Hello, I’m back… Spring stories and Winter wrap-up all in one

November 3, 2019 / alexcellent / 5 Comments

Hello, I’m back. I started drafting a post Winter school holidays wrap up 2019: You can’t go wrong in Tallong at the beginning of Term 3. Life took over and I never published it, so I’ve whacked it onto the end of this post now at the end of the third week of Term 4!

Term 3 was all about:

getting to know our guinea pigs better
joining a new team at work
wintry walks,
collecting and trading in bottles for coins with Spider Boy as part of the ACT’s container recycling scheme
making delicious green soup (well, I did that once)
more guinea pig snuggles and lots of photos
a visit from mum from Sydney
a trip to Melbourne for a Problogger day
book week at school
a walk in the National botanical gardens
a visit to Floriade at the beginning of Spring
enjoying the sight of pink and white spring blossoms in Canberra’s streets
more Lush bath bombs
Steptember
trivia night with work mates
kicking the soccer ball around in the park in the late afternoons
prepping Spider Boy for school camp (but then he got sick and I collected him after dinner on the first night)
exploring Lake Gininderra on Canberra’s north side

Then we had a visit to my Dad in the Blue Mountains and Mum in Sydney for a week in the October holidays.

I have no photos of the past couple of months in this post as I’ve run out of storage space on WordPress so I’ll need to pay for more before I can upload any new images.

Meanwhile, here’s my recap and photos from July school holidays 2019!

Winter wrap up… July School Holidays

I worked for one day of the school holidays then took the rest of the time off work. We had a few days away in Tallong with my friend Nadia and her two boys.

Spider boy and I dropped off our new pet guinea pigs at their holiday resort, the “Cavy Comfort Motel” (the exotic pet boarding facilities at the local vet), stopped off for petrol and a tyre check, then went through the Macca’s drive-through all before we’d left Canberra’s north. We headed down the Federal Highway to Goulburn and all was well, until it wasn’t.

There was a distinct “air noise” – the sound of air rushing through something. By the time we pulled up at Bundanoon station to pick up my friends, it sounded like we were dragging something. It was the mud flap. We drove on a rocky dirt road from Tallong to the property we were staying at. The sound of the mud flap dragging was very disconcerting, not to mention my worry at the sound of stones flying up and hitting the underside of the car. Then the noise stopped. A smoother road part of the road perhaps?

When we drove out of the property the next day to explore the area, I drove past something long, black and twisted on the side of the road. “I think that was my mud flap” I announced, and everyone laughed. I picked it up on my way back and shoved in the back of the hatchback.

Here are some happy snaps from the trip…

Tallong had a bit in common with New York:

The kids wanted to be a part of it… not New York, but it’ll do.

We met some very friendly donkeys at the sprawling Air B&B property my friend had booked: Tex, Don and Charlie, named after members of Cold Chisel.

Mr.11 taught Tex/Charlie/Don the art of the selfie. Album cover?

They ate carrots and hay and made us miss our new(ish) pet guinea pigs even more.

Hello Spider boy

Walking in Penrose state forest to the sound of banjos playing

Evening activities

Stone buildings in Taralga, where we went for a day trip from Tallong.

July winter festival in Bundanoon

Morning tea in Bundanoon

Exeter Antique shop.

A few days later, we said goodbye to our friends and Spider boy and I drove back to Canberra with the mudflap still in the back and had no further car problems.

Then we had a few days in Sydney in the second week. Sydney in Winter is absolutely one of the best places to be. Definitely a reprieve from the Canberra cold.

Sydney Winter is a walk in the park, or a ferry ride on the Harbour.

We managed to make it in to the Rocks and Circular Quay for the Bastille Festival.

Extremely decadent lunch of fries and truffle aioli

We love getting our art fix at the MCA when we’re in that part of town.

Discovered Portrait mode on the iPhone!

See? Sydney Winter is a splash at the beach

It’s a kick of the beach ball in thongs

It’s watching the sun set from a ferry.

Thanks for a beautiful Winter escape, Sydney!

Easter holidays 2019: trains, buses, taxis and crowds.

May 6, 2019 / alexcellent / 2 Comments

Well we’re about to hit day 2, week 2 of Term 2, and I can’t believe we’re nearly in the middle of 2019. George was not excited about school starting last week, still being in “holiday mode” he said, the night before. I was still in holiday mode too last Monday morning but now back into the swing of things well.

