The Reproach of Matilda

She’s there every morning, glaring down at me, when I open my eyes.

“If you’re going nowhere, neither is that extra chin”, she seems to say. “I have limits, you know. If we’re to ever get any closer, you should be out there, not hitting the snooze button repeatedly!”

She’s right, of course, my ideal dress size. I breached her boundaries a long time ago and won’t be fitting back in any time soon, unless I get out there and move. Every single day.

“And cut out the champagne while you’re at it, lardarse.”

By my calculations, transforming Matilda’s reproach into rapprochement is about 720 km away.

Ho hum.

The Matilda Dress

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Vivid

I’ve lived in Sydney for longer than the annual Vivid festival’s been going, but this year is the first time I went down to the Harbour to take a look. It’s fabulous, the atmosphere, the music and the visual splendour. Tonight’s the last night, so if you’re in Sydney and you haven’t been yet, get rugged up, and head to Vivid tonight for a wonderful evening.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Circular Quay, Sydney

For those of you who couldn’t make it, you might be interested in these Vivid 2015 videos from YouTube.

Customs House

Sydney Opera House

Museum of Contemporary Art

For more entries to this week’s WPC, see The Daily Post.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Broken

I know what you’re thinking…
..but I haven’t taken to my husband’s head with a meat cleaver.

Being time-poor, I don’t cook much, but when I do, I like to try something new and recently attempted this MiNDFOOD recipe.

The problem is that the whole tap-the-pomegranate-skin-with-a-wooden-spoon-and-the-seeds-will-just-fall-out trick didn’t work so well. Hence the pomegranate bloodbath.

For more entries to last week’s photo challenge, see The Daily Post.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Fresh

Fresh Noodles – Tokyo

See The Daily Post for other takes on this week’s photo challenge.

Can you guess…

..the name of the river on the banks of which this photo was taken?

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Habit

It’s our habit, on a Saturday, to head out early for breakfast at our local, and then to the golf course for 18 holes.

We got more than we bargained for today – on the fourth, a thunderstorm so powerful in its rain and wind action that we struggled to run against it to seek shelter from the lightning spiking all around us. The golf course was flooded in a couple of minutes – it’s frightening how quickly the weather can turn deadly.

For more entries to the WPC Habit theme, see The Daily Post.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

A peek inside a guest house we escaped to for a bit of R&R with friends a couple of weekends ago.

Our men are all wizzes in the kitchen, so us girls left them to it, and relaxed next to a roaring fire in the marvellous library.

The chefs didn’t disappoint.

Weekly Photo Challenge: One Shot, Two Ways

Do you think that context changes meaning in the two shots of the same subject above? What about the two shots below?

————-

For more entries to last week’s challenge, see The Daily Post.

My favourite five creative takes on this theme:

Bluebrightly

hamburg und mee(h)r

filling my bag with gear

Ron Mayhew’s Blog

SPH3RE

Sunny side up

Image via http://www.sxc.hu

“Breakfast tomorrow?”

“Yes.

“Our little weekend rituals
make me happy,
secure.
And prevent me from running
from the planet, screaming.”

OK, maybe I didn’t articulate that last line, hehe.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Masterpiece

At Moo Burgers, kids are encouraged to give expression to their inner Moonet.

I’d give Tony, aged 4, first prize for his moomorous, Aussie-themed moosterpiece.

The world seen through the eyes of children can open ours – see Launch Pad for children’s unique insights.

For more entries to this week’s photo challenge, see The Daily Post – my top five for the week:

• Hamburg Und Mee(h)r
• A Meditative Journey with Saldage
• Ileana Partenie
• Solaner
• Ese’s Voice

Weekly Photo Challenge: Lunchtime

Five favourites from this week:

ThirdEyeMom

Eyes to Heart

What’s (in) the Picture?

Joy and Woe

Bam’s Blog

Fix

Chocolate is essential.

It’s existential.

I did not, I repeat, did not attempt to bribe Nancy at Spirit Lights the Way with chocolate so she would include me as a semi-finalist in her ‘The Writer’s Desk Challenge’. 😆

Thanks, Nancy – I’m delighted.

Vote for your favourite entry here.

 

Delicious Sumos

It’s not what you’re thinking, Jo Bryant 🙂

Peels like a mandarin…

Tastes like a mandarin…no, orange…no, mandarin

No seeds!

Sumo mandarins, known as dekopon in Japan, have come to our local grocer from a Queensland grower

Yummmm!

Feeding Time on the Golf Course

“I think I spy a worm…

“Got it!” 

“Pssst, Horace, I think we’re being watched.”

“Oh for goodness sake, Edith, stop imagining things and eat your dinner…” 

“Mmm…I think I spy a plumper morsel over there…”

“nom, nom”

Click here for the Animal Olympics

A slice of a Sydney weekend

Breakfast at Via Del Corso?

mmm, not quite breakfast

that’ll do the Man

fruit fit for bees

it’s a beautiful day for a boat show

to play tourist and reflect on the harbour

and the city

do some shopping

don’t forget to buy The Big Issue

(step away from the cupcakes!)

have lunch

spicy chicken laksa

and head off to friends to watch the rugby

Dreams of a Love Gourmand

Image via http://www.sxc.hu

He ate Suzi’s paella

and dreamed of Ipanema,

of romance in Marbella

and Rio de Janeiro

–

He ate Fleur’s rindless blue

his dreams were psychedelia

he dreamt he was Theroux,

da Vinci and Ophelia

–

He drank Ping’s green absinthe

and dreamt he was a fairy

with eyes as green as minthe

his wand, a blue canary

–

He ate Fang’s chou dofu

her durian, then balut,

and napped as King Shi Chu

at war with King Canute

–

He ate Ann’s cherry duck

nightmared of Gordon Ramsay

who served confit of muck

with jus of some philandery

–

Then came Maeve’s Irish Stew,

no dreams his sleep disturbed

and as he woke he knew

his food of love’d been served

Pesto Princess

The task was set by The only Cin,

Pesto Princess put up the prize,

Side View decided who should win –

That was me, to my surprise!

 

See  The only Cin for one more chance to win!