My uncle and cousin are just about at the end of a 29 day or 14,400 km mad dash from London to Cape Town in their 1923 Vauxhall OD 23/60, known as Penny. Penny (and my uncle) is quite the adventurer having completed the ERA Peking to Paris rally in 2010 and coming 2nd in the pioneer class.  The original plan some time ago was to do London to Cape Town in their “everyday” 4wd but look at the picture below and I think you can understand why Penny is doing London to Cape Town and not the Landcruiser…

This is them a few days ago barrelling down a road between Moyale and Marsabit in Kenya. The photo is by Gerard Brown who is the rally photographer.

They are currently placed at 31 in what is now a field of 41 cars, pretty darn impressive for a car which is the oldest in the rally by 41 years … The second oldest car is a 1964 Volvo PV 544 C. The rally was designed for “classic rally cars”, those rally cars of the 60s-80s, that are the type of cars you think of when you think major long distance rally. They’ve done really well climbing up from 40th which at the pointy end of the rally I would really say comes down to how well they prepped Penny to start off with.

One of the coolest features available to us rally watchers is the yellowbrick car tracking, at any time of the day you are able to see where all the cars are located and what speed they are travelling at etc. If you’ve got some time to spend I highly recommend having a poke round the rally website but also looking at the various participant blogs etc

I leave you with this photo also by  Gerard Brown. This is what happens when you run out of petrol 500m from the petrol station. I’m betting that is one tale those locals will be talking about for some time to come.

This selection of charms, key chain straps or whatever else you want to call them are some of my favourite things I brought back from Japan. There is an elephant, a hamburger mirror, Hello Kitty doughnut, Mr Green Tea Ice Cream man, edamame, Miffy with Sakura, Madeline, a little tea set etc etc and more. Probably once a week or so, I change round what I’ve got on my hand bag, mobile and uni bag. I get to take some little pieces of Japan with me where ever I go. sigh

We ended up seeing a lot of places, doing a lot of shopping (oh the shopping), eating all sorts of things (Kobe beef!!! OMG), talking to a random mix of people and most of all enjoying the plum blossoms. We did see some cherry blossoms but personally we prefer the perfume from the plum blossoms (we were talking to a volunteer guide at the Osaka Castle Gardens and he said that that preference is quite common amongst westerners).

Plum Blossoms in the Osaka Castle Plum Orchard.

Well we are now at our third night in Tokyo and whoa what a city it is. People watching, shopping and walking has been done not so much “proper sightseeing” but that is coming.

We had rain through the night last night and woke up to it snowing this morning, it continued up until midday’ish. The snow melted pretty quickly but it was nice for that little while.

The shops, whoa. It as all about variety and then some more. In some way I like the limited ranges of things back home. For example you want a pair of nail clippers; back home you probably have about 5 or so to pick from in a shop, here we were in one big electronics store and I kid you not there would have been at least 70 different types!

Still we’ve been having a ball and tomorrow is the halfway mark .

Mum, the baking powder photo is for you, does it look familiar?

Cherry blossom season is getting quite close and the shops are filling with cherry blossom/sakura themes items (no Kit-Kats yet )but I have had the cherry blossom frappacino from Starbucks and mmm it is very nice, will try the lattes soon.

Tomorrow we are doing more of the sane from the last few days and going to karaoke tomorrow night with a bunch of people from the hostel.

3 pictures for now because everything else will have to wait till I get back from Japan.

Saying hello to Grandad after the ceremony

This photo just about sums up the wedding 100%. The beach, playing in the water, having a picnic and a wedding as well.

and the cake, mmmm flourless chocolate cake and a very very good one at that. With the mountains of Freycinet in the background

Tomorrow – I have work (of course), I get my tooth implant, I’ve got postgrad orientation stuff to do at uni and then I have The Whitlams with the QSO tomorrow night.

Friday – Work and then straight to the airport to catch a flight to Hobart.

