My April

Unfortunately I had some health issues last month, and didn't get to do much of what I wanted to do. That's why this post is a bit late!

I did manage to do a couple of things, though:

What I've been celebrating ...
April is my birthday month, and I celebrated with a brunch. Many of my friends have kids and dogs now, so it's just easier to go to a cafe that I know is friendly to both, plus has great hash browns!

As a thank you to my friends who attended, I made these 'Wisdom of 42' spoof oracle cards. My friends and I have an occasional running joke that when you reach the age of 42, the answer to the ultimate question is revealed to you. I spent an afternoon painting a design, then printed out copies onto cardstock and wrote out oracles for the insides. Before everyone arrived, I placed one at each table setting so they received a random oracle.

My favourite one: "I see bacon in your near future."

P.S. I'm no closer to knowing the answer to the ultimate question than I was before, I'm afraid to say!


What I've been planting ...
This month I planted a tree (well, to be honest, more of a small shrub, but it sounds cooler to say I planted a tree!). I planted it for spiritual reasons that I might write about someday, but not right now. It's a Mexican orange blossom. Mr. Gnome is there to watch over it until it grows big and strong.

What I've been showing ...
I may have mentioned it on my Facebook a couple of times, but not here on the blog: I had a painting in an exhibition this month. (I'm terrible at self-promotion! It's still open until tomorrow if you're in Melbourne!). Here's my little fella, the one at the top:

I almost feel like I cheated with this one: the exhibition involved artists who had previously exhibited at the gallery, so my application was automatically accepted. The painting is an old one that I did last year. I chose it because it's my favourite one, I think. I'm not feeling very confident with my art lately, and I think it was better for me to show an older piece that I like rather than make a new one that I might not have been happy with.


What I've been eating ...
Husband and I went with a friend to One Plus Piece Cafe. It's a themed cafe based on the anime One Piece. We were incredibly excited because, despite Melbourne's reputation for good food, it's not often that you can find fun food, in the tradition of cafes in Japan and Taiwan. I have to admit, I'd never seen One Piece, so I researched by watching the first episode of the anime and reading the Wikipedia page before going.

I had a karaage (Japanese fried chicken) burger with coleslaw and spicy sauce, and a red-haired shake for dessert. The shake was so tall I had trouble taking a photo of it! We were completely overwhelmed with the inventiveness of the foods and the attention to detail paid in the decoration of the cafe. Ironically, it's located less than 10 minute's walk away from where we used to live before we bought our house. If it had been open then, we would have been regulars! Now, we're half an hour's drive away, but it's worth the trip!


Selections from Instagram
Just a couple, as the rest of this post is already quite picture-heavy!