In sickness and in health

We really have had a amazing start to the year, an amazingly sickly start to the year.

Saturday morning I was feeling half human, and was awake early, so headed out to watch the sky change.

It was all down hill from there though, I probably shouldn't have gone out at all but I'm sure the fresh air was good for me.

Mr Sparky, the poor fellow is now up to his third weekend under the weather. He even had to take time off work last week, and before we all start shouting 'man cold', it certainly wasn't one. I know because I was next in the firing line. It is always good to get the reassurance that we can deal with each other in sickness as well as health. Handy that.

I was feeling blah for a lot of the week but Friday I was the horrible coughing, spluttering, blocked sinus with whole head headache, queasy, temperature ridden mess. I didn't get it as bad as Mr Sparky but I think he took it one further by developing bronchitis or something.

I tried begging off work sick but that didn't go down well. I lasted half of my shift and then shifted myself home. I should have stood up for myself a bit more in that case.

Now it is Monday and we are both feeling better but not 100% and I'm off to work tonight, something I might regret.

Hopefully this means we've got the sickness for the year out of the way and can continue on in a healthy form.

In exciting news, family have booked in a visit in a couple of months. Yay!

I am wishing I could be thinking of heading south for a visit soon but I haven't planned anything and my lack of other job means things don't look good for it.

I was pretty happy to have managed a sunrise. They seem to be far too early at the moment. Maybe I am just far too lazy at the moment.

Scaley-breasted lorikeet

We were talking about how long the days seem at the moment over dinner last night. This was when it was still a bit light at 7:15pm.

Obviously our heads are still stuck back in the shorter part of the year.

I am looking forward to trying to get out of a morning a bit more. I better get my morning person on. That way I can greet the morning with with energy like these pretty fellows.

 

So, I hope the beginning of your year has been healthier than ours.

Are you an easy sick person or a hard one?

 Do you enjoy greeting the morning?

I really do, especially at this time of year when it is the coolest part of the day.

 

Goals with Greens

It is that time of year when people are making resulutions and goals for the coming year.

Well I've been there, done that already.

Basically our goals for the year involve all those personal goals that feel very adult like, like buying a place to call our own, getting married (this seems way too hard to organise) and babies (not getting any younger here).

Then there are the job goals. Mr Sparky is looking to setting up his own business during the year, dipping his toes in, and me, well I would like a change and sleep.

I am sure our goals will change and evolve over the year. That seems to be how it goes.

For me though, just me by myself ... I want to take photos of some new places, spend time with family, to survive planning a wedding and to stress less over stuff. I also want to craft more, read more, blog more, wear sunscreen more, look after myself better and to just enjoy life. Oh, and I want to try and remember photo challenges. Good luck with that one.

I have this secret little wish to try selling photos but have no idea where to start on that and then there is that other secret wish to write children's books but I can't think of anything so we will just leave them alone for now, maybe. I guess they aren't so secret now. 

So speaking of the goal to take photos of new places and things, last Friday I did just that. 

Well, I kind of did that.

I headed to the Botanic Gardens (old place) to see a certain flower which is in the new fernery. I hadn't been there since it opened. Come to think of it, I didn't even know it was finished.

The flower I went to see was a little popular and known as 'Spud'.

'Spud' is a corpse flower or Titan Arum and at 2.82m tall he is the tallest to flower in Australia.

And apparently he is a little stinky.

Well I must have missed the stinky phase.

Actually on the news they said 'it builds up and then releases'.

While I was there the same man very politely told someone who asked 'it farts every now and again'.

It sounds like any 10yr old. Did I mention that 'Spud' is 10yrs old. He also hasn't flowered for about three years so I guess that is why this is a bit newsworthy.

Oh by the way, that means I was on the news. I was in the background taking photos. Imagine that.

It was interesting to see a corpse flower showing off. I saw one of Spud's brothers a couple of years ago in the old fernery, but at the end of flowering.

Have you ever seen a Titan Arum?

While I was in the fernery I also took some photos of some pretty orchids in flower.

I'm glad they finally finished the new building. It certainly looks better than the old one.