Saturday – Wedding of my cousin on the beach at Coles Bay/Freycinet

Sunday – Post wedding activities and flying home Sunday night.

Monday – Work and first uni lecture

Tuesday – Fly to Japan for 2 weeks. (Yeah, I’ll be missing four classes – two for each subject, whilst I’m away)

I’m so crazy looking forward to going to Japan. G (one of my best girl friends) and I are going to have a blast (literally as they having a bit of a cold snap at the moment and it is forecast to snow for the days we are up in the alps!!!).

It’s going to be crazy. I bought a new lens the other week, the 28mm 1.8 which will be one of the two lenses I’m taking to Japan, the other will be the 50mm 1.4. I was thinking of taking my 16-35mm 2.8 but it is a heavy piece of glass. I took a few photos with the 28mm the other day and I’m impressed

Yep, some more of my Figgjo Flint Lotte. Here you see a creamer which doubles as a bobby pin and nail utensil holder, a sugar pot that holds bracelets and hair clips and my soufflé dish which holds jewellery.

a nice filler photo

The list …

1. Be finished with orthodontic work.

Going very well, should be no more than a few months to go.

2. Challenge myself to take more thoughtful photos.

I’m more happy now with my photos than I’ve been a while but I still don’t think I’m taking my strongest photos

3. Ride my bike more.

Bike goes in for a service on Friday

4. Get a will.

not yet

5. Get better with my practice of one thing in means one thing out for my belongings.

Did a big clean out of my wardrobe on the weekend, so getting there

6. Spend more time creating.

Doing pretty well on this front

7. Print and frame more photos.

I’ve printed more but they are not framed

8. Bake a rainbow cake.

not yet

9. Do more study.

Well I’m still at uni and I got a 6/Distinction/83% for the last semester

10. Go to the Drive In – hopefully the Wonga one if it re-opens in the next few months.

not yet

11. Go media-free for at least 48hrs.

mmmm

12. Make marshmallows and honeycomb.

I’ve made other things ….

13. Be more regular on my blog (gee, that sounds like an All-Bran ad).

I’m doing better than I have been

14. Grow my investments.

Making sound progress on this front

15. Reduce the stack of clothes in my mending/alterations stack.

Just about all gone

16. Make my own tea blend.

I’ve got ideas in my head

17. Make strawberry jam.

done

18. Get fresh flowers more often.

I like fresh flowers but I just wish they would last a whole lot longer

19. Write and comment more.

Not doing as much as I would like

20. Grow professionally.

It’s in the works

21. Get my routines started again – planning meals for the week and exercise.

making progress

22. Read some more classics.

yeah

23. Finish my granny square blanket.

Just need to block it and it will be completed

24. Make mulberry crumble or pie from the mulberries in the freezer.

The mulberries are still in the freezer

25. Turn 26

Well I’m getting closer every day …

… and that is where we are on Jan 5 at 21:48

Tomorrow is a lovely day. December 1, the countdown more officially begins for Christmas. On Sunday, I lit the first candle in my Advent wreath. Tonight, I’ve spent the evening making a big paper chain garland, not exactly sure where I will hang it but probably crisscrossing the ceiling of my room. The most important decision that I need to make between now and tomorrow is where I’m going to put my little tree this year. The first thing I did when I came home from work this afternoon was to polish the silver tray I put it on.

ahhh exciting times. This weekend I’ll be doing my first “official” batch of baking and making.

I’m a bit disappointed that I won’t get to put up my vintage tinsel tree this year but there’s not much point since I’ll be in NZ for Christmas.

Saturday night was the Christmas Party and oh it was a great night. Check out my hair!

I got my hair done on Saturday morning and that really made me decide what I was wearing – I had about 3 options lined up and in the end settled on the frock in the above photo (obviously), it’s from Veronika Maine and I love it. It was my birthday frock this year. I found the glasses on ebay – got 3 pair of empty frames for about $15 (score). If I ever need glasses, I hope I can get lenses put in those frames … I wore a netted petticoat to pouf the dress out, pearls (of course) and on my lips was MAC Ruby Woo (that classic matte red lipstick). I’ll have to wait till I get some photos off the others to show you the shirt I got for N. It’s a classic.

