Markets, home and a(nother) head cold: A 'Stills' post.

After working in Darwin last week, Peter and I had the weekend to spend together. We tried to find some colour and texture to add some feeling into his furnished apartment. Success was found by way of a brightly coloured rag rug, a pumpkin coloured ceramic vase, coloured rattan coasters and some vivid cotton throws for the beds. Small touches but they made a big difference! On Sunday morning we went to the Rapid Creek markets, which has loads of fresh produce - in particular, Asian greens and tropical fruits. I found it a bit overwhelming, actually - very hot, lots of people and so many ingredients that I'm not sure how to use in a meal. 

I flew back to Alice Springs in the afternoon, back home to the doggies and a raging head cold. Tell me, how do I stop falling prey to the grips of the dreaded head cold? This is my second in a month. And now, BAM! Two in quick succession. Any tips to ward them off will be gratefully accepted.

This week, my team of lovely ladies has our cricket grand final! I've been a bit slack on the cricket updates (as I previously promised to do). Our last game was won with nine overs to spare. We've had some changes to our team with a couple of players moving away or out with injuries but we've also added some fantastic new players to the mix as well. My season highlight was making 22 runs - my most ever! We play 'Super 8s' format which means we retire at 30 runs, so I only had eight more to make. Fingers crossed my head has sorted itself out by then. We're playing the team we played last year in the grand final; last year they took the win. I'll let you know how it goes!


Linking up with Em's weekly 'stills' collection.


EDIT: No sooner had I posted this when this article came up in my newsfeed. Better get back into the habit of taking vitamin C/zinc/horseradish/marshmallow combination!

About the prickly bits.

All in all my life is wonderful and I am extremely blessed with what I've got, and the opportunities I have been offered by no choosing of my own, simply by being born when/where I was born. That's not to say there haven't been difficult bits, times where things haven't gone according to plan, or where people have let me down, or where I've made mistakes that are hard to repair.

In a couple of recent posts I've alluded to a 'bad surprise' and having the blues and whilst I won't elaborate here, those who know us here in Alice Springs might be aware of what's going on. In short, it was a decision made that has indirectly had a massive impact on me and really shook me to the core. Not the actual decision itself, but the way it was carried out and the processes that weren't adhered to.

I tend to struggle a bit with sinus trouble over winter, and having a cold a little while back left me with a residual sinus 'thing'. My old naturopath in Adelaide said that sinus trouble has a lot to do with sadness that's being bottled up and not allowed a release. My new naturopath here is working on boosting my immune system; whilst, overall, it's fantastically strong, this sinus thing is a bit of a vulnerability.

So whilst I'm partly holding things together overly well, I'm also struggling quite a bit and trying really hard to be kind to myself - some very timely advice offered to me last week. I have super high expectations of myself and feel like I'm letting people/myself down if I'm not giving 110% all the time. Hence my copious amount of extracurricular activities etc etc. Anyway - I'm cutting myself a wee bit of slack and allowing my head to collect itself.

And I'm stocking my body with the good stuff: a vitamin C/echinacaea/garlic/zinc supplement, a chronic sinus chinese herb supplement, probiotics, immuni-tea, green leafy veg and lots of water etc. I'm also using essential oils such as tea tree, lavender and a bed-time blend. My friend suggested rubbing a small dot of sandalwood oil on the back of my neck, which I'm going to try.

So yes, there will be prickly times but that's not to say that on the whole, life is good and I really can't complain about much at all.


Oh, and there's a lovely post about embracing winter here at Che and Fidel.

Stills: Something old, something blue.

1. Cheer-me-up flowers from a lovely colleague.
2. A blue day. A date with my bed and Frankie magazine helped, at least.
3. Raided a friend's pre-lawn sale stash and came up a winner. I'm not exactly sure what this gorgeous cage-like thing is (cue someone with more worldly nous than me! If you know, please do share!), but it comes apart and I'm guessing you can put little pastries in it or something. Next to it are some little cacti/succulents that I potted on my sick day.
4. Another new-to-me find: a leather and woven straw bag. It's a great size to fit all sorts of things inside, such as my camera or iPad or a book or two and a cardigan or scarf.
5. As was this woven carry basket from Kalimantan, the Indonesian section of Borneo. Goes well with my woven basket from Malaysian Borneo featured in last week's Stills post - in fact, they're hanging together on the curtain rod in the sunroom!
7. & 8. Making a spinach and feta pie for friends to farewell them as they move from Alice Springs back to the coast.
9. Table set for dinner.
10. And, yum! Dessert made by my clever man.


Linking with Emily at the Beetle Shack!

BAM. Stickin' it to an ordinary week.

Ordinary would actually be an understatement.

This week contained a couple of not-so-lovely surprises. But the crappy stuff is bolstered by the best sorts of people. Caring, genuine, do-anything-for-ya types of people, in big ways and little ways. A thoughtful and genuine word goes a long way.

So here's a picture of one of our dogs, Toby, smiling for the camera. Toby is 5-ish years old and we adopted him from the Animal Welfare League when he was an independent 4-month-old puppy. I say puppy, but really he was a little dog - from whichever beginnings he came from he'd learnt to be independent at a very young age. He is a strikingly handsome tri-colour kelpie. He's endlessly playful, loves fetching the ball (but won't necessarily bring it back), is razor sharp and also quite sensitive. He loves a smooshy cuddle and seems to know when to offer up a hug.

This article was a well-timed read for me this week, and so was this one.

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You know that feeling where you feel like you've got so much to say, but your brain is completely depleted of the capacity to say it?

Yep, that's me tonight.

My hand is still recovering from three hours of furious exam scribble (hopefully legible). I've no idea how I think I went, except that I wrote the whole time, stuck to my time plan and answered every question.

Happy Wednesday night to you. How is your week going?

And here is a little hello link to Pip to help brighten her day. Her blog is such a sunny space to visit!

That time of year.

sniffle-sneeze-sniffle-cough-blow-sneeze-sniffle-blow

and repeat.