Day 71: Defiance

I started my 7am workouts at Enliven Fitness in Glebe again today. It's been great to have varied classes and have someone to push me for an hour. I've been going to the gym downstairs but I never push myself quite as hard without encouragement.

On my walk back home after class I saw another example of nature's battle against the urban landscape. It was nice to have my daily photograph taken not long after 8am!

Day 70: Bike

I went down to the gym at our flat just after 8am this morning, it's been good to get back into exercise now my toe is doing much better. Plus I had a lot of dessert to work off! The soundtrack to my workout was Emerge followed by David Guetta's album in the absence of Daft Punk or Basement Jaxx, both of which I had on my old ipod before it permanently died.

I did 35 minutes on the exercise bike followed by weights, squats and push-ups.

Day 69: Pendant

I completed my silver jewellery making course on Saturday. I made finished off my silver pendant by soldering the strips of silver onto the reticulated plate of silver and cut a small piece of silver tubing to solder onto the back. I managed to get it all filed, sanded and polished just in time for the end of the class. I'm pretty happy with the result. It's not perfect but it's got character!

Front

Carl and I went to the restaurant Twelve in Newtown on Saturday night. I had a lovely dinner, Nepalese meatballs with freshly made pasta. Temptation got the better of me when I saw the dessert menu, I had a fantastic chocolate dessert, very guilt-inducing but yummy!

Day 68: Rosary beads

On my way home on Friday I was walking behind a Priest and a Nun, presumably on their way home from church. It was interesting to see them as regular people on their way home from work. He had his priest's jacket over his shoulder and she was wearing a backpack but they were both holding rosary beads in their hand. I wondered if they carried them in their hand at all times.

Day 67: Mad Men

I spent all day today pulling my skirt down, it in turn spent all day riding up! I looked around me on my way home (as usual) for inspiration for something to photograph. As I got to my floor in our flat I took a photo on the move of the one thing that had been bothering me all day, pulling on my skirt! My shadow looks a bit like Australia!

A video that made me smile today for any Mad Men fans (click on the word video).

Day 66 - Harmony Day

Today was Harmony Day in Australia, a celebration of Cultural Diversity. We were told to wear orange to work and some people brought dishes in that represented their cultural background.

I grab any opportunity to be creative at work so I decided that because I don't own any orange clothing I would make an orange flower to wear. I found a template for a felt flower and adapted it and made it my own.

There was a huge spread, so I broke my new healthy eating regime (that I only started on Monday) and enjoyed yum cha, cabbage strudel, summer rolls, scones with jam and cream (presumably made by one of the fellow Brits at work), tiramasu, cannoli, hungarian chocolate cake, when you write it all down it's quite shameful! I hit the gym for an hour when I got home to try and make up for it!

Day 63 - While you were sleeping

I saw Carl in this strange sleeping position and couldn't help but take a pic! He looked very peaceful.

Day 62: Ta Dah!

On Saturday I finally finished my Russian wedding band! Now it is all sanded down and polished it looks good enough to sell (as long as you don't look at the inside of it close up, I scratched it with my saw! :-) ) I would take it off to get a better photo but I don't think i'd ever get it on again! It has shrunk with the heat of soldering it 3 or 4 times.

I started a pendant using a reticulation process as well, it's a work in progress but it's got potential. I have one class left next Saturday so I'll see how I go.

Day 61: Everything Nothing Projects

On Friday we finished our board meeting in Canberra earlier than expected so I spent the afternoon with two of our board members before catching our early evening flight. We looked around the Renaissance exhibition at the NGA and then drove into the city and went to a great exhibition at a gallery called Everything Nothing Projects. For a small gallery they have some really big names and rare pieces such as Sidney Nolan drawings from the early 70's that he drew in London. 

My favourite work was by the owner of the gallery David Sequeira. The series is called 'The Zen Picnic' and it's artwork constructed from plastic plates, trays, bowls and egg cups. At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking it was something you could DIY yourself, but the more I looked at it the more I loved it. You realise that these pieces have been collected for years and the colours have been matched perfectly. When I spoke to David he said that he had been collecting the pieces since the 70's so I could really appreciate how much time had gone into putting the work together over time. My favourite was the turquoise set below. 

