Time travel fail

I took this because I wanted it to look like I'd stepped back in time. However, it didn't work out as I wanted it to.

But I have no other shot to share so this is it.

Linking with #PicturePerfectLinky #WordlessWednesday #SundayBest  #WWOAT #WWOT & #WeekendinB&W

Reverse Advent Calendar

A few years ago  I read about the Reverse Advent Calendar over at Tired but Crafty Mummy. The short version is, for every day in December you get a non perishable grocery item and put it in a box, and then donate it before Christmas. I havedone this annually since, and usually give it to a food pantry, however you could also approach refuges (Women's, men's or refugee centres) or with the flooding, possibly evacuated communities. Take your pick. This year I'm considering just unloading it in a street pantry, a number of which popped up near me during lockdown. There are so many people doing it tough this year.




I'm using the Food Pantry's web page suggestions of what to collect.
"We welcome all non-perishable pantry items that are in-date and personal hygiene and household items. A few key items include;

• Deodorant, soap and body wash
• Shampoo, conditioner and sanitarian items
• Baby wipes and nappies
• Dish washing liquid and detergent
• Canned fruit, vegetable, soup and fish
• Noodles, pasta, and rice
• Baked beans and spaghetti
• Baby food and formula

Please don’t feel limited to our suggestions – we accept non-perishable food, alcohol-free and tobacco-free donations."

So for now, when at the shops, I'm checking the specials and chucking a few extra items in the trolley...

Linking with #MakroTex

Taking Stock - November

Linking with #MuralMonday

Making :  Plans. My January is booked flat chat so I only have three nights left available. I still have some Sydney Festival shows to book so will fill those quickly. Fingers crossed our numbers stay low and all can continue for a bit.

Cooking : A friend started a business Made By Lou and I gave it a go. The meals are very vegetable heavy (but cleverly hidden so my meat eating kids didn't complain) so I re-order a stack of meals for the freezer from the 'build your box' option as we have a number of nights out in the coming weeks. It allows me to feed the kids nutrious meals which I can pop in the oven while getting ready to go out. I don't have a mess to clean up but I'm not resorting to take-away either. (Note the boxes change weekly, and with the build a box, there's a big list to choose from). Website is still being built. Meals serve 4. So in answer to the topic, I am not cooking. I am reheating....and that makes me happy!

Drinking : Lychee Martinis when out, Negronis at home. And my beloved Christmas Gin. Already one bottle down. My second bottle is being delayed openning because I can't justify another one soon!

Reading:  The Railway Man by Eric Lomax (on Audible).. A very poetic and enchanting book while being also awful with the war experience. Loving it. 

Also started some Shirley Jackson short stories in The Missing Girl. I've been sending these little books out to people in lockdown because we needed a pick-me-up in that strange and horrible time.

Looking: At Art. I went to Doug Aitken at the MCA (which I LOVED!) and off to Matisse on Friday.

Linking with #WeekendReflection

Wishing: I had more time in the day. I just seem to never get enough done. 

Enjoying: Nude on SBS. It's completely absurd. You have to get past the first episode where I was just distracted by all the nakedness. Then you become a bit like the characters and you stop noticing. But it's very clever and I found it hilarious. Especially the bit about 5 episodes in that 'shocked' me, and I found it hilarious that something could be more shocking than all the nude bodies. Ha! Proving we become desensitised to everything eventurally if we see it enough.

Wondering: What kind of exercises the actors did to become so comfortable being naked all the time? Also were the crew naked in solidarity, to make the actors less self-conscious? Will I ever be able to watch a man jump again without that image in my head?

Wanting: A second season. (I need to say, I'm not really a big fan or nudity - I know, I'm old and went to a girls school, that stuff gets wired in, so I find it  hilarious I liked this show so much. My husband I thought it was stupid, I think. The kookiness appealled to me).

Loving: The smell of this. Makes me very happy every time I inhale it. 

Buying:  Christmas presents. 

Watching: Movies. We watched The Trip which is funny. Also SBS. And Priceless which leaves SBS in December).

Pondering:  Why do we pay for three streaming platforms when we always end up watching SBS?

Hoping: That COVID goes away and we don't go back into lockdown. Bad news out of Germany and Finland and so many other European countries. Just depressing.

Smelling: Fresh laundy. I've found some old perfumes and I use them in the laundy. They smell a little different to the original perfume but I like the way they make the clothes smell.

