The Outback Expat

My February Faves & Things I have loved in February 2019

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Another month has flown by in a whirlwind but also felt quite slow as I was working my notice at my old company!

I didn’t take a lot of photos it seems but here are my favourites:

  1. During February, Naomi and I went to a recording of The Guilty Feminist at the Powerhouse in New Farm which was brilliant and very amusing. This photo was taken as I walked from my car. I love the city view, especially at sunrise or sunset.
  2. This photo is of a bunch of Galahs which I encountered on one of my morning walks. I walk around the park area a couple of times to make up my 5km’s and so passed them twice. The birds were not too impressed that I interrupted their breakfast on either occasion!
  3. (middle) I took this photo which is literally a giant spiders web that was across the driveway to the house. I have a bit of a problem with spiders and am about as keen about their webs so was not very impressed that one kept making its home across the driveway which I had to walk out of in the morning to go exercise! After a few days the Aussie move the spider and luckily he / she has not returned yet!
  4. We went to watch the fabulous Sarah Millican on her tour around Australia. I think we laughed from the very first moment until she left the stage. At the end she was handing out “No” and “Champion” badges and somehow we ended up with 3!
  5. This photo was taken outside of Brisbane City Hall just before we went inside to watch Sarah Millican.

MOVIES:

On the basis of Sex – This movie is based on the true story of an American Lawyer (Ruth Bader Ginsberg) and her first sex discrimination case when she was acting for a man in a tax law case. Despite the subject of the case itself (tax law cannot be very interesting at all) the movie is brilliant (you should also watch R.G.B ) and I would highly highly recommend it (even if you are not interested in law!)

Stan and Ollie – This is the story of Laurel and Hardy who it turns out I didn’t know very much about. The story was funny as you would expect but also sad when you learnt what actually happened between them. I would recommend the movie.

TV SHOWS:

Berlin Station – the Aussie and I binge watched the three series of the show during February. The show is about American CIA Agents who have been placed in the Berlin Embassy and carry out all kinds of espionage antics all across Europe. If you like a good spy thriller and a good guy/bad guy show then Berlin Station might be for you!

BOOKS:

Two Women by Martina Cole – I haven’t read any books by Martina Cole before and picked the book at random on my Kindle app but really enjoyed the book. The book starts with a woman being transported to a new prison whilst she appeals a murder conviction and jumps back and fourth from her brutal childhood up to the present day. The twists and turns keep you guessing about what actually happened to result in her incarceration.

My January Faves & Things I loved in January

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I have decided to combine these posts from now on

MY FAVE PHOTOS

  1. I took this photo at Heathrow on our way back to Brisbane after our lovely lovely trip home for Christmas.
  2. We took a little drive to Natural Bridge when we had some friends stay with us for a week. We had been there before but it was nice to be able to show them the beautiful scenery and also take a walk around as I had been poorly for a few days before.
  3. On our way back from Natural Bridge we stopped off at the Hinze Dam. It’s a very pretty setting and there was talk of the Aussie bringing his boat here for a sail which should be fun!
  4. One of my favourite views in Brisbane is the Story Bridge. Also whilst we had our friends stay we spent some time in the city and on our travels we stopped off at Eagle Street Pier where we got to enjoy the gorgeous view of the Story Bridge.
  5. This photo was taken on our Tom’s Tour on New Years Day. The scenery was just beautiful and a lovely way to start of 2019.

MOVIES

A Star is Born – this movie has been out for a while and it seemed like we managed to catch it in the last week it was showing. I haven’t seen the original version so don’t know if the storyline was the same or similar but I really enjoyed this version. I didn’t realise that Bradley Cooper could sing and could do so so well! The story is really thought provoking but is beautifully written and directed. If you get the chance you really should watch it.

The Favourite – I had been looking forward to this film for a while since first seeing the trailer. The trailer made it look like it would be quite funny and the actors in the film are superb so it was an easy choice to go see the film. The film itself was very quirky and strange in places but from my reading it seems like this is the Directors style. The ending didn’t entirely make sense to me initially but I did some reading online about people’s interpretation and it did make more sense then. I would recommend the movie if it is one that you haven’t been entirely sure whether you want too.

