've been getting up earlier, there's only been one day - ONE! - when I didn't get up on time, but that was only because my alarm didn't go off. (I only get up early on work days.) I'm pretty amazed at myself! I don't even know who I am anymore!

I found a Cadbury's mini egg in the front pocket of my bag. What a thrill! 

Surprise energy

I got up at the same time as the sun this morning (7.15)

Yesterday I said I don't have enough energy to walk to work and home again. Today I walked to work and then home again. I felt OK so thought I'd give the tram a miss, and it was fine. I didn't run out of energy part way and I didn't need a lie down when I got home. (Cutting out gluten seems to have finally paid off.)

Good things about walking to and from work: the smell of eucalyptus, close(ish) encounters with ducks, fallen acorns, seeing the early signs of autumn and saving $7 a day on fares.

Hi hi, hi ho, it's off to work I go 

 Moomba is moving in. Spotted on my walk home

Hanging out, sunrise, succulent

Hanging around

I've been trying to book a spot in the Wednesday night anti-gravity class at the gym since I joined, but it's one of the most popular classes and I kept missing out. I checked online last night and there was a place  - only one - available, so I nabbed it. Yay!  

I went to the class tonight and it was fun swinging about in a hammock, which, we were assured, can take a load of up to 500kg. Still, it was a little scary hanging upside down and letting go for the first time...and the second time...and the third time, but I managed not to fall out. At the end of class we pulled the hammocks around us and laid in the dimness like a room full of pupae awaiting metamorphosis. Quite relaxing. 

I also managed to book the last spot in next week's class. *fist pump*

I woke up very early this morning - boo! - but I saw the sun rising when I went to the loo - for as long as it took to take a photo anyway. 

Luke cooked a delicious, succulent steak for dinner tonight. Just what I needed after a gym session (I also did half an hour of cardio).

Good Friday - Part I

 A rare sight for me

I got up on Friday  - a public holiday  - about the same time as the sun. Granted, the sun doesn't rise very early this close to the end of daylight savings (about 7.30), but that's still early for me, especially on a non-work day.

We set off on our day trip to Bendigo in central Victoria. Our first stop was Trentham, a little township about half way between Melbourne and Bendigo. We parked on the main street and went for a wander in the chilly morning air. Yes, chilly! It was quite nice after our recent hot weather and kind of...well, just plain cold. Brrrr. No pleasing some people, eh?

I spotted this sign, which was just visible over the top of shrubbery, straight after getting out of the car.

I hesitate to call it a ghost sign because it looks as if it's been restored. It's great that people value their old signs, but restoring them robs them of some of their character, I think.  If it hasn't been restored, it's either lasted very well or it isn't that old. Indian Root Pills  - essentially a herbal laxative - went on the market in the early 1800s in America but the Wikipedia entry for the pills is a little ambiguous -  they are either still sold in Australia or they were sold here until 1992. I'd never heard of them until recently, and that was only because I saw photos of other old Indian Root Pills signs (like this one).

Some other Trentham sights. 

Trentham is at the edge of the Wombat State Forest and they work those furry (not-so) little fellas hard. There's a statue of a wombat in the little garden on the main street and quite a few business in the area with quaint wombat-centric names. And why not?

 Gotta love a town that cares about its feathered friends

 Trentham obviously loves a bit of whimsy

Large ginger cat is not amused

One of the town's two pubs. Yep, tiny town, two pubs.  

How very Australian.

We stopped at Trentham Falls on the way to Daylesford, but because rain has been scarce, it wasn't a very impressive display. The landscape was interesting though and the smell of the cool, damp native forest was AH-MAZING. Eucalyptus fresh. That alone made the stop worthwhile. 

 

Basalt columns

Then we were off to Daylesford, a larger town and popular destination for day trippers from Melbourne, particularly because of its natural mineral spring spa resorts. According to Wikipedia, Daylesford has 65 mineral springs, which is 80 per cent of the known minerals springs in Australia. (Some of this water ends up bottled and sold as Mount Franklin mineral water.)

We didn't have time for luxuriating in a spa though. We had a gourmet hotdog for lunch and a wander about the centre of town. Daylesford is another place that sprang up with the discovery of gold in the 1850s. Like its neighbours, the riches of its gold mining days are still evident in the town's grand buildings (which I haven't captured very well with my photos).

 The old mail box is still used!

This fountain at the start of the main street is reminiscent of the Hochgurtel Fountain in Melbourne's Carlton Gardens. Perhaps this design was the height of fountain fashion way-back-when. 

