Patra's Other Place

Australia Day 2012

2012-01-28T01:19:00.000+11:00

Ken and I have hosted an Australia Day party every year at our home for many years (except last year when Ken was ill). We are both very patriotic, and I love to dress up our house with the Aussie flag and other items featuring icons relating to Australia. This year I bought a huge flag at Aldi's, and tacked it on the fence outside our home. Ken said I was crazy, it would get stolen, but I had more faith in my fellow Australians, and it stayed there until I took it off about 7 pm that night.

Unfortunately, a percentage of Australian Aboriginal people (I would say a minority) refer to 26th January as 'Invasion Day', and stage protests around the country on the day. Up till this year they have been peaceful protests, tolerated by the rest of the country, but on Thursday it was very unpleasant in Canberra, our capital city. The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition were abused by a few Aboriginal protesters, who also made a point of burning a flag, which I (and many others) find very offensive. Ken said a white person should have grabbed one of their (Aboriginal) flags and burnt it, and see how they liked it. Probably just as well that didn't happen. The do-gooders and the media would have pounced on that as being racist. Duh. There have been many forums on the net discussing this issue, with hundreds of comments, and I rather liked this response:
What a disgraceful effort against our country's leading politicians! When are the aborigines going to accept that we are all Australians? The human race has been migrating around this planet, and occupying other human tribal lands for tens of thousands of years. It's not new, and it's not very nice, but is IS a natural process. We can all make the effort to love this country together, or we can let the situation degenerate into the mess we saw yesterday.

In the meantime, we enjoyed ourselves with a dozen friends in our backyard, on a perfect sunny day. No BBQ (too hot!), but delicious cold salads, scrumptious desserts, and freely flowing bubbly wine, beer and soft drinks.
I was so busy I forgot to take photos until the last minute, and only got one or two reasonable ones. Here are some of our mates relaxing under our new gazebo.

This is the gazebo the next day - we are leaving it standing for the next few days, as the weather forecast is hot, and it will help to keep that side of the house a bit cooler.

My plans for the coming year.

2012-01-10T01:00:00.001+11:00

I did not make any new year resolutions, and I am not setting 'goals' for myself this year. But I am planning to do a few things that I've been wanting to do for years, such as learning to draw and paint. I derived such enjoyment from the Owls drawing workshop I took last year, that I've booked myself into another workshop in February with the same artist. This time we will be drawing Rainbow Lorikeets.

Another art media I've never had any formal lessons in is with oils and acrylic paints. So I've booked into a six week course at the Eltham Living And Learning Centre, to learn how to paint using acrylic paints. I also want to take a course in using watercolours, but that will have to wait until later in the year when the next syllabus for the Living And Learning Centre is released, as there were no classes in watercolour painting in the first term.

In my usual impatient style, I couldn't wait until the classes before I tried out my new acrylic paints! So after browsing through a heap of books borrowed from the library, I decided I knew enough to have a go. This is what I painted today - a pair (male and female) of Gouldian Finches. I printed off a couple of photos I'd taken earlier, and based my painting on those images.

I've got a long way to go before I'm ready to put my stuff in the Homecrafts Show where I show my stitching, but who knows? Maybe by the end of this year I'll be competent enough to do so.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T21:43:00.000+11:00

To all who read this blog - may you and your loved ones have a safe, healthy and happy 2012!

Christmas in Melbourne.

2011-12-28T00:03:00.000+11:00

December 25th was a memorable day in Melbourne for more reasons than one. The Reason For The Season was not smiling down on us on His birthday! A severe storm lashed our city and suburbs, causing family celebrations to be either cancelled or wiped out by rain, hail and wind The news reports said Eltham was the worst hit, but apart from our street turning into a raging torrent for an hour or so while the rain was pouring down, there wasn't much damage in our neighbourhood apart from foliage being ripped from trees and shrubs, and formerly pristine swimming pools turned into mud ponds within minutes.

Our local shopping centre fared badly. I went down there on Boxing Day to buy some milk and bread, and the shops were still mopping up mud from the floors, and throwing out stock that had been on the floors and completely ruined. Trains were cancelled due to part of the tracks being washed away.

Ken and I missed much of the action, as we spent the day down at Frankston at Ken's niece's home with his family. SIL collect MIL from the aged care hostel and took her down to Frankston. Ken and I had reservations about this, as their flat is upstairs and we were worried how MIL would cope. But with many willing hands to help her, she managed the stairs, and enjoyed the day with her family, although it got a bit noisy at times with the two excited little girls jumping around to show everyone their presents! But it was fun, the food was delicious, and everyone was pleased with their presents. I loved all my bits and pieces - here are some of them:

Ken and I had bought ourselves a video camera, and promised each other we wouldn't buy anything else, but when Ken saw this art set for $12 he couldn't resist buying it for me, even though it is marketed for kids! When it comes to pencils, paints, pastels, etc. I'm just a big kid at heart, lol!

Two friends each bought me a coffee mug - one with owls and one with blue wrens.

A matchbox size pack of mints with a beautiful Japanese picture on front. And a box shaped like a book, ie. you open it up and instead of a book it is a box with a black velvet lining. Very pretty.

Hand stitched teacosy. I was with a friend at a teacosy exhibition earlier this year, and when I exclaimed over this one, J. immediately said "I'll buy it for you for Xmas!"

The cutest Cat book!

I also received other books, chocolates, fridge magnets, and other goodies including a gift voucher for an hour on a sailing ship! Ken got one too, so we are looking forward to doing that sometime in the near future.
Hope all my blog friends had a lovely Christmas, and my best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy and safe New Year.

More photos of our garden - back yard.

2011-12-25T03:07:00.000+11:00

I think the name of this ground cover is Canary Lotus...whatever it's called, it has really taken off in this spot on our rockery.

'Peaches & Cream' Grevillea.

Can't remember what this is named either, but again, perfect for the rockery. Tiger is always checking this out, because the skinks (tiny lizards) love hiding in the dense plant and he waits for one to come out and sun itself, then he pounces.

Some of our juvenile Gouldian Finches. There are about 20 of them in this aviary, in various stages of development. The bird on the bottom right hasn't coloured up completely because he is younger than the others. It takes nearly 12 months for these birds to fully develop their beautiful plumage.

Topsy is checking out the new patio door. The two cats had clawed a hole in the old one, and can't figure out why this new door is so hard to claw a new hole in!

Tiger keeping an eye on things from the table at the top of the yard.

Photos of the flowering shrubs in our front garden.

2011-12-25T02:50:00.001+11:00

Happy Christmas to everyone who may be reading this today! In the past few days I have been photographing our garden, front and back - the flowers on our shrubs are stunning this year, so I'm taking the opportunity of recording them in their glory, as who knows when they will flower like this again.
This is one of our native Hibiscus shrubs.

This Oleander shrub has been here since we bought the house 30 years ago, but I've never seen it looking so beautiful before.

One of several varieties of Geranium in the garden, which are all in full bloom.

Pretty Ivy geranium spilling over from a pot.

As one comes toward the stairs to the front door, you see the Oleander and the Agapanthus.

After all that walking around the yard taking photos, I was so tired I needed to lie down for a bit. Tiger decided he need to lie with me and guard my toes.

Traumatic week.

2011-12-16T00:57:00.000+11:00

Well, at least the tank is fixed. It took two days to empty the water into the storm water drain, as nobody wanted to use it for anything. The plumbers came on Monday, moved it across the yard a bit, added more sand and compacted it down, then replaced the tank a bit further away from the fence. The fence seems to have moved back a little, as we can now close the gate. All we need now is some of that rain that has been flooding W.A., N.S.W. and Qld, and we'll have a full tank again. Perhaps I should not be asking for quite that amount of rain; those three states have been through a very bad time in the past week with severe flooding.

The next thing that upset our little applecart was Telstra's techno blunder last weekend where their customers' account details were made available to the general public. As soon as they discovered what had happened, they pulled the plug on Big Pond email until they resolved the issue. I couldn't email in or out for a few hours, then it was okay. But Ken has lost his email account with all the addresses and saved emails, and still hasn't got it back. He is in company with thousands of other people according to Telstra's website. They have to issue new passwords to all their customers who were affected, and it is taking ages. Ken finally got a new password tonight, but they told him he has to do something with the modem before he is back online. I asked the Telstra techie why I hadn't been affected, when we are in the same room on the same cable, and he said it was because the Bigpond account is in Ken's name, and mine is a secondary account, which wasn't affected by the bug last weekend.

Then to top it all off, Ken's I-phone had a hiccup today. He tried to make a call, but it kept on telling him onscreen that the SIM card was disabled. After an hour on the phone to Telstra (again!) we were advised to ring Apple, as they were the only ones who could fix it. Luckily we are quite close to a major Apple Shop in Doncaster, and were able to see them tonight at 9.40 pm (they close at 10 pm). We were highly impressed by their service. They checked Ken's phone and found that the SIM card was faulty, and replaced it immediately, free of charge. They didn't let us go until I had made a call from my mobile to Ken's, to make sure all was working properly, and it was. Praise be! Ken vowed to buy an Apple computer in the near future, he was so happy with their customer service.

Huge waste of water.

2011-12-10T17:48:00.000+11:00

If anyone around my side of town wants a free car wash, drive over here some time before next Wednesday. We have to empty our rain water tank. All five thousand litres. If it isn't used up, it will go into the storm water drain. I've washed my car, Ken plans to wash his car and the bikes, I've hosed the whole property, front and back, until it is almost a sea of mud (not really), and the tank is still nearly full. I visited the CFA (Country Fire Authority) and Edendale Farm (our council's environmental farm and plant nursery) to ask if they wanted the water, but they both said they didn't need it as they had their own supply.

The reason for our panic? The tank when full weighs about three tons (don't ask me what that is in metric, I have no idea. I was born in imperial times, and will think in imperial measurements until the day I die), and the ground underneath one side of it is subsiding. It is next to a brick wall, and when it was originally installed, it was about 10 inches from the wall. It is now just touching the wall, and if nothing is done, the wall will be pushed over and possibly rip part of the house away with it, as the wall is attached to the house. We had a plumber here last week to look at it and he said "Empty it as soon as you can. We'll be back next week to move the tank and bring more sand to tamp down before replacing the tank." I asked if he'd ever seen that happen before and he nodded, and said yes, many times. Funny when something like this happens, I feel like I'm the first person it has ever happened to! But it is good to know that the plumber has fixed this problem for other people and knows what to do.

On a brighter note, I found a cute little Santa hat in a shop this morning, and couldn't resist buying it to try out on our pussies. They weren't very impressed, but we thought they looked cute! This is Tiger, only sitting still long enough for a quick photo before he pulled it off himself.

Ken holding Topsy, who was puzzled by the fuss but not very stressed, unusual for her!

I've always liked these Nativity scenes done in figurines, but they are usually very expensive. Yesterday I walked into our opshop and there was this set on the counter for $12. It is now in our house in the entrance hall! Couldn't believe my luck.

American cookies!

2011-12-10T02:36:00.003+11:00

Cindy over at Cindy's Stitch In Time had posted a photo of her home baked Xmas cookies, and they looked so yummy I asked if she would post some to me in exchange for a pack of Tim Tams. She agreed, and they arrived today:
Well packed.

Such a variety! There were already some missing by the time I took this photo.

These green ones didn't make it intact...Christmas tree cookies?

And probably because I had admired them on her blog, she included a felt gingerbread man and felt brooch - thank you, Cindy!

Tutankhamun Exhibition

2011-11-23T19:07:00.001+11:00

This exhibition has been on show in Melbourne for months, but is finishing up in December, so we booked in to see it before we missed it like we missed the Titanic and Pompeii exhibitions. It was an expensive day all up with entry tickets, short movie, parking, lunch, and souvenirs ($173) but as Ken said, it was our only chance to see any of this, as we'll never get to Egypt. It took us about two hours to wander around and look at everything. If I'd been on my own, it would have only taken me about half an hour, as I'm one of those people who looks at the exhibit, reads the label,looks at it again, and goes to the next one. Ken likes to linger on each exhibit, examining them all closely!
So we bought a few souvenirs...

A little book for $5 giving brief details of the exhibits with some photos. There were many other books available, large and expensive, but this was enough. Printed in the USA.

A miniature Tut Mummy (made in Egypt)$5.95. Some kind of bottle stopper we think, because the top bit comes off and is about the right size for a wine bottle. But we won't be using it for that. It is sitting on our mantelpiece at the moment.

A pewter pendant Sphinx, made in Egypt ($8).

Teeshirt for Ken, made in Honduras.

The amount of souvenirs at shows like this is mind blowing. We were disappointed to see so much of it was made in China, so that's why I chose the two items above that according to the labels, are actually Egyptian!

More cute chicken photos.

2011-11-23T18:46:00.000+11:00

How to have a drink of water while standing in it!

Mum hen showing chicks how to forage for food.

Newly hatched chickens!

2011-11-20T14:31:00.000+11:00

Two of our hens were clucky, so we 'borrowed' some fertile eggs from a friend who breeds hens and roosters for shows, and put them under our broody girls. Lo and behold, this morning we discovered three fluffy chickens peeking out from under their Mum's wings!

Waverly Antique Bazaar

2011-11-16T00:17:00.001+11:00

Cath, one of my blogger buddies, wrote a post on her blog about the newly opened Waverly Antique Bazaar.. I asked if she would like to meet up with me there one day, and we decided today was the day. I invited Lyndel to join us, and the three of us (all dedicated opshoppers) had a great time wandering around. The prices are dearer than opshops, but much cheaper than what you would normally expect to find in antique shops. It is really more of a collectables bazaar, and definitely worth a visit.
Here are some of the photos I took.
Lyndel looking through dress patterns.

Vintage quilt, about $85.

Looking down to one end of the warehouse.

Unusual bras!!!

Junk or treasure?

Unique handcarved chair.

Mini jukebox.

Another view of the warehouse.

Cath rummaging through bricabrac.

I couldn't resist these cute chooky salt and pepper sets, especially as each pair cost less than $8!

I also bought some linens and two books - a paperback for 50c, and a book on vintage motorcycle ($10) for Ken (had to justify my own spending - lol!)
If you want to see the linens, I've posted them on my other blog.

Two weeks later....

2011-11-15T00:43:00.000+11:00

If any of my readers here read my stitching blog, you will know why I haven't had time to scratch myself, let alone post anything on this blog. Apart from my craft work, there isn't much to write about really. I've entered some of my patchwork in the two homecraft shows this side of Melbourne, and I'm doing some preparatory work on an exhibition of my linen collection next year.

Ken's Mum is keeping as well as can be expected at her great age. We took her out on Sunday afternoon for a drive past the houses where she lived as a child. One is still there, but the other has long gone, demolished to make way for a group of units. Still, she recognised the area and many of the surrounding homes that were there when she lived in the area. She and Ken happily reminisced in the front seat as they drove through the streets so familiar to them, while I dozed in the back seat. It was a lovely day for them, although MIL didn't remember any of it an hour later, when Ken's sister talked to her on the phone. MIL knew she'd been out somewhere with us, but couldn't remember where. Doesn't matter. She enjoyed the moment, that is the main thing.