This holidays, after our afternoon of bath products window shopping, I worked for a couple of days and then we hot-footed it to my Dad’s in the Blue Mountains. This involved a Murray’s Bus from Canberra then a train from Sydney’s Central station. Why did I not drive? I’ve caught the anxiety of the M5 from my parents. So 6 hours after leaving Canberra, we arrived in the Blue Mountains, about 90 minutes west of Sydney.

We witnessed an altercation on the train between two young women over one of the women saving a seat for “a friend getting on at Parramatta”, and taking up four seats (2 for her luggage, one for her bottom and another for her legs). George was quite interested in all the lively high-school/uni student conversations, including from a group of six skateboarder-types perched on chair arms, as there weren’t enough seats.

“Next time, we’re driving!” I whispered to George in a wave of middle-aged defiance against my parents.

In the mountains we met up with Dad’s partner’s daughter and her boys aged 8 and 11, so George had plenty of play time with them. We had some lovely late afternoon walks admiring the red and orange leaves and Dad cooked a lamb roast on Good Friday.

Autumn parade in Blue Mountains streets.

It was a scene from a fairy tale in a local park!

We battled the crowds in Leura Mall (Pitt Street Mall, more like it) while we were coffee-chasing (me) and lolly-shopping (George) and sneakily vintage-clothing window-shopping (me). Leura on Good Friday was like Campbell Parade in Bondi on a Summer Saturday, proportionately speaking.

George was disappointed Woolworths was shut – he couldn’t get his hot fried chicken wings, but he cheered up with pizza at Leura Garage, a cafe with Bondi-style prices in a charmingly decorated converted garage. It was very good Margarita pizza though. We bowled up to the host standing behind a lectern at the cafe entrance who informed us we could go on a “wait list” for a table and he would phone us when one was ready. To make the most of our time, we hurried over to the gourmet chocolate shop “Josophans” around the corner and selected a few items. Just as I was about to queue up to pay, I got the call from Leura Garage… a table was ready now! No time to purchase chocolate, I planned to return later. So much for peaceful village life.

Chocolate bunnies perched on some kind of car thing.

After our late lunch George felt better so was tolerant of my browsing (Yes, I was happy browsing) in a few arty and vintage shops. And we went back to Josophans for Easter chocolate gifts.

We got a taxi to Dad’s in the next town as it was late and Good Friday – I did consider waiting for a train but a lamb roast waits for no one!

The rest of our holidays was more trains, buses and taxis. Because our train to Sydney the next day was delayed by 30 mins, it meant we had time to duck across the road for this…

Easter in Sydney was a whirlwind of wheeling luggage around from Central to Bondi Junction, lunches, family, chocolate, pizza, no church, no beach and an Easter egg hunt in Granny’s courtyard.

We caught a bus and taxi (thanks, “track work” on the Eastern Suburbs train line), and then met my friend Nadia to catch a train to the Royal Easter Show with our boys aged 8 – 13, then a train, bus and another bus back to Mum/Granny’s.

Boys 8, 11 and 13 ready for the journey home

After the Show, it was a bus from Central to Darlinghurst to Nadia’s amazing new pad – location, location, location! Then we hot-footed it to Kings X to get a bus back to Granny’s. 14,000 steps later, I collapsed on the couch and George carefully examined his Warheads (sour candy) showbag.

Location, location, location! Perfect for Mardi Gras.

The next day was lunch with Sister Señorita Margarita in the very lunch-friendly Woolworth’s* express in Pitt Street Mall (Leura Mall, more like it), before catching a train and a bus to Skyzone in Alexandria to meet my cousin and her son and then catching a bus back to Bondi Junction where the thought of a train and another bus back to Mum’s was all too much so I jumped in a taxi. Which really was all too much, in the dollar sense.

George found his mothership in Sydney’s CBD. He looks a bit tired. Too many holiday late nights!

The next day, we got a Murray’s bus back to Canberra, then a taxi home to my beautiful, scratched little hatchback that gets me from A to B.

Before the Easter holidays ended, we managed to fit in another Easter, Greek Easter, with family friends of George’s dad. George found a canine friend there. I still haven’t managed to get him a dog. I can’t remember this dog’s name, but I think it was a Greek name and she’s part husky.

Much fun was had by all cracking these beautiful creations, by knocking them together and seeing whose egg cracks. It’s sort of like pulling Christmas crackers without the cheap plastic trinkets and hats.

I hope you’ve had a great start to Term 2, or May, if you don’t think in school terms. Less than four weeks to Winter, my second-favourite season! I’d better fit some decent Autumn walks in before then, since it’s my favourite time of the year.

