Early Morning Walks

For over three months now, I have been rising out of bed most mornings, bright and early and going on a 3 kilometres 'power' walk.  I have it down to 26 minutes.  

Each day, I take a photo of the dawn breaking.  I have rarely seen two days the same.  The colours are amazing and every time I think to myself that it has been worth getting out of bed at stupid o'clock for.  

Pretty sure I am considered a local now, seeing a handful of 'regular' walkers.

I see the lady opening up the corner shop every morning and the guy who cleans and organises the outside furniture at L'unico.  I see the lady in the bright pink floral shorts walking her two dogs.  I see the old, very thin lady, who jogs around the place, the old man in his walking gear power walking, the lady who runs with her tiny Jack Russell dog, the lady in specks riding her bike with her reflective gear on.  An elderly lady who I have only begun seeing in the past few weeks, who walks up and down the beach road pushing her walking frame.

I wonder if they all think, "There's that chick in the stripy top"....

Each and every morning I also see one of my neighbours who lives in the same complex as us.  Sometimes we stop and have a brief chat.

I decided in celebration of my 50th morning walk, to get a poster made of my photos.  Most are taken in the same spot each morning.  I swear those two palm trees are the most photographed trees in all of Cairns, especially if I have anything to do with it.

My poster arrived on last week.  I had two printed up.  I gave one to my neighbour, who was very (very) appreciative of it.

Aprons

A while before Christmas last year, I had ordered some gorgeous 'kitchen gadget' fabric from a website in America.  I loved the fabric and once it arrived on my doorstop I loved it even more.  But I was unsure exactly what to make from the ordered 'yard'.

After a bit of brainstorming and thinking things and designing in my mind, I decided on an apron.  I went and purchased a couple of other fabrics which matched colour-wise the kitchen fabric and set about making my (mind) apron.  

I ended up making two matching aprons which ended up as Christmas presents for both my Mother-In-Law and my sister.  I was very tempted to keep one myself but didn't.  And (unusually) I don't have a photograph of the finished product.  =(

I thought I would make myself a 'Christmas' apron instead.

Well, that didn't go to plan either.  I ended up giving one to a friend who had invited us to a Christmas Party at hers and my mother had mentioned how much she liked the apron (which I sent her a photo of) so I made her one too!  Sheesh.

With a bit of Spotlight shopping, finding suitable fabrics to make another few aprons, my first one looked like this...

After I posted a photo of it on Instagram, a friend of mine bought it!  She loved it so I happily sent it off to her.  So finally, f i n a l l y, I made myself one.

I very much like it.  A lot.

I've yet to make more....I have been too busy making some other of my ideas into reality.  I love that I have taught myself and learnt via others (via blogs/Instagram) how to do certain things and feel very inspired to keep making...

I Made Myself a Bag...

...and Monet liked it so much I offered to make her one too.  This one is going to be her 2013 Library Bag at school.

I used fabric which I had been holding on to for 18 months, left over from a skirt I made myself with material I had bought from a Japanese Fabric store in Barcelona.   I do anything to be walking through those doors again...  *heehee*

The Perfect Fabric

Ever since I made bunting for Monet's room, I had promised Lily I would make her some too.  That was a while ago now, but it had always been in the back of my mind... ...mustmakebunting... ...mustmakebunting...

On a trip to Spotlight a week or so ago, Monet and I both spotted some mermaid 'fat flats' (roughly pre-cut and folded squares).  Perfect.

It took a little motivation but I did get around to making some bunting for my baby.  And it turned out terrific. 

She loves it but I am sure I love it more.  Perfect for my Mermaid-loving three year old.

Angry Water

The wet season has hit the tropics in a big way.  It has basically been raining non stop since Saturday, bar a few lovely sunny hours on Sunday.  So the humidity doesn't give up along with the rain.  I am addicted to watching the rain radar on my phone...  The screen has been seeing a load of green with flecks of orange. 

Back at the start of September I had taken my parents up to see Barron Falls, not far up the road (about a 25 drive away).   This is what the Falls look like during most of the Dry Season.

