Mental Health Day

On Tuesday I was very stressed so yesterday I took the day off. After the wonderful day on Cockatoo Island last week, I headed to the MCA to see their offerings for the Biennale of Sydney, Nirin. It's a fabulous exhibition. I wore a mask but was the only one, so bare that in mind. However there weren't a lot of people so it was easy to space and avoid proximity to others.

I finished at the rooftop cafe (use the stairs not the elevator - that's my COVID tip), and took in my beautiful city that I've really missed this year.

After the afternoon kids biz, I headed to the Wednesday Club's Wine & Clay night, the second activity since lockdown eased. I made a planter so will have a pot to grow some herbs in hopefully, if it doesn't explode. It's fun to chat over an activity, with champagne and nibbles (my friend did the nibbles all in individual containers with lids so no aerosol risk, and no cross contamination, though no other groups seemed worried about this).
My husband was out so once home and  the kids in bed, I settled down to finish watching Cancelled. This is a really great webseries (honestly better than half the shows I'm watching on tv at the moment). It's filmed on a phone, in Spain during lockdown. It's all those feelings we felt and a real glimpse into life this year. Though in one episode they blew out the candles on a birthday cake and my first thought was "You can't do that!!". We are changed in so many tiny ways by all this...Anyway, I think they just won an award so definitely worth checking out.

From the chaos, so many wonderful creative things have occurred. The Prism will be dissolved for good at the end of August, so get in quick and have a play around. It's really fantastic with something for everyone. Three levels of music. theatre, circus, puppets and more. You don't want to miss it.

Yesterday was a really wonderful day. We need more of those.
What are you loving?

Linking with #MCoW #OurWorldTuesday  #WordlessWednesday #LovingLifeLinky #Nanahood and #TheRandom 

The Science of Dance

In this brilliant article, Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Ph.D talks of the benefits to mental health of dancing. I've really missed the energy of dancing in a crowd but have still lifted my mood by dancing hectically to Timmy Trumpet or with enthusiasm to Bakermat. A quick 15 minute burst will dispel the COVID blues that seem to rear up at odd times.

In the Tomorrowland set, Timmy Trumpet at one point even asks for your craziest dance. As I complied, I felt strangely elated. Sometimes a simple physical shift is enough to change your mood.

I love to dance. I can block the world out when I dance. Or I can share the moment with the people around me who fall into sync. I'm not a good dance but one of the upsides of being old, at a concert, people are more shocked at my age than my moves...the lack of rhythm and strange moves must pass unnoticed 'because she's so old'....

I am hoping we get our concerts and festivals back soon, but for now, any dancing is better than no dancing at all. So by myself, when I can, even in short bursts, will have to do.

Remember as they say in Hawaii, "A’a i ka hula, waiho i ka maka’u i ka hale." Dare to dance, leave shame at home.

If you're having a rough day, blast out this song and dance with as much frenetic energy as you can. I guarantee you'll feel better. I embedded the clip to 911 because the visuals are everything I'm really missing at the moment. More than travel, if you can believe that! But Party til we die is the real mood lifter that gets inside you and pumps you up.

Do you have small tricks to lift your mood?

Linking with #KCACOLS (I still can't get the badges to work! Sorry!) 

Texture

"Indifference is isolation. In difference is texture and wonder."

Edwin Schlossberg

Always embrace the textures around you. That is where the memories lie.

 Linking with #PictorialTuesday #WWOAT  #ThruMyLens #SundayBest #WordlessWednesday

In the grand scheme of things....

 

This was a zoomed in as much as I could. He was very high up but dangling a long way down from the top. Presumably fixing a seal.

It's sort of a metaphor for life. Things will break. We will need to take all the measurements necessary to protect ourselves while we fix them.

Or we feel all alone but there's always a rope somewhere securing us to everything. It might be thin and barely noticeable, but it's there all the same. We just need to stay connected.

