FYI

Stumbled upon when reading an article about Robert Burns' republican sentiments in the Guardian book blog:

Honouring the Bard: some facts

• Sales of haggis are expected to soar this year. Two well-known suppliers, Macsweens and Ken Stahly, have reported record sales in advance of Burns Night, with 650 Burns suppers already officially registered for the Homecoming festival.
• Scottish haggis is still banned in the United States, but not in Canada, after the BSE crisis, but expats claim that haggis smuggling thrives.
• A wicker fire sculpture of Tam O'Shanter will be burnt on Burns Night in Dumfries, where Burns died in 1796, as part of a celebratory fire festival and lantern parade.
• In Alloway, Burns's birthplace, his cottage, the Brig o'Doon and Alloway Auld Kirk and graveyard, the setting for Tam O'Shanter, will be stage sets for a theatrical Burns tribute
• Roughly 10,000 Highland clan members from around the world are expected to attend a clan gathering and Highland games in Edinburgh in July.
• The Scottish football cup has been renamed the Homecoming Scottish cup, more than 250 Burns compositions will be sung or read in a 12-hour long Burns poetry extravaganza in Glasgow, and 100 million US and Canadian television viewers will see a Homecoming advert on cable channels to boost tourism and visitor numbers.

Patient driver video

Was sent this in an email - not an advert we've seen here in Australia I don't think. Very drole.

Rob's time in Japan #2

Sun 14 Dec
OK, we'll start with today before reminiscing. Today was mad fun. Kohki had study - homework to do so I went out with Caitlin's host mother and daughter.
We met up with them at about 11-11:30 and made a quick stop back at their place before going to an ancient burial mound. After visiting these we went to the Peace Tower. It was spectacular. At the bottom was a rock that you stood on and clapped and the tower was built in such a way that the echo was metallic. It was really cool.
We then visited a gallery near the tower and I got a photo of a 'great tit' (bird) (very amusing though). We were then taken to the natural and ancient history museum of Miyazaki prefecture. Very interesting. Then we went shopping at the local plaza. Caitlin's host family is ridiculously generous. They wouldn't let either of us pay for anything. The lunch we had was delicious japanese food. They then took us to a game arcade in the mall. Caitlin and her host sister managed to talk me into getting photos done in one of those booth things.
In the arcade we met up with Sam and he and I had a go at a 2 p gun game. We were very mediocre at best.
After the arcade we went to a CD store. When I asked if a CD I had picked up would be able to play in Australia, they decided to buy it for me as a 'Christmas present'. I thought host sister had gone to ask if it would work in Australia and it came back in a bag and she gave it to me!! They then bought Caitlin a CD as well. We were then taken to an ice-cream store where they bought us each pop-rock ice creams which were very nice.
We then visited a store that sold a bit of everything where me and Caitlin were randomly bought comic glasses.
They then took us to a japanese style hippy shop. I was looking at star sign bracelets with Caitlin and they asked what star sign I was and which Caitlin was. We told them and they promptly took our respective signs off the rack and took them to the counter. No amount of protest from me or Caitlin would stop them.
I did manage to buy one thing by myself though, Mum's pressie from Japan although I made sure it was when they weren't looking.
Home-time next.
Nice dinner followed by watching Adelaide lose to Osaka 1-0 in the FIFA Clubs WC.
It was really upsetting when Kohki cried because I was leaving in the morning but his mother calmed him a little when she said she would ask his home-room teacher if he could have a half day so he could say goodbye at the airport.
Nevermind the reminiscing, I'm tired, some other night.
Rob

Channel 6 TV News Story

Wanted to preserve this. Well done to GD and Shirley for finding it and passing it on. It was a hoot. Ishbel loved it and so did my colleagues - as Gillian said today we're (that means you Mum and Shirley!!!) going to have to work hard to top that next year.

Search on for Ishbel Colquhoun: Naughtiest Person in the World

Christmas 2008

We were out on Christmas Eve with Janet, Steven, Georgia and Kate and Sharon and Holly. We decided that, instead of gift buying, we would have dinner out and rolled up to the Chinese restaurant at Faulconbridge at 6:30pm for a slap-up meal. It was chaos as we all ordered over each other, changed our minds and (Holly) spilt red wine all over the table! Since we were in a Chinese restaurant we played Chinese whispers - what a hoot. Instead of dessert at the restaurant we went back to Janet and Steven's for pavlova which no one ate a lot of in the end.

As you might expect, Ishbel was first up on Christmas Day. We made her wait until after 8am before going to wake up the boys - quietly, gently we said. She wasn't.

After presents opening - XBox for the children (all the Cowan grandchildren got one it seems), IOU for a "real" dog for the boys, trampoline for Ishbel, hammock for Ian, jewellry for Heidi, it was down to work for Ian and I.

I set to making lunch while Ian put the trampoline together. He did ok until trying to get the bouncy canvas bit in place. We ended up dragging the boys away from their XBox to tug and pull at the canvas while I tried to hook it to the springs. We tugged and pulled and tugged and pulled and were pulling our hair out as to how ANYONE managed to put one on when Ishbel gave us the benefit of her reading the instructions and informed us there was a special spring tool to help us get the springs in place! It was easy after that and Ishbel had her trampoline.

About midday I finally had lunch ready to start cooking and just as the chicken was going in the oven Karen, Dan and the boys arrived. We had a lovely lunch of chicken, ham, roast veg and salads and fruit mince pies with cream and little meringue nests with cream and fruit. Xavier was very obliging and slept through lunch and came awake to play afterwards.

At one point Xavier was looking over Karen's shoulder at the boys playing on the computer. He was watching them really intently and got quite aninmated. He looked like he'd like to join them.

Today, Boxing Day, has been quiet and relaxed. Ian, Ishbel and I took a quick trip down to Springwood Library to empty the After Hours Return bin before a trip to the hardware shop to get hooks to hang Ian's hammock on. After much debate about where the hooks should go, he got it installed nicely and was soon relaxing with a Lee Childs book. And there he stayed all afternoon.

Flickr slideshow of Christmas will be posted in the right hand side for a while.

Beginings of slideshow of Rob's trip

He's made a start on labelling his photos, the first 30+ are now in a slideshow in the right column. Keep checking it for updates.

Rob's time in Japan #1

This is from the book he took with him on the Japan trip. I will note here that on the page facing the entry I am about to transcribe, were names and addresses for loved ones. At the top I had written YOU MUST SEND AT LEAST ONE POSTCARD TO: Well, he bought the postcards but . . .