We had everything from 20′s flappers to us Mid Century Girls to 80′s glam rock. Just about everyone put a lot of effort into their outfits which made judging for the various prizes very hard!

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

I love Christmas. Without a doubt it is my favourite time of year. The last few days I’ve been working on some of my Christmas crafting and I’m doing my first batch of Christmas baking tomorrow. In saying all that though, this Christmas is going to be oh so very different to any Christmas past. There’s no Pabbi to dish out the rice pudding or to hand out presents from the tree. When we were in London on the way home from Iceland, we came up with the idea to go to New Zealand for Christmas to hang out with Mum’s sister and her family. Mum, Grandad and I are going (Matthew was not interested in the idea and is staying home) on the night of the 23rd and return on the night of the 31st. Will be great to catch up with my cousins and get to see the first great-grandchild.

I’m so tempted to start putting up decorations in my room but I’ll wait till Dec 1… though I’m going to hang a few porcelain snow flakes in the next few hours. They are white, you’ll hardly be able to see them hanging from the white shelf against the white wall …

This Saturday is the Christmas BBQ for the Icelandic Club -> hence the Christmas baking tomorrow. Really looking forward to the BBQ especially to catch up with one of my good friends who I’ve not seen in an obscene amount of time. I’m going to take along a big container of Loftkökur … mmmm. A funny note to mention, google Loftkökur and my recipe is normally the first or the second result to appear . When I was in Iceland a few months ago, one of my sister’s told me that someone she knew had been raving about this Loftkökur recipe that she had found on the net and how great it was. She sent the link to my sister and my sister replied – that recipe is from my sister so funny.

In order to make Loftkökur, though I need the secret ingredient so I made a trip over to Mum’s today to pick up the Hartshorn salt, I also “borrowed” two of her biscuit trays … and I brought home some of my Christmas decorations.

mmm Hartshorn salt, there’s nothing quite like a sniff of Ammonium bicarbonate.

In other news, I go back to work tomorrow! yikes. I’ve got some crutches which make getting around easier. The first thing on the agenda for me to do tomorrow at work will be finish organising the Christmas Party – it’s next Saturday night. It’s themed, the 20th Century. There was too much debate amongst my two other planners between doing a 20′s theme or a Mad Men theme. I ended up suggesting let’s do the 20th Century instead. People can come dressed from whichever era they wish and if they don’t want to put much effort in they can just come as the 90′s.

I’m doing an early 60′s/late 50′s theme. I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of a few essential packages to arrive early next week for my outfit. All I have left to do is figure out my jewellery (will probably try to find some “pearls” at diva or the like) and practice my hair. I’m going to have to do some op-shopping before then though to find a shirt for N to wear. I’m so excited, can’t wait to see what outfits people put together.

I had almost the best weekend after my exam. I got the CityCat home, did all those jobs round the place that I had put off for the last two weeks, went to the markets, purged stuff from my room, made a really nice turkey and pork bolognese for dinner with N on Saturday night, went to Finders Keepers with G on Sunday arvo (we think it should have been called the Brooch Market as I think the majority of stalls had broooches for sale). Then since Mum was leaving for Patagonia and Antarctica on Monday morning for the next 7 weeks, I headed over for a bon voyage dinner (cold roast lamb, fresh roast vegies, chocolate self saucing pudding and custard – so so yummy).

This is all sounding pretty good isn’t it? but here comes the event that changed the best weekend to the almost the best weekend.

I went to the sewing room to borrow a sewing machine to fill in my time that was formerly occupied with study … Then I stood on something and let out a few words. A sewing room of course meant that I stood on a sewing needle. I looked at my foot and couldn’t see anything but a itsy bitsy teen drop of blood. I ran my hand over the carpet and pulled out a needle fragment – about 1cm long.

