Dreaming of Vintage Treasures

 Hello! I'm one week into my work holidays and I can't believe how quickly time passes. We're still in lock-down, so I've spent the week at home, doing the usual: reading, crocheting, watching TV, cooking. All week I had been hankering for a picnic and it was scheduled for Friday, when my sister had a gap in her work  schedule. Nevermind we're in lock-down, I figured, we'll have a backyard picnic. Then on Friday it was was very cold and it rained on and off, so it became an indoor picnic! I told you I was determined! So rather than stay in my pyjamas like I had the whole week, I decided to make an occasion of this little bit of picnic fun and get dressed up and put on some makeup. My mini dress and blue eye-shadow look was completely inspired by Jeannie from the 1960s television show 'I Dream of Jeannie' which I've been re-watching this week. She wore the best mini-dresses in the 5th season, totally epitomising the late sixties trends of bright colou...

Hello! We're still in lock-down here in Melbourne and I have well and truly settled into a familiar routine. From Monday to Friday, I work from 7.30am to about 5pm, with quick breaks for breakfast and lunch. I have about 5 video meetings with my students as a whole class and in small groups. They're so eager to go back to school and often tell me that they miss their school friends and I.  Then I plan lessons for a couple of hours and finally do the mammoth task of checking every child's work which takes me 1.5-2 hours at the end of each day. After I've conquered that, I'm keen to get out and go for a walk. Having to wear a face covering while out of your home is not so bad as it keeps your face warm when it's cold.  Yesterday, mum and I got caught in the rain, which nowadays is a bit of an adventure in itself. I  was also happy about these wild flowers that I picked from the top of a hill. Before each weekday ends, I try to squeeze in some crocheting...

Okay, now that all my before-the-virus-took-over-the-world blog posts have been published, I can finally get to what I've been up to during this stay-at-home isolation period. My mum, sister and I have been going on nature walks. We went to the Organ Pipes National Park (last visited  here in 2018 ), named so because about a million years ago, lava flowered over Mount Holden and created what looks like organ pipes.  When babysitting my twin cousins, we took them for numerous bush walks. We were thrilled to have found a nearby oasis - one of the silver linings to all this isolation is that we're getting more time to appreciate nature and discover nearby national parks that we didn't pay much attention to before.  On a day that I was feeling down, my mum cajooled me into having some fun dressing up as our favourite 60s/70s fashionistas and dancing around the house. The week before, we had fun dancing and singing to Stevie Nick...

You're not scared of black cats, are you? I sure hope not because we recently fostered two adorable kittens. My mum, sister and I spent the whole drive to the RSPCA thinking of iconic duo names (such as Bonnie and Clyde or Elvis and Priscilla) but  after seeing the soft black fur on these kittens we just HAD to name them Sonny and Cher! The real Sonny and Cher, if you were wondering. The kittens hadn't had much human contact before coming home with us. The vet advised that we gradually build up our contact with them. At first they hissed and hid from us but after a couple of days they were sleeping in our laps.  We looked after them for a few weeks until they had gained enough weight to be returned to the RSPCA and sold. This is the third or fourth time we've fostered kittens over the years and nothing prepares you for having to return them. Of course I cried but my sister's very sensible, reminding us that we've done a good thing caring f...