Author: inspiringmax

Coffee Catch-Up #27

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If we were having coffee I would tell you I can’t believe that it has been over 3 months since I last blogged. Initially, this was due to writer’s block. I struggled to come up with any inspiration. I found it much easier when I first started blogging as I followed The Daily Post topics. If you have any suggestions or secrets to overcoming writer’s block I would love to hear them.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I’m enjoying using my sewing machine again. I hadn’t sewed for over 10 years but wanted to sew masks for my family. Operation cover up has been a family affair. My husband and I enjoyed going to Spotlight to choose fun materials to match everyone’s personalities. Then between my husband, daughter and I, after several trial runs, we eventually found a pattern that sat comfortably on all of our faces.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about our slide-on camper Ruby home. When it came to preparing her for our recent holiday, the hardest thing was deciding what was essential to take. This was because we were limited with weight availability. To fix this we needed to weigh everything we put in her. And if necessary find a lighter alternative. A bigger ute is able to carry a bigger load, so we will look for a new one before our longer trips. Eventually we won the battle and excluded 100 kilos worth of useful things. The we could legally depart and no longer put our insurance at risk.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I was to buy myself a pie maker for my birthday. Today is my first attempt at making pies. I chose a basic beef mince pie for the filling. While cooking it had an amazing aroma. The frustration is the need for a delay between making the mince and making the pies. The reason is the mince filling needs to be cold when it goes into the shortcrust pastry or it will go soggy. End results, worth the effort for both regular and gluten free pies.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world. Let me know in the comments.

Ruby Tuesday # 1

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The past few months have seen my husband and I enter a new stage of our life. We bought a slide-on camper and began preparing to become grey nomads, a much more complicated task than I first realised. So many things to learn and yes we made a few rookie errors.

Over the last fortnight we took Ruby (the camper), on her maiden voyage, travelling around New South Wales. Yes, she is red. Actually she is the only red PUMA slide-on in Australia so there is no hiding. If you see us on the road stop by and have a chat.

On our first night free camping at a truck stop, we got chatting to the young lady behind the counter and she informed us that she had seen us earlier that day parked by the side of the road about 100 kilometres away. She said Ruby had made her smile as she had thought to herself how “cool” she looked.

Travelling in Australia during COVID is a weird experience, because of all by border closures. In New South Wales, we are trapped as you can’t cross the border to Queensland, Victoria or South Australia without a valid exemption, which are nearly impossible to get. Our limited travel options however, weren’t a problem to us. We just found small unusual towns to visit, now we are not limited to finding accommodation enroute.

To celebrate our new life style, I have decided to create a regular new blog feature – Ruby Tuesday – to share our adventures, interesting tidbits and learnings from our travels in Ruby. I hope you enjoy armchair travelling Australia with us.

Coffee Catch-Up #26

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If we were having coffee I would tell you how pleased I was last Sunday to be able to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee at its place of purchase. In New South Wales you can only have 10 people in a cafe or restaurant so I was grateful we chose a less popular spot. Sitting down for a coffee made it feel like life is getting back to normal.

If we were having coffee I would wish you a happy Mother’s Day for a fortnight ago. For me Mother’s day weekend was so busy. It was my mother in laws 90th birthday and the first time I had seen my mother since lockdown. As we were allowed our first visitors to our house, my son and daughter in law surprised me with a special visit. It was the first time I had seen them since their Australian wedding.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I have joined a three week push-up challenge raising funds for headspace. The first time I attempted my push–ups I was able to make 7 which surprised me. Over the next week I have increased my durability to 15.

If we were having coffee I would ask you if you had been to the beach this weekend to check out the enormous surf. It is mesmerizing. This morning we walked from Bar Beach to Merewether Beach. At times you couldn’t see any sand as it was covered in white water from the high surf. it probably won’t surprise you to know the fisherman left catch less, although I would give him points for trying.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I am today having cooked my first amazing roast chicken. Yes. I have cooked a chook before but not in over 10 years and they usually don’t turn out well. Last weekend my husband and I went to buy a new frypan as the old one was no longer non stick. After exploring our options, I choose the Bacaarat 2 in 1 multi cooker. Today, for some unknown reason I decided to test it out by cooking my chicken. And I am pleased I followed my gut. The beauty of the multi cooker is that it is frypan, grillpan as well as roasting dish and lid. I used the roasting dish and lid for the first 2 hours and then for the remainder of the time let the chicken cook without a lid in the grill pan. No extra oil was used and a flavoursome, moist chicken was the result. With all the oil that came out of the chicken, I am sure it is healthier than the usual shop bought roast chicken.

