As I sit down at my computer on 1 January 2021 to write a job application that’s due at midnight in 2 days, I’m already procrastinating on that to write here. Here being a place that has sat collecting dust for nearly 2 years. I think about this site occasionally, but it’s only recently that I’ve even had the inclination to write anything.

Today being the first day of a new year is usually the time to reflect on the past year. And what a year that was. It started as a year of hope. I hoped that the job I had been doing would be made ongoing as I’d been on I don’t know how many contracts for 6 years. Then COVID hit, we lost half our team and it became very apparent that my time was limited in that job. I finally finished there 2 days before another lockdown happened in November and started a new (contract) job the day before South Australia went into a hard lockdown. So while things didn’t go as I’d hoped I was lucky in that I actually had a job during the year unlike so many other people. And while my current contract isn’t a long-term one I had news just before the end of the 2020 working year that there’s more work for me there.

I’ve been working on a contracts of a year or shorter (some have been 2 months) for the last 10 years so I don’t stress as much about where the next one might be coming from now like I did earlier. And those many contracts have been at 2 work places, until the recent move making that 3 workplaces. As a couple of friends have said to me recently, ‘all will be well’ and so far it has been on the workfront.

The year 2020 started with planning which Adelaide Fringe and Festival events to attend. From mid February to mid March pretty much every weekend I attended some event or another, ending with Womadelaide. There were more and more whispers of this COVID thing and Italy was already in lockdown. I think we knew it was starting to get serious so I made the most of that weekend.

I had the last weekend in March planned to go away with on an annual trip with a bunch of girlfriends and after Womad people started pulling out. COVID restrictions started being put into place and we pulled the pin on the camping trip. The camp ground was shut from that weekend anyway so that was that and into lockdown we went.

I started working from home at the end of March and I was dreading it. While I love time by myself, I thought working from home would be too isolating. It wasn’t. The internet connection held up and we continued our daily ‘standup’ at home via Teams. We even held Friday afternoon drinks via Teams so had more of this social interaction with the team during lockdown than we did on a Friday afternoon in the office. After all we were all at home anyway, so didn’t need to leave the office to pick up kids, get ready to go out etc. When it came time to go back to the office it was with reluctance that we did. My new job lets me work 3 days at home and 2 in the office at the moment. I’m not sure how long that might last but my work doesn’t need me to be around people in the office anyway. I also employed a cleaner recently. It’s a huge load off knowing that I don’t have to clean so much in my spare time. I still do an inbetween clean and vacuum (dog doesn’t ever stop shedding) but knowing that my weekends are for what I want to do, not what I feel I have to do is a big load off my mind.

Another bonus with working at home means I get drop-ins from the dog and the son. Son started uni in 2020 and he’d embraced all the things that uni offers socially. He’d joined a couple of clubs, he went to the orientation week party, he won a gym membership on campus and all of this in the first 2-3 weeks of the uni year before all that got shutdown also. So we were both home together respectively studying and working. Luckily his online gaming career helped him quickly adapt to online study. He also started a new job in February, mainly working nights – midnight to 6am – so while he sorted out his sleep patterns some of my working days were very quiet. But on the occasions when he would pop into my office we’d have some great chats. I’ve loved seeing him finish high school and adapt to a new job and university. He did pretty well at uni in semester 1 despite what the pandemic threw at him. In semester 2 a friend of his was murdered and I immediately saw the drop off in his uni work while he dealt with going to his first funeral, and dealt with his grief. Despite this, he buckled down in the last couple of weeks of semester 2 and managed to pass his subjects.

At the beginning of lockdown in March, I made a list in my diary of the things I would do during lockdown. Huh! None of those cupboards got cleaned out. It was all I could do to work and keep the house running with cleaning and grocery shopping. I didn’t have any inclination to do much else apart from take up knitting again. Since March I’ve knitted 2 jumpers, a cardigan, 2 shawls, a short sleeved top I unravelled and am using that wool to knit another top, and a beanie. Upon reflection I think all this knitting provided a level of comfort and an excuse to binge-watch tv shows. For the most part I can knit and watch tv. If the pattern is a bit tricky the tv is paused or turned off while I sort things out and then back it goes. I’ve even bought some wool to try and knit socks. I now have what knitters call a wool stash. It’s not much but it will keep me going for at least a few months yet. I’m hoping I like the sock knitting/wearing as that’s something that takes up less room and something that’s worn often. Otherwise I’ll have to start knitting little things for other people/charities as there’s only so many jumpers I need to knit for myself.

