January, easy and quiet.

Well hello my tiny audience. I've realised we have reached the end of another month and it is time to look at the photos on my phone and reminisce about all the times.

I had a very quiet new year and summer this year. Covid and various events meant the 4 friends who were planning to visit reduced to one. G came up upon my return from Canberra and we had a swim on NYE even though the weather was gloomy.

Wonderful to continue a tradition. We also watched Bridgerton, went swimsuit shopping because it was time for me to do that, and had a meal in at Kinn Thai. Such excitement. I mean there were no fireworks or anything anyway so no pressure and I enjoyed it.

I have a good collection of candle holders now, and a little corner for them to glow. I have been lighting them when I'm reading or blogging, anything when I'm sitting there but not watching TV basically. And not if I have to have the fan or AC on because too blowy for them. I got 4 coloured glass ones from Elsie, 2 willow pattern china ones from Chris, the metal ones from Goulburn op shops, and 2 fat ones for fat candles from Dusk on sale. I have lit my candles and put soft music on now while I blog. Very delightful.

I also scanned all my books into an app called Bookshelf. Such fun.

Other quietness was doing my new puzzle, a friend came over and did some with me. Also one night I couldn't sleep and did it in the wee small hours. That was lucky because I was able to chase the ringtail possum away from my roses and I don't think its been back since then.

Dad and I went to a sourdough workshop that a friend at church put on for a summer social. She did an amazing job with the logistics of having many batches of dough at different stages so that we could see the 24 hour process at all stages at once.

I've since spent a lot of money on tools and been shopping online and also one afternoon with a mum friend from church which was so much fun, and I've made my own breads.

First batch had rye which made it very wet and sloppy.

But still baked really well! I ended up returning this pot though because the lid didn't fit so I'm on the lookout for another pot.

Second batch plain white and a bit easier but still too rushed with the starter and difficult to work, but again it baked well, so it's a "very forgiving process".

I've got to decide which pot to repurchase, the market is from $29 kmart to $500 le creuset. I tried a mid range one and disappointed with the lid not fitting so ugh. 

Anyway, here is the garden update. It has been amazing this year with the cooler weather and rain! The eggplants haven't got up properly yet. But the zinneas and sunflowers are bringing a lot of joy. It's good having my own lawnmower too, because I can quickly mow on a non-rainy day and keep it under control.

I decided to get rid of this garden so that I can plant a tree in this corner. I built this garden myself, no help. Sadly though it didn't get enough light to grow anything so close to the fence. I heaved it out of the ground myself, no help. I'm now letting the grass grow over it. I have changed my mind again about planting a tree though, so the pile of good dirt I got to put in the tree hole was also dealt with, spread into the other garden beds.

The jasmine has put out some lovely long tendrils which I am weaving horizontally along the bare section of fence. It's great to make progress every year on my fence coverage! Slow and steady, a meter here and there every year. I think it should be fully covered in another 2 years. Which is great, as the wall gardens are falling apart. Although I have finally found that geraniums grow well in them, so I will probably continue to use them. Pity I didn't work that out earlier.

We did eventually get a couple of weeks of hot weather, and I've taken my new swimmers out, with different friends, parents, or on my own.

It's been a weird summer though. There have been 2 hail storms. And yesterday there was an afternoon thunderstorm and a power surge that killed the fairy lights I've had up in my living room since November.

I have been receiving a lot of joy from online shopping, tracking parcels. Baking and kitchen supplies, new bras, a cookbook is coming from the UK currently.

In other toy news G gave me this for Christmas, temperature and humidity for in the house! Currently 76% humidity and 25.2 degrees. 

I took my new binoculars to Gosford to meet E and her sister, since she couldn't come up for new year. We went to a local Garden, Mount Penang, had breakfast at the cafe, and walked around looking at the birds, water gardens, bottle trees, it's small but quite interesting if you need a place to visit on the Central Coast.

We then went to the local chocolate factory. I really liked the hot chocolate mug but did not purchase it because I don't want any more random mugs.

I got to book 9 in the wheel of time series on audible, and realised audible wasn't making it available in Australia, or some of the other books in the series. So I wrote emails to them, and to the publisher, about how rude that is, and found it at the library. But I just cannot read physical books fast enough, because I can't multi task, or probably concentrate for long periods any more. So I had to return it yesterday only 1/4 through, as someone had reserved it. But I checked Audible again and its now available! So it is worth being a Karen, it's good to let people know these stupid situations. They can go and click click and fix it. 

I got a last minute invite to a wedding of young church friends. It was a hot day, but lovely to see my old housemate and be social with church friends and all dress up. I wore my unworn bridesmaid dress from JK wedding, which barely fits. My weight is my next focus. Anyway, it was a fab event despite the sweating.

Not an exciting snippet but i've now driven 100,000 km in my new car. That is so much driving. Very grateful for this reliable orange car.

Here it is last Tuesday Australia Day, with mums canoe on top. Looking good. Turns out the canoe can't carry 2 adults, so mum ended up paddling solo with the church group from Maitland to Morpeth and I was just the canoe transport. 

I also went to Singleton on the long weekend for my regular Lucy visit. She likes to sit on the cats. This is her hunting a cat to sit on.