A collective sigh of relief went around our neighbourhood last week when the Neighbours From Hell moved out. The young couple over the road told me they had a quiet drink to celebrate! The new neighbours moved in a day later, and are so much nicer. I know it's early days yet, but I peeped over the fence to say hello, and was greeted with smiles and immediate introductions to husband and wife, three small boys (POLITE would you believe!), and two gorgeous doggies. No cats, but by the look of the cages they might also have rabbits or guinea pigs. Not that we mind - we're animal lovers of all kinds! They were pleased to learn that we have chooks, and said they want to get some too eventually. Plans for a vegie garden are in progress, and within two days they had ripped out all the ivy in the front yard, with the help of an earth moving machine of some kind! The previous neighbour had made a half hearted attempt to poison the ivy, but it grew back in no time, and we were fighting a losing battle to keep it from encroaching into our yard. Ken hasn't met them yet, but when I told him the man of the house has a Mustang that is his pride and joy, Ken's eyes lit up in anticipation of having a bloke next door to talk cars and bikes with! There haven't been any men in the surrounding houses for years - all divorced women with kids.

Quiz about me

2011-11-01T02:20:00.003+11:00

I haven't done one of these quiz things for ages, but when I saw this one on Fee's blog, it seemed like a harmless bit of fun. If you want to have a go, why not copy and save it, do your own answers, post it to your blog, and leave a comment here so I can go and read it!

a. age : 63

b. bed size : Queen

c. chore that you hate : vaccuming….hurts my back.

d. dogs. Not now. Just two cats.

e. eating - in or out. Prefer to cook my own meals.

f. favorite color : all shades of aqua, teal and turquoise.

g. gold or silver : Gold

h. height : 5 Foot 2 Inches

i. instruments you play . Used to play the piano.

j. job title : wife, friend, lover.

k. kids : What kids? None!

l. live : The world's most livable city.

m. mother’s name : Joyce

n. nicknames : Kitty (hubby's nickname for me)

o. overnight hospital stays : eye operation, ovarian cyst removal.

p. pet peeves : drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

q. quote from a movie : Come up and see me some time (Mae West)

r. right or left handed : Right

s. siblings : two brothers, eight and ten years older.

t. time you wake up : depends what day it is!

u. underwear : Basics from Target!

v. vegetable you hate : eggplant.

w. what makes you run late : last minute need to go to the loo.

x. x-rays you’ve had : neck, spine, hands, feet, ovaries.

y. yummy food that you make : buttermilk pancakes

z. zoo animal : The big cats.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-30T22:47:00.003+11:00

I just finished this cute mat in time for Halloween tomorrow, so I thought I would post a pic here as well as on my Stitching blog. Other than this, we won't be doing anything special to 'celebrate' (do you actually celebrate Halloween??) or otherwise mark the occasion, as Melbourne Cup Day is on the following day, and most people in Oz will be focussing their attention on that more than small witches and wizards running around asking for candy!

Home improvement.

2011-10-28T00:10:00.002+11:00

For the 30+ years we've lived in this house, we've had a tiltadoor on the garage - hand operated, not electrical. We've talked about replacing it for ages, and yesterday it was finally done! Ken was like a kid with a new toy - up and down, down and up...garage door I mean.

My sketching skills have improved somewhat!

2011-10-23T22:04:00.004+11:00

I spent today at a one day workshop with artist Janet Matthews. Ten of us learnt how to draw a Boobook Owl using coloured pencils (not watercolour pencils). It was a lovely day; as well as being a very good tutor, Janet is very friendly and easy-going, so it was a pleasure to learn her techniques.
She provided this photo of the owl for us to work with, and instructed us to only draw the head, as that is all we would have time for. She was right!

And here is my interpretation:

Vale Marco Simoncelli

2011-10-23T21:40:00.004+11:00

I know that most people who read this blog don't know or care about motorcycle sports, but Ken and I are both big fans, and we watch both GP and Superbike races when they are televised. Tonight we were shocked to witness live on tv the accident which resulted in the death of one of the top riders in MotoGP racing - 24 year old Italian Marco Simoncelli.
The following is one of many tributes to Marco now flooding bike websites across the internet:

Marco was flamboyant on and off the track. When someone dies, everyone always says they loved life. But he had a very vibrant personality. He already had a huge fanbase around the world, partly down to aggressive riding - but also because he was just a cool guy. He didn't take himself too seriously and would have been a big star for next year.
Matt Roberts

BBC MotoGP presenter

Congratulations Casey Stoner!!!

2011-10-18T00:24:00.006+11:00

You probably all know about Casey Stoner's win already, but Ken and I are so chuffed!! Ken rode down to the Island on Sunday with one of his mates David. It was a cold wet day, but they wouldn't have missed it for the world, seeing our Top Aussie motorcycle racing ace Casey win the grand prix on home ground, win the world championship, and celebrate his 26th birthday!
Picture from "The Australian" newspaper.

Here is Ken ready to take off at 8 am on Sunday morning on his Suzuki.

David on his Harley Davidson.

I've got a new job!

2011-10-07T23:34:00.002+11:00

I've mentioned this on two other blogs, but forgot to post something here, so if you haven't read it elsewhere, I'm working in a volunteer capacity at the Brotherhood of St.Lawrence opshop in Eltham. I'm in there a couple of times a week as a customer with my friends, and when they put a sign on their door asking for volunteers, I thought I may as well work there instead of just hanging around! I am there every Friday morning, and alternate Monday afternoons. Ken say it isn't a real job because I don't get paid - isn't that a typically male thing to say!

I am thoroughly enjoying the experience, helping to sort and price all the stuff that is donated, and it is a real eye-opener in the backroom with the other ladies, to see what people bring in. I would never have believed this little opshop (it is only a little shop) could bring in so much. We get bags and boxes every day, of clothes, books and bric-a-brac, mostly good quality, but occasionally it is just rubbish and has to be thrown out.

Another cat in our yard.

2011-10-05T00:43:00.005+11:00

Tiger has a new little friend. I opened the back door one day last week and stepping outside, saw a little cat in the yard that looked just like Tiger. But it couldn't be because I'd just left him in the kitchen eating from his bowl. Next minute he came running out after me, and shot up the steps to join this other cat. No fighting, just playing - so cute! Yesterday I managed to get some photos of them, and you can see why I made the mistake of thinking the little visitor was Tiger. We think she is a little girl cat that has been neutered, but a bit hard to tell without a CLOSE inspection. She is very friendly, and smooges against us, and has let us pick her up for a cuddle. We've asked our new neighbours, but they don't own any pets.

Tiger is on the lower step.

Little Visitor looking up at me.

Such a dear little kitty face.

Love that Tiger!

Topsy is bemused, doesn't know what to make of the Newcomer to her back yard. At least she hasn't had a go at the little one.

My grand final day!

2011-10-02T00:40:00.004+10:00

Well, I must have pissed everyone off after my last post, as nobody reacted one way or the other! I didn't get any feedback about other activities to fill my day, but I managed to do that quite well anyway. Ken was happy to discover some motorcycle racing in Japan being televised, although he snuck back to the football every now and then to see who was winning. (Congratulations to The Cats.) If you want to know what I did, go here to my other blog.

Apart from that, I had some GREAT news last week. I asked the local estate agent how long it would be before our neighbours from hell moved. (The house was sold some time ago). I was told settlement day is November 10th. THANK GOD! The kids have been partying like mad the last week or two, probably in a last allout effort to annoy everyone around here. I'll be letting the other neighbours know that we won't have to put up with these morons much longer - hooray!!

The most boring week of the year.

2011-09-29T22:16:00.004+10:00

Is the week of the football grand final in Melbourne. See - I can't be bothered even using capital letters for the words grand final. So much fuss about a game. The players spend more time punching each other than kicking the football. Most shops have streamers and balloons hanging all over the place in either blue and white or black and white, depending on what team they are following. I ask them who is having a birthday, and get the reaction of 'duh?'

Does anyone in Melbourne know of a good craft show, needlecraft, quilt, etc. that is on this Saturday? I'd rather be anywhere than somewhere that people are listening to, or watching, the football. There used to be a charity that raised funds for some hospital or other, by organising events on grand final day that did NOT have anything to do with football. It was called "The Anti-Football League". I'd revive it all by myself, but many of my dear friends are football fans and I don't want to run the risk of losing their friendship... if I haven't already, by posting this! What the heck, it's a free country with freedom of speech. Although going by what has happened to Herald Sun journalist Andrew Bolt this week, I could be forgiven for wondering if I might be charged with offensive journalism myself..

Tiger found one of his balls!

2011-09-20T11:10:00.003+10:00

Last night I found Tiger half under the refrigerator. He likes pushing small things under there, and dismantling the fridge so he can find them. Topsy used to hide her toys under the rug in the lounge room, and we would unknowingly walk across the rug and something would crunch. But under the rug isn't exciting enough for Tiger. If something is under the fridge, he knows that I will come along with the torch to check for spiders, mice, etc. and that makes it all so much fun!

Got it! He has four of these tiny tinsel balls, and they are rolled under the fridge at least twice a day.

Lovely day for a picnic.

2011-09-19T01:01:00.002+10:00

It was a perfect Spring day in Melbourne today - too nice to spend indoors. So I packed a basket with a thermos of tea, cups, and a Swiss roll cake, and we collected Ken's mum from the Home, and drove up to Sugarloaf Reservoir for the afternoon. The reservoir is just about full, and looks so much better than it did 12 months ago when it was little more than a puddle.
We found a table in the shade of a small tree, and stayed there for a couple of hours. MIL was so happy to be outdoors on such a nice day, and I was happy for her to be getting a good dose of sunshine and Vitamin D, as she never goes outside unless we take her somewhere. We reckon she will make it to 100; she'll turn 99 next February if she lives till then, and the way she is going, we think she will make it! She often says "How old am I?" and when we tell her she smiles and says "I might get to 100!" Nothing like having a positive outlook on life at that age!

Last night we invited our friends Helen and Ray to dinner at our place. Since Helen's stroke, they don't get out as often, as Helen gets so tired these days. But as we are just around the corner from each other, it is not a major drama to visit us for a couple of hours and watch a DVD after tea. It's great to be able to put a smile on her face, and we both said to them "We've got to do this more often. We rarely go out on Saturday nights now, so it is silly that the four of us sit at home twiddling our thumbs, when we could be together and enjoying some music or a movie". Helen and Ray agreed, so Ken and I are looking forward to their company on a regular basis. We've known each other for 30 years, so it is a very comfortable friendship.

Rainbow kittens.

2011-09-16T01:21:00.004+10:00

Sorry about the lack of posts on this blog, but I've been busy making Rainbow kittens. If you read my other blog, you will know what I'm talking about, and won't need to read any further. If you don't read that blog, I'm referring to patchwork blocks with multicoloured striped kittens on black fabric.

Not much else going on here. Ken is still working 4 days a week and not showing any ill effects. He had a tax refund windfall of over $3000, so we are spending it on fixing things around the house that have needed fixing for years. We have replaced the hand rail along the steps to our front porch. The rail had been chewed by termites and galahs to the point where it was dangerous, but now it looks a million dollars.

Yesterday we had a tradie come out and look at our garage door. It is a tiltadoor, and we have been wanting to convert it to a remote control operated door. It seems that can't be done for various technical reasons, so they are going to remove it and replace it with a roll-a-door. We are both looking forward to being able to point the remote at the garage and have the door open up automatically!

The next thing will be to replace the wire screen door from the lounge to the patio; Tiger wrecked the wire to the point where both cats didn't need to wait for us to open the door. They just strolled in and out at will!

Apart from those necessary jobs, we used some of the money on a luxury item. We went to an art show recently, which featured paintings and drawings of Australian wildlife, birds in particular. I think I mentioned this in an earlier post. Well, on the last day, we went back to the exhibition and purchased one of the paintings which we had both fallen in love with. Five Australian Blue Wrens on a branch of gum leaves. It wasn't cheap, but we've got it on the wall in the entrance hall and it looks absolutely stunning.

America's suffering.

2011-09-08T01:48:00.002+10:00

It just can't get much worse over in the USA. A week ago, the east coast was threatened by a hurricane, causing severe floods. Don't we know all about floods here in Australia...Now the Texans are fighting the worst wildfires in their history, after a long drought. Over 1000 homes have been destroyed, and 115,000 aces of land burnt. There are also fires in California at the moment. Again, my heart goes out to our friends over there; we understand the horror of bushfires too.

Congratulations to my Kenny!

2011-09-03T00:27:00.005+10:00

It is 10 years today since Ken smoked his last cigarette. I usually give him a card every year to celebrate this anniversary, but today I gave him a little book that I bought some time ago, and kept aside for today.

Some people would think it is a bit tacky I suppose, but we find things like that for each other occasionally, just for fun. I got a cuddle and kiss for this one...

Did you ever have a childhood wish come true?

2011-08-30T23:32:00.005+10:00

There were two things I REALLY REALLY wanted when I was a kid - a dolls house and a full set of 72 Derwent colour pencils. I don't recall any of my other friends having a dolls house, but I saw pictures of them in books, and used to dream about how I would set mine up if I ever got one. My parents could not afford to buy one, and although my father was a very practical man around the house as far as the garden and maintenance went, he wasn't a carpenter, so he couldn't make a dolls house for me.

As for the Derwents, all the kids at school lusted after Derwent pencils. Nobody had a set of 72 (or if they did, they weren't allowed to bring them to school), one or two kids had sets of 24 or 36, and I had a set of 12, which all had my name carved into the top by Dad so they wouldn't go missing! Those of us who had any Derwents suddenly acquired 'best friends' in art or drawing classes, as kids wanted to borrow a particular colour for something they were drawing.

When I enrolled in the sketching workshop a few weeks ago, we were given a list of requirements, which included a choice of Faber Castell or Derwent pencils. I Googled them both and quickly discovered that Faber Castell was WAY out of my price range, even on eBay, so I went looking for Derwents. Cutting to the chase, I won an eBay auction last week for a set of 72 Derwent Artists Pencils, for well under the retail price. They arrived today, and I felt just like a kid again - wanting to try them all out on a piece of paper just to see those gorgeous colours materialise!

Tomorrow I might just buy a colouring book at the newsagent so I can play with my pencils, lol! As for the dolls house...Sylvia over at Linens and Royals found one at an opshop a couple of years ago, and has renovated it. OH MY GOODNESS, if I found a dolls house at an opshop, it would be MINE within seconds! I posted a comment on her blog recently, saying wistfully that I'd always wanted a dolls house as a kid, but Ken would really arc up if I got one now! Maureen posted a comment under mine, saying "Gina, it is never too late to have a dolls' house". Well, if I get lucky like Sylvia, and find one in an oshop, my second childhood wish just might be fulfilled!! (No, I am not going to look for a dolls house on eBay....)

It has been a pleasant weekend here.

2011-08-28T22:54:00.006+10:00

Saturday was such a lovely sunny day that we spent most of it outside in our yard. After I'd hung two loads of washing out, I joined Ken up at the aviaries. He had just finished mowing the lawn, and although tired, was very pleased with himself.

So I cut some sandwiches and brought them up to the top of the yard with cans of Coke, and we ate while watching the budgies and finches dancing around in the sun on their perches.

I made sure both cats were securely inside the house, and then let the chooks out to do the "free range" thing on the newly mown lawn. But they were more interested in pecking crumbs of bread from Ken's hand.

Today, the annual Wattle Festival was held at Hurstbridge (about 20 minutes drive from our place) and so we set off just after midday in bright sunshine again. Another beautiful day weatherwise - could not have been better for this local festival. The animal nursery is always popular with little kids, and I can't resist photographing them with the animals.

