Sunday Drive

This Sunday, I spent mooching around the house and grocery shopping. But two Sundays ago, I bugged my husband until he took me for a drive. I knew exactly where I wanted to go - the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

We went out through Dayboro (charming town, but I never seem to actually stop there to enjoy it!) and took the Mount Mee Rd up to D'aguilar. Then via a sneaky back road to Maleny.

It rained on and off, which was a nice change from the constant rain that we had had for the past week. Everything was so green! These pics where all taken with my new Nikon DSLR. Out the window. While driving. Because Hubby Dearest doesn't believe in stopping much. So please excuse the glare off the glass!

Having uncovered a herefore-to unknown dislike of of the lovely hinterland towns of Maleny, Montville and Mapleton in my other half, we finally stopped in Landsborough of all places! The cafe there was charming, and served a double-chocolate cheesecake so rich I couldn't finish, and tea in a proper cup and saucer (which I adore).

Next time I'm taking my mum though, so we can go to Montville. I don't care if it's touristy and expensive as all hell, I love it!

Ideas for a rainy weekend

I'm struggling with the weather here in Brisbane right now. I don't want to whine, but I miss summer already. I feel like I did not swim in my pool nearly enough!

I've decided to have a no-spend weekend so I'm sitting here at home indulging myself in things I want to do, and interspersing those with things I really don't want to do, but should (ie. housework).

If it's raining where you are, here are some ideas for things to get up to at home over the weekend:

* Make soup. Perfect soup weather, wouldn't you say? Then eat two bowls with toast or crusty bread slathered in butter.


* Bake that box of cupcakes or muffins that been in your pantry for weeks. I know my mixer Betty would thank me for dusting her off and giving her a whirl as she's been idle for a while. Live-tweet and instagram it.

* De-clutter. Yes, it's probably a chore but if you choose one small area (say the corner of the office where all the junk gets dumped) you can complete it in a short time and get a feeling of accomplishment. Yay!

* Stand at the front door and try to look at your house with a stranger's eyes. Do you want to move some things around? Have you been thinking about shuffling the furniture, pictures, knick-knacks? If you're the kind of person that does change their interior styling each season, this weekend is a good time to change the cushion covers and get out your winter throws for the lounge.

* Go through your wardrobe and anything you haven't worn in a year, give to charity. Don't just pile the clothes in the corner and forget about them like I do. Get a plastic bag, then when it's full put it in the boot of your car. Next time you're near a charity clothing bin, drop it in.

* Get out that DVD you borrowed from a friend ages ago and watch it. Even better, curl up with that bowl of soup and your throw rug and make it a movie afternoon.

* Read blogs! I never get time to read the blogs I follow properly, so I'll be using this weekend to catch up on what's going on with all my fave bloggers. LEAVE COMMENTS. After all, you're not in a hurry, it's the weekend!

And now I'm going to take some of my own advice and start on that last idea.

What are you up to this weekend?

Nose in a book

I have an apology to make, internet. And to you too, TV. You only have half my attention at the moment. While both of you would normally take up 100% of my leisure time, I have something else distracting me right now: a book.

Yes, I've once again grown completely obsessed with a book series. There's not enough spare time in the day to be reading it! I haven't been this "into" a book for a very long time.

The irony is, it's a series I've read before, and was one of my teenage favourites. The book in question is "Daughter of the Empire", the first in the "Empire" series by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. If you'd ever read Feist's Midkemia novels ("Magician" may even be considered a fantasy classic) this series fits in nicely as it is set in a sister-world, and pleasingly, they make a young girl the protagonist.

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Thus, I am chest-deep in a world that unlike the Midkemia novels, which have a Medieval European feel, is distinctly Feudal Japan in flavour. Kelewan is a world where the great families strive for the honour of their House, in a great Machievellian web of intrigue known as the Game of the Council.

Sound familiar? It reminds me of Game of Thrones! There's different Houses with their own colours and crests, and when you play the Game, you win or you die...

Re-discovering these books has been an absolute joy. I bought all three from the most recent Bookfest and I am overjoyed that when I finish the first one, I don't have to hunt around for the second one. That's one of my biggest annoyances about fantasy series! You can always find three copies of books two and four, but never book one and three...

So, that's what I've been doing - in between working and watching MKR, I've been escaping to a fantasy realm of warriors, Ladies, servants and Warlords.

What are you reading right now?

I Heart the 80s

This post first appeared on We Heart Life on 22/02/13

On my 8th birthday, a friend gave me a My Little Pony as a present. Her name was Yum Yum, and I thought she was the greatest thing in the world.

