wordle
Are you a fan of Wordle? Originally designed by British software engineer, James Wardle to amuse his wife, Wordle is an online word puzzle. Now owned by The New York Times, a new puzzle is posted every day. Each puzzle has one word of five letters and you get six attempts to solve it. Each time you enter a correct letter in the right box, it turns green, a correct letter but not in the right box turns yellow and a letter not in the word stays grey.
This is a quick, ad free, satisfying puzzle. There’s no flashing lights, no ghastly sound track and it only requires a few minutes. There’s all sorts of ‘cheat’ sites online, too, but I can’t really see the point! These sites give hints, a starting letter, lists of the most common letters in five letter words, and suggests best starter words and even lists of all the five letter words plus the answer.
Lots of off shoots online, too. There’s so many variations of word puzzles, plus a fun one called Flagle which gives you hints to guess the flag and also Worldle, with hints to help you work out the country or region featured. All engaging and pretty quick to complete!
other occupations
I’ve painted a blue wren and a Banksia burdetti, both endemic to south west Western Australia. I was happy with the wren but not so happy with the banksia
Completed the fourth week of an exercise class which feels like Pilates on steroids. Just when I feel I can do something without leaving exhausted, they increase the weights. Feel great afterwards. Yoga is gentle but I leave there feeling great, too.
Annual visit to the dermatologist done, nothing burnt off or cut out this year. Wonderful!
Sad remnants of the once glorious apricot tree.
This sad sight is our espaliered apricot tree which no longer gets enough sun to flourish, so I decided to remove it. Hard decision but the palm trees behind are only going to get bigger and block out more sunshine. We stripped off the branches and then my brother used his chainsaw to cut the remaining trunk to a manageable size for us to deal with later. I’ll start new planting soon in this bed. I’ll be planting things that don’t need much sunlight but will bring some colour.
These orbs have sat under the lime tree in the front courtyard for about twelve years. They were rusted and disintegrating. I treated the rust then sprayed them with a rust retarding paint. This is a temporary treatment and I will have to replace them in the future.
The repaired orbs look good under the lime tree. Spring is in the air and things in the garden are waking up! We have fresh lemons and limes at the moment. The azaleas and clivias have added some colour during this gloomy, long winter.
These dear little pansies with their sweet faces are blooming, too.
As usual, made three loaves of rye sourdough. I keep a few slices in the fridge and the rest in the freezer and I find it lasts almost a month. Homemade rye bread is made using a mother/starter, flour, water, molasses and a pinch of salt. Now days I let the Kitchen Aide do the mixing. I used to rely on feeling the elasticity of the dough as I kneaded it on the bench top to tell me when it was ready. It was quite a lot of work. Now I just guess and it has worked well so far.
Three bowls of sponge starter and three bowls of flour ready for a morning of bread baking.
The ease of making bread in the Kitchen Aide compared to hand kneading, the way bread has been made for centuries, made me ponder other changes brought about by technology. My car replaced one I’d had for thirteen years so the new technology was pretty amazing. Connectivity allows me to use the phone, talk to it to change radio stations, swap tracks on Spotify, change the temperature, get directions and probably many other things I haven’t discovered. I have never explored the self parking system but like some of the other things, such as the screen image of exactly how I’m lined up in a parking bay, how close other vehicles are, changed speed limits and advice on traffic flow are all useful.
This is not my car but you get the idea! Image Pexels
I think about the things I can do on my devices, the individualised settings on some of the equipment at the gym, even the noise the fridge makes if the door is open too long and the way lights are set to come on around the house at different times in the evening. Developments in medicine are equally amazing, resulting in quicker and more accurate diagnosis and treatments.
did you know?
The Australian dollar is considered to be the most structurally advanced currency in the world. The notes are made of polymer and are almost impossible to counterfeit. They’re colourful, too!