Roadtrip

Last weekend I took myself on a road trip. I set off from home with my daughters and we stopped for coffee and baked goods at our favourite bakery. The girls got on the train at Mittagong and returned to  Sydney while I carried on.
I stopped at "The Big Merino" in Goulburn and had a wander around looking at all the lovely woollen items:

It was very tempting to buy a handknitted Fair Isle jumper or cardigan but there was a substantial amount of money involved (I'm not saying they were expensive, they were worth every bit) 

I arrived at my very nice, very accessible hotel around three and  filled in some time reading before heading to the local pub for dinner. Unfortunately I hadn't timed my arrival well enough to score a table by the open fire but I did have a nice meal.

The next day I had a delicious breakfast of waffles and coffee in the "Walter Cafe" overlooking Lake Burley Griffin, drove up to see Parliament House and decided to go to the Black Mountain Lookout. 

The view from the lookout was spectacular but I had to take in the view from the road and through the trees because there were steep steps leading down to the lookout. It makes for a more interesting photo, maybe.

I stopped to have a look at Lake George which doesn't always have water in it. It was grey and dull looking. I'm not sure if it was worth the detour but one day when the lake is a dried up claypan, I'll probably be glad I did. I find the view of the windmills hopeful, they won't solve climate change but they are a symbol of progress.

There was a "Makers Market" happening in Yass where I stopped to talk to a man who was carving spoons. We had an interesting conversation talking about the sentimental value that spoons seem to have and I asked if he might be able to repair this hand carved spoon my mum gave me. It broke one day when I was washing it and it has sat unused ever since. He said he could so I posted it off this week and I look forward to seeing it after he works on it. 

Despite living just a drive down the highway, I have never before met Elephant's Child. We have read each other's blogs for almost forever. This was my opportunity and we had a nice cuppa, I got to see parts of the garden and the bird feeder that I know so well through photos. The kittens were not keen to be sociable and EC was taller than I had imagined but otherwise just the same as her blogging voice would suggest. It was a good morning.

Unfortunately, my car seemed to use a huge amount of petrol on the trip and the mechanic isn't sure what's wrong. He suggested that at 18 years old, too much investigation might be like opening a can of worms and though  I was hoping to squeeze a couple more years out of it, I've decided that it's time to find another car so that's the next project.

Chef Dave

About 10 days ago now, I was about to leave for work and my driveway was blocked by a taxi. Dave (Cousin Dave, next door) got out looking very tired and wobbly and said that he'd been all night in the emergency department: someone had knocked him off his bicycle and he'd been in  hospital getting the once over.
The day after that, Caitlin and I came up the street to see Dave standing on the driveway looking as though he was about to fall backwards and smash his head so Caitlin ran over to check on him.
He believed he was ok so we were standing there, trying to assess if we should be pushy about calling an ambulance. 
Julie, who is Dave's housemate and a nurse, came outside. Julie is a good person and caring but it can be hard to get a word in edgeways and in his condition Dave just gave up and walked away.
The car he took pride in has been sold, his beloved daughter is estranged from him, seemingly under the influence of a controlling partner and he was in obvious physical pain. 
We were very concerned about him but after a short time (maybe 20 minutes) he arrived at the side door, wok in hand, and asked me to go get a plate.
He served a generous plate full of  a bubble and squeak type mix with what I think was roast lamb, pumpkin, capsicum, mushrooms, onion and cheese. 

It was delicious and I felt a bit less afraid for  him.

Dave's verbal abilities are patchy these days but he found a way to communicate

 

On "being presentable"

Today I stumbled across an article in WSJ and I can't seem to find the same article again even after looking through a decent number of editorials on fashion, so I'm afraid I can't give you a reference for this but anyway......

Did you know we have moved from the era of "quiet luxury" (from what I can tell it was a 2021/2022 phenomenon) to the era of "un-shouty chic" ?

The article I was reading was talking about well off Ivy League students in the mid 20th century, wearing old, starting to wear out clothes and it said:

I didn't have time to reflect a lot or even finish reading because I had somewhere to be. I put my stripey red linen shirt on (Vinnies)  with my black spotted purple jeans (Salvos Store) and as my imaginative readers will have already figured out, I realised I was channeling a super strong "cat lady" vibe.

For a moment I thought about changing again but it was all becoming a bit complicated so I decided to just go with it, thinking to myself that unless I was dressed in "quiet luxury" it's probably pretty obvious that I'm white but not rich so why should I "be presentable" and if I was to "try" what would I be trying to be?