Canberrans say you don’t turn your heater on until after Anzac Day. It’s not that cold yet, so I haven’t needed to. I’m really enjoying sitting with a blanket over my knees in the evening when there’s a bit of a chill. It is SO cosy.

*This post is not sponsored by Woolworths. I just go there a lot.

Summer Retrospective – birthdays, beaches, green thumbs and too much leg.

March 24, 2019March 24, 2019 / alexcellent / 4 Comments

Hello! Well we’re well into nearly at the end of March now and that means we’re well overdue for the Alexcellent Summer Retrospective. But hey, this is Canberra in March, therefore still hot, and it still feels like summer to me.

There’s also the second-half of last year retrospective that I really need to get to, but I think we’ll just leave that now.

I’ll compress summer into a few words and pictures.

My Peace Lily flowered twice. Spider Boy just told me I’m “flexing on the internet” (that’s what the kids say these days) about my green thumb. And by the way, Spider Boy doesn’t want to go by that name anymore. It’s George. When I started this blog he was still four years old – last week he turned 11!

But more on that in a later post, now back to greenery…

I set up my cactus station with a glowing green cactus from Kmart (I think).

There were concerts with acts from the 80s… (Pseudo Echo and Bananarama)…

…and acts that were close to 80… (well, Old Man Moss is 67… I know, so bold, still beautiful)

This Ronn Moss banner advertising his upcoming concert caught friend Gigi’s* eye back in December…

…and then her lips got stuck to it.

There were Canberra Christmas lights (not our house).

There was Christmas sparkle (might be our house)…

There was a birthday for mum very close to Christmas.

There was school holiday water fun in Sydney.

There was New Year’s hijinks with auntie Señorita Margarita,

There was a glorious new year’s beach day at Sydney’s Neilson Park.

George got to work in Granny’s courtyard garden for a little while.

An outing to Mad Pizza in Darlinghurst with friends

And a visit to our former local park with another Sydney friend**…

I tried to write my goals down but it’s now March and I still haven’t done that… just busy living a goal-less life where I constantly feel like I’m running to catch up with all the things I should’ve done that I haven’t done.

Maybe because I spend so much time just doing nothing, like photographing a random passer-by on a paddle board.

I could get some wisdom from Señorita Margarita’s new book…

There was a Spider man movie and Spider man dreams of web slinging for George…

There was the bizarre choice to ice-skate at a synthetic ice rink on a 39 degree canberra day. The ice was made of a greasy wax-like substance and wasn’t cold. Wouldn’t do it again – it’s real ice for us next time!

There was lots of my beloved coffee from The Espresso Room at Woden Plaza.

There was a half-hearted attempt at this wading pool in the front-courtyard-with-fake-grass after work.

There was the much more satisfying swimming in a hotel pool

And a yummy hotel breakfast just for a treat.

We squeezed in another quick visit to Sydney at the end of January. A determination to have one swim at Bondi Beach in the limited time we had meant turning up there at 6pm when the wind was blowing a gale… but at least we got in the water!

There was a pre-birthday birthday cake for me with George and my mum

Birthday selfie with me and my boy

I had a second birthday cake during a quick Blue Mountains visit our dad’s place in the Blue Mountains. This one was an ice-cream cake with Marzipan kangaroos and trees! I was very lucky.

There was cosy capuccino with Señorita Margarita…

before our beautiful bush walk in the mist…

Several bird appreciation opportunities….

Blue Mountains parrots

Canberra parrot

Back in Canberra we went to an amazing tropical plant sale at The Jungle Collective…

I even wore tropical-themed shorts just to get $5 off my plant purchases. Mama’s gotta pinch the pennies where she can.

Showing leg in tropical shorts: dollar-saving hack #1

And back at work I had to confront this reptile in the car park down in downtown Tuggeranong. That’s the bush capital for you!

And that was just some of the edited highlights of the Alexcellent Life this summer 2018-19. (School uniform shopping, school stationery foraging, work and vacation-care negotiating, failed dieting, failed body hair removal and bill shuffling not pictured.)

*the friend formerly known as Lulu

**the friend formerly known as “the magician”

Shocking savage seagulls of Sydney the sequel: Mothers’ Day – away with the birds

May 18, 2018April 16, 2019 / alexcellent / 2 Comments

Imagine the title of this post being spoken in the kind of voice typically heard in a horror movie trailer. Maybe with some chilling, high-pitched, psycho violins reminiscent of stabbing.