OK, it's Saturday 13 Dec. Time to start a diary. Let's begin with my day.

Today I was up at 7:30. At about 8:30 I went with my host mother and brother (Kohki), along with Kohki's friend, to a local community centre to make New Year's decorations out of rice straw. To me they look like Egyptian anks but hey, I have the photos. At the end everyone was given a bowl of soup. It was actually really nice.

Then we went to the local science centre. Kohki is a member of the science club there. Today we were making little robots (have pics). I joined in and made my own, although I think I might leave it with Kohki.

Then my host mother took me to udo shrine. It is about 30-35 mins from Miyazaki city. It is built on (near enough) the side of a cliff.

After this outing we met up with Kohki and his friend again and with the rest of Kohki's friends family went for dinner at a restaurant called Do-luck. It was really really nice. In a room beside the restaurant was a BB gun range. OMFG!! It was sooooo much fun.

Anymawho I'm going sightseeing with Caitlin and her host family 2mrw. Apparently Kohki has a couple of tests coming up and needs to study and do his homework.

Oh, and it turns out a friend of mine I made on this trip who is also in Miyazaki got some sort of throat irritation and saw the doctor 2day.

Visiting the high school was sooooo much fun. I had 2 Japanese girls come and tell me they love me and many more told me and the other four foreign students we were cute.

I could get any group of staring school girls to start giggling outrageously just by waving. Ah, being blonde in a dark hair society. The downside being that Amelia taught a bunch of them to call me "blondie".

I also had Robert translated into kanji. Turns out I'm "Rain Lord Wave Asia Star" which I thought was pretty cool.

LOL CAitlin's is "Happy Love" which I came up with a few jokes about.

What else . . . . .

Oooh!! I know

On the subject of jokes, and being jocular, I can't wait till my bus group gets back together. I miss Cameron (NZ), Broc (Aus - Manning Point), Mel (Aus - Dubbo) and Kat (Aus - Melbourne). BTW Kat, the gay awkward turtle is running from the brown g-string (Rob informs me this is some sort of in-joke)

Well, that's all for now.

Might write 2mrw, tell ya's all about the sightseeing.

Night.

Rob

Japan Trip DVD trailer

Rob's new friend Cameron from NZ has taken a whole lot of video of their trip - here is a trailer. He has a full 26 min DVD in the pipeline.

Watch out for our boy in the very first few seconds . . .

He's back!

He had a fabby time, he's off to Leigh's!

He's got hundreds of photos which we'll load on to Flickr and attach as a slideshow once they've been put in order and labelled.

Rob comes home today

We've all been up since 5 this morning - Robbie is coming home so Ian and Ishbel have gone down to collect him.

School woes have me tearing my hair out!

Before we did our European Grand Tour in 2006 we wrote a letter to each of the kids' schools to inform them of the dates we would be away. To our frustration, when we got home it was to several letters from each of the boys' schools at least (can't remember if the primary school also offended) telling us that school attendance was compulsory under The Education Act 1990 and that we were required to explain our child's absenses. The offending schools got a very terse, sarcastic letter back.

Last year we had a letter from Robbie's school asking about an unexplained absence. A quick look on our calendar revealed that he was on a school excursion on the day in question.

Last night I was visiting my friend, Joanne, in hospital. I mentioned the above experience and we laughed about the possibility of it happening again. Guess what! Yup! When I got home, there was a letter asking us where our son was! We got another one tonight! He's on a school-related trip ~ if they don't know where our son is are we in trouble?

I was only at the school earlier in the week, collecting Robbie's School Certificate. I explained I was there because Rob was in Japan. Today Ian got a phone call asking him to come to school to collect an award!

Not impressed!

There is still time to make this for Christmas!

Christmas Cake Ingredients:

* 2 cups flour

* 1 stick butter

* 1 cup of water

* 1 tsp baking soda

* 1 cup of sugar

* 1 tsp salt

* 1 cup of brown sugar

* Lemon juice

* 4 large eggs

* Nuts

* 1 bottle Brandy

* 2 cups of dried fruit

1. Sample the brandy to check quality.
   
2. Take a large bowl, check the brandy again. To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.


3. Repeat.
   
4. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.
   
5. Add one teaspoon of sugar.
   
6. Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the brandy is still OK. Try another cup . . . just in case.
   
7. Turn off the mixerer thingy.
   
8. Break 2 eggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.
   
9. Pick the frigging fruit up off floor.
   
10. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver.
    
11. Sample the brandy to check for tonsisticity.
    
12. Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something.


13. Check the brandy.
    
14. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
    
15. Add one table.


16. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.
    
17. Greash the oven.
    
18. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.
    
19. Don't forget to beat off the turner.
    
20. Finally, throw the bowl through the window.
    
21. Finish the brandy and wipe counter with the cat.
    

Bingle Jells!

You probably heard all about this

Some new Robert Burns poems have been discovered.

999 Challenge

No, nothing to do with emergencies!


Fancy an extra reading challenge for 2009? Over at the wonderful LibraryThing they are gearing up for the 999 Challenge ~ 9 books in 9 different categories, all read in 2009. There is only one rule and that is you can only have 6 cross over books in your 9 catagories. For an added challenge, try completing your books by 9/9/09! You pick the categories yourself, just post here and let us know how you're doing.

I was alerted to this by colleagues who are gearing up for the challenge. They are going to cheat ever so slightly by starting on their reading now.

Robin has chosen her 9 categories : *Books Made Into Movies *Short Listed and Man-Booker Prize Winners *Word of Mouth *Chic Lit *Classic Reading *Australian Authors *Biographies *1001 Must Reads *Crime Fiction.

Scarlett's lists comprise of : *Embarassing gaps in my reading *Stagnant bookself books *Orange prize winners *Man-Booker prize winners *Books made into movies *1001 must reads *Australian authors *Recommended reads *Crime.

The 999 challenge even has its own blog.

BTW : Have I told you about LibraryThing? It's a wonderful site where you can record all the reading you do and/or all the books you own. You can give them star ratings and write reviews. You can also see the comments and ratings of other people who have read the same books as you. The link above takes you to my LibraryThing page - get your own account. There's my LibraryThing widget way down on the right side, showing random books in my list.

All but finished with the kitchen . . .

. . . but it was a close call.

