Back to work today.

Ugh.

All of those workplace flaws are really illuminated once you’ve been away for a while!

#29 on my 60before60 list is to delete my instagram account.

I have a really conflicted relationship with instagram. I adore taking photos and I adore seeing other people’s photos and keeping up with what they’re up to – and I like the exposure that I get to non-english-speaking people’s lives in a way that I wouldn’t get from blogs.

I’ve also found great things that I otherwise wouldn’t have – this fabulous sirius print, some excellent books and the architecture model museum in Tokyo (which I think was my favourite – the post serendipitously appeared on instagram while we were in Tokyo enabling us to immediately visit).

But, and it is a big but, I really can’t moderate my use of it. I think it has to do with that addictive personality thing. I’m terrible at moderation (see also, drinking, chocolate) and am best to just not tempt myself at all. And it isn’t like I’ve not tried – I’ve given myself breaks here and there and come back with intentions to limit my use – and then I’m quickly back to the *heart* | scroll | *heart* | scroll – for hours each day. HOURS! I realise the platform is designed to keep me on there for maximum time but I am pretty much helpless in the face of that – my limited stores of willpower being used for other things.

There are also some things I loathe: that around every 5th post is now an advertisement and the non-chronological timeline which means it can be up to a week before a post is shown to me – despite me being on there for hours (HOURS!) every day.

There are several downsides to quitting the platform – many of my Imaginary Internet Friends have long given up blogging and are now only on instagram and so I miss a whole lot of their lives; and I miss out on cool *things*.

I could try to drastically reduce the number of people I follow – but I suspect that would do nothing to reduce the hours (HOURS!) each day I’m spending there. Are those hours (HOURS!) adding value to my life? They really aren’t. I could also individually visit my favourite accounts via a browser on my desktop – which may (big emphasis on may) give me some way to control my habit and keep up with the people I like. The browser option has the benefit of not serving up the endless adverts, so maybe I could just do that?

Will report back!

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Way too many photos of my holiday coffees that I would have likely posted to instagram. Back to work tomorrow – I am very much not looking forward to it, but hey – only two weeks until the Xmas break.

22/11

23/11

25/11

01/12

03/12

05/12

This afternoon Don and I grabbed a blanket and walked down to the local oval and watched the Randy Petes’ second grade match.

Strictly speaking Don watched the match, I occasionally looked up from my book.

I’d been feeling a little down on myself about returning to work on Monday and possibly not having maximised my time off as much as I could have. This made everything better (I mean, look at that sky!). Need to get out of the house more.

I didn’t actually have any concerns that prompted me to get a mammogram, but I really do try to be proactive about my health and it’s recommended that you get one once you hit my age. Breast Screen NSW offers free mammograms to anyone over 50 (my tax dollars at work!) – so I scheduled one in pretty much as soon as we returned from the birthday getaway.

There are places to have this done pretty much everywhere (mostly hospitals, mobile vans and such) and the place I chose was very conveniently located within David Jones – so I took the opportunity to do a bit of shopping while I was at it.

I arrived on time, filled in the usual forms and such, and didn’t really have to wait very long until it was time to get my top off and be manhandled into a big machine.

I totally expected the crushing of the boobs and was absolutely mentally prepared for that. What I wasn’t prepared for being wedged so tightly into the machine that the plates that the skin on my chest got involved – ouch!

The rib-cage | chest-squishing left a bit of a mark for a while:

such a delicate petal

I was pretty sore and swollen for the next two days (it was as though I’d gone up a cup size!) – but otherwise all good!

I’ll get the results in two weeks and then it is back in 2019 for another squishing!

You don’t even want to know how much I spend on T2 tea (strictly speaking infusions or tissanes – I don’t drink black tea). Samples are pretty much the perfect gift!

Day one: T2 – very berry fruitea

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Day two: Marc Jacobs mascara

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Day three: T2 spi chai

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Day four: T2 red green vanilla | citrus punch
(There were not supposed to be two in here – one migrated from another day, so has been shoved back in!)

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Day five: kikki.k kitty compact mirror

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Day six: T2 toasty nougat

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Day seven: T2 strawberries and cream

Our minimalist nod to Christmas decorating. I think this is possibly the most festive ThePalace(OfLove) has ever been.

Of course there’s a cat theme (courtesy of Bessie).

Madness almost overtook me today while shopping with Joe/Frank – I almost bought a … tree! I quickly talked myself out of it, but am kind of now almost talking myself back in.

We’re all doing advent calendars this year and one of my birthday gifts from the offspring was an absolutely amazing bespoke calendar.