The vintage steam train is a major event in the festival every year, and due to our previous involvement with Steamrail a few years ago, when we arrived on the platform to see the train, the volunteer officers pounced on us to hop aboard for a free ride!

A yard full of magnficent vintage cars.

And another favourite ride every year is the Cobb & Co. coaches.

There was also a small quilt show, and I took heaps of photos, but you will have to go to one of my other blogs here to see them if you are interested.

Making cards (or collages).

2011-08-26T19:14:00.003+10:00

In between the patchwork I've been doing, and the sketching, I still find a bit of time to play with paper crafts. I borrowed some books on the subject from our library a few weeks ago, and yesterday I had an urge to try some of them.
The 'gingerbread' figures are cut from fabric and glued to the card, with sequins glued on for the buttons.

I had fun doing this! To make the stripes, you cut up strips of coloured paper and glue them all on to one plain sheet of paper. Then you lay the fruit templates over it, draw around the edge, cut them out and stick on to the background. Cute!

Wildlife Art exhibition and a renewed interest in drawing.

2011-08-23T23:50:00.006+10:00

Eltham and the surrounding suburbs have dozens of art galleries. One of the newest ones is called The Light Factory Gallery, and not only is it close to us, the exhibitions are free! My friend Glenda (who is an artist) and I go to the Light Factory for most of their exhibitions, and last week we viewed the current one which is on until 4th September. It is called "Wild4Art" and has a collection by four artists whose passion is Australian wildlife, birds in particular. If you click on the link, it will take you to the Gallery website, where you can click on each name and see a sample of their works.

One of the artists is Janet Matthews, who is a charming lady with a bubbly personality and a unique way of drawing birds that shows individual personalities - very cute! But not just cute - her pencilled drawings are exquisite. So when we heard Janet was conducting a workshop at the Gallery in October, on how to draw birds, Glenda and I both booked in for it.

When something like this happens, I get carried away by my enthusiasm and start searching eBay for a full set of Derwent or Faber & Castell pencils, to have with me for the workshop. I have found the Derwent Artist range for as little as $55, but the Faber & Castell range that Janet recommends cost well over $100 for a set of 60, and that's not the full range! So I think I'll settle for the Derwents, if I can find them on eBay again (I missed out on the first auction!). In the meantime, I dug out my sketchpad to start practising...

I seem to be better at drawing people than flora and fauna. I sketched my left hand here, and drew some faces from an art text book.

See what I mean? These poor pastel drawings look nothing like the beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets that were posing for me on the birdfeeder yesterday!

I visited my friend Helen today and we spent the sunny afternoon in her garden. She read a book while I sketched a Banksia plant nearby. Helen thought this was good. She said "You can see immediately what it is." The highest compliment, lol!

Tiger obliged by sitting and gazing at me with that unblinking stare peculiar to cats. It isn't a bad likeness, and I'm pleased with it, as I don't usually have much joy drawing cats, as much as I love them.

Sad stuff.

2011-08-23T23:26:00.004+10:00

This past week I've had a number of subjects buzzing around in my mind to write about on this blog, but they were all a bit depressing, so I held back. Just to set my friends' minds at rest - there is no bad news about Ken or anyone else at this end! We had to spend nearly $700 on having deadlocks installed on all our exterior doors and most of our windows, after receiving the renewal on our house and contents insurance policy, which had increased considerably. When I phoned the insurance company to ask if they could reduce it, I was asked if we had an alarm system (no) and deadlocks on all doors and windows (no) and the lady said if we get that done, they will be able to reduce the premiums. So we did the deadlocks and got a bit of a reduction. We've since learnt that there have been a few burglaries in our area lately, so I suppose it is just as well we were 'forced into' getting the locks.

I got really depressed last night after watching a doco on the Biography channel on Foxtel, about an English reporter who spent some time at a children's home in Bulgaria. What she saw was shocking to the core; the children had been abandoned by their parents because they couldn't cope with their disabilities. Some were blind, some deaf, others physically or mentally handicapped. The carers weren't nurses - all they did was wash and feed the children, and that took all their time because of the state of the kids. Kids died from malnutrition and illness caused by that, and some of them went insane because they had no other attention or love in their day to day lives. It was the saddest doco. I've seen on t.v. for a long time. The English reporter wrote to the Bulgarian government about it, and received a very hostile letter back, defending their position in caring for orphans. During the doco. there were the usual advertisements for beauty products, new cars, etc. and it made me feel sick, to think there are children suffering so much in the world, while we go about our lucky lives in the Lucky Country. I just feel so helpless. Ken couldn't watch it after a few minutes - said it made him want to cry, so he went downstairs and revved the hell out of his Honda.

Blogger stats

2011-08-21T00:35:00.003+10:00

Have you ever had a look at the Stats that Blogger supply on your Dashboard thing? I knew it was there, but haven't had a close look until tonight when I had nothing better to do. Well, I did actually, but Ken is playing some of our favourite music DVDs (Roy Orbison, Glen Campbell, The Shadows, The Bee Gees) in the lounge room and because I'm humming along with them I can't concentrate on any craft stuff. So I'm sitting at the computer mindlessly surfing. Great way to spend a Saturday night, huh?
Ok, back to the stats. I'm using to seeing the majority of my readers are from Australia, followed by the USA, UK, then a scattering of other countries. Imagine my surprise (shock?) seeing that I have more readers in China than anywhere in the world outside Australia. WHY?? Are these people trying to hack into my computer via my blog? I can't understand why so many Chinese would be interested in my blog, regardless of whether they can read enough English to understand it. Bit of a worry.

Trying out some different recipes, American style.

2011-08-18T20:20:00.004+10:00

Last Tuesday I had my two American-born (living in Melbourne) friends around for a cuppa, and we were discussing the differences between American and Australian foods. Val's son made corn bread once when I was at her place, and he'd given me the recipe to try. I also had a recipe that I'd downloaded from Pam Kellogg's blog. Glenda said how much she loves corn bread, but hadn't made it for years.

I had bought a pack of Polenta (cornmeal) this week to use in a recipe for dinner one night, and still had a nearly full pack. So I thought I may as well use it up by making corn bread. I decided to use Pam's recipe because it was more of a basic recipe, whereas the other one had vegetables in it as well, but I just wanted to make a plain version. Pam wrote on her blog that her Mom's corn bread recipe was the best one ever, and 'you'll never find a better recipe for corn bread!'. She made it using a muffin tin, and said it could also be baked in a pan, but I decided to make mine into muffins. Well, I've got nothing to compare them to, but I thought they were delicious. I called Glenda and told her I'd just baked some corn bread and would bring some around for her to taste while they were still warm (she lives around the corner from me). She was delighted, and on tasting them, said they were great. Thank you Pam!

While I was in the mood for baking, I decided to make some Brownies - another American favourite. Glenda and Val had mentioned them on Tuesday as well as the cornbread. Today I used a low fat recipe for my Brownies, and while it is edible, it is really nothing like the traditional Brownie in another recipe books which uses 250g of butter, and is absolutely delicious.

It didn't rise much, and because it uses wholemeal flour, it has a completely different taste. I won't be doing this one again. Bugger the diet - I love the real Brownie!!

This month so far.

2011-08-17T16:58:00.007+10:00

I'm so tied up with my other stitching blog, that I haven't thought much about posting anything here for those who still drop in to keep up with me. Not much happening, really. Ken visited his lung specialist last week, who said Ken is doing well on the new inhaler, but will need to be monitored once every three months. Ken is happy with that; he doesn't have to see the cardiologist until next February, so the bottom line is that they have all done as much as they can for him, and it is now up to him to keep himself fit and well. The doctors all tell Ken that it isn't just luck that he is doing well; many people go back to old bad habits like smoking and eating the wrong foods, not to mention forgetting (or refusing) to take their medications! Ken is very compliant with everything he is told to do.

I am the same with my exercise routine. If I don't do the stretching and other exercises for my lower back and neck, my body stiffens up within a few days and I can hardly get out of bed in the mornings, let alone do any housework. So it is in my own interests to keep doing the exercise routine set up for me by my chiropractor.

Tiger got himself into SERIOUS trouble the other day. I heard a commotion out in the front yard, and when I opened the front door to see what was going on, there were a dozen Noisy Miners circling the garden area nearby, squawking and squealing. I saw a heap of feathers, and knew exactly what had happened. I looked over the side of the porch and sure enough, there was Tiger looking up at me, with feathers sticking out of his mouth. I yelled "You naughty little cat!" and grabbed him. I held him up so the birds could see, and smacked him! I'm sure the birds understood, because after seeing me do that, they flew away. I took Tiger inside and kept him there for the rest of the day. He was very subdued, and followed me forlornly around the house as I went about my housework. After a couple of hours, I relented and picked him up for a cuddle, and he snuggled into my shoulder and purred. Then he found this box, and amused himself in that for an hour.

When I told Ken about it, he said "Well, I don't care if he kills the Noisy Miners, as long as he doesn't go for the Lorikeets or Rosellas", and I said "That is silly - they are all birds as far as a cat is concerned - he is not going to select the less brightly coloured birds just because we don't want him to! Anything that has got feathers is fair game". I hadn't been putting the collar and bell on Tiger for a while, but he's got it on now all the time.

Topsy is bigger and fatter than ever, despite being on a 'cat food diet', but she seems healthy enough. She can certainly move fast when she wants to. Last night I was sitting on the couch with Tiger beside me, and Topsy wandered over and looked up as if to say "Why is HE there? I want to sit up there with you". I had just finished eating a banana, and, being silly, chucked the skin on the floor near Topsy. Well, you know how animals jump up in the air when they are startled? Topsy sprang into the air about a foot off the ground! Ken didn't think it was funny; he said she might have a little heart attack. But I laughed so much I had tears running down my face! I would never have thought she had so much energy with her size, but it looked like she had springs under her paws! Tiger didn't bat an eyelid; he just looked down at Topsy as to say "Are you right?"

To finish off this post, have a look at what one can do with the humble toilet roll. Paint it white, push one end down, and paint little animal faces on it!

Winter flowers at my place and crafty stuff.

2011-08-05T00:20:00.004+10:00

Winter is such a great time to do things indoors when the days are cold and wet. Not that it really matters to me; most of my hobbies are indoors hobbies, so summer or winter, I've always got a new project on the go!
Last year I read about the craft of using paper napkins to decorate objects - a form of decoupage I guess. This is a shoe box, which I have transformed into a useful box by cutting up a napkin and rearranging the elements before I glued them on to the box.

I made some of these paper Kimono dolls earlier this year, and decided to use one to make a birthday card for an arty friend. Hope she likes it!

It was only a week ago that our back yard looked bare with nothing much flowering. But when I was out there today, I noticed that all of a sudden there were flowers popping up all over the place. So I grabbed my camera before the sun disappeared behind the clouds..
Close up of the lovely Grevillea blooms on the shrub below.

Dwarf form of the Banksia group of plants.

This Cyclamen is a complete surprise! I must have had it in a pot sometime ago, and thrown it out into a corner of the garden when it finished flowering. Lo and behold, it is still alive!

Our Irises were in the garden when we bought the house 30 years ago, and they still flower every year. Does anyone know what the lifespan is of these bulbs? Could they outlive us??

Dwarf form of Acacia (Wattle).

We planted these daffodil and jonquil bulbs about four years ago, and they get better every year. Tiger came out with me to inspect them.

Op shopping.

2011-07-28T00:03:00.003+10:00

I've just realised why I haven't been posting much on this blog lately; I've been busy op-shopping for the past couple of weeks, and posting write ups about it to the Melbourne opshop blog. Today I met up with another opshop blogger who lives a few miles away from me. We had been keeping in touch by email and on our respective blogs, but this was the first time we have met in person. We had such fun visiting four opshops! If you want to know more, you can read about it here.

Congrats to Cadel - AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!!

2011-07-25T01:58:00.004+10:00

Congratulations to our own Cadel Evans, who has just won the 2011 Tour de France.
Ken and I like many Australians, have been watching Cadel strive to win this race for the past few years. It is absolutely fantastic for Cadel and for Australia, that he has finally done it!

He is the first Australian to win in the tour's 108-year history, almost 100 years after Brian Kirkham became the first Australian to ride in the famed international race in 1914. In becoming the first Australian to win the tour, Evans' performance is sure to rank among the nation's greatest sporting achievements. All that is needed now is for Prime Minister Julia Gillard to declare a public holiday.

"Public holiday?" he laughed.
"If it doesn't hurt the economy, that's fine by me. Thanks Julia."

Here is a link to Cadel's interview on YouTube:

Opshoppers in the news!

2011-07-23T01:32:00.002+10:00

For two or three years, I've been posting details of my opshop bargains on Melbourne's Opshop blog. Last week I received an email from Amelia, the blog's manager - asking if I'd be willing to do an interview with a journalist about my opshop experiences. She wanted half a dozen people from all around Melbourne, and I was chosen to represent the north eastern suburbs. It sounded like fun, so I agreed.
I have just posted this item on the Opshop blog, so if you have already seen it there, skip this post.

Kathryn from City Weekly phoned me around 2 pm on Thursday, and conducted her interview over the phone. After she'd finished she said the photographer was on his way. I arranged a heap of bric brac on the kitchen table - cup and saucer sets, a couple of teapots, various plates and other household items. In the bedroom I laid out half a dozen jackets and kimono type gowns that I've bought in opshops. I didn't bother with day to day clothes like pants and tops, but I did place several pairs of shoes at the foot of the bed. I figured the photographer would select something and ask me to hang it up somewhere.

He arrived right on 3 pm, dragging a heap of photographic equipment up the stairs. I took him into the kitchen where he glanced at the table, then asked if I bought any clothes at opshops. I said yes, and took him into the bedroom. He pounced on my crazy patchwork gown and said "Perfect - put that on!". So I did, then he got me to drape myself across the other clothes on the bed, in various poses. Then he asked me to get a teapot and cup, and he would photograph me in the gown, pouring a cup of tea. I said "Not in the bedroom!", so we went back into the kitchen to do that. In the meantime, the sun had come out, so he wanted to take some pictures outside, and asked me to select a few pieces from the kitchen table to take outside. He took some photos of various items in interesting spots in the garden, then did more of me still in that gown pouring tea!!

I was almost breathless by the time he left about 3.45; he must have taken about 200 photos. I asked if I could see them one day, and he said to speak to the photo editor after the article is published in the mag, and she might supply me with a proof sheet.
It will be interesting to see the mag when it comes out - Kathryn said she would send me a couple of copies. I don't get into town very often, so it is unlikely that I would be able to obtain a copy otherwise. The photographer said there were 8 magazines published by their company, in different areas of Melbourne, and he thought I would be in a local one. My God, I just hope they don't put me on the front cover, draped across the marital bed in my dressing gown, looking orgasmic over my opshop clothes!!! Ken will have a fit, and I'd never live it down with the locals :-O

Not much to blog about.

2011-07-21T00:51:00.002+10:00

Truly! I am usually such a motor mouth with a lot to say and write, but lately most of my blogging has been of the stitching variety which is on the other blog. For my friends who are wondering, Ken has settled in back at work very happily, and isn't too tired at the end of the day, although he does enjoy his mid week day off. This morning, he collected his Honda bike from the local bike shop where they had been working on it. In the afternoon he had to have an ultra sound on his chest (not heart or lung related), and from there we went to visit his Mum. She is doing well at the moment, and was delighted to see us during the day rather than at night when she is tired and wants to go to bed. We spent an hour with her, and enjoyed afternoon tea as a bonus for getting to the Home at 3 pm!