Sam came on Tuesday and put on handles, the bulkheads and other stuff. We are just one handle short - the kit came without all the pieces. The other problem is that one of the drawers under the cooktop is not fitting properly and sticks out about 5 cm so Sam will have to come back and fix that.

This morning Adam the electrician came. He had to rootle around under the house to get the dishwasher connected up. Had a horrid ten minutes or so after he went under the house first - he couldn't get under there. Had visions of having to remodel the whole kitchen! Armed with a torch, however, Adam went back in and under and found a way round what initially appeared to be a brick wall going the length of the house. Dishwasher connected and has done one wash successfully.

Next problem was one of the fans in the wall oven. It was rattling around quite noisily. Adam had the oven out of the wall and the lid off it trying to fix it but it still rattled and I thought at least one day of the upcoming long summer holiday was going to be spent waiting for an Electrolux person to see to it. However, by the time Ian came home and I put the fan on for Ian to hear the problem, it was gone - in fact the oven fans are so quiet I had to open the oven door to check they were on at all.

So! The slideshow has been updated and you can look at it here.

Party Boy

It was Jamie's Year 10 formal last night. He wore the suit he wore to Jono and Narelle's wedding last year. I asked him last week to try it on and ensure it still fitted since he's had quite a growth spurt.
Yesterday morning, rushing to get to work, I asked if he'd tried the suit on. Yes he had. Then I asked to see it. Good job I did. It had toothpaste-like marks down the front and on one sleeve which I sponged off and the trousers looked like they'd been chucked in the general direction of the coathanger rather than carefully placed on one. So I arranged to leave work early in order to help him get ready.
Good job I did. I ironed the trousers and while preparing to iron the shirt found the collar and cuffs were filthy. I quickly scrubbed the shirt in the sink and shoved it in the dryer. Not impressed.
Anyway, he finally got away ok and had a great time although he lost his wallet during the evening, found it later but by then the the money was gone.

Another busy weekend

My Book Thieves book group had arranged to have brunch and do some shopping up in Leura instead of having our usual meeting this month so I was up early to be ready to go after meeting the others at Mary's house. We had a lovely brunch in a cafe where I had my favourite Italian-style hot chocolate -it has the consistency of thick custard and French toast. Yu-u-um.

We then went shopping starting with the book shop. It was not easy to get everyone out again - there were 10 of us - and some people were a bit startled when I shouted, "Time's up Book Thieves!" From there we went to the stationers shop - no ordinary paper and envelopes here, it is absolutely marvellous. The candle shop also got a thorough going through before we topped ourselves up with another cuppa before hitting the clothes and shoe shops. It was around 4pm before I got home.

Meanwhile, Ian had stayed home to let the tiler in to do the kitchen wall and to take Ishbel to Ruby's for a sleepover. We had the Valley Heights RFS dinner to go to on Saturday evening and Carolyn had offered to babysit Ish.

But before that there was a street Christmas party. That was great for us, giving us an opportunity to meet more of our neighbours, all of whom were very friendly. Most of the others have been in their houses between 1 and 2 years, ours being the last to be sold to civilians. Jodie, who was the lady who greeted us during our first week, has been in Red Crowned Court for 6 years and had lots of gossip about previous owners. According to her, our house was where the high heid yins lived. I was sorry to have to leave such a friendly gathering so soon but off we went to the golf club.

It was the Valley Heights RFS 50th Anniversary dinner. I was on the organising committee and we'd worked hard all year to try and raise funds to pay for as much as possible to keep costs down. We didn't get a lot of support from the brigade when we laid on such events as an underwear party. The main organiser was Bec and she'd arranged for an old truck, which one of the ex-members has lovingly restored, and the current Cat 1 to be at the golf club and we had a big group photo taken in front of it. Unfortunately, the dinner wasn't great and it was a bit dull; wish we'd been able to stay at the street party.

Sunday had Ian and I back up in Leura early. We had a very odd breakfast in a tiny little cafe (Mum may remember going there when she came over when Ishbel was an infant - you can only fit about 6 people in there). The staff spent the time we were there grumbling about other staff. Not nice. We were up there to look at a coffee table that Ian had seen a while back. We didn't end up with it in the back of the car but we did find a lovely lead-light standard lamp and table lamp for the sitting room and were very pleased with our purchases.

From Leura we went up to Katoomba to the RSPCA/Council pound. The boys keep complaining that Bella is not a real dog and we're looking at getting them one. We'll have to get a young dog though that will not object to Bella being around. The pound didn't have many dogs available for adoption and we've decided we're going to have to let the kids (or Jamie and Ishbel at least) in on the decision-making - dangerous as that may be. We think we might also have to go to the RSPCA pound at Yagoona where there will be more choice - or wait until after Christmas - the staff said there would be lots of puppies then. :(

We picked Ishbel back up on our way home and I was looking forward to a quick snooze after lunch but Cathy rang wanting to borrow the car so she could pick up some furniture she'd bought so I chummed her down to Penrith. We could only get one of the two tallboys she's bought in the car so we'll have to go again next weekend.

After that the groceries needed shopping for so out I went again. I was knackered by the time Ishbel went to bed and wasn't far behind her.

I was looking forward to a quiet Monday morning but all was chaos at work. We've been moved about down in Library HQ and new desks, etc had been put in some of the offices last week. It didn't go very smoothly though - the Children's team desk was WAY bigger than anticipated and when I went in to have a sticky beak at Vicki's office it was to find that they'd put two bookshelves on the desktop - and IN FRONT of the only window!!! Things had to be moved again on the weekend. I arrived on Monday to find there was no power to my desk, or Gillian's, or Jenny's or Patou's - we were the ones who HAD NOT been moved the week before! It was after 4pm before the electricians found the problem and fixed it!

Google launches new thinking person's search engine

Google is set to launch a new version of its omnipresent search engine that will question the cultural validity of people’s enquiries. Rather than instantly offering a comprehensive list of the most popular websites and images related to the keywords, the new version will offer its opinion on the subject of the enquiry and if it finds the request to be intellectually vacuous, will steer the user clear of the original search altogether.

Click here for the full article.

Hairdos

I had a hairdresser appointment yesterday afternoon. On Thursdays I get away from work early (it was originally to get Ishbel to soccer training during the winter), pick up Ishbel at the bus stop and we also have Ruby for the evening. I had to take the girls with me to the hairdresser until Ian got home from work.

