#5 Buzzing Bees and Jacaranda Trees

Prepare to be transported to a world where the simplest joys of life—like practicing yoga poses before getting out of bed and being inspired by uplifting Instagram content—can make your day brighter and more fulfilling.  A vivid description of the Jacaranda trees adds a splash of color to the episode and an encounter with a swarm of bees in the garden serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of nature and the small wonders that can unfold right outside our doorsteps. Feel the warmth of freshly brewed coffee and soft piano melodies during a house inspection that felt just like home. This episode is woven with cozy moments that promise to leave you with a sense of inspiration and a newfound appreciation for the little things that make life sweet.

Transcript

Intro to Episode 5 "Buzzing Bees and Jacaranda Trees"

Jacquie 0:01

Welcome to the Day-to-Day Podcast , calm Conversations with a Friend , spoken by Jacquie Joy , and you are listening to Episode 5 . You decide to check your messages . One new voicemail it's from one of your friends .

Sounds of Noisy Miner Birds

Jacquie 0:57

You decide it's time to sit down , make yourself comfortable and have a listen Music . He I thought I'd start my conversation a little bit differently today , with the sound of a noisy minor bird tweeting . It was tweeting away while I was just in the ice bath and was a welcome distraction . I don't know if you have these types of birds there , but they are only tiny . They have little grey bodies and yellow bills and by themselves , hey , they're not too noisy , but when you get them in groups and they get excited , they make a lot of noise . They make a lot of noise . This tiny little bird was making a solo tweeting sound because I think it was the only bird in the nest waiting for its mum and dad to come back with some food . So it's wonderful to hear that you're back safe and sound and what a rejuvenating trip for you .

Welcome Back

Jacquie 2:16

Are you feeling a little more fit too , with all of your extra walking ? I bet you are . All of your extra walking ? I bet you are .

Jacquie 2:26

I haven't been doing much walking lately , but have been keeping up with a bit of daily yoga . I'll usually do a few poses in the morning

Daily Yoga

Jacquie 2:41

before I get out of bed . The two yoga poses I'm doing at the moment are the very simple ones the upward-facing dog and the downward-facing dog . So that's been great for my spinal flexibility , first thing . Also , I'll look at my Instagram feed , which I have filled with exercises and also well-being posts . So this morning I automatically looked at my socials and , instead of getting distracted , it reminded me that I needed to do something for myself , and I found a post this morning that showed me a way to reduce anxiety where you stimulate your vagus nerve , which sounds complicated , but it just involved putting your index finger gently into your ear , your index finger gently into your ear , pushing down and turning forwards and back like a circle a couple of times in each earlobe . Apparently , this reduces anxiety and I found it a very relaxing way to start the day .

Jacquie 4:30

I have to tell you about a really good food hack . We went out to the local

Food Hack

Jacquie 4:39

tavern the other night for my brother's first birthday dinner and I ordered some lovely oysters , and I'm just trying to remember what I had for my main meal prawns and pasta . Very nice and pasta Very nice . However , the friend across the table well , she had a steak burger , which doesn't sound too exciting , but she said that I had to try some , so I actually cut off a piece and I took a bite . Oh my gosh , this Philly steak burger was something else , mainly because the bun was made of cheesy garlic bread and it was a really soft cheesy garlic bread . Inside it had a lovely tender rib steak and the sauce was a bit interesting and different too Caramelised onion , grilled capsicum , which I love , and a cheese sauce . So super simple but really delicious . And it's making my mouth water as I speak about it , and so I'm going to try this at home now , and the addition of the cheesy garlic bread will make my home burgers a lot more interesting and I'll add the caramelized onion and cheese sauce to the capsicum . But I really wish I was at Sarab eth's at the moment .

Jacquie 6:53

That looks like an amazing restaurant . The food photos are divine .

Sarabeth's

Jacquie 7:03

I can't believe their website . The food just jumps out of the pictures and it makes me really want to eat . Well , I can't decide , but if I had to , maybe a lobster roll and some pancakes with berries , I bet it has the most amazing smell when you walk into the restaurant . I'm guessing maybe the smell of coffee mixed with fresh baking bread type smells .

Open House

Jacquie 8:08

Speaking of coffee smells , we went to an open house inspection recently and the real estate agent had turned the coffee pot on . So we walked in and you could just smell this delicious coffee wafting through the entire house . Through the entire house . Also , they had soft piano instrumental tracks playing in the background and we all just immediately said we could live here . It was quite a large ceilinged home , so having that warmth provided by the coffee smell and the soft piano sounds gently reverbing throughout the space really gave it a sense of home , home . I also just digging it up now to try and remember a few of the songs that were on there . It's called Calming Instrumental Covers

Calm Songs Playlist

Jacquie 9:46

instrumental covers , and there are songs on there such as like classics like Blowing in the Wind .

