Tag: Coffee catch-up

Coffee Catch-Up #47

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that this month is Inspiring Max’s 10th blogiversary. I can’t believe its been so long. I created my first blog post on Mother’s Day 2014. It was a celebration of mothers and what we are teaching our children. Interestingly, the current style of my blog posts isn’t that different to my first.

I can clearly remember the months before I started and the scary preparation needed to get her off the ground. Sending that first post into the blogosphere was such an achievement for me. Initially, I had no followers but slowly and surely I found my people. Over the years I have had approximately 40,000 views, nearly 22,000 visitors from just under 700 posts. Thank you for being part of my journey. I am grateful to you all.

If we were having coffee I would tell you in April we had a family getaway to celebrate a few significant birthdays. To make it a bit special we decided to make it an 80s party on the Saturday night. We all dressed 80’s style, ate 80’s foods and played 80’s music. It was so much fun. We were pleased that most family members could come for at least part of the weekend. We hired out a house in the country and despite the rain we had a great time.

I had a great time in the lead up creating 80’s themed props to add some sparkle to our party. I was pleased with how everything turned out.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that last Tuesday I as fortunate to go to Government House in Sydney for my step mother’s OAM investiture. This is a very special award given as part of the Australia Day Honours to Australians who have demonstrated outstanding service or exceptional achievement. It was a very special, well earned day. Her award was presented by Her Excellency the Honurable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that unfortunately I didn’t finish my A-Z challenge in April. I am not sure how I lost my focus but as I had already written most of my posts I will work hard to finish them realistically by the end of June. It was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy hearing about our unique travels in Australia.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I am in my final weeks of planning our trip to British Columbia, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. We will be exploring these areas from late August and our trip will include an Alaskan cruise. If you know any hidden gems in these areas, please let me know so I can include them in our plan. Being only 13 weeks away it is getting exciting.

Thanks for hosting Natalie #weekendcoffeeshare

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world?

Coffee Catch-Up #46

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If we were having coffee I would tell you about our trip to Windsor a few weeks ago. Our purpose was to win a trip to Disneyland. I had won a golden ticket in a chocolate bar just like Charlie. Winners were then registered and put in a lucky draw barrel. By attending the special event, if we won we received extra spending money. Why not we thought. The local lolly shop held the event. All 40 staff were dressed in Disney costumes and acted in character. Unfortunately, we didn’t win but had a great time anyway. By the way Mickey sends his love.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how pleased my husband and I were to find an old fashioned All You Can Eat Pizza Hut. These are rare in Australia these days. However, when our kids were little we would often go and celebrate our special events at the local one near our home. Just being at one always brings back many happy memories. We were also pleased that the pizza and salad bar options hadn’t changed much in the last 30+ years.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I am enjoying blogging again. Not only writing and creating the posts but also blog hopping. I love visiting other blogs and seeing how they interpret the same themes. I am really looking forward to joining this years A-Z blogging challenge next month. It will be my 4th time but for the first I am the most organised this year.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how pleased I was to discover the cause of my hip pain. It has been going on for about 5 years. Initially, it was thought to be osteoarthritis, something I couldn’t do much about. Fortunately, it turned out to be a form of bursitis and was fixed by a simple cortisone injection. I love being able to walk without a limp again.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about our work Paint and Sip social last year. It was a lot of fun. Our theme was The Grinch. He was fairly easy as we could trace him rather than draw him freehand. It was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning and despite a few sips, I think my painting turned out well. Me being me of course had to change his background colour from black to one that I made up myself.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world?

Thanks to Natalie for hosting #weekend coffee share.

Coffee Catch-Up # 42

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that it has been very quiet over the last month as our family has recovered from covid. For me getting healthy has taken a lot longer than most people. The upside is that I have had a month to consider my options for my twilight years. Oh and I have been able to binge watch Desperate housewives on Disney +. With 8 sessions it got me through the brain fog and required no thinking. It also make me laugh.

If we were having coffee I would ask you if you saw the 4 planets lined up in the night sky late in April. Just before sunrise was the best time to view them. From the end of our driveway we got a good view on the Saturday and Monday mornings. On the best viewing day Sunday however the sky was full of cloud and they were not visible.

The 4 planets that lined up were Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. It is said to have been 1000 years since these planets had aligned. I was grateful to have seen them.

