Greyhounds. Ocsober over.

Happy Halloween! I bought chocolates for the kiddies, but alas no kiddies came to our door. Hence lots of little crunchie bars have been eaten. I am taking part in Halloween begrudgingly. It's an American thing, and I think the US needs to have less influence on the world rather than more. But far be it from me to deny the kiddies (or myself) chocolate.

I have been craving a lot more chocolate and sweet things while Ocsober has been on. Perhaps the pleasure centres in my brain need a tickle and if it isn't from wine, it needs to be from chocolate? Perhaps this is something I can work on..... only 13 days till I fly off to my health retreat in Koh Samui.

All of you who read my blog will know of my love for dogs. We have been dog-sitting a greyhound for a friend. Readers, I have fallen in love. Elvis the greyhound has stolen my heart. He started off a bit aloof, but now he takes his spot on the couch in between myself and my fella, usurping Bella. They play in the backyard and are adorable. #teambelvis . He is a handsome boy too, and always gets up to say hello when we wake up. Bella has started doing that with him - usually she only gives us a side-eye from the couch. #teambelvis follow each other around the house. It's too cute. I think we need to consider adopting a greyhound. They are, by all accounts, very good pets.

By way of update, we are going for our counselling appointment for IVF in December. It was delayed because the police check for my fella was delayed - he has a common name and shares a name and date of birth with many criminals....poor foresight from his parents, really.

Without going into too much detail, with the waits and delays for IVF, I seem to have lost my nerve regarding having a baby. My brain is stuck between the anticipation of the rigours of IVF and the anticipation of the rigours of parenting, hence I am led to wonder why I am bothering with any of it at all. It's an uncomfortable place, mentally. I have always imagined myself as a mum, and now I am, largely out of fear, questioning it.

I read somewhere (in a Fairfax publication, therefore true) that infertility was about as stressful as death of a loved one. I am not sure about that, but it certainly lends some validation to the mental discomfort I am feeling now. I am off to speak to my therapist about this. It's prudent.

And that is enough about that.

The things I can control, I am doing a reasonable job of doing. I have not developed a drinking problem, nor an eating problem. I am doing my exercise and doing my job well. I have discovered makeup primer and apply it diligently, as well as bronzer, because, even if I am not feeling bright I can look it. I am doing ok.
 
I love the dogs being around, they are legit the best.

The other thing I have done is sign up for a 10km fun run, the first I will have done in a couple of years. I want to get a PB (personal best time). My PB was set 5.5 years ago. I am 5.5 years older but I have accumulated a lot of mental toughness in that time. Time to unleash the beast. It's good for me to have a goal like this.

Darling buds. Doggy music festivals.

I was a bit out of sorts last evening and this morning.

However, as I got into my car to get to work, I saw the first little rosebud of spring. I looked a little closer, focussed and took a picture.

Seeing the first little rose bloom of spring changes nothing, but these things help ground me in the here and now. It defuses imagined crises.

The past weekend brought some glorious weather for a dog-friendly music festival, Dogapalooza.

It was fairly soporific music without bass or many high notes, so as not to distress the woofies. It was just nice to have some chill-time with the fur baby.

There were hipsters, so many hipsters, and their beasts, from a toy chihuahua to a large great Dane the size of a shetland pony. The Dane, lazily lying on his side, rolled on it's back to allow passers by to pat his belly. His paws were massive. I wonder what he costs to feed?

I have been in a bit of pain recently, with my back. It is a longstanding niggle of mine. It used to be on the right side of my lower back, now it has settled in on the left side. I am seeing a myotherapist who is a fellow crossfitter, except she is really good at crossfit. Like, competition grade. I have tight, overdeveloped, overactive quads and hip flexors, and weaker, lazy glutes. It pulls me out of shape. I have to do lots of clams and glute strengthening exercises, which I used to do a lot of when I did pilates but don't worry so much about now. To my detriment, clearly.

It's a short week here in Melb, with a public holiday on Friday, bought back in by our new Premier after show day was "Jeffed"* some years ago. I am using the extra time to attack a few papers and presentations I need to write, and do some weeding. The weeds are taunting me. I asked a person from the grey army to come and give me a quote for the gardening but he got muddled up so I told him not to bother. Some weeding will do me good, anyway.

I am soooooo hanging out for Penang.

* Jeffed =laid to waste or abolished by Jeff Kennett, the 1990s  Victorian Premier with a slash and burn mentality.

And you?
How are your glutes? Lazy like mine? Or taut and functional?
Any nice flowers in your part of town?