It was quite nice in the new fernery, although sweat dripping hot. I guess the plants like it that way.

What plans and goals do you have for this year? Anything life changing?
What would you love to see happening on Grit and Giggles?

Holy ... Ship

Huey, we have sunshine and blue sky!

A nice change for sure.

We also have higher temps but lower humidity.

The rain will be back soon enough and I'll enjoy it again, when it comes.

Yesterday morning, as I was just slipping back into the conscious world, Mr Sparky whispered "are you awake?" I think I mumbled "yeah" without managing to crack an eyelid. "Look at the sky," he said. And so look we did, just laying there is bed, watching it change colours.

That all just sounds a bit romantic really.

When his alarm reminded us that he needed to get up and ready I also plodded downstairs and grabbed my camera to capture the end of the pretty colours of the sunrise.

When Mr Sparky headed off to work, I headed out as well, knowing there was something of interest at the wharf.

Not the storm lilies, something bigger. Although they are all pretty in flower.

By the way, yes, that time is correct.

I've missed my port view from my old job and watching the comings and goings. I've also missed our relaxed BBQs down there.

Can you see what my something interesting and big was?

I had heard on the radio there was a cruise ship in and having not seen one in a while I thought it warranted a morning visit.

That, and that the wharf is always a nice place to wander with its heritage character. I believe the port was the first major part of town to be built really and it looks different today than it did back then, smaller as well I think.

The wharf sheds that have been preserved aren't really all that small but ships like these make them look tiny.

They started letting passengers off not that long after I got down there but other than that it was pretty quiet. It always is in the morning.

I love that in this area there are pieces of the old surrounded by the new. Just a little proof that things looked different in the past.

So after our wet start to the new year it seems we are getting a brief bit of sun before the rain comes back. I do find I need that big blue sky every now and again to counteract the grey. Vitamin D is always a plus too.

It is certainly feeling summery and the sun is a bit fierce. It is funny though that this exact same week last year had very similar weather. Hot, still and clear skies. 

Isn't it nice that facebook sends you reminders of the stuff from the past.

The water was so still and fairly clear too, for Trinity Inlet. Down at the marina I even saw some fish hanging around some object in the water. 

The stillness made for great reflections too. Reflections of boats, boats and more boats. There is just something about it.

It also worked well for reflecting the city.

I walked up a jetty that went along the front of the marina that I didn't really know existed. It made for a great view back to the city. A new sunrise or sunset spot to try out I think.

It also made for a pretty good view of lots of boats. Kind of pointing out the obvious there.

The cruise ship looked like part of the city, way at the back.

I wandered around to the Lagoon, looking for flowers really but loving how blue and tropical looking everything was.

I also wished I was dressed for swimming.

The rainbow shower trees are nearly done flowering. I'm glad I caught them. I love the variations in flower colour. Mr Sparky loves the pink shower trees, I think they are his favourite, and we also like the yellow. I can see us attempting to grow them in our one day garden.

The Esplanade still had its Happy New Year on but the Christmas tree nearby had started to be deconstructed. 

Also nearby is a raintree that is always decorated, slowly gaining more lanterns over the years.

Of cause on the return journey I had to pass that ship again.

How is the beginning of your year shaping up? I know many are coming down off their holiday cloud. I didn't really have holidays so things have just kept going on.

We have been attempting to make grown up decisions like weddings and babies and houses. Actually, we nearly bought a house, we are still on the fence a bit about it. Not buying a house, or some land but whether this one is what we want for now. You see we are in decision making time now. We need to work out whether to move or to commit to another year here and possibly buy a house as a future investment property or to wait and save, save, save some more to buy the rural property we dream of or to move and buy elsewhere or to do who knows what. I can tell you we are not the best decision makers around. This is kind of the fun stuff but they are big things after all. Some bigger than others. We need to make a leap, I can see that. It is just a matter of which way.

And let's just not talk about trying to set a date for a wedding and the up here, down there thing going on.

Well that was all a bit deep for the end of the post.

I hope you enjoyed coming along on my summery morning stroll and I hope my decision making spiel didn't hurt your brain too much.

 

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