http://bushbash.flashgressive.de/

do it!

pictures of carlene and joe's new daughter, hazel may, make me smile. another starchild in my life.

i'm going home at the end of the month, weather permitting. mixed feelings about leaving this desert home of mine. it will be so good to be back on kiwi soil again, this time for more than a couple of weeks. it will be sad though to leave behind the special people in my life here.

you know, i sat down all prepared to write a decent post after such a long absense... and it seems that i have forgotten how. it's hard to know what to write about when so much has happened since i last posted, infact so much has happened in the last year and a half that i haven't spoken of here. maybe i need to start afresh with a new blog? maybe i need to just get over it and write whatever, rather than trying to fill in the large gap.

home in the land of soft rain, grey skies, black ducks.

my grandmother passed away last week, so i've been doing the funeral thing and all that goes with it.

it's been nice to spend time with family, without the hectic rushing around that usually comes with these short visits to the homeland.

back to australia on friday, for another two months in the dust.

x

EROiCA iS:

still in tibooburra
still working 2 jobs
still enjoying it

making new friends
making plans
making coffees

going home in october
going a little mad
going it alone

x

blogger is fucking me around.
but i am alive.

x

hello!
it's been many a day since i last wrote on here, somebody slap me.
life's been busy, i've started a 2nd job which means i have some late nights followed by early starts. i've been filling my days with ease, and wishing that i had more time to read books and lap up the autumn sunshine! the afternoons are so beautiful at the moment, perfect for leisurely persuits. i took the photo a few mornings ago when i left for work, the sky was amazing!
i worked last night, at the pub, we were much busier than expected. the chef, who had the night off, couldn't help but worry that "the girls" weren't coping. we were though, and 32 meals later i was happy to escape the pub and head down the road for a glass of crisp white wine in front of a warm fire with the company of a good friend and basil and sybil fawlty. (yeah, fawlty towers was on. the one where the builders take out the wrong door. love it.) reeeelaxing at last. it was so hard to tear myself away from that fire and head out into the cold for the 5 minute walk home.
an early start again today, the alarm went off and i could've cried. the mornings are cold now, so shivery and bleary eyed i made my way to work for my 12th day running. i'll look on the bright side and admit that there is plenty to like in my job, particularely the company of a few of the locals who tend to come in for a coffee and a chat. word has got around that i make a decent cup of coffee, as opposed to the insipid over-hot brews that the others throw together! my bosses' older son (he's 6) is a good one for keeping me entertained with his daily demonstrations of love for his dad: climb up on the chair, check there's water in the kettle, generally tell me how much water is in the kettle, put it on and watch it for a while before loading a cup with a bit of coffee and lots of sugar, then "eroica, the milk goes in BEFORE the water, right?", and before long he has a ghastly looking brew ready for his dad which he then asks me to carry out so he doesn't spill it! it really is quite sweet, and one of these days i might even succeed in training him to clean up the inevitable mess of coffee and sugar granules he leaves on my pristine bench!
the tourists can be good value too. mostly they're older australians, making the most of retirement by buying a campervan or joining a 4wd tour. they're often happily surprised to see the coffee machine, and they like to paw over the selection of tea towels and stubby holders while i make their cappuccinos. i had a nice customer moment last week, a guy who'd come in a couple of days running asked me what the song was that was playing (i play my iPod at work, got very sick of the tamworth country crew). it was jeff buckley singing Hallelujah, and i was more than happy to have a wee rant about the merits of it! i also mentioned that there are good versions by kd lang, sarah blasko and of course mister cohen. my customer was quite excited by that, so i offered to burn them all to a cd for him. so i sent off a Hallelujah Mix cd, including a few more of my favourites of the moment. i hope he likes it!
the absolute best thing that happened today was that my dear friend greg called me for a chat! a very nice surprise, thanks greg. i promised i'd visit him this year, but i've gone and left it too late as he's heading off again soon! picking season draws to a close. here's his blog by the way. :-) so i guess i'll have to catch up with him later in the year, unless i somehow find myself in taiwan in the next few months, the likelyhood of which is pretty slim.
so that conversation put a smile on my face, i carried on the good cheer with a visit to the nurse in town who i've become friends with in recent weeks. we talk about adventures she's had and adventures i'd like to have. we've also started a sort of dinner club ~ a chance to get together with a few select friends to share good food and wine and conversation. so far we've had one do, and it was lovely. appertisers and wine up at Sunset Lookout, followed by a very nice meal and conversation well into the night. it's these sorts of things that make me feel like being out here is ok after all. so after a session of food-talk and gossiping and coffee drinking with her, i rode home under a sky bisected by vapour trails burning white hot across the afternoon blue.
now here i am, back home and fed on coconut prawn curry, and finally writing a blogpost. it has been too long!
i hope you've enjoyed this insight into my life as it is currently. i'd love to hear from you!
xx e

HELP TWO NiCE GiRLS OUT?

Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

friends of mine are getting married in a couple of months, and sent me this message:

"anyway - wondered if you know of any amazingly wonderful gay AND vegan AND eco friendly places we could go on honeymoon?? anywhere in the world.... we're flexible!! thought you being the travelling type might have a few grand ideas..."

being as that i'm not nearly as well travelled as they think and i wish, nothing is springing to mind.
any ideas appreciated!

x

ps. yes, i've been painting.

today is ONE WHOLE YEAR since i moved to australia.
it seems far longer, of course. a lot has happened in that time!
christchurch -> melbourne -> tibooburra.

[--> ?]

in other news, i squashed a lizard.