Linking with  #AllSeasons

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Every year I take myself off to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. I just love the exceptional photos on display, and this year was no exception (there is a distressing one of a baby hippo being eaten by large male, so you might want to rush young kids past that). They are magnificent, as are the creatures and landscapes depicted in them.
If you haven't been, you have until January so prebook your tickets and head to the Sydney Maritime Museum.
While there, I popped up to the Sea Monsters Exhibition. (You have until October to catch it). Apparently the Plesiosaurs might have had such a long neck so that they could eat small fish without their big body scaring them away.
If got me thinking, if Plesiosaurs survived to live along side Mosaurs, could a rogue family have survived even longer in Loch Ness for the myth to be invented? Imagine if that was where that story began? Obviously the key word is imagine. But if dinosaurs have feathers and the Big Bang was started by the final spark of a previously existing galaxy dying out, why not? (Okay Science peeps, I know it's a long bow, quite probably way off target but I like the idea...I'm sure I have a children's book idea in there somewhere.)

Anyway, if looking for something to do, go and decide for yourself.
Note the Museum Store has a great range of gifts including conservation and plastic reduction items so well worth checking that out too.

Linking with #LovingLifeLinky because it felt SO GREAT to be back in a museum!!! And #TheRandom

Weekend in Black & White. Literally.

I need to write a story but blank for ideas. Hopefully something comes with my second cup of coffee.

Hoping the sun makes it way through the clouds and we have another warm and glorious day.

Linking with  #WordlessWednesday #KeithsRamblings  #WWOT #ThruMyLens #SundayBest & #WeekendinBlackandWhite

The fable of gutter miracles

 Apologies to everyone who followed live on my Insta but the little tale amused me no end this week on my daily dog walks as the turtle moved around the street on his own...and so, may I share...
 The fable of gutter miracles.                                                             

The small turtle was escaping his life in the gutter. He was hig and dry for a little while, but the lure was too strong, and soon enough...                                                                                         














  He found himself alone in the shadows. Fighting an uphill battle that appeared too great.

In frustration, he almost gave up. Overwhelmed by the difficulty.
























But the arrival of a friend, someone to share his burden with, made all the difference. While there were still many struggles to be had, the future wasn't as insurmountable as it had seemed.

The moral to this story, is the difference between success and failure is just where you stand in the story.

No turtles were harmed in the making of this story.

Linking with

  

Have a loving day

 Many years ago I stumbled, quite literally across this, and it made my day. Yesterday I found it's sister. 

Loving means 'feeling or showing love or great care'.

It's a simple directive but one worth thinking about. Make it happen. Let others feel the warmth of your care and may you feel the virtual hug of someone returning the love.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

― Maya Angelou

Short and sweet for  #NanaHood #GraceandTruth and #AwwMondays

Covid feels

While making a delivery in an industrial area, I really felt the COVID blues. It seemed to be a visual of the isolation and changed lifestyle this year has brought.

This photo  is for #WeekendReflection. Like the negative image of the skull and the images reflected in the windows, our life is currently reflected in pieces, feeling distorted and distant.    

This tag is popping up all over Sydney - it's surprisingly cheerful, amidst the ugliness.

 And, of course, the new normal. 

Linking with #MCoW #WednesdayAroundtheWorld  #WWOAT #RubyTuesdayToo and #BlueMonday (for the first shot! Finally got 2 in 1!!) #OurWorldTuesday #ThruMyLens

Dandelion

Tiny pieces of us are being blown away as time drags on...
What will be left? Just a sliver of life?
Will new beauty grow where we scatter?

Linking with #DND

Loving life - lockdown ideas

While not in lockdown, I am still spending more time at home than normal We cancelled our daughters birthday party in the park because I thought it would be too hard to manage COVID numbers and safety. We've cancelled dinners and catch ups in bars. It's hard to work out what the right thing to do is. And it's boring. The whole disaster is overwhelming and tedious.