Wearing: Winter clothes again. This weather sucks.

Sorting: out stuff. When my eldest moved out, there was a lot of stuff to get rid of. This has sent the younger two in a tidying frenzy. So I am finding places to recycle 20 years worth of toys and books and clothes.

Getting: Excited about pending concerts. 

Disliking: Australian Politics. It's getting worse. All parties. And what does that then say about us?

Opening: packages.

Feeling: Worried that we are not out of this COVID fiasco yet. Madly doing all that I can while I can, but not booking OS - though worried I might miss my chance.

Listening: to this 

Wondering: Do I donate my reverse advent to Foodbank or the Refugee Centre or do I put it in the street pantry? Which do you think will be of more use to people?

Hope you are all having a great month. Enjoy the party season!

You can link up with my Insta here.

Linking with #MonthinReviewwithSue

Permanent Impact

 

I saw this, and I thought of the leaf that had fallen and lay briefly in the wet cement, but left a permanent mark.

There are people that to this in our lives, both in good ways and bad ways.

There are people who live their lives for a period, but shape the future for many.

I guess it is worth remembering that what may be a small incidental action for us, may leave a permanant impact on others.

Linking with #BlackandWhiteWeekend

PS I tried to find an appropriate quote but all I could see was this rather negative one  'People will notice the change in your attitude towards them but not notice their behaviour that made you change' However, I think it is quite a sweet and positive notion, but maybe that's a reflection of the people who have left an impact in my life.

Stealing nature

 I haven't been out and about much of late, the weather has ruined my Bay Run outings and life in general has got in the way. I did have coffee with a friend in a park and managed to get myself sunburnt on the Bay Run yesterday but forgot to take any photos.

I loved this set up off the road in a busy inner city suburb. It's stealing a spot to enjoy nature where you can find it. 

Maybe we have to focus on the nature that fills the urban landscape.

So a super short #Allseasons as life is messing with me at the moment. In a niggly way, not anything major so have to be happy with that.

Take care and say safe. Watching Europe means we need to keep the masks and space, even if double vaxxed. We are not out of the woods just yet. Though it is lovely getting to restaurants and seeing freinds again.

Linking with #WeekendReflection

May life be half full for you. Or as overflowing as it can be in these challenging times we're living in.

Linking with #FloralFridayFoto (for the hibiscus) and #NaturesNotess

It's time for #Allseasons for another week.

All Seasons is open from Saturday through Wednesday 5pm, Sydney Time. 
2. Please link one  'seasonal' post a week. 

3. Make sure you link back to this  #AllSeasons post.

4. Please comment on the post before yours. Don't dump and run

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Share Four Somethings - November

 Something Loved: SFSC had implied a fully home grown line up so I almost didn't even check who was playing but thankfully I did because Fefe, who I've seen every time he's come out since I discovered him by accident at the Festival of Sydney back in 2012, is coming again! During lockdown last year, he was doing a song a day for 365 days to promote his album of the same name, and it was a joyous highlight of the dull days at home.  He is so fun and a great live performer. He will be my first international act, borders and covid permitting in 2022! How I've missed my old normal. (Other mentions of Fefe on my blog here  & here & in a number of my Taking Stocks last year- I'm quite the fangirl! And for those that don't know SFSC - a pictorial here.)

 

Something Read (or Said): I saw this post on High Gloss and Sauce and it intrigued me enough to start watching You, something that I never would have check out. It's humorous and entertaining but terrifying at the same time. It really got me thinking about behaviours and red flags. I read The Family Doctor earlier this year and learnt a lot about that sort of psyche and how these situations spiral (a more serious fictional loook at this sort of obsession). I'm only midway through so no spoilers please.

Something Treasured:  Catching up with friends. I've had a rough week, made worse by menopausal hormones, but a catch up with my people puts everything back in perspective.  Even just a late night FB message back and forth. Sometimes  that's all you need to feel a little lighter. 

Something Ahead : Just in the throws of booking my Sydney Festival shows - due to some of the postponed gigs rescheduled to Jan, a milestone birthday for one of the kids and a few days away here and there, it's a very tight fit to squeeze in what I hope to see...but should make for a good summer after such a social and cultural hiatus. Can we just keep the case numbers low so I don't need to stress!