And she has 2 climbing castles, one was a gift the other a kerbside pickup, and they connect together. She climbs but doesn't walk yet. But watch this space.

I got a nice hat and pin at work, which was a Premier's Citation for all staff who helped work on the bushfire emergency last summer. Very nice. I've enjoyed the slow quiet pace of work, with no students, a lot of staff on leave still. I even did 1.5 weeks acting team leader no sweat at all. 

And currently back of my mind is that I've gone up a size, and especially my belly is permanently fat/bloated now. I'm not sure if this is weight I gained from bad eating habits and less exercise, which happens in some seasons and it's OK, I'll reset to regular workouts again and no more Christmas food etc, or if this is Endo belly and my belly is just bigger now because of scarring or whatever, it should be smaller without the cyst and fibroid but I don't know. Or if this is the pill I'm on starting to cause weight gain, which is a possible side effect. So I want to figure this out, because I don't really mind going up a size occasionally, or if this is life after 2 endo episodes, I'll just buy new clothes and get on with my life with a fatter tummy. But not if this is Provera starting to make me go up month after month. I've noticed being hungry more often, that's a side effect. I would not repurchase the female body. 

So anyway, this is my current motivation to properly get back into regular workouts. I've been really enjoying Lucy Windham-Read on youtube. This workout looks like fake promises for desperate women, but it's really good, I've been able to fit it into little windows of time every day, and it's enough to make muscles feel sore the next day. This weekend I have been pet sitting, and that means waiting 15 min for the small cat to eat, and I just did this while I waited. I did have ice cream twice yesterday, massive sugar cravings, so I'm not going to lose an inch in a week haha. But I just want to get back into my routines again and see if body resets or not.

Sadly January is over, and with February life cranks up to regular speed again. Cello lessons, home group (new home group which we have been reading Hebrews over whatsapp this month), busier at work, start planning for upcoming events. Good luck to us all!

December: 2020 ends nicely.

So far I've only sewed one piece of fabric, blue linen dress. I had to redo the neck hole because the sag of the dress made the neck lining rumple (inside out view below).

I did not do Carols in the garage this year, but I enjoyed recording the Christmas day carols, this is our filming location. It looked wonderful. And sounded awesome too. It was a lot of work but given the last minute outbreak and church and singing being forboden again just on Christmas turns out to be a smart plan.

Heather came down for Christmas, but flew back before Christmas in case the border closed to NSW, but we had a fun few days. We went to a movie, sisters and JK! I bought this doll for Lucy and sewed its dress. 

In other craft, as well as the air plant wreaths I turned a bunch of dried flowers into this wreath. 

Chugged through some books. I read through the green Christmas devotion books, which was really excellent and I will do it again, and the Elegance of the Hedgehog which was a different sort of novel but good, especially a passage about tea, and it had a sad happy ending. Reading is a good thing and I don't feel like I read enough but at least this is something. 

I'm continuing through the Wheel of Time series, on Audible, up to book 8. Book 9 isn't available so I will slow down now I've got to make time to hold the print book in my hands. I love listening to books while I garden and do housework and drive and sew, it really gets me immersed and I can sink a lot more hours into audiobooks while I multi task.

I left my home group of almost 6 years. We had a special farewell night for the 2 of us leaving, and a lovely Christmas dinner with a little carol singing and secret santa. Thankful to God for the depth of relationships I've shared with this group.

Visited baby Elsie, daughter of ex-housemate.

Loved exploring a local garden for our work team christmas arvo tea.

Found the perfect sparkly Christmas earrings on Etsy.

Found some neighbours with a pile of leftover top soil and weasled some into my car. I went to the nursery for Christmas gifts and reading time in the cafe, and got advice that I could grow a tree in my crappy soil if I dug a big hole and filled it with nice soil. So I dug a hole, filled it with soil. Then I changed my mind and decided to remove the garden bed and dig another hole further away from the fence, so I stashed 2 boot loads of dirt for hole 2. 

I worked the morning on Christmas Eve. We had a 9pm Christmas Eve service with limited singing and it was lovely (except I'd prefer more atmospheric lighting). This is mainly why I didn't do Carols in the Garage, my carol singing itch was scratched. Normally church doesn't do this sort of thing, the carols are done outside and it isn't a good singing experience, more of an eating and talking event.

And then on Christmas I hosted the family minus Heather for lunch. Heather video called in for presents.

On Boxing Day we went down to the family farm, outside Canberra.

We did different things in different subgroups. I went for a walk around Lake Ginnenderra, with the males.

But I did not play Magic the Gathering.

I visited Goulburn with my mum and Auntie Barbera, to see the lifelong neighbours of Granny and Grandfather who still live in the same place next door. We also drove around and saw the houses Granny and Grandfather lived in as children. 

Some of us went to the art galleries.

And some of us went to The Green Shed. We got some great toys for Lucy including this pink balance bike for when she is a bit older.

And then I left on the 30th and drove back up home, stopping in Goulburn to check the op shops for my current obsession of candlesticks.

I don't have much to say but still going to keep the monthly process going for another year. 

I did a fair job of my goals for 2020. I did what I could.

My 2021 goal is to read the bible more, have a better relationship with God, and for God to make me less judgemental. That's the deal :)