New Zealand

If you won two free plane tickets, where would you go?

If I won two free plane tickets I would go to New Zealand.  I would begin in the South Island of New Zealand and see Dunedin and Milford  Sound, and visit Sam Neill’s Two Paddocks winery, see Christchurch and Akaroa,  then travel to the North Island through Wellington, Gisborne , Rotarua and also Te Awamutu where the Finn brothers grew up.  I would visit  Kare Kare Beach and Auckland.

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The story behind Sparkles

What’s the story behind your nickname?

I know that I have twice before written about my nickname Sparkles.   It is a long standing nickname.   I was first called Sparkles at high school by a friend Karen whose nickname was Possum or Poss  for short.   She called me Sparkles because I was always smiling 😃 and happy.  There was also a famous female clown in Melbourne at the time was called Sparkles.

It is a nickname that could still be relevant to me today because some of my friends think I am a strong, positive, optimistic force to be reckoned with.  So Sparkles, I am.  I think it is in our teenage years that we inherit our nicknames.

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No real travel plans at the moment.

What are your future travel plans?

I don’t really have any travel plans at the moment as I plan to move house in the next 12 months or so, so I am saving my money for the cost of moving.

Once I have moved, I would consider planning another cruise, possibly to New Zealand 🇳🇿 again.

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Change Facebook

What would you change about modern society?

The thing that I would change about modern society would be to change Facebook.   I would make it that people could only make positive encouraging responses on Facebook, that people would be banned from making negative or hateful comments. Facebook has been the avenue for many online bullies to wreck their venom, and I would like to  see a total end to that. I would like social media to be a pleasant encouraging environment.

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Gold 104.3fm or YouTube clips or Spotify

What do you listen to while you work?

What do I listen to whilst I work?. A number of things. I normally have the radio on in the background whilst I go about my day  normally. Gold 104.3fm, which is based here in Melbourne.  It plays the music I have listened 🎶 to from my early teens onwards.   I also listen 🎶 to YouTube clips and my Spotify playlist. It depends what I am in the mood for. I love all Australian Music from the 80s and 90s,  but also like a variety of other music.

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Go to comfort food

What’s your go-to comfort food?

I have two types of comfort food depending on whether I want something aweet or savoury.

I am a true Aussie girl through and through because my go to savoury comfort food is a crumpet with lashings of butter and Vegemite.   I have grown up loving Vegemite and my favourite way to have it is on a crumpet with butter.  It has to be butter , for the taste, and I can’t stand margarine.

My other go-to comfort food, when I want something sweet, is a bowl 🥣 of warm custard 🍮 with stewed apple 🍎.   Served warm, this is the ultimate in comfort food and takes me back to childhood, and now that I am diabetic it is the closest thing I can have, like my mother’s Golden Syrup Dumplings   If I can’t have Golden Syrup Dumplings, then I will happily settle for custard and stewed apples.

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Uno,Scrabble,  Trivial Pursuit and games with Lily

What’s your favorite game (card, board, video, etc.)? Why?

My favourite card game 🎴 would have to be Uno, as it is simple and fun for all ages.  My favourite board games are Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit because they are fun and exercise your brain and vocabulary.   My other favourite games 🎮 ❤️ are those I play with Lily, eg fetch and tug of war.  I love playing with Lily, and she just loves it. I make time every day to play a little with her. She is happy and contented because I play with her on a regular basis.

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Lose track of time

Which activities make you lose track of time?

There are a few activities that can make me lose track of time.

I can lose track of time when I take Lily for her morning walk.

I can lose track of time in the company of good friends,  particularly when there is food and good conversation involved.  Chatting over a good meal is a way of losing time. Good times spent creating good memories are a great way to lose track of time.

Definitely reading a good book is another way that I lose track of time.

Definitely, writing this blog and my other writings are the main ways that I can lose track of time.

Watching a good movie or YouTube clips is a way I spend a lot of time.

Cooking a nice meal is also an activity I can spend time on and shopping at ALDI or shopping for pleasure 🙏🏽 is another activity that I can lose track of time doing.

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