Jacquie 9:49

Um , Let it Be . Let me scroll up here . . . Rocket man , Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Viva La Vida . So much like that . I'll send you through the link and you might like to try and play the playlist next when you're painting , or even when the cats might need a little calming down , or just when you're having a morning tea , but I've certainly enjoyed playing it at home in the background , just as ambient music . So you've been sending me some beautiful , colorful photos of landscapes with red , green , yellow leaves gorgeous and everything is just green here at the moment .

Jacquie 11:05

And everything is just green here at the moment , except I will send you a photo of a tree that is very special in Brisbane this time of year . I first learned about it when I was going to university and the drive leading up to the university

Jacaranda's in Bloom

Jacquie 11:23

was lined with these jacaranda trees , and every time we seemed to have end of year university exams , these jacaranda trees would come in to an amazing purple bloom and blossom a huge amount of flowers which regularly fall off and provide it's like a purple carpet to walk on when you're walking down the sidewalk . My friend from school lives over the other side of Brisbane and she's been going for walks and photographing jacaranda trees for walks and photographing jacaranda trees . So I will send one of her photos through so you can see what they look like . The jacaranda blossom reminds me of the stunning Japanese white cherry blossoms , obviously , but purple , so see what you think . Also , she did send me photos through of some magnolias , which here are usually very expensive . To buy A basic small magnolia at the garden shop would be about $100 . And it is often hard to get them to flower to flower . But we're lucky enough where we have two magnolia trees in our garden . One was here when we moved in and it was tiny , but it seems to be in the perfect place out the front of our yard and it has grown up to be a very large tree . So many people visiting or walking by would comment to us how beautiful the flowers were and apparently it's fairly rare to get these trees or plants in blossom . We managed to do a cutting from the tree and have since grown a second one , so obviously our soil and position for these trees in full sun seems to be working . So that's one of our most highly rated garden plants , I would think , very pretty .

Jacquie 14:49

They do attract bees Not too many bees but that's just one thing that we need to take care of , because the second one is right near the stairs , so during bee season we tend to walk up the other side of the staircase . Speaking of

Buzzing Bees

Jacquie 15:15

bees , I remember once I was inside the house upstairs and I heard an absolutely hugely loud humming sound , or maybe a buzzing sound , coming from outside . It sounded like thousands and thousands of bees and what do you know ? I walked outside and saw something like I've never , ever seen before and it was the most ginormous swarm of bees . And this big swarm had stopped and it looked like it was checking out maybe the magnolias and our large macadamia tree out the front , as if they were looking for a place to stop and call home . I was really hoping that they would consider another place , as this was going to be way too small for them , be way too small for them . The whole swarm was the same size as our very large macadamia tree , so they definitely needed to pick a larger residence . Luckily for us , after about five very long minutes , they decided to move on , and you were asking about the music show .

Jacquie 17:18

Well , we did it and it went down really well . Most importantly , we had a lot of fun and I must

The Music Show

Jacquie 17:25

say we sounded like we'd been playing together for years , and that was the feedback from the audience which surprised me a lot . It just worked out well . It's tricky when you're playing just with two guitars to stay in sync , but somehow we did that . It was a great turnout . The venue was incredible . We had lights , we had a great big stage and it was set up like a movie theatre with very comfortable seating and also bar tables at the front . So it was a very comfortable setup and we had our neighbours there supporting us . It was very nice of them to drive 45 minutes to come and see us play . It was so special to be invited to play music in the same building as these three amazingly talented ladies . We did our set first and you could hear them sitting in the front row singing along backing vocals to all of the songs we were singing , which was so special .

Jacquie 19:14

The theatre that we played in was part of a bigger precinct . Part of that bigger precinct had a very large grassy area and when we arrived , that area was full of food trucks and a lot of the local people and their families were there . It's a free community event , so there was a great turnout . I enjoyed a couple of chipotle chicken soft tacos I think that's how you say it chipotle before the show . They were delicious and the perfect food for before singing . My guitar partner had some spring rolls and they didn't sound like the perfect performance food as they were a little gluggy and didn't seem to sit too well in his stomach , especially as he was experiencing some pre-performance nerves , understandably , as it had been a while since he and well , we had both played a live performance . Anyway , it was a wonderful success and a lot of fun and it was , I felt , very honoured to be part of the event .

Jacquie 21:08

Well , it's time for me to start some dinner preparation . Some simple chicken schnitzels are on the menu tonight . I hope you've had a good first day back at work and that you're catching up with all of your holiday washing . The cats must be very happy to see you back , looking forward to chatting again .

Time to Start Dinner Prep

Jacquie 21:37

I'll speak to you soon . Take care Bye for now .