Since Ken returned to work, I've been opshopping with Glenda, crafting with Val, visiting Helen, and generally doing my Own Thing. Tiger has fully recovered from his operation, and has forgiven us - ha ha! We have new neighbours on one side of our house who appear to be a decent friendly couple with two toddlers. The Neighbours from Hell on the other side have their house on the market, so with a bit of luck we will get decent people in there too...fingers crossed. Life is good!

Tiger's loss and my gain.

2011-07-02T00:41:00.005+10:00

Tiger's loss is not my gain - I just have two items to blog about, and joined them up into one heading.
Tiger's loss is his...um...you-know-whats. At 8 months old he was getting very frisky, and jumping on poor Topsy whenever he could catch her. She was neutered when she was about 8 weeks old, and has never known a male cat (apart from avoiding the neighbours' cats whenever they got into our yard), so she seemed bewildered by Tiger's amorous intentions. Even thought he couldn't get Topsy into 'trouble', we decided for the safety of any other female cats around that it was time for The Operation. We took him to the vet yesterday morning, mewing loudly all the way in his carry cage on the back seat of the car. A very different kitty came home with us that night. $230 later, he was sexless and microchipped, very quiet on the car trip home, and not at all friendly to us for a few hours! He kept going back into the carry cage, sniffing and scratching around in there as if looking for what he'd just lost. Ken was very sympathetic - not that he has been castrated, mind you! It's just a man thing that they feel sorry for domestic animals that have been castrated, I think.
This was taken last week. He won't be curling up like this again for a few days!

As to what I have gained, that refers to my own time. While Ken has been home, I've put most of my usual activities aside so I could spend time with him. Yesterday, he took me into where he works, and we were both surprised by the reactions of his fellow workers. They were all very pleased to see how well he was, and everyone asked if and when he was coming back to work. When his boss asked about returning to work, Ken told him what the lung specialist had said about going back part time, and the boss frowned and said "Well, you know we don't do part time here, Ken, but how many days do you want to work?" Ken said "Four days a week, with Wednesdays off" and his boss said "Oh, I guess we can work in with that!" It seems they've lost a few couriers recently due to ill health and retirement, so Ken coming back is good news for them. He asked when Ken wanted to start work again and Ken looked at me. I said quickly "Next Monday! You haven't got anything else planned for next week have you?" Poor Ken couldn't think quick enough to get out of that one, so his boss said "Done! We'll see you here on Monday!"

On the way home, Ken said "I wasn't planning to go back to work so soon. How did I get roped into returning on Monday?" and I said "Well, you've been talking about the bills coming in and not having enough money from the pension, so the sooner you go back to earning a wage, the better". He said "Oh I suppose so. You just want me out of the house so you can go back to socialising with your friends, don't you?", and I said "Something like that!" I've got next week filled up already. Lunch and a craft session with Val on Monday, the Embroiderer's Guild on Tuesday, Ken will be home on Wednesday, shopping with Glenda on Thursday, and coffee with Helen on Friday. Ah, bliss to have my life back...

Ten days later.

2011-06-29T00:04:00.002+10:00

My blogging time lately has been devoted to quilting and patchwork blogs - mine and others. I tend to forget this one, unless I have some momentous, earth-shattering news to impart. I still don't have any of that, but a bit of better news about my Kenny. We went to see the lung specialist today. Ken has been increasingly worried about this impending visit, as his breathing has not improved at all since the heart surgery, and since he had bronchitis last month, he hasn't had much energy at all.

Well, Dr Russell put Ken through some breathing tests, and discussed the implications of the heart surgery with us. He said that while Ken's lungs are certainly diseased, and have deteriorated since he last saw Ken 3 years ago, he doesn't think that Ken needs to go onto oxygen therapy...yet. A few years down the track perhaps, but not at the moment. He has prescribed a new 'puffer' that he says will do a number of things to help Ken's breathing improve, and he wants to see him again in six weeks. In the meantime he said there is no reason why Ken shouldn't go back to work if he wants to, but he warned Ken that he will probably get very tired, and suggested that he ask if he can work part time.

Ken was quietly ecstatic by all this information! He is going to go into his work and ask his supervisor if he can work part time. They don't usually allow the couriers to work part time there, but they have been ringing Ken to ask when he is coming back. So if they are that keen to have him back, maybe they will take him on his terms!

Back to the subject of momentous news; I guess the best thing that has happened to us so far this year is that we have been able to pay our house off. We had a huge mortgage which we wouldn't have paid off unless we sold the house, but when Ken's Mum discovered our situation, she insisted on us taking the amount we needed from her trust fund. She said "I don't want you to wait until I'm dead. I want to see you use it now!" Ken's sister was happy for us to do it, which was good because we had been worried that she might not agree, but there was no problem at all. As she said, there is still plenty in their mother's account to cover her needs. What a weight off my mind...so it is a pretty good year all round for us so far. But I feel so sorry for the millions of people around the world who haven't been so fortunate - those in Queensland and Victoria who were flooded early this year, and the people of Japan and New Zealand who are still suffering the effects of earthquakes and the tsunami. One could win Tattslotto ten times over and there still wouldn't be enough money to go around...

Washi paper quilting.

2011-06-18T22:43:00.004+10:00

I discovered this paper craft in a magazine, and being so fond of Japanese crafts, I had to find out a bit more. My friend Aiko in Japan sent me a pack of beautiful Washi (the word is Japanese for handmade craft paper), so I could make a start with paper quilting. There are some great tutorials on YouTube, and this is probably one of the best ones: "Washi Paper Quilting"

I made these yesterday. They are so quick and easy to do, and are a relaxing change from working with textiles. As much as I love patchwork and embroidery, it is hard on my hands these days, so I find myself sewing for short periods of time, then turning to something less tiring on my fingers.

Ken's health is starting to improve, finally. He rode his Honda into the CBD on Thursday, to have his hair cut. (He has been going to the same barber for about 40 years, and refuses to find anyone closer to home). It was the same day I was in town with Doreen from Canberra, and we were all lucky with the weather, as it was fine and sunny. On Friday we had wind and rain, and Ken would not have gone into town in those conditions. It was the first time he'd been anywhere on his motorcycle since early March, so he was a bit unsure of himself, but he got there and back without incident, so it boosted his self confidence somewhat. Driving a car is one thing, but riding a bike takes more physical endurance, and he'd been told not to do it until his ribs had completely healed. There was only one way to find out, and he did! So that is one big hurdle overcome.

Newish computer.

2011-06-10T01:57:00.002+10:00

I did it. Lashed out on another computer. My dear old Compaq was getting so slow, and not letting me look at many blogs and websites, so I decided it was Time to get rid of it. The Government Centrelink magazine had an advertisement for refurbished computers for $290. They are ex-government office computers, and the package included an LCD screen monitor, an IBM hard drive, a new keyboard and mouse, and it came with XP Pro and Windows Office 2007.

It arrived yesterday and one of our friends came over to set it up for me. It took him about 2 hours, and he was able to install my scanner and printer on it, so I don't have to buy a new one of those yet. It wouldn't have mattered much, as they are so cheap now, but I hate learning how to use new things, so at least I don't have to learn how to used a new computer or scanner! Learning how to use this PC is another story though! Ken has the Home XP operating system on his laptop, so I knew a bit about it, but XP Pro is slightly different, so I've had to fiddle around to do things that I used to take for granted on the old one.

Mark was able to save my old Favorites list on a memory stick, and put that on the new PC. He saved my Outlook Express address book too, but couldn't transfer it to the new one, so at the moment, I have no email addresses on file. But they are all on the memory stick, so if anyone reading this knows how to get them on to my new PC, perhaps you can explain!

It is great to use - so much faster, and I have been able to catch up on all my old favourite blogs that I haven't been able to see for months. Other than that, it is pretty much the same. It has a DVD drive which I didn't have before, but I can't see myself using that. We have a perfectly good TV to watch DVDs on! I don't see the point of watching them on a small computer screen. But there may be a use for it somewhere down the track, who knows?

How time flies.

2011-06-06T22:55:00.003+10:00

...And not always when you're having fun. Ken is finally on the mend, but it took three lots of antibiotics and three weeks of being housebound (two of them in bed for most of the time). The weather prediction for the coming week is cold and wet, so I don't think he will be going anywhere soon. I've been up to Pussy's Bow in craft projects - mostly patchwork, and enjoying myself immensely. I've been posting all about that on my other blog Patra's Place, if you want to know more. I've been reading too, but it got to the point where I was reading one book after another and doing nothing else, so that's when I decided to do some sewing instead.

As a consequence of attending the cardio-rehab courses and learning what foods contain certain fats, salt, and other unhealthy-for-hearts ingredients, we have been gradually changing our diet somewhat, eliminating saturated fats and salt in cooking, and not buying cakes, biscuits, chips, etc. It's been a bit hard, as we both have a sweet tooth, but I've found a number of recipes for cakes and desserts which substitute oils or other ingredients for butter. But I've discovered that you cannot make biscuits (cookies to the American readers) without butter. They just don't work with oil! So, we're living without sweet biscuits; but still nibble on Cruskits and the other few that are recommended by the Heart Foundation. Trouble with savoury biscuits is that most of them have too much salt, so we have to avoid those too. A friend came over to visit last Sunday and brought of all things a cream sponge!! It was kind of her, and I didn't like to say anything, so we had a slice each, and I gave the rest back to her to take home. But boy, did I feel sick later! After not having anything rich and creamy like that for a while, my tummy rebelled!

Eliminating salt from my cooking is no hardship, as I don't add salt to anything I cook anyway. But I do read the labels on supermarket foods more carefully, and it is shocking to see the amount of sodium in some items that you wouldn't think would need salt. But it is a preservative, so it has to be used in a lot of processed foods, and I've been selecting the low-salt varieties where they are available.

Why am I writing all that on this blog? I can't imagine that anyone is really interested. That's how dull life is around here at the moment! Ken is very bored with his life at the moment. I'm not bored, but I do miss getting out and about as much as I do in the warmer weather. I hate the cold. I don't know how people can live in places where it snows...brrrrr.

The Cats (not a football team)

2011-05-29T17:16:00.002+10:00

Ken has been housebound and mostly in bed, taking antibiotics for bronchitus. He got dressed yesterday for the first time in two weeks, and braved the cold weather to go up to check on the birds. Bad move, dear. The cough is worse than ever, so I'm hauling him off to the doctor tomorrow. He can't risk getting pneumonia at this stage of his heart surgery recovery.
The cats have been keeping us company indoors, mostly in front of the heater where we trip over them if we don't look down first. Tiger wasn't taking any chances on being trodden on....

"If you're looking for me, I'm under the table, Mum".

Friends at last! Topsy has finally consented to eating her food alongside Tiger. I used to feed him in the laundry to avoid fights, but they are getting on well enough now to put their food bowls side by side. Tiger is only six months old (Topsy is about 7 years old), but look how big he is already. Perhaps that is why Topsy isn't arguing any more!

Long term plans for the future.

2011-05-26T23:27:00.004+10:00

I just did some online banking and discovered that Ken's last pay has been deposited into our account. I know it is the last one because it is about one quarter of his usual wage. He hadn't taken any long holidays over the time he has been working for the company, so his annual leave had accrued to the point where he has been receiving his regular fortnightly salary. I found it hard to believe he had accumulated 11 weeks pay, but of course if he hadn't, he wouldn't have been getting paid up to now.

It doesn't look like he will be going back to work any time soon, and he said yesterday that he doesn't think he will ever be fit enough to go back at all. His colleagues have been ringing him to see how he is, and have asked when he's returning. It is nice to know you are wanted, but he will be 70 next year, and if he's not up to the physically demanding aspect of his job, that's the last word, isn't it.

Thank goodness for superannuation. Our financial adviser has always cautioned us to choose the investment packages that were not high risk, so while we haven't made squillions of dollars in our super, on the other hand we didn't lose too much during the global financial crisis. We have enough to live on for the next few years, and we also get a pension, but when the super runs out...well, I'm not going to spend my future years worrying about that! We'll just have to sell the house to pay off the mortgage and buy something in the country where the land and house prices are slightly less than what they are in suburban Melbourne. At least we have options. The Great Australian Dream of owning one's own home is worth battling for when you are younger.

Still, none of us know what is around the corner. I still buy a Tattslotto ticket every week, so we could get lucky. VERY lucky, but very unlikely! If I outlive Ken, I would sell up everything and go into a retirement village and probably have enough left over to live on. But if all the ancient predictions about 2012 come to fruition, none of us will ever have to worry about money again!

Back to square one for Ken.

2011-05-22T18:45:00.003+10:00

Maybe not quite square one, but he caught a cold somewhere (probably at the hospital) last week, and has been in bed since Tuesday, feeling very miserable. Our doctor called in on Wednesday and prescribed anti-biotics just in case the cold turned into bronchitis His visit was good timing. Ken has developed a terrible cough, which is rather painful for him, so soon after open heart surgery where they split the rib cage apart to get to the heart. Even two months later, he is not supposed to strain himself by lifting heavy objects or doing other things that put pressure on his chest. It's so depressing, especially when he had been going so well, building up his strength with the walking and exercising. This illness will put him back to where he was a month ago.

Touch wood, I haven't succumbed to the virus, but his Mum has had another cold and a gastro-virus since we last saw her, poor lady. I rang her today and she was nearly in tears because she hadn't seen or spoken to us all week. Once I explained, she understood. I went to Spotlight in Box Hill yesterday to spend a gift voucher, and I was going to drop in on my friend Sharon. But when I rang to ask if she would be around, her partner answered the phone and told me she was in bed with a virus, and probably not up to receiving visitors. Our doctor had mentioned there was a lot of colds and flu around, and it seems to have struck down some of my favourite people! If you're reading this Sharon - {{{HUGS}}} - take care of yourself, and get better soon!

I'm not ignoring anyone!

2011-05-17T00:19:00.001+10:00

I'm posting this message on all my blogs, so if you've already read it on another one, don't waste your time reading it again!
Like most bloggers, I love receiving comments on my blogs, and always try to respond to them by posting a comment on your blogs. But lately it has become increasingly difficult to access some blogs, due to the enormous amount of graphics they use. The reason my blog headings are so plain is not just because I'm not clever enough to do fancy stuff on my computer. I also leave them as simple as possible because the downloading process is a lot faster for readers as well as me!

So, my apologies to those of you who post comments here but haven't had a response. If I get on to Ken's laptop (once in a blue moon), I can usually access most of my favourite blogs, and will leave a comment. But if I don't, it just means your blog is too complex for my ancient PC (11 years old) and OS (ME, cc 2000)!
I have another computer on order, which is about 5 years old and uses the XP Op.System. Yeah, I know it's old too, but not as old as mine, and it will only cost me $290 for the modem, LCD screen, keyboard and mouse, so hopefully it will do me for another couple of years, because I just cannot afford to buy a brand new one!

Small steps for some, giant leaps for Ken!