The girls behaved very well, playing with a book that contained puzzles. The salon wasn't very busy and the apprentice, Mary, and a Winmalee High School student on work placement were washing the hair of a dummy and the girls were watching with fascination. Then Mary started to put curls in Ruby and Ishbel's hair. My hairdresser, Laura, also did a fancy french pleat in Ruby's hair.

Unfortunately, Robbie is away with the camera so we were unable to take photos but the girls were absolutely stoked with their 'dos'. Ishbel brushed her hair as lightly as possible this morning in the hope of preserving as many curls as possible. I saw her 'plumping' her hair up as she walked in to school this morning.

It all reminded me of the time we had school photos taken at Camberley Infants. Mum put my hair in curls. Dedicated tom-boy as I was, I was not impressed and was teased at school. I think Ishbel's the daughter you should have had, Mum, she would have really appreciated those curls!!!

I don't ever remember seeing that photo though, have you got it?

Sad day today

Ian is away up in Queensland today attending the funeral of Jono's grandmother (and Ian's former mother-in-law), Lorna, who died quite suddenly last weekend. Very sad for Sarah and her brother, Steven, Jono and Jono's grandfather, Ken who has been married to Lorna for over 60 years.

Kitchen update

The kitchen sink has been hooked up to the plumbing and we no longer have to wash up in the laundry :
Kitchen renovation slideshow

And talking about reeks . . .

The library has just got in a book called Auld Reekie : an Edinburgh anthology selected by Ralph Lownie and with a foreward by Alexander McCall Smith. It contains a variety of writings about Edinburgh by a variety of writers. I've only read a few pages but it looks like a nice little book to have on the shelves - might go and see if my local bookshop has it in, I've been trugging around for over a month with a book voucher in my wallet.

I dipped into it yesterday lunch time and came across this little nugget:

"The first thing that must strike any stranger is that Edinburgh is both by natural ordinance and man's contrivance a Capital. It was made to rule; it did rule; and it was robbed of its command. Its kingdom was absorbed. It became the head-place of a province . . .

You can see at a glance that Edinburgh was meant to put its stamp on Scotland, not to take its orders from London. In appearance it is sovereign to the heart of its stones . . . It is the natural capital of a divided country." Ivor Brown, Summer in Scotland (1952)

and just one more to remind GD, GT, Karen and I what we're missing right now . . .

"But Edinburgh pays cruelly for her high seat in one of the vilest climates under the heaven. She is liable to be beaten upon by all the winds that blow, to be drenched with rain, to be buried in cold sea fogs out of the east, and powdered with the snow as it comes flying southwards from the Highland hills. The weather is raw and boisterous in winter, shifty and ungenial in summer, and downright meteorological purgatory in the spring." Robert Louis Stevenson, Edinburgh : Picturesque Notes (1879)

Rob has jetted off to Japan

They had to get up at Crikey o'clock (3:30am) and left the house about 4:30am to be at the airport by 6:30am for a 9:30am flight.

For those who want to GoogleEarth it (I haven't got around to it yet myself), Robbie's host family live in Yamasaki, Miyazaki, Japan. A colleague, John, has a son who worked in Japan for several years and John says his son was in a town just south of where Robbie is going. He said it's a fishing centre and they process and dry a lot of fish and the surrounding area reeks of fish!!!!

There was a little article about the students in this week's Blue Mountains Gazette which I have tried to upload here but will have to send you all via email instead.

Clancy of the Overflow

Listening to ABC radio the other morning I heard Jack Thompson reading Clancy of the Overflow. A beautiful Australian poem read devinely.

The reading is just one track on Jack Thompson's CD, The Bush Poems of A.B. (Banjo) Paterson. Anyone still wondering what to get me for Christmas need wonder no more . . .

Click here for a sample of the CD, courtesy The Sydney Morning Herald.

Now if anyone can find me Burn's poetry read as beautifully I'd be in heaven.

Emotionally wierd

Not feeling my best today - tired, hormonal and on the edge.

Fed up with living like a refugee - the benches were fitted OK on Friday (a day late) but when the electrician came at the crack of nothing yesterday morning he wasn't able to do much because the wall has not been replaced behind where the oven will go and behind the stove. Also, the cupboard for the microwave hasn't been replaced. The kitchen company are apologetic but are waiting on parts, apparently. (More pics will be added to photostream when I can get the uploading thing to work again - more frustration)

Tired - Ishbel had two friends staying yesterday and overnight. My biggest worry during the day was that three would prove to be a crowd and that at some point during the day someone would be on the outer. This didn't eventuate and all three girls had a lovely day. The problem came at bed time. Ishbel now has a bunk in her room so we had two beds but when I brought out one of the boys' blow up camping mattresses none of the three wanted to put up their hands to sleep on it. So I told Ishbel that as the hostess it was her duty. With that she burst out crying, saying she was frightened of sleeping on the floor because of what might be under the bed. I said there were no monsters under the bed; there's no blumming room for them there with all the junk! I pulled the mattress off the bed and put it beside the camping mattress and said there, she'd have company on the floor. On she wailed. I lost it and stomped off to bed myself.

Read myself to sleep. Tossed and turned and was woken about 11:30 by the girls, jumping out of bed in concrete boots (it sounded like). Upstairs to tell them off. Back in bed to listen to Ian snoring.

About midnight a dog started howling. It sounded like it was in pain or something. Anyway, this was the cue for all the dogs in our neighbourhood (and there seems to be a yappy dog in every other back garden in this cul-de-sac alone!) to take up howling too, including Bella in the laundry. It was like the scene in 101 Dalmations when the dogs start barking that the puppies are gone. That went on and off for about 15 minutes then there were sirens going.

Finally the noise stopped outside but Ian snored on and at after 12:30 I could hear the elephants upstairs again and went to tell them off. "What?" was Ian's helpful response. I finally fell asleep again to be rudely woken at nothing o'clock by what sounded like a helicopter outside.

And I've just realised I've got a hair appointment booked for next Saturday when I'm supposed to be at brunch in Leura for my book group.

And it's December tomorrow.

Bah!

My eye exams

Ishbel and I had an appointment on Thursday morning to have our eyes tested. We went in to my work for a while before we went to the optometrists. Here is what she wrote while we were in my office (no changes to spelling or grammar):

Today I am getting my eyes checked. I am at my mums work until nine thirty. I am helping my mum but she hasn't told my to do anything yet. So that is why I am writing this storey. My mum is working at the library. When I got go to get my eyes checked I will not know what to do I will just wait for my name to be called. After I get my eyes checked I will get a sandwich. And then I will go to school.

