Tag: Memories

Wondrous Sea Jelly Spectacular

inspiringmax

The sight before me took my breath away. The room was filled with circular tanks of over 1000 sea jellies. I never realised that there was so much variety in them. The Sea Jelly Spectacular was taken to the next level by specially selected background music and neon lights. Together they emphasized the amazing pulsations of the jellyfish. The experience was so wondrous I still remember it with a smile nearly a decade later.

If ever you are in Hong Kong spend some time being memorized by these amazing creatures at the Sea Jelly Spectacular at Ocean Park.

Inspired by Word Of The Day – Wondrous thanks Cyranny

Coffee Catch-Up #31

inspiringmax

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?

Blogging From A-Z: C is Cabargo’s Train Cafe

inspiringmax

Have you ever been going for a day trip and accidentally found somewhere you’ll never forget? For me, this was Cabargo on the South Coast of New South Wales.

This historic village began in the late 1860’s. It’s unique main street is lined with turn of the century buildings. The shop owners today make and sell crafts and artworks that in many cases are similar to what they would have sold over 150 years ago.

We were first drawn to Cabargo when we saw the train cafe. It was lunch time when we drove through and this unique eatery didn’t disappoint. You could choose to eat inside or out. For us the choice was obvious. The train carriage was similar to the ones I had grown up with. So after lunch I enjoyed walking down memory lane remembering my childhood.

Unfortunately, Cabargo’s train cafe and the its unique main street are no longer. They were all destroyed in the bush fire that ravaged the village last New Year’s Eve. Cabargo became a community devastated by loss, not only of its buildings but also a father and his son who died protecting their property.

Weekly Photo Challenge: 2017 Favourites

inspiringmax

 

In January 2014, our family planted this frangipani tree to remember our cat, Yoda who had died days before. Last Thursday when I arrived to visit my daughter at our Sydney property, I noticed it had bloomed for the first time.  I was so excited. I rushed over and took a quick photo to show my husband on my return home. However, when I got home I was so busy with Christmas I forgot but fortunately my daughter was also so excited when she noticed the beautiful flowers that she shared her photo with us. One thing we all agreed on is that our frangipani’s beauty was special and a great choice for Yoda’s garden.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/2017-favorites/

Christmas Calendar 2017 #12

inspiringmax

 

Today we have decided to take this quote about not cleaning up mess seriously. As we near the close of Christmas day in Australia, our lounge room is still littered with presents and shredded paper, which is the remnants of what turned into a ‘snow fight’ during the opening of one of my presents this morning. Even looking at the mess brings a smile to my face remember the fun my husband, daughter and I had throwing shredded paper over each other this morning. A classic Christmas moment that couldn’t ever be planned or choreographed.

 

Christmas Calendar 2017 #11

inspiringmax

Personally I love Christmas. But as we get nearer to the day itself, let’s consider why we put all the effort in to make our Christmas day special. I agree, it’s love. Let’s face it, if we didn’t love the people we spend Christmas day with, we wouldn’t be bothered putting in the time and effort to create our Christmas every year.

Coffee Catch-Up #23

inspiringmax

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.

20171218_115220.jpg20171218_115250.jpg

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.

20171216_1009241998874906.jpg

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

inspiringmax

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.

The Ageless Paul McCartney

inspiringmax

Yesterday my life was changed forever. I attended Paul McCartney’s first Australian concert in Perth. Initially, I was unsure how much I would enjoy it. But hey I’m a good wife, so I’ll travel across Australia just so my husband can see his hero on his birthday.

Wow! What a great night it was and Paul even sang happy birthday to him and several others.

Titled One on One, Sir Paul’s plan was to engage with all 23,000 of us individually. Mission accomplished. For 3 hours he played and sang a well put together mix of 40 of his old, new and in between songs. He joked with us about how “he knows what we like” the old songs but he was playing his new songs and “he doesn’t care.”

His segways between songs with historical stories about them fascinated the crowd and gave us great insight into his early life. He was a master at seamlessly switching between instruments bass, guitar and piano as well as a special dedication to George Harrison on his ukulele. His other dedications were to John Lennon, George Martin, Jimi Hendrix as well as his first wife, Linda and current wife, Nancy.

Described by the media as Maccamania, everyone in the audience, young or old , felt touched by his performance. It really was like he was playing to you. The video and other special effects were like nothing I had ever seen at a concert before and for that matter I doubt I’ll ever experience again.

To make the night even more special he allowed a young man to propose to his girlfriend on stage at the end of the concert. The young couple had bonded on a Contiki tour 10 years ago because of their love for Beatles music. The ultimate in intimacy in a sell out crowd.

20171202_222605.jpg

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/age/

Family Traditions

inspiringmax

 

What I love about family traditions is that they are unique. Every family, even families within families have their own traditions and there is no end to the options. Big or small to start a new tradition the only need to enjoy the experience and do it regularly. My husband and my latest tradition is to prepare breakfast on the weekend and eat it together on the front verandah, watching the world go by. The only thing missing is a newspaper but we haven’t added that to our traditions yet.

Some times of the year like Christmas and birthdays involve more traditions than others. Being part of a large extended family this means the tradition of celebrating is never far away. The hardest part is setting the date, time and place and from there on the organisation of  a party for a special occasion isn’t difficult. Everyone knows what to do and our family traditions that always involve FOOD – GLORIOUS FOOD continue.

COLOUR THEMED CHRISTMAS last year you guessed right – GREEN.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/traditional/