2011-05-06T23:27:00.004+10:00

Ken has been going to cardiac rehabilitation sessions at the Austin Hospital for three weeks now, twice a week. Each session goes for two hours - the first hour is a lecture by one of the hospital specialists on nutrition, medication, etc, and the second hour is exercise consisting of walking, jumping, cycling, weights, and stretches. For the first few sessions, Ken was absolutely stuffed at the end of the hour, and we had to sit down and rest before we went home. But today the nurses said how much he had improved since the first week, and Ken realised they were right. Yesterday we went up to Suglarloaf Reservoir (Ken is driving now), and walked for half an hour. He only had to stop and catch his breath twice in that time. A month ago, he could only walk for a few minutes before he had to stop.

Our lawns desperately need mowing. Yesterday Ken said he might have a go at it in the next few days, but when we asked the nurses today at the rehab. class, they said "No! Definitely not. Your rib cage won't be strong enough to start the mower, let alone push it around. Leave it for another month". I asked Ken if he still thought he would be able to go back to work in a month or so, and he said he's not sure now. We'll just have to wait and see. At least he is learning to be patient about his health, and not taking risks by doing too much too soon.

Still, he is doing a lot more around the house and yard now. He goes up to the aviaries most days, and does the birds' feed and water, which means that is one less task I have to do. He's been making the bed the last few days, and putting dishes away. Tried pulling weeds out of the garden, but didn't get far with that one. Still, little steps add up over time, and who knows, maybe this time next week he will have weeded the whole front yard. I wish!

So what have I been doing? I've made a mini quilt for Ken's Mum's room at the Aged Care hostel, and I made a birthday card for a friend who is an Elvis fan. This was fun! I googled 'sheet music for Elvis songs' and printed out a page to use for the background, and the centre picture is a playing card. Hope my friend will like it!

Royal Wedding.

2011-04-30T00:54:00.005+10:00

We thought we'd watch a bit of it here and there, but we got sucked in! Ken and I don't call ourselves royalists, or monarchists, or any other name, but we both have British ancestry, so we tend to find English history and traditions interesting, and love to watch documentaries about England and Scotland, even though neither of us have been there.

I LOVED Kate's wedding dress, it was so elegant (compared to Diana's wedding cake creation), and they made a lovely pair. It seemed to be a perfect day over there - the weather was kind, the crowds were enthusiastic, and the Abbey is of course absolutely awe inspiring. Ken and I toasted William and Kate with a glass of white wine, and I took some photos of the t.v., just to pretend we were really there!

Japanese blog, and good news for Ken.

2011-04-28T00:52:00.004+10:00

I have added another blog to my list in the side bar. The real name of the blog is "My Kimono Diary in Nagoya", but I have called it "Daily Life in Japan" because that is what it is. The man who writes it posts photos of the town where he lives, and all the traditional festivals, with explanations of them. If you are interested or even just curious about the culture of Japan outside the big westernised cities, you should visit this blog. It is fascinating, and the photos are stunning.

We saw Ken's cardiologist (Mark) today, for the first time since before he had the operation. Mark said he is very pleased with the result of the operation, and told Ken he could start driving whenever he wanted to, but he probably wouldn't be able to return to work for another 6 to 8 weeks. As he did with the surgeon, Ken asked Mark if the surgery was so successful, why was he having trouble breathing. Mark explained that during heart surgery, the lungs are deflated for a couple of hours, and even a good healthy pair of lungs will take a couple of months to recover from the stress of the operation. In Ken's case though, it will take longer, but he was quite optimistic about Ken's recovery, and said that he will certainly feel heaps better in a couple of months.

We came home feeling a lot brighter than we felt last week after speaking to the cardiac surgeon, who made Ken's health sound almost terminal! Okay, Ken understands that he does have a serious problem with his lungs, but Mark reassured him that he will be able to live a more active life than he had previously, simply because his heart is working better.

Playing with paper....again!

2011-04-27T01:57:00.004+10:00

My friend in Japan sent me a package of Washi (Japanese craft paper) for my birthday, and I have been bursting to use some of it. I borrowed this book from our library a while ago, and enjoy it so much, I keep renewing the loan. I know this can't go on, so I found a copy on eBay right here in Melbourne, so I hope to have my own book very soon.

One of my favourite designs is this one, and as I have dozens of swap cards that I don't want in my collection of thousands, I pulled them out and looked for a Queen so I could make this collage.

Couldn't find a Queen, but a King is just as good, so this is what I came up with, using some of my Washi paper.

Happy Easter to all my blog readers.

2011-04-23T01:24:00.003+10:00

I found this image here. Lots of beautiful Victorian postcards to download.

One step forward, two steps back.

2011-04-23T00:40:00.002+10:00

The news is not all good from this end. Last Friday, we went to the Austin for Ken's first (and last) post-op. outpatients appointment. We saw the surgeon who was in charge of Ken's bypass operation and he said he was very pleased with Ken's progress - the heart is pumping well, and all the vital signs are good. Ken asked why he is still having problems breathing when he exerts himself, and Dr S. said "When we opened your chest up, the lungs were black. They are supposed to be pink. You won't get any better than what you are now, because the damage has been done, and the emphysema is severe". I said "Well, what was the point of having the bypass operation then?" and he replied that Ken will have a few more years to live now as long as he doesn't smoke, and takes life easy. But he should see a lung specialist as soon as possible. They (the hospital) can't do any more for him.
He saw the expressions on our faces, and said that Ken should continue with the cardio rehab program, as well as walking as often as he can, because that will help to strengthen the heart and keep the lungs working to their capacity.

Hmm. We went for a walk in a local park on the way home, and again today. We walked for over half an hour on both days, and Ken was exhausted each time. But he knows he has to keep pushing himself, and when I 'nagged' him to get out of bed today and get ready to go for a walk, he was not happy, but when we got back home, he thanked me for keeping on his back about it. I visited Helen this afternoon while Ken was having a snooze, and when I told her about Ken, she said "Oh I know how he feels. I get so tired very quickly since the stroke. But at least I can breathe". They are good for each other in a strange way. She is grateful because she can breathe, and Ken is grateful because he isn't paralysed. Just goes to show doesn't it - that we all have something to be grateful for. I breathe easily and I'm not paralysed, so I'm twice as lucky.

A very Japanese themed birthday!

2011-04-19T23:57:00.004+10:00

Before I write about my birthday, I want to express my sympathy for my American readers who may have been caught up in the catastrophic tornadoes over there. I cannot begin to imagine how terrifying it must be to live in areas that experience these storms year after year. In northern Australia we have seasonal cyclones, but seriously bad ones like Yasi only come occasionally. New Zealand and Japan have earth tremors most of the time, but severe earthquakes rarely. They are all bad enough, but I was so shocked to see the damage in the USA from these latest tornadoes, and I do hope that all of you who read this blog are okay. I would really love a short message from any of you who live over there, to let me know (if)you are okay.

My friends (and rellies) know how much I love anything Japanese, so I was delighted to receive so many lovely birthday gifts to remind me of that beautiful country.

This is the book that I asked Ken to buy for my birthday. I have been admiring it on the shop shelf for ages, and went straight to it with Ken in tow!

My paper-crafty friend Val found these goodies at a Japanese store in the inner city area, and thought they would make a fun gift. I love them! Heart shaped paper punch, embossing kit, paper lace, tiny fabric bows. Guess I'll be doing even more paper craft stuff in the near future.
Val made this carry bag from a page of a Japanese calendar. In true Origami style, there is no cutting, pasting, stapling or any kind of join - it is all in the folding. Ken was fascinated when he had a close look.

Glenda also loves Japanese stuff and has as much if not more than I do. She gave me this cute Kimono doll storage jar. Ken asked what I was going to put in it, and where was I going to put it, in my already crowded kitchen. I replied that I don't know yet, but I'll find a spot for her!

The rest of my gifts were not Japanese themed, but I love them just the same! This tealight sculpture is called Circle of Friends, and was given to me by Louise, who is one of a group of friends who live in this area, that I've known for many years. We meet occasionally for dinner, and she chose this to represent the five of us. Can't wait to show it to the others.

Ken's sister gave me this book on quilting, along with the Spotlight $50 gift voucher - good thinking, SIL! I've already got my shopping list to buy fabrics there that I didn't get at the Quilt convention last weekend!

Sandra is one of the five friends that I mentioned above, and she gave me this exquisite scarf. I just love the colour, and the texture of the knitting is beautifully soft, not scratchy. I don't wear scarves in winter very often because I hate the feel of wool around my neck, but this will be warm and soft...

Turning points for Ken and Gina!

2011-04-19T01:34:00.004+10:00

The turning point for me was my 63rd birthday last Friday. I had a fabulous day, thanks to my dearest friends who sent cards and dropped in with beautiful gifts (more about that in another post). But what made the day even better was Ken's own turning point. We attended the cardiac rehab program at the Austin hospital in the morning, not knowing what to expect. The first hour was taken up with a lecture by two nutritionist/nurses, who spoke about cholesterol. Believe it or not, they were very interesting; there was a lot to take in, and far from being bored with something we thought we knew about, we learnt a lot, as did the other dozen people who were present.

The next hour was taken up with exercising. The room has exercise bikes, treadmills, a set of stairs that they have to walk up and down a number of times, hand weights, and various other items that you might find in a gym. As it was Ken's first day, the nurses assessed him as he attempted to keep up with the other patients, most of whom had been attending the classes for a while. They started off doing steps forward and back to music, stretching their arms up and out. I was watching Ken, and it didn't take long for him to get tired. He looked at me desperately, but the nurses had also been watching him, and told him to stop and rest. The next thing they did was sit on the bicycles and pedal for 5 minutes or longer if they felt they could. Ken went for about 7 minutes. After that, they took him through various other exercise routines, making notes on a chart after each one. The other patients in the meantime were doing their own thing. It doesn't matter when you start the program; after the first day when you are assessed, you are monitored by the nurses, who instruct you how much further to push yourself each week, and eventually, you know how much you can do yourself, so you just get on with it.

I was astonished at how well Ken coped with it all. When we were driving home, I said "I guess you're looking forward to getting home and collapsing on to the bed!" and he said "Not really. Why don't we stop somewhere for lunch? It's your birthday after all". So we stopped in Eltham and had a coffee and muffin snack, then we did a bit of shopping, which took up an hour, as I led him into the bookshop and chose my birthday present, as he hadn't had the opportunity to get me something since he came home from hospital.

When we got home, he did lie down for a little while, but some friends dropped around for my birthday, and later on, Ken's sister and her hubby came over, so it was a long day for him. On Saturday he rested up for most of the day, and the same on Sunday, although my oldest brother visited for a couple of hours and we took him up to see the birds. Today (Monday) we went to one of the local parks and walked for about half an hour. He truly has come a long way since last week, hence the blog title of a turning point. He looks and sounds more like the way he was before the operation, and he admits to feeling a whole lot better, even though he still gets tired quickly. He's got four medical appointments in the next two weeks, with the hospital and cardiologists, so it will be interesting to hear what they think.

Not much to write about...

2011-04-11T23:23:00.000+10:00

I'm not doing anything worth writing about on my blog, but for the sake of my kind friends who read this blog, I can tell you that Ken's recovery has been very slow.
The blood tests he had last week showed no sign of anaemia; in fact the doctor was pleased with them. He said that Ken's liver, kidneys, heart, etc. all showed up as being pretty good. So there is no actual cause for him feeling 'lousy' as he describes himself. There are good days and bad days. On the bad days he barely has enough energy to get out of bed, but I encourage him to at least get dressed, even if he wants to lie on the couch all day. For a few days last week all he wanted for tea was boiled rice and poached eggs. So that's what I served up (I treated myself to a few little luxuries such as smoked salmon and avocado on rye bread...yum), but his appetite improved, and we had a roast dinner on Saturday night which we both enjoyed.

We have had a steady stream of visitors, spacing themselves out every second day so Ken has a chance to rest on the alternate days. Today he had to go for an X-ray (he says he doesn't need to go anywhere near Japan to be radioactive after all the X-rays he's had lately), and after that was done, we stopped at the shopping centre to buy some birthday cards. He wanted to buy mine, because he doesn't know when he'll be well enough to go out again before my birthday on Friday. Well, we got to the newsagent, and once he'd selected a card and paid for it, he looked for somewhere to sit down. After a few minutes we moved on to Coles where he wanted something, but before we went in the store, he had to stop and sit down to regain his breath. Then, when we came out, he had to sit down again. By the time we got to my car (across the road from Coles) he was exhausted, and I couldn't even drive off until he'd recovered from that little jaunt.

This is what upsets him; the rehab. clinic information sheet says after 4 weeks the patient should be walking one kilometre a day, but he can hardly walk 10 metres! He is starting to wonder if he'll ever be able to return to work. All the medics tell him it is because of his lungs, and he will just have to be patient with himself. The nurse in charge of the hospital cardiac rehab clinic is coming here tomorrow, to work out a personal exercise program for Ken, as she recognises that he can't do what most heart patients are already capable of doing. On a good day, he will walk up the back yard to see the birds in his aviaries (which I have been looking after, in addition to looking after Ken and the cats!), and on a nice sunny day we will sit up there for up to half an hour. But that tires him out, and he wants to go back inside and lie down.

All this has curtailed my usual activities of opshopping, visiting art and craft galleries with friends, meeting friend for coffee or lunch, and so on. But the upside of that is that I'm not spending any money! Which is good, seeing Ken isn't earning anything now. My friend Glenda who lives around the corner is good company; when I have to go shopping, I call her and she will come with me if she is free.
Helen and Ray visited last week, bringing freshly made scones with jam and cream (Helen makes the BEST scones), and we had a lovely afternoon out on the patio. Sadly, Ken wasn't feeling well, and couldn't stomach anything except a cup of tea, but Helen left the remaining scones here for me to freeze, so I re-heated them on Sunday afternoon when some other friends came to visit, and Ken tucked into them!

Tiger is growing rapidly, and still doing cute kitty things, like crawling into my shopping tote bags and falling asleep.

A few photos taken today.

2011-04-03T01:30:00.004+11:00

Sorry if you find my blog depressing lately. But I see my blog as an online journal or diary of my day to day life, and if I'm not on top of the world at the time of typing, that is where I'm at, and that is what I write about! But it is good to find time out with other more pleasant things.
This is Tiger's version of "Underbelly":

A few weeks ago, our gardener turned my compost bin out (it was too heavy for me to lift), and I have been using the lovely rich soil all over the garden and in pots. I put some in our old wheelbarrow, and planted some pansies and a few odd bulbs that were lying around. Well, after a week or two, one could see exactly what I'd been throwing in the compost bin - tomato bits and pumpkin seeds!! I've pulled out the baby pumpkins that were in the barrow, but left the tomato plants, just out of curiosity to see if they do grow any fruit. There is one or two pansies struggling to survive in there too.

This Hibiscus was one of a few new plants we bought a month ago, and I am delighted to see it flowering so soon!

One of my friends has been urging me to try a collage project, so last week when I was a bit out of sorts and not in the mood for needlecraft, I decided to have a go. I used a scrapbooking page for the base sheet, cut out a few pictures from the Fox Collection craft catalogue, used two Japanese stamps, and the two little paper dolls I'd made a while ago. I'm quite pleased with this, and am already thinking about what I'll do next. It's nice to have a change from sewing, as paper craft isn't as hard on my aching hands as embroidery.

Not a good week.