Joan and Bessie workshopped the concept, Bessie designed and executed** (that 4 year design degree has paid off!) and they both collaborated on the contents – which have of course been fabulous so far.

Hard to get a sense of scale from the photos – but it is quite huge!

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I am one of those annoying don’t-get-me-any-gifts parents, but they completely ignored the directive and also included a spa voucher, woodwick candle (vanilla bean | caramel | biscotti), book of kitties and kitty stationery in the birthday stash.

Seriously I could not have asked for more thoughtful gifts – what clever children I have!

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** Bessie and her boyfriend even cut the perforations around each of the days by hand with scalpels!

Unlike rainy day three which saw us climb Satan Mountain, day two was gorgeous and sunny, and we packed quite a bit in.

First up (after the hearty breakfast) was our pony ride.

hearty breakfast – of champions

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After we returned to the tent from the ride, we decided to make the most of the fabulous weather, so we donned the hiking shoes and took a walk along the river.

Excited to report that my new boots fit perfectly, were extremely comfortable – and there were no bruised toenails!

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It begins.

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Ubiquitous intrepid hiker photo

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Wombat hole!

Judging by the number of burrows, the area was pretty wombat-heavy. Because they’re nocturnal and we were in bed by 8pm, the only wombat we spotted was the quite adorable one who shuffled around the tent in the very, very early hours – un-photographed (because, sleep).

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Ubiquitous camping kiss photo!

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I wasn’t kidding when I described the river as running low – yikes!

We walked for an hour or so until we hit a fairly steep hill and turned back – it was quite hot and we hadn’t really prepared for a very long walk. The next day we discovered that this walk was the end of the Devil’s climb – so probably good that we didn’t try our hand at the hill or it could have turned us off entirely!

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After lunch we decided to explore the area a little more (and get into the air-conditioning).

The GPS in Panzo-the-car provided little assistance. Fortunately we had our handy-dandy topographic map – and there weren’t actually many places to get lost.

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So much dirt road! And fording a couple of streams.

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Spotted many animals, okay – mostly cows and sheep – sensibly staying out of the heat.

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The wonderfully named Soap Suds!

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When too many photos of fences are barely enough.

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Yours for $279k

This is astoundingly inexpensive to someone who is accustomed to average prices of >$1.5m for a house on a standard-sized block.

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After arriving back, I swam briefly in The Leech Pond, then we lazed about and watched the wild goats foraging at the neighbouring cottage (no zoom – that’s how close the other cabins were)

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This was followed by dinner of champions – lamb soup we’d brought with us from the stash in the freezer.

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And a sit and a read in the hammock – which I’m fairly sure was my first time ever in a hammock (such a sheltered life!).

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The break was VERY relaxing and the area was lovely, but we’re unlikely to return soon as I think we saw most of what there was to explore. The trip has definitely re-sparked the desire to do more of this type of thing. We’re not about to go out and buy a tent (again), but will definitely seek out more tent-like experiences!

It’s super-interesting that without internet connection I’m able to do all of this *stuff* and still have ample time to laze about reading, pottering and thinking – makes me realise I could be doing a lot more with my weekends. Though of course there is the matter of grocery shopping and chores – and worky work, which I’m going to attempt to put a stop to (the weekend working, not the working entirely, though that would be super-awesome!).

I was quite nostalgic for our (3) camping trips of old, so was excited to relive the experience in a bit more of a civilised manner for my birthday getaway. We stayed here and while I wouldn’t strictly call this glamping, there definitely were some luxury elements involved.

The drive there took maybe 4 hours – we broke at Leura for coffee, a stretch and again at Blackheath for the best pie in the world and to swap drivers. Ordinarily I do all of the holiday driving because I tend toward car-sickness, but we tried a new approach and I’m excited to report that I felt perfectly fine while Don was driving! This will make for MUCH better road-trips in the future – driving for hours and hours being absolutely horrid.

The last 12km of the journey were down very well sign-posted dirt roads and we arrived to this:

It all looks super-secluded from the photos and while the tent is located down a long and winding (and bumpy!) track, there are cabins quite close by on either side – luckily our neighbours on both sides were relatively quiet.

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Our very luxe-looking bed. The mattress was incredibly comfortable; the pillows were great – firm, but smooshy; linen crisp and lovely. Having a proper bed was brilliant – even if there was a huge dip in the centre which made for quite a bit of togetherness!

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Now this was unquestionably luxe – wonderful bathroom with really excellent shower! And heated floor!

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View from our giant deck.

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Just off the deck. The river was running pretty low, so the canoe-hire option wasn’t really going to work (quite glad we didn’t pay for that one in advance!)

