A new thought walking around Lake Ginninderra

Lake Ginninderra from the south-east Ginninderra Drive bridge. HDR post processing. Gary Lum

I’m going to have a go writing a short story

As I walked around Lake Ginninderra this morning I pondered a thought about a short story I thought I might write.

From time to time I mentally jot down ideas for works of fiction. I’ve never written a short story before but I follow enough blogs to admire people who can and do write short works of fiction. Whether I can or not is another thing altogether. I’ve never thought of myself as a good writer. I think I do a satisfactory job for my work, but creative writing is not something I feel comfortable with.

I’m not sure when I’ll make a start or when it might be finished, but I know the trigger for the story and I’m fleshing it out in my mind.

For now, enjoy a couple of photographs I shot this morning. I used a Sony α7ii with a 24–240 mm variable aperture lens. Each photograph represents three frames at three different exposures. I used Adobe Lightroom and Aurora HDR software to merge the images and edit them. I hope you like them.

Buoys on Yerra Beach, Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum — Buoys on Yerra Beach, Lake Ginninderra

2017-03-06

Public art in Woden

Diary

Public art in Woden

00:00 / 00:01:45

My opinion of public art

If you’d asked me before I moved to Canberra nearly ten years ago what I thought about public art. I’d have said, “…it’s a bloody waste of taxpayers’ money!”

I had no time for art in any form. I’d never really been interested in it.

I have no education in art and I’ve never read anything about art. I’ve certainly not picked up a book about art.

Public art in Canberra

The public art in Canberra though grows on you. All you need to do is enter “public art in Canberra” into a search engine and in the image page you’ll see what I mean. The place is replete with so much art work.

I do like “The Fragment” which is the feature in the photograph I’ve shared.

Street art in Canberra

Where I work in Woden, there are a couple of abandoned buildings that are in a state of disrepair. Broken windows, trash, overgrown plants and a reasonable amount of graffiti.

Canberra, like any city has its share of graffiti but it’s not known for it.

This area around Woden has started to get a name for itself and some locals are describing it as Canberra’s ghetto without people.

Final words

I seriously hope someone starts working on these derelict buildings. Canberra is our national capital. Government agencies are situated in neighbouring buildings. We have foreign dignitaries come and visit us in our buildings and they see the mess.

2017-02-26

Mum and Dad cooked a huge breakfast

Lamb chops with bacon eggs and scones Gary Lum

So after a big day of food on Saturday (go back to lunch and dinner), Mum and Dad cooked a huge breakfast for me and the girls.

Mum and Dad both love cooking and they love sharing how much they love their kids and grandkids by cooking large quantities of food 😃

Their small apartment quickly filled with the aromas of bacon, lamb, and scones.

This is my first breakfast plate. In all I ended up with four lamb chops, I estimate about four eggs worth of omelet and a couple more scones 🤣😂😋

2017-02-252017-02-26

Miss 15 will soon be Miss 16

Pork ribs with prime rib and mashed potato and pepper sauce at Hog's Breath Café, Aspley Gary Lum

My youngest daughter will soon turn 16. We went out for dinner, celebrated over steaks and then had some cake.

We went to Hog’s Breath Cafe in Aspley because it’s close and Mum’s food allergies aren’t affected by slowly cooked steak.

I asked for the combination pork ribs and prime rib steak along with double mashed potato with pepper sauce. I did ask for some salad, but the server must have thought I said double mashed potato. I didn’t complain, I like mashed potato, especially with barbecue sauce from the pork and the added pepper sauce I asked for the steak. Often I’ll have the steak with some prawns for a surf and turn but I’d already eaten fish and calamari earlier in the day.

Mum had made a coconut ice coconut cake as a birthday cake. It was really nice. It was moist and full of great coconut flavour.

Coconut ice coconut birthday cake Gary Lum — Coconut ice coconut birthday cake

2017-02-252017-02-25

What do you call this?

Rice, egg, aspargus, mushroom, and cheese slice Gary Lum

The Canberra Hospital staff tuck shop was offering this today for lunch. Normally I go for the seafood plate which is a piece of battered fish, a few crumbed prawns, a seafood stick and some other things that I’ve never really worked out but it’s all deep-fried and it tastes good.

For something different, I asked what was in the main tray and I couldn’t really understand what the server was saying. It was very noisy and my deafness doesn’t help.

It has asparagus, mushroom, rice, cheese and I think it was bound with eggs. It was stiff and kept its shape. It tasted okay. I don’t know what to call it, though.