2011-04-01T22:56:00.005+11:00

Last Friday's post was optimistic. Too optimistic it would seem. Ken went downhill from then on. He had no energy, felt dizzy and light-headed whenever he stood up to walk, which meant he wouldn't go outside to walk around in case he passed out and fell. I called the hospital on both Friday and Saturday nights to ask what we should do, and both times I was advised to bring Ken into Emergency so they could assess him. The ward doctors I spoke to said it sounded like Ken was anaemic, and should have blood tests to confirm that. Ken didn't want to go back to hospital, so I faxed his cardiologist and cardiac surgeon on Sunday night, telling them that Ken was very unwell.

On Monday the surgeon's secretary called me and said I should take Ken to the hospital. But I waited until the cardiologist called me on Tuesday, and it turned out to be the right decision. He asked me a few questions about Ken, and then said "It sounds to me like he is doing pretty well, if he is getting out of bed every day, and eating three times a day. A lot of people who have that operation fall in a heap when they get home, and don't get out of bed for weeks. As for anaemia, it is quite common after heart surgery as there is often a large loss of blood during the operation. It will clear up in a few weeks. With his lung disease, he can expect to be short of breath for six to eight weeks, more so than other people who don't have the same health issues."

So, that made us feel a bit more confident, and as it was a nice sunny autumn day, I took Ken up to our favourite picnic spot, Sugarloaf Reservoir. Ken walked around a bit, but got tired very quickly so we just sat and enjoyed the sun and our lunch. I called the hospital again when we got back home, and spoke to the cardiac rehab. clinic. They made an appointment for Ken at 9 am Friday. I told them that Ken wouldn't be able to start the rehab. program yet, and the nurse said that didn't matter - just bring him in, and they will do a complete assessment of his condition. So that's where we were this morning, and it was a very worthwhile two hours. She agreed with everything the cardiologist had said to me, and suggested that Ken have blood tests to see if he was anaemic. We had an appointment with our GP at midday, and he organised the tests for Ken straight away. He said that if the results showed mild anaemia, he wouldn't prescribe anything, because the body would just sort itself out in the next few weeks. But if it was severe, Ken may have to have a blood transfusion, although he didn't think that was likely. We will get the results on Monday, and in the meantime, the nurse told Ken to take it easy over the weekend. As if he needed to be told! So even though he feels very second-hand, at least we know why, and something is being done about it.

His sister Lorraine dropped in tonight after work, bearing gifts to cheer us up. She is such a sweetie. She didn't know what to bring Ken because he doesn't read books, and all his hobbies are outdoors things, so she brought stuff for me! "Where's Elvis?" book (originally "Where's Wally?" - remember them?) just for a laugh; a Bill Bryson book which I started reading after tea and haven't stopped giggling; a cake of goats milk soap (because I need pampering), and a packet of biscuits. Ken had a look at "Where's Elvis?" but after 10 minutes gave up in disgust, and he didn't want a bikkie with his cuppa, so I guess all the goodies have my name on them!

What else is happening here?

2011-03-25T02:29:00.003+11:00

Ken is starting to feel a bit more human and less like a zombie. His body is getting used to the new meds, and the rotten side effects have ceased. Parts of him still cause pain, but not as much as a week ago. Here he is talking to a friend on the phone tonight.

In contrast, Tiger has his back to me for good reason. I had run a bath for myself, and was turning off the computer in the next room when I heard a splash, followed by frantic scrabbling sounds. A wet furry creature shot past the door in a blur, and when I finally caught up with him, I had to wipe him down with a wet cloth before I dried him. I'd poured aromatic oils into the bath, and I think he would have been very sick if he'd licked himself clean. One of Ken's visitors commented on Tiger's tail, saying he looked more like a Ring-tailed Lemur than a Tiger, with those stripes!

Lots of action in the back yard over the past fortnight. One of the eucalypts in the back yard provided excellent shade for the birds in their aviaries, but when the tree developed a tilt and started to LEAN against the end aviary, it had to go, otherwise it would have crushed them all. It took three blokes a couple of hours to cut the tree down. One climbed up as far as he could go, chain saw swinging from his belt, and sawed off the top branches, which were guided away from the aviaries by the other blokes holding ropes. It cost $660, but worth every cent, as there was no damage at all to the aviaries, and the birds survived all the noise. (How can you tell if a bird is deaf?) If they aren't deaf already, they might be after tomorrow. The fence at the back is going to be torn down and replaced at a cost of $540 (our half share). Don't anybody DARE ask me when I'm getting a new computer...

The other exciting event in our back yard is the arrival of a garden shed. Our neighbour had this shed in her back yard, but wanted to get rid of it. As we had been wanting one for years, but never got around to buying one, she said we may as well have hers, otherwise she would have to pay someone to take it to the tip. Ken's two nephews arrived one Sunday and took two hours to dismantle the shed in neighbour's yard, throw the panels over the fence, re-assemble it in our yard and lay a brick floor! Ken was in hospital while this was going on, so he didn't have any say about what was put into the shed. I scooped up everything that had been lying around the back yard and put them in to it. Happy Jan!

Thanks for your encouraging comments!

2011-03-20T22:43:00.003+11:00

Sylvia, you are so right about cats. They can be so comforting in their own way, but all Cat People know that, don't we?! Topsy and Tiger vie for position on our bed at night, but after a spitting hissing brawl at the end of the bed one night, we put a stop to that, and they both sleep in the laundry now.

Isabelle, I was getting some spam, so I had to resort to the moderator thing - sorry to confuse you! As you can see, both of your comments are now here. Thank you for your kind words about me being the best one to look after Ken. Not just the best person, but the only person, lol! No kids to help out in this house.

Freda, you have sent so many encouraging messages, there is no need to apologise for being slow in responding to my latest posts! Ken and I appreciate each and every message and comment sent from my bloggy friends.

My poor baby is not having a good time of it. His diabetes meds were doubled after the op. because his blood sugar is too high, and this has caused horrid side effects (bowel and tummy stuff - we won't go there...). According to our GP, this is normal, and will settle down in a week or so. The good news is that the wounds on his chest and arm have healed dramatically fast according to the doctor, so that is a plus.

I thought (and Ken hoped) that he would have some visitors over the weekend, but nobody came except Ken's sister today (Sunday), and she stayed for over an hour, which made Ken very happy, as they don't see each other very often on their own. It is usually on family occasions when other people are around, and they don't get a chance to have deep and meaningfuls. Still, it would cheer Ken up no end if some of our other friends dropped by now that he is home.

Heart surgery - is it worth all the pain?

2011-03-18T01:25:00.005+11:00

Ken is feeling very fragile, very sorry for himself. He said today that it would have been better if he'd been allowed to die naturally, instead of feeling so awful after the operation. We have been warned that it is quite normal for cardiac patients to feel depressed and in pain at times, but that it will get better within a few weeks. I made the mistake of looking at videos of heart surgery on YouTube tonight, and I was exclaiming loudly over the scenes where the rib cage is separated by the surgeons winding it apart with a mechanical thing. OMG, no wonder the poor bloke is feeling like he has been run over by a truck. UGH...Ken heard me from the other end of the house and asked what I was looking at. I said "NOTHING! Go back to sleep!" I did not want him to see that particular video scene, although I told him later that the bit showing the heart lung machine was incredible.

Isabelle posted a poem called "I Carry Your Heart" on her blog this week, and it reminded me of what one of the nurses actually said to him before the operation: "don't worry, your heart is in good hands"! He is still coming to terms with the thought that complete strangers (surgeons) were actually holding his heart in their hands.

Tiger is playing a big part in cheering up Ken. We had the gas fire on tonight, and Tiger is a bit wary of it, but decided to lie far enough away to be safe, but close enough to be warm.

Ken is spending a lot of time on the couch under the furry rug, and Tiger spends a few moments during the day, snuggling down at his feet.

The MOTH is home!

2011-03-15T21:57:00.001+11:00

On my arrival at the Austin hospital this morning, I was informed Ken was to be discharged today. He'd been for final X-rays, blood tests, ECGs, and exercise sessions, and was pronounced fit enough to go home. He was elated, and I was also pleased, but a bit apprehensive. We took home a new list of medications which luckily included most of his old ones, a chart of exercises that he has to do every day, a list of foods he should eat, and a list of foods he should not eat (most of his favourites), and instructions to take his blood sugar reading three times daily. A nurse brought him in a wheelchair to the hospital entrance where I was parked waiting for him. I tucked him tenderly in the front seat, with a cushion between his chest and the seat belt (to protect the wound), and drove carefully home, trying to avoid potholes and speed humps.

It was nearly 4 pm by the time we got home, and once Ken had said hello to Tiger and Topsy, he sat on the couch in the lounge room for a few minutes, then decided to lie on the bed and have a snooze. He fell asleep almost immediately, and I left him there in peace until he woke up about 7.30. In that time, I phoned most of the people who had been asking after him, so that the phone wouldn't ring nonstop into the night, but the few that I didn't call got through on the phone inbetween my calls out, so it wasn't really a silent night.
We had a light meal of vegetable soup and buttered toast for tea, and later on he had a low-fat icecream. We sat in front of the t.v. for a couple of hours and talked about the hospital and other topics relating to his health, and I could see him visibly relaxing. He commented "How nice it is to see a picture on our big t.v. instead of four walls, curtains, beds, machines, and people coming and going".

He now has at least two - more likely three - months at home before he can drive, let alone go back to work, but he says he is not going to push himself beyond reasonable limits, as he has been given a second chance at life, and doesn't want to botch it. It will be interesting to see who loses their patience first - lol!

I am so tired...

2011-03-13T22:28:00.000+11:00

...but considering what has happened in Japan, I am very grateful to be safe and alive here in Australia. I have had two emails from my friend in Tokyo, who wrote that she sheltered in a gymnasium for four hours during the worst of it, but now she is back home and her family are safe. And after all that, she asked after Ken!
As for Ken, he is recovering much faster than most of us expected, and the medics are all very happy with his progress. He hasn't been sleeping well, but apparently this is normal for cardiac patients, and they say that once he gets home, he will probably sleep a lot. What's new? I ask - he was always looking for opportunities to take a nap before all this! He has been out of bed, able to shower and shave himself, but feels very weak and tired when he's done that.

I haven't been sleeping much either, and on Saturday while I was visiting him at the hospital, the nurse on duty asked me if I felt okay, and I said no, not really. She took my blood pressure and it was way too high. She wanted to take me to the emergency ward there and then, but I said no, I would see my own doctor the next day. It has been a hectic time, some of it my own fault I guess, but I did not want to hang around the house brooding, so I've been out and about with my wonderful friends and Ken's cousins. On Wednesday I had lunch at Hurstbridge with Cheryl, and after visiting Ken, went on to Ivanhoe to have dinner with my old friend Jenny, who had cooked a delicious meal.

The next day, one of Ken's cousins picked me up in her car and we visited Ken for a short time, as he had just been transferred to the Cardiac ward from ICU, and was very groggy. That night I had another friend Sandra to my place for tea, and it was lovely to sit and chat with her for a few hours.
On Friday, I did some shopping, visited Ken just after lunch, and then took my disabled friend Helen out for coffee, as it was a nice sunny day. That night I had dinner with Ken's cousin Sue at her home with other members of the family, and we had a great night, reminiscing about our respective families.

On Saturday, I picked up Ken's Mum from the hostel, which is only a few blocks from the Austin hospital - and took her in to visit Ken. We spent over an hour with him, and his Mum held his hand for most of that time. The nursing staff were amazed to learn that she is 98, as she doesn't really look that old, and still speaks like a younger woman. She is quite proud of the fact that she doesn't have a squeaky tired old voice like many of the ladies who live at the same hostel! After taking her back home, I went home, had a rest, then tizzied myself up for a night out with Sandra and Louise. We went to a pub in Diamond Creek for dinner and greatly enjoyed our meals. I had chicken on skewers with rice for mains and shared a Toblerone Cheesecake with Louise for dessert, because there was no way either of us could have eaten it all on our own! We returned to Louise's home afterwards, and stayed until around midnight.

Today (Sunday) Ken's nephews came to our place to put a garden shed up. Our neighbour had it in her yard but wanted to get rid of it, so she said "If you can remove it, you can have it". Chris and Ag dismantled it, chucked the walls and roof over the fence into our yard, and rebuilt it. Then they laid bricks inside for a floor. All within a couple of hours! They wanted to do it for their Uncle Ken while he was in hospital, so he would have a nice surprise when he comes home. I took some photos and showed Ken when I visited him tonight.

I'd called him around 4 pm to say I was coming later, and he was feeling pretty miserable because he had no phone calls or visitors all day. I got on the phone to half a dozen friends and suggested that they might call him instead of me, and when I got to the hospital, he had cheered up quite a bit, after having four calls in a row! He was asleep when I arrived, but woke up when the flash on my camera went off! Poor darling.

While the medics at the hospital are happy with his progress, his blood sugars and blood pressure are still unstable, so they want to keep him there for a few more days until they get everything under control. Hopefully he will come home on Wednesday.

The consequence of smoking.

2011-03-09T10:06:00.004+11:00

I took Ken in to the Austin hospital on Tuesday morning at 6 am, and by 7.15 he was being wheeled into the operating theatre. The medics told me someone would call me as soon as the operation was over, and let me know how he was. I went home for a while, then went back to Heidelberg to join some friends for a coffee. We chatted for an hour or so, then Val had to go, so Julie and I window shopped for a while, then went to the pub for lunch.
By 1pm I hadn't heard anything from the hospital, so I phoned them from my mobile. I was informed that he was out of the theatre and in ICU, and I said "Nobody has told me!" and the girl snapped "He's only just been wheeled in here - give me a bloody chance". I thought Oops, she's having a bad day, or something is going seriously wrong in there. She told me to call back in an hour or so and they would have Ken stabilised. I called back at 2.30, and was told that he had two bypass grafts and the operation was successful with no complications, but his blood pressure was dropping, and he couldn't breathe on his own, so he was on a ventilator. She advised me not to come in until they had 'sorted him out'. You can imagine how all this made me feel. Not happy Jan...

I drove over to the aged care home where Ken's mum is, and told her Ken was out of surgery and the operation had been successful (didn't mention the bad bits), and she was so pleased that I'd come by to tell her. I went home for a while, then out again to visit a friend, and was home again by 5pm. This time when I called the hospital, the news was much better. His blood pressure had levelled out, and he was waking up and responding to the nurses' voices.

I went in to see him last night, after the nurse suggested coming in later rather than sooner, as it would give him time to recover a bit more. Ken's cousin Sue came in with me to see him. The nurse said he is doing remarkably well, groggy but awake enough to know what is going on. We talked to him in short bursts, because he was on oxygen and couldn't talk properly, but well enough for us to understand him. Nurse said if there was a bed available he would be transferred to the cardiac ward the next day, and they would get him up and walking around the ward the next day!! Can you believe that when you see this??

Melbourne's beautiful Autumn.

2011-03-08T09:25:00.005+11:00

Melbourne put on a perfect weekend for us to enjoy before Ken's operation. On Sunday we went up to Sugarloaf with our friends Mark and Louise. We took a picnic lunch, then went for a lazy stroll along the walking track. We walked 5 kilometres, and felt great for doing it!
The reservoir is so beautiful right now, full of water, and all the trees are fresh and green.
We spotted a pair of ducks with eight ducklings in tow - cute!

Mark and Louise ahead of Ken on our walk.
I took a pic of Ken with our friends.

And Mark took one of me giving Ken a hug!