MELBOURNE: THE PRO LiST

my big brother is moving to melbourne.
one of my best mates from home (hi, nik) moved there a few weeks back.
i already have lots of friends there.
people might visit me there.
small block (cafe) is there.
ceres environment park is there.
artisan books is there.
kent street is there.

waka claypan
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

i was quite funny, a few years back.
i've been wasting time reading the archives again. another effective way of escaping the here and now!
as is always the case (there must be a law about it) as soon as i start seriously thinking about leaving, my current location seems to become more attractive. good people, fun conversation and friendly ribbing. a sense of community, a sense of being an accepted part of the 'family'. it's a lot to give up! how do i do it?

COOLiNG

i woke up cold this morning, for the first time in months! the season is changing, just in the last few days there's been a chill in the air at night. it's 15deg now, as opposed to the 28+ i've become accustomed to at this time of day. suddenly our little concrete floored house doesn't seem quite so cosy.

a question:

if i wasn't living here, where would i be? in tasmania for a few months with petrina? back to melbourne for a cold winter? chch for a colder one? the UK to see c&s get married?

i need to refuel on the things that make me smile.

i'm going to whinge for a bit now. close your eyes if you don't want to see it.
work. it's shit. i cook boring unhealthy food for people who expect no better, and the rest of the time i clean. i hate cleaning! i hate it even more when it's barely necessary, but serves as a time-filler.
i don't get paid enough, and the money i do earn often doesn't turn up in my account for lengthy periods of time. it shouldn't become my problem that my boss is broke and disorganised, right? don't even get me started on her time in lieu system.
i am tempted to find other work, but at the same time i am hesitant to do that as i don't really want to be here for long. but at this rate, i'm not saving much money. what to do?

there are so many things i avoid thinking about, or writing about these days. i have my head in the sand. i don't want to face the reality of my messed up situation. i don't want to be with v, but i don't want to be without her.

*
i'm going to try to write here more often.

i HEART NZ

w00t!

Silverbeet and cheese pie anyone ? I would rather be pretty much anywhere but here today. I need a plan, some goal to aim for. Suggestions welcomed. Xxx

Chilling out at home, enjoying time on my own, and making slide shows of my holiday photos. Do I HAVE to go to work tomorrow? I'm dreaming of a roadtrip, new horizons and faces and flavours. The first step is a bit of budgeting... Reality bites eh. ;-) so what have you been up to lately? Xxx

YOU COULD FRY AN EGG ON THAT!

my online weather gadget tells me that it was 43 degrees of the celcius variety an hour ago. which is 109 farenheit.
if i had an egg i could fry it on my forehead. now *there's* a thought.
i'm going out to a station (ie. aussie version of a farm) for a couple of days, i think i'm likely to melt. it will be a true outback experience!
wish me luck.

ps. i saw a herd of semi-wild horses on my way to work this morning, they took my breath away. they were just a few metres from me as i rode my bike through the cool and quiet of pre-sunrise.

i've discovered iMovie!
but am i brave enough to post a video of myself on here?
probably not.
(and anyway, i'm not sure how i'd get the movie from the mac to the pc... um... *brain clench*)

Just another day at the office

Back to work, back to the realities of desert life. Things to be thankful for: a new ipod-to-stereo cable, walm days, a great asian cookbook for my birthday, and friends who make me smile.

ADELAIDING

i'm in adelaide for the day, on my way back to tib.
it's been a good holiday, lots of coffees and friends in christchurch, then a wonderful couple of days with lisy and family in feilding (ruby just gets more and more beautiful! i am so smitten on her cute 2 year old self), followed by a BRILLIANT time in melbourne. even a nasty head cold couldn't stop me having a truly great time. seeing friends was the highlight of course, and i came to the realisation that i could easily live there again.

so i find myself in a bit of a quandry!
back to tib tomorrow. who knows what that'll be like. i am really looking forward to seeing the girl and the friends, but a big part of me wishes that i could just pack up and move back to melbourne.

*sigh*

in other news, i just picked out a book for The Softcovers, a bookclub i'm a member of on facebook (you're welcome to join, dear readers). i chose The River Baptists, it's Belinda Castles' first novel and won the vogel literature award. looking forward to getting stuck into that!
i'm also reading Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (of Poisonwood Bible fame), it's the story of her family's year of seasonal/local eating. how inspiring!
admittedly they made a point of moving away from the desert before embarking on that adventure.

right, must be time to go wander some more streets. adelaide is such an odd city, unexpectedly quiet and slow! nice wide streets and lots of trees, i can see why it's often compared to christchurch. sadly for me the cafe scene is uninspiring! but the book shops abound, so i'm not entirely disenchanted.

oh! before i go! overheard on the street this morning:

"just cover your arse and lie down! give it to john and he'll.."
(the guy was walking too fast for me to catch the rest, but how weird is that! haha)

Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

lunch with my family is a civilized affair.

the whole family gig is a little overwhelming, so i've escaped to my beach house (thank s nik!).

i'm going home to the land of the long white cloud tonight.
i'm going to see my mum and my dad and i'm going to be cold and wear a big jacket. then tomorrow i'm going to drink coffee at my old local, and visit people. this is all very exciting.
i've enjoyed being in sydney, for the coffees and the bookshops and the frangipani and the jeffy and the sas and the tim. the city itself is no longer my friend. this is ok.

hello

i am having a very nice birthday, in sydney. starting with a SOY LATTE (!!!) and eggs benedict at a beautiful cafe in glebe with fishboy and sas. i'm loving being back in the city!
might go and see the golden compass later. the only other plan i have for the day is to buy a book.
mmm, bookshopping.

xxx

Happy new year !

Wishing you all the love and happiness you deserve, my gorgeous friends. Hope your start to 2008 was as breathtaking as mine. Xxx