Australian of The Year Jan. 2007

I love it when a truly deserving person is nominated for Australian Of The Year. This year's Aussie greatly deserves this award, not only for what he has done for Australia, but potentially for the world. I am half way through his latest book and I think I've learnt more about the planet's environment in this one book than I have ever learnt before.
He won't see my humble blog, but my sincere congratulations to Tim Flannery.

Topsy - all tuckered out!

Mind you, she hid under the bed in the spare room ALL day - not coming out to eat, or even use her litter box! I literally dragged her out once to show her off to my catloving friends, but as soon as they'd all had a pat, I put her down and she shot back up the oher end of the house again! She appeared about 7 pm after making 100% sure that everyone had gone, and after her tea she put herself to bed and gazed at me over her basket as if to say "Thank GOD today is over!"

Aussie icons

These two photos show the cloths I had on the table outside, where we were sitting. They are actually pieces of quilting material but I would never cut them up to use for that purpose; I've hemmed them and use them as throw-overs for tables.

More Aussie icons

Getting happily plastered on the 26th!

This is the female contingent at our place yesterday...I'm the one on the left, waving the bottle!

Australia Day, 26th January 2007

I didn't get time yesterday to post any comments as I was busy all day with our guests, and after they'd gone, we just flaked out! There were only 10 of us to celebrate Australia Day at our house this year, as several couples had gone away for the long weekend, but it didn't matter - we have all known each other for many years and enjoy the times we get together. Everyone contributes to food and drinks, and this is what we had (apart from champagne, wine, beer, soft drink and orange juice)
*Party pies with tomato sauce (Ken's idea - he reckons we couldn't get any more Aussie tucker than that, and they had to be 4'n'20 brand. It's a man thing..)
*Green Salad with Prawns, Mango and Avocado
*Minted Lamb Salad with Haloumi
*Potato Salad
*Cold Chicken and Ham
followed by:
*Green and Gold Pavlova (bananas, kiwifruit and passionfruit)
*Fresh fruit salad with cream
*Lamingons with tea and coffee.
More champagne to toast our great country: every year I insist that everybody stands up and sings "Advance Australia Fair" - LOUDLY! I usually wait until they've had a few drinks and don't worry about the neighbours!
Then after checking everyone's blood alcohol content with a breathalyzer provided by one of the men who has a mini-breathalyser unit, we send 'em all home about 6 pm.

This one is for Isabelle in Scotland.

Some time ago, Isabelle was writing about her agapanthus plants, and I commented that we had just pulled out most of those from our garden, as they are considered a noxious week over here by many gardeners. We had heaps of them around our yard, but they didn't often flower prolifically, until these past few months. Now they are bursting out all over Melbourne, in spite of the lack of rain! Because they are native to Africa, they probably thrive in drought conditions. This photo is of the only ones we hadn't removed from our garden; simply because we haven't had time yet. The picture doesn't show the colour properly for some reason; most of the flowers are purple, with two or three white ones among them. Maybe they know their time is limited and have put on this final show before their demise? It is the only time they have ever flowered so well, and they were even better than this a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't have my camera working, did I...

It's not what you think at first glance!

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Those of you who have encouraged me to get my digital camera working, will regret doing so; I'm on a roll and having fun! Topsy is a prime candidate of course. I love practical jokes, and Ken says he has never met a woman like me who does such crazy things...ah well, as the saying goes: small things amuse small minds.
Topsy found a new friend in the kitchen...NOT! It's only one of those trick rubber spiders.
And as for this...Ken had just fed Topsy and gone to watch t.v. I threw my fake vomit on the floor and yelled out "UGH! Oh, Topsy!" Ken looked back on the floor and nearly threw up. Topsy just looked interested...she looked at it and looked up at me as if to say "Well, I know what it looks like, but I didn't do it -honestly!"

A weekend away.

Our neighbours across the road have a holiday house at Phillip Island, where they retreat to most weekends for a break from the family home. They have been asking if we would like to accompany them one weekend, and we finally got to go yesterday. Phillip Island is about 2 hours drive from where we live, so we set out around 9.30 am and arrived at the G's house around midday (D had to stop at a supermarket on the way to buy something she had forgotten to pack). This is their house.