Day 60: NGA

Whilst in Canberra I stayed at the Hotel Realm, a nice 5* hotel. My room even had a shoe shine, loofah, shaving kit, dental kit, Nespresso machine etc. I turned on my TV and it welcomed me to the hotel!

On Thursday we had the first day of our 2 day assessment meeting at the National Gallery of Australia followed by the Laureate Awards. Fiona Hall gave a lovely speech as she accepted the award.

The entrance to the National Gallery. The image is advertising the Renaissance exhibition currently on show.

The board and staff went out to a hatted (equivalent of a Michelin star in Australia) restaurant in the evening 'Ottoman Cuisine'. We had a banquet and the courses just kept coming and coming! The food was amazing but I was so stuffed by the end of it! We had lots of small courses, a mushroom with a nice coating of chilli and various things, a lamb kofta, chicken skewer, veal, a salmon something or other wrapped in a leaf, a bhaji type thing, the list went on and on but I loved every course. The desserts were a bit sweet for me but I finished it all off with a nice latte. This was perhaps a mistake as it was 10.30pm by this point so I was up for a while!

Day 59: Off to Canberra

On Friday I left for my business trip to Canberra. Ended up playing Angry Birds on the plane as it's one of the few games I have that doesn't require internet access! I took the obligatory plane shots on my way in. 

Day 58: Nachos

Carl and I went to Badde Manors for dinner tonight. I couldn't resist the nachos and I didn't regret it, despite them ultimately defeating me!

I have a business trip to Canberra for a couple of nights tomorrow so I'll be playing catch up again on Friday.

Before

After

Day 57: Stillness amongst chaos

Depending on what time I leave for work, I often see an asian woman who must be in here 70s at least. Every time I see her she is doing yoga by the side of the tunnel at Central station. I think she hands out the Epoch Times newspaper and takes time out to meditate and do yoga/perhaps tai chi. She always amazes me, people are rushing past her but she manages to find stillness in all the chaos. I am yet to get a decent photo of her but I picture taking a long exposure of her slow movements next to the crowds rushing past or a video sped up.

Day 56: Basket

Carl and I went into the city on Sunday. Sadly I didn't buy anything, but that's always the way when you're looking for something. I didn't take any nice photos but here's a pic I took on my way home from work the other day. It reminded me of the red post box with the banana and fast food cup (I can't even bring myself to say the name) on top. This seemed like a modern take on a plant basket.

Day 55: Miang Goong

I had the 2nd day of my jewellery class on Saturday. I had planned to get my Russian wedding band finished in the 6 hours but I had a few set backs. The solder wasn't taking to the ring very well and snapped 3 times when I tried to bang the ring into shape. My tutor ended up having to solder it the 4th time so I could move on! I managed to get all 3 rings soldered together, but next week I still need to file down the solder and polish the rings. The silver seems to have shrunk with all the soldering, fingers crossed that when I have filed them down and smoothed them, it will fit me.

I got a 2nd project on the go at the same time. I am trying out a technique that involves heating the silver until it glows 'cherry red' as my tutor calls it. I melt smaller pieces of scrap silver onto a piece of silver to create a cratered effect. I am going to cut the silver into a square and mould a ring of silver so that it holds the piece of silver in place. I will take photos of the finished piece.

In the evening Carl and I went to Thai Pothong in Newtown. I just love their Miang Goong starter (above). I've never tasted anything like it, it's a prawn served on a betel leaf with diced onion, toasted coconut, chilli jam, and probably countless other ingredients with a cashew nut on top and fish roe. I highly recommend for those of you in Sydney.

Day 54: Baking

Carl had a poker night on Friday so I decided to have a night in and do some baking. I ended up watching The Devil Wears Prada (again) and enjoying my freshly baked cake! I made the same spiced peach, carrot and pecan loaf but this time I followed the recipe's ingredients exactly, aside from cutting down on sugar. I used olive oil the first time and it always seems to go oily the next day. Canola oil is the way forward!