We saw a few old signs (which I will share in a separate post), and this old car which looked as if it hadn't been moved from its parking spot just off the main street in at least 50 years. Closer inspection revealed that the registration had only lapsed late last year. 

 

It even had lichen growing on it

 Cat on a bookshop roof

It's not a real cat, just a silhouette, but I like that someone went to the trouble of putting it up there. We successfully resisted the pull of the the bookshop, which doesn't happen often. 

We stopped for a little while at Lake Daylesford. There was a gang of ducks hassling picnickers for food. The picnickers left and then the ducks spotted me and started heading my way. I thought, "Ha! You think I have food for you, but I'm just going to take photos of you!" I seriously underestimated their ability to distinguish between bread and a camera because they didn't even get to me before losing interest and heading off in another direction!  I made a little video of them deserting me.  

 

Look at them eyeing me suspiciously

You might recognise these as the breed of duck recently revealed to be wearing dog masks. They SO are! Look at them!

We then hit the road for our final destination - Bendigo - to visit my friend and her two boys, but I'm going to finish here for tonight.

Balloon, blimp, glow, run

There were three hot air balloons floating above Richmond(ish) when I left the house this morning. I haven't seen any that close for ages. It's a magical sight. 

When I got closer to the city I saw something hovering high up over the CBD which looked like a blimp. I lost sight of it for a minute when some trees blocked my view, but when I looked again it was nowhere to be seen. That's weird, I thought. Then when I was crossing the street to get to my office, I looked up just in time to see it bob up over the top of a low building next to my work and then disappear again! What's that all about then?

The sun rises at almost the same time as me at the moment. I love getting up to that golden glow shining into my flat. 

Tonight at the gym I ran more than I walked for the first time since I started my health kick. I sweated A LOT. When I finished my cardio and lay down to do my stretches, my glasses fogged up. 

Early, cracking, sunrise

I have started working the 'early' shift on Wednesdays - an 8.00 am start and 4.15pm finish. Not so keen on the earlier start (yes, I know 8am isn't that early), but the early finish is ace.

I'm also doing late shifts (9.45am - 6.00 pm) on Mondays from now on. A later start on a Monday! Wooh!

It seems to be bark shedding season for eucaplytus trees. I'm a dead-leaf-cruncher from way back, but bark gives an even more satisfying crack! when you step on it.

I caught a glimpse of the sun peeking over the horizon this morning when I briefly got up to pull my blind down (er...so the sun wouldn't keep me awake. I was too tired to stay up and watch it rise or even take a photo).

The new beginning begins

I've been in my new job two days and while I'm not sure yet if I'm going to like it enough to want to stay, the change in my demeanour since leaving my old job is remarkable. I feel so much...lighter. The change in routine and new challenge are working wonders. It's so good to be out of the rut and feeling motivated.

The people at the new firm are very nice and it seems a great place to work, it's just the job itself I'm still uncertain about, but I want to like it. There's Tim Tams on Fridays! A lolly jar in the kitchen! Weekly morning teas! Tim Tams on Fridays! (Hmmmm, there seems to be a pattern here...)

While I was told by the agency my hours were 8.30 to 5.00, I've since been informed it's up to me whether I start then or at 9.00. My initial reaction was "Yay, an extra 30 minutes in bed!" but then I thought, "Hmm, I do like finishing half an hour earlier....I'll stick with it!" Yes, I'm choosing to be out of the house in the morning more than an hour earlier than I used to get out of bed in my old job. 

Although I don't like getting up early (nothing to do with winter - my flat is always warm), I do enjoy it once I wake up. I've been rising just before the sun and I love that warm orange light streaming in my windows and the hot air balloons floating past. Very peaceful. (My enthusiasm might wane after a week of early starts, however...)

I went to the gym after work tonight and felt great afterwards. I've done about 2.5 hours of exercise today (including 1.5 hours of walking) and I feel good, in a slightly weary way.  

I arrived home to find a card in the mailbox telling me I have an item to collect from the post office. Yay. It's my copy of Peter, Paul & Mary In Concert.

A loss equals a win

You may have seen on my other blog that the tree outside my window was cut down yesterday. Normally tree-felling wouldn't be a source of glee, being a fan of trees, as I am, but the absence of said tree gives me a virtually uninterruped view to the horizon from my bed.

And not just any old boring horizon, but the bit of it where the sun comes up. I reckon it's pretty damned special to be able to watch the sun rise from your third floor flat, so close to the centre of a sprawling city, without even getting out from under your doona.

Last night I left my blind up when I went to bed so I would be woken up by the golden sunshine. I got up, took a couple of photos, then pulled the blind down and went back to bed for an hour.

