Off to see the wizard!

When we first came over here to England it was because we needed to shake things up. We needed a change, to break out of our routines and explore new possibilities. It really wasn’t about the travel and the opportunity to see other countries….although that’s been great. It was a lot about family and getting to know people I’d only ever heard about. It was about really getting out on my own and seeing what I could do. It was about expanding my horizons and finally coming in contact with a country that had been calling me all my life.

Since we’ve been here most folks we talk too from back in Oz have a strange idealized view of our life. Like we’ve been on one big six year holiday, travelling to every country in Europe and generally flitting about the world. The reality has been much harder. Although we’ve traveled a fair bit we’ve seen relatively few countries and I’ve spent more time commuting to work than I have wandering the world. Picking up our lives and moving to a different country was far more difficult than I could ever have envisioned and it took us years to feel settled and comfortable again. I think I can now say that the grass is not greener on the other side…..just different.

Despite the difficulties coming over here continues to be one of the best things I’ve ever done. I’ve made some friends that I love and will keep for the rest of my life. I’ve seen different countries and environments and stood in front of iconic buildings and works of art that most folks only see in books and movies. I’ve broadened my horizons, matured and grown, worked out a lot of what is really important to me, taken a gazillion photos, worked with some amazing people, gained loads of experience, grown to love a new country and way of life and seen the inside of more pubs than I care to mention!!!

I do love England. While I’m always proud to be Australian this country has so much to offer as well. A huge and interesting history, first row seat on the world stage, proximity to just about everywhere, a huge mix of cultures, beautiful and varied scenery, great pubs and some hilarious accents!! In particular I’ve come to love Brighton. It’s a ‘Me’ sized town with everything a girl could want. It’s London without the hassle. With the sea on one side, the countryside on the other and a vibrant city life in the middle. We love it.

And I think that is a problem now because where do we call home? Is home only a place where you hang your hat? Is it friends and family or is it a connection with a house, a town or an environment? The one thing I know is that the answer to that question cannot be found here. We know how we feel about England but after so long away how do we feel about Australia? Do we still call it home? We need answers.

That’s why in May we’ll be moving back to OZ.

100% Goodness

I picked up an Innocent Smoothie yesterday. I love their smoothies & juices so I do. In a world full of additives, preservatives, diet concoctions, added sugar and salt and god knows what else it's nice to be able to find something that tastes good AND is good for you.

Anyway this isn't advertising or product placement. I just wanted to comment on the fact that the bottle was 100% recycled. I was aware that they were previously part recycled but didn't realise they'd managed to produce a bottle from 100% recycled plastic.

I guess I'm just impressed that there's a company out there that's willing to do a little R&D to make a difference. The only question now is ...."if they can do it, why don't others?"

Egypt Photos

Well I've finally managed to sort my way through the thousands (yes thousands) of photos we took in Egypt. More importantly I've managed to narrow down the "to display" list to 68 in order to have some chance at getting them uploaded. I am only on dial up after all!

So the photo site is reached via a link at the right hand side of this page.....or for those who are lazy.....here! Hope you like them.

Great night out

I had thought that we'd run out of tickets. I usually book things well in advance and have a nice little stack of events, gigs and shows to look forward too. I thought we'd run out. Then suddenly I discovered something hiding down the side of the drawer. It was David Gray tickets! WOO HOO! I'd forgotten all about them....lucky I remembered in time!

Anyhoo we went last night and it was great. It was better than great it was Fantastic. You know when you get those moments....when it all comes together, when everything just seems to click and you look around and realize that this is a moment you want to imprint on your brain and keep forever. They can happen any time, you can be alone or in a crowd, doing something momentous or insignificant, it doesn't matter. The moment is just there and it's something to treasure.
Perhaps I'm getting a little carried away...it was just a concert. But as we were listening to these songs that I absolutely love played live by some incredibly talented musicians everything clicked. The atmosphere was electric, the lighting was amazing, the crowd were enthralled and the music soared.


In addition to a great performance by the man himself the support act was a surprise as well. Her name was Beth Rowley. What a voice. I would have been happy to sit and listen to her all night. I can't wait till her album comes out...def one to watch for the future.

We have Ribbing!

Yup, as you can vaguely see from the photo below we have ribbing on the Juniper Jumper which means it’s almost done.
I say 'almost' with an impending sense of doom as earlier today I noticed that the one side of the neckline had developed a strange line (very hard to see on the photo) where the ribbing joins the body of the jumper. I am now debating ripping it right back and redoing that section. I think I will as I’d like to actually wear this one.
Even so it should be done by early next week!

