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!

Stills: Weekend pottering.

This week saw me out of action early in the piece with a head cold ; fail at baking cupcakes; talking about Barracuda at book club; and lots of the usual pottering around - one of my weekend favourite things to do.

1. Green chrysanthemums are some of my favourites.
2. And again!
3. Sunday afternoon pottering and rearranging...
4. ...moving plants around...
5. ...close up with afternoon light streaming in through the blinds.
6. Toby looking wise.
7. Saturday morning bright spots and stripes.
8. Sunday morning omelette with fresh eggs from the chooks.
9. Missy came into town for a stroll around the Sunday markets.
10. Flamingoes, of course.

I hope you have a great week ahead!

Don't forget to make a pledge for Change Day, which is this Thursday 6 March. 

Linking with Em's weekly Stills.

Outback beach.

We've been lucky enough to have some mid-summer rain to break the relentless heat that is the norm here in Central Australia. Not enough of a downpour to flood the usually-dry Todd River, but the right amount to create a 'beach' of sorts. The claypans are a great local spot to take the dogs for a decent run off-the-leash, and they are just that - a series of expansive, circular pans of clay. After rain the pans collect enough water for the dogs to get gloriously muddy and soaked. Which they adore!

Muddy dogs and a long weekend
Doggies and dusk

Stills: Warmth and home.

1. Glowing afternoon light from the backyard. We had a couple of cloudy days (some that ended in a little bit of rain!) and on this particular evening, the light was dappled golden through the gum trees.
2. The story of the kelpie who wanted to be a hen continues. Any chance for Missy to be near the chooks, she's there. She just loves to be around them. It's so sweet, except that she also likes to let them into the vegie garden - which the chickens also love.
3. Lantern-like window.
4. Quiet night in.
5. Colour and pattern.
6. On the wine rack.
7. It's the first day of the official summer season, but here in Central Australia it's been summer for a while, with quite a few months of searing heat to go. Swimming pool and air conditioning make it liveable.

All iPhone pics from me this week! Please excuse the graininess. 

Linking, as always, with the stills collections at The Beetle Shack.

Stills: Another Week in Alice Springs.

1. Planting the trees and shrubs we bought last weekend along the back fence.
2. And another.
3. And...another one!
4. Watering. Growing grass here in Alice Springs is quite the ordeal. Red dirt abounds.
5. Corrugated iron back fence...
6. ...And the fence beyond that.
7. I hope you aren't eating! My filthy post-gardening feet with fruity orange/pink/red toenails.
8. If the back door is open, you can guarantee Missy is trying to sneak in.
9. Finishing a big, busy weekend (that included helping a local candidate in a by-election for the local town council) with a couple of quiet ciders at the local.
10. There's always something interesting and quirky at Monte's.
11. 'Tis me. Blurry. And a grubby mirror.

I've got a post brewing about 'pulling out the gender card' and how damaging it is for gender equity which I'll hopefully summons the courage to articulate later this week.

Weekly cricket update*: My team fielded first and my bowling was on the better side of dreadful. They didn't get that many runs off my balls but I did bowl a couple of wides. We had some catches and bowled a wicket. Then we batted and I was 'third drop' which meant that I was the third in line (but fifth to bat). I just padded up (this means putting on your leg pads and gloves to get ready to run on if someone retires or gets out!) and then we won the game by four overs (there were still four overs left for the other team to bowl but we had already caught up to their score, so we finished there!). 

How was your weekend?

Linking up with Em at The Beetle Shack - check out the linked posts, as there are always some fabulous new blogs to read!

*A new addition to my weekly 'stills' post! I play cricket in a team of awesome women. We play on Thursday nights. I know nothing about cricket, except for the rules I've learnt through playing (last season was my first) and I still don't know the 'lingo'. I love it.

An exam, those chickens and other stuff.

Hello! Here we are again. It's been a little while. There's lots going on and I've neglected this space just a little. Right now it's a beautifully breezy day in Alice Springs and after a week of stinking hot days, it's nice to have the windows and doors open and the air circulating.

The Exam.
I had an end of semester exam this week and whilst it's good to have the feeling of completion, the last couple of weeks I've also had that feeling of 'should-be-studying-but-brain-too-full'. The exam was horrid but it still would have been that way had I more motivation to put in more of an effort to study more. It was open book, as most (all?) law exams are but the questions were a bit unexpected in comparison to the last semester of course material and learning. I guess that's the nature of these things. I stuck to the time plan and answered each question (terribly!) so hopefully I pass. I'm undecided as to what subject I take over the summer semester (if any) but one option might be Indonesian law, which could be interesting.

Speckles, who should be on the other side of the fence.

The Chickens.
As you might remember, two of our three little hand-raised chooks ended up being hens that crowed. This was problematic for two reasons: 1. Roosters and suburbia don't really mix; and 2. Roosters don't lay eggs. The decision for action was made on a Sunday morning at 5.30am when old mate was trying really hard to perfect his crowing. "Those roosters have got to go!" were the exact words, as I recall. So we put them in a big cardboard box and drove them back to the poultry guy we got them from. He very generously agreed to swap them, either for two more (correctly sexed!) day olds, or two laying hens. We chose the latter and returned home with a white hen and a brown speckled hen. Back at home, our little red hen was fretting for her brothers but now, a couple of weeks down the track, she is happy to follow her new big sisters around. The new gals are laying an egg a day each and have been since the first day they've been here. They are also more adventurous than little red hen, and jump the fence into the veggie garden on a daily basis. This hasn't been such a good thing for our newly planted corn or flourishing silverbeet. One day they even ended up in the main section of the yard, much to the curiosity of the two kelpies, who ended up helping Peter herd them back into the yard.

Toby, always eager to help.

Other stuff.
I was following a debate on Twitter following this article being published on Mamamia (groan). The article went along the lines that for girls (women?), being drunk puts you at greater risk of being sexually assaulted. Um, no. The non-absence of a perpetrator puts you at greater risk of sexual assault, whether you are sober and in your own home, or a little tipsy in a nightclub. The debate needs to shift from placing the responsibility on the victim to protect themselves to placing the onus on the perpetrator not to assault. I realise this is a much bigger topic than this short paragraph explores but, yes. It got me a little riled and MF's advice is not something I will be taking. Another perspective to this issue can be read here. Did you read these articles and follow the conversation on Twitter that followed? What are your thoughts on this?

Speaking of Twitter, what are your top accounts to follow? I always enjoy reading perspectives from these accounts, in no particular order:

:: @CJaustory
:: @IndigenousX
:: @clementine_ford
:: @utopiana
:: @croakeyblog
:: @WomensAgenda


And, oh! Almost forgot the linky. Joining with Em.

Those loveable rogues.

They've boundless energy and endless personality, these two. Clearly, they put on their best faces for the camera.