True Blue Australian

We celebrate Australia Day every year as a family. 

We are not celebrating the day white man set foot on Australian land for the first time. We are not celebrating the differences in government groups currently in office. We also are not celebrating that we have several flags to choose from. 

We are celebrating what being Australian means to us, and how proud we are of the people that make this happen.

Thankful for Not Falling On My Face

Today I did great things .... at least by my standards. I had my monthly health assessment with The Personal Trainer, and she always gets the best out of me, whether I am doing boxing, routines with weights, treadmill or aerobic routines. I never know what to expect, as she is always pumped to get me moving and likes to mix it up.

I really think The Personal Trainer has been well worth the money My Workplace is paying her. If you want to know how this came about, then read here. My first assessment is here, and my post explaining what works for me is here.

So I am steadily losing weight, which is ideal, and I can feel I am so much fitter than 5 months ago. This is showing in my Netball games where I have moved positions, and am now enjoying playing two thirds of the court instead of struggling to cover one third. Also, there is no way I could achieve my milestone today, without my improved fitness.

We worked with some 1.5kg dumb bells today, doing a series of of squats, pumps and burpees. This is itself is a good workout. Here is the twist! Between each set with the weight, I got to have a quick drink before jumping on the Treadmill and jogging for 2 minutes. You heard it here first - I RAN ON THE TREADMILL! Wooooo Hoooo!

There is something about a trainer standing beside you, talking you through every step, encouraging you to go a bit more, and praising your achievements. I must tell you, there were a couple of high fives in the room.

Who gives you the confidence to try things? When have you thought yourself incapable, and been encouraged to push harder?

Wrap me in colour

The stores are just popping with colour in anticipation for Spring. I'm not sure I am ready to dive in yet though. I'm sure I have already been there before.

Back before my black heavy metal days of being a teen, I fully welcomed the fashionable colours of the 80s. There were colours and patterns of every description, and obviously some were NOT meant to be worn together, but I'm sure we all have one photo from the 80s with bad hair and an outfit gone wrong. I'm sure you'd like to see mine ....But you're not!

I have seen the coloured jeans era already. I remember having a very cool pair of pale pink jeans. I believe they also had a little zip at each ankle too. Very cool!

I also embraced, briefly, the brightly coloured, Lycra leggings as my friends and I danced along to "Ring my bell" by Collette. Please tell me that someone reading this can remember that song.

Not to mention the layered look of the Ra ra skirt, that Danni Minogue inspired me to wear. Actually, Young Talent Time may have been responsible for quite a few of my fashion crimes.


So like many fashions that rear their heads years down the line, colour is back while I am still wrapped in my blacks, browns and greys. I might get there eventually. It is usually my style to follow the fashion as it is on it's way out. Better late than never.

How to choose a winning cocktail

I could spend hours gazing at a cocktail menu. There are always so many choices, with mouthwatering ingredients, fantastic names and bright, glossy pictures. So... how do you choose?

For me, personally, the choice has to meet certain criteria, like:

• it must not contain an ingredient that I do not like
• the name must have a little class to it. I am not tempted to drink something that sounds like it has been scooped out of a sewer pit.
• the description on the menu must flow, and be swimming with tempting words
• it should be made with good, fresh ingredients

 There are other bonus factors that go with a cocktail, that increases it's chances of being on the winning list, like:

• something cute or tasty used as decoration to finish the cocktail
• some fancy bar tending skills used when the cocktail is made
• a hot, hot bartender making the cocktail
• when he leans over the bar to whisper "that's on the house". Wink, wink.

So, to put this to the test I would grab the menu for Shrub Cocktails Unique to Lumia.

Although the choice was a tough one, given the great range, I would say my favourite would be
 Strawberry Shiraz Cobbler
Makers Mark shaken with orange chunks, red wine ‘burnt orange and pink peppercorn shrub’ and strawberry liqueur.

The ingredients sound lush, the description sounds very tempting and classy.

After this I may have to try another to make sure I'd chosen correctly.

Now one would hope that when I got to Lumia, at The Crown, Melbourne, that they have a hot, hot bartender waiting to take my order, shake it with all he's got.

Can anyone confirm they have been to Lumia and that he does exist?

Grateful for…. The young’s thirst for knowledge

There is so much knowledge to share, from the parent to the child.  It certainly gives a feeling of satisfaction to pass down important facts and see the child’s awe.

Nowhere is better for passing down knowledge than the outdoors.  Our family enjoys the outdoors and the variety it brings in things to do and see.  Even going back to the same place time and again, there is always something new to share as things change or there are new questions that the children ask.

We often go south to a beautiful little beach holiday spot.  This is where we were this weekend.  As long as the rain stays away and the cold winds don’t get up, there is opportunity to go explore and discover.

Our first adventure was to take part in our children’s favourite activity in these parts. Rock jumping! The shore of the bay is lined with rocks of different sizes and offers a world of discovery.  We usually start at the end of the beach and work our way around, picking our path along and around the rocks, looking for washed up treasures, and lifting the rocks to discovery scuttling crabs.

Our trip did not disappoint.  We found many crabs under rocks, a sea urchin which the children were reluctant to touch, a smelly, dead, puffer fish, hundreds of shells, and soft sea sponges.  As we reached the jetty we were amazed at the number of good sized crabs in the water.  We walked up and down the jetty pointing them out and watching them, and then caught sight of a school of small fish.

We made our way back along the rocks the way we had come. We had the option to follow the road back, but where was the adventure in that.  There was much talk on our return of what we had seen.

Happiness is .... good tunes

There are just some tasks that I do better if I have some good music playing.

Actually, it is quite rare (especially now I am in the depths of parenthood) that I am surrounded by silence.