The weather was not conducive to swimming or strolling around the town, as it rained most of the time (and NOBODY is complaining!), but we still had a lovely relaxing time, just chatting, eating, drinking, etc.


Here is the Lady of the House in her lovely kitchen...hands in the sink as usual, she said, as I took her picture!

"One egg or two?" Ken and B. at the BBQ.

I've seen the light - LOL!!!

My confidence is restored! Not only did I take these photos this morning, but tonight I downloaded them on to my computer - wheeeeeeee!! Gosh I'm good.
These two pictures are of a sewing basket that I bought at an opshop the other day. I needed a new sewing basket as my old one needed a new plastic insert to hold the top layer of stuff, and I doubt I would ever find one to fit. This basket looks to be older than mine, but the plastic insert is in good condition, so I was able to put all my sewing stuff in it tonight (not in this photo though). I was going to give my original basket away, but I decided to put my needlecraft stuff in that one (as opposed to 'dressmaking' paraphernalia), and that worked really well. I was able to fit needles, embroidery hoops, and all kinds of things that were in plastic bags all over the place, into the old basket!

"That damn digital camera" may be working again!

Yup - thanks to M. - the daughter of a friend S. who was visiting earlier this week. Anyone under the age of 30 (and she is just under) seem to understand new technology without trying too hard. S. says it is because they grew up with it, the same as we grew up with domestic sciences being inbred into us from early childhood. Anyway, the subject of my camera came up and I got all prickly about it immediately. M. asked "what's wrong with the camera?" to which I replied "Nothing - what's wrong is ME". She said "Go get the camera and some batteries", so I retrieved it from the dark corner where I had put it out of sight a year ago, and found some recently charged batteries. M. put it all together, pressed a few bits, and voila! Lens and flash popped up, picture came on to little screen, and M. said "There you are. Go take photos!"

She deleted all the old pictures for me, and briefed me on the use of the camera. As the advert. goes: "I feel better now!". I won't feel 100% confident until I have actually taken some photos myself, and downloaded them onto the computer, but M. is only a few minutes away and has offered to pop in if I need help. Watch this space!

Continuing saga of my aches and pains!

Back in August last year, I wrote about the pain in my lower back, and that my massage therapist had warned me there was some damage. Well she was right. I was so tired of the continual aching in my hips, legs and feet, that I decided to see every kind of doctor until I found someone who could tell me what the cause of it is. I tried our chiropractor and another GP at our clinic, who sent me for X-rays and blood tests. The X-Rays showed early stages of osteo-arthritis in the base of my spine, thus confirming what I already suspected. Blood tests didn't show any abnormalities.

But, I still wanted to know what was making my feet and legs ache at night. About a month ago, we were visiting some friends, and C. mentioned that she had recently got new orthotics, and that she was a whole lot better since wearing them. Ah! I thought - orthotics! I haven't had my feet checked for 10 years, maybe it's about time. So I made an appointment to see a podiatrist not far from us. She spent nearly an hour with me, getting me to walk up and down with and without my shoes, lie down on my back then on my stomach, while she twiddled my feet. Finally, she explained that 10 years is far too long to go without having your feet checked when you wear orthotics, as feet change with age, thus affecting the rest of your posture. She went on to tell me what was happening with my feet, and how it was affecting my knees and hips.

I received a call today from her office, asking me to come in next week - presumably to collect my new orthotics. I tell you, if they fix my aches and pains as she promises to, I will fly to the moon and back again, and bring my beloved podiatrist a nice big hunk of cheese to thank her! Well, maybe not the moon, but definitely a bottle of wine and a lottery ticket...

Talking live to Ms Robyn!

I have lifted this picture from Ms Robyn's blog because I thought it was so appropriate and too cute! I'd suggested by email last year that when we had sent each other a piece of Xmas cake, we should sit down with the cake and a cuppa, and chat on the phone. She agreed, and we set a date, which was last Monday (15th January). We had a nonstop indepth conversation, finding mutual agreement on nearly every topic we touched on. I must admit, after reading Ms Robyn's blogs and all her traumas over the past year, I did wonder if she would regale me with witchcraft!! No, she didn't, but she did tell me a few things that explain why she writes the way she does on her blogs. Not saying any more - it's confidential.