Do you know what to call it?

2017-02-232017-02-23

Pay day joy

#payday S H I S H - P L A T E TIME Braised lamb, Greek pitta bread, Greek salad with a garlic tahini sauce on the lamb Gary Lum

It’s pay day, which is always a good day.

It’s an especially good day when there are no bills in the post office box 😃

For lunch, I had the SHISH special from Urban Bean Espresso Bar. The lamb was delicious.

I was meant to be in a few places at once today but I had a priority to attend to, unfortunately. It’s a good thing I love my job.

By the time I left work all I could think about eating was half a tin of hot and spicy spam on a bed of ramen noodles covered in Coon cheese and dressed with vegetables.

I hope you had a good day.

2017-02-21

I dreamt about my maternal grandfather

Do you remember your dreams? I love dreaming. Dreaming is so enjoyable, mostly. Occasionally I have nightmares, but mostly I have pleasant dreams. I usually don’t remember what I’ve dreamt about unless it’s something really special.

Last night I dreamt I was on a cruise ship of all things and of course I was trying all the buffets. One buffet was Chinese food and had a bowl of clear marrow broth with pork bones. As I was going back for more the cook brought out a big plate of cooked pork ribs with meat on them. They looked delicious. I grabbed some on a plate and went back to a table. Sitting opposite me was my maternal grandfather. Goong goong. That’s what we (his grandchildren) called him. His name was William Que Hee. He was a cane farmer and a cook, a husband and grandfather and all round good bloke.

He died in 1974. He, along with my maternal grandmother effectively raised me as a small boy. I have many fond memories of Goong goong. He was a kind and gentle man. He turned our backyard into a vegetable garden full of Chinese vegetables. He cooked, he cleaned and he kept me safe. I still miss him though he’s been dead for so many years. In the photographs below he’s holding me.

Do you remember dreams? Do you write them down? Do think there’s any value in keeping a dream diary?

2017-02-202017-02-20

Salmon with avocado and beetroot coleslaw

Crispy skin pan-fried salmon with Hass avocado and beetroot coleslaw dressed with aioli #dinner #mealforone #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon #lightroom #canberra #cbr #australia Garnished with lots of lime zest because I love lime Aioli, Avocado, Beetroot, Beetroot coleslaw, Lime zest, Salmon Gary Lum

My thoughts and stuff

Salmon with avocado and beetroot coleslaw

00:00 / 00:01:26

It’s Monday night so that means salmon. I’ve been mixing it up lately. For a long time, I’ve been baking my salmon in my bench top oven. It’s simple and only takes 12 minutes with minimal mess.

However, I do enjoy crispy skin pan-fried salmon though and now that I have a portable induction hob, getting a really hot pan is simple. I also coat the salmon in flour and this minimises oil splatter because it dries the surface of the salmon.

I didn’t eat dessert last night because I was feeling full after my leftover pork and beef meatloaf with extra bacon. Even my dessert stomach (also known as the œsophagus) didn’t feel like it could cope.

Vanilla ice cream with mint flake #dessert #mealforone #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon #lightroom #canberra #cbr #australia Did you know your œsophagus is your dessert stomach? Gary Lum — Vanilla ice cream with mint flake
#dessert #mealforone #yummylummy #foodporn #yummy #delicious #instafood #nikon #lightroom #canberra #cbr #australia
Did you know your œsophagus is your dessert stomach?

2017-02-19

Sunday night leftover pork and beef meatloaf with added bacon

Pork and beef meatloaf cheese pie with bacon and red chilli Gary Lum

Adding bacon to leftovers is always a good thing.

This is what was leftover from last night’s pork and beef meatloaf cheese pie.

2017-02-192017-02-19

Hot and spicy Spam with melted smoked cheddar cheese

Today’s lunch was yummy

If you want to see a bigger better version of the cut sandwich click here.

Category: Diary

A new thought walking around Lake Ginninderra

I’m going to have a go writing a short story

Like this:

Public art in Woden

My opinion of public art

Public art in Canberra

Street art in Canberra

Final words

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Mum and Dad cooked a huge breakfast

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Miss 15 will soon be Miss 16

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What do you call this?

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Pay day joy

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I dreamt about my maternal grandfather

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Salmon with avocado and beetroot coleslaw

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Sunday night leftover pork and beef meatloaf with added bacon

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Hot and spicy Spam with melted smoked cheddar cheese

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I’m going to have a go writing a short story

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My opinion of public art

Public art in Canberra

Street art in Canberra

Final words

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