Yes, sunrise was 7.00 am, generally considered a quite respectable hour to be up, but not by me. I do really like being up around sunrise on the rare occasions when it happens, but I don't need to get up that early on a work day and I'm too chronically tired to get up - and stay up - just for the sake of it.

I can also see the Nylex Clock from my bed. I wish they'd hurry up and repair the bloody thing so that if I'm lying in bed at night and feeling curious about the time or temperature, I just have to lift my head and look out the window (well, after putting my glasses on). If the Powers That Be are reading this, GET ON IT, ALREADY! It's been forever.

A marvellous Melbourne morning

Dawn from my laundry window

I was up before sunrise this morning and left for work earlier than I needed to, which gave me time to skulk about with my camera. I couldn't choose just one to post over at Girl in Melbourne...

Sunrise from my window

Ooh, fluffy!

Federation Bells at Birrarung Marr

Let's go for a ride

Floating

Jogger, Birrarung Marr

Balloon sunrise and a tree of my own (sort of)

I was rewarded for dragging myself out of bed a little earlier this morning by the sight of two hot air balloons wafting past my window. I love the hot air balloons. They inject a little magic into a week day morning.

One of the balloons (above) was so close to my third floor flat that I could hear the blast of the gas burner and make out the pink faces of the passengers. They would have been able to see me taking their photo. It floated over the top of my building and, I'm assuming, touched down in Fawkner Park.

Even without the balloons, I enjoyed getting up earlier while the sunshine was still golden and glowy. My living room was awash with sunlight. The sky was blue and cloudless. We are in for more mornings like this in the days ahead. I'm going to try and keep getting up earlier to make the most of them. (I'm talking 20-30 mins earlier, at 7.30, so not really that early.)

A tree of my own

I discovered today that it's possible to sponsor a tree in the Botanic Gardens. For $50 a year, you can choose to sponsor one of four landmark trees in the gardens or enquire about choosing a different tree that has a special meaning to you. The money goes towards the development and growth of the gardens. It's not on the list, but I'd love to sponsor one of the tall, white-trunked eucalypts on the Huntingfield Lawn (below).

If you did sponsored a tree for 10 years it would cost the same as sponsoring a garden seat, which is what I'd really love to do. Sponsoring a seat means a little stainless steel plaque with your name and a personal message is fixed to a wooden park bench. It's $5,000 for 10 years. Mostly people sponsor a seat in memory of a loved one who had a soft spot for the gardens, like I do. It probably sounds maudlin and egotistical, but I think I'm going to direct that $5,000 of my estate goes towards sponsoring a seat in my memory. I'ts not like I've got a spare $5k lying around now.

Easter epic - Part II

Well, Easter's just about over and done with for another year. I've had an eggcellent (sorry!) loooooong weekend.

On Saturday, I met my friend Paul for brunch at Gluttony on Smith Street in Collingwood. A couple sitting near us had a tiny and adorable Maltese/Shitzu puppy which seemed to take a liking to me, or more likely to the aroma of bacon coming from my plate (I know, what diet?). Lots of people passing by stopped to gush over the pup and pat it.

It was an overcast morning, but in the afternoon the sun came out and it was warm. I wandered up to Brunswick Street and poked about the book stores and clothes shops. I didn't buy any books but I did buy a T-shirt (below). They had one with 'Far out brussels sprout' on it too which I got excited about but I couldn't find one in my size. Dang!

I walked back in to the city via Gertrude Street where I could see the sun setting behind the dome of the Exhibition Building and illuminating the arched windows with golden light.

When I got to the city, I jumped on the City Circle tram for a spin through the docklands and then I walked home from Flinders Street, arriving in the dark.

On Sunday, I spent the afternoon and early evening at my Dad's. My brother, whom I haven't seen in over 12 months, was over from Adelaide and it was good to see him. We had a yummy roast lunch, and ate lots of Easter treats (including the truffles and chocolate spiders I made).

Sunday

Today I slept in, chatted to a friend on the phone and walked into the city in the warm sunshine and went to the gym. Yep, again! Three times in nine days. Just got to keep it up now...

I walked home again afterwards and nipped into the Botanic Gardens to enjoy the late afternoon sun (along with a horde of other people) and to take some macro shots of flowers. When I was crouching down to take one shot, a little boy with his face painted like Spiderman stopped to talk to me. He spotted the black and white stripey feather I'd picked up along the river bank and said he thought it was from a peacock.

At last!

Oh, and tonight I FINALLY finished the book I have been labouring over for about two months now - The End of Food by Paul Roberts. It's really put me behind in my goal to read 40 books this year but I'm glad I got through it and please to be able to start on a new book.

