Spring 2016.

Making: the soil rich and the garden grow! After the wild success that was the front step garden in 2015, this year I've gone bigger and better and have extended my green thumbs into actual garden beds. There's sweet snow peas, cornflowers, ranunculus, an array of herbs, freesias and daffies and tiny tommy toe tomato seedlings. And rhubarb! Ah so much gardening bliss. 

Cooking: a crumble to take to a friend's place tonight.
Drinking: flat whites, water and wine.
Reading: anything and everything about Japan in preparation for an upcoming trip.

Wanting: to stop wanting so much and to be satisfied with what I have already. 

Looking: out my bedroom window to the beautiful Mountain. 
Playing: indoor soccer and scrabble.
Liking: the lengthening days and the golden afternoon light.
Considering: what will happen over the next few years.

Watching: two of my nearest and dearest become wonderful parents to the sweetest little boy I know.
Hoping: for lots of energy to get me through the next few weeks of 5 day working weeks (insert eurgh face).
Wearing: lots of linen, new blue jeans and my birkis.
Noticing: the blossoms being replaced by new spring growth and Dusky's tummy hair growing slowly back.

Thinking: about how lucky I am.
Buying: too many new clothes online.
Getting: tanned and fit. Well, trying to. 
Listening: to Safia, The Shins, Solange and Gang of Youths.
Feeling: pretty bloody great.


Dee x. 

Collins Cap

After starting full time nursing work in April, I was finding myself so worn out by the working week that my days off were mostly spent sleeping and/or drinking coffee. I barely had the energy to be social, let alone find the urge to go bush walking.

But lately, things have changed. I've adjusted to the working lifestyle and have started to make the most of my weekends and days off by doing day walks close to home or by heading out to explore this beautiful state. It's been a wonderful respite from the bright, sterile world of the hospital and it's getting me super psyched for the summer ahead. 

Last Tuesday, after four days off (one spent celebrating my graduation, two spent recovering from said celebration) and with a weather forecast for 19 degrees and sun, I made plans to walk to Collins Cap via Myrtle Creek, a small summit north west of Mt Wellington. 

I drove twenty odd minutes to the car park (follow the signs from Berridale) and hit the trail which for the first 500m is a wide, well maintained fire trail that slowly climbs to a picnic shelter and toilet, where the foot track starts. This section of the trail is beautifully diverse. You start surrounded by paddocks and brightly blooming silver wattles and as you climb closer to the creek line, you find yourself surrounded by century old eucalyptus, towering sassafras and of course, the area's namesake, myrtle beech. 

As soon as you leave the fire trail behind, the track narrows and climbs steeply through wet stands of manferns. Soon enough, a small platform is reached, giving good views of Myrtle Creek Falls, a worthwhile walk in itself (it takes about 15 minutes to get to this point). I continued on, crossing the creek multiple times before leaving it to my left and climbing higher still, out of the wet eucalypt forest and into thick stands of Richea dracophylla, baurea and alpine yellow gums. At this point, the trees are thinning, allowing the sun to shine through and giving views to the summits around, namely Collins Bonnet to the south. In no time at all, the track enters a section of regrowth forest and a minute later, the East-West fire trail is crossed. At this point, the track has climbed 340m in altitude. 

Collins Bonnet.

With 180m still to climb, the track changes again. The muddy clay track of the fire trail quickly hardens to one strewn with small dolerite boulders. As the boulders grow in size, the eucalypts fade out and baurea, pineapple grass and hakea dominate. The views continue to broaden as you climb and soon you reach a long traverse under the summit ridge. At the north west extent of the ridge is the small peaked summit complete with a head high cairn. I found myself on the summit 1h10m after starting and spent about 30m on the summit, enjoying the beautiful views, the springlike sunshine and the company of two wedge-tailed eagles. 

One of two wedge-tailed eagles soaring above the summit. 

A skyline of mountain ranges and me!

The walk back takes the same route though there are other options to make the walk a circuit. I ran most the way home in about 40 minutes.

Dee x.

Things I love (June 2016).

sunny days. japanese maples. cat snuggles. mountain tops. boys who smell nice. hot sauce. rain. roses the colour of sunsets. sunsets. hash browns. glowsticks.

Dee x.

08 May 2016

Cooking: a bean stew for lunches through the working week.
Perfecting: the perfect brownie recipe. It's gotta be equal parts fudgy, crunchy and chewy. Any suggestions?
Drinking: plain old H2O.
Reading: I'm recharging my kindle as we speak so hopefully something enthralling in the near future. 

Wanting: a coffee grinder but the purchase seems oh so excessive.
Looking: through the lounge room window and into the boughs of a bronzing Japanese maple.
Playing: Daughter. Her voice is so beautiful.

Loving: my little friend, Dusky the cat. He brings me endless joy and keeps me warm at night. What a little legend.
Watching: the new Game of Thrones season and Keeping Australia Alive.
Hoping: that my freesias didn't sprout too early and will still provide me with beautifully perfumed blooms come winter.
Needing: very little. Wanting very much.
Wearing: colourful clothes to make up for the grey old day outside. 

Noticing: my body and my mind adjusting to life as a working RN.
Thinking: about the past (always) and how it influences the future.
Buying: a fortnightly vegie box from local farmers
Getting: fitter and stronger with every hockey game I play. So glad to be back.
Liking: way too many cats on Instagram.
Feeling: like things are looking up. 

Mountain Dreamer.

The Invitation.

It doesn't interest me,
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me,
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk looking like a fool,
for love,
for your dream,
for the adventure of being alive.

- Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

Shopping Sadness Vol. 1

Late last week, I was walking home from the supermarket and all of a sudden, without any conscious thought processes involved, found myself browsing the racks of Country Road*. I found about a gazillion beautiful things to try on, all of which were reduced. Feeling like the professional shopper that I am, I waltzed into the fitting room, stripped off my clothes and got to business.

After about ten minutes of trying on the clothes and waging an internal warfare inside my own head, I left the fitting room feeling defeated. The lovely shop assistant took the clothes out of my hands and asked me 'Is there anything in particular that you were after?', before I could stop myself I blurted 'Oh, just a different body'.

The girl's face deflated to look pretty similar to my own as we shared a sincere moment between two young women who both hate their bodies. IT WAS SO FREAKING SAD. I went home and cried. The end.


Dee x.

* This phenomenon happens almost every time I go to the supermarket.

February.

The Bay of Fires.

The predawn light.

The cool breath of the darkening sky. 

The squeak of the finest sand and the glare of the brightest beaches. 

The stifling heat of the late afternoon sun. 

The whistle of the kettle in the early morning quiet.

The blackened soles of my feet. 

The constant wash of the swirling sea.