Despite the low water levels there was a deepish pool right in front of the deck which I was determined to swim in – and did so in the afternoon of day 2. The water was crystal-clear, icy and very refreshing. I paddled about until Don was bitten by a leech while on the bank deliberating whether to join me. That ended my swim pretty quickly. Despite never seeing another leech in all the time we were there, the pool was subsequently referred to as The Leech Pond: “oh look at those ducks in The Leech Pond”, “I’m just going down to The Leech Pond to see the wee fish”.

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The low-brow | the high-brow. I read Clive Cussler | Don reads Murakami.

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Improvised tea pot. I brought the infuser along, but the mugs in the tent were too tiny for it to fit it – thank TheUniverse for the tent’s coffee press.

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Sausages and beans – dinner of champions!

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And a bit of a walk further along the river before settling in for the night.

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We spent a good deal of the holiday reading and tried to extend this to reading in bed – but were attacked by dozens and dozens of flying insects. Those lovely wooden doors at the front of the tent had so many gaps that all manner of creatures entered when there was any light on (this is where a tent with a zip is 70,000x more superior).

After two nights of attempts anti-bug strategies we worked out that we just had to sit in the dark or go to sleep after 7:30pm.

It was raining on the morning of my birthday – that sort of large-dropped, heavy, straight-down rain that you feel will settle in for a while.

After a very early coffee (and a quite spectacular gift), Don asked how I’d like to spend the day:

   + Would I like to take a drive into the nearest large town and enjoy a leisurely lunch?
   + Or would I prefer to climb Satan Mountain (not its real name)? In the rain.

I thought quite a bit about the decision, I mean I’m not one for signs and intentions, but it seemed like I should do something momentous and set the scene for the year | decade | rest-of-life.

So Satan Mountain* it was!
*(Actual name Devil’s Climb, or more prosaically Cattle Run Firetrail).

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After a breakfast of champions, we headed out.

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Our route – I really want to learn to draw an accurate cross-section of this (so many red lines)!

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It was quite a walk on the dirt road to even get to the start of the trail (between the green arrows on the map). We’d later look back on these flat sections and gentle slopes with fondness.

The wildlife was abundant!

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See that hill in the distance? That’s where we were headed.

Devil’s Climb. Difficult 3-4 hour walk.

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The view from that earlier hill. You can just make out the road in the middle of the first photo.

Spectacular! Don had to take the photos – I don’t mind heights in the least, but edges with nothing solid to hold onto give me vertigo – just the thing for climbing a Giant Hill.

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Little did we know that from here it would only get higher and higher. I mean, of course we did know because we had the map, but I don’t think we fully appreciated how high.

Pretty soon we were in the clouds:

What’s not pictured are the dozens of wild goats which we spied through the mist and seemed to be always just ahead of us – really quiet eerie and otherworldly, but also somewhat comforting.

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At the peak! Except it really wasn’t.

Each time we thought we were at the top, it turned out that just around the corner was yet another climb. We quickly agreed this was the Devil’s part of it – that and the inclines and precipices.

This was the steepest terrain I think I’ve ever walked on. Definitely the slipperiest (so many loose rocks and wet leaves) – thank TheUniverse! for that improvised walking stick.

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This was possibly the most scary thing of the entire Scary Walk. Just past the actual peak (1034m).

Yikes!

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If I thought uphill was bad, downhill was THE WORST! So very slippery. And while the path was quite wide, the edge of the path dropped off pretty quickly. Don pointed out that it made for exceptionally mindful walking. Or abject terror – depending on how you look at things.

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The downhill climb took probably twice as long as the uphill – finally and wonderfully we hit the bottom and came upon some sort of satanic circle.

It was like that when we got here.

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The walk along the river was much more pleasant and relaxing, even though we had to take our shoes off to cross.

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We celebrated our survival with Nostalgia Noodles. Nostalgic from camping trips past – but insanely salty.

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By this time it was getting sunny and was pretty humid, but we started a really quite pathetic campfire (everything was still very wet!) – just so we could say that we’d made one.

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We spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging about reading, then early dinner of cheese and bikkies.

And a pretty good craft ginger beer (who needs wine?)

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Followed by a postprandial stroll along the river.

I skipped stones for the first time (not pictured) and managed to get 3 skips! Don, ever the over-achiever, was much better and got 9.

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We finished up with a rousing game of sequence (banned in texas!) which we found amongst the board-games thoughtfully provided in the tent.

And retired pretty early before the bugs ate us.

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I conquered a Mountain! In the Rain!

All up GENIUS BIRTHDAY!