Blueberry tea

Friday afternoon and it's time for blueberry tea.

Selfie of a man standing in a residential garden on a sunny, partly cloudy day holding a large clear glass mug that contains a reddit coloured liquid. The mug looks like a beaker used by chemists in the laboratory.

Making herself at home in our new garden

Last week we moved house. If that sounds like a stressful thing to do during a global pandemic, let you tell you: it is. But, we made it. And we’re now all settled in the suburb of Newport – about a fifteen minute drive from where we used to live in Kingsville.

One of the best things about our new place is the large garden at the back. Maggie took a couple of days to settle in and thoroughly mark her new territory, but even on moving day she found herself a nice spot to roll in.

A red heeler dog rolls around on her back in a patch of grass in a residential lawn. In the background you can see a garden shed and a swing.

Which she was immensely pleased about.

A red dog lies comfortably on her side in a residential lawn. In the background you can see part of a garden shed and a fence.

I guess dogs donna dog, and Maggie is making the most of it :)

Making the most of the sun

Making the most of the sun on a chilly morning in Melbourne. #LazySunday

A man wearing a hoodie and a Panama hat sits at a plastic table in a residential lawn. There is a mug of tea on the table and he is holding a Kindle e-reader. There is a dog sitting on the grass in the background.

Happy birthday to me!

Hello. I am 44 years old today. Importantly, Nadia got us Oodies for my birthday!

Selfie of a man and a woman each wearing an oodie, which is an oversized blanked hoodie.

Sadly I haven’t gotten around to wearing mine for too long because this has been a lovely, sunny week in Melbourne.

Selfie of a man and a woman on a sunny day. The man is bald, with a salt and pepper beard, and is wearing glasses. The woman has long hair and has put her head on the man's should from behind him. They both have big goofy grins on their faces.

Sunny day in Melbourne

Maggie us making the most of a sunny Friday morning in Melbourne.

A red dog sits comfortably on the grass in a residential lawn on a bright, sunny day. The dog looks very relaxed, with eyes closed as she soaks up the sun.

Important (p)update

A red dog is fast asleep on her side in a residential garden on a bright, sunny day.

Happy birthday Nadia!

Happy birthday Nadia!

I’m glad we could celebrate the day with flourless orange cake…

Two-thirds of a flourless orange cake that’s decorated with almonds, orange rinds, and creamy frosting.

And with your very first drive-in cinema experience!

Nighttime selfie of me and Nadia, dressed warmly, sitting in the front seats of a parked car.

That too by watching E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which was fun trip down memory lane to the early 1980s :)

The outdoor cinema screen as seen from the front seat of a car that’s parked in a drive-in cinema. The 1980s version of the Universal logo is showing on the screen.

Head scritches

You were wanting a head that you could scritch, yes?

Maggie, our red heeler dog, has poked her head from between my legs as I sit cross-legged on the sofa.

Of course you were! You’re very welcome.

Maggie, who has stuck her head between my legs as I sit on the sofa, is having her head scritched.

You may gently scritch the very top my head too.

Maggie has now poked stuck her head between Nadia’s legs and now Nadia is using one finger to scratch the very top of Maggie’s head.

Sunday breakfast FTW!

Sunday breakfast FTW!

Featuring a spicy desi omelette, keema simla mirch with a dollop of Greek yogurt, roti, and cinnamon kava.

Good meal too have on a drizzly day after you’ve walked your dog.

Two plates on a dining table place mat. The plates contain an omelette, mince meat curry, yoghurt, and flatbread. There is also a glass containing tea.

Shall we play?!

[Working from home]

Me: Takes a break. Goes outside to stretch and get some fresh air.

Maggie:

A red heeler (Maggie) stands ready in front of a knotted rope toy. She is looking expectantly as the photographer, wanting/expecting them to play with her.

Women's T20 World Cup final at the MCG

This year’s ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup was hosted by Australia and the final was held at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women’s Day (8 March 2020).

Nadia couldn’t make it (she had a deadline), but I was there with 86,173 other people to watch Australia and India compete for the trophy. (Australia won their fifth title.)

Crowd inside a stadium. A massive screen in the background says: “Attendance 86,174. Australian record!”. A spectator in the foreground has their arms raised as they cheer this announcement.

The MCG is such a fantastic venue for both live sport and music. I enjoy myself immensely every time I go there. (Also, yay for wide angle lenses for smartphones!)

Wide-angle view of the cricket pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from just behind the seats on the lowest level.