If we were having coffee I would tell you last weekend was my mother-in-law’s 92nd birthday. Most family members traveled to Newcastle to surprise her on this special day. She had no idea and seeing the grandchildren in particular put a smile on her face, something that is rare these days.

If we were having coffee I would tell you last weekend was both Mother’s Day and the 8th anniversary of Inspiring Max. I can’t believe it has been so long. Blogging is the gift that keeps on giving. I find I have learnt a lot about myself, my community and the world. After reviewing my anniversary yesterday I wrote a blogpost about planning for fun where I make a plan to be more proactive in the next 2 years.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I nearly completed this years Blogging From A-Z challenge. I missed Y and Z as my brain fog was too much. I enjoyed it although I would have liked to have blog hopped more. Next year I will start my planning early particularly for the back end of the alphabet.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world.

Coffee Catch-Up #41

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that I can’t believe it has been nearly 3 months since our last chat. To be honest this is very similar to my real life coffee catch-ups that aren’t very regular. As you possibly know by now for 4 weeks of this year my husband and I went touring in Truby. ( Our slide on camper and Iveco. ) On many other weekends before and after, I was working to make up my shifts. After work I mean to blog but often don’t make it to the computer.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I am again participating in Blogging from A to Z. Writing a blogpost daily is helping get my mojo back. Also, having a theme, our recent holiday, makes the decision of what to write easy. So, it is simply a matter of writing it. Each day I find this to get quicker. Just like when I started blogging in 2014 and I was following the daily word prompts. I have also realsied that when April is finished I still have a lot of other topics to write about.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that my daughter has moved home after living in regional NSW. She is easy to live with so beside the extra stuff around, everything is going smoothly.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I have spent a lot of time covering my new secondhand books in contact. One of the things I love about traveling is going to second hand book shops. It is a great way to support the local communities and increase my library. Sometimes I have specific books that I am looking for, otherwise I accidently find new authors. My husband can now work out my book style based on the artwork on the front cover. We were even able to find some of his much rarer books at reasonable prices. Below is a photo of most of the novels I found.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how surprised I was back in January to hear our most famous children’s group had won the Triple JJJ’s Hottest 100. This countdown features the most popular song for the previous year. It the classic example of doing what you love and success will follow.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world.

Thanks to Natalie for hosting #weekend coffee share

Coffee Catch-Up #31

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If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I enjoy picking my salad vegetables every morning and night. Our vegetable gardens are growing well. My fresh baby spinach, rocket, parsley, various styles of lettuce and self growing tomatoes taste amazing. Who knew my husband and I have green thumbs.

If we were having coffee I would ask you how you eat your gingerbread men. Head or legs first? I am a leg person. This special man created for me by one of my young clients is awesome. She said she made him herself and he smells divine. I wanted to name him but didn’t because then I couldn’t eat him. Taste verdict. Perfect.

If we were having coffee I would ask you if you have any idea why my hair is turning yellow in places. It has been totally grey for about 3 years now and today I noticed the changes. I hope its temporary as I’m not a fan. I love having grey hair. It’s on trend and that you can’t purchase in a bottle

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much fun I had running around the ward last Monday with a French chicken on my head. Why you ask? The company I work for has set a 12 days of Christmas challenge. The aim to get staff and patients into the Christmas spirit. Last Monday was the 3rd day and we needed to either dress or decorate with chickens, eggs or French. Every ward or area did it differently. Our 3 staff wore chicken hats with the wings painted red, white and blue. They made everyone smile and laugh. Tomorrow is cow day. Who knew work could be so much fun!

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much fun we had celebrating my husband’s 60th birthday. He never wanted a big party so COVID restrictions weren’t a problem to him. We had 2 smaller parties. One for each side of the family. A joint one with my sister’s husband who was turning 50, and a surprise one with his brother and family. It was the Beatles themed. We all wore a Beatles T-shirts, most of which came from hubby’s supply.

Both were great nights filled with fun, laughter and memories.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how frustrated I was last week when my blog didn’t work. The problem was my Jetpack plug-in. By disabling it, my blog worked. But it was useless. I couldn’t connect with anyone or receive any feedback. It was weird, like giving a speech to an empty stadium. I didn’t like it. So I stopped blogging until it was fixed. Lucky, as the posts I wrote during this time remain in limbo. Not recognised in the official count.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what has been happening in your world?