Yesterday (Monday) Ken didn't go back to work. He had a haircut in the morning, and we spent the afternoon sunning ourselves in the back yard, surrounded by the chooks pecking happily away in the garden. We had a steady flow of people dropping in to wish Ken good luck, so it was a nice relaxing day.
I took Ken into the Austin this morning at 6 am, and left just after 7, as they wheeled him into the operating theatre. I was told they would call me when it is over, about lunchtime - so I've come home to catch up on my emails and blogs before I head out to have lunch with my good mates Julie and Val.
I'll do another post here tomorrow, all going well. Thanks again to all my bloggy friends for their good wishes.

Update on Ken.

2011-03-02T01:19:00.002+11:00

We went into the Austin Hospital today, and Ken had an ECG, blood tests and X rays, after which he was interviewed by four different medical people involved with his case. The assistant cardiac surgeon told us that Ken is classified as category 1 (critical), so they have brought his operation forward to next Tuesday. Ken got a bit of a shock, but I wasn't surprised, as his cardiologist has been warning me for years that Ken's heart is in bad shape.

We have another interview tomorrow at the Austin, and a check on his defibrillator, then he will be back at work on Thursday and Friday. He doesn't know if he'll go to work on Monday - probably not, as there is a lot of preparation to be done for the surgery on Tuesday. He will probably stay in hospital up to 10 days, and after that, home for a couple of months.

I told one of the nurses today that after I see Ken off into the operating theatre, I wouldn't be hanging around. She said "That's a good idea - you would go nuts in the waiting room for five hours. We try to persuade families to go out of the hospital when it is a long operation". I said I was being whisked off by my support team of girlfriends who insist on taking me out somewhere so I won't have time to brood! Naturally I will have my mobile phone switched on in case the hospital needs to contact me, but I'm hoping that won't happen. No news is good news under those circumstances.

Not much happening.

2011-02-27T22:41:00.002+11:00

Freda and Merle congratulated me on buying a new computer, but they are a bit premature! I haven't got one yet! After some investigation on the first one I saw and liked, I was advised by Those In The Know not to touch that particular brand, and talking to more people backed up the initial comments. So I've looked around some more, and the style of PC that I like is available in other brands, so that is a plus. BUT, what the first bloke didn't tell me was that the price he quoted didn't include the Microsoft Office program, which meant while having Windows 7 I could browse the internet, I wouldn't be able to type anything! For goodness sake, wouldn't that be the first thing that should be automatically included in any computer package?? Maybe I'm dumb, but to me a computer is still a glorified typewriter with extras.

I have now been informed that in addition to the cost of around $700 for the PC that I like, I would have to pay another $200 for the Microsoft Office program, which brings the price up to $1000. Which I was hoping NOT to have to pay. Which we just cannot afford, especially if Ken won't be earning any wages for two or three months after his surgery, and even more importantly, if he can't go back to work at all! So, I'm back to square one with my trusty old PC, and as if it has read my mind, it has been behaving itself remarkably well in recent days.

Pictures worth a thousand words.

2011-02-24T01:47:00.003+11:00

Tiger watching t.v.

Tiger kitty on a Tiger rug!

Am I drunk yet?

This and that.

2011-02-19T17:45:00.003+11:00

Phew, thank goodness this weekend will be a quiet one (as in nothing planned). I've had a busy but enjoyable week, and I'm tired! On Monday and Tuesday I went out to lunch with friends, and on Wednesday I went over to see Val, and we did our usual craft show and tell. On Thursday an old school friend who lives in the country came up to Melbourne by train, so I picked her up in the city at midday. We came back home without stopping anywhere, and settled down with a cup of tea to catch up on the past few years. Lovely afternoon in the sun, while she crocheted, I stitched, and we talked. I drove her back into the city early on Friday morning so she could catch the train on the next leg of her trip. When I came home, I did three loads of washing, having heard on the radio that more torrential rain was forecast for Melbourne. In the afternoon I went around to Glenda's and we sat in her nice cool kitchen and made more Kimono paper dolls. Do you like my blonde Geisha girl?

It has been so humid over the past few days. I hate this weather - it saps the life out of me, not to mention Ken. I don't know how anyone can live up in the tropics in Darwin and other parts of northern Australia. Ken has been moping around with no energy, and strugglng to breathe when he does exert himself. He said he was going to get the blower out and blow leaves off the driveway, but I put a stop to that idea. As well as the heat and humidity, it has been blowing a gale outside, and tidying up leaves would have been a fruitless exercise. So he went out into the garden to pull weeds, but came back inside completely stuffed after five minutes.

Poor bloke. He couldn't find anything of interest on the computer to look at, so he's gone into the loungeroom to lie down again. He doesn't say much, but the heart op. is on his mind. His mum turned 98 this week, and we are going over to his sister's place tomorrow for afternoon tea with the family. Just hope the weather is a bit more comfortable.

No new computer today.

2011-02-13T23:53:00.002+11:00

Changed my mind. For the moment, anyway. I need someone to install it; someone who knows what they are doing, that is. So I won't buy one until I have someone lined up to do it, otherwise the MOTH will attempt to do it and we will have a HUGE argument if he stuffed it up!

New computer with mixed feelings.

2011-02-13T00:04:00.003+11:00

This may be my last blog post done on this computer. Today, Ken was looking for something at our local Dick Smith shop, so while I waited for him, I looked at the new computers on display. I have never wanted a laptop or notebook computer, because being a typist from the Old School, my fingers are more comfortable with a proper keyboard, not those flat things. Last time I looked at desktop computers, they were in the $1000 plus range, and consisted of keyboard, screen and box processor. But today I found a new (to me) concept - 'all in one desktop PC'. Just the screen and keyboard. I asked the salesman about them and he agreed with my description "desktop version of a laptop". The ones I looked at were all under $800, and after discussing the pros and cons of each one on display, I decided on the one I would like to buy. The salesman printed off an information sheet about it, and wrote his name and the sale price down in case he wasn't there when I returned, and someone else argued about the price.

After discussing it with Ken, and asking some of our computer-savy friends their advice, we have decided to go to Dick Smith's again tomorrow and buy this particular PC. I don't know if Ken and I will be able to set it up to the point of me being able to use it tomorrow night, as there will be a number of programs to re-install, and we are not familiar with those processes. So it might have to wait until Monday when I can get a tech.person out to do it all for me.

I've been fighting this change for a few years now, putting up with my dear old PC refusing to download more and more websites, blogs, etc. simply because today's technology is just too much for it to handle. I'll miss it, along with the ME operating system which has served me well in the last 10 years, but I guess once I have the new one up and running with Windows 7, I won't know myself. In the meantime, if you visit this blog and I'm not around, don't assume it means bad news. More likely to be new computer hiccups!

Cats, birds and Ken.

2011-02-12T00:36:00.002+11:00

Ken was not amused when I showed him this photo tonight. I just can't help laughing at Tiger when he sees something (usually a bird) outside, and jumps up on the wire door to have a closer look! Ken said "You'll be nagging me to fix the wire when Tiger has ripped it away from the frame". Yep. Sorry.

I have added a post to the blog which is about our aviaries, if you are interested. We have a small flock of Gouldian Finches now, and they are so pretty.

Ken received a huge envelope in the mail from the Austin Hospital today. He has to present himself in there on the 1st and 2nd of March for a series of tests and interviews, leading up to his heart surgery. There were forms to fill out, letters detailing the appointments, and brochures to read about what to expect during and after the operation. I felt quite depressed when I read them; I said to Ken I'm glad it's not me going through this. But he repeated what he has said before, that he won't mind the pain and discomfort of the operation if it results in him feel better than he does now.

Heart-warming.

2011-02-11T00:00:00.003+11:00

I've been receiving many emails as well as comments on my blogs in relation to Ken's impending heart surgery, all of which I show him, and he is touched by every one of them. Thank you all for your concern and kind thoughts. One of my ex-blog buddies Val (she no longer has a blog, but we are good friends) does beautiful things with paper. This card arrived in the mail from her today:

The blue paper is hand made, and the paper is made from a pair of jeans!! The heart is gold paper (looks black here), woven into the coloured paper, and hand stitched on to the blue paper card. Isn't that fabulous!

I discovered Topsy and Tiger sitting at the kitchen table last night and raced off to get my camera - this is a great sign for a future friendship between our kitties!!

"I am so OVER having my photo taken, I have to put my paws over my eyes to shield them from the flash!"

Tiger.

2011-02-08T11:52:00.003+11:00

Not long after this photo was taken, Ken turned the laptop on to check emails, and the screen was blue with a whole lot of technical jargon. I didn't say anything about Tiger walking on the keyboard, and once Ken had restarted the computer it worked okay.

"I'm so beautiful, Ken would forgive me for anything".

Update on Ken's heart.

2011-02-07T13:42:00.000+11:00

Many people who read this blog are not personal friends (as in people I actually meet with), but are kind and caring enough to ask after Ken's health, so I'm writing this post to bring everyone near and far, up to date. He was supposed to see the cardio-surgeon last Friday, but the appointment was cancelled due to an emergency, and rescheduled for today. In the meantime I ‘googled’ the surgeon and found an impressive amount of information, which made us feel a bit more confident.

He spent about half an hour with us, and first asked Ken what he thought was wrong with his heart. Ken said he felt short of breath much of the time, but didn’t know why, after all the work that had been done on him. Dr S. then asked if Ken had considered having a heart transplant, and we both must have looked surprised, because he then told us that Ken’s heart is in a very bad state, and he couldn’t understand why surgery hadn’t been done already. We told him that the cardiologist had said surgery was a last resort, as Ken’s lungs were so bad that he may not survive an operation. Dr S. said that is not so much of a problem these days, as they connect the patient to a heart–lung machine which keeps the body alive when the surgeon stops the heart while they operate on it. One of the main arteries has a stent which is still okay, but the other artery is beyond repair, so will have to be replaced by one from elsewhere. Dr S. said “I’m not going to mince my words – you are at a critical stage, and the bypass needs to be done as soon as we can fit you in at the Austin Hospital – hopefully by the end of this month."

He said Ken would probably be in hospital for a week or two, then at home for 4 – 6 weeks, but it all depends on what they find during the operation, and how well Ken recovers. He warned us that it is a dangerous operation with risks of stroke and other complications, but about 99% of people survive, although in Ken’s state of health the rate of survival is about 92%. Ken had to sign a form consenting to the operation knowing the risks, and he did, after I asked what would happen if Ken didn’t have the operation, and Dr S. just looked at me, but didn't answer.

So, here we are. Ken is a bit nervous to say the least, but looking forward to a time in the near future when he might be able to mow the lawns and go for long walks without having to sit down and catch his breath as he did yesterday, when we visited Sugar Loaf Reservoir. We walked for about 6 kilometres and when we got home, Ken slept for about two hours.

The reservoir is now 93% full according to their website. Compare this to a year or so ago when it was almost a mud bath...

Cyclone damage to The Reef.

2011-02-05T21:22:00.002+11:00

I just found this on the ABC News website. Confirms what I suspected at the beginning of Cyclone Yasi - not as bad as I thought, but bad enough.

Authorities say hundreds of kilometres of the Great Barrier Reef hit by Cyclone Yasi will take up to 10 years to recover.
It is still too early for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to send divers out to do a full assessment, but coral from the reef has been washing up on nearby shores.
The damage is expected to be similar to that of Cyclone Larry five years ago.
The authority's chief executive, Russell Reichelt, says all the progress the reef has made since then will now be destroyed.
"We can expect to see smashed coral beds, movements of coral boulders, sand and rubble moved around," he said.
"If there's any sand islands there and importantly sea grass beds, when they get disturbed - which they do by cyclones - then animals like dugong get affected."
Mr Reichelt says cyclones are not as damaging to reefs as the effects of climate change. But he says Yasi will have still caused major destruction.
"Coral will begin regenerating immediately and be visibly restored in five to 10 years, but it changes the shape of the reef for very long periods - islands can be formed, boulders can be thrown up," he said.

It's all over....for now.

2011-02-04T23:20:00.002+11:00

Cyclone Yasi has come and gone, leaving devastation in its path, as predicted. Not as bad for the bigger towns, but extremely bad for the small towns right in its path. Tully, Mission Beach and Cardwell were the worst hit with homes and shops wrecked, and sugar cane and banana crops wiped out. I only heard the Great Barrier Reef mentioned once, and the speaker (on t.v.) said there will be some damage, as there always is on the Reef after a cyclone, but they won't know the extent until divers and marine biologists go underwater to check it out. It sounds like it won't be as bad as I feared.
My friend in Charters Towers phoned this morning while I was out, and left a message to say she was back in her home, which suffered minimal damage. I was very relieved to hear from her. Our power went off today for about six hours, and we also lost internet access and Foxtel since last night, but everything was back on tonight by about 7 pm. We thought it would all 'crash' again around 10 pm when a violent thunderstorm and heavy rain pounded Melbourne, but I'm still typing here without interruptions, so maybe we'll get through this without disruption.

I saw briefly on the news that the USA has been battered by huge snow storms...I'll go and check my American blogs to see if you guys are okay. {{hugs}}

On a lighter note, our little Tiger is as gorgeous as the day we got him. Very loving and playful, very cute! I'll post some more photos soon.

I'm in no danger, but am terrified.

2011-02-01T23:36:00.006+11:00

I am a long way (2000 miles) from where Cyclone Yasi is expected to land within the next 24 hours, but I can't begin to imagine how the people in Qld. must be feeling. Ken and I called all our friends up there tonight. Most of them live in the southern end of Qld, and said they should be okay, but one of my friends lives in Charters Towers, which is nearly 100 miles inland, but on a direct path of the cyclone. Mary is like so many other Queenslanders, philosophical because 'they live with cyclones' as she said. But she admitted that this one has her very frightened. She lives on her own, but said her sister is picking her up tonight and taking her to their home. Not that it would be any safer - they are in the same town, but Mary thinks her sister just wants them to be together.

I am not a religious person, but in my own way I'll be praying tonight and tomorrow for the state of Qld. and its people. Anyone reading this who has any beliefs at all, I beg you also to add your prayers. They are going to need more than prayers, and the rest of Australia will be there to help pick up the pieces, but after seeing what happened in New Orleans after Katrina, it will take many years to recover.

The Great Barrier Reef, one of the world's heritage sites - might not exist after this week.

Is this Armageddon ?

2011-02-01T00:31:00.009+11:00

I just saw on the Net a satellite image of the monster cyclone now approaching the east coast of Australia, and I'm wondering if there will be much left of Queensland after it hits. The state of Queensland, still reeling from the effects of weeks of widespread flooding, is bracing for the arrival of what could be the state's worst cyclone in history. There are fears that Yasi could whip up the seas and create a storm surge that would cause significant flooding in low-lying areas, just weeks after devastating floods killed more than 30 people and covered an area the size of France and Germany combined.

Forecasters have predicted that the storm could bring winds of 160mph – putting it on a par with Hurricane Katrina – and up to four feet of rain in a matter of hours. It is feared that the system could be worse than Cyclone Larry, which devastated the town of Innisfail in 2006 causing $1bn worth of damage. Large swaths of northern Queensland are still saturated and authorities fear that heavy rain from the cyclone could cause further inundation. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a cyclone warning covering a huge section of Queensland's coast stretching 560 miles – nearly the length of Britain. The most destructive storm in Australian history was Cyclone Tracy, which in 1974 flattened Darwin, killing 65 people and leaving only about 400 of the city's 11,200 houses intact.

So much for "Beautiful one day, perfect the next". What have they done to deserve all this? But it isn't just happening in Australia.

