the agile housewife

1. I love going to the beach in summer. In Melbourne, most of the rain happens in winter and spring, so by summer, the water quality is at its best. I love watching people do the hot sand dance, and its converse, the cold water on sensitive bits shudder. There's no time of the day that the beach isn't great. From before breakfast, right through to dusk and night, the beach is a great place to be.
2. Frangipanis. As seen here: 
   
3. Stone fruit and berries. Fresh, made in to jam, gelato, stewed, so many ways of eating my favourite fruits! Oh and basil and coriander are going gangbusters in the garden, too.
4. I love twilight. At the height of summer, the sky in the horizon turns the most beautiful colour, while the sky overhead is dark enough to see stars. It beats the hell out of the quick descent of darkest night in winter. 
5. This might be a bit unpopular, especially with people who have timid animals, but I really enjoy fireworks, and in summer, they seem to be everywhere. 

Five summery things I can do without

1. The beach can get pretty crowded. I like it when it's nice and empty. That photo is a November beach, which would be just about perfect it weren't for what the Agile Professional calls "spanner water"*
2. Extreme temperature variations in Melbourne just about do my head in. This is what January looked like this year. I like my weather a little more consistent. Incidentally, today is freezing, turn the heater on type conditions.

3. I hate being at work and looking out at beautiful weather, which then changes just before home time so the trip to the beach for dinner gets cancelled. Avoiding this has been one of the key benefits of being made redundant four days before Christmas.
4. The grass in the back yard dies and the whole area becomes a hot dustbowl instead of the green oasis I want it to be. I'm slowly putting in more trees to try to avoid this, but we rent, so I don't want to overspend. 
5. Bushfires. No explanation needed. 

Along with getting the house and gardens sorted out and running smoothly, I really want to get a blogging routine going this year. In keeping with my need for accountability, I've decided to join in with Home Life Simplified's weekly link up, List mania.

For the first time ever, I'm on time for week one. So, here we go.

A little sci-fi trash piece by Mercedes Lackey called Invasion. So far it's about super powered people fighting alien Nazis. What more could a person want? On a more serious note, I'm also reading the guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge. The alien Nazis are a lot more fun. 

Right now I'm listening to the tennis. Music wise, I'm loving Alt-J, Grimes and Major Lazer. 

Nailed It as a meme. Google it. You won't regret it.

Not sure if I'm actually swooning, but I really like the Expedit bookcase at Ikea and covet some apothecary jars from Provincial Living. 

How I can use apothecary jars from Provincial Living to decorate the mantelpiece. 

Blue heaven milkshakes. I hadn't had one for years, and in the past week I've had four! I'm also ashamed to confess to buying hot cross buns already. In January. The shame!

Very tired! 

Finding a job is going to be more difficult than I imagined. The last time I was looking for work was seven years ago. Getting my resume up to scratch is proving a struggle. What achievements? I just did my job!

Photos of beautiful kitchens and bathrooms. I probably should avoid this while renting. It's like interior design is addictive. 

Lots of skirts and t-shirts with havianas. Wearing real shoes is going to be a come down when the weather gets cooler.

I made some fantastic bread rolls and Asian-spiced chicken burgers on Thursday night. There's been a few really good prawn curries on high rotation, too. And on Monday I made strawberry cupcakes. There's no such thing as too many strawberry dishes. 

If my the photos I have for sale on Fotolia will make me any money. And what to shoot next that might increase my chances of making some sales. You can find a couple here and here. Hopefully my portfolio will grow quickly.

Warning: nerd alert! I'm trying out astro photography using my telescope. And I'm loving it!