Tuesday 19 October 2021

Freedom Sunday

My walking stick used to be floral but the heat shrink decorating it has faded and it's now an ugly grey with a few sad flowers still visible at the bottom. I have been thinking I would like to get a new one (or find a way to fix the old) but it was functional so I haven't really made the effort. 

A lady advertised free walking sticks, I'm not sure how she got around facebooks ban on advertising mobility aids but she did and we took a drive to pick up a new stick.

We went to the old, harbourside suburb of Balmain, you might be able to see the garage door in the photo below. It was at the bottom of the "steepest street in Balmain" I don't know who determined it to be the steepest street but I was convinced. 

There was a little dog who greeted us enthusiatically and then ran into the waterside park.

On the way home we stopped to try Nutie Donuts - oven baked, wholefood, gluten free and delicious.

The smiley face walking stick was the only one left after I picked a black and red one. It's earmarked for a friend of mine but if she doesn't want it, I won't mind having a happy spare! 









26 comments:

  1. Well . that's a pretty fancy walking stick. You're out of my league!

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    1. haha well if I must use one, I might as well have one (or more) that I like!

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  2. I think you should have exactly what you want for a walking stick. One of my parents friends had to walk with a cane so she tied Hermes scarves to match her outfits below the handle. It made her feel it was a fashion accessory instead of a walking aid.

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    1. I like that idea and I'd want to tie an Hermes scarf very tightly!

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  3. mine is a gray four-legged cane, just utilitarian! Yours is so cute. The pastries look delicious. Did you take a picture of the one you chose?

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    1. Those three donuts are the ones my daughters chose for the three of us and I had a bite of each: mocha, raspberry and caramel

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  4. My stick is strictly utilitarian. I have been looking for something with colour and pizzaz for a while but haven't yet fallen in love.
    Those donuts look good.

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    1. The woman who gave them to me said her aunt designed a whole new range of sticks because there was nothing stylish on the market. Maybe she improved things because I feel like there's a good range these days.

      The brand is switch sticks and yes, the donuts were delicious

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  5. Nice to read about a cheery day! It is grim here - completely grey, so it's also lovely to see the blue skies.
    I have inherited my dad's walking aids - and his grabber stick. Always good to be prepared!
    Sx

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    1. Hey Ms Scarlet,
      While summer screams toward me, winter is coming to my northern friends.

      I inherited my next door neighbours mother's walking stick and i do not want it!

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  6. I like pretty walking sticks and have seen a big range of them here. I make do with rather boring Nordic Walking Poles as I feel I need support on both sides, though I have eyed off the pretty floral walking sticks in the Health Food shop window. Maybe...

    The donuts look very fancy and most inviting. It's been years since I've even seen a donut. I used to love getting those hot ones from the Royal Show.

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    1. Hi Marie,
      There was a time when i considered nordic walking poles because they look cooler than a regular stick but i decided that I'd like to keep a hand free to carry things.

      Fancy donuts are a huge trend here and i like them but nothing can beat a hot, cinnamon donut

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  7. I had a collection till just a few weeks ago. Since I now have to use elbow crutches, all my walking sticks have gone off for recycling in our neighbourhood weekly meet.

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    1. Hi Ramana,
      Your content outlook is a great asset as age creeps up and steals from you. Last time i used crutches I didn't really have enough upper body strength. How are you managing?

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    2. I hardly walk anyway. I keep that to the barest minimum and inevitably, have others around to help if needed.

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  8. No one in rain-beaten Scotland could dislike your sun-dappled waters.
    The steepest street in Balmain looks as if it's on the way to Somewhere.
    We all want to go Somewhere, don't we?

    Hilly streets have interested me ever since seeing Hitchcock's Vertigo.
    The plot is quite silly but the vertiginous streets of San Francisco beguile the eye.
    Hitch wanted Cary Grant + Grace Kelly and settled for Jimmy Stewart + Kim Novak.
    There's a YouTube film tracking the movie's locations. Great views.

    Roll on the day you can discard your fancy walking stick !
    Jack

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    1. Hi Jack,
      At the bottom of the steepest street is the water and at the top is the suburb of Balmain. It is perhaps my favourite suburb in all Sydney but it's too expensive and steep for me to live there. A girl can dream.

      San Fran is steep! I haven't heard of "Virtigo" I must try it some day.

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    2. Balmain sounds like the neighbourhood one would want to explore.
      Getting out of your car, and walking, is the only way to see a city.
      Bicycles are brilliant but too dangerous on our roads.

      Vertigo would have worked perfectly with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly because only those two could have made me believe in the story.
      It is like that tale by Goethe in which Young Werther is hopelessly in love with a married woman. Love-sick Goethe renounced Romanticism for Classicism.

      *Michael Caine on Cary Grant.* YouTube.
      *Cary Grant 1988 Documentary.* That's Entertainment. YouTube.

      Noel Coward's song, Mad About the Boy, was written with Cary Grant in mind.
      I think there was a song to Kim Novak but who remembers it?

      Jack

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  9. Doughnuts in the sun, what could be better!

    I like the smilie face walking stick.

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    1. You're right! I can't resist a sunny day near the water and a sugar hit just tops it off

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  10. Lovely. Must be so nice being out and about enjoying donuts and going on small adventures.

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    1. Michelle, sometimes I wonder if I will ever again have a bigger adventure but small is ok for now

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  11. Great photos Kylie, I felt I was there. Well done on those sticks. Mine is a gorgeous hand-carved one which I named George. So many remark on it and he is very sturdy to lean on when I am walked out. Perfect height and that's important, I test drove a few before George was selected.

    I do love the smiley face one.

    XO
    WWW

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    1. I dream ofhaving a variety of sticks to match or at least complement outfits but that seems excessive!
      A hand carved stick would be a walking art piece and I like that you named him.

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  12. Jenny and I have been to Balmain, but we never heard about the steepest street. I bet it's nothing like as steep as the streets in San Francisco!

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    1. i think the people who owned the house said it was the steepest street just as a good natured "complaint"
      When we told Keaghan it was the steepest street he laughed uproariously and said that he's been to the steepest street in the WORLD. It was steep but relatively short, I'm sure San Fran more than competes :)

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