Ishbel had been complaining of her vision going a bit fuzzy at times. Holly has recently (at 16) been diagnosed with a form of dyslexia. She's always found it difficult to read and thought she was stupid. She's been given a pair of glasses with dark lenses and is reading everything she can get her hands on now. Thought it would be best to check Ishbel out.

She just has a problem with convergence so now has to do exercises to make her eyes converge ie. go cross-eyed. Didn't Karen have the same?

Disaster-ous day

Several weeks ago Blue Mountains RFS brigades were asked for volunteers to assist with a disaster training day. "Might be a bit of a change from cataloguing," I thought, "I'll put my name down." So I did. That was before they notified us of the 4:40am pick up at Valley Heights! Eeeek!

So, on Tuesday morning I got up at 3am and braved the chill and was at the bus stop on the highway at Valley Heights with Robyn, waiting for a bus by 4:40am. It took us down to the Scout Camp at Glenfield where we were directed to a hut where we were given a card which had the details of our persona for the day. I was delighted to find I was 30 years old. My name was Summer and I was going with my friend to private tuition of some sort. Robyn, a grandmother 5 times over, was over the moon to be 28 year old Muriel!

We then went to another hut where, depending on the information on our cards, we were made up by State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers. I was given a large cut on my temple which had bits of shrapnel in it. Robyn had a cut on her back, again with shrapnel. We were also streaked with 'blood' and dusted with 'soot'. The we could go for breakfast. It was a bit surreal sitting having a plateful of egg, beans and toast with a bunch of people with gaping wounds, burns and singed clothing!

While we ate a nurse came around giving us a briefing on how our character would be from the details on their cards - fast breathing, bit dazed, etc.

We were then bussed off to the middle of Holdsworthy Army base. We had a 40 or so minute wait somewhere in the middle of the bush - the first of many during the day - luckily the RFS is well used to "hurry up and wait."

The scenario was a bomb on a train and a bus. There was a blown apart train beside a train station platform with steps leading down to a pedestrian tunnel and a bus, also blown open, which had a pig carcass over the back of one of the seats. We had to find a position (again according to what our cards said) and I took up position in the tunnel. Then a horn went off and we were off!

The man beside me had a piece of piping sticking out of his stomach so I took my cardigan off and wrapped it round the pipe and started shouting for help. And for my friend I was supposed to be with. The walking wounded helped people out while everyone shouted for help. It seemed like a long time before the police arrived but they didn't come in (making sure they didn't get in danger) so we shouted more for them to come in. We had a lot of fun with the pipe - at one point it was spitting rain and the man ("Randy, 26, who was shopping with his girlfriends" - obviously gay) was saying he hoped he didn't drown! We were also popping jelly babies down it.

Eventually (we are guessing it was about 20-30 mins) they finally sent in a sniffer dog before the NSW Fire Brigade (not our volunteer service) came in and stretchered my man off for treatment. As well as the Police and NSW Fire Brigade there were nurses, paramedics and chaplains.

As one of the walking wounded I was given a green 'Walking' tag and corralled into an area and my 'details' taken by a policeman. We had a bit of fun trying to wander off from time to time, only to be turned back to the group. At one stage a girl and I decided we were walking home, we had kids to collect from school. The lovely fireman that caught us let slip that they thought it was a terrorist attack. Terrorists! He then spent a few minutes desperately trying to backtrack on that one!

After another long time (we had no idea of the passage of time because we weren't allowed watches or other jewellry, mobiles or anything else with us) we were bussed back to the Scout camp. Now we had to wait to be interviewed by the police. We were sat in some chairs in rows. The first row were taken in to see the detectives and some people wh0 had been sitting at the back and the sides took up the seats. When they were then taken in next there was a lot of booing and shouting and we quickly established a kind of queue, which was not immediately apparent to the police, and woe-betide anyone who tried to jump the queue!

Summer had seen a criminal looking man in a green shirt with a black backpack so after giving my statement to the detective I was taken to another detective for another interview. I'd not been given any more information than I'd had seen a "criminal looking man in a green shirt with a black backpack " and was unsure how much we were allowed to make up but the detective told me to just go for it so we had a bit of fun. The man next to me was having to sign his name "Kylie" There were heaps of cross-dressers on that train!

The second surreal moment of the day came when the Police decided they didn't need to interview the dead after all!

By the time I'd been interviewed for the second time and had got as much of my 'wound' off as possible, the canteen was closing (Robyn and I'd not wanted to leave the chairs to go and get our lunch because we were really close to the front and didn't want to lose our place) and the bus we'd come down on had left. I ate my lunch in about 4 mouthfuls as I went from canteen to bus queue. It was at least 4:30pm by then.

One of the Blue Mountains boys had been given a huge gash on his (bald) head. He didn't wash it off and was hoping to get home with it I think. Unfortunately all the others taking photos with their mobiles alerted the SES and he was made to wipe it off in the end. Dan might post that photo - he had his mobile and took a photo or two.

It was after 6pm when I arrived home but my day wasn't over, I had a quick shower to wash out the rest of my wound and then headed out for a Tanderra meeting.

Looking for culinary inspiration

Being without the full range of kitchen equipment is really challenging my already culinary challenged menu planning. How apt that today I came across this Random Recipe Generator.

Here's one I might try on the family:

Mangoes Crumble
Serves 3

You will need:
60ml whipped cream
1 mango
120ml tabasco sauce
140ml brandy

Instructions:
pre-heat the oven to 210 C
slice the whipped cream
stir-fry the tabasco sauce
spoon the whipped cream onto a warmed plate
fry the tabasco sauce
sauté the mangoes
flambe the whipped cream
microwave the mangoes
stir-fry the brandy
bake for 30 minutes and serve hot

Yum.

Not only does Barack Obama know how to hold a book the right way up . . .

President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.

Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tic, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.

But Mr. Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring. According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some Americans might find it "alienating" to have a president who speaks English as if it were his first language. "Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."

The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate, subject predicate -- we get it, stop showing off."

The president-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. "Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.

