Want at first sight!

There it is. 
A spur of the moment statement about an instrument I knew absolutely nothing about.

And by 30th Jan, I had a ukulele.

I went looking for a uke on Ebay and when I saw 'the one'...BAM!...do want !!! I also had my sights set on a limited edition uke (I have a thing for rarity) but that was relatively plain and exxy. 

For the next 5 days or so, I watched the listing like a hawk. In that time I read (thanks Wiki) that ukes commonly come in four sizes: soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. I didn't hang around long enough to find out what that meant. My Google search returned over 8 million results so I figured I'd take a proper look when I actually have a uke.

Back to Ebay. On the last day of the auction, with less than 30 seconds before it ended, I placed my single, all-consuming, devastating bid. One that would blow other bidders away because they didn't see me coming, or their app failed to notify them that they've been outbid, or they have slow internet, or they were frozen in awe of my ninja-ness. In a blink of an eye, the all too familiar appeared on the top right corner of my page "Congratulations blah blah blah". *fist pump*

Eight agonising days later, the uke arrived at my work and that's when I thought to myself "um girl, who are you kiddin?"

That day I was one happy little vegemite and I couldn't wait to get home to find out how it all works. The first link I clicked on was a godsend. 


Step 1: Buy a ukelele *done*


Step 2: Tune your ukulele
Turns out, my little four-stringed instrument needed tuning in the order G, C, E, A (Good Cooks Eat Alot)...it reminded me of All Cows Eat Grass from my years of struggle with music theory :)


Step 3: Learn how to play
This was such an easy tutorial to follow - 3 chords - C, F, G7
And apparently, the chords for Sunday Morning by Maroon 5, which was also my first piano cover on YouTube :)


So. Here is my attempt...



This is as far as I've got to and I can't wait to learn another song soon!

More on my pretty ukulele in my next post :)

♥

Piggy

Today was grey, rainy and dreary, perfect for a warming brunch, followed by a trip to a new-found creative space. I whipped out the piggy scarf for a bit of playfulness :)

Scarf: Ebay
Top: Supre

I love brekky/brunch at That Little Mexican Place. Today I had cafe de olla, churros con chocolate, some chorizo, and finished off with jalapenos rellenos. 

tasted amazing. apologies re grainy mobile pics

The coffee is sweetened and steamed milk is available on the side, cute! The churros come with 3 dipping sauces...strawberry, caramel and chocolate...my favourite was strawberry (surprisingly) and I licked that clean ;) Jalapenos for breakfast? I'm a chili freak, chili freak, chilly freaky *to the tune of Super Freak*.

Then a visit to Venn, a shop + cafe & bar + gallery + studio.

This used to be an old factory, so naturally, I'm in love with the combination of brick walls, steel beams, wooden floorboards and concrete. 

Industrial architecture genius:
The shop area is slightly raised and features an expansive glass wall
Up some wooden stairs, a gallery where exhibitions are held
Glass panels provide a glimpse of studios on the lower level
Down the back, a bar and cafe with access to the roof terrace

The shop is filled with the interesting and innovative. Many goodies pulled at my heartstrings but I couldn't justify letting go of my purse strings.

hardly a winter-appropriate drink :)

The bar and cafe is grey and modern, yet had a nice amount of warmth. 

And even though I could only peer into the artist studios, it was oozing creative energy and I hope that some of it rubbed off on me :) 

♥

You never forget how to ride a bicycle

April has just flown by. Hang on...we're in April? 
Where has the time gone? 

I must've either been:
(a) extremely busy
(b) an awesome procrastinator
(c) having fun
(d) all of the above, or
(e) none of the above

The answer is more likely to be (b).

But I prefer (c).

Mum loves seeing the water

Going back in time

Feels like I should be wearing a head scarf and huge sunnies a la Audrey Hepburn

Camera in hand, I'm relying on dad to keep us upright and dry :)

Mum and sis going way too fast

Quad-cycle

Fun. Brought to you by About Bike Hire.

Yeah, DEFINITELY prefer (c).

