The Brighton Jotter

"Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." – Mary Oliver

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August Gratitudes

I’ve been busy since I got home, but thought I’d squeeze in a little update with the first half of my August gratitudes.

  • 1/8/2026: A PB at Noosa Parkrun. A little walk up that last hill but obviously less than last time.
  • 2/8/2026: My last run at Noosa for this year and I was treated to a double rainbow


  • 2/8/2026: We made it to one of our favourite roadtrip stops, Cubbyhouse Bakery, before it closed. We had Chicken schnitty sandwiches and picked up these decadent cookies for our dessert that night.


  • 2/8/2026 Sunset walk along Yamba beach and up to the lighthouse.


  • 3/8/2026 A lovely morning walk on the beach at Yamba
  • 3/8/2026 Seeing and photographing a couple of kookaburras


  • 4/8/2026 Beautiful morning for my photowalk


  • 4/8/2026 Watching a Brahminy Kite


  • 4/8/2026 Settling into a good rhythm on my 5 min intervals. Felt good!
  • 5/8/2026 Catching up with Mel
  • 6/8/2026 Eating our brekkie roll at Kincare, watching the waves roll in


  • 7/8/2026 Our friend recovering from RSV to join us in Sydney
  • 7/8/2026 Managing to find a free carpark not too far from our apartment in Bondi
  • 8/8/2026 Big cookup of pasta. Eating around the table with friends.
  • 8/8/2026 After dinner games of bannaagrams
  • 8/8/2026 Meeting up with Mel down at Bondi during her patrols.
  • 9/8/2026 PB on the City2Surf


  • 9/8/2026 Leftovers pasta for dinner. No cooking or going out.
  • 10/8/2026 Being home
  • 10/8/2026 Pats with Riley
  • 10/8/2026 Family dinner with Hayley
  • 10/8/2026 Postcard from Nicole waiting for me


  • 11/8/2026 Taking Riley around our regular route. He walked fine.
  • 12/8/2026 Getting the first run done after a race. Harder than usual but good to tick it off.
  • 12/8/2026 Black cockatoos in our street trees, they made a huge mess, but it is so good to see them in the city.


  • 13/8/2026 Back at music practice and it went well. My hands have remembered what they’re supposed to be doing.
  • 14/8/2026 Catching up with our friends over dinner at a new-to-us Argentinian restaurant in the city.
  • 15/8/2026 Trying a New Chinese takeaway which was good
  • 15/8/2026 Catching up with running group after being away

Comments

19 responses to “August Gratitudes”

  1. Catrina Avatar
    Catrina

    Gratitude lists are fun because there’s always a good mix in there. The two PBs for Noosa Parkrun and City2Surf are fabulous!
    The double rainbow and your bird sightings are impressive. Also good to see that pasta, cookies and Argentinian and Chinese food also made the gratitude list. 😄

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      Food, nature and time with friends and family are some of the things in life that bring me a lot of joy.

      Reply
  2. Kel Me About It Avatar
    Kel Me About It

    What a cracking month already! And love love love the photos. The kookaburra shot is fantastic.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      Yes, that shot is different to all my other kookaburra shots because of the angle.

      Reply
  3. Daria Avatar
    Daria

    All wonderful things! So much to be grateful for. Truly. My two most favorite (albeit all pics are amazing) are 1 the sunset with a lighthouse and 2 breakfast at the beach.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      We had to decide which beach cafe we would go to during our stay at Umina Beach and I’m glad we picked that one.

      Reply
  4. Nicole MacPherson Avatar
    Nicole MacPherson

    I made the list!
    I love the photo of the rainbow, and all the blue skies! We have had some smoke intermittently in the past few weeks, after the thick smoke finally moved away. Fire season has been awful this year and we are in a terrible drought. So I appreciate a rainbow (I wish we had some rain!!)

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      The smoke from bushfires is terrible. We have not really had bad fires since 2020, although we did have to leave the beach at Lorne this year because the smoke from a bushfire was unbearable.

      Reply
  5. Elisabeth Avatar
    Elisabeth

    I love how frequently nature shows up in your photos and gratitude. Isn’t it amazing that the natural beauty of God’s creation is there for us to admire and to boost our level of joy FOR free every single day.

    Of course I love any and all pictures of lighthouses 🙂

    Thanks for participating in my little gratitude habit this month <3

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      I thought of you when I was photographing the lighthouse. Nature’s beauty is so astounding and yes, it brings me such joy and an appreciation of God’s power and provision

      Reply
  6. Stephany Avatar
    Stephany

    I love this exercise! Finding gratitude on a daily basis is something I’m working on! I love all the pictures. <3

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      I have a spot in my daily note to list the good things, but I still forget sometimes.

      Reply
  7. Lisa’s Yarns Avatar
    Lisa’s Yarns

    I love seeing the different birds you have in Australia! They are so different from what we have in North America! I loved the Bondi Beach area of Sydney. It’s such a pretty area!

    What a great list of things to he grateful for. I totally fell down on doing this challenge. It just slipped my mind completely! August has been a kind of hard month with a lot of balls in the air/stress. But we head to my parent’s lake home on Monday for our annual August vacation. I can’t wait!!

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      I am doing a little project to photograph the birds in our area so will probably have some posts coming up.

      Enjoy your time at the lake, sounds like you need it.

      Reply
  8. Tobia | craftaliciousme Avatar
    Tobia | craftaliciousme

    It is so satisfying reading your gratitude list as I always check if I have similar things I experienced.
    I love the many nature things on it. and that rainbow is beautiful. And magical.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      Yes, the rainbow felt like a little gift from Noosa to me on my last day

      Reply
  9. ernie Avatar
    ernie

    Those decadent cookies look too good to eat. What a wonderful list. Love the family dinners. Always a treat to gather after the kids have moved out, right? Beautiful photos as usual.

    Reply
    1. Melissa Avatar
      Melissa

      Yes, we love that the kids still want to come over, although I suppose a free dinner that they don’t have to cook is nothing to sneeze at

      Reply
  10. San Avatar
    San

    I always love your nature shots, Melissa. Australia is so beautiful. What a great list and so many things to be thankful for… I am glad you included food and quality time 🙂

    Reply

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