sallysetsforth

Getting out (19 June)

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 12:00:32 +0100

Last week I caught a train for the first time in months so that I could visit my local library. Like most people, I've been staying close to home with no unnecessary travel. But as confidence grows and restrictions ease, I am taking more and more steps back into the world.

Today I travelled into the city. I wanted to get to Malvern for a fabric sale (a necessary trip, I think you'll agree!). This required a train trip into the city and out again. Rather than just change platforms, I decided to pop out at Flinders Street and dip my toes into the CBD a little bit.

There's a Daiso across from the station, so I ducked in and bought a few treats for myself - some washi tape, origami paper, crayons, and punches. Then I got a hot jam donut at Walker's Doughnuts :)

Back at Flinders Street Station, I headed over to Platform 8. I normally only use Platform 1, so I always enjoy the oppportunity to check out the old signage between platforms. There are some beautiful tiles there - I wish they would take better care of them. Here's one of my favourites, which has extra relevance now:

Take care, Sally XO

Maroondah Reservoir (14 June)

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 01:01:26 +0100

Yesterday we did a mini road trip to Healesville to visit the Beechworth Bakery and Maroondah Reservoir Park. It was overcast but not too cold, so we walked up to the top of the dam wall and then did the Maroondah Forest Track walk back to the bottom. The track was a bit more slippery (muddy) than I would have liked, but we managed to navigate it safely and saw some beautiful scenery along the way.

Maroondah Reservoir Park is lovely, one of those really old fashioned spots with rotundas, stone paths, and well tended gardens. We don't get over there very often, but it's a beautiful picnic spot in nice weather and I will try to visit again in spring. I imagine from what I could see of the dried foliage that it would have had some great autumn colours too :)

Take care, Sally XO

Click and collect (12 June)

Fri, 12 Jun 2020 12:17:00 +0100

Today was the first time I've been to a library since March! My local library service is only offering click and collect at this stage. You place holds online, and when they are ready you come to the library during set opening times to collect and check them out.

The room with the hold shelves in it is normally a meeting room, and is separate from the main library space. It's unstaffed, and I must say it felt a bit surreal to be in the library with no other people around ...

Take care, Sally XO

Sophie (10 June)

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 12:14:39 +0100

Jasper's had two blog posts to his name already, so I thought Sophie deserved a turn :)

We adopted Jasper in 2016, and Sophie in 2018. They're very different cats, but apart from the occasional biffo we are very lucky that they get on so well.

Sophie is an endless ball of energy and a mischief making machine. But she is also very affectionate, and incredibly pretty *heart eyes*

In this pic she looks surprisingly regal atop the bedhead ...

Take care, Sally XO

Jasper takes a stand (9 June)

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 12:40:38 +0100

Sometimes in the evening our black cat Jasper will sit in front of the television screen to let us know it's time for his dinner. We think it's especially funny when he does this while the TV is turned off :)

Tonight we were watching Masterchef, and Jasper looked especially emphatic against the flaming backdrop!

Take care, Sally XO

Late afternoon walk (8 June)

Mon, 08 Jun 2020 11:49:30 +0100

I was hoping to get a little further afield today, now that (essential) road trips are back on. But our plans went slightly awry and we didn't stray too far from home in the end. Tim and I picked up a late lunch to go at the Diamond Creek bakery, and went for a lovely walk together in the nearby reserve.

When you've lived with someone for a long time, it can be too easy to ignore each other at home while you're busy doing your own thing. Tim and I normally make sure to go out for dinner together once a week, just to spend an evening in each other's company, talking without distractions. This is something we've really missed in recent times. We're supporting our local restaurants by getting takeaway, but we haven't been spending as much dedicated time together as we'd like. So for now we're making sure to go for a long walk together each week instead.

Take care, Sally XO

Eyes open (6 June)

Sat, 06 Jun 2020 12:57:09 +0100

Yesterday after finishing my blog post, I opened Twitter to share the link. Unexpectedly, a video in my feed started autoplaying, and a horrendous sequence of events played out in front of my eyes. I won't go into any detail except to say that it was related to the current unrest in the United States. It absolutely sickened me.

I usually read the news rather than watch it on television. I don't watch embedded videos in online news articles. I've disabled video autoplay on my phone. But I couldn't escape this particular video. I couldn't avoid the brutal reality. I couldn't ignore it, and I couldn't unknow it. And it happens here in Australia too, no matter how much we bury our heads in the sand.

Thank you to everyone who attended the protests today. It is important, and it is necessary.

Take care, Sally XO

Fresh air and inspiration (5 June)

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 07:49:05 +0100

I've been working from home since mid-March (twelve weeks so far). I'm very lucky that my employment hasn't been affected by COVID-19 at this stage, and that my job can be done from home.

My creative business is also home-based though, so this means a lot of my time is spent between the same four walls. So every day I aim to go for a walk around my neighbourhood to make sure I get some time outside and some exercise.

Personally I also think it's really important to mix up my visual stimulus - casting my eyes over long distance landscape scenery, close up interesting leaves, different coloured flowers, patterns in fences, etc. It's refreshing and inspiring. I always take my camera in case I see something I want to draw or paint later :)

Take care, Sally XO

Office colleagues (4 June)

Thu, 04 Jun 2020 12:20:48 +0100

Oops, I missed a day already. I had a late night yesterday prepping for a work presentation, and something had to give.

Speaking of work, here's an example of the kind of behaviour I have to deal with from my working-from-home colleagues:

To be fair though, Jasper is usually pretty well behaved in my home office. He likes to sit on the printer/scanner and occasionally runs off a few blank photocopies if I'm not careful. Or he'll sit on my lap and make my legs go to sleep :)

Sophie on the other hand? Well, that's a whole 'nother blog post!

Take care, Sally XO

Close to home (2 June)

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 09:21:16 +0100

Yesterday - I mentioned my excitement, but also nervousness, about much-missed local services reopening due to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Today - I read about a new confirmed case in my neighbourhood. Only three blocks from my home, and only one block from the local shops that I happily visited yesterday.

I'm going to try not to dwell on it too much, but that was awfully close to home and a good reminder to continue being careful about hand hygiene and physical distancing.

So, here is what I bought at my fave local op shop yesterday. A beautiful vintage milk glass platter, a couple of Women's Weekly cookbooks, and a pressure cooker cookbook (I bought a pressure cooker last year but have been too scared to use it!). For scale, two of the books are A4 size - this platter is huge!

As an extra bonus, the platter is the bigger sibling of one that I found last year. My matchy matchy heart was very happy :)

Take care and wash your hands, Sally XO