Ok I thought, I must have just stood on that spot in the carpet and it poked me and didn’t do anything else …. you can see where this is going can’t you ….

I walked back out to the kitchen, grabbed an ice-pack and numbed my foot for a while and then it was time for me to head home and for Mum to pack her bags.

I woke up Monday morning in pain, so much pain. I called Mum at sparrow’s fart to wish her will on her trip but the call was mostly me sobbing in my pain about my foot. Poor Mum, here she is heading half way round the world for the next 7 weeks and she has a 25 year old daughter sobbing down the phone line in pain.

I took Monday off work, went to the local GP and got a tetanus shot and he told me just to keep my foot elevated and stay off it. By the way, tetanus shots are so painless now – nothing like they used to be. I’ve had no bruise or arm pain – bonus. At this stage I had no reason to think that there was any part of the needle in my foot.

Monday night I was still in agony. Tuesday morning, I drove into work (no way could I walk to and from the train station) for a couple of hours to sort out my work and then I made an appointment with my family GP on the Northside for that arvo. A bit of a chat, a script and an x-ray referral later I was heading down to the local x-ray clinic for a few scans as the amount of pain I was in was indicating that something must be in there.

A few jokes with the radiographer later and ohh look at what we have here. Yep, there sure is a needle in my foot. I must have stood on the needle, part of it went into my foot and then broke off (thus the part I found in the carpet). A call to the doc to tell him that I yep I’ve got a needle in my foot. He then went into organising me to see a surgeon to remove it as it is not something that a GP can remove due to possible complications with the bone/nerves etc. Fun times.

Why hello sewing needle, what are you doing in there?

I had today off and will have the rest of the week off at least.
I’ve got a consult with the surgeon tomorrow morning and hopefully they will be able to fit me in for surgery on Friday…

I’ve spent the better part of the last three days, in bed with my foot elevated and an ice-pack strapped on it at times. Laying down in bed the pain is only there in the morning. I wake up to the most excruciating pain.

As I type this now, I would only be able to tell you that I had a needle in my foot by the fact that I can’t move the smaller toes on my foot or the fact that it is slightly swollen.

If I stand up though, that is a whole different story … that is when the pain kicks in and the needle starts to make its presence known. I’ve become apt at walking on the heel of my foot.

I’m sooo looking forward to the consult tomorrow morning. I just want that thing out of my foot! I’ve spent a fair bit of my life walking round bare-foot and I think after this I will be wearing shoes a bit more than I used to. I don’t want a repeat of this adventure any time soon.

The lesson to learn from this post? Wear shoes when walking round a craft/sewing room.

To be continued …

I’m/We/A group of us are going to see Gainsbourg on Wednesday night at Palace Centro. I received an email a few weeks ago offering free tickets so I thought why not. I recognised the name but typical of me could not place a song title or the like.

I finally got round to watching the trailer and it looks really good – yeah it’s a bio-pic but the music, the setting, the people, it’s all good.

The Trailer

Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin – Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus

and moving on….

I came home today to find a little red box sitting on the counter, a Pósturinn box. A birthday present from halfway round the world. I then artfully arranged the contents for a photo, with a sort of building blocks theme … note the Give Way sign, I like getting that sign in photos I take on the deck.

mmm Prince Polo bars, a Hraun bar (sort of like the Icelandic version of a Picnic – as in a chocolate bar that looks a bit ugly but is pretty tasty) and an obligatory chocolate liquorice bar – I’m no fan of liquorice but some things just have to be sent. More importantly in the parcel were two jars of jam. One marked Red Lava 2010 and the other RGH2 Sept 2010. The Red Lava is a chilli jam, a “flavour bomb” for want of a better phrase, the other RGH2 is redcurrant, honey and ginger. I think RGH2 will go pretty well on the fruit toast.

