TOTES UPCYCLED

Diary of a self-confessed scrap fabric hoarder.

Aside from knackered knickers, almost every bit of clothing that stays the course until it's threadbare will end up in my fabric scraps suitcase...It used to be a bag, now it's a suitcase. When it reached the verge of spilling over into a second suitcase I started to think seriously about what the hell I was going to do with some of this hoard (there are only so many rag dusters you can use in one lifetime, after all).

LIFE IN THE BIKE LANE

Bicycles.

As a child they're often our first symbol of freedom and learning to ride one - training wheels off - is a memory that stays with us long after we transition into a busy adult in a 4-wheeled box.

SURF'S UP

I know, I know...How could it get more cliche than an Aussie blogger living by the sea and using a lame surf catchphrase?

But I promise you, Darwin is stuck in one of the corners of Australia that gets almost zero surf. I suspect Darwin would be a much different place if we did (crocodiles and toxic jellyfish notwithstanding). And as such we don't have much of what would be considered stereotypical Australian beach culture up here.

GO-TO MEDICINE

I planted a small gotu kola runner in a pot back in September of last year when I was doing a series of gardening workshops. Although one of the two I planted suddenly died, the remaining plant is bounding along nicely. They do very well in the tropics and, as well as having many medicinal benefits, they're also a pretty plant for garden borders. However, they do best in swampy areas so it's important to ensure they're always very well watered. Popular in Chinese medicine, I'm not sure how well known it is in Western herbal lore as neither of the two chunky herbal guides on my bookshelf make any mention of it.

Referred to as the 'fountain of life', gotu kola (Centella asiatica) is purported to cure everything from depression to shingles. Our garden instructors assured us that a few leaves taken every day would treat rheumatism and arthritis. As nothing was mentioned in my herbal books, I checked online to see which of these claims has some evidence behind them.

OASIS

This has been my little oasis for the last few days. We hit record high temperatures of over 36 degrees for several days in a row last week. Add in the stonkingly high humidity and it's been pretty unbearable. A big storm system came through by the end of the week so I was finally able to get a good night's sleep. Once upon a time you used to be able to survive this town without an air con, these days it seems even the old stalwarts that have been around for years can't cope without them (I'm admittedly not too far off myself, though my current quasi open air setup doesn't allow for it right now).

So mostly I loll about in the plunge spa. And the walking carpet is generally not too far behind.

mmm, delicious human infused spa water

wut? No, I wasn't drinking the spa water

RESOLVE

seriously, just google 'yoga mountain' sometime

Unless one of your new year's resolutions has been to avoid the internet since we ticked over into the first of January, then it's unlikely you've been spared the slew of feel good, do good, get the life/body/romance you want, here's why your resolutions won't stick, how to transform your life in 5 easy steps, stock photography of someone standing on a mountain in a yoga pose articles.

New year, new you. While every day is a blank page, the first day of the new year is like the first page in a leather-bound moleskine, a Dear Diary of endless possibilities that, much like my own attempt at journaling, start off with the best of intentions but that eventually wind up bitching about that thing that person did that time, zomg. A native of the antipodes, the push to step up when the clock strikes 12 on December 31st (or at the very least once the hangover has gone) is even further fueled by the fact that it's high summer. How easily the determination to feast only on fresh juice and salads is coerced by our Home and Away lifestyle of long sunny days on white sandy beaches.