But we’ll get to the seagulls later. Mothers’ Day 2018 in Canberra was pretty low key which is just how I wanted it: a chance to sleep in, teach Spider Boy how to make my breakfast (after he ran into my room at a reasonable hour to give me a beautiful card and origami box he’d made) go to Bunnings for a sausage sandwich and some double-sided wall adhesive, and a little walk and coffee by the lake. There were no seagulls. But there were chips, and former-Sydneysider Spider Boy commented how lovely it was to eat chips by the sea, while lakeside at Kingston Foreshore. I knew what he meant. But just as well we weren’t by the sea in Sydney, after what I heard next…

On the way home from our pleasant little lakeside stroll, my sister Senorita Margarita called to report a savage seagull incident in the Harbour city. She and my mum had decided to take a ferry from Rose Bay to Circular Quay and enjoy some fish and chips by the water. According to the Senorita, just as Mum was about to tuck in to her seafood lunch, fish on fork on its way to her mouth, a seagull swooped in, stole the fork from under her nose, slapping her in the cheek with its wing as it flew off, fork in beak with the fish still attached. Then it ate the fish and dropped the cutlery on the ground. Not only a violent thief, but a tosser!

As my sister recounted mum’s seagull encounter over the phone we both started laughing at the sheer gall of the gull, but then I was laughing so hard I nearly ran the car off Yamba drive. My laughter was hypercritical, considering I got annoyed when Spider Boy laughed at me spilling my flat white on my new felt winter hat that very afternoon (and in case you’ve got a mental picture, I wasn’t wearing my hat at the time)

The Senorita reminded me of another seagull event at the Quay a few years ago, when one decided to move into her lustrous blonde curls during her lunch break, while its seagull sidekick did a fly-by and took a bite of her sandwich as she brought it to her mouth. Yes, the Circular Quay seagulls are particularly bold.

Later that day after hearing about Mum’s seagull drama, I rang my dad.

Dad, who has recently moved to the Blue Mountains just west of Sydney, had ventured back to the East for the weekend. We swapped stories about our Sundays. He complained about Sydney traffic, Sydney queues, Sydney prices, Sydney attitude and annoying and expensive Lexuses and Range Rovers in Centennial Park, and how he’s so happy that’s all behind him now that he’s moved to the Mountains. (I must admit, I do love being able to visit him there.) And then I told Dad about my peaceful Mothers’ Day in Canberra, and about my Mother’s not-so-peaceful day in Sydney.

While relating the story of the savage seagulls at Circular Quay, it occured to me the Seagulls were just like Sydney itself… they were, in fact, very Sydney seagulls.

“Yes!” agreed Dad. “That’s exactly what they are – Very. Sydney. Seagulls!”

In May 2014, I blogged about a family outing where we experienced another particularly rude seagull event coupled with terrible service from an ice-cream vendor. Here’s an edited version of Sunday drive: savage seagulls, snakes and service with a snarl…

My sister Senorita Margarita, Mum Spider Boy and I decided on a nice low-key beach area. So not Bondi. We drove south and ended up at Botany Bay.

We bought fish and chips and made our way down to the little beach facing the airport runways. There was lots of interesting things to look at, and balmy weather considering it was May.

We perched on the wall of an elevated garden bed since all the benches were taken. Suddenly, A flock of seagulls descended. Spider Boy wanted to run, run so far away (sorry, any chance to bring up the 80s).

Spider Boy was edgy. He tensed as the seagulls squawked and edged closer to his lunch. “Should I give them some lunch?” He asked, obviously hoping that feeding them would make them go away.

“No!” I squawked. “If you do that, they’ll never leave! They’ll just get louder, closer and more annoying! Like Mummy nagging.”

So we sat there uncomfortably perched on the garden bed, sea grass tickling our legs, seagulls staring us down, wind blowing my hair in my face.

Suddenly a rampaging toddler disturbed the status quo, throwing out the delicate mutual respect Spider Boy and I had achieved with the flock of seagulls. They squawked, they flapped. Spider Boy jumped. Then I felt something drop onto my fish and chips paper at the same time as hearing a distinctive splat! I felt something wet on my hand and leg.

I looked at my lunch fearing what I knew I would see there, and I’m not talking about tartare sauce.

“A seagull just pooed on my lunch!” I shared with my family and passers-by.
“Well at least a seagull didn’t land on your head!” said The Senorita. “That happened to me once you know!”

Here are some pics from Sunday…

No coffee on this hat… yet

Autumn Dreams at Bunnings!

Lunch!

