30 June, 2010

Watery Wednesday: Coogee Beach

I still have 5 minutes of Wednesday left to do a Watery Wednesday posting.  I'm cutting it a bit fine today.



The weather has been lousy for taking photos over the last two weeks but I went to Coogee Beach to try my luck.  It was too grey and overcast to get anything spectacular but I liked this shot of a wave breaking over the edge of the ocean pool.

Splash

There are some great shots this week at Watery Wednesday


Warm Buzzy Happy Feelings

Hmmm, it's been a while since I was here last.  As I sit here at my desk drinking possibly the greatest coffee ever, I realised I have a choice today:  I could do some study and catch up on the course work which has also been badly neglected or I could blow some dust off the old blog.  Obvious choice, and here I am once more.

Before I launch into the "I have been so busy and I haven't had time to blog" spiel, let me tell you about the coffee I'm drinking at the moment.  I made it myself and it's gooooood!  I'm getting that warm, happy buzz which is going right through me from an offensively strong espresso. 

Back in the dark days when I had a job, I was a complete coffee junkie.  If I didn't have at least 3 macchiatos before lunch I was unable to function.  A couple more shots of caffeine in the afternoon and I could face the rest of the day.  Didn't sleep well last night?  No worries, a cup of coffee first thing in the morning will sort that out quick smart.

My work colleagues knew that getting between me and my coffee in the morning was a career threatening move.  One of the younger members of my team made the fatal mistake of bouncing up to my desk full of youthful excitement and enthusiasm. I had just arrived at work clutching my coffee cup with the lid still unopened.  He only made this mistake once but he still trembles with fear when he recalls my response. 

After I left my job I went cold turkey off the coffee.  Not pretty.  Since then I have only had the occasional cup ... until yesterday.

It's not like I haven't had the opportunity to have good coffee at home. Taking up a ridiculous amount of bench space in my kitchen is the mother of all espresso machines. It's all shiny with lots of knobs, dials and pokie-out bits and I am absolutely terrified of it. I'm convinced that if I press the wrong switch, it will explode and I will go down in the statistics as Australia's only coffee machine fatality.  Yesterday I remembered I liked coffee a lot so I swallowed my fear and managed to produce a weak, sad little espresso . It wasn't earth shattering but it was progress.

Today I was feeling very brave. I doubled the amount of beans and crammed so much ground coffee into the coffee-filter-thingy (technical coffee term) that I may have created a couple of diamonds. I have no idea if this is the right way to make an espresso … but the result was good. Really good. Curl your toes with joy type of good. Ooohhhh,  I'm really happy now.

As for my excuses for not having time to blog, I think I will save them for tomorrow.



 
 
 
Time for another coffee?

Oh, if you insist.

06 June, 2010

Scenic Sunday: Waterfall in Flood

It's still raining here so today's photos are of a flooded waterfall near where I grew up.  Apsley Falls is located near the town of Walcha in the northern part of New South Wales.  As a kid I was never interested in visiting the falls.  Now I have moved away I love any chance I can get to see them again. 

Apsley Falls
Apsley Falls in flood
Apsley Falls
This part of NSW has been suffering drought for years so it's nice to see the rain.

Apsley Falls
This shot was taken from the top of the falls.
Apsley Falls
The mist from the waterfall stops this from being a very clear photo but it gives some scale with the people on the left side of the shot.