I bought myself a new silicone loaf mould for the occasion but it made the outside stretch outwards. It made nice big slices though!

Day 53: Here comes the rain again

I don't think I have ever seen as much rain in one day as I did on Thursday. I tried to wait until it stopped before I left for work. 45 minutes later and I was forced to walk in it anyway. The sole of my shoe actually half fell off, I don't think the glue could take so much water! I had to walk back home 5 minutes later to change shoes!

That evening we had a power cut. Our whole block went out. I took that as my queue to go to bed!

Day 52: Teddy

On my way home from work on Wednesday there was a guy playing a keyboard with a teddy bear. He was holding its paws and pressing them down on the keys as if it was playing. You see a diverse range of people in Surry Hills! It's a weak photo but I wanted to share.

Day 51: Bicycle

I saw this bike on my way to work on Tuesday. It had what looked like a wig coming out of the back, a discarded Mardi Gras outfit perhaps? I saw the same bike cycle past me last week but it had lots of LED lights hanging out of the back instead. They were lit up so i'm not sure how they were powered!

Day 50: Proteas

I came home on Monday to find that Carl had bought me some proteas. I had never heard of them (although I have seen them before). I thought they were Australian but apparently they originate from South Africa.

Day 49: Yoga nidra

Had a nice day on Sunday, brunch with Katie, Andrew and little Indie-Rose followed by a trip to Marrickville to check out the markets and second hand shops. Bought a banana, strawberry, orange and pineapple juice before heading home - great combo! Definitely going to try that one at home.

I went to yoga nidra on Sunday night in Glebe, so relaxing! It's one of my favourite bits of yoga. It's a relaxation technique that relieves tension, anxiety and fatigue. It's a sort of guided meditation that gets you into a state of deep, conscious sleep so your body is asleep but your mind is awake. It often forms part of the end of a yoga session but this particular class was an hour of yoga nidra. I came out feeling fantastic. Adore Yoga have a great, free 15 minute yoga nidra MP3 on their website here.

I took a couple of snapshots on Sunday but nothing worthy of uploading so here's a photo I took in Brighton when I was last home in December. I played around exaggerating the levels and exposure to enhance the colours against the darkness. I'm not sure what its official name is but I believe it's nicknamed the 'Brighton Eye'.

Day 48: Silversmithing

I completed the first class of my silver jewellery making course on Saturday. It was good fun but very difficult. It takes a lot of patience. A lot of my time was spent trying to file down strips of silver until they were perfectly straight so that when I bent the edges around to meet in the middle they would sit perfectly without any gaps.

I am making a Russian wedding band, which is a ring compiled of 3 rings that get soldered together. First I calculated the length my strips had to be for my ring size, I used a saw to cut the silver to size, filed each of the ends, bent them into a rectangle so the edges met, added a strip of silver to the rings and used a blow torch to solder the silver on and heat the rings so they became plyable, put the rings in an acidic solution and then into a bi carb mixture and then water and then banged the silver into a ring shape with a wooden hammer.

I got as far as banging 2 of the rings into shape. This Saturday I will be soldering the rings together and polishing the silver. There may be further steps too, I will find out soon! I am hoping to design my own piece of jewellery by the end of the 4 weeks. Below is the Pine Street studio in Chippendale, you can see my rings in the foreground. There was a great mix of people, all of which were at a much more advanced level to me as they had been doing the classes in previous terms. It was good to see the types of things I will hopefully be able to make in the future if I continue the classes.

My rings part way through the workshop and some of the tools I used

The studio and my rings at the end of one class

Day 47 - Lights

Friday night was date night with Alice. We went to Porteno in Surry Hills and had an 8 hour roasted pig and coleslaw and I had a nice glass of Pinot Noir. It was pretty tasty.

On my way home I started to notice the lighting from the street and traffic lights reflected on the road. I took a few snaps of the different colours reflected.

Day 46: Bunting

It was Mum's birthday on 28 February so I handmade a card. I'm a big fan of bunting and had seen a card I liked here and decided to create something similar.

Here's the finished result. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I sewed the bunting on using my sewing machine.