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My Little Pony, along with many many other cartoons, made up a large part of my childhood. I look back fondly at many happy hours spent watching shows like Muppet Babies, Count Duckula, DangerMouse, Voltron and Rainbow Bright.

And you know how everything old is new again? The 80s are making a comeback. My Little Pony has successfully rebooted in the last few years, Strawberry Shortcake seems to be cool amongst the children again. And have you caught the remakes of Hawaii 5-0, Knight Rider and Teen Wolf?

And it’s not just tv shows but that 80s fabulousness is sneaking into movies, music and fashion too.
Recently we’ve been treated to everything from The Smurfs  to The A-Team and 21 Jump St on the silver screen. I think screenwriters still have a rich vein of movie goodness to tap into when their well of creativity runs dry! Can you imagine a live-action movie version of The Jetsons?

I’m also loving some of the 80s style music coming out recently! Check out bands like Haim and the new single from The Presets. I honestly thought that last one was Duran Duran when I heard it on the radio.

And I haven’t even mentioned The Carrie Diaries yet. It is a veritable smorgasboard of 80s fashion, music and fun! Check it out if you have cable tv.

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I do think there are some things that are best left behind in that decade though: rah-rah skirts, neon sunglasses, crimping…

What do you miss, or definitely DO NOT miss about the 80s?

A welcome return to thrifting form

I went op shopping today. Sure, it was pissing down rain but I'm pretty broke and knew that if I went to the shops I would just get depressed about all the shiny things I can't afford.

I haven't been to my local charity shops in quite a few weeks due to a self-imposed ban. You see, after cleaning up my dining room I discovered I had WAY more vintage stuff that I'd bought for my Etsy shop than I thought.

But today I cut myself a break and went shopping for myself. Ah, the pleasure of sifting through knick-knacks for some little treasure to take home. Yes, it's other people discarded junk but it's always surprising and never not fun.

Today I struck gold with two little Pyrex dishes and a couple of tops. I usually don't shop for secondhand for clothes due to the difficulty in finding larger sizes but recently it's become easier in some charity shops that sort their racks by size.

And so, instead of getting all sad at the mall because I can't afford $49 for a nice shirt, I spent $14.50 on clothes and $5 on Pyrex and I'm as happy as a clam.

Have you found any good op shop bargains lately? What do you look for when you go?

Bargain Hunting at Bookfest

Dear reader, I hope you know about Bookfest. It is run by Lifeline and for many years has brought Queenslanders much joy. I don't know if they do it in other states, but if they don't, they should!

Yesterday I convinced my darling hubby to take me along to the latest one at the Brisbane Convention Centre. It runs for 10 whole days! Imagine how many books they sell. They put new ones out each night, so that treasure-seekers have a fresh batch to trawl through every day.

I picked up six novels, all from the "quality" section. That means that they are near-new, still in pretty good nick and you pay a bit more. There's also the "unpriced" section (where the biggest bargains are to be found!) and the "priced" section (where you can get good quality books for a few bucks).

The best part is it's not just fiction books - there's everything from textbooks to travel, cookbooks to gardening and everything in between. My favourite is the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category because I'm always on the lookout for second-hand Terry Pratchetts. You never see them, of course, because people who buy Pratchett books never give them away! But yesterday I was in awe of the variety and quality of books I saw there. Any serious fantasy book lover knows the real pain of trying to find every book in a series. Here, you could quite easily complete Eddings' Belgariad  without breaking a sweat (as indeed I did last year).

And the best part was the savings. I bought six books for $5 each. That's $30. To buy them retail, it would have cost me $107.50! (calculated using Booktopia).

The only thing that I do not like about buying books second-hand is that the author gets nothing. This is why when I do have they budget, I do try to buy books new, so at least they get to see some of the profit.

Do you buy secondhand books? What has been your best bargain?

The Windows

The first few spits would spatter loudly against the window pane.

"Check the windows!" my mum would shout a second later.

We would race around the house, searching for windows with tell-tale rain already splashing against them or putting our hands up to each flyscreen to detect any drops. Western and northern windows would be shut. Southern and eastern windows usually stayed open.

I never thought about this strangeness until recently. Why not shut all the windows? This afternoon I realised why - it's stifling being shut in. Having half of them open let in the blessed breeze that the storm brought with it. Clever mum. No air conditioning back then.

The cool breeze lifted the hair on our hot necks as we watched the lightning storm flicker around the horizon from the sunroom. If the rain changed direction, we would squeal and run around the house again, closing and opening glass panes.

Tonight, I'm here at the farm house all alone. It's kind of spooky. But at least if the rain comes, I know what to do.