I also finished uploading all my photos from the Iceland trip on the weekend – just have some video to get up at some stage. Go have a looksie, ahh I wonder when I will get to Iceland again.

and with that tomorrow, I get my stitches taken out

I had an RDO on Friday so N and I decided to make use of it and have a long weekend away. We headed up to Noosa to enjoy it in all its glory on the last weekend of theschool holidays … the weather was lovely on Friday, rainy and overcast on Saturday and a mishmosh today. We detoured via Pomona on the way up on Friday and I made a lovely find at one of my favourite second hand shops – A Juicy Junk Shop. Saturday was a Eumundi day; the markets, the bookshop and things like that. Saturday was also a day when the TV was turned on in hope of the Saints winning and then turned off when the difference became too painful. Sunday was today, Sunday is today. We drove the beach roads back home, stopping at Mudjimba, Cotton Tree and Caloundra for a walk. Found the most amazing tea cafe/store in Cotton Tree – The Silva Spoon (1 and 2), I’m so going back to this store! Had the most amazing raspberry hot chocolate. I can predict spending some time browsing the various teas and tea paraphernalia they sell. They had at least a hundred different tea cups and pots on sale. A quick stop off at the farm on the way home to say hello to Grandad and then the weekend was over.

I’m currently watching Stephen Fry at the Opera House on the ABC and gosh he has a way with the English language.

and some photos of course.

Saturday night in Noosa

Sunday Morning on the beach at Mudjimba

Whilst, the above activities are not affected by the weather, the following is. If the sun is out and I can’t tell you how happy I was that it was out this morning, the hum of the washing machine downstairs is the sound of a weekend morning. This of course provides the following outcome.

Georgie took me to the Valentino Retrospective at GOMA this mid-afternoon as a belated birthday present. Whoa, those outfits are amazing, some are plain crazy, some are beautiful, others are amazing. The work and detail is just incredible.

I took this photo on the way past QAG heading towards GOMA.

Isn’t it beautiful? I’m not sure what I will put in it yet but I can assure it won’t be salt.

Yesterday I had a great day. It was a training day at work so no candidates and a chance to have lunch together as a department. I went to the orthodontist and got the news that I’ve been wanting to hear for the last nine months or so, it’s time to go see the prosthodontist, yay! I have an appointment on Oct 5, which will hopefully be an x-ray to confirm root placement and the like and that we can move forward with the implant procedure. Cross your fingers. It’s now week 9 at Uni which is hard to believe, it seems like just yesterday I was looking at my lecture notes for week 1 and thinking it sort of makes sense. I’m really looking forward to next year. When I got home from uni I was presented with the most amazing bunch of red, magenta and orange gerberas from one of my flatmates as belated birthday present. It’s gorgeous, I’ll have to take a photo later.

Now to to the meat of this post. 25 things that I wish to do/complete before I turn 26 next year.

1. Be finished with orthodontic work.
2. Challenge myself to take more thoughtful photos.
3. Ride my bike more.
4. Get a will.
5. Get better with my practice of one thing in means one thing out for my belongings.
6. Spend more time creating.
7. Print and frame more photos.
8. Bake a rainbow cake.
9. Do more study.
10. Go to the Drive In – hopefully the Wonga one if it re-opens in the next few months.
11. Go media-free for at least 48hrs.
12. Make marshmallows and honeycomb.
13. Be more regular on my blog (gee, that sounds like an All-Bran ad).
14. Grow my investments.
15. Reduce the stack of clothes in my mending/alterations stack.
16. Make my own tea blend.
17. Make strawberry jam.
18. Get fresh flowers more often.
19. Write and comment more.
20. Grow professionally.
21. Get my routines started again – planning meals for the week and exercise.
22. Read some more classics.
23. Finish my granny square blanket.
24. Make mulberry crumble or pie from the mulberries in the freezer.
25. Turn 26

There it is, some things are small, some things not so, some things are little, something things require effort.

And we’ll end off with two books that I’ve been enjoying immensely at the moment. 50/60/70 : Iconic Australian Houses by Karen McCartney and The Iconic House by Dominic Bradbury.