During our first lockdown we were still allowed to leave the house to shop and exercise, so a way of catching up with friends was to meet them for a hike. We’re lucky in Adelaide that there’s some great places to hike. I’m going to have to make a conscious effort to organise more of these during the cooler weather as it’s something I really enjoy. For a while it was my ‘social’ fix and I much preferred it over the video catchups. I haven’t found my groove with those.

At the beginning of 2020 I auditioned for a women’s choir and got in. I’ve never auditioned for anything so it was a big step outside my comfort zone, and surprisingly I wasn’t nervous at all. Unfortunately we only had 2-3 practises before we had to shutdown. We didn’t convene online to practise but I always sing around the house anyway. My dog is a very appreciative audience.

The camping trip that was supposed to happen in late March, happened in mid-October instead. As mid-October is also my birthday, I took a week off to celebrate that and go away camping for 3 nights. We camped at a friend’s property near Delamere and it was just lovely. Going away with this bunch of girlfriends is always a priority for me and I leave these weekends feeling refreshed and refuelled. This one was no different.

I don’t know what 2021 will bring, but if it’s anything like 2020 there will be time to stop and appreciate the small things. I’m trying to focus on the silver linings and not the negative things.

All Will Be Well.

I have a confession to make, I probably spend too much money on making the house smell nice, whether it’s fragrant candles or incense. There’s something about the smell they provide that transports me away from the house momentarily or something. I don’t know exactly what it is but it’s something I do for me.

I’ve bought the candles in the small and large glass jars, and I’ve bought the little soy melt cakes you put in a holder use the little tea light candles to melt them. And I burn them pretty regularly

Unfortunately some soy candles don’t live up to their hype. That is their fragrance is either pretty much non-existent or it goes to the other extreme and is too sweet and overpowering. So it can turn into an expensive exercise but as it’s one of the luxuries I allow myself in addition to my op-shop habit, I persist.

I was recently approached by Sydney Fragrance and given one of their candles to try – Heartland (inspired by Outback Australia, with finger lime, flannel flower and eucalyptus).

After having burned it for a few hours over 3 nights or so it passes my test of just enough smell where you want to breath more in and it just smells good.

Even the next morning and the evening after when I’ve come home from work I can still smell it a bit.

So, it passes my test of smelling pretty damn good and having that bit of extra staying power.

Would I buy from them? Yes, I would.

The large candle I received as shown above is $39 and burns for around 80 hours.

Sydney Fragrance – shop online or check out their stockists.

Note: Sydney Fragrance gifted me the candle pictured above.

My neighbourhood was built up in around the 1960s and 1970s so it’s relatively new. Luckily, so far, it’s escaped the knockdown the old house on the big block and sub-divide into two or more houses like many other suburbs around the place are undergoing.

When I was house-hunting I’d look at those cookie cutter houses on the small block with virtually no greenery around them and didn’t even look at one. Maybe one day I’ll be ready to move into a house like that where I don’t have to do much maintenance but when that’s becoming the norm in suburbs nearby I’m not super keen.

I remember driving past housing developments when I was a kid and mum would say the same thing. Although those places are probably very established now with various plants to attract some wildlife.

The tree in the photo above was probably here before the houses were. It’s near an oval and not near any houses so it didn’t need to be cut down I guess. When I drive past it I have to slow down because one of its roots grows underneath the asphalt making a big bump giving me a chance to check it out its majesty. I’m sure it’s seen lots of changes over the years and will probably see more over years to come. It will hopefully be here as this suburb moves onto its next phase.

The other night I met some friends at Plant 4 at Bowden for a catchup and some dinner.

