Watching TV on Friday night, but Maggie is only interested in Nadia.
A woman sitting on a sofa is snuggling a dog that she is holding upright in her lap. The dog is looking back at woman’s face adoringly (though with a little bit of concern).
Happy birthday Nadia!
Happy birthday Nadia!
I’m glad we could celebrate the day with flourless orange cake…
Two-thirds of a flourless orange cake that’s decorated with almonds, orange rinds, and creamy frosting.
And with your very first drive-in cinema experience!
Nighttime selfie of me and Nadia, dressed warmly, sitting in the front seats of a parked car.
That too by watching E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which was fun trip down memory lane to the early 1980s :)
The outdoor cinema screen as seen from the front seat of a car that’s parked in a drive-in cinema. The 1980s version of the Universal logo is showing on the screen.
Post dinner napping
Post dinner nap on her hoomin.
Maggie, our red heeler dog, is snuggled up next to my leg while we sit on the sofa. Her head and paw are on my leg.
Good stretch
Ooh, good stretch!
A red dog, lying on her side in the sun on a residential lawn, fully stretches her body — with her front and back paws reaching in opposite directions.
Passed out in the lawn
Meat and potatoes. Tomato and basil. Lamb and yogurt. Chickpeas and tamarind. Fish fingers and custard. Lemonade and black salt. Avocado and lime.
Winter sunshine and naps.…
A red heeler dog is fast asleep on her side in the grass on a sunny day.
As the Urdu saying goes: ghoray bech kar sona.
Head scritches
You were wanting a head that you could scritch, yes?
Maggie, our red heeler dog, has poked her head from between my legs as I sit cross-legged on the sofa.
Of course you were! You’re very welcome.
Maggie, who has stuck her head between my legs as I sit on the sofa, is having her head scritched.
You may gently scritch the very top my head too.
Maggie has now poked stuck her head between Nadia’s legs and now Nadia is using one finger to scratch the very top of Maggie’s head.
Maggie is a working dog
Yes, I’m Maggie.
How can I help you this morning?
A dog sits on a lawn with an open laptop in front of her. Her left paw is next to the laptop’s trackpad. She is looking up a the photographer who appears to have just interrupted her work.
Suspicious dog is suspicious
Maintenance workers with lawn mowers and lawn edgers are doing their thing on her street today. Maggie is most displeased.
A dog behind a residential gate looks intently at something off-camera on the other side of the gate. She looks a little wary of what she’s seeing.
View from a window
And outside was all dull green and grey
A dreary, overcast sky as seen through a window from inside a house.
Sunday breakfast FTW!
Sunday breakfast FTW!
Featuring a spicy desi omelette, keema simla mirch with a dollop of Greek yogurt, roti, and cinnamon kava.
Good meal too have on a drizzly day after you’ve walked your dog.
Two plates on a dining table place mat. The plates contain an omelette, mince meat curry, yoghurt, and flatbread. There is also a glass containing tea.
Shall we play?!
[Working from home]
Me: Takes a break. Goes outside to stretch and get some fresh air.
Maggie:
A red heeler (Maggie) stands ready in front of a knotted rope toy. She is looking expectantly as the photographer, wanting/expecting them to play with her.
Bands of rain clouds
Gorgeous skies in Melbourne today, with bands of rain clouds coming through in waves over the course of the afternoon and evening.
Cityscape from a tall building, showing a dark band of low-lying clouds in among lighter clouds higher in the sky.
Women's T20 World Cup final at the MCG
This year’s ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup was hosted by Australia and the final was held at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women’s Day (8 March 2020).
Nadia couldn’t make it (she had a deadline), but I was there with 86,173 other people to watch Australia and India compete for the trophy. (Australia won their fifth title.)
Crowd inside a stadium. A massive screen in the background says: “Attendance 86,174. Australian record!”. A spectator in the foreground has their arms raised as they cheer this announcement.
The MCG is such a fantastic venue for both live sport and music. I enjoy myself immensely every time I go there. (Also, yay for wide angle lenses for smartphones!)
Wide-angle view of the cricket pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from just behind the seats on the lowest level.
At this match I happened to be seated behind the hundreds of girls who danced with Katy Perry in her fantastic pre-game performance. They were a fun bunch to sit behind: not tall, not rowdy, very enthusiastic, and very dancey. Even if they do look all composed and sober during the national anthems!
A view of the cricket pitch in a stadium. Everyone is standing at their seats while the national anthems play. The seats in front of the photographer are occupied by hundreds of young girls wearing all-purple sports/dance outfits.
My favorite nearby spectators, however, were these siblings. The little girl was particularly thrilled with Australia’s batting performance, pumping her fists or raising her 4/6 boundary sing every time a batter scored a boundary. In the second innings her brother joined in on the standing-and-cheering action as well.