In other knitting news the Pippa bag has been felted and now only requires putting together. This means handles attached and contrasting pattern motif sewn on. This project has been pushed to the back of the line on many occasions so it will be great to finally get it done. It felted nicely and using my previous experience at felting I left this one in the machine for only 30mins. So it’s shrunk less and is not as thick a fabric as before.

What else is new and exciting….well we had men in the tree at the front yesterday. It was great fun to watch (yes I was procrastinating) however I think they over did it and the tree now resembles more of a stump than a tree…sigh. I know they mean well.

Also the Egypt photos are nearly done and should be ready by Monday I think. Considering that we had nigh on 2000 photos in total I think I’ve done very well to narrow it down to 50 odd!

And finally for today the central heating has been replaced and is up and working. The house is now toasty and warm. The two days we were without heat or hot water gave me a chance to wear my thermal underwear which I really don’t get to do often enough!!

Frosty Mornings

We've had some lovely sunny blue sky days here of late but of course during winter months they go hand in hand with cold frosty mornings. So I thought I'd post a few frosty photos...

I love the way the frost highlights the veins of the leaves.

I love this one. I don't know what plant it is but the leaves look like they've all been dipped in sugar!!
Daffodil outside the house. Its not frosty...just pretty!

10 things on a Monday

1. I went swimming this morning. It’s something I want to get back into now that I have time and I’m finding it to be a very positive thing in my life. As I was meandering up the lane with the sounds of splashing in my ears I thought to myself it’s as much a mental thing as a physical one. Anyone who’s ever been on a diet will know that doing things that are good for you don’t always make you feel great. So something that doesn’t just increase your well being but also creates a feeling of well being and positivity has got to be twice as good for you!!

2. I need to get out into the garden. The sun is out, the birds are a-tweeting. The daffodils are in bloom. It’s way too early for it but the proof is there…it’s spring. And the garden is not ready.

3. Went to see Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the cinema Saturday night. If you get the chance to see this…Jump. It’s fantastic. It’s a musical in case some don’t realize it (and some haven’t) and Johnny Depp is his usual amazing self in partnership with Helena Bonham Cater. The story might be well known but the telling (thank you Tim Burton) is lively, clever, funny, seedy, musical, creepy and absolutely brilliant!!

4. I am making Moussaka tonight. I’m enthused at the moment about cooking. For a while I just couldn’t be bothered…these things run in phases. But now I’m once again reading cookbooks for fun and buying too many magazines. I shall let you know how it goes.

5. I am on the last sleeve of the Juniper jumper. If I can be bothered to sew it up and everything goes well with the neckline it may be finished sooner than I thought.

6. Solitaire on the computer is a bad habit and wastes much time.

7. Cinnamon Latte’s are not quite as good as vanilla ones…which are in turn not as good as Gingerbread ones.

8. Gingerbread Lattes appear to be seasonal…which is disappointing.

9. Whilst flicking through the TV channels recently I came across Dirty Dancing. What a great film that still is.

10. At the start of the year I decided I wanted to expand my reading habits. I read a lot but tend to stick to Fantasy or Sci-fi. I figured I needed to delve into not only the more classic titles but also some of the more popular stuff too. I picked up a copy of “Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold, at the second hand shop today and have started that. I remember when it came out I was working for a book store and got so sick of the hype I couldn’t face reading it then. Judging from the first few chapters I think I did myself a disservice but we shall see how the story unfolds!

Spring was here...

It’s freezing today which is disappointing since it's been very Spring-like the last few weeks. Well ok it's not literally freezing but it is definitely quite cold outside. Plus we are in the process of having the central heating boiler replaced we’ve been without heating and hot water for 24 hours now and the house has cooled down significantly. So I thought that I’d try to warm up with some photos I took earlier this week. The first snow drops I've seen this year.
A tree. I like the way the sun lights it up.
I've been thinking of this photo for weeks now...every time I walk through the park and while I'm quite happy with this shot I think I need to take the bigger camera down there and do it properly...and without the guy on the bike!

But there was more...

Egypt wasn’t all tombs, temples and pyramids tho. There were heaps of other things going on. The Nile was an amazing river, full of life and activity. The countryside was beautiful, the towns were full of life, the food was gorgeous (we ate so much!), the culture was exciting and the people so, so friendly.

