Tag: Australia

E – Easter Show

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First held in 1823 at Parramatta, Sydney’s Royal Easter Show has grown to be the largest event held in Australia and the 6th largest in the world. Due to its growing size it has moved localities twice and is now held at Sydney Olympic Park in a purpose built facility. In 1891 Queen,Victoria bestowed the right for the show to be officially called Royal. Attending the show is fun for all ages and my experience is that you run out of time to see everything not that you are bored with nothing to do. Each year the shows theme is “city meets country” and it can be found in the following  activities:

  • Agricultural Show
  • Animal Shows
  • Art & Crafts Displays
  • Community Displays
  • Entertainment
  • Fireworks
  • Grand Parade
  • Main Arena
  • New Product Displays
  • Petting Zoos
  • Side Show Alley
  • Stages
  • Wood Chopping

The following photos are from the show a few years ago as unfortunately I was unable to attend this year do to other commitments.

 

#A-Z Challenge

 

 

A – Australians

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Well I am a day late however I have decided to join the A – Z April Blogging Challenge. It involves writing a post a day for the month of April going through the letters of the alphabet. For most people this challenge started on April 1 with A and concludes on April 30th with Z. As Sunday is a free day I will catch up to everyone then.

I am Australian and proud of it. Australians are an eclectic mix with people from all corners of the globe now calling Australia home. Although affectionately called Down Under and along way from many countries—there are many reasons we are grateful to call Australia home. Some of which are described in my acrostic poem—Australians.

A – Amazing animals

U – Unique characters

S – Sydney Harbour Bridge and other famous icons

T – Temperate temperatures

R – Rugby League and Rugby Union—two of our favourite football codes

A – Art and culture

L – Lifestyle choices

I – Idyllic beaches

A – A friendly bunch of people

N – Nature

S – Surfing, swimming and sports

@inspiringmax1

Weekly Photo Challenge:Ephemeral

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This week’s theme: ephemeral. Show us your interpretation!

Last Sunday my husband and I took photos of the sunset from Cape Byron—Australia’s most easterly point. It truly was a ephemeral experience. The top photos show the sunsetting over Australia while the bottom two totally different photos are the hues over the Pacific Ocean. It was quite remarkable.

Over Australia

 

Over The Pacific Ocean

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/ephemeral/

Wonder Woman

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If you were involved in a movie, would you rather be the director, the producer, or the lead performer? (Note: you can’t be the writer!).

I love acting. Bringing characters to life and making them believable. Acting allows you to totally immerse yourself in the character and find things about yourself you didn’t know existed.

It has been many decades since I last acted but who knows I may return to it in my retirement when I have more time on my hands.

My greatest acting moment was playing Wonder Woman to a crowded theatre. At the time I didn’t look to bad either—unfortunately I don’t think I have any photos to remember it by.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/the-show-must-go-on/

Share Your World 2015 – Week 11

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List 2 things you have to be happy about?

I am happy that my  family is happy and healthy.

Today I printed of a draft copy of my book and it is starting to come together nicely. I must admit however I am very surprised at how much time the editing process takes.

Do you prefer ketchup or mustard or mayonnaise?

I do not prefer any of the above chooses. My favourite sauce is chilli BBQ—a combination of chill and barbeque sauce. It has only been in Australia for about two years but I am eternally grateful.

If you were to paint a picture of your childhood, what colors would you use?

A picture of my childhood would use a mixture of dark and light colours. It definitely wasn’t all sunshine and roses—there were many thunderstorms. My experiences were varied however they pathed the way for a bright adult life and gave me a great base for my work in mental health.

Do you prefer a bath or shower?

I shower daily that is out of necessity. When time permits and I have access to a spa bath I will indulge myself. Many years ago we had one in our home and it was a great way to relax on the weekend complete with a glass of champagne.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last Sunday I traveled to Newcastle and caught up with my extended family. I only get to do this about  3 times a year due to the number of people involved and their busy lives. The older I get the more important this time is.

Next weekend I am looking forward to traveling to Lismore in northern New South Wales to get away for the weekend with my husband. I cannot remember that last time I visited the area so I am sure it has changed.

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/03/16/share-your-world-2015-week-11/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Fresh

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For this week’s photo challenge, share with us a photo that expresses something fresh.

To celebrate our daughters birthday one year, my husband and I created this giant ice cream cupcake. We used a giant two-piece cupcake mould—to create our masterpiece. One half was lined with chocolate biscuit crumbs and the other melted white chocolate. This gave us the bottom and top of our cake.  The middle was made of 5 layers of ice cream. Each layer was a different flavour. My husband choose 2, I choose 2 and the last was a mutual decision to bring it all together. They worked brilliantly. We then put it all together and sprinkled chocolate flakes over the top for an original fresh, yummy birthday cake. You couldn’t wipe the smile of her face.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/fresh-2/

Life in Sydney

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What do you love most about the city / town / place that you live in? What do you like the least about it? If you were mayor, what would be the most important problem you’d tackle? How would you tackle it?

I live in Sydney, Australia along with 4.5 million others. It is a vibrant, exciting city visited by millions of people ever year and home to the deepest natural harbour in the world. See my earlier post—Welcome to Sydney here for more information.

Working in mental health I love that Sydney’s specialists and hospitals are recognised on the world map as leaders in research in all areas. If help is needed it can be accessed—something that cannot be said for many places.

My biggest problem living in Sydney is the daily commute. Compared to other cities in the world, it is expensive—although now a little cheaper with the Opal card, time consuming and the buses are unreliable. I mostly use the trains which have improved recently however they are not yet at a level that encourages drivers to get off the road and catch the train. On average it takes me 1.5 hours to get to work on the train. If I leave for work early and leave work late I can drive the distance in half an hour—something I have begun doing a couple of days a week. During my usual hours however the drive will take a minimum of an hour so the extra stress isn’t worth it.

