The Bloemenmarkt

I have so much fun wandering through the tightly packed floating flower market. Dense in population, produce, and kitschy touristy tripe. I get the same joy from it that I do when I go shopping for Christmas decorations.

So much blue and white pottery. And I haven’t even made it to Delft yet!

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Then there’s the vaguely creepy staring eyed dolls in traditional dress.

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Of course there’s tulips everywhere which weirds me out only because they are being sold as souvenirs. And of course, given where I’m from, I keep thinking, “but you’ll never get plant matter through the border!”

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The orchids are spectacular, and I can’t tell you how much I want to try growing some!

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And in living areas where space is at a premium, bonsai are the perfect answer.

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I love this mainly because it’s so weird and a carnivore.

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This wall just makes me want dozens of window boxes growing everything possible! Just think how much better my cooking will be when I have fresh herbs!

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And finally, when you don’t actually have garden space to put ornaments in, they make them in pot size! *squees!* I’ll be getting a flamingo *nods*

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Hope you all had a good ANZAC Day and remembered that we still have people out on the front lines. And I hope all our people out on the front lines are safe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

The end of Summer

So, Sydney and New South Wales in general has been flooding. This was what I walked through on the way to work last Thursday. And by the time I’d gotten to the awning to take this photo it wasn’t as bad as what I’d walked through.

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I was completely drenched from the belly button down, and only need to walk a block from the bus! Not long after my bus went through, that bus route was closed due to flooding. YAY for starting work early … or something …

Surprisingly the weather cleared up remarkably well for the weekend!

We had a busy weekend. There was some celebrating at our favourite pub, with some wonderful friends who it had been entirely too long since we’d seen. There was much chatting and catching up, and it felt like old times again. It had its poignant moments.

I have to keep reminding myself that it really is Autumn now, not Spring. We had such a non-event of a Summer, that when I walked down the street and saw this beautiful tree busting with buds and new blooms just waiting to explode, it really felt like Spring …

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On Sunday we woke up bright and early and decided that exercise was the order of the day. So we went for a walk down the road to the local pool. We did some laps (and boy did I feel out of shape!), and then I lay in the sun warming up a bit while being amused at Himself jumping off the diving tower with all the kids. We both got a touch of pink to our complexions!

Being that there were kids, and it’s a local pool, I didn’t take any photos. Not worth it. But it is a lovely pool! And I’m looking forward to frequenting it in the next couple of weeks while/if the weather remains warm enough to enjoy it.

With exercise done, I came home and achieved lots of knitting! I’m up to row 16 of chart 3, and only need to reach row 71 before I can begin the edging! Each row is taking approximately an hour. It doesn’t look all that different from the last time I showed you a picture.

That’s about it for this week. More photos in the next exciting episode!