NZ Holiday. Things I like about NZ.

Howdy ladybugs!

I have just come back from NZ. I really wish I were still on holiday. We had a delightful time.

We started out in Christchurch, where my Fella's family live, for his special "zero" birthday. We headed up to Hanmer Springs, an alpine spa town, much like Daylesford in Victoria. We spent NYE there (the town pub was going off like a frog in a sock). We then headed up to Picton, the gateway to the Marlborough sounds. We spent 5 nights there, doing a hike, a kayak, a wine tour and a trip to Blenheim. We saw birds, seals, the hills, the sea, sunshine. We ate, drank, talked, laughed and generally reconnected.

It was great for the soul.

NYE. Scallops, Pork belly and Tamarind - OH MY.

Off from Picton, Into the Sounds we go!

If you look closely....you'll see the seal posse!

oooh, look!

And these little birdies are called Oyster Catchers

 

Worth climbing that steep hill.

A hard earned thirst was watered here, after the walk

You know the Savvy B? This is where it comes from!

The savvy b went down very well with this.

Some things I love about NZ

• The food. No really. They make good food, especially in Christchurch. Not so much in Picton. 
• The coffee. Most places. A flattie comes with two shots as a norm. 
• The vino.
• The People. Very friendly, very chilled.
• The public toilets. They are always clean, and they are never without toilet paper or hand soap.
• Tui Beer. Yes. Tui is to NZ like VB is to Victoria - a bit of a bogan beer. But it is a beer I like. And I don't like much beer.
• Whittaker's chocolate.
• Fush and Chups. Particularly in Kaikoura. Check out Tiki Takeaways if you are passing through. Best Fush and Chups ever.
• The rivers. You can see right to the bottom, they are so clear. 
• The difference between mince pies and steak pies, and that they are both meat pies!

 Am now back at work and acutely feeling the post-holiday blues. Today, Monday has come with a few "thwacks" from left field. It gives me good practice to keep my focus on completing the PhD, rather than sweating the "thwacks". It's also practice in having faith that things will work out as they are meant to.

Next trip will likely be to Boston. For the conferences.

There is a bit going on between then and now, so hard to focus on that. Un giorno per tempo, I was told.

I am really enjoying being home with the woofer, though. No matter what thwacks the day has bought, she always makes me smile.

A belated conversation

Like my bloggy mates H and FF, I have been lacking in the blogging mojo department recently. My facebook statuses are a bit few and far between as well, unless it is something shared, a talking point.

Perhaps it is that being outdoors is so lovely at this time of year?

Walking through my 'hood is a real treat at this time of year. There are lots of lovely established rose bushes in people's front gardens. I have been performing an olfactory survey of all of the roses. Some of them look pretty but have no smell. Some of them, like the peachy ones with the pink bits at the end of the petal (not the botanic name) smell divine. We have some in our front garden; our cleaners prune a few buds and put them in a vase for me to sniff regularly. Perhaps encouraged by green thumbed bloggy friends, I am starting to appreciate having a garden.

Also I have been thinking about things that might be a bit boring and or repetitive for the blog.

But there has been a bit happening elsewhere in the world to talk about.

Like Gough Whitlam.

He was only PM for three years, and before I was even born. Though I never had any experience of his leadership and no feel for the type of man he was, I know I am a beneficiary of what he achieved in his time. Somebody from my background would not have been able to do what I have done without his legacies, and I am acutely aware that it is getting harder for people coming from more modest backgrounds to achieve what they want.

I was talking with an older colleague about him the other day. My colleague, who is quite conservative politically, was quite generous in his praise of Gough Whitlam. My colleague was of the era that he could just as easily have been packed off to fight in Vietnam, rather than having a wildly successful career in business and finance before becoming a doctor and being very contented. He was glad when Gough ended conscription. He said that Australia become a bolder   and more confident nation after Gough's time; perhaps inspired by making sweeping changes that would have been considered quite shocking and foolhardy at the time.

Yet all we hear about is the assorted gaffes of the politicians, and failed reforms. I have a friend whose husband is a politician. We don't hear about his good, steady work behind the scenes. Our view of politicians is shaped entirely by the media.

But that will do about that....

Bella the dog's personality is coming out more by the week. She sleeps on the couch at night. When I get up, I find her coiled up in a snail position on the couch. I greet her, and I get only a side-eye in acknowlegement (perhaps she is not a morning dog). I can only lure her outside with soup bones; no dog treats or dry dog food will work. And she is starting to get me figured out.

