afternoon off. I left work a couple of hours early today, last week's long days had taken their toll and so I decided to give myself a break, in an attempt to be more joyful in everything I do.

it was lovely to leave while the sun was still out and really bright.

I went home, tried to make crumpets (sadly I was a little too impatient and they're not quite right, they're also giant), had some toast and tea and listened to a podcast.

we've been keenly listening to the new daft punk album at home and in the car. tony even hosted a special screening of the interstellar 5555 animation at uni yesterday, and I watched the movie for the first time. I don't know why I was so hesitant to watch it, it was excellent and full of colour.

crossing the border. early on wednesday morning I drove to victoria to meet a work mate in wodonga and continue onto bright. the original plan was to film across two days in and around the town, only on the first day it rained constantly.

I checked my phone constantly for weather updates and we persevered, dashing out to try and film little bits while the rain was light or had briefly stopped. it was minus 1 for the bulk of our shoot and by the end of it, I could hardly feel my feet. but our surroundings were so beautiful and the bright yellow leaf litter was especially impressive.

the food in bright was amazing, after a few hours in the elements, we ate at this lovely little cafe called ginger baker. we must've looked really cold because they brought us thick black blankets to rug up at our table. I had a grilled eggplant half covered in a buttermilk, lemon and parsley topping and took a lemon and coconut slice home for tony, which I managed to eat half of despite it being a gift.

after a long break from driving, it was really nice to be back on the road again. I didn't realise how much I'd missed it. my eyes are always wide open when I visit country victoria, it's the extra novelty of being outside of my region that makes me notice more things and want to photograph everything.

here's a photo of a bus shelter that is anonymously and seasonally decorated by some locals in everton. I also spotted this really goofy bright pink letterbox, with a cartoon nose and a pipe just outside bright but both times I spotted it too late to stop.

I've come home with a small cold and am feeling a bit tired this weekend. I've realised that I've only been home in wagga for two of the last six weeks so I'm glad to be back home with only day trips planned for the coming month.

chocolate cake & side projects. want to know something kind of strange? seeing photos of good cakes on the internet makes me really happy. here are my four favourites:

• yesterday I stumbled across this yay cake from a cup of jo and I must've looked at the post at least 5 times throughout the day.
• here's a pinata cake from the same creative cake blog series, my brother sent the link to me a few weeks ago - it's like one of those humpty dumpty easter eggs in cake form.
• and a video about an amazingly tall rainbow cake that I watch every now and then, when I feel a bit sad or just want to see it again.
• and I love the idea of a sunday cake, especially when there's lots of people around to share it.

this afternoon I made a chocolate fudge cake fit for a kid's birthday party, complete with icing and sprinkles. it was great and I love going to work on a monday knowing there's a slice of cake waiting for me at the end of the day.

last week a friend of mine had a really hard week of work. I was really glad that we could catch up and chat. we talked about what had happened and how she was feeling and we also talked about the importance of having a few different interests and projects going at any one time. we both really love what we do for work and sometimes, it's easy to concentrate our efforts there. but we talked about other things we liked that we knew made us happy.

I walked away from our meet up and my fortnight in sydney with a small resolution to tackle small fun projects most of the time. when I was at uni I found so much enjoyment out of running the matchbox project and later tackling the semi-ridiculous task of hand decorating 1000 coffee cups for my favourite cafe and one year, making a zine/care-package for people with the flu. back then I looked at little projects as a way to escape something else in my life that wasn't totally satisfying and for the past years I've felt pretty happy and challenged, so I haven't really thought to do anything extra.

but now I want to do something just for me and just for fun, because silly projects like creative cakes, always bring me lots of joy.

I already have something in mind which I'm excited about and I hope to start getting it off the ground soon.

back in the big smoke. it's been close to two weeks since I left wagga and I definitely miss home. even though I grew up here, there are lots of things I've forgotten about since relocating two and a bit years ago. commuting is one of them.

it has been really nice to spend some extra time with my family, I've been staying with my parents and eating with them most nights. living in a different town really makes me appreciate all of the incidental contact. I've fallen back into some nice old habits too, like helping my teenage brother find a mother's day present and visiting my favourite cake shops on my way home from work.

my days here have been really busy, varied and interesting. for starters I've been working out of my own editing suite, a little soundproof booth with fancy audio gear, vintage speakers and lights you can dim. I've learnt a lot this last fortnight, a new audio editing program, how to illustrate a story using sound effects, how to tell whether a recording of parrots is of parrots in a cage or parrots in the wild.

this last monday, I sat in a recording studio while an audio engineer worked on one of my stories. that was pretty cool and I sneakily took this photo.

there has been plenty of time for city food too. during my stay I ate yummy dumplings with my sister at the new shanghai cafe in lemongrove, chatswood. good dumplings are hard to come by in wagga wagga so I was especially grateful for our lunch. and on tuesday, my work friend sean led a special expedition to malibu sandwich in surry hills. years ago I used to work with a guy who would take orders for malibu sandwich and bring giant lunches to artamon but I had no idea where the shop was. the expedition was strategic, the shop is notoriously busy and there was a very specific way to order. we all walked away with football sized sandwiches, with combos like chicken schnitzel, mayo, tomato and potato salad. working that afternoon was difficult.

the other day a girlfriend emailed to ask whether I'd moved back to sydney as I've been around a lot in the last month and it was a good reminder to pack my bags and go home to wagga.

I feel content to be leaving now, being in wagga after my aunt passed away left me feeling restless. in lots of ways I didn't believe that she had gone. but being here and spending time with my family has helped me understand that she is no longer with us, and start to feel a little bit okay about how we'll go on without her.

p.s - I've listened to two great podcasts in the last week, this powerful teenage audio diary made by a high school student from punchbowl, sydney and this episode from this american life, around the theme of images.

this week I finished a new video about a small town that's taken on an art project with gusto and feasted on hazelnut cookies, leftover easter eggs and tea before bed each night.

I'm off to sydney again next week and will spend a fortnight in the city working on a radio project with two of my favourite workmates. I am excited about the trip, the project and knowing that I'll have two solid weeks with my family but I will miss tony and my home.

this weekend I have one very small goal and it's to eat donuts in the park with coffee while it's still warm enough to be outside. a small but achievable goal!

 

a much needed weekend at home.
1. our very own autumn tree
2. sunday brunch at home, egg rolls and fancy asparagus leftover from a dinner party
3. his & hers cookbooks. I have hazelnut cookie dough in the fridge, tony's making fetta for the first time.
4 & 5. some awesome homegrown gifts from friends
6. leftovers for lunch

not pictured, a lovely breakfast picnic with some friends with pastries and the autumn sun. we also hosted the second cookbook club dinner, we chose what katie ate as our book and served up handmade pumpkin, pecan and sage ravioli for mains.

pretty city things.

1. lunchtime at balmoral beach, taken after I accidentally locked myself out of tony's parent's apartment. thankfully it was a nice place to kill some time.

2. every kind of greeting card you can imagine. I bought cards from kiki k, paper 2, the art gallery of nsw, kinokuniya, basically anywhere I could, sydney has a lot of pretty stationary to offer.

3. a lovely lunch from brown rice sushi in double bay. while I may not feel my most comfortable self in double bay, the food is worth it. during our stay I had japanese 3 times, woohoo!

and not pictured, a sneaky doorstep present we left at my uncle's house. leaving surprise gifts on people's doorsteps makes me really happy. this time, the front door was open so instead of gifting and running, we knocked on the door and had a nice chat too.