Hooray for rain radar!

With all the doom and gloom of climate change, over-population and the stresses of "the rat race", it's easy to forget how amazing the modern world is thanks to advances in science and technology. On Sunday, we were in the city for a spot of sales shopping and a visit to the Australian Museum. When we went to leave the shopping centre for the bus, we looked outside to see it tipping down. I'd brought umbrellas but it was a bit windy. Should we risk a soaking, or wait and see if it would blow over?

In the past, this would have been a bit of a gamble, possibly combined with some kind of superstitious activity to try and alter the outcome. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I just had a quick look at the Sydney Rain Radar, saw it was blowing over: and we went and got a (very nice) coffee instead. After coffee, another quick check of the radar confirmed that the rain had moved on. Home and dry!

Of course, the rain radar doesn't always tell you what you want...

It’s going to be a wet one!

Earthworks 2014 Barossa Valley Shiraz

Today's You-app task was to "think positive" and make a note of something positive. This was actually my chosen "keep-it-up" habit-forming activity, so I had to do it twice. Fortunately, living in Australia gives you many positive things to think about, even on a rainy day like today. One of them is the wine - and one of the wines to be positive about is Earthworks 2014 Barossa Valley Shiraz, which is rich and velvety without being too in-your-face like some Aussie wines can be. (Not that I have a problem with that!)

It’s on offer at Vintage Cellars at the moment, so that’s two things to be positive about in itself!

Making it a positive 2016

One of my Christmas presents this year was Jamie Oliver’s new book, Everyday Super Food. As well as having some delicious-looking recipes, it also contains some advice for healthy living. One of the things recommended was the YOU-app for small steps in mindfulness, food and movement for health and happiness.

The basic idea is to make a positive change to your life through “micro-actions”, which are quick and simple to perform, rather than setting big goals that are hard to meet. The actions come in four flavours: mind, food, move and love. So far, I like it, and it’s inspiring me to make 2016 a year of making positive blog posts wherever possible. The first is this: check out the You app. It’s free!