Books I am reading.

The Internet has had many influences on my life, all of which have been good. One such effect has been what I read. I've always loved reading - ever since I sat on my father's lap when I was a toddler, and he read the newspaper out loud to me. I was itching to learn to read it myself, even at that age. Dad and Mum indulged me by giving me books for Christmas and birthdays for most of my childhood and formative years.

But as I have got older and busier, I rarely found the time to sit and read a book, so I bought magazines instead until I retired from full time work, and realised I couldn't justify the money I was spending. I spent most of my leisure time over the next few years stitching, which is another activity I always enjoyed but never had the time to do. In the past year or so, some of my favourite blogging friends have been listing/reviewing the books they read, and it has sparked my interest in making time to read books again. Instead of buying them, I go to our local library and borrow them - much cheaper! I do have several thousand books myself, but not much fiction, as once I have read a story, I don't want to read it again because there are so many more that I'd rather read!

The following list are the books I have borrowed from the libary this week:
The Rana Look by Sandra Brown (enjoyed this one. I'll be looking for more by this author)

Girl From The South by Joanna Trollope. (I've enjoyed previous books by J.Trollope, but couldn't get into this one).

Deception Point by Dan Brown. (This author needs no introduction! I read his "Digital Fortress" last month and couldn't put it down, and it was the same with this book).

Hot & Sweaty by Ruth Ostrow (Ruth writes a column for one of our papers, mostly about sexuality and relationship issues. She is very funny; I giggled my way all through this book!)

The Mistress by Victoria Griffiths (this book would have a limited readership I guess; mostly those with some life experience of the subject!)

The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery. I had to wait a couple of months for this book to become available at the library; I was 13th on the waiting list. It was worth the wait, and it is one book I intend to buy a copy of for myself. If you are in any way concerned about climate change/greenhouse effectglobal warming issues, this book is a must to read. Tim explains climate changes spanning millions of years, to help us understand what we are now facing.

Melbourne Water storage data as of today.

Melbourne's water storages are currently 37.8% full
Water storage data as at 14/1/2007
Melbourne's water consumption to 8am today (includes Western Water): 1,274ML

Water Restrictions
In addition to the permanent water saving rules introduced across Victoria in 2005, there are four stages of water restrictions.
Restriction stages are triggered when the amount of water in our storages falls to certain levels. These trigger points vary according to the time of the year - the trigger points (PDF, 29.8 kb) are higher in summer when demand is higher.
Stage 3 water restrictions are now in place as well as the permanent water saving rules.

The decision to lift or introduce water saving rules and restrictions is made by the Victorian Government based on information it receives from Melbourne Water and the retail water companies, City West Water , South East Water or Yarra Valley Water .
The status of water restrictions is reviewed monthly. Weather forecasts, water consumption, seasonal factors, and rainfall in catchments are all taken into consideration.
As extremely dry conditions persist, it is important that we continue to save water and conserve our precious drinking water supplies.

Drought
The severe drought affecting many parts of Australia has tightened its grip. In Victoria, the last decade has been the driest on record. River flows and reservoir levels are at all time-lows. The current drought is in its tenth year and has severely reduced the amount of water flowing in our rivers and streams and the level of water stored in our water supply reservoirs.

Melbourne has nine major water storages high up the forested water supply catchments to the north and east of Melbourne. These reservoirs supply water via large transfer mains to service reservoirs throughout the metropolitan area. From here the retail water companies take the water and supply it people who live and work within their area of responsibility. During drought Melbourne Water and the retail water companies work together to help people and businesses understand the need to conserve water and reduce demand.
Melbourne residents are very water conscious, and have reduced their consumption by 22% over average 1990s levels.

On a more serious note...

I know I'm not alone, but I am increasingly worried about the state of our water supplies. Foxtel Weather have a daily report of how much is in Melbourne's water storage, and the rate at which it is dropping is alarming. The other capital cities are in a similar position, and as for the rural areas...well, they are much worse off as they don't have the huge storage reservoirs like the cities.

