October 2013

Well, as promised or alluded to in the Wrap Up of my Road Trip, I was intending to do a monthly blog and here’s the first one…..let’s see how long I keep it up!!!

So, what grand things happened in October?

Adelaide has a heaps of markets and I’ve been slowly checking them out.  The Gawler Produce Markets were tiny but had a few good stalls and while I was in the area, I looked in on the Lions Markets at the Railway Station. They only had one veggie stall and the rest was quite literally rubbish.  The Angle Vale Community Markets are held at a winery (hence my interest) and apparently only run over the summer months, according to their website.  I toodled along only to find there was definitely nothing going on and after much googling discovered that they aren’t happening anymore.  Strike that one off the list.  The produce markets at Parafield Airport where quite impressive however the fly invasion was way too annoying.

Worldwide Photo Walk Day was on 5^th Oct and I joined a group at Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills, at the Steam Ranger Railway Station.  Initially the Steam Ranger train was meant to be there (all steamed up and ready to run) for us to photograph but unfortunately, that didn’t happen but we were able to walk along the tracks and generally run riot around the station and we had access to the sheds where they restore the trains and carriages.  It’s my first real foray into the large group photo thing and it was an interesting experience.  It was a very diverse age group but was surprised at what people were taking photos.  Now I know I can take a lot of photos but these folks were going nuts….it was like they hadn’t been let out of the house for months.  After a few hours I’d had enough but I’m some of them are still snapping away. My theme for the day seemed to end up being ‘rust’.

While I was in the vicinity, I was keen to check out the Mt Barker Farmers Markets having heard good things and was unfortunately, was bitterly disappointed.  There were only about a dozen stalls, with just a couple of average looking veggie stall, definitely not what I was expecting.  We need to Jan Powers down here and get these markets sorted out.  Either that or I’m going to have to traipse into the Central Markets every week, which isn’t really a chore because I do love the Central Markets.

On the home front, I’ve my parents bought themselves a lovely new dining table and chairs, so I’ve inherited their old one….it’s only old in that they’ve had it for close to 60 years and in the last couple of decades has only been used for family functions.  It’s has always been treated with kid gloves (as it’s French polished) so I was a bit scared when it came to my place because it’s a ‘working’ table….I spend a lot of time doing ‘stuff’ at my kitchen table.  I’ve also had the chairs re-upholstered and they look very spiffy and are much comfier now.

I’ve been riding my bike a bit more because Adelaide is so much flatter and I don’t have to negotiate Brisbane’s pesky hills, so I had my bike fitted to me which took 1.5 hours – seat higher (yikes, I’m thinking about wearing ballet shoes when I ride because I’m ‘en pointe’ when I stop) and the handle bars also got raised but my bike is so much nicer to ride.  And while it was more comfortable to ride, I had my own personal orchestra with the gears crunching and the brakes rubbing so had to have it serviced as well and now it’s fabulous, just like a bought one….if only I could get someone to ride it for me.  But I go for a short ride most mornings before work and I’ve found all sorts of local places that I didn’t know existed.

I took myself along to the Travel Expo which was an exercise in frustration because it just made me depressed about all the fabulous places I want to see and don’t have the money or time.  Well I would have the time if I didn’t have to earn money.  Could someone just give me large amounts of cash please!

The WEA (Workers Educational Assoc) is something I’ve really missed since leaving Adelaide.  They’ve been running course for adults for 100 years and everything – computers, music, art, cooking, travel, you name it, they probably have a course for it.  When I got their latest brochure I went nuts and circled 8 courses that I wanted to do but limited myself to just one….for the time being.  Deciding on which one, was the hardest part but as it’s been on my bucket list for long time and it’s something I wasn’t sure would ever get crossed off, I had to give it a go.  Oh, do you want to know what it is…..I’m learning to play the violin.  If I can play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star at the end of it, I’ll be really happy.  I’ve no delusions, that I’ve missed a career opportunity here and Andre Rieu can rest safe in the knowledge that our concert dates won’t clash.  It’s an 1.5 hours a week, running for 8 weeks and it’s a fairly large class of 12.  Most have never played an instrument before and there’s only a few of us that can read music.  But we managed to eke or that should really be squeak out a tune on our second week.  She’s even got half of us playing the tune and the other half playing harmony.  The advantage of being able to read music is that when I stuff up and lose my place, I can follow along and pick it up again.  But hey, it’s a bit of fun and I’m still playing the flute as well.

In between all of that, I’ve sanded and painted my bedside tables , went to the fete at my parents church, and went out to High Tea which is something I haven’t done before.  It was very nice and very filling and not a cucumber sandwich in sight.

Well I’m sure that’s about enough for one month.  Look out for November!

Hugs

Lindy

When was the last time you did something for the first time!!