We spent a day just wandering around the Khan al-Khalili market in Cairo. It’s massive and has different sections to it. We bought spices (hibiscus tea…yum) and some touristy trinkets, scarves and the obligatory shot glasses for the collection.
Mostly it was just great to walk around. People calling out, colorful scarves and clothing fluttering about and everywhere you looked something new to stare at.
The Mosques were extremely beautiful both inside and out. The call to prayers which we heard at various times immediately evoked a feeling that you were somewhere different. Somewhere exotic and gave the cities an amazing atmosphere. The Felucca ride along the Nile was one of the most relaxing things we’ve ever done. Drifting along with the wind and the sound of the waves lapping up against the boat…lovely!
Gorgeous scenery of contrasting environments. A ribbon of green farmland hugging the Nile and surrounded by the red and tan sands of the desert. Hmm that was nicely poetic!!And of course the donkeys. They were everywhere…even in the middle of Cairo! Carrying massive loads on their backs or pulling carts piled incredibly high. Gotta love the donkeys!

Finally.....some knitting!

It feels like forever since I spoke about knitting but strangely it just hasn’t been a priority so far this year. I think that after all the frantic Christmas knitting I needed to take a break. Plus I’ve had no projects lined up after my Le Slouch hat.
In fact inspiration didn’t grab me until I ventured into the LYS on a completely unrelated mission and found a new Sirdar yarn called Juniper displayed on their wall. I went back the next day and bought the yarn in the Ginger colour and a pattern (8969) for a jumper.

It’s for me. I don’t have enough confidence in my abilities yet to knit something so big and fitted for anyone else. The best thing about this yarn is that it’s chunky and knitted on 7mm needles which means that even though I’ve only been working on it for a week I’ve already got the back finished and the front is ¾ done too! I should (fingers crossed, touch wood etc) be wearing it by the end of the month. It’ll be the quickest ‘large’ project yet!

Above is the front. Very nearly done as you can see.
This is the back....just waiting for me to pick up the stitches and knit the rib around the neckline.
The usual arty shot of the wool.
And another arty shot....cause you know I can't resist getting all arty with wool!!!

Where I am very happy with myself!

Ok I could go on and on about Egypt and I might later in the week but for now I’m too excited about other stuff. Like the goals and resolutions we all set for ourselves at the start of the year. Two months in and how many of you have forgotten them already? A few of mine have quietly faded away but I’m rather pleased with myself as yesterday I ticked one off my list!I can make sushi!!!!! Yesterday afternoon I attended a sushi course and surprised myself with how easy it is…once you know how!

There are quite a number of sushi places in Brighton but the one I pass by regularly is called "Okinami" and they frequently have a board out on the footpath advertising their lessons. So Sunday I went along and it was great!

We learnt how to make the sushi rice, how to shape the rice and how to roll with the mats. We made Inari, Nigiri, Temaki, Maki rolls and California rolls.
An arty shot of the sushi...
Another arty shot of the sushi that I made.

Yes I am rather happy with myself at the moment! Just wait...I'm sure I'll do something stupid to repair the balance any minute now!!

What lies beneath

The Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens were two of the most impressive places we visited. To get in the complex’s themselves you had to run the usual gauntlet of stalls selling touristy junk and within the complex’s the crowds made getting around hard. But to see…to actually go down into these tombs and to see the vivid colors still on the walls, to contrast the unfinished caverns with the mirror smooth corridors and to comprehend the amount of work that went into covering every available space with carvings, both stories of life and assistance for the afterlife, was truly awe inspiring.

The valley is all rocks and stone and cliff edges. It’s remote, dry and very dusty. It’s overlooked by the pyramid-like mountain peak of Al-Qurn.

The entrance to the tomb of Ramses 4th (KV2). All the entrances were equally unassuming. Just holes in the ground with no hint of what lies beneath.

The entrance to the tomb of Ramses 9th (KV6). The entrances and corridors were much bigger than I thought they would be. Not like the Pyramids at all. All the corridors and chambers were covered in carvings and paintings, much of which looked as vivid as if they were new.

Digging out the entrance to another tomb. To see the amount of effort it takes just to excavate a tomb puts things into perspective when you try to imagine the scale of work involved in carving a tomb out of the mountain side. I doubt there's any one person today who could inspire so many people to work so hard.

By comparison the Valley of the Queens (above) was dead (excuse the pun!) We were pretty much the only people there, which although nice, made us fair game for the tomb guides who followed us into the tombs explaining the hieroglyphs and holding out their hands for baksheesh!!

Gateways to the Afterlife

The pyramids have to be one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Egypt. Who wouldn’t want to look at the only remaining survivor of the Seven Wonders of the World! They were definitely one of the highlights of the trip and I feel really privileged to have been able to see them. Still have to keep pinching myself!
We also went to the sound and light show that goes on at night. It was very touristy but it did gave us time to sit and take it all in...ponder the meaning of live and think about the enormity of these monuments!
Saqqara is the massive cemetery complex of Memphis which was the capital of Egypt for much of the Pharaonic period. It was actively used by Pharaohs and other important people for more than 3500 years. The Step Pyramid (photo above) is the earliest stone monument in the world, built in 2650 BC. Before this tombs were underground rooms covered in a mudbrick slab or 'mastaba'.
This pyramid belongs to Zoser and was designed and build by his chief architect, Imhotep, who developed the mastaba style tombs upwards and built them out of stone to deter grave robbers.
So this is basically the forerunner to the pyramids. Perhaps that’s a bit too much info for a blog but I thought it was worth sharing.