But it's not all bad news. Here's what I've been loving this week. In no particular order:

1. I got published in the Grieve Anthology again. I think this is now my 5th time? Anyway, I needed it as my last two stories didn't make the cut and for vanity alone I needed some 'approval'. I burst into a huge grin when I saw my name listed...They are going to show extracts over the next few weeks so if you're wanting to see short stories or poems each day, this could be something different for you.

2. Tomorrowland offered a relive ticket and you have until the 12th August to work your way through the sets. I'm loving getting to hear different DJs I may never see in real life. I was also so delighted and pumped up by Timmy Trumpet's set that I've listened to it twice! Best $21 I spent in lockdown! The energy of his hectic show is contagious and makes me smile all day with that beat embedded in my body if I listen (& dance) to it first thing in the morning. His new song is here but as I was Russia in my Eurovision competition, and my first song entrant was Vitas, I have to share this one...:

3.  Les Enfants Terribles The Prism. I've spoken about it before, but I just want to say I loved Level 3 and am sad it is over. If you haven't checked it out, it's great, and perfect for these days to spice up your universe. And free!



4. Was stoked to get my new Marvel mask (I asked for the child mask to be made in an adult size) from this Etsy site. But even more excited when I saw Max Frost is streaming a show (he was here in Jan) and with your ticket you get a Max Frost mask...trying to see if they'll send it to Oz for me...who knew mask fashion was the new black? Max Frost also has a COVID song but this is still my fav:

5. Got asked to do a review for Pulp Fury Radio. They're bringing back the radio plays in funky one hour pulp fiction genres...I'm halfway through the first one and it's cute and kooky (it's a sci-fi/horror). Will definitely come back to listen to the Noir and  Mystery which are more my preferred genres. If you need a short escape, it's worth checking out.

All up, having a great week. Not what life was, but could be worse...

What are you loving at the moment?

Linking with #FriendshipFriday

There are literally upsides to everything....

Yesterday this popped up in my facebook memories from two years ago:

I remember it clearly because my friends, who are younger than me, didn't believe me that we got the table because we were old. I had to keep arguing that the young 20-something man wasn't hitting on us, especially when there were all these young 20-something beautiful women standing around us that he could hit on...it was merely good manners. Showing respect for the elderly.

I guess as 2020 drags on, there's a lesson in there. Even though it's not what we want and a lot of downsides, there will at the end of it all be some find memories that make us laugh and smile in retrospect. There will be some upsides. I guess we need to try to focus on those when we can.

Have you noticed an upside to getting older?

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Food - A local shoutout

While we are not in lockdown, a lot of people are trying to eat home more, just to reduce risk and as requested by the Premier...but that doesn't have to be boring.

The previously mentioned home catering of The Grounds is fabulous (see pics of our Christmas in July Feast here) and the menu constantly changes. All you need to do is pop it in the oven! Pick up (Alexandria) or delivery. Order here.

Pazar food Collective has tasty meals for pick up, with a contactless drive through arrangement. We got the Chicken Dinner (with a loaf of bread) and that was more than enough for 3 adults, and a left overs for someone's lunch the next day. Spicy and delicious. Very flavoursome. (Location and hours - Canturbury)

Emma's snack bar is back to takeaway only, with 'TV dinners' that are perfect for one, or order a feast off their regular menu. Pick up. (Location and hours - Enmore).

El Jannah has a great offer for either a whole chicken or two whole chickens with large chips, a side, bread and garlic sauce and drinks. Individual menu items available. Super tasty and reasonably priced. All over Sydney (but Newtown for this Inner West edition).

It is a really hard time for the hospitality industry. 

A number of restaurants near us have had to close their doors or revert to takeaway only, so when you can, support them, and if it was good, give them a shout out on social media so friends know what they are offering, and might through some business their way.

Alas no photos of all the delicious feasts we've been having...will try to amend....


Linking with #Lifethisweek