If we were having coffee I would ask you how you have been filling in your days. Let me know in the comments.

Opening Up

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In New South Wales, Australia, today is the day we have all been waiting for. We can start going to cafes or restaurants to eat in, have 5 people visit our homes and enjoy the loosening of restrictions in many other everyday activities and events.

This process throughout the world is known as opening up. As I begin to get excited about the options of our increasing freedoms, I considered what the phrase ‘opening up’ means. After all, nothing in life can happen if we don’t do something different or let someone in.

Here are my thoughts arranged in an acrostic poem.

OPENING UP

Ordering thoughts

Planning to make changes

Endeavouring to cover all options

Negotiating any obstacles

Intuitively doing what needs to be done

Not letting fear stop us

Going ahead with the plan knowing it is as good as it can be

Understanding the risks

Positive thinking about the outcomes

International Nurses Day

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Today is International Nurses Day, celebrated each year on 12th May, Florence Nightingale’s Birthday. It is a day that everyone reflects on the work we do daily. I, like most nurses enjoy my job, even though it is rarely easy. One thing is for certain, everyday is different and it is never predictable.

I began my psychiatric nursing career nearly 40 years ago when training was in hospitals, not at university. Fortunately over the years the stigma attached to mental illness and mental health concerns has changed greatly. In 2020, hopefully everyone understands that their mental health is as important as their physical health.

I love this tribute written and performed by a doctor to nurses. He has reworded the song Always A Woman To Me addressing so many classic issues for nurses everywhere. I smiled all the way through it as it triggered many memories for me.

This year International Nurses Day is special. As well as nurses risking their lives to save the world, it is also 200 years from Florence Nightingale’s birth.

Nurses are the back bone of our community, always there when you need them. Next time you see or need a nurse, give them a big smile and say thank you. It will make our day.

6 Years Young

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Today Inspiring Max is 6. I can’t believe how much life has changed. My first blog post back in 2014 was titled Happy Mother’s Day.

Here is my 12 month celebratory post, my first blogiversary in 2015. I was excited by how far I’d come. In May 2014, I had 23 views and I didn’t care I had no followers, I had views and I began to believe in myself. I could do this. By May 2015, Inspiring Max was moving up with 12,567 views and 415 followers. This month, May 2020 I have created 574 posts, have had 16,106 visitors, 30,444 views and 1,108 followers.

I also love that after a year of blogging Inspiring Max had been read in 114 countries and in the following 5 years it continues to find new audiences and now has been read in 134 countries. Many of these countries I never knew existed.

One of the things that surprised me during my break from blogging is how my site kept growing even without me working it. Like our finances growing with compound interest for the approximately 800+ days I was absent Inspiring Max kept growing at 2-3 views per day without new content. This makes me wonder where I would have been if I had stayed.

When I returned to Inspiring Max, one of my favourite things was visiting my old blogging friends and seeing how much their blogs had grown. After all, blogging isn’t just about writing and posting good content. I believe it is a package. We are part of an ever growing community and no-one can blog alone.

To me, blogging is divided into four parts:

  • Blog hoping – going from one blog to another viewing and reading their sites
  • Joining in challenges created by other bloggers
  • Engaging with new and old blogs, by liking and commenting on their posts
  • Gaining knowledge by sharing experiences. Never has this been more relevant than now. We can all check on each other during this time of world lock down.

Merewether Aquarium

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For many years, I have walked past the pedestrian underpass leading to Merewether Beach. As I had a walked past on the beach side, I had vaguely noticed that the outside was painted and was welcoming people to come inside. But I never did.

Last Sunday on my weekly local exploration walk however I found myself using the underpasss from the other side to get to the beach. It was then that I remembered it was called Merewether Aquarium. I couldn’t believe the difference.