This beautiful box of macarons from the new Passiontree Velvet store in Canberra was a lovely surprise the day before from my friend Karen

Breakfast! Thanks for playing Spider Boy

Summer 2017/18

May 14, 2018April 15, 2019 / alexcellent / Leave a comment

While I was thinking about blogging, but not blogging, here’s the summer life we were living in Summer 2017/18. Click on the pics to read the captions.

Spider Boy and I spent three weeks in Sydney over Summer. Here’s one Sydney bus on Boxing Day: It was a Christmas Bus!

poolside life at an amazing Air B&B my friend Nadia found for us to stay in for a mini-break in January

Wallaroo sunset over the Brindabellas

There was lots of fun for the kids!

One of Canberra’s beautiful suburban ponds with trolley art-installation

It’s so lucky when the skywriting matches the wall of the public pool (Civic, ACT)

In Sydney for a pre-new year’s eve outing. Dec 30 is the new Dec 31. No crowds! Here we are celebrating on the top floor (think it was 36th from memory) at Sydney’s Shangri La hotel

I have a friend who is an amazing baker and whipped up a few of these for friends and family over Xmas – amazing Ginger Bread house.

We took in the Hyper Real exhibtion at the National Gallery

Spider Boy found another friend in Wallaroo

And a plucky cavoodle called Sophie at the dog park near Batgran’s place in Sydney

We finally saw the famous Christmas lights in Bissenberger Crescent, Kambah ACT

We discovered the quaintest little coffee cart on the shores of Lake Tuggeranong on a saturday walk

We can’t help ourselves. Part of our Dec 30 fun – and the dancefloor was sparsely populated!

Spider Boy got his first proper bike with no training wheels! And was riding it within an hour of getting it, thanks to his Dad.

Sydney visit and my problem with “stuff”

November 19, 2016 / alexcellent / Leave a comment

Several weeks ago Spider Boy and I went back to Sydney for nearly a whole week. It was the longest we’d stayed there since we moved back to Canberra in January. While it was great to see family and friends, I was still haunted by more stuff that needed packing.

I still have stuff at my mother’s place which needs to be gone from there. So much stuff. Mostly books, files, papers, craft supplies, things “that could be used to make a great artwork someday”, actual artwork from Spider Boy’s preschool days and project books from my primary school that I just can’t throw away.

But I’ve packed it all now and it will be coming to Canberra where it will be further culled and organised. There’s only so much I could do in Sydney in limited time and it’s important to make time for my peeps. And food.

Here are some photos…

Beautiful Rose Bay on a windy spring Saturday afternoon.

They say Rose Bay is one of Sydney’s dirtiest harbour beaches, but it’s so pretty and I’m so fond of it.

I discovered a new little Italian bakery, I Pasticerri Italiani, has opened in my absence. Amazing customer service. The baker, an older Italian man, who spoke no English, noticed Spider Boy looking through the window to the kitchen and invited us back to have a look at some bread rolls that were about to go into the big oven.

Spider Boy, who is the fussiest eater I’ve ever known, was intrigued and wanted to try one. As soon as they were ready, he was served one, with olive oil. He liked it. But he didn’t like any of the below… probably just as well.

I got over-excited and purchased a delicate and lovely selection for afternoon tea as my father was visiting. On seeing the cakes, Dad said “I don’t really like Italian cakes”. Considering he spends a couple of months in Italy every couple of years, I was surprised. No little dolce for him. He would’ve been happier with a madeira cake from Woollies.

“I liked that actually, it was very good” said Spider Boy when he saw this photo as I was drafting this post.

While I staying at Mum’s I made my Sunday French toast with Greek yoghurt and blueberries.

I went for a “jog” (well that’s what I told people) one evening and returned with this Margarita Pizza from Made in Italy in Plumer Road Rose Bay, Spider Boy’s favourite.

I got busy sorting and packing. I parted company with these treasures from my 80s teen years. I was a 14 year old rebel, clearly. The love I have for the music stays with me. But honestly, am I really going to play these cassettes again? That’s why I photographed them, so I could let them go.

Oh, hang on a minute.

I think I kept these, ~~thinking they could go in a picture-box frame with other 80s cassettes and become an “artwork.”~~ ~~thinking they could hang out in a box until such time I decide to turn them into an “artwork”~~. thinking they can hang out in a box for all eternity.

I found this lovely photo from Spider Boy’s baby days. It’s one of my all time favourites. That’s going ~~in a frame~~ straight to the pool room.

And here’s something more recent…

Oh don’t they just grow like weeds! Like Mummy’s grey hairs.