When I get home, she greets me with a waggy tail, then sits on the couch with me for a quiet cuddle. When my fella gets home, she bounces about like a loony, and they play their wrestling game. They have it choreographed quite well.They are best mates. The dog has improved my fella's stress levels quite considerably.

She likes to do crazy happy-laps in the backyard. She will get an old bone from her stash and throw it up in the air with her teeth. Funnily, she does not do ball games.

She loves to shake hands too. She is scared of most visitors, but we are getting visitors to hand-feed her dog treats. Maybe she will learn that humans are good.

But most importantly, it's Friday! It's going to be a good weekend! A cooking class, a hens' night and a family barbecue is lined up. All the weekends in November have big events in them too. I have to find time to re-curate my wardrobe, having performed a de-clutter of the garage with my fella.

Tell me, what are you doing this weekend?

11 Things.

I was put up to this by Ruth.

There is this thing going around blogland tagging people to share 11 random things about themselves.

Here goes.

1. I have nice strong shiny hair, but small, weak, brittle nails. I have had lots of ingrown toenails. A good manicure is an elusive thing. I have a nail related inferiority complex.

2. I had acne from the ages of 14 to 20. It was yucky and precluded much in the way of puppy love. This may explain why I did so well at school. It cleared up with a certain type of pill. Then a couple of years ago I developed perioral dermatitis. That cleared up after a dermatologist prescribed medication.

I am going through that awkward stage between 13 and 40.

3. My friends can rely on me to pick a good restaurant and a great bottle of wine at that restaurant. It's one of my talents.

4. I can't decide on a favourite food. I like most foods. I am not a big fan of fish, except the deep fried variety. I can do a little tin of tuna for lunch. I am also not that big a fan of Japanese food. My favourite cuisines at the moment are Mexican and south Indian/ Sri Lankan. My favourite food and drink match at the moment is Tiger Beer with Chicken Satay sticks - I had a few of these in Malaysia.

5. My favourite books are Shantaram, by Gregory Roberts, and Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides. I usually go for books on the iPad, but at the moment I am reading an old-skool paper book, Life after Life, by Kate Atkinson.

6. I don't watch much telly, but my favourite shows are Offspring, So You Think You Can Dance, Rake and The Blacklist. I also like to watch Bondi Vet with my fella, and we do voice narrations for the animals.

I am obsessed with House of Cards at the moment. I tried to like Breaking Bad but it is too depressing.

Ok that totally comes across as though I watch a bit too much telly. 

7. I never went on a plane till I was 20. It was a flight to Sydney, to a placement in country NSW. Despite this I have caught up, and have now travelled more extensively than most folks I know. On my wish list are Turkey, Israel and Jordan. I would also like to see more of Australia, seeing the top end and Kangaroo Island.

8. I have a British Passport, obtained through my father's UK birth. It was quite hard to get my hands on all the required documents as he had passed long before I was of passporting age. But I am nothing if not determined.

Anywho, it's really easy and quick to go through Heathrow.

9. I have a fondness for pickled vegetables. Pickled onions. Beetroot. Gherkins. Even Kimchi.

10. My first memory was of tying a knot in a big bit of foil and being super proud of myself. I might have been about 3 at the time.

11. My signature statement lip colour is Rebel by MAC. I also go a red lippy occasionally. If you had not tried Rebel on you should.


12. My first car was a 1976 Datsun 180B. It was baby poo mustard coloured and had a white vinyl roof. It had no radio, heating or air con. It only drove, and then only occasionally

13. I can't count to 11. I also like to break rules.


Our little dog has a bit of bronchitis. She is on antibiotics, bless her. She has dry skin and is a bit skinny but we will fatten her up a bit.

A New Family Member.

For a while now, the fella and I have been discussing getting a dog.

So we made an impromptu visit to the local dog shelter.

And I fell in love.

Introducing Bella Pumpkin.

She is a staffy x kelpie x lab??

She was very quiet at the shelter. Very shy. A bit timid and frightened of my partner. She moaned when, after we met her, she was locked back in her cage. I sat with her, and she put her paw up and we shook hands.

The fella was not initially taken, thinking she was too quiet and shy. I think they have made friends now, and she has opened up to both of us. We don't know her provenance but we know she was stray and she has had a litter of puppies and she is about 2 years old. She sits and shakes hands and is toilet trained. She whinges when she is apart from us. Instead of her tail being between her legs she now waggles it when we speak to her.

She has made herself quite comfortable, see?

Look at this cute little face:

I look forward to lots of adventures and cuddles.

In other news, I am making a few difficult but positive steps towards better health. Watch this space.