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Little Wobbly Wren


Hello everyone and how are you doing? For those of you in the depths of winter hang on in there. I'm sure Spring is just around the corner! 


I had a memorable few weeks in January. Summer in Australia is usually my favourite time of year. This year it had a few challenges!


Weather:


Here in Australia, after the bushfires came the much-needed rains. I have never seen the parks and gardens of Melbourne looking so lush in February. We had everything, and the kitchen sink, thrown at us weather-wise. The year continued with cyclones, flooding and storms pounding our country.

I spotted this Melbourne street art and agreed with its sentiments.




Our cars were pitted from the hail damage from a tropical storm and we seem to be constantly clearing up from dust storms which have covered us in a red layer. 

No-one will ever dare complain as we are lucky compared with those who lost loved ones, property and businesses and the devastation to the wildlife. We rejoiced on the days when the sky was blue, the air was clear and all was calm.



Melbourne Life
We spent a lot of time at home as my son was recovering from another operation following his bike accident

The Crazy Poodle has been happy with this and we invited some of his doggy friends to join us for Doga - Doggy Yoga with Pawdinkum. I have been buying Pawdinkum's healthy range of dog treats for a while, the Doga was a fundraiser for WiRES Wildlife rescue. 

It was such fun. It started with a mass wagging of tails and excited dogs, but it was amazing how the music and Fiona's voice calmed them down. You could hardly believe how relaxed we all were, dogs included. At the end, the dogs all lined up to have Pawsturizer made with essential oils!



The Year of the Rat
Under the Chinese Zodiac, this Year of the Metal Rat is shaping up to be an interesting one. Is this your year?


The years of the Rat are: 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, and 2032.


They say that the Year of the Rat is the year of new beginnings! So I wish you well if you are planning a new start with something life-changing.

Talking of new beginnings at the end of our Doga class our water lily bloomed. It's a once a year event and I took it to be a good omen!




The Gin Safari

Whilst I was in Melbourne I was invited to join The Regional Wanderer's Gin Safari. I was excited by the invitation as gin has made quite a come-back in my circle of friends, so I wanted to learn more about it.




It was also a great opportunity to get out into regional Victoria and show how Australia is still open, and that plenty of our beautiful countryside was not affected by the bushfires

It was quite possibly the hardest blogging adventure of all time. Trying to fully participate in the event, which involved at least 10 gins (over a six-hour period), whilst ensuring I was able to remember all the details to do it justice was a challenge. 

It was a brilliant day out and you can read my finished blog post here: 

I would love to know what you think? Hopefully, I did it justice!

Bangkok Life

Meanwhile, from my Bangkok life, I was finalising a couple of posts which might just start a war. 

Are you a coffee or tea drinker? 

I'm both! I certainly can't get very far in my day without seeking out a much-needed coffee. I blame Melbourne for spoiling me when it comes to coffee. Somewhere along the line, I became a coffee snob. 

So I was happy as a pig in mud to have been asked by Expique Bangkok Tours to update their '9 of the Best Coffee shops in Bangkok' blog post. 



You can read about it here: Best Bangkok Coffee Shops.


For those of you who love Instagram check out @midlifeadventuring. Andrea is a fellow coffee lover who originally hails from New York City. She has an awesome travel Instagram page and is the best co-coffee writer I know!



At the same time the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok invited me to join them to test out their Gluten-free and Vegan Afternoon Tea Sets. I just love this historic hotel. When I enter it is like going to a by-gone age, with all mod cons! Please pop along here to let the good folks at the MO see you have visited:




Of course, tea sits well with me too, going back to my British roots where a cup of tea is the solution to almost everything! I have drunk quite a bit of tea over the past few weeks... sitting gripped with horror at the TV bushfire coverage with an English friend to commiserate Brexit, with my son in his hospital room, after a hard to stomach tennis loss, pondering the Coronavirus and where in the world is best to wait it out! 




A summer of Tennis


Our beautiful summer of tennis continues and I made it back to Thailand in time to enjoy the finals of the WTA Thailand Open. We are so lucky to have had this level of women's pro tennis in Hua Hin - a seaside town about 3 hours out of Bangkok.




The tournament turned the tennis courts pink and made the event a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness in Thailand. How special is that?

 You can read all about it here: Anyone for Tennis: WTA Thailand Open 202

Coronavirus
Our big news in the region is the impact of the coronavirus which is taking up a lot of people's energy. Our hearts go out to those in Wuhan and beyond who are affected by the virus. 

We are doing our best to keep healthy and there is a lot of hand washing going on!



Well, I think that's all for now folks. 
Have a great weekend where ever you are reading this!

Linking with thanks to Angie at Mosaic Monday
All the hosts at Our World Tuesday

Comments

Christina said…
So much going on and I am not sure where to start commenting. I hope you son is recovering well. I haven't had a chance to read you gin or your coffee post but I shall do so today. I have always quite liked gin, my favourite is Brockman's, try it if you can get hold of it. It has a hint of pink grapefruit flavour.

Here's to good hand hygiene, good cough & sneeze hygiene. Fingers crossed x
eileeninmd said…
Hello,

I always enjoy seeing your dog, what a cutie. I hope your son is recovering well. The weather has been crazy here, more clouds and rain then sunshine. I enjoy all your post! Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy weekend!
Jeanie said…
You, my friend, have had one heck of a crazy start to the new year. I hope all is progressing well with your son's recovery and that you and Team Wren are staying healthy. Maybe all that gin helped build immunity to whatever might have been flying about in the air. And very relieved you have been getting some respite from the bushfires. Even with rain and hail, yes, grateful. It's so good to see you here again! (I would LOVE tra at the Mandarin Oriental!)
Goodness me what a start to 2020 you've had.
Hope your son is progressing well.
I did enjoy seeing your dog photographs, so sweet.