My only solution to this problem is to bring down the price of public transport, increase services and make sure they run on or close to time. Sydney trains has worked hard on this however the buses have far too few routes and buses often don’t show. Only last Sunday I needed to wait for 50 minutes for a bus that should have arrived 6 minutes after I did. If I had taken my alternate train/walk route I would have been home before the bus arrived.

These problems are not insurmountable and commuting would take less time in a smaller city. Smaller cities also have fewer resources something I am not interested in giving up. While 5 minutes to work may be great if I worked in an office or shop—in mental health physical distance can be a blessing in disguise as it gives time between work and home which helps me to wind down after a busy day. Having a view of Sydney Harbour to start and end my day isn’t hard to take either—something I don’t get on the days I choose to drive.

2012-03-14 08.37.20

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/we-built-this-city/

My Places

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Beach, mountain, forest, or somewhere else entirely?

To me connecting with nature is healing. I attempt to do it everyday even if only for 5 minutes. It clears my head. Any form of nature will do—smelling a flower on a short walk or a day trip to the beach or mountains. I love them all. As a child I spent many hours at the beach as well as walking in the bush so both have pleasant memories attach.

The higher my intensity of stress the more I will ensure that I take time out of my day to walk barefoot on the grass for 5 minutes. My other easy to go to places  are the river, Sydney harbour, local parks or wetlands—all are close to my work or home.  Half an hour in the silence does the trick of dealing with my stress nicely.

Last Christmas we wanted to experience nature in a different way and left sunny Australia for the cold winters of Canada. While we enjoyed our time there, it was only our last week that allowed us to experience the force of nature in this way—snow and ice. The first 5 weeks were above average temperatures and it was the first green Christmas in over a quarter century. Our proof that mother nature is to be enjoyed not controlled—she will always win.

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/places/

Share Your World – 2015 Week 10

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When you lose electricity in a storm, do you light the candles or turn on the flashlight? How many of each do you own?

I personally would prefer to use candles, however my husband has a fear of them so torches it is. We actually keep three of them on the bookcase at the front door so they are easy to find if needed. Fortunately we rarely need to use them.

You are given $5,000 and the chance to exchange it for one of two envelopes. One envelope contains $50,000 and one contains $500. Do you make the trade? Why or why not?

I would definitely make the trade. The $5,000 was a gift so I believe it is okay to risk it. At worst I am $500 better off than I was before the gift and at best I have a large windfall. Life is full of risks and sometimes you have to take a chance. After all—nothing ventured nothing gained. I would also use a lot of positive thinking to will the preferred envelope into my hands.

What’s your first memory?

I can’t remember what my first memory is. I have several blurry memories from about the age of three but I am not sure which ones are triggered from photos. My early years were spent living in the managers cottage of a coal mine isolated from the rest of the suburb. We had no neighbours and had to entertain ourselves. At times we had wild animals—snakes, brumbies, dingoes, foxes and possums come down and visit the surrounding bush. There was no hot water to the house and I can remember on occasion going over to the coal mine to shower—a special treat—hot running water.

What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep, toss and turn, or get up and try to do something?

It is rare for me not to be able to sleep. Usually the only time I have a problem sleeping is if I have something on my mind that needs sorting out. Therefore, the answer is simple—make a plan and solve the problem. Once I have done this I can easily return to sleep. If it is somebody’s snoring is the cause of my sleeplessness, I rip up a tissue and block my ears with it. Viola—I can sleep.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful to have a day off on Friday which allowed me to catch up on jobs that needed doing including getting my hair cut and streaked for the first time. This week I have no plans so it will be a go with the flow week—something I haven’t had in a while.

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/03/09/share-your-world-2015-week-10/

Tree Change Dolls

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What would you put in this year’s time capsule to channel the essence of our current moment for future generations?

Yesterday I discovered Tree Change Dolls—remodeled, refreshed and re-styled—rejected Bratz dolls by Australian artist Sonia Singh from Tasmania. Bratz dolls are everywhere. They are styled on high rock fashion with heavy make-up. The look alone was enough for me to refuse to ever buy one for anyone. My other problem is the name Bratz. It is not something I want to encourage in anyone. For the same reason, I could never buy the clothing brand No Rules.

Sonia decided to redesign the dolls into something her children wanted to play with, because of her love of playing with dolls. She found the rejected dolls in the second-hand shops and breathed new life into them. The result is beautiful natural looking dolls that children can associate with as their faces remind them of friends and people they knew. The photo below is the same doll—originally harsh looking, bordering on scary then given a new make-down—looking soft, gentle and angelic.

Photo Credit: Sonia Singh

Photo Credit: Sonia Singh

Sonia’s transformation involves removing the original makeup using nail polish remover. She then paints on new eye brows, eyes and lipstick. Her mother knits little tops for each doll and sews some pants or a skirt—giving each doll an individual homemade feel. When the outfit is complete Sonia then moulds boots for their feet that match their outfits.

Photo Credit: Sonia Singh

Photo Credit: Sonia Singh

Below is a sample of Sonia’s Tree Change family playing in the great outdoors—where kids used to play.

Photo Credit: Sonia Singh

Photo Credit: Sonia Singh

Since Sonia created a Facebook page and Tumblir for her Tree Change Dolls in a no time they went viral. Everyone wants their own natural doll—the problem is she wasn’t expecting this level of support and isn’t sure what to do about it. Personally I think this is a great way to move froward.  Reverting back to kids being kids and not the sexualised images of the original Bratz dolls. It has my support and is the reason I would put it in my time capsule today.

 

 

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/time-capsule/