5 things – Monday 14 December 2020

1.Let’s talk about the weather

It’s been a wild and woolly weekend here with plenty of rain. And by plenty of rain, I mean that we’ve had to take the top off the pool at least 6 times over the past couple of day – and the usual places in our suburb are flooding.

There’s also unusually high tides forecast over the next couple of days so I suspect some low-lying areas could suffer.

We did, however, still walk this morning and it really felt as though we were the only people out – even the usual regulars didn’t show – the ones that are out there with us at stupid o’clock in the middle of winter.

There were some trees down on the path and with still an hour before high tide the beach had disappeared. Call me mad, but there’s something about being out in the weather – when you’ve dressed appropriately and are perfectly safe – that is energising.

2. Speaking of high tides…

Sarah was successful in one of her applications for a rental unit in Hervey Bay – and it was the one we wanted. It’s an ex-holiday villa in a resort so:

• it’s furnished so she doesn’t need to rush out and buy everything
• she has access to a couple of pools she doesn’t need to maintain
• it’s secure

What had us seeing past everything though, was the view. She is separated from the ocean and the sea wall by a strip of lawn. This means that she can see across to Fraser Island and has amazing breezes, but it also means that at king tides the water comes almost to the top of the sea wall. That could prove interesting.

I’m especially excited because it’s also right at the marina where there are some good places to eat and where the whale watching cruises depart from.

We’re heading up next Saturday to take possession so photos then.

3. Other bits and pieces

This stick insect on our garage was seriously the biggest I’ve seen.

Whamageddon – did you know there was a website for this? Essentially the aim is to go as long as possible in December without hearing Wham’s “Last Christmas.” (Cover versions are okay, it’s only the original that counts.) Given that I love the song I would fail the challenge dismally. Anyways, it’s all for charity and the website is here.

I’m loving Christmas movies and watched Last Christmas and The Holiday again. I also cancelled my subscription to Amazon Prime and took one on BritBox instead. It’s $9 a month and has all the British shows I love – including the new version of All Creatures Great and Small, which I’m loving – and the Vicar of Dibley Christmas specials.

Still on the telly, screening on Foxtel at the moment is the Great British Bake-off Festive Special with the Derry Girls. We watched this on New Years Day evening when we were in the UK over Christmas/New Year before the world went weird. We re-watched it last night and laughed just as much.

The new version of Flight Radar (yes, I’m a nerd) has this really cool 3D function now so as well as tracking flights, you can see the landscape. Sares has been in Sydney for the weekend visiting my parents and I whereas I usually use it to see whether the flight is on time and when we need to leave for the airport to pick her up, yesterday I watched her flight touch down and then take off again to circle a bit until the weather was a tad more friendly for landing.

4. Writing bits and pieces

My copy edit for Escape To Curlew Cottage is done (yay) and I’m doing another read through before I send out to some beta readers.

It was a busy busy week in the day job office last week – to the extent that I worked on my usual day off – so not much progress on the new novel; and I’m still behind on blog posts – both reading and writing.

The eagle eyed among you may also have noticed that I have a new header image on my author Facebook page that I’m more than a bit chuffed with.

5. Kitchen bits and pieces

I made a batch of Christmas Crack to send into Sarah’s work. If you have no idea what it is, you can find the recipe here. I didn’t realise how blurred the photo was until I just posted it. Ooops.

I also made this gingerbread loaf which, I think, will become a bit of a pre-Christmas staple. It’s one of those melt and mix type cakes that need nothing more technical than a saucepan, a bowl and a wooden spoon. It’s great on its own, with butter, or with some yoghurt (or ricotta) and berries for brekky. I’m including the recipe in my newsletter to subscribers today, but will post here later in the week too.

Okay, that was my week..