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

Category: NaBloPoMo

  • I’m Back, NaBloPoMo … and a Few Other Good Things

    I’m Back, NaBloPoMo … and a Few Other Good Things

    I arrived home 1:30 am Thursday morning last week, after almost a month away in France and Spain. My email had almost 1000 unread emails, our finance manager went on holiday just before I returned, so I’ve taken over some of her work as well as having my own to catch up on, I wanted…

  • Packing a 7kg Carry-On for 4 Weeks

    If we can, we usually try to travel carry-on only, especially when we have multiple connecting flights and train travel. It’s much easier on the trains if you only have a small amount of luggage. Going carry-on also means that your bags won’t get lost on the way. Lots of connections means more opportunities for…

  • NaBloPoMo 2023

    A big shout to San for once again hosting NaBloPoMo. I participated for the first time last year and “met” so many lovely, engaged bloggers. It was also the impetus to finally restart regular posting on this new blog of mine. If you are new here, hello. My name is Melissa and I live in…

  • Eating my Veggies … and a NaBloPoMo Wrap-Up

    With going away for the weekend, moving house and a few other functions, I was feeling sorely in need of some veggies. This Greens with Roasted Squash, Tahini, & Dukkah is hitting the spot for lunch … and I have a veggie box that should be arriving soon. Anyway, today is my last post for…

  • We have moved in …

    and it looks like this: It is late, but our bed is made and ready to crawl into and escape the chaos for a few hours.

  • The state of the river

    Last weekend we went up to Moama for the Pop and Pour festival. We had been wondering whether it would go ahead because of the widespread flooding through Victoria in mid-October. Echuca-Moama is situated where the Campaspe and Goulbourn Rivers flow I, not the Murray River. Both these rivers had flooded upstream from Echuca before…

  • Melbourne Street Art

    Melbourne is apparently world-famous for its street art. I want to do a tour one day and learn more about it because I’m clueless, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying it. If I have time, when I go into the city, I like to scoot down some of the laneways and check out what’s…

  • Indigenous Plants

    One of the goals for our garden is to include plantings to enhance our local biodiversity. To this end, I’ve been doing some research. I found several helpful resources: Once I had a reasonable idea of the main plants in our area, I took notes as I walked and ran to see how they grow.…

  • Taking Stock November 2022

    Taking stock of where I am this month with prompts by Pip. Making: the most of our temporary digs. I went to an exhibition at the ACMI, strolled down through Chinatown on my way to do some shopping, ate yummy pizza in Carlton, ran in Princes, Royal Park and Westgate Park and visited the State…

  • Walking

    Several years ago, one of my university assignments was to do a neighbourhood exegesis. This involved a two-hour walk around the neighbourhood, with a list of questions to help me notice important details. A couple of years later, I did a subject called Mission in the Australian Context. The major assignment was to do an…