At this match I happened to be seated behind the hundreds of girls who danced with Katy Perry in her fantastic pre-game performance. They were a fun bunch to sit behind: not tall, not rowdy, very enthusiastic, and very dancey. Even if they do look all composed and sober during the national anthems!

A view of the cricket pitch in a stadium. Everyone is standing at their seats while the national anthems play. The seats in front of the photographer are occupied by hundreds of young girls wearing all-purple sports/dance outfits.

My favorite nearby spectators, however, were these siblings. The little girl was particularly thrilled with Australia’s batting performance, pumping her fists or raising her 4/6 boundary sing every time a batter scored a boundary. In the second innings her brother joined in on the standing-and-cheering action as well.

The section I was in was mostly full of Aussie supporters, but there were a few pockets of India fans dotted about the place as well. We also had the inevitable Indian-Aussies who’d brought both flags with them.

There are pros and cons to watching a match at the venue as opposed to on the TV at home.

One of the pros of being at the stadium is that you get to see all the behind-the-scenes stuff. Watching the Spidercam zipping around doing its thing, for example. And checking out the staff as they do their jobs: like these security guards (who didn’t have much to do since the crowd was so fantastic) and the crew pulling advertising decals off the ground while Katy Perry’s roadies prepare her stage in the background after the match was over.

Arguably the best thing about watching a match in a stadium, however, is that you get to participate in a Mexican wave with eighty six thousand other people :)

Lifting party 10 at Barbell Babes Brigade

Last year Nadia joined the fantastic Barbell Babes Brigade: a powerlifting training centre run for women, by women.

Not every member joins BBB to compete, of course, so every few months they organise their own ‘lifting party’. This is an event that gives all members an opportunity to come together in front of a hugely supportive audience of trainers, peers, and invited friends and family while they attempt personal-best lifts.

The assembled crowd cheers and celebrates a successful deadlift. Those are Nadia’s upraised arms in the foreground :)

This is the second lifting party that Nadia has participated in (and that I have, therefore, attended) and they’re always so much fun.

Nadia watches someone off camera attempt a deadlift. Nadia is wearing her BBB top with their ‘just strong’ tagline written in large, bold capital letters across the back.

Also, it turns out pigtails are super handy when you’re a strong badass who is lifting heavy weights in her shoulders :)

Nadia warms-up before her squat attempts.

This year Nadia managed a 75kg squat (up from 55kg last year!), 47.5kg bench press, and 65kg deadlift. Click those links (to Nadia’s Instagram account) to watch videos of her doing to those lifts.

If you’re a woman who is interesting in powerlifting and wants to be trained by (and train with) a fantastic bunch of women, I cannot recommend Barbell Babes Brigade enough.

Group photo of the participants at the March 2020 lifting party.

Levels of snuggles with Maggie

Calm morning snuggles with Ameel.

A red dog leans her head on the stomach of a man lying in bed. The man has one of his hands on the dog and is scritching her.

Warm, cozy snuggles on a chilly evening with Ameel.

A red dog is snuggled up next to a man on a sofa. The man has placed a towel on the dog to keep her warm and cozy.

Nadia, when she’s feeling particularly fond of Maggie: “I will kiss her and love her and squeeze her and call her George.”

A woman and a dog are on a sofa. The woman is hugging the dog and the dog has a resigned expression on its face.

To be fair, Maggie is actually okay with Nadia hugging her all the time. It’s having a camera pointed in her face that Maggie isn’t overly fond of. Though she’s kinda used to that now too because she knows nothing bad will come from it :)

Melbourne pride march 2020

Happy Pride, Melburnians! And happy 25th anniversary of the first pride march in Melbourne.

The backs of two people wearing body-length rainbow pride flags on their backs. The photo is taken in a large sports field with lots of other people in the background.

This year the Victorian bisexual community had the largest marching contingent ever!

A group of people are sitting, crouching, and standing in a large sports field. People are wearing bisexual pride flags colours are holding flags and signs that say things like ‘live and let bi’, ‘bi-fi’, and ‘not a phase’.

The weather was lovely, the crowd was great, and the march was lots of fun :)

A group of about 75 people are cheering as they post for a group photo. The group is wearing bisexual flag colours and are holding up flags and signs.

The biggest cheer of the march — and rightly so, particularly this year — went to this group, though: the Country Fire Authority.

Firefighters from the Country Fire Authority hold up large flags: one for the CFA and one rainbow pride flag.

Sadly, despite the plethora of dogs at today’s march, I only managed to photograph a few of them. So let me end with a photo of the adorable, friendly, and all-round good boy Charlie :)

A small brown poodle on a rainbow coloured lead.