Mary Queen of Scots – Even though I am English I don’t know the history of the Kings and Queens very well. The Aussie is quite interested though and he recently watched a documentary about Mary Queen of Scots and so I knew a bit more about it ready to go and see the movie. The scenery, the acting, the costumes and actors were all fantastic and I really loved this movie.

TV SHOWS

Grace & Frankie – the new series released on Netflix this month and was as funny as always. It was very binge watchable and I look forward to the next series.

BOOKS

Who we were Before – My friend Kim challenged me to sit down and read for at least two hours during the Australia Day long weekend. We both love to read and used to read a lot but because of life being so busy we haven’t had the chance. I started reading this book way before Christmas and didn’t get round to finishing it so I decided to accept the challenge and finished the book.

The book is about a married couple who have been torn about following the death of their child. The story is not the best written but once I was able to sit down and focus on it, it was easy to read and the storyline kept me interested so that I wanted to know how the story ended and it didn’t really disappoint after the journey they went on.

My December Faves & Things I Loved in December

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I usually post these two post separately but decided to combine them this month.

I am also only posting my fave photos up to the date we left for the UK because I plan to blog about our UK trip separately (and there would be a ridiculous amount of fave photos!)

My December Faves

My favourite photos between 1 and 21 December 2018
  1. Tea Advent Calendar – I managed to find an advent calendar full of tea for last Christmas. I drink lots of herbal teas and so this was the perfect solution over Christmas so that I could enjoy having an advent calendar.
  2. Our Christmas Tree – I loved our Christmas tree this time round. It may not be the most atheistically pleasing tree but it was all ours.
  3. For the Aussie’s birthday we went kayaking on the Brisbane River and under the Story Bridge. It was a really fun way to spend the morning and he really enjoys getting out on the river.
  4. 5. and 6. were photos taken on the same day as the kayaking trip. In the evening we went out for a sushi dinner at a restaurant that the Aussie discovered in the city and after dinner we went on a hunt for Christmas decorations in the Brisbane Arcade and then at City Hall / King George Square. Number 6 was a lighting display on City Hall which was a very cute Christmas story as well.
  5. As with 4.
  6. As with 4.
  7. This is a particularly handsome cat who has an excellent moustache who I see on my walks around the neighbourhood in the morning. He / she always looks quite disappointed by my exercise activity!
  8. The weekend before we went to the UK we paid a visit to Carols at Twilight on Southbank. I love a good carol concert and enjoyed singing along. Unfortunately it did rain on and off the whole time we were at the Carols but it was still worth it.
  9. After the Carols we visited the Cathedral of St Brisbane who had a lighting display called the Lights of Christmas which was projected on the Cathedral. Again there was a very lovely Christmas story played and in between each story they projected some very festive images as well.

Things I Have Loved – December 2018

MOVIES

The Grinch – Naomi and I went to watch the Grinch on our festive day before Christmas. I don’t think I have seen the original movie(s) before but really enjoyed the animation version which worked well on an adult level and I saw that the children in the cinema also seemed to find it funny.

Tag – I watched Tag on the plane to the UK. I remember when it was released in the cinemas, reading about the true life story of a group of friends who for one month every year play an insane game of tag. The movie was a bit crazy and far fetched but was overall very entertaining.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society – this is a movie that I meant to watch when it was released but missed. I didn’t really know that Guernsey had been invaded by the Germans during World War Two so it was really interesting from that perspective. The movie itself was lovely with a very sweet story which I really enjoyed.

TV SHOWS

The Americans – when we flew from London to Singapore I binge watched series 1 as I couldn’t sleep. This is a story of a couple from Russia who were KGB spies and entered into an arranged marriage before moving to America to spy for the Russians. I really enjoyed the series and I am on the look out for the rest of the series.

The Bodyguard – this was a UK series which we found on Netflix. It is a bit of a thriller and we binge watched the series over a few days. There were a lot of twists and turns which really did keep me guessing and I couldn’t have predicted the ending. I hope that there might be another series as it was well worth a watch.

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