hot diggity-dog, i have had a week of fun and colour with the undoing of the pandoras box that was my storage pod. i got to retrieve clothes, shoes, handbags and other loved items to make me feel like i am really at home here in melbourne. it still doesn't feel real in some ways, but it is and one of the fave things i got from the box is my pushbike. it's so great just to be able to ride - anywhere. melbourne is such a cycling city and as i live in southbank, it was great to be to able to pedal off when i felt like it - in between coughing that is.
when i was out on sunday afternoon another sore throat had set in and it wasn't your usual sore throat, it was sore right at the bottom of my neck - very strange and voila - sick - again. but that didn't stop me putting on my finery and getting through the week. i'm a bit funny about taking time of work, given i am so new still, but i made it through.
having a 4 day weekend was just what i needed (apart from being sick) which by the end of the week was really wearing me down - not to mention wearing down my bank account as i stocked up on immune boosters, vitamins, cough medicine (i was offered one for day and one for night cough medicine mind you - just give me the one that's gonna make the cough fa-cough thanks). ka-ching. and then there was the raw garlic and chilli. i started building an internal fire and fueling it up to sweat this bugger out.
by yesterday arvo, when i was feeling pretty ordinary, i took out the bigger big guns. the raw garlic and chilli earlier in the week was the big guns, but i needed bigger guns (actually come to think of it, i wouldn't mind having a squeeze of some big guns). Hang on that's single lady problems - a whole other story.
but i did brew a tea that i had in a book called Beaming with Health which i got way back in the 90's. don't you love a remedy from the olden days? It's great book and one that i am going to re-read. anyway it has a tea to help you sweat out the germs, not to mention stuff about our poop....
fresh ginger, cinnamon stick, fresh thyme and honey in hot water. i added the kick of fresh chilli and black pepper. wham bang thank you mam. it has certainly made a difference and tonight i think i will give myself another dose before bed. i probably could have had some shots of whisky, but i think this was the better alternative.
I did also manage to delete all of my pics from my phone for most of the week - genius, but onward.
monday - no work. yippee. i headed out for coffee wearing my ever trusty target skinny jeans, my birkys and this sheer top from tree of life. is tree of life not a melbourne thing, because people i speak to don't seem to know it, but i have loved it for so long.
tuesday - cough cough cough i wore my birky's again a tshirt that is as old as the hills and this amazing sequined skirt i got from odel in sri lanka. whenever i put this skirt on, it always make me feel good cause when the light hits it, i am at an instant disco. love that. i have had to replace a few sequins, cause just like hansel and gretel left a trail of breadcrumbs, i seem to do the same but with silvery sparkly sequins.
wednesday i went a bit dotty. now i never like to weigh (pardon the pun) into the weight debate, cause it's just not my thing, but damn these pants felt loose. i remember my sister telling me that she put on something like 9kgs when she moved to melbourne cause there was so much good food, well i think the opposite is happening to me and i can only put it down to the following. 1. walking, 2. riding a bike. 3 eating different and not as much food. to be honest, i am watching my pennies, cause i am still getting into my financial routine, so i don't buy as much, i don't eat as much and i'm probably eating a bit simpler.
i made these great pants. the top is from suzanne grae, the shoes are from mollini and the super cute necklace is one i picked up in india in 2000.
thursday it was more goodies out of my goodie bags and as it was raining outside, i decided to set up my own backdrop. i do love an art filled backdrop.
i wore shoes from famous footwear, pink pants that i made like a zillion years ago and a dress that i made which i pretended was a shirt. i popped up the hair and let the heart earrings do their thing - and what is their thing - well just be cute of course.
friday arrived and it was still raining and i was still coughing. lucky i had some more great art that i could pose with - given that i was wearing an indian kaftan, it seemed fitting to be near my art that i purchased india.
i wore jeans from target, shoes from jo mercer, sequined kaftan top from romafour in sri lanka. earrings are from fiji, but they are hidden by my hair which someone asked if i've had cut - no, just woke up like this....
saturday the mercury dropped. i'd toyed with the idea of packing away some of my winter clothes. melbournites - when does this happen. when do you transition from winter to summer wardrobe space? cause i was ready, then bang a chilly day hit me and i had to rug up.....
i wore boots from jo mercer, jeans from target, jumper from uniqlo and this great poncho from huudaverti. by the arvo, i had stripped down a bit for my trip into the diwali festival at fed square. but just like a boy scout - i am learning to be prepared -umbrella, pashmina and layers.
sunday - you are killing me - the weather was amazing - the coffee was bad, i got spat at by a crack-head (don't know why i hyphened that - a crack head doesn't care about hyphens - surely?) and the cough was not good..but thanks to the home brew, i think i have cracked it, just like the walking crack-head did when he decided that he owned the road. i don't think i have ever been spat at before. there is no excuse for that.
i should have worn PPE, but instead i wore my tree of life wrap around skirt, sandals from india, t shirt from k-mart, earrings from sri-lanka and glasses from west end market. i wasn't sure if the glasses worked with the outfit, but fuck it - if a 50+ woman can strip down to her underwear and run around in the rain, then a 49 year old can surely follow suit and do whatever the fuck she likes......
my week was pretty good especially since i set up my sewing machines after nearly a year of not sewing and i am pretty determined to help some women i love who need to get back on their feet. this weekend i have been helping someone put together a resume. easy peasy - but not if you find yourself needing to get a job in order to put a roof over your head and food on the table when you find yourself in your late 40's and over, having to start again......one step at a time hey!
Don't pack away your winter clothes! Melbourne can throw cold weather your way at any time...
ReplyDeleteSorry you have been sick again. When I first moved to Melbourne from Brisbane 24 years ago, I spent the first year sick constantly (especially in spring) and then I seem to have acclimatised to southern bugs and have been relatively clear since
Katrina
thanks for the tip. the sickness thing is so annoying especially when it's not your normal, so i'll let my body adjust just as you have and see how i go. have a lovely week
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