♥

These boots are made for riding

At 6.17pm on 7th April, I drove away from Avonlea Farm Riding School with a heavy heart, I've just had my tenth and final riding lesson and will really miss spending Thursday evenings out in Darlington with Mac (horse), Tiff (trainer) and Amelia (fellow student). I'll also miss the five animals that I enjoy stumbling across - Chippy and Spike (cats), Penny (the hilarious goat), Bronte (kangaroo) and Sausage (dog). 

The sun sets earlier these days and unlike in the past couple of months, I'm no longer blinded for most of the drive home.

10 March, 6.18pm

7 April, 6.18pm

I look forward to riding again but for now, my jodhpurs and boots will be put away indefinitely...

I'm on a horse

Lesson #9 and we are off on a trail ride again, yay yay yay! The horse and I prefer being out in the vast openness :)

So I was supposed to get Mac to trot up a hill; I was nervous as I hadn't really mastered the whole posting rhythm thing. The gorgeous animal, bless his soul, decides to canter up instead. 

I have NEVER cantered a horse. Halfway into a scream, I was silenced by the blur of trees, drumming hooves and adrenaline rush. OMG it was glorious. Super friggin' incredible. Stuff dreams are made of. I want to bottle that moment up. Have it imprinted it into my brain. I want to remember it forever. 

I got to the top of the hill and I think I said "was that a canter? that was f**** nuts!"

I still can't wipe the smile off my face. 

I feel invincible.

♥

Old School

A spur of the moment decision to watch a movie led me to Cygnet Cinema in Como. I call it the 'arty pink cinema' and now I know what it looks like inside...

I like the Art Deco style, tickets, wall sconces, low seats, wooden floors. 
Two words: Old School
♥

One eyed bandit

After nearly falling off a horse twice during last week's riding lesson, I'm really glad that this week's lesson is an easy, cruisy trail ride. This is my third trail ride and my second on Mac, my favourite.

I love horses, I think that they're powerful, intelligent and majestic. I love that I was born in the year of the Horse...wouldn't want to be any other animal in the horoscope :)

Mac is a handsome 15.2hh standardbred gelding. He has a shiny brown coat and a faint star marking between the eyes. He can sense that I'm nervous and tense (mostly due to my fear of heights and fear of anything bigger than I am) and he's always patient and careful with me. 

gentle giant

We see a mob of kangaroos frolicking in the fields. It's just incredible to ride among the trees and shrubs in gorgeous Darlington. The heat of the day has gone and there's now a constant, fresh breeze. 


Mac negotiates the slopes and ditches expertly and although he slipped a few times on loose rocks, he regains his balance before I can let out a scream.

When we get back, I brush him and tell him how wonderful and amazing he is (it's a bonding thing) while he chows down a well-deserved meal.

I love Mac. He's blind in one eye and I trust him completely.

♥

The hills are alive

waterless waterfall

It was a public holiday on Monday and we had a family outing in the Perth hills. First stop, John Forrest National Park, off Great Eastern Highway. As we got out of the car, two kangaroos hopped across the car park... they were the only animals we would see for the rest of the day.

We decided to take the Heritage Trail to check out a waterfall and tunnel. We'd been warned that there was no water at the waterfall but I didn't mind, I was actually excited about the idea of standing on rocks that would normally have water gushing over it.

Plants in dry, desert-y, muted greens and grasstrees flanked the trail. Every step was accompanied by the crunch of loose rocks and pebbles underfoot and calm blue skies overhead.

2.2km later, we found refuge in the Swan View Tunnel. It was a little eerie but the echo of our voices soon drowned everything out. Bits of the train track were visible through the ballast and I could sense history in those walls. 

We rested and recharged soon after, and trudged back to base. I'd love to be back again when wildflowers are in bloom and to take on the other trails. 

After lunch in Mundaring a.k.a. the heart of the hills, we visited idyllic Mundaring Weir. The dam is a magnificent structure and the view from the dam wall was breathtaking, best enjoyed in silence...

After a bit of camwhoring, we headed home via the Zig Zag in Kalamunda. It's a scenic drive that provides a panoramic view of Perth. The roads are narrow and there are a few hairpin turns. 

I can now understand how things might get even more exciting and hair-raising here late in the night.

An awesome day trip to places I'd never been to! :)
♥