Cactus Country

After 5 days of very hot weather up in Kyabram or Ky as the locals call it, which raises an interesting question of the pronunciation of Kyabram and Kyneton – but that’s a whole other story, 31 December 2019 had cooler weather forecasted so we made the most of it.  We finished the year/decade with a long overdue visit to Cactus Country in Strathmerton (approximately 3 hours north of Melbourne, near Cobram).

What an awesome place!  If you love cactus and succulents, then this is the place for you.  They have over 4,000 species from around the globe spread over 12 acres.  Easy to follow coloured trails (borrow a folder containing maps and descriptions of the different varieties and where they are from) allow you to wander around marvelling at the range and size of their collection – with plans to continue expanding!

Many of the cactus were still in flower, although if you want to see them in full bloom, October/November is probably the best time of the year.  They are open 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm.

Owner Jim Hall has done a brilliant job of bringing a little bit of Mexico to Victoria and he was more than happy to chat and share his passion for all things prickly.  As well as the gorgeous gardens, they have a café, bar and restaurant on site and lots of cute little nooks and crannies that make for some fabulous Instagram moments (if you’re into that sort of thing).  Not surprising that they hold weddings and functions here, it makes for a great back drop. We tried the Cactus Cake and that was delish – super moist, but a bit early for Margaritas (never too early?).

Many know my love of skulls, so I loved the Mexican graveyard with its Day of the Dead theme – wore a skull t-shirt for the occasion.  They host a Day of the Dead fiesta which looks like lots of fun, must return for that!  Sunset and night-time tours are also available – check the website for details.

They also have an area for plant sales on site where you can add to your own collection. Some of the unusual Elephant’s foot, (Dioscorea elephantipes), available.  Resembling an elephant’s foot or a tortoise shell they belong to the yam family and are native to semi-arid areas in southern Africa. They are not cheap, but they do make an interesting talking point.

All in all, well worth the visit.  Oh and dogs are welcome, so even Lola got to enjoy being part of the day and meeting Oreo the local doggy on-site.  Just watch where they walk and pee – cactus spikes can hurt!

Gorgeous Colour

Love the graveyard for a bit of fun!

Lola enjoying her day out exploring

The unusual Elephant's Foot - at $450 for this one, not cheap!

Happy 14th Birthday Lola!

On this day back in 2006, our beloved fur-baby Lola was born.  14 years old today.  She might not be as active and arthritis, Cushings, near deafness and her itches might have slowed her down, but she brings joy every day and we love her dearly.

Lola came into our lives in April 2006 weighing in at a mighty 900g.  A tiny little ball of fluff, we had to put a bell on her to stop us stepping on her.  Sad to say that she was a pet-shop puppy – bought before we knew better, on the spur of the moment.  We’d gone to Kmart to buy welly boots and there she was.  Well not in Kmart, but next door. We had been looking for a new Cocker Spaniel to join our family and had just missed out on a nine-month-old.  Emi saw her, picked her up and that was it – all over red rover. Love at first sight. 

Our dearly missed bubba Lucas (just re-read this, so now have tears streaming down my face) wasn’t overly impressed at his new baby sis (maybe because she wasn’t a Cocker), but they eventually became friends and shared many happy adventures together.  Since losing Lucas, Lola has become the queen of her domain, defender of the home and remains the happy little (OK maybe not so little – she’s now a porky 10kg) fur-baby she has always been.

So on this day of her 14^th Birthday, we celebrate and hope that she is with us for many more to come. A few of Lola's adventures (like me, even she has slacked off on the writing):

Lola the Explorer goes to Lake Eildon
Left behind
Christmas in Ballarat - Part Two
Back to Baconsville
Lola and the mystery of the black truffle
It's all about me - a special guest post
Lola goes to the beauty parlour
Tail on the Road

Lola and Lucas

Always had my dad wrapped around my paw

A bit of yoga

Today is also “Reyes” or the Three Kings Day (something to do with Epiphany). Celebrated in Spain (and elsewhere) it’s the day the 3 wise men arrived bearing gifts.  Gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense as a symbol of deity, and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death. Weird gifts for a bub, but I guess they were different times.  In Spain today it’s celebrated with a parade, sweets, presents and Rosca de Reyes (Ring of the Kings) a sweet bread.  Nothing like extending Christmas holidays and more eating.