People talk about the lack of rain, but what they don't seem to realise is that it is not just rainfall we rely on to fill our dams. Melbourne's water supply comes mostly from the mountains in northern Victoria. The snow that falls in winter melts in spring and flows down the rivers to the reservoirs, topping them up in time for summer. Well, that's what used to happen, but last winter I heard on some report that we are getting 40% less snow in Victoria than we did 20 years ago. That is even more alarming.

It's no use blaming governments past and present about the situation. Even if Australians had been more careful with water since white men settled here, climate change is inevitable. It is a part of the life cycle of Earth like the last ice age which I read recently was only 12,000 years ago - a blink of an eye in the age of the planet. We just happen to be alive and living here at this point in time. So, what is going to happen? Desalination of sea water? Recycling of grey and other water? All of that and more, no doubt.

When Ken and I bought our house 25 years ago, we wanted to install a rainwater tank, but the council at that time didn't allow them. Rainwater tanks were considered an eyesore...Can you believe such nonsense? We wondered what sort of a community we'd moved into! Now, governments are handing out financial rebates to people who install power and water saving devices in their homes. Better late than never, I guess. But - and there is always a 'but', isn't there - I heard that some people are installing rainwater tanks and FILLING THEM UP WITH THEIR GARDEN HOSES. Now that really is a case of shit for brains, and no apologies for that word.

A very satisfactory weekend!

Our new IKEA cabinet for Ken's DVDs is now in its permanent position, and all our DVDs, CDs and cassettes have been put in the selected drawers. Tonight, we sorted all the DVDs into categories (music, documentaries, motorbikes, steamtrains, TV shows, movies, etc.) and I made up cardboard dividers so we can see at a glance where everything is. Ken's BIL came over yesterday and today, and helped Ken fit castors on the cabinet so it can be wheeled from one spot to another if need be. BIL also took the old cabinet off our hands and delivered it to Ken's niece's house. We popped over last night to see her and she had set up her tv and other audio items on it already. She showed us the coffee table she bought from IKEA, and proudly announced she had put it together all by herself...but couldn't make the drawers fit, so she left them out! Ken promptly got all the bits fitted on for her, so she was doubly pleased that we had visited!

The next thing Ken wants to do is transfer all our old video cassettes on to DVD. He has already done quite a few, but there are still more to go. So we have a box of video cassettes in the spare room waiting until that is done, then the videos can all go on to the pile of stuff that I have waiting to be sold at our local trash and treasure market. Anything that doesn't sell will go straight to Savers!

As we didn't have any 'social' plans this weekend because the house was in a temporary state of chaos, I was able to spend time cleaning up my study/den/craft room - I never know what to call it! It's just a spare bedroom with my stuff all over the place. Ken HATES it...says he doesn't understand how I can go to other people's homes and tidy them up, but have our place in such a mess. Well excuse me, the rest of our house is okay; it's just my private mess which we can close the door on if we have visitors!! Just because my pantry is well organised...

New Year Clean Ups!

I seem to be getting a reputation. A couple of weeks ago, I was putting stuff away in the pantry at the home of one of my disabled home care clients, and I got exasperated because there was no more space to put anything. So I asked her if she would mind me cleaning out the pantry, and she was quite happy for me to do it. An hour later, I called her in to the kitchen and when she saw her re-organised pantry she couldn't believe the difference! There was actually space for more stuff, but I warned her not to go impulse buying just because there was now more room!

On Thursday, I was strolling through the shops in Eltham when I met my friend H. who immediately said "come and have a coffee" and as I had nothing better to do, I agreed. We were discussing our budgets and the cost of food, and H. said "I can't understand how you can keep your food purchases under $100 a week. There is only two of us but I seem to spend double that". I explained how I check my pantry before going shopping, write a list of what I need, and stick to it. She said "I have no idea what's in my pantry - I just buy stuff when I see it on special in case I need it".

I said "Would you like me to come and organise it for you?" and she replied "Oh YES! Today?? Come for lunch!" When I arrived at her home an hour later, H. had nearly everything out of her pantry and on the benches. She was already exclaiming over the pile of things to be chucked out, that were past their 'use by' date. I showed her how to allocate shelf space to categories of food, so she had all the baking stuff on one shelf, all the canned food on another, and so on. We found she had bought several packets of a few items without realising she already had some, because it had got pushed to the back behind other things, so we consolidated the duplicate items into one container. It took a couple of hours but it was well worth the effort, as she has learnt her lesson about checking her supplies first before she goes shopping in future. Today (Friday) another H.C. client asked me to clean out her pantry, and again, after an hour, I had it organised so she could see at a glance what was there. She also was pleased as punch to see it done.