I would have abandoned the book, but it was really interesting - I wanted to finish it. It was just that it was so large and fat and I only managed to knock over a few pages a night before bed because my brain was too tired to concentrate.

One thing in the book I loved was the description of an alternative, sustainable, closed-loop method of rice farming in Japan which substitutes peckish ducklings for chemical pesticides.

"Each June, Takao Furuno releases hundreds of ducklings into his newly planted rice paddies, the ducklings ignore the seedlings (which contain too much of the mineral silica for their liking) but gobble up insects and weeds. Their waste fertilizes the rice, while their contant churning of the paddy bed stimulates the roots of the rice plants to grow faster...In the fall, Furuno removes the ducks (who would otherwise eat the mature rice) to a barn, where they produce eggs and grow to market weight..."

He sells the rice and the ducks and the eggs. How cool is that? Remarkably, his paddies produce about as much rice as his neighbours' paddies, which are more conventionally farmed.

Speaking of ducks, check out this duck I saw on the Yarra today. Usually I just see brown ones.

Cookin' the books and the wallabies

Did you know that the International Edible Book Festival is coming up on April 1? No? Well, now you do.

I got an email about it from the Athenaeum Library the other day. Apparently this "ephemeral global banquet" is held every year in many parts of the world. Bookish types get together to whip up culinary delights that either look like books or are inspired by a book. Then they take photos of them, judge the winner and then gobble them all up.

You can see some photos here. I like the Clifford the Big Red Dog one (2007), partly because we had a Clifford book when I was a wee one.

Ballooning

I was up earlier than usual this morning and although I can't lie and say I liked getting up before 7.30 (go on, scoff!), I did enjoy seeing the sun trying to burst through the clouds on the horizon and the sight of three hot hair balloons drifting in the misty sky in the distance.

I'd forgotten about the hot air balloons that float by in the early mornings (though not usually on drizzly mornings like this). It's a nice way to start the day, sitting on your couch eating breakfast while watching hot air balloons. If I could just get out of bed earlier more often...

Once one went right over the top of my flat and was so close they probably could have seen what I was having for breakfast.

Speaking of the sky...

Check out this website, Sky Watch Friday, where people can send in their own pictures of the sky. Make sure you scroll down a bit and see the picture of the winter sunset over Riga. How spectacular is that?!

Coincidence of the week I

I rang the Blood Bank the other day because I hadn't heard from them in relation to an appointment to donate. It had been six weeks since I lodged my details online and I wanted to make sure they hadn't been lost. But then when I got to work later that day, I found they'd emailed me late the previous night to tell me they hadn't forgotten me! They read my mind.... (They've been inundated with donors since the bushfires, you see).

Coincidence of the week II

The Infamous Mrs Blueballs left a comment on my Myspace page today telling me about the Taste of Australia cookbook she picked up while she was visiting, which has recipes such as Yabby Bisque, Emu Slithers on Pumpkin Scones, Kangaroo Pot of Gold Pasties, Wallaby (gasp!) Savoury Crepes, and Quandong and Peach Melbas. Then tonight I caught the tail end of The Cook and The Chef on the ABC in which they were cooking with native foods, including quandongs!

The rising and setting of the sun...and tintinnabulation

I saw the sun rising while I was tucked up in my bed this morning. I've only recently become an early riser so seeing the sun rise is still a novelty for me. An awesomely serene novelty.

I live on the top floor of my three-storey building and am lucky to have an unobstructed view to the hills on the horizon from my bedroom window. At this time of year, I can see Mother Nature's morning show without even getting out of bed (although I admit I don't see it as often now that it happens earlier than it did in winter!).

I left my blind up when I went to bed last night and woke up to a strip of orange along the horizon and then golden light flooding into my room. Seeing the dawn of a new day always makes me feel insignificant - a "speck of dust inside a giant's eye" - but also exhilarated.

The sunset tonight was beautiful too. There was heavy cloud cover when I left work, but as the sun sank below the cloud line, it lit up the western sky pinky-orange, which reflected onto the river as I walked beside it on my way home. I kept twisting back to look at it. (I took some photos, but they don't do it justice. Those are the best ones above and below.)

Word of the day

Dictionary.com's word of the day is tintinnabulation...a tinkling sound, as of bells. I love it when I'm looking up a word in the dictionary and inadvertently stumble across a funny or cool word, but sadly it doesn't happen much now that I mostly use online dictionaries. Word of the Day helps though.

Are you an early riser? How often do you see the sun rise? Do you still use a proper dictionary? Have you stumbled across any funny or cool words while looking up something else?