Linking with #MuralMonday

Linking with #RubyTuesdayToo

Real Generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present." Albert Camus

Homelessness is expected to rise, according to the 2021 predictions and 2020 data finds older women to be a growing figure in that predicition. When it comes to living in poverty in Australia, women and children are usually the hardest hit. This great Women's Agenda article sums up the alarming issue. "It’s no accident these voices were mainly women, because, like violence, poverty in Australia is gendered. While poverty affects far too many of us in this, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, women are more likely to live in poverty." Almost a million children go hungry according to Foodbank's figures. When you look at the poverty figures, it appears 10% of Australians are living in povery. How can this be? 

While nothing will change if we as voters don't insist on better policies, one small way is to donate to charities who are picking up the slack where the government fails.

One of my favourites each year is Share the Dignity's #Itsinthebag campaign.  Bunnings is taking the donations from the 15th  November to the1st December. You can donate for Women, Teens, Mother & Baby and Transmen or Nonbinary people. Allocate your bag with the appropriate ribbon (or tag). Guidelines of what to include, and what you can't, are here. If you don't have time to make a bag yourself, you can also just sponsor a bag.

And opposite of fight club, note point 4 from the Share the Dignity webpage:

How do you donate your bags?

1. Find a good condition or new bag to fill (e.g. handbag, backpack or duffel)
2. Fill the bag with essential items (listed below)
3. You can then add in some extra special additions and a handwritten note
4. Tell your friends about #ItsInTheBag
5. Take to any Bunnings across Australia for collection between 19-28 November 2021

Feel warm and fuzzy for making someone feel special at Christmas!

If you don't have to worry about affording your sanitary items each month, consider making it easier at least this Christmas for those that do.

A rising tide lifts all boats, and it starts with you.

Share the dignity website. 

Linking with #InspireMeMonday

Zoom - Life Post Lockdown

This last lockdown I was completely over zoom, so I don't want to talk about that. It didn't make me feel more connected, it made me feel more removed and isolated. 

The year is zooming by so fast. Yesterday I handed in my Xmas gifts to this charity thing I do each year, and am about to write my annual #Itsinthebag post  as Bunnings is taking the donations for Share the Dignity from the 19-28 November this year (but I have a story to write this weekend so it may not happen until next week).

I am getting a fuller diary.

I am trying to finalise our tax.

I am sorting xmas presents and advent calendars.

I organised a party. I sent out 20 invitations with an urgent requst for immediate RSVP as there was a huge waitlist of people to invite for the alotted covid restriction limited visitors allowed. An hour later the Premier announced it would be unlimited visitors to the house, and so the invite went out to all and sundry. We have a party planned! Whoot hoot!

I was down that all the foreign acts were still avoiding us, and even Rufus Du Sol* had a year's lead time on their concert (really?!). Then bam, Tiesto is coming in March. Unfortunately the weekend I'm in Hobart. Determined not to miss out, I changed my flight home and am now making a pitstop in Melbourne to see him. It's begining to feel like the old days, when I jetted to WOMAD to see Parov Stellar for my birthday!  Now more than ever is the time for ridiculous indulgence.

The last two years have dragged and then suddenly, we seem to be zooming along at a ferocious pace. Time is elastic but my age is not. I don't mean the number, I mean the aches and inflexibilty that seems to be creeping in. I need to get more active and get the yoga happening. 

Lost time is never found again - Benjamin Franklin.

Are you making the most of the return to real life? May we NEVER have to do that again!

Pictures are not related but they were taken in lockdown...

* I know they're Aussie, my point is even those acts are taking their time in turning up. 

Linking with #SkyWatch #DND #FridayBliss #FriendshipFriday

Light over darkness

For the first time ever, I went to a Diwali celebration dinner. Diwali is a New Year celebration for Hindus and Sikhs and part of it involves oil lamps and candles to symbolise the triumph of light over darkness. According to Wikipedia 'Diwali symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.' This is most definitely the year we need to celebrate that.

Little other news as the weather has been unhelpful. 

Good luck to all of you with HSC kids. Just remember it only influences the next step. Not the step after that. How long each step is, is up to you, not the exam result.

Linking with #FloralFriday

May the lamps of Diwali glow long into the year for you.

While this is not the best song, the lyrics are all the feels at the moment, for me at least, and probably 90% of the world.

 

Linking with #MakroTex on the theme November (because that's when Diwali is) and #ItsaSnap #FridayBliss #WWOT #ThruMyLens