Then the other week when the girls and I hit the Kuranda train, which stops at Barron Falls, I didn't even really bother to take a photo of the falls.  More like a little trickle.

Hard to believe that was only a few short weeks ago.

This was the Barron Falls today...

 As soon as the girls and I stepped out of the car in the carpark you could hear the mighty roar.  I couldn't wait to see the water!

Spectacular.  I have never witnessed the Falls like that as I have never driven up during 'the Wet' to see them.  Worth the drive up, that was for sure.

Have you ever made sushi before?

We hadn't.  We aren't even big eaters of sushi truth be told.  But Monet had been asking for a while if we could make some, and after sampling a few pieces at a friend's place before Christmas, I said "sure"

'Coles' sell kits for around $10 which include the seaweed, rice (which you cook), the vinegar for the rice, the rolling mat, wasabi and soy sauce.  Pretty good value.  I had a few extra chicken tenderloins left over from the previous evening's meal, so I cooked them and sliced them up, a tin of salmon slices, half an avocado, carrot and cucumber batons.  

After cooking and preparing the rice, they were really easy to make.  And fun too.  Monet got into the act.  One thing is to have a sharp knife to slice the rolls.  I could imagine having blunt knives would squash them.

The six sheets of seaweed was right amount for the cooked rice.  And it yielded a lot of sushi.  Too much for the three of us (Lily wasn't tempted).  Thank goodness they were fine to eat the next day too and they were just as good.

Up the Range on the Train

For a while now we've been wanting the girls to go on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, but have never done it.  MrL, Monet and I had been on the train when we initially moved to Cairns in 2006, so Lily had   never been on the train, which curves around the Ranges from Cairns to Kuranda.  MrL wasn't keen on going again (not really his thing) so he dropped the girls and I off at Freshwater Station (there are only two stations on the route) with the plan on him meeting us up at Kuranda, some 90 minutes later.  (A 25 minute drive as compared to a 90 minute train journey!)

Both girls were especially looking forward to going on the train....until Monet realised how long it took and Lily was constantly wanting to eat to pass the time.  *heehee*

As the train hauls out of Freshwater it passes through some cane fields, which look rather lovely at a height.  So lush and green...

You catch glimpses of the urban sprawl on the way up the range.  The city of Cairns is nestled behind that first hill in the photo below.

There are some 22 bridges on the rail way track and you pass through 15 tunnels, the longest being some 450 metres long, which Miss Lily quite enjoyed!  

The train makes a stop at Barron Falls Station, for 10 minutes, about 5 minutes away from the final destination of Kuranda.  I quickly stepped off as the girls stayed put.  The Falls were a trickle but when 'the wet' hits I will be sure to come up and visit.

True to his word, of course, MrL met us at the top of the stairs which lead to Kuranda's main drag.  With a quick scourer of the strip we headed to the Kuranda Pub, a traditional, old, rickety, touristy Queensland Pub for (a rather ordinary) lunch and a pint of beer.

And we caught up on the Cricket scores from our table whilst the girls amused themselves for a little in the playroom.

Luckily for us, being locals, we get a pretty good discount on the train and children aged three and under travel for free in allocated seating.  It is actually rather pricey to travel up and down (looking at around $250 for a family of four - one child travels for free) on the train but it is dedicated to tourists and I guess they think tourists have cash to splash.  It is the oldest Scenic Railway in Australia and it is good to go on.  At least once anyway.  I'm glad we did it.

After a self-imposed sewing break....

.... I started sewing again.  It had been a few weeks, but over that time I have been inspired to get back on the sewing machine and try a few new things.

Yesterday, following an online tutorial, I made a lined zippered pouch.  I was very excited to see that it actually worked out!

So, I sewed some more.

Top right one is for Monet to use as a school pencil case.

The bottom two pouches had to be zippered using invisible zips, due to me only having those type.  Not the best type to use in the pouches so I feel another trip to Spotlight is on the cards to purchase some 'normal' zips.

They're simple and fun to make so I suspect that I will be making many (many) more in the very near future.