The Merewether Aquarium was created by local artist, Mister Trevor Dickinson in 2014. An aquarium is a great description of the underpass as the artist has even painted a turtle and a shark on the roof of the underpass so it feels like you are in the viewing tunnel of a big aquarium.

The paintings on either side of the aquarium walls are fun and full of quirky details and hidden messages. Some of my favourites were:

  • The local Merewether bus
  • The artist himelf as a diver
  • Newcastle’s local 4 times World Champion Surfer – Mark Richards
  • Merewether Ocean Baths building
  • Merwether Surfhouse
  • The diving blocks from the ocean baths
  • The local hotel
  • Humpback whales that swim up and down the coast from May to November
  • Lifeguard vehicles

I also love the black lines painted regularly giving the impression you are looking through glass.

Coffee Catch-Up #25

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If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I miss having real coffee dates. In Australia, we can buy takeaway coffee. But we can’t sit down anywhere to drink it. Mostly I enjoy my takeaway coffee alone. However, occasionally I share the experience with someone. Walking and drinking coffee isn’t the same luxury as sitting down together for a coffee catch-up.

Takeaway coffee doesn’t give you such amazing art.

If we were having coffee I would ask you if you did anything to celebrate Anzac Day last Saturday. Although I have always thought about attending a dawn service or Anzac Day march I never have. Some years I have gone to the pub to watch the Two-Up. This is a traditional Australian gambling game only legal on Anzac Day.

This year however was very different. No dawn services, no marches and no Two-Up. Instead families and individuals gathered on their driveways, social distancing and remembering our diggers at 0600. For me, it was very personal. I stood alone on my driveway. I was filled with emotion as I could hear the bugles playing The Last Post over the sounds of birds. Next year, I be on my driveway again. This time I will light the dawn with my candle.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how frustrated I have been over the past month with my blog not working as easily as it used to. The problem is everything needed updating and I am not computer friendly. Making the necessary changes has given me a lot of new knowledge about my blog and computer so my confidence has grown.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I bought a subscription to Disney+for the family as an Easter present. My husband and I grew up in the 60’s watching the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights. Our kids grew up with Disney channel, so there is something on it for everyone. We have all found many hidden gems and been entertained for hours.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I was pleased to complete this years A-Z blogging challenge. I stated a few days late but caught up and finished on time. It was a great way to retrain my brain into writing regularly and simplifying my words. Now the secret is to come up with a plan for Inspiring Max that helps my creativity develop.

If we were having coffee I would ask you how you have been filling in your days during the world’s lock down. Let me know in the comments.

Blogging From A-Z: Z is Museum Zoo

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One day while exploring Brisbane I accidentally happened on the Museum Zoo at the Queensland Museum. This event even though it was 10 years ago, continues to be a favourite of mine. The zoo was made up of 700 prehistoric and modern animals in various displays.

I loved all aspects of the museum zoo, however my favourite was the Parade of Animals. The parade had taxidermy animals and animal skeletons lined up in relative size. It was fascinating to compare so many different species.

I also admired the special attention the museum zoo paid to our extinct animals.

Blogging From A-Z: Y is Yackandandah

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Yackandandah is a beautiful little town just over the New South wales in Victoria. It is an original town that hasn’t changed a lot since it was a gold mining town. Because of this, the centre of the town is classified by the National Trust.

When we visited we spent about an 1 1/2 hours talking to staff in the Tourist Information Centre, gaining invaluable knowledge of the town and local region. This is something we love to do when we visit a new town. Doing so, often reveals hidden gems you don’t find on the internet.

One of the big tips we were given was the Gum Tree Pies. As we hadn’t eaten even though it was 1400, we decided to sample their wares. Wow, we were very pleased we did. I chose the pepper pie and I would have to say it was and still is the best I have ever eaten. The other surprise was how busy the small store was, despite it being past the lunch time rush.

In 2003, the iconic Australian movie, Strange Bedfellows was filmed in Yackandandah. The film showcased the main street in all its glory. As we drove through the town we were excited to remember the film and pick out the individual film locations.