(By Andy Borowitz, BorowitzReport.com)

Robs crazy weather day

Today I played cricket in Blackheath, a little town about 5 minutes up the road from Katoomba. When Dad and I arrived at the ground at about noon the sun was out but it was very windy so we had jumpers on while we waited for the rest of the team to arrive. The game started at about 1 o'clock and after about half an hour it started to rain a little but it was only light even if the wind was making it horizontal. This sprinkling went on and off for about 45 minutes then got a bit heavier so we retreated to the cars while we waited for the bad weather to blow over. But it didn't. After a few minutes small bits of hail started falling then on to full blown snow. This is Australia!!! It isn't supposed to snow in summer!! Anyway the weather did blow over soon so we all went back on to the pitch and played for another 20 mins and during this time the sun re-emmerged and people were taking the jumpers off because they were to warm. Then the bad weather returned. Then went away again. And came back. And went away. The opposition team ended up on 100 runs and we were sent into bat. In the end my team won in with only about 3 balls left to be bowled. I didn't get to bat although I did open the bowling and got 2 wickets for 7 runs off 5 overs.
A wild day.
Rob.

You may have seen this one before . . .


Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewellery applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, AFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and HouseCleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed,

Desperate.



DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewellery 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck Babe!

Tech Support

The Ernies

One of my favourite awards, the Ernies are awarded for sexist public comments. The annual Ernie Awards have 10 categories and are decided by the level of boos, jeers and stamping of feet at the women's only event held at the New South Wales Parliament.

This year the Golden Ernie was awarded to the Mayor of Mount Isa, Councillor John Moloney for suggesting that ugly women should move to Mount Isa, in NW Queensland where men outnumber women 5:1, to find themselves a husband. "May I suggest if there are five blokes to every girl, we should find out where there are beauty-disadvantaged women and ask them to proceed to Mount Isa," Cr Molony said. But it was when local women retaliated against the comment that Mr Molony earned his golden Ernie award by replying, "The protesters are blaming me for their looks."



Winners of the Silver Ernies, from whom the Golden Ernie winner is chosen were:

• Western Australia's Treasurer Troy Buswell picked up the Political Ernie for snapping the bra of a female Labor staffer, making sexist remarks to a Liberal MP and famously sniffing the chair of a Liberal staffer.
• The Nine Network's John Westacott won the Media Ernie for his comment that "Sheilas do health and consumer stories - you want your blokes, your main guns, doing the real news stories."
• Professor Mark Wooden from the University of Melbourne won the Industrial Ernie for saying - at a National Press Club panel discussion no less - that "The pay equity gap has got a lot to do with the fact that women are not prepared to work longer hours."
• The hotly contested Elaine Award, "for remarks least helpful to the sisterhood", went to federal MP Sophie Mirabella for her comment during a debate in parliament about taxpayer funded staff at the lodge. Pointing to Deputy PM Julia Gillard, who does not have children, she said "You won't need his (Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's) taxpayer funded nanny, will you?".
• On a positive note, the Good Ernie Award "for boys behaving better" was a dead heat between rugby international Brendan Cannon, and transport company Veolia.
  Cannon said, "I don't want my daughter Phoebe growing up in the country where almost all women will be victims of physical violence or sexual abuse during their lifetimes" and the Veolia transport company was acknowledged for applying to the Anti-discrimination Commission for exemption from the Anti-Discrimination Act, so they could exclusively employ women drivers "because women are better drivers and gentler on the buses."

I also wanted to update you on our veggie babies

All are doing very well and growing up big and strong

The tomatoes, strawberries and herbs - now and then

The salad babies now and three weeks ago

The zucchinis and eggplants now and three weeks ago

Kitchen reno

I've been at home the past couple of days as the kitchen is renovated.

We've gone from this . . .

to this . . .

and now this . . .

Take a look at the slideshow here for more pictures.

Next week the Caesarstone bench will be installed along with the dishwasher, wall oven and stove top.

The weekend that just was . . .

I was out to book group on Friday night. We'd been reading The empire of the sun by J. G. Ballard, a story about a boy caught up in a camp near Shanghai after Pearl Harbor. It was a good read and we had a good discussion but several of us also stayed on to watch the movie too.

We were out to dinner on Saturday night to Steve and Bec's place to celebrate Steve's recent birthday. We didn't stay very late, mainly because we were nagged to go home by Ishbel. Steve's boys had their friend, Ben, having a sleep-over and once Ben's parents went home I don't think they were giving Ishbel much time.

It was a good job we did go home when we did because Catherine arrived on our doorstep about 5 minutes after we got home. She'd left a couple of books at Heather's house on Friday night which I'd picked up for her. I'd taken one back to Penrith Library when Ishbel and I were down there during the day but I still had another one. Catherine stayed for a cuppa then we were able to get to bed - I had plans to be up for RFS training early the next morning.

About 1am I heard Ishbel come in to the room. She just started to tell me she was feeling sick when she vomited - luckily she was just near the bathroom door and most of it went in there, but in there all over the place. It was a while before we had her cleaned up and the bathroom sluiced out! I don't know if it was something she ate during the evening (asking around no one else had a problem) or if it was brewing anyway. She'd had the day off on Wednesday complaining of nausea. Then she'd been fine and eating like a horse again by midday. When she complained of nausea again on Thursday morning shortly after having run round the garden with the dog I told her she was going to school anyway.

Ishbel slept with us the rest of the night - thank goodness for the king bed. Not that I slept much - I find it hard to get back to sleep again once I'm disturbed and a couple of times I was just about dropping off and a dog barked (not Bella) and I was awake again.

When the alarm went off at 6:30 am the last thing I wanted to do was go to training but we'd promised to pick Kieran up so off went Jamie and I. Rob had a cricket match so he couldn't come.

It was a good training session. We took the truck out to one of the lookouts and ran a whole load of hoses out and down into the bush. It was hard work hauling the hoses back out again but it was fun. We took a detour via Sharon's on the way home. She'd taped Taggart for me on Friday night - the one programme I can watch where the people don't have an accent!!! We'd been unable to use our video player on Friday night (when Taggart is screened) because the child lock had managed to be put on. None of us knew how to take it off and we'd lost the manual. By lucky chance our friend Jim came round on Saturday afternoon and took it off for us. Jim repairs TVs, DVD and video players for a living and has come in handy a few times recently.

The boys have their School Certificate exams this week. After that things wind down for them at school. The schools aren't allowed to start the Year 11 syllabus. They're allowed to leave school if they have a job and wanted me to write a note to that effect. Guess what answer they got? Jamie has a week of work experience at Ian's work and it's not long till Robbie goes off to Japan at the beginning of December. We have an orientation day for that this coming weekend.