We had a lovely coffee (smartie cookie and milk for Spider Boy) with Granddad at our favourite cafe and Granddad caught up on all the Canberra school news.

…got some climbing practise at the park

and happily, Spider Boy was able to catch up with one of his good friends (and friend’s little sister) from his old school. These boys started school and did their first three years together. I hope they will be friends for a long time.

I enjoyed the luxury of mum babysitting while I met up with Señorita Margarita (later joined by my friend Nadia, who I’ve known since primary school) at Sydney’s oldie but goodie, The Darlo Bar.

…followed by the most authentic Mexican in Sydney at Playa Takeria. Well that’s what the sign said, and it tasted really good, so I believe them.

Me and my stuff. We go back a long way.

Boxes are packed. Now to move the damn things.

Edited highlights: bare trees and summer memories

June 23, 2016June 23, 2016 / alexcellent / Leave a comment

On Monday I worked from home as Spider Boy had a cold. It was also time for his plaster to come off. Once we got home from the medical centre, I noticed for the first time that the branches on the trees outside our window are bare. I don’t know how long they’ve been that way. But as I stood by the window I thought, “Didn’t those trees have red leaves on them last time I looked?”

How could they have lost all their leaves so quickly? I thought back to Summer. I had to think hard. I found an image in the old brain files of a red and blue parrot playing peek-a-boo amongst the masses of green leaves on the same tree. Then the leaves had turned red. Now, it was leafless, and I didn’t even notice it happening.

Time just slips away, and before you know it we are halfway through the year. We’ve even passed the Winter Solstice (8.43am Tuesday 21 June, by the way).

As I mentioned, Spider Boy had his plaster removed this week. He still needs to wear a splint for three weeks while doing anything active. His skin was dry and flaky where the plaster had been. But when I went to cleanse and moisturise his arm with Cetaphil, the flakes had already disappeared. Tonight the skin on his arm looks like new.

It’s a new season, we are well into Winter. So I’m going to present some pictures of the last weeks of Summer, when we said goodbye to Sydney and began settling in to our new home in Canberra.

Click on the images to read the captions…

Civic groove, and he’s years away from his first coffee!

I don’t know your name, but I think I love you

My last Sydney Summer Saturday night before moving to Canberra: cocktails and mayhem in the bars of Darlinghurst.

Shiny baubles in the display cabinet at Patissez, Manuka

I’ve always been one to celebrate any kind of achievement

Farewell with the family: Nutella pizza at Mange e Bevi, Rose Bay

Contemplating shelf-linings – it’s really contact paper. Having a decor identity crisis: French country, Palm Springs kitsch, Old Hollywood glamour, or Glam rock?

California dreaming…

A Sunday afternoon gelato decision at Cooleman Court.

Making a splash Art Deco style at Manuka Pool

More edible art at Patissez, Manuka

Looking forward to all the adventures ahead!

Spider Boy’s farewell at Centennial Park, Sydney

A gift from Spider Boy on our walk down to Woden plaza

Summer chain store decor. Good, clean, cheap bathroom fun.

Hello Dobinsons, I’m back, baby, I’m back.

Spider Boy’s new favourite place

The sun sets on our first day in Canberra

My photo doesn’t do the Canberra sunsets justice

Before Señorita Margarita visited in February she told me to find her a pool to swim in. Manuka Pool did the job nicely.

Making bath time fun.

A symphony of caramel, cream and other delectable goodies: the Freakshakes of Patissez, Manuka

Impatiens were blooming thanks to Dad’s planting on his first visit… Winter frost has killed this plant, but I have my memories!

Celebratory ice cream at San Churros, Woden.

Fake grass means I live where the grass is greener

The Canberra Show has everything you want in a show without the overwhelm.

Some kind of gorgeous cocktail at Eau de Vie, Darlinghurst, before I left Sydney

of Spider Boys food of choice

I love a flamingo… thanks Señorita Margarita for my birthday wrapping paper

Frolicking in a nearby forest

Canberrafication

April 25, 2016April 25, 2016 / alexcellent / 14 Comments

The past three months has flown…

Well here I am. It’s been three months since my last blog post. Spider Boy and I ~~are moving back~~ have moved back to Canberra. Yeah, I started writing this post in January, right before we moved!

In my previous post I wrote about the science of new year’s resolutions, I gushed about “…my exciting plans for 2016” and how I would catch you up “…in the next one or two days”. Well make that one or ~~two~~ three months because here I am in ~~MARCH~~ APRIL! ANZAC Day in fact. But let me briefly catch you up.