Coffee Catch-Up #23

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that I finished my Christmas shopping last Tuesday. What a relief. And yesterday I  finished wrapping all of the presents, which I always get excited about. Unfortunately, this year we won’t have a big Christmas tree to put them under as we are currently between trees. The one from our old house is broken from too much loving and I don’t want to buy a new one until we extend next year.  So in the interium it will be back to the small fibre optic tree that changes colours.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about how much fun the family of magpies that has taken up residence in our garden are having playing under the water sprinkler when Rod puts it on to water my garden each evening. They run around under the water in an attempt to cool off and then enjoy looking for worms in the soil. They are too quick for us however, so every time we go to take a photo they run away and play somewhere else.

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that I really enjoyed flying into Sydney from Perth last week. As we flew overnight from the west coast to the east coast of Australia we saw a different flight path and to my surprise we also flew over our old suburb. I loved seeing the sunrise from the sky and an aerial view of what I think is the Parramatta River.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I made my own baked beans this week and was very pleased with how tasty they were. Motivated by having had some when we were in Perth, I was on a mission to give them a go. I have since found some other recipes so I think I might give them all a try and then rank my results. Do you have a favourite baked beans recipe you’d like to share?

If we were having coffee I would probably ask you if you want some Christmas bush. Our tree has once again produced a bumper crop and sharing it with family and friends makes it feel like an Aussie Christmas. We have 2 vases in our house, the one below in the entry to our house and one in the kitchen, the hub of the home.

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

Coffee Catch-Up #22

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that I can’t believe it has been six months since our last coffee catch up. Wow how quickly that time has flown. Life has a funny way of changing sometimes. When I started Inspiring Max it seemed all I did was work and blog. These days I work half as much but I am having so much fun, I haven’t been prioritizing my blogging. Fortunately for me, my blog has continued to work without my input so I am inspired to get organised and make 2018 my best blogging year yet.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I am my veggie garden is complete. I finished the last garden just hours before departing for my holiday to Perth. It took months to do all 4 gardens as they were all created from scratch or given a total revamp with the help of my husband. I have been enjoying some of the herbs and lettuces that I planted earlier on a daily basis as I prepare my salads for lunch. I can’t wait to see how much they have grown while we are away.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about my last trip to Bunnings (a very large hardware/gardening store.) While I was gathering my gardening soil I suddenly felt eyes staring at me. I looked ahead and much to my surprise was a waterdragon sitting on the pallets like he owned the store.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about Kellie. Kellie is the name my daughter gave to the kookaburras who come to visit our backyard. They seem to enjoy being there, as they come often in groups of 2 or 3. Their laughter is very infectious and never fails to bring a smile to my face.

If we were having coffee I would tell you we are having a wonderful trip to Perth, Western Australia. According to the fridge magnet I bought yesterday it is the the most isolated city in the world. This could easily be true as it is nearly a 5 hour flight from Sydney.

To have a bit of fun with the distance my husband and I decided to allow the Pacific and Indian Oceans to meet. At 7am we went to Bar Beach (Newcastle) and walked into the Pacific Ocean. We gather some of the Pacific Ocean in a bottle and took it on the plane to Perth. At 7pm the same night we walked into the Indian Ocean at Bathers Beach (Freemantle). We then poured our bottle of the Pacific Ocean water into the Indian Ocean. Bucket list item complete.

P.S We didn’t wash our feet or legs between oceans so they were also mixed together on us.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how weird it felt to see the sunset over the ocean in Australia. Living on the east coast, we always see the sun rise over the ocean. I am hoping to view the sunset again, with more vivid colours next time.

If we were having coffee I would how amazing the Paul McCartney concert was on Saturday night. Prior to the concert I wasn’t a huge fan but I am now. What a show! I would have to say it was the best concert I have ever been to. https://www.inspiringmax.com/the-ageless-paul-mccartney 


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

Coffee Catch-Up #21

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that instead of coffee today we were having champagne to celebrate Inspiring Max turning 3 recently. Wow! I can’t believe how quickly that time has flown. When I started I knew nothing about blogging or where this journey would take me but I am so glad I took the plunge and dived head first into the deep blogging pool. I have learnt so much and love the sense of community out there in the blogosphere.