Barack

Heard this on the radio the other day and loved it:

School website

Ishbel's school has a new website. Guess who's on the front page with her pals Ellen and Renee.

Take a look here. She's in amongst the Olympathon photos in the Gallery too.

Another weekend in paradise

Can I remember as far back as yesterday? Hmmmm. The usual shopping and chores.

Friday was the Total Fire Ban Day. Yes it got very warm, about 4pm it was 34C in Springwood but no fires broke out. Not sure if I'm disappointed about that or not!

Robbie had a cricket match yesterday afternoon. It was raining (and cold again) so I thought it'd be called off but it wasn't. He wasn't very happy when he got back. They'd lost again but only by about 5 runs. Ah well.

Ishbel was invited to play at Elki's for the afternoon. Once she got there we got a call asking if she could stay the night so I went over with her night gear later on. We then took advantage of not having a short person and took the boys to the pictures where we saw Burn After Reading which we enjoyed very much. Afterwards we went to find something to eat. We could only find a Hog's Breath Cafe open and we didn't enjoy it very much at all.

As you know, I tiptoed out of the house at the crack of nothing leaving the three boys snoring and went to RFS training. By the time I got back Ishbel was home and we got ready for visitors.

We were visited by Joanne and her friend, Janet, Adam (Janet's 8 year old son) and Chris (Joanne's 15 yr old). Janet comes up every Sunday to do Joanne's grocery shopping and we'd been talking for ages about her paying our new house a visit.

The chlorophyll babies are doing really well, especially the ones in the crates. The others in the flower bed are having to be protected from the snails, slugs and Bella - she has suddenly developed a penchant for digging. Not happy Bella!

Christmas in Valley Heights

We had an unexpected snowfall on the Valley Heights fire trail this morning. I'm hoping I'll be able to post a picture or two later.

Our RFS training session this morning was on pumps and pumping. We draw water from a creek using a pump into the tanker then pretend to fight a fire. I was pump operator today. It's a tricky business, keeping the water pressure at the right rate, making sure you are sucking water and not blowing it at the right time and vice versa and keeping an eye on the rest of the team to see if the water is being delivered at the right rate. It's an exercise we do from time to time, each time I pick up a snick more.

This morning for the first time in all the time I've been in the RFS we used fire fighting foam. It's used for covering burning oils in car crashes and the like. And it looks just like snow, both on the ground and, if you point the hose at the sky and let it fall, in the air. Two of the fellas took photos on their phones so I hope they don't forget to upload them.

The boys are wishing they hadn't stayed in bed after all.

MORE babies!

Don't panic - it's babies of the green, chlorophyll kind.

We spent Saturday buying veggies, herbs and plants for the garden. Catherine had given me a lithianthus plant earlier in the week. She knows I love them. They have lovely little blooms that are almost rose like. To them we added basil, oregano, thyme and sage, tomatoes, strawberries, zucchini, eggplant, silverbeet and a variety of lettuces and rocket. We now tend them carefully, watering them nightly (except last night because it'd rained all day) and chasing off the snails (the snails are kept away by the sugar cane mulch when it's dry but don't seem to mind it when it's wet).

In the evening we had Karen, Dan and Xavier over for dinner. Ben was away partying in Hazelbrook. We also had Sharon, Janet, Steven and Georgia over and they all goo-ed and gaa-ed over our little boy who slept peacefully through the whole evening except briefly to ask for a nappy change and feed.

On Sunday afternoon Robbie had a cricket match but they lost. Ishbel had a birthday party at the pool and had a great time. Jamie was supposed to go with Dad and Rob to cricket but mananged to persuade Dad to bring him home and my dream of a few hours in the house all by myself in perfect peace and quiet was ruined.

The weather has been all over the place. It was wet before the weekend, very warm on Saturday and it's been wet again since. Our rec AFL was called off last night because it'd rained all day. As I sit here typing with a fleece on, it's hard to believe that the forecast is for 36C tomorrow, a Total Fire Ban has been called for the 24 hrs from midnight and we'll be on standby all day tomorrow. No wonder the kids have colds!

Fraser George Colquhoun

Faser George Colquhoun, born 9.09pm on 9/10/08, grandson of Ian, son to Jono and Narelle. Weighed in at 8lb 7oz and 52cm after 6 hours of labour. Fraser arrived home in Kingaroy on Monday 13/10/08 with Mum and Dad and Grandma Sarah. On Wednesday I flew to tag team with Sarah who went back to work in Brisbane(reluctantly). Fraser went straight onto a management programme of feeding, pooing and sleeping. He has been sleeping 4 hours regularly since. He hasn't yet got the bit where he eats and poos in 30 minutes but Mum and Dad are working on it. The ultimate complimate, I got to have Fraser to myself on Friday morning while Jona and Narelle attended to messages. I had to leave them to cope alone this morning 19/10/08 to fly home, confident they will do better than manage.
I rang on Tuesday, the anxious Grandad, of course they are doing well, Fraser is sleeping 5 hours night and morning, Mum and Dad are healthy and happy at having tamed, for now, the beast.

The Great Escape

Have a look at this clever pup

~ even puts old Derek in the shade!

Japanese banking crisis

Following the problems in the financial sector in the US, uncertainty has now hit Japan. In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches. Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song, while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived. While Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black. Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal. Oh yes, and the Karma sutra bank is f****d.

(Thought I'd get a laugh in now whhile we can)

Sign language

These Sign Language pages from the Daily Telegraph had me laughing out loud.

There is more than just one sign each week; see there are more to scroll through at the top right hand side of the page. To go to a previous week click on Related articles under the scrolly thing or on the Last week's sign language link under the main picture.