I love tidying up cupboards - pantries, linen cupboards, fridges too. When I was an office worker, I would try to get any filing done before other people had a chance to do it, as I seemed to have a better idea than most about alpha/numeric filing systems! Ken used to have all his papers in a concertina folder. At tax time I would say where are your payslips? He would get out his folder and look under P (for Payslips), W (for wages or work), T (for tax) and I couldn't help giggling. He would get so annoyed, firstly because I was laughing and secondly because he couldn't find anything! In the end, I emptied the top drawer of my filing cabinet and made it available to him. But I got it ready first, with suspension files already labelled and in order. Now, every time he goes to look for something, he comes over all business-like! Do you think I could do this for a living? Maybe it is the Aries factor? I seem to have a knack for it. If you don't have the knack, and you are too far away for me to come and do yours, you might find this website useful: Pantry Clean Up - Organizational tips.

Further developments...

LeeAnn and Patty - thank you for your comments. I was chuckling for ages after reading them! Well the good news is that our new cabinet is FINISHED and looks great. On Monday night about 8 pm, one of our neighbours came over to see if Ken needed any help (I'd told his wife earlier about the fiasco). When B. came in, Ken glared at me while smiling at B. (ever noticed how men can do that?). They consulted the diagrams and bits on the floor, but B. left after 20 minutes as he'd never had to assemble anything from IKEA, so wasn't able to help Ken.

I underestimated my dear husband. After chastising me for telling other people that he was hopeless (I didn't say that at all), he set to with a vengeance and it was all assembled by 11 pm. We both slept well last night! Tonight we emptied the old cabinet and put all the CDs, DVDs and videos in the new one, just temporarily, until we can move it into its permanent position. We just wanted to see if they all fit. They do - what a relief! I think Ken is just as pleased as me about it, but I won't say "I told you so" - let sleeping dogs lie, is my motto!

Ken's niece and sister have both expressed interest in taking the old cabinet off our hands, that's why we wanted to empty it tonight. They will come over tomorrow and have a look. If they decide not to take it, we will dump it on the nature strip outside our house and you can bet it will be gone within 24 hours! People are funny - you see it all the time around here. Nobody waits for council hard waste collections any more; they just put their unwanted furniture outside their homes, and other people grab it!!

28th anniversary and other things..

On January 6th, we had been married for 28 years. Gosh, doesn't time fly when you're having fun (not)...Well not always, but I guess most of the time has been pretty good otherwise we wouldn't have lasted this long! We usually go out for dinner to celebrate, but this year we didn't, for two reasons. Firstly the weather was so AWFUL - very hot and windy, so we decided to stay home in air-conditioned comfort. Secondly, we are severely financially embarrassed. So rather than spend $70 plus on food and drink, we zipped out to Coles, bought their last crayfish and a dozen prawns, and had them for tea with mango and avocado salad. Followed by strawberries in meringue nests, washed down with a bottle of white wine.

Some friends phoned to wish us a happy anniversary, so we invited them to come over after dinner and watch a movie or two. So, more wine and a few nibbles later, we watched Kenny, and roared laughing nearly all the way through. Now, for those of you not living in Australia, this movie would probably leave you scratching your head about us crazy Aussies. In fact, it probably left a few Aussies scratching their heads too! But having worked in the toilet hire industry for 15 years, I saw the funny side of it much more so than most. As well as that, a lot of my Better Half's friends and family have called him Kenny for years (and he hates it), and now he cops it even more! He used to hate being called "Mr Wilson" (remember "Dennis The Menace"?) and the guys at the bus depot used to take great delight in calling out 'Good morning Mr Wilson' when he arrived at work!

