Ordering Running Shoes Online

A few months ago, I was in need of new running shoes.  Having bought the same pair 4 times in a row, I thought buying online might save me a few dollars.  I had some recommendations from people in the know, and had a look.  This was going great until I realised I had no idea of size conversions.  Strangely, the internet did not provide me with all the answers.  So I didn't buy any, and shortly after the need was dire.  I bought in-store.  A different sort, incidentally.

I'm approaching the new running shoes time again.  Probably next week it will be dire, so today I ordered my first pair of running shoes online.  This time, I was prepared.  The box in which the last pair came also listed what size they were in other systems.  Phew.  The only name I could remember for ordering was wiggle so that's where I went.  And discovered they have free delivery for orders placed this month.  Score!  They should be here by the middle of next week - I can't wait.  Oh, and price - it's so much cheaper.  Like, $90 cheaper.  The rate at which I go through running shoes, this will add up considerably.

Today's photo:

The new Kangaroo Paws are beautiful.  The fuzziness catches the sunlight beautifully.  This is the first of, most likely, many more photos to come.

Ordering Plants Online

Monday morning, and I wanted to buy a small tree.  After recent gardening endeavours, I've been left with a much nicer and neater courtyard.  Much more sunlight is encouraging me to plant edibles.  No privacy, though, is rather disconcerting.  I can see right into my neighbour's rooms.  Obviously, they can see right into my living room, too.  Hence the desire for a small tree.

Instead of wandering into local nurseries and finding out what they have (or not), I went online to find nearby nurseries, intending to phone them and find out their small tree stocks.  I found, however, online nurseries that deliver.  Perfect!

I spent quite some time checking out different providers, and different plants.  There were quite a few from interstate - not so keen on that, despite their assurance of quality.  When I found nursery direct online (find them here), I was much happier.  They service South East Queensland only, and include free delivery.

Eventually, I decided on a Lilly Pilly - fast growing, screen plant, native, full or part shade, suitable for pots - yay!  They require a minimum order amount so they can keep the delivery free, so I kept looking.  One bit that is bare but gets lots of sun is against the fence which has the clothes line, and I picked some kangaroo paws for there (although they won't stay there, I didn't think that through); I also bought a 12-pack of herbs.

The Lilly Pilly

They arrived today.  So exciting!  I had a call earlier in the week to check something, and the driver this morning was lovely too.  And I had forgotten how beautiful kangaroo paws are.  My grandparents had some in their front garden so this made me all nostalgic.

Kangaroo Paws

I'm going with pots for a couple of reasons: I want to keep them when I move; and the soil in the borders is fairly poor.  These photos were taken immediately after they arrived, I've been stocking up on pots and soil over the last few days.  My local gardening supplies place is probably getting suspicious.

Herbs!

The herbs looked so bright and enthusiastic in the morning sun - they reminded me of kindergarten kids.  I'm not going to the extent of naming them though.

Today's photo:

From the garden, of course.  I removed some excess garden stuff, some weeds and some - I don't even know what it was.  It was covering a stump, and (I discovered) a big fat worm and some new aloe growth.  Which looked like some sort of alien growth.

Hola

In hindsight, I had quite a linguistically rich upbringing.  My mum's an English teacher and has a Masters in English Literature.  My dad is a theologian and has lectured in ancient Hebrew and ancient Greek.  Both did high school French, and Latin was a normal part of conversation (as in, "what does this word mean?" "well, it comes from the Latin root ... ").  When I was a toddler I know dad was speaking German.  In primary school we did a semester each of French, German, and Japanese, and a term each of Italian and Indonesian.  I did German and Japanese all through high school.  Not to mention, music and all the language skills that provides.  After high school I went on a trip that included a visit to Montreal and Quebec, as well as France and Germany, so I have a bit of French (although I really don't feel comfortable with that language). 

The end result of all this is that I'm reasonable when it comes to working out translations of French, German, and Italian, and I feel I would not drown if I landed somewhere that spoke one of those languages.  Spanish, however, is another matter.  When faced with Spanish text, I'm mostly lost.  I can get a very little bit, but it's only a few words here and there. 

Last year, I decided I wanted to go Italy.  I've mentioned before that I started learning Italian, and I thought that I would continue that this year.  But, realistically, a trip to Italy is not going to happen any time soon.  Now, a lot of the time, my motivation for doing something is a feeling that I can't do it yet.  Having written that, I admit that looks a little odd, but I don't like having things on my "I can't" list.  So becoming more familiar with Spanish seems like a good idea.  Also, it is the 3rd most spoken language in the world.  Do I even need to mention, tangos...?  But the deciding factor really is, I don't know any Italian speakers - but Viola Man is a native Spanish speaker.  Every so often he'll include a Spanish phrase in a text, and while I can understand it, I'm sick of checking my response in iTranslate.  I want to be able to respond without thinking so much.

Having just spent more than my budget on clothes, I didn't want to spend lots of money on a language course.  My brother started a free online German course, and sent me the link.  Welcome to the language learning community.  Really, whoa!  As soon as I'd registered, chat requests kept popping up (in Spanish), and immediately after submitting a sentence for correction, I had oodles of responses.  The site I'm using is here and I'm not totally in love with it just yet.  The responses, and the total immersion, and the communication with native speakers (as well as being a native speaker) - these are all good things.  The use of pictures is also appreciated (especially the one for 'please' - they say a picture speaks a thousand words, this one had a bloke pleading with an obviously-annoyed, turned away woman).  However, I'm still having to use translation apps to work out what I want to say.  So, we'll see.