Packing stress

Late December and early January passed in a haze of sweat, dust, stubbed toes, paper cuts, boxes, butchers paper, a shoddy tape gun and backaches. There was Christmas, New Year, family, friends and trying to keep Spider Boy amused between bouts of packing, and weather involving intense heat and extreme rain. There was too much screen time and not enough beach time. I’m sorry, Spider Boy.

Settling into a new life

I don’t blame my new, busy, full-time job for my lack of blogging since moving to Canberra. I don’t blame settling Spider Boy into a new school and setting up a home for us. I blame my Internet Service Provider and the faulty modem they sent me. Then finally, four weeks after “connecting the internet”, it finally worked! After numerous laborious phone calls to the call centre and a technician visit, we had Wifi lift off. But by then I’d lost my blogging groove.

Why am I in Canberra again?

For the past 6 years, since Spider Boy was was 2, we’d been living in Sydney, where I grew up, close to my family and long-time friends. But now it’s time to be back to the city Spider Boy was born in, where his father lives, so he can see his dad regularly. It’s the main reason I moved back. I wanted the logistics of my son spending time with his father, to be easier. And I also have good work opportunities here. And real-estate is a bit more affordable.

We have been promised lots of visits from our family and friends, and we have had some already, which makes us very happy. The time we spend with loved ones and the situations we see them in may have been reconfigured, but they are still in our hearts every day. And even though I feel a connection with Canberra, I’ll always be a Bondi girl.

Moving to Canberra was easier the second-time around

I may hail from a trendy beach-side suburb, but I was never the kale-inhaling, chain-smoking, bikini-top wearing type sitting on a crate outside the Paris Go cafe. But I did schlepp up and down Hall Street for 27 years. Three of those years were spent in a part-time job helping tourists and celebrities buy postage stamps, cigarettes, scratchies and bus tickets at Bondi Beach Newsagency. (I sold a pack of Camels to Noah Taylor once.)

When I first told my dad back in 2012 I was thinking of moving back to Canberra, he said, “But you’re such a Sydney person.” The ocean gets under your skin. The first time I moved to Canberra, I dreamed of the beach and harbour every night for months. But I haven’t had those dreams this time around. Maybe because moving to Canberra for the second time isn’t such a culture shock. But the first time it really was.

The culture-shock of the Capital

When I first moved to the Capital in January 2004, although I immediately loved the mountain vistas, wildlife and people I met, there were things I struggled with:

the language – did everyone speak Acronym?
no beach
not being able to just run down to the beach
the dry, baking heat of January
dry dusty earth and gum leaves everywhere
the reliance on cars
the whole “town centre” concept with long stretches of road in between
brutalist architecture
weird 70s bus-stops
unmowed grass hiding the “footpaths”
The realisation that the Woden Plaza/bus interchange of the mid 2000’s was just like the Bondi Junction of my 70s childhood

I remember a visit back home to Sydney when I was pregnant with Spider Boy. I went to a Tupperware party at Señorita Margarita’s house. The Tupperware demonstrator happened to come from Canberra. “Yeah, I escaped” she said gleefully. I felt like hitting her over the head with her food storage solutions. Her glee at escaping served as unwitting mockery of where I now lived, and I felt resentful I had to go back there.

The beginnings of my Canberrafication

But then after I did leave Canberra almost 6 years ago, it gradually dawned on me that there were things I missed about this city with its developing quiet confidence.

I didn’t realise it until after I’d left, but I’d actually become a bit Canberrafied. And during my visits back to Canberra with Spider Boy, I realised I was missing:

fresh air
proximity to snow and rural areas
mountain vistas
the ability to park your car not only in front of your house, but on your own property
green space and trees
crisp and sunny winter days
blossoming fruit trees in spring
Braddon’s vibrant coffee culture and cool shops
the burgeoning food and wine scene
great little hidden-treasure suburban coffee shops
the birds, so many birds
kangaroos in surburbia and on the walking tracks that weave through the city
Tilley’s
hot air balloons slowly rising and descending on crisp Autumn mornings
all the amazing national institutions, exhibitions and events
farmer’s markets
the great community feeling

And other things that make it a great place for Spider Boy:

sporty places – bike paths, ovals, sports clubs, ice-skating rink, the Australian Institute of Sport etc
educational opportunities

These lists just scratch the surface.

View of Telstra Tower from the National Arboretum.

Canberra’s joys

So for the past few years, I’ve been promoting Canberra’s joys to Sydneysiders. On Christmas day I said to Señorita Margarita: “You have to come and stay in Canberra! To see us, but also to see all the things in Canberra. Canberra has things.”