Enjoy this last week of February …

All the best Jan
Crimson Kettle said…
Great to hear all your exciting news and all the photos. Take care x
Cynthia said…
I am delighted to see you were reunited with the Crazy Poodle (but too bad about the reason; wishing your son a quick recovery!) and especially in time for Doga Class. We have Cat Yoga (cats provided; do NOT bring your own) here in G- town at the Purr & Pour Cat Cafe but I haven’t been yet (on account of my new knee). So much Wren news I can’t comment on everything but I am glad to hear and so glad the bush fires are over. Cheers!
Dawn said…
So much I'm not sure where to begin. Prayers for continued healing for your son and that the fires are now completely out. Such much devastation, it's heart breaking.
Love the dogs! Especially the Golden retriever, a big favorite.
Lovely flowers, love the bldg with the blue, so interested.
Dawn aka Spatulas On Parade
I hope your son is healing and doing well. I have 2 of my sons that have been hurt in bike accidents and still have problems with injuries that bother them. Love hearing about the delicious coffee! We love our coffee here! What a great post filled with all kinds of interesting things! Have a beautiful week sweet lady!
Janice said…
What an amazing life you have. Good times and challenges. Wishing you continued good health and fun life.

Janice
Your fires were a terrible thing to endure. - Margy
Angie said…
Wren - so glad to see you back at Mosaic Monday! Although there are plenty of challenges in the world, we have much for which to be thankful! Such as your water lily - a sign of peace and beauty if ever there was one. The coronavirus is a MASSIVE concern - I can only pray that our health officials and world leaders are taking it seriously.
Gattina said…
Australia was really not spoiled with the weather this year ! I have heard a lot from other friends over there ! In Belgium since November we have always the same weather rain, storm rain and no winter temperatures ! Today it has "snowed" for the first time and it is end February !! Snow is a big word there are just a few flakes hanging around. We all have more then enough fortunately we didn't have any flooding which happened in other parts of Belgium. We will sell our house and move into an apartment in the city center ! It is too big for the two of us and then the gardeners are quite expensive too. Ric had broken his hip and the steps are a bit dangerous ! He was 3 months in hospital, but the hip has very nicely healed. There are some nice apartments around the city hall with view on the park and I could walk to the theatre, movies, boutiques and supermarkets ! Much better for an "old" couple ! Are you going back to Bangkok?
Sami said…
I'd never seen a pink tennis court, very appropriate for breast cancer.
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is just so beautiful...
I had to laugh at the Doggy yoga and then the pawsturizer, how cute is that!
I was born in 1960, so I'm a rat celebrating my 60th next week.
Love the murals and your blooming water lily Wren :)
betty-NZ said…
Wow! That's a lot going on. I'm glad you only had hail damage, it could have been so much worse. Your photos are lovely to see, especially the green after the rain.

Thanks for linking up at 'My Corner of the World' this week!

My Corner of the World
Veronica Lee said…
Love the photos, especially that pink tennis court! I've never seen a pink one before!
JaÅ›min said…
Very interesting post.
I'm with you when it comes to coffee but not so much tea. And gin is just plain yuck in my opinion, but then again I'm not much of a drinker so that could be why. Sounds like Crazy Poodle has a fun time at the spa - methinks us humans would benefit from more of that sort of treatment too! There's been so much happen in AU that it's difficult for us who don't live there to imagine. Stay safe wherever you are!
What a lot of life experiences you’ve had lately! I had read some of your posts before (the coffee and Bangkok Hotel, and tennis, but those were certainly worth a review ). ... did not know about the gin tour and how very interesting! I would not be able to remember the details at all ...It is a form of alcohol I can’t handle at all. s(It has been years since I learned this the hard way and it might not still be true, but at this stage I’m not taking any chances!). It was fun reading about the dogs and the water lily! And I hope your son is completely healed and well.
I'm a woman of two parts as well - 'morning coffee and afternoon tea' is my motto.
So good to catch up on all your news but oh my, what a start to the year. The whole world is going crazy. I hope that you and yours are keeping safe, on both continents, and as always enjoy following your adventures. And the tennis.
Amalia
xo

Me again, to say that I hope that you are all keeping healthy and safe. A hug.
Amalia
xo
Linda said…
You have certainly been through a lot! I watched the news of the bushfires and the fires in western USA with tears in my eyes. And just as it seemed things were getting better, the virus starts spreading. Well, we are also trying to stay healthy.
I'm back to read more of your post and hope you are well my friend. Take care and stay healthy! Hugs!
carol l mckenna said…
Good to hear from you and what delightful times you had in February ~ What about March? Is that on another blog? ~ Love your doggie ~ good to see her with you ~

Be Well,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Debbie said…
what a great post, filled with a lot of fun happenings.the pink tennis court is so cool, i have never seen that done before!!

i hope your son is doing well!!
MICHAEL JAY said…
I saw a comment here a few weeks ago about Dr Akhere and i decided to contact him as instructed, thanks to this man for bringing joy to me as wished for. i followed instructions which he gave in other to get my lover back who left me and the kids for 3years now, but thanks to Dr Akhere because they are back to me now for good and we are happy together. please do contact him for help too if in relationship problem via email at: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com or call/whatsapp:+2349057261346 . And testify for yourself.



























































I saw a comment here a few weeks ago about Dr Akhere and i decided to contact him as instructed, thanks to this man for bringing joy to me as wished for. i followed instructions which he gave in other to get my lover back who left me and the kids for 3years now, but thanks to Dr Akhere because they are back to me now for good and we are happy together. please do contact him for help too if in relationship problem via email at: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com or call/whatsapp:+2349057261346 . And testify for yourself.

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