Although there are many other pyramids in Egypt the ones at Giza are the most well known and live up to the hype that surrounds them. They are Massive and awe inspiring and amazing and unbelievable and very surreal. Although there is a bit of space around them the city is quite close and that does add a touch of the strange to it all.

The oldest is the Great Pyramid of Khufu (above) which used to stand 146m high (now shorter by 9m) and it’s reckoned that it was built with 2.3million limestone blocks…weighing on average 2.5 tonnes each.

The Great Pyramid in front with the Pyramid of Khafre behind. Near the right corner you can see a person which gives some perspective on the size of the blocks used.

The Pyramid of Khafre stands at 136m high and is still capped with the limestone casing that all the pyramids would have been covered in. It gives you an idea of what they would have actually looked like when first completed.
We actually went into this one and it was not really a fun thing. Very hot inside and loads of people in a very small space. The tunnel in is very steep and even I had to bend double so as not to hit my head. The sarcophagus is still there but there is little decoration on the walls. I would not recommend going inside to those who even think that maybe one day they might be claustrophobic.

And this is a camel that was camera shy. I waited for ages but it wouldn’t turn around!!

No Hassle Free

Well we are home and things are returning to normal now. Although the trip to Egypt was short I can honestly say that its effect and memory will be lasting. The place, the culture, the people….they get right under your skin.

As I said in my last post we started in Cairo and spent our first day pinching ourselves as we stood in front of the pyramids. I still can’t quite grasp that I’ve seen them. I wish we had of had time to go back again because it all seems so surreal now. They are massive beyond anything I expected and that’s on a physical, mental and spiritual level.

We also visited the Cairo Museum which is stuffed full of amazing things, not least of which are the items from the tomb of Tutankhamun. We wandered around old Cairo, visited synagogue and church and mosque, did a little shopping, ate some fantastic food and generally walked around with our mouths and our eyes wide open in amazement!

We took an overnight train to Aswan. I shall only say this about the train…if you can organize it…fly instead. Aswan was a different world. Admittedly we were a little dazed after our train ride and very little sleep however after Cairo, Aswan was quiet, peaceful, brighter, cleaner and the Nile was blue. Here we visited the Philae temple complex, Abu Simbel, spent an afternoon on a Felucca, haggled our way through the market and wished we could reorganize the trip so we could stay longer!

But we had to keep moving and so we made our way to Luxor by way of the Kom Ombo and Edfu temples…both were amazing with vivid carvings covering every inch of their massive structures.Luxor was much more like Cairo than Aswan with more traffic and plenty of hassling. Whenever we passed by a shop people would appear out of nowhere calling, "Come look in my beautiful shop" and "Come look at my rubbish!" Horse and carriage drivers would walk slowly beside you on the street and taxi drivers would call out "Hey lucky man....you want to rent my taxi?” Luxor didn’t let up on the amazing though. With the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and both Luxor and the Temples of Karnak we were kept in a constant state of “gob-smacked-ness”!!

It is possible for someone to get ‘templed-out’ and I’ve been there before but not this trip. In fact the more temples we saw the more information started to sink in and we were able to recognize hieroglyphs and what they meant or understand why things were built the way they were and get a taste of the culture back then. It's hard to equate the civilization that was with ruins that are left behind, but every now and then we'd turn a corner or come across a painting or carving that for a second would give you a glimpse of the sheer scale of what used to be. It just took your breath away.

After Luxor we, somewhat reluctantly, caught another overnight train to Cairo. This one was better than the first but it’s still a rough trip. Our last day was spent wandering around the Khan al-Khalili market…a great place to wander around. So many sights and sounds and colors, so much to buy, so many people trying to talk to you and get your attention. By now we were at ease with the aggressive nature of selling and this was one of the highlights of the trip. I love markets!

Egypt is a fascinating place so full of contrasts that it makes your head spin. The people are friendly, the sights are amazing and neither of us wanted to leave when our time was up. We only had a whirlwind tour of 8 days or so and it was nowhere near enough to see and do everything we wanted but what a brilliant ‘taster’. We’ve already decided that we are going back…tomorrow would be good for me!!

Over the next few days I’ll post some photos of the places we saw. As per usual we took quite a few photos and I’m still in the process of sorting them out….