Not the weekend round up

Ian is away up in Queensland to help Jono and Nelly with young Fraser. Sounds like they are all having fun.
Meanwhile, Ishbel and I got our baby fix by spending some time cuddling with Xavier. He likes sucking and got a little ratty when he couldn't get his finger in his mouth. At other times he was sleeping and lovely to cuddle.
Ishbel and I were at the bus stop a bit early this morning (she takes the bus from outside the front of the library). Jamie had announced at 10 to 8 this morning that he needed $10 for a calculator for his maths exam today. I had not 10c, never mind $10 so we had to duck up to the shopping centre and raid an ATM. So Ishbel and I were at the bus stop a bit early this morning. We decided to go and get a hot chocolate. Ishbel also conned me into getting her a chocolate freckle too.
Getting to the end of the chocolate freckle, she announced that it had been too chocolatey. She doesn't really like chocolate. What is a girl who doesn't really like chocolate doing having hot chocolate and a chocolate freckle?? Anyway, I didn't even get a little nibble.
The children have all gone back to school this Monday after two weeks holidays. Jamie and Rob went straight into exams - on Monday morning! Didn't have a chance to catch their breaths. Rob finished his last exam this afternoon and was angling for a day off - no way Jose and Jamie will finish tomorrow. There'd not been much evidence of study so the results will be interesting. They have the proper School Certificate exams in two or three weeks (equiv. to the O Grades we did).

Here's Karen's new boy

Xavier Christian Hale

Born : 12 October 2008

Time : 21:52 hrs

Weight : 3.845 kg (8 lb 7 oz)

Length : 54 cm (21.25 in)

Head Circumference : 36.5 cm (14.3 in)

Pictures in the slideshow at the right or via the Flickr site (link above).

Giving Karen Curry

With the Colquhoun boy arriving on his due date, young baby Hale is on notice not to keep anyone hanging about.

Karen and I had lunch today and decided to try out the (relatively) new Indian restaurant in Springwood, something I've been wanting to do for ages as everyone I've met has enjoyed their meal there. Folklore has it that curries hurry babies so we had extra reason for giving it a go. That having failed (as far as I know thus far), he's in for a long drive down a bumpy track! And other remedies which are too rude to write about.

Another generation of Colquhouns

Fraser George Colquhoun

So the long-awaited first grandson has arrived, born last night in Brisbane.

His grandmother reports that "He's pink, well-covered, 52cm long and "chatted"!!!! Long fingers and toes, significant shoulders! Mum was very calm, probably pretty tired, but happy and well".

Jono, Nelly (Narelle) and Fraser George

Aussie Rules

I've been playing Aussie Rules tonight! There is a summer social comp. for over 14s and other old folk and Jamie and I are going to go only Jamie is at his friend's house tonight and didn't go. I didn't have much of an idea of what was going on but it was a fun time.

Holiday Monday

We arranged to go to Manly with Sharon & Holly and Steven, Janet, Kate and Georgia (Addison) for Monday. We arranged to get the 9:05 from Springwood. So with great difficulty we dragged ourselves out of bed and were almost ready to go out the door when Sharon rang to let us know the Addisons weren't ready, could we aim for the 10:05? So we all stood down for an hour. Only to get another call to say the Addisons weren't coming with us, the weather didn't look promising (it was overcast & spitting), Steven had hurt his back and Janet wasn't in a good mood. We took the train to the city then caught the ferry over to Manly. Manly was very busy, it always is but this weekend not only had Manly won the Rugby League Grand Final (40-0!) but there was a jazz festival on. There were several stages on the corso (which stretches between the harbour and sea) and more on the beach front where there was also a market. We got some fish and chips for lunch and sat dodging the seagulls on the beach wall. Then we walked round to Shelly Beach which is a nice little beach tucked into a corner south of Manly. There is a restaurant and cafe down there so we walked round for a coffee/hot chocolate.

By the time we got round to Shelly Beach the sun was out and we had to buy some sunscreen. Ishbel went for a swim but it was a bit tame for the boys who wanted to go back to the surf beach at Manly but by the time we'd walked back again not only had the clouds come over but the heavens opened and it chucked down for a while. We took refuge amongst the stalls of the street market.

After an icecream we headed back for the ferry. The sun came out again and we had a nice journey back to town. We took a picture of the sun on the water and sent it to the Addisons to tell them what a lovely day we'd had and when we got back to Springwood we went round to their place and cleaned them out of cheese, biscuits and pickled onions!

A good day!

Cirque du Soleil update

We thoroughly enjoyed the circus last weekend (not that the pictures show that!! They were taken at the interval and it was very hot and thirsty but the food and drink prices were a complete rip-off.)



We were in a block near the back with Ian's work colleagues. Although it was near the back, the view of the stage was very good. There was quite a lot of empty seating though and after the interval we were allowed to move and went closer.

The clowns were Ishbel's favourites. They came out before the rest of the performance started. They helped one man get to his seat - follow me they said then proceeded to climb over the back of seats to the front, then along the front of the rows and then back up to where he started from! Later they pulled him out of the audience and made him do the introduction to the circus, picking his pockets and generally being silly. They picked on the poor man several times during the performance but it wasn't until the fourth or fifth time that we found out he was one of the clowns too!! Meanwhile we had all just been thanking our lucky stars it wasn't us they'd been picking on.

I remember Dad taking us to the circus in Camberley. I must've been 6 or 7 at the time. All I really remember was the gorilla who came into the audience and took a lady's handbag. It then took out her undies and a bra! And I remember Karen being absolutely terrified and clawing her way up Dad's front to get away from the gorilla. Anyone else remember that?

Kitchen renovation - our current obsession

Thought some people might be interested in the kitchen plans. Can be skipped over for those competely disinterested - just be grateful you don't have to hear us in full flight if you came to the house!

Our kitchen is being done in Kitchen Connection Bordeaux style. It will be off white and has tongue and groove panels in the doors. The benches will be made of Caesarstone.

Here is the kitchen as it is now. Instead of the U shape we will be having a galley style kitchen, open on both ends.



The space where the fridge is will not change - just the new cupboard above it.

Next to it there will be a narrow cupboard with winerack above then a corner pantry.



Next to the pantry, sort of where the microwave is now, will be a wall oven then a little bit of bench space then the cooktop.






We have chosen a Smeg induction stove. It was not only on sale at a very good price; it comes with $500 worth of pots and pans.















The bench top against the wall will then extend another couple of metres. Under the benchtop, from the wall oven to the end will be 3 sets of drawers. They have a shallow drawer on top for cutlery, etc. The bottom two drawers in each are deeper, for pots and pans and other stuff. We had deep drawers at Macquarie Road and found them much easier for keeping pots and pans in than a cupboard - less bending to see where things are.

On the other side of the kitchen will be a bench running parallel with the one against the wall. In it will be the sink - a white, square, porcelain Butler/Belfast sink and a dishwasher under the bench beside it. The bench will then extend down to end at the same place as the one on the wall and will have an overhang on the other side and at the end so we can put a few stools under and have a breakfast bar thing happening.