Today, my Mr Wilson was not happy, Jan. (overseas readers click here to learn about our Jan). I have been nagging him for years to do something about the cabinet he has been keeping his DVD collection in. It is literally falling to pieces because he has crammed DVDs, CDs, and videos in to a space meant to accomodate one quarter of what he has put into it. So today (Sunday) I dragged him to the huge Ikea store in Melbourne to buy (not just look!) something more suitable. He had his blinkers on before we even got there. It took us ages to park the car, and once inside the store, he walked around with glazed eyes, not even wanting to be there. I found all kinds of book cases and cabinets but he found fault with them all. After about an hour we had a loud fight there among the crowds of customers (some of whom were going through a similar scenario by the sound of it), during which he tore strips off me for hogging the house with my books, linen and craft stuff, while he only had the lounge room for his hobby. So I threatened to move all my stuff out and live somewhere else where I wouldn't be in his hair any more...Oh, happy anniversary....

Well, he eventually discovered something that was to his liking: a cabinet of glass fronted drawers which we figured would hold about 500 DVDs (he has about 300) and a few videos and CDs as well. We got to the check out point about 5.45 pm and joined the queues. Ikea staff were walking up and down telling everyone that the computer system was down and they couldn't take credit cards. Many of the customers just left their trolleys of goods where they were, and walked out. Ken wanted to, but I said no, just wait. Sure enough, as we approached the register about 20 minutes later, their system came back online again and we were able to pay for our cabinet.

After all this drama it was getting late and we were both tired, so we stopped on the way home to buy chicken and chips for tea. Ken said he was going to leave the box in the garage overnight, as he was too tired to even contemplate bringing it upstairs, let alone assembling it. For those of you who don't know, Ikea sells furniture in kit form. All the bits in a box (or two) along with instructions in cartoon form (just in case one doesn't speak Swedish presumably) and the purchaser puts it together when he gets it home. I say 'he' because I never heard of a woman yet who would attempt to assemble these kits! We got home, ate our tea, and I thought we would relax and have a relatively early night in bed. Well golly gee, you'd think I would know better by now wouldn't you - 28 years on? Here it is, 1.45 am, and Mr Wilson has all the bits of cabinet all over the lounge room floor, cursing me as he tries to make sense of it...my fault because I MADE him buy it. He has just poked his head around the corner and said he is going to bed. I asked how was it going and he said gloomily "it's not going very far at all".

Anybody reading this who is even slightly religious, would you mind saying a little prayer for me/him/us? Tar muchly..

If you are keen on photography....

Check out this blog. Sunny collects striking images from the Internet and has created a new blog to show them.

A happy start to 2007.

The end of 2006 and the start of 2007 was a very pleasant weekend. The weather was not too hot, and we even had the odd shower of rain to wash the dust off the grass and trees! LeeAnn and Rob came to visit us on Saturday, and as always in their company, we had a lot of fun and laughs. They brought a new Andre Rieu DVD to show us, so we watched some of that before dinner, and afterwards, settled back to watch the Edinburgh Military Tattoo on Ken's home theatre. With our big TV, it is almost as good as being there, and the volume was loud enough to make it even more real for the neighbours as well as us!

When the Tattoo was over, we watched some more DVDs, including some of the latest Pixar animated movie "Cars", which is absolutely priceless and had us all nearly rolling on the floor laughing. We were expecting another couple to join us, but they opted out at the last minute, but it didn't matter in the end, as the four of us were just as happy to eat, drink and be merry!

The following day, we invited some friends over for lunch to help us finish the leftovers from Saturday night (smoked salmon, avocado etc. does not keep well, and Ken and I wouldn't have been able to eat everything on our own!). We watched "Cars" again with M. and L., as well as some of the Tattoo which M. had thoughtfully taped for us, after Ken discovered that his taping the previous night hadn't worked! :-[

In the evening, we crossed the road to spend NY Eve with our neighbours and about 30 of their friends. The weather remained very pleasant all evening, so everyone stayed outside, eating, drinking and chatting as people do on New Year's Eve. Our host didn't have a portable radio, so I nipped back home and got my tranny. We turned it on about 11.45 pm and everyone joined the 10 second countdown to midnight, followed by champagne, hugs and kisses all round! All in all, a very satisfactory start to 2007. Hope all my blog friends had a good time too!

Happy New Year!