I love it when I connect with new blogs. My geography has also improved as I discover someone from a small country or island I didn’t know existed has visited Inspiring Max. Thanks for being part of my world and I hope our journey continues to deepen.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about our recent visit to Copeland Tops State Conservation Area, just outside Barrington Tops National Park. We walked the Hidden Treasure Loop Track, a 2 hour bush walk through a dry rain forest. The area is an old gold field and is scattered with old mine shafts throughout, so it is essential to stick to the path or risk serious harm or death. The highlight of our walk was Hidden Treasure mine entrance. Despite it being sealed up, with the help of flash photography we could see the old quartz seams that had once held gold. It was quite spectacular in its natural forest surroundings, but I wouldn’t have wanted to walk that distance to work every day.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I am enjoying working in my garden at our new house. I have always wanted to develop a vegetable and herb garden, but I’ve never had the time to devote to it. Now with only working part-time and not having children to run around my time is my own so I’m hoping to prove I have green thumbs. This week I began by making a herb garden, which so far is going well. I also bought a modern version of the Yates gardening guide to help me prepare for Spring planting. As Winter starts in Australia next week I’ll be planting soon enough. I am interested in any advice you may have of things to do or not do when growing my produce.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about King Street Boutique Motel, the accommodation my husband and I stayed at on our recent trip to Gloucester. It was created from one of the old homes of the area and contained a communal lounge, dining and kitchen area with 4 rooms on each side of the communal real. It was great value and our fellow travelers were friendly. Our room also had a little verandah that overlooked the driveway and from which you could see the  mountains in the background.

 

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

Coffee Catch – Up # 20

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If we were having coffee I would tell you I can’t believe its nearly 5 months since our last coffee. Doesn’t time fly when you don’t keep an eye on it. Today I was also struck by how quickly I have lost my writing skills. From writing nearly everyday in my old life, I am struggling for inspiration today. I know it is purely because I haven’t written anything for a while, so I’ll make a commitment to myself to get back on track as I have missed you all.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that back in March my husband and I finally got our furniture delivered from Sydney. It was very exciting to see the big truck pull up outside. Finally, our move was complete. So we did what anyone in our situation would do and had a glass of bubbly (champagne) to celebrate. Yes, it tasted good.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I love the Sydney Royal Easter show.I love to spend hours walking around the pavilions — arts and crafts, food, leisure and kids — they are all amazing. Some people are so talented. I love the creativity especially in the fruit and vegetable displays every year. Each area creates a display using the fruit and vegetables they grow in a design that depicts where they are from. This year  my 3 favourites were

 

If we were having coffee I would tell you about my brother and his partner’s housewarming party. It turned out to be code for secret wedding. It was very exciting and caught many family and friends of guard as they had dressed for a backyard BBQ and ended up having their photo taken with the happy couple. Fortunately, my father who was in hospital was able to get a leave pass so was able to attend. As for me I was very suspicious they were up to something and was very happy to be proven right. I loved their wedding cake — chocolate mud cake topped with cute umpa lumpas to match the chocolate factory theme of their house warming.

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If we were having coffee I would tell you how great it has been catching up with family and friends since moving back to Newcastle. Recently we meet some of our diving friends for dinner at Valentine Bowling Club and while the catch up was great, the sunset over Lake Macquarie was amazing. I had forgotten the joy a simple sunset can bring.

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

Coffee Catch – Up # 19

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If we were having coffee I would wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2016 has been an amazing year and I have loved sharing it with you.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that Christmas 2016 had a green theme for our family, which was a great success. My sister who organises our family celebrations really should start a party decorating business. She does a spectacular job matching everything to the colour theme and we all help by coming dressed accordingly. It’s a special and memorable day for all who attend.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that life is getting exciting as our painter is slowly transforming our house into a home. The more work he completes the happier we are with our colour choice of grey/lavender walls and white gloss trims. Interestingly, when the family voted on next years colour theme for Christmas, they chose Gravender (a combination of grey and lavender), so we should have a head start on inspiration.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how nice it was to have Christmas bush back in our life. Our Newcastle property has an old Christmas bush tree and we have enjoyed giving some to family and friends again. Australians love Christmas bush and it helps bring the country to the city.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I enjoyed the preparation for Christmas this year. From the shopping to the baking I have loved the planning and execution of each task. Many of the things I now do have become my tradition but I don’t think I realised it until this year.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I would love  to see the rain falling on Ularu at present. Due to the dryness of the area, rain on the rock is a rare but spectacular event.

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