“Oh, here we go, the Canberra has things speech,” she said with an eye-roll.

Converting family and friends (trying to)

Yes, the Señorita has come to stay and we are already planning her next visit in May. Friend Lou-Lou has stayed for a weekend, and my mum (aka BatGran) has also come to stay twice (and is here right now) even though she says she hates Canberra. I’m hoping to change her mind. Thanks for giving it a go Mum.

My Dad was also here last week. He got into the spirit of the Bush Capital by buying a sausage at the local Bunnings sausage sizzle and eating it in the carpark in his Akubra hat. He sees Canberra’s opportunities and possibilities. And whenever he visits he brings bags of my things that I didn’t quite get around to packing. Thanks Dad.

What’s next?

The Alexcellent Life was a little quiet for a few ~~weeks~~ months while the actual Alexcellent life got settled. So it wasn’t entirely my ISP’s fault.

We are at the start of a new chapter, and it feels exciting. So here’s to our Canberrafication. But I’ll always have a soft spot for Bondi.

Bondi Baths. Photo taken by my clever and talented sister, Señorita Margarita. This hangs on my wall.

New Year’s Eve 2015

January 2, 2016 / alexcellent / 6 Comments

Here it is January 2 and I’m only just getting to my New Year’s Eve recap. Wow, that must have been some party.

No. I hung up my New Year’s Eve party shoes years ago. It was a quiet but lovely evening. Yesterday I was in a decluttering frame of mind – I’m moving soon.

Here are some pictures from the day and night that was New Year’s Eve 2015.

I got to hang out with the invisible boy at Rose Bay beach. Lucky he was wearing his glasses!

View of the 9pm fireworks from Rose Bay

View from the TV at midnight.

Real life 9pm Vs TV at midnight.

Thanks for the New Year cake Aunt Mary!

Beautiful Rose Bay during the day

Normally I’m a bit of a fireworks cynic. You know, that the money should be spent on something more useful and important.

But it is important to celebrate together as a city, to say we’ve made it to the end of another year.

We could say that fireworks are a contribution to this city’s sense of community, celebration and culture. Fireworks, fleeting by nature, are part of the joy of life. Also, tourism dollars.

Apparently this year, the Sydney fireworks were meant to be “the best ones ever!” and I have to say that as Mum and I watched it all on TV, I did notice they were even more spectacular.

And Sydney does it better than any other city – it’s the harbour, the cityscape, the attitude. Sorry Canberra.

Happy New Year to you! May 2016 be all that you want it to be.

Feeling the Christmas spirit while shopping at the last minute

December 24, 2015 / alexcellent / Leave a comment

Well, it’s Christmas Eve, and as usual, I STILL have a to-do list the size of my arm. Every year I tell myself I will start doing things in November or at least from December 1, but it NEVER happens. I still find myself rushing around at the last minute (well, the last 48 hours, but you know).

But ever the optimist, I tell myself that rushing around at the last minute can really help you feel the spirit of Christmas. Sometimes, you feel the Christmas spirit in a bar of your favourite carol (and sometimes in a bar… ho ho ho) piped through the sound system, or success in finding a gift that someone you love will really like.

But sometimes you feel that Christmas spirit while you’re waiting in a queue, waiting for the lift at Westfield, or waiting while the happy young retail assistants at JB Hi Fi and EB Games make phone calls for you to see if what you want is available. The Christmas spirit of waiting, when you need to be rushing. Oh what a feeling.

But during all that waiting, at least we can feast our eyes on wonderful Christmas displays such as this…

Queen Victoria Building, Sydney

Queen Victoria Building

Westfield Bondi Junction

Meanwhile, the Christmas spirit can be felt all over the neighbourhood. Feast your eyes on these homes. Love that kind of Christmas spirit…

Christmas wreaths…

This one was handmade by Spider Boy at his After School Care…

The cute little tree at Dad’s. Not quite as big as the shopping centre trees, but just as lovely in my opinion.

And remember, when Christmas shopping and prep feels all too hard, here’s a nice little reminder from a local bookseller…

So if Santa believes in you, you can believe in yourself this Christmas Eve. My lovely grandmother (her nickname was Dear because she was such a Dear) use to say, “Do what you can, and can what you can’t!”

My grandmother is no longer with us, but Christmas Eve was her birthday. I remember all those special things about her, and that helps me feel the Christmas spirit too.

I hope it’s a good Christmas for you, my readers. Merry Christmas, and a big thank you for reading! X