It was pretty busy when we arrived around 6.30pm with everyone buying food so I’d recommend ordering your food, go the wine stall and grab a glass of wine to sip on while you wait for your food to get ready. That’s what I did anyway.

I had a Japanese cabbage pancake with squid, okonomiyaki, which I’ve never tried before and it was delicious.

We found a table outside and ate and chatted – a lovely Wednesday evening.

I drove home just before sunset and Adelaide being Adelaide I got stuck in a roadworks slowdown. I couldn’t stop looking at the gorgeous sky so snuck a photo while stopped in traffic. Seeing the sky like this almost made it worthwhile being stuck in traffic and for a change I didn’t get annoyed at the snail pace movement. I enjoyed being able to lose myself in the gorgeous clouds and colours of the spectacular sunset.

All too soon I crawled through the 25km/hr section of the road and was home in no time. The sunset was pretty much over by then but I got to relive it by posting my image to social media and enjoy other photos too.

Lost my mojo with this writing every day thing. I was all right with the first 10 days where it was more about feelings. The next 10 days of places doesn’t really suit me. Perhaps it’s the type of places? After all, I did some of them but got stuck at the ‘your bedroom’ one. My bedroom is my sanctuary and it’s with great pleasure I get into bed every night and usually with great reluctance I get up every morning. I treated myself to a new bed when I moved nearly a year ago and thank goodness I chose well. My favourite time is when I’ve got clean sheets on the bed. If I had a daily housekeeper I would get them to do clean sheets every day or at least every second day.

But because that bit felt a bit short I’m going to tell you a bit about today. This morning I dropped my son off at his job, came home and did some housework and pottered around for a while. I thought I’d go a bit early to pick him up and have a look around at the shops as he’s working at Glenelg. As I don’t go there that often there’s always something new to check out.

I walked into shops that cater to people with way more money to spend than me. I wouldn’t spend $70 on a cotton scarf. Didn’t stay long in that shop.

I always gravitate towards the back of shops where the clearance items are because sometimes you can find a bargain. I ended up buying a pair of sandals that were less than half price. I don’t know about you but every time I buy something that’s heavily marked down the sales assistant tells me what a bargain it is. I know! That’s why I’m buying it. It’s like they’re pointing something out you didn’t know. Truth is I usually wouldn’t be buying it if it were still full price. So now I have a pair of sandals I wouldn’t have bought if they weren’t on sale, but they’re cute and comfortable.

Oh, and then I went to 3 supermarkets on the way home trying to find pizza dough! Third time lucky otherwise no pizza for dinner.

Our Nana used to live in Victor Harbor but when I was about 12 she moved to the city to be closer to her youngest daughter and that bit closer to my mum, her oldest daughter.

She moved into an apartment that had a pool. It was heaven for my sisters and I. During the summer holidays we’d stay on after Christmas for a week or so and it was a real holiday for us.

Nana would buy soft drink and keep it stocked up. This was a special treat as it was something that mum rarely allowed.

Her unit was only a 2 bedroom and she’d give up her room with the twin beds so 2 of us could sleep in there and the other 1 in the other little spare room. This allowed her to stay up that bit later I guess and smoke some more Benson and Hedges cigarettes and sip away at a bit more Stout.

I’m pretty sure Nana enjoyed having us stay. We certainly enjoyed staying there. And at that time it was very social around the pool. There were other kids living or staying so they’d invariably be hanging around or come out if we went to the pool. While we were younger Nana would come out and supervise us – she never joined us in the pool though.

We continued visiting her during the holidays and then when I finished high school I moved in with her. It wasn’t quite the same thing and those summer holidays then became a thing of the past for me as I joined the workforce and after a couple of years moved into a share house.

Only a few years after that Nana got taken to hospital and then put into a nursing home where she only lasted 3 weeks. She’d had enough and gave up on life.

Mum and her sister inherited the unit and eventually mum and dad bought out her sister’s half. I moved back in just before I went overseas and then again after I came back a couple of years later. It was perfect. Cheap rent and close to everything.

My sister now lives there after buying it from mum and dad so it’s still in our family after all these years. The pool is now fenced and rarely gets used.