New Year, New Decade, New Word

It’s that time of the year when thoughts turn to New Year’s Resolutions, goals, plans for the year and lists (lots of people are addicted to lists - and notebooks). Sadly, my 2019 list of things to do was severely neglected in 2019 – even though I had more time than ever to get things done.  So neglected, that when I upgraded my computer, it seems to have dropped off and I've only just noticed. Technology fail.

I don’t really go for New Year’s Resolutions – in one year and out the other (I did read this week that they are basically just to-do-lists for the first week of the year) – but I do like a good list and I choose a ‘word.’ 

My word for 2019 was FREEDOM.  That was an easy one, after all I was happily unemployed and had a whole year ahead of me to do as I pleased.  But what did that actually mean?  Time to write more, read more, get fit, learn new things and do all those things I’ve always wanted to do but never had enough time.

Full steam ahead.  Until, I stalled.  Life got slower, I don’t mean I slept in or spent all day doing nothing, I walked more, got out and met new people for coffee, chatted to neighbours, went overseas, helped Emi, ironed (livin' the dream) and cooked more than ever!  Was I bored? Never. Did I miss work? Fuck no.  But I didn’t do all the things that I thought were important. I didn’t write more, I wrote less, I read less, I ticked less things off my list and I still don’t have a Will.

For me, FREEDOM meant PROCRASTINATION.

I would have quiet happily remained 'retired', but financially not a realistic option and FREEDOM obviously wasn’t working out as expected.  Get a job I love was top of the list, working out what that was – hard!  Finding a job outside of “what you do” not so easy.  

But exactly one year after FREEDOM, I started working again.  My new job came out of the blue in that I didn’t apply for it.  Do I love it? Does it pay well? No, not really but guess what, I’m starting to get more of the things I love to do done!  The saying “if you want something done give it to a busy person” now makes perfect sense. 

I start 2020 employed.  I’ve given some thought to goals and have started working on my list of things to do for the year.  And now I need a word.  In a recent post, I asked for a positive word that began with the first letter of your name to get some ideas. 

  I received lots of great words and added a few more and came up with a long list:

BEAUTIFUL	MARVELLOUS	AMAZING	TRANQUIL
KINDNESS	RESPECT	DETERMINATION	BOLDNESS
CALM	CARE	JOY	DO
CHALLENGE	ENJOY	LISTEN	LAUGH
AMAZING	FUN	RELEASE	HAPPY
BEGIN	DREAM	ALIGNMENT	BALANCED
HOPE	COMPASSION	GRATITUDE	GROW
FORGIVE	WONDER	AWESOME	PRESENCE
INSPIRATION	ADVENTURE	POSITIVITY	IMAGINE
ACTION	CONFIDENCE	JOURNEY	SATISFACTION
COMMITTED	ENOUGH	DIRECTION	BRAVE
TRUST	SPARKLE	STRENGTH	TODAY
LOVE	FOCUS	POSSIBILITIES	RECLAIM

 I narrowed it down to five and then chose one without overthinking it. And the word is…………..

BEGIN

Not sure why that word stood out for me. Maybe because I’d read a recent quote by Zig Ziglar:

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great”   Be like Zig.

All of a sudden, I came across other quotes that resonated: 

“Start before you're ready. Don't prepare, begin.” - Mel Robbins

“Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.” - Horace

“There are so many doors to open. I am impatient to begin." - Charlie Gordan

“Beginning is difficult, but unavoidable” - Israelmore Ayivor

“Don't try to figure out the whole race. Just figure out where to put your foot for the starting line. Just start.” - Jeff Olson

Footnote:  Thanks Lesley for writing down "Lazy".  Because it's an important reminder that we should all have a lazy day once in a while!  Siesta Sunday's should be a thing.