The section I was in was mostly full of Aussie supporters, but there were a few pockets of India fans dotted about the place as well. We also had the inevitable Indian-Aussies who’d brought both flags with them.
There are pros and cons to watching a match at the venue as opposed to on the TV at home.
One of the pros of being at the stadium is that you get to see all the behind-the-scenes stuff. Watching the Spidercam zipping around doing its thing, for example. And checking out the staff as they do their jobs: like these security guards (who didn’t have much to do since the crowd was so fantastic) and the crew pulling advertising decals off the ground while Katy Perry’s roadies prepare her stage in the background after the match was over.
Arguably the best thing about watching a match in a stadium, however, is that you get to participate in a Mexican wave with eighty six thousand other people :)
Lifting party 10 at Barbell Babes Brigade
Last year Nadia joined the fantastic Barbell Babes Brigade: a powerlifting training centre run for women, by women.
Not every member joins BBB to compete, of course, so every few months they organise their own ‘lifting party’. This is an event that gives all members an opportunity to come together in front of a hugely supportive audience of trainers, peers, and invited friends and family while they attempt personal-best lifts.
The assembled crowd cheers and celebrates a successful deadlift. Those are Nadia’s upraised arms in the foreground :)
This is the second lifting party that Nadia has participated in (and that I have, therefore, attended) and they’re always so much fun.
Nadia watches someone off camera attempt a deadlift. Nadia is wearing her BBB top with their ‘just strong’ tagline written in large, bold capital letters across the back.
Also, it turns out pigtails are super handy when you’re a strong badass who is lifting heavy weights in her shoulders :)
Nadia warms-up before her squat attempts.
This year Nadia managed a 75kg squat (up from 55kg last year!), 47.5kg bench press, and 65kg deadlift. Click those links (to Nadia’s Instagram account) to watch videos of her doing to those lifts.
If you’re a woman who is interesting in powerlifting and wants to be trained by (and train with) a fantastic bunch of women, I cannot recommend Barbell Babes Brigade enough.
Group photo of the participants at the March 2020 lifting party.
Miss-a-bitchy
When you’ve found the brand that reflects your outlook on life, you might as well tell the world about it :)
A silver car is parked on the side of the a residential street. There is a sticker on the left rear window with the Mitsubishi car brand logo and text that says: miss-a-bitchy.
Abida Parveen concert in Melbourne
It took them ten years, but the Asia TOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts) folks finally managed to get Abida Parveen to perform in Melbourne!
I’ve seen her live a couple of times before and each time I’m stunned by how fantastic a performer she is.
Abida Perveen performs on stage in Melbourne.
Levels of snuggles with Maggie
Calm morning snuggles with Ameel.
A red dog leans her head on the stomach of a man lying in bed. The man has one of his hands on the dog and is scritching her.
Warm, cozy snuggles on a chilly evening with Ameel.
A red dog is snuggled up next to a man on a sofa. The man has placed a towel on the dog to keep her warm and cozy.
Nadia, when she’s feeling particularly fond of Maggie: “I will kiss her and love her and squeeze her and call her George.”
A woman and a dog are on a sofa. The woman is hugging the dog and the dog has a resigned expression on its face.
To be fair, Maggie is actually okay with Nadia hugging her all the time. It’s having a camera pointed in her face that Maggie isn’t overly fond of. Though she’s kinda used to that now too because she knows nothing bad will come from it :)
Sticker on a garage
A sticker on a residential garage in Kingsville says “If feminism feels like an attack, it might be a counter attack.”
A sticker on the side of a residential roller door garage.
Today in Cats of Kingsville
Today in our continuing series: the Cats of Kingsville…
Seriously? Not only are you walking a stinky dog you’ve brought it to my doorstep?
A white cat sitting in front of a door at the top of a residential driveway looks on grumpily off screen where there is a good on the other side of the front gate.
Dog? Yeah I noticed it. Don’t care; I’m in the sun.
An orange cat lies comfortable in a sunny patch of garden just inside a house’s front gate.
Fricking dogs. Can’t even take my morning walk without one of these stinky creatures turning up.
A cat watches and waits next to cars parked on a residential street, waiting for a dog on a lead (that’s off screen) to walk past.
Footscray station architecture
I’ve always loved how, at Footscray Railway Station, designers and architects managed to meld the original red brick structures with modern metal and plastic ones so well. That contrast of straight and solid old with angular and swoopy new works so well.
Entrance at one side of a train station. There are red brick buildings in the background and a large metallic rain shelter over the ticketing turnstiles in the foreground.
Also, can I say once again how much I love Moment smartphone camera lenses? This photo wouldn’t have been possible without their 18mm wide-angle lens.