I’ve spent a relaxed time with girlfriends, enjoying High Tea at the local Riversdale Estate. The setting was delightful.
The food was delicious, presented on tiered cake stands. Sandwiches, savoury pastries, scones, with jam and cream, various cakes and desserts. We chose different teas, some black, some fruit or floral.
On Saturday we watched the Australian National Penny Farthing Championships, held in the historic village of Evandale in central Tasmania.
This year’s event was a scaled back event due to covid, yet still fun a fun day out. Races were run over a triangular course around the village. There were various races, sprints, mens’, ladies, juniors, veterans, relays and obstacle (run, carry and push the bike, ride it). Also ,a 20km road race.
There were food and craft stalls, an interesting village store. Some locals dressed in 1800’s costumes.
When the championships started back in 1983 the penny farthings were originals. Now many have been newly manufactured.
Welcome to February Squares. The theme this month is Square Odds hosted by BeckyB.
When you stop for an iced coffee and Australia’s Antarctic Ice Breaker ship “nuyina” appears. This classifies as odd, to me, out of the ordinary, unexpected.
It’s been a month of long summer weekends and hectic weekday workdays.
We’ve been to the beach most weeks, for lazy barefoot walks and late afternoon swims, refreshing on the hotter days.
We’ve enjoyed blueberry picking, as well as continuing to buy delicious summer fruits from local growers. A wet spring has produced a bumper crop of large juicy cherries.
Earlier this month, Hobart hosted the 5th Test of “The Ashes”, a long standing cricket challenge between Australia and England. As this was the first time a game has even been held in Tasmania, the locals were rather excited. Various city buildings were lit up in the “green and gold” colours of Australia and there was a joyous atmosphere around the city.
I’m moving to a new role within my current company, so handing over my own workload to someone new whilst learning new tasks has required overtime on work days, therefore my weekends have felt extra precious.
The month began with the final days of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, with the visiting yachts moored up on Hobart Waterfront.
The month has ended with MONA FOMA, a music and arts festival. The highlight is a fabulous laser light show across Hobart with a soundtrack. These photos show the lights from various spots in the city.
The month has flown by, after a slow start I have already started ticking things off my “52 things in 52 Weeks challenge. Here are my first weekly selfies to sum up my January 2022.
This is my contribution to Ju-Lyn and Brian’s monthly “Changing Seasons” challenge.
Have a sit down, on the bench or on one of the kayaks. These two photos are of the same bench at Kingston Beach here in Tasmania, on different days. Always a lovely place to rest and watch the world go by.
This is my contribution to XinfuMama’s “Pull up a Seat” challenge.
I unofficially joined in an Australian Citizenship Ceremony today. My ceremony in July 2020 was a solo zoom call. So today it was surprisingly emotional to repeat the Pledge out loud with other New Citizens and sing “I am Australian”.
I need to send this out into the universe. I’m committing to “52 things in 52 weeks” challenge. Some are daily, some weekly, some are one-off challenges. I want 2022 to be a memorable year for positive reasons, not just another year living with covid. Some things I’ve done before but there are several brand new ideas too. In no particular oder ….
1 ~ Visit the Northeast corner of Tasmania
2 ~ Visit Ben Lomond and drive up “Jacob’s Ladder” 3 ~ Spend more time out in nature 4 ~ Create new health habits and make them stick 5 ~ Exercise before breakfast on week days 6 ~ Pay it Forward 7 ~ Reduce our environmental impact 8 ~ Review and reduce our rubbish and recycling every three months 9 ~ Do something special on public holidays 10 ~ See a show at The Playhouse, Hobart 11 ~ Swim in the ocean on Christmas Day 12 ~ Keep my diary up to date, include sketch noting 13 ~ Complete another year of Photo a Day 14 ~ Change my job within current organisation 15 ~ Update our driftwood Christmas tree throughout the year 16 ~ Complete another year of Sentence a Day journal 17 ~ Learn more about indigenous culture and history 18 ~ Read a meaningful book every month 19 ~ Visit a new restaurant every 3 months 20 ~ Attend two workshop to learn new skills 21 ~ Try a new craft activity 22 ~ Ride an e-scooter 23 ~ Go to a drive in movie 24 ~ Fly in a sea plane 25 ~ Go to a basketball match 26 ~ Visit all exhibitions at TMAG Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery 27 ~ Take part in a painting workshop 28 ~ Revisit MONA regularly 29 ~ Get to a healthy weight and maintain it 30 ~ Add a new recipe to our diet every two months
31 ~ Try a new ingredient every month 32 ~ Go to a Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra concert 33 ~ Review and use photography techniques 34 ~ Join a reading challenge 35 ~ Ride a Jet Ski 36 ~ Take a moonlit walk on a beach 37 ~ Review and reduce my photo catalogue 38 ~ Visit the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens every season 39 ~ Grow more veggies and herbs 40 ~ Make use of local library and street libraries 41 ~ Visit Phillip Island 42 ~ Visit Brighton Beach, Melbourne, to see the beach huts 43 ~ Reduce my alcohol intake, have alcohol free weekdays unless special occasion 44 ~ Go to a live comedy show 45 ~ Regularly go to the local farmers market 46 ~ Visit Canberra 47 ~ Go Blueberry picking 48 ~ Visit Evandale for their Penny Farthing Fair 49 ~ Decide on blog direction, expand my blog network 50 ~ Try six new tea flavours 51 ~ Sort out my wardrobe and be realistic 52 ~ Take a selfie every week for a year
It’s set to be a short season for some of our summer fruit. Partly due to weather, hail storms which has damaged some crops. Also the lack of pickers due to Australia’s border closure, lack of back packers and casual workers.
So I was delighted to buy these delicious fruits from the local farmers markets. Hopefully I can get to some Pick Your Own farms next weekend.
January is usually my time to review, reflect and think about what I want for my future. This new year I feel rather flat, lacking in energy, enthusiasm and motivation.
So …. Today I have drawn a mind map, thinking about ideas to nurture my body, mind and soul. I don’t want to spend 2022 just drifting, which is how the past two years feel.
I had such big plans for 2020, a zero birthday, a new decade. It started brilliantly with New Year and my birthday in New Zealand. But then the pandemic hit and everything else fell by the wayside.
I achieve a lot more if I have a list, or a challenge, so this mind map is a starting point. How do you take stock of a year, of your achievements, your wishes for the future?
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