Flooding and mudslides sparked by more than a week of heavy rains in the mountain range inland from Rio de Janeiro have claimed a staggering 812 lives, civil defense officials said Monday. In addition, some 6000 people lost their homes or had to abandon them amid fears of likely collapses, officials said.
The full extent of the Rio state disaster, reported to be the worst natural catastrophe in Brazil's history, is not yet entirely known, with many people still in areas cut off from land access receiving help from helicopter crews.

And in Malaysia...
TWO people have been killed and tens of thousands evacuated in floods that have hit parts of Malaysia after several days of continuous rain. Two women were killed in separate incidents when their cars were swept away by floodwaters in southern Johor state yesterday, according to state news agency Bernama.
The Star newspaper said that more than 37,000 people had been evacuated to 200 relief centres in Johor. Several main roads had been cut and electricity supplies have also been hit.

And there is much more. A volcano in Japan, another disaster in Indonesia (I haven't been able to pinpoint the details of that one yet), a train crash in Germany, and so it goes on. But no doubt there are still people who will see this as the most important news on the internet right now:
‎1 hour ago‎
JUST when St Kilda thought things could not get any worse, an off-field scandal featuring players mixing pills with alcohol last night threatened to derail the club on the eve of the 2011 season.

Excuse me while I vomit...

Japanese craft fun.

2011-01-31T16:20:00.003+11:00

Another hot day loomed ahead, so instead of roaming around opshops, Glenda and I decided to stay inside in airconditioned comfort, and mess around with paper craft. I'd borrowed this book

from our library, and a few of the projects appealed to us, so I took some Washi paper and the book around to Glenda's, and here is what we made. (These are mine - Glenda has the same but with different papers).
This is supposed to be a fridge magnet, but I'd left the magnet strip at home. We thought these little girls would look just as good attached to a card as a gift card.

I have a box of hen's eggshells that I 'blew' clear some years ago with the intention of painting them. One of the Washi paper projects is covering an eggshell with Washi paper, and this is my first effort. I did another one for Glenda which turned out a bit neater, once I'd re-read the instructions and done it properly!

Too hot to do anything today.

2011-01-30T23:07:00.000+11:00

Ken stretched out on the couch for most of the day, accompanied by Tiger when he was having a rest from playing. I came in to the lounge room and saw his little head peeping over Ken's feet.

Busy little kitty person.

2011-01-29T22:23:00.004+11:00

Tiger is allowed outside now, for short periods of time, and only if we are there to supervise.
"This Jasmine bush smells nice. I wonder what is under there?"

"Ugh! Nobody told me about cobwebs".

He's been learning to climb trees (and jump down without mewing for help).

"So many toys, so little time..."

He's growing fast, but still small enough to sit on Topsy's scratching post (and has outgrown his own personal scratching post...guess I'll just have to list it on eBay)

Australia Day - Oi! Oi! Oi!

2011-01-26T23:01:00.015+11:00

I love the fact that Aussies are becoming more and more patriotic as time goes by. I remember when Australia Day was just another public holiday and there were no really big celebrations, but now the flag is out in force everywhere, and it is a real feel-good day for our great country. Ken and I decided to forego our annual Aussie Day party for a fund raising event in Kinglake instead. Kinglake was one of many towns burnt out by the 2009 Victorian bushfires, and they are still in the process of rebuilding the town, as are so many other small towns. But this year the residents wanted to raise some money for Queenslanders, and we thought it would be a good way to spend the day. Most of our friends who usually come to our place had other things to do, so it worked out well.

Our friend Mark had to work today, so we collected his wife Louise and the three of us drove up to Kinglake this morning. It was cloudy but mild when we left Eltham but as we ascended the hills toward Kinglake it got progressively misty. The clouds were very low, and we were driving into them.

It didn't look very promising when we arrived at the Kinglake Pub grounds around noon. A few people stood shivering around the entrance gate. We paid our $5 entrance fee which entitled us to barbecued snags in bread and two cans of drink.

The grounds were set up with tables and umbrellas ready for the sunshine, but were deserted at 12.15 pm

Ken, Louise and I made a beeline for the pub, where we joined other people for a nice hot coffee.

By 1.30 pm the fog had lifted, and although it was still cloudy, people had started arrving in droves.

The concert had started, and local bands and singers came and went as we sat for a while with our sausages and drinks. Aussie flags were everywhere.

The grounds were filling up fast by 2 pm, with people strolling around, or settling themselves down to watch the concert.

The kids playground area was well patronised.

Many cars had flags tied to the aerials, but this one was the biggest flag we saw on any car today!

Everybody had Aussie gear on - young and old alike!
Ken added $20 to the fundraising with this teeshirt which were selling fast.

I asked the parents of these children if I could photograph their little Aussies, and they were happy for me to do so!

You see this sight a lot on Australia Day - people drape the flag around themselves and wear it like a cape. Love it!

A sombre sight was the signs of rebuilding around the town; among the still-scorched trees showing re-growth, we could see caravans and tents next to building foundations.

Among the fundraising activities for children were pony rides and rides in this miniature car. I'm small, but it still took me a few minutes to fold myself into it for a photo!

We left Kinglake about 3.30 pm, driving back through Kinglake National Park with its vibrant green new growth. That is the nature of Australia's native plants life cycle, to be burnt before they can renew themselves. At a huge cost in more ways than one, but I wouldn't live anywhere else in the world.

AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE!!!

Are you ready for this?

2011-01-24T00:40:00.003+11:00

More kitty photos - LOL!

We brought Ken's Mum over here today, as she was looking forward to seeing the kitten. She loves animals, and they usually love her right back. Can't believe MIL will be 98 next month...

Believe it or not, there is always fresh water in a bowl on the floor for the cats. None of our previous cats have ever done this before!

I've found cats before in the linen press, the wardrobe, and the laundry basket, but never in the pantry and certainly not in the potato bin! Just as well there was only one or two potatoes in there which will now be added to the compost bin!

It's been another busy day, but I suppose I'll have to put on my best face for another bloody photo...

More Kitty photos.

2011-01-20T21:55:00.004+11:00

Anyone who has a cat knows that you take more photos of them than anything else around you, especially while the cat is a kitten! I did some shopping today, and when I unpacked the groceries, one of the bags fell on the floor. It was a new toy with interesting smells for Tiger to investigate!

Balancing act on the back of a kitchen chair.

Tiger in his 'igloo'. He sleeps in there at night, but sometimes during the day if he has been very busy playing, he'll go in there for a nap.

We were watching a documentary about tigers on t.v. the other night, so I took this photo of the screen, with the REAL tiger.
Our own little Tiger was curled up next to me on the couch.

Kitty comfort for Ken.

2011-01-20T21:39:00.004+11:00

Ken is home off work for three days, after an angiogram and lung function tests. The angiogram showed the artery without the stent is completely closed, and won't be able to support a stent, so the cardiologist is waiting for the lung test results before he makes a decision on what to do next, the only option being bypass surgery. Ken is not an optimistic person by nature (complete opposite to me) but he has been philosophical about his state of health for the past 10 years. He seems quite surprised sometimes that he is still alive and kicking after all he has been through, and I find it quite peculiar in view of how negative he can get about other things that happen to him. Still, it's a good attitude as far as I'm concerned; I worry enough for the two of us!

Our little Tiger has been amusing him while he's home, and I've been taking lots of photos, so if you don't like kittens, you may as well quit this blog right now!

"Are you awake, Ken?"

"No?"

"Oh good, I can climb up the curtains without being yelled at!"

"Your toes are twitching. I'll just stick my claws in them and see what happens". Ken: "OUCH!"

Expensive pets....

2011-01-15T10:36:00.003+11:00

"If I sit on this kitchen chair long enough, maybe Somebody will feed me".

Quick update on the New Pussy. Topsy and Tiger seem to have accepted each other, to the point where they will eat in the kitchen at the same time without glaring at each other, and they will sit on the same sofa (one at each end) without hissing.
But Topsy still doesn't like her personal space invaded, so when Tiger pounced on her swishing tail, Topsy spun around and swiped him, getting him in one eye. We saw it happen, but Tiger didn't seem to be affected, apart from blinking a bit more than usual.

I took Tiger to the Gus the vet for his first check up, immunisation, etc. and mentioned the incident, and when Gus had a close look, he showed me where Topsy's claw had scratched the surface of Tiger's right eye. He treated it with various things, and gave me a tube of ointment to put in the eye three times a day for a week, then bring Tiger back to be checked out. I was staggered when I got the bill: $340! I asked for it to be itemised, and argued over a few items, and they reduced it to $225. I had been charged for the consultation, the treatment of the eye, immunisation, worm tablets, flea treatment for both Topsy and Tiger, and special kitten food for Tiger. I got them to remove the flea treatment for Topsy and the worm tablets (I had some at home), and asked for a discount on the consultation (they offer pensioner discount). So it was worthwhile arguing over the initial bill!

Gus said if the ointment doesn't fix Tiger's eye, he will have to operate, and I asked how much that would cost. He said "It won't be cheap" and I said again "How much would that cost?" "About $400" said Gus, and I said "Forget it!" He said "Oh I'm sure the ointment will fix it!". I think it is working; Tiger isn't blinking as much as he was, and he's not pawing at his eye the way animals will do if they are in pain.

We've noticed that Topsy seems to be getting even heavier than she was a few years ago, when she was weighed at the Vet's office and found to be 9 kg. She was put on a diet of special dried food, and we were told she should weigh about 7.5 kg. Well, she's been on that diet food ever since, but I think she must be getting takeaway food elsewhere, as I weighed her this morning and she was 14 kg. In contrast, Tiger weighs a dear little 2 kg.

"It's just too bloody hot to play games today".

True Blue Aussie community spirit.

2011-01-12T01:07:00.005+11:00

Amidst the ongoing stories of the devastation caused by the floods in Queensland, there was a piece on the news last night that caught my attention. Kinglake, one of the rural Victorian towns destroyed by bushfires on Black Saturday 2 years ago, are running fund raising projects for the Qld. flood victims. The people there say they have not forgotten the kindness and generosity of the Queenslanders two years ago, who in spite of their own problems with floods at the time, provided great support to Kinglake and other fire stricken communities.

The Kinglake Hotel is staging a music concert in their grounds on Australia Day to raise funds for the Banana benders. Ken suggested to me that we should support that instead of having our usual Australia Day party here at home, and I agreed. I'll ask our friends to join us there.

Ken and I have several friends living in various parts of Queensland, and we have been calling them to see if they are safe. My friend in Charters Towers (far north Qld) said they are fine. Very wet, but not flooded out. One of Ken's friends lives near the Gold Coast, and he said they are okay. But Ken's other friends (Ken and Ann P.)who have just returned home after spending Xmas down here with their family, are not so fortunate. They don't live close enough to any of the rivers to be flooded, but their semi rural property has been completely cut off by the floods around them. All the roads have been closed, so they can't get to any shops, and have run out of milk, bread and other fresh foods. Ken P. is blind and disabled, and needs regular medical treatment. Their grown up children don't live close enough to be of any help, and anyway, two of them have been evacuated from their own homes. It is at times like this that one feels utterly helpless in the face of so much tragedy.

In September last year, I wrote a post on this blog about the terrible floods in Pakistan, and that we were lucky in Australia to have support and infrastructure to deal with any catastrophes like that. Now here we are dealing with the same scenario, and while we are a lot better off than the poor people in third world countries who have floods like this, it doesn't make things any easier for those up north who have lost homes, businesses, crops, stock and loved ones. My heart goes out to them.

Wedding anniversary.

2011-01-06T22:20:00.002+11:00

Today was our 32nd wedding anniversary. Ken wanted to go to his favourite Chinese restaurant for dinner, but I just couldn't bear the thought of a hot Chinese meal at the end of a hot day, so I suggested that we just have tea at home. When he got home from work, he was absolutely knackered, and I said "Aren't you glad we are not going out tonight?" and he agreed. I prepared a seafood salad, and dressed up the kitchen table a bit more than usual, and that was all we did, which suited us both.

While Ken was at work, I spent most of the day with Sharon and Val at Val's home. We are blogger buddies from way back when, and while Val and I are both retired and see each other regularly, Val hasn't seen Sharon for a while. We had a beaut day. I was going to write a post about it, but Sharon did such a good job with some lovely photos on her blog, I decided it was easier just to point you in her direction! For those readers who know either Val or Sharon (or both), go here to catch up with them.

Tiger continues to wrap us around his little paws, and Topsy has thawed out to the point of playing with him and gently rubbing noses!

The Third Day.

2011-01-05T20:17:00.000+11:00

We needed some essential furniture for the kitty nursery. Topsy sleeps anywhere around the house at any time, but she does have her own cushion on top of the clothes drier in the laundry. Apart from it being covered with her black fur and her 'smells', we didn't think it was a good idea to put it on the floor for Junior. So I visited the local "$2 Shop" and bought this igloo for $20. Tiger loves it!

While I was at the $2 Shop, I saw this scratching post for $10. Topsy's scratching post has been almost clawed to bits, so I felt it was only fair that Tiger has a new one of his own. He had fun with it for about an hour after I brought it into the kitchen!

The Second Day.

2011-01-04T23:32:00.003+11:00

Tiger has adopted us without any hesitation. But he's taking a bit more time to win Topsy over. They haven't come to claws, but Topsy hisses if Tiger comes too close. I left them alone inside the house today for several hours, and was relieved to come home and find no little dead furry bodies lying around. Ken was trying to encourage them to be friendly here, but look at those eyes! And the difference in size!

Tiger spent all evening with us while we were online, even walking on Ken's laptop keyboard, which made something pop up on the screen that Ken wasn't expecting! But all was quickly forgiven.

New addition to the family.

2011-01-03T21:45:00.006+11:00

We welcomed a new Little Person into our home today. Remember the basket full of kitties in my Xmas Day post, from Ken's niece's house? Well, niece Michelle called us last night to ask if we still wanted one, as the person she had given this kitten to had changed their mind. Ken said yes please, so Michelle arrived today with Kitten in carry cage, squealing and struggling to be let out after an hour long journey in the car.

He only took a few minutes to make himself at home, and when Topsy came in and discovered the new arrival, she turned tail and fled, only to find we'd closed all the doors and she couldn't get away. They faced each other, Topsy's eyes like saucers, and the kitten's back arched, but apart from a minor hiss, they didn't attack each other. Within an hour, they had calmed down, and were curled up asleep, one at each end of the windows in the lounge room.

Some friends came over to inspect Kitty and we discussed names, finally agreeing on "Tiger", as his markings are just like a Siberian Tiger, grey and white stripes. Tiger has had several meals, discovered where the litter tray is and used it, and has been cuddled and stroked almost non stop since he got here. Looks like Ken finally has the cat he wanted - a LOVING cat. Topsy isn't going anywhere - she'll get used to him, and I guess she'll be 'my' cat now!

Topsy giving Kitty the evil eye!

"Are you addressing me??"

"Is this my new bed?"

Just a handful.

Watch where you put those claws, Tiger!

All tuckered out.

It is HOT.

2010-12-31T17:01:00.004+11:00

It is 5 pm and I've just turned the news on the radio and heard that Melbourne reached a top temperature today of 40 deg.C. which is 104 deg.F. for those of you who don't do metric. The wind is blowing a gale. Earlier today I went up to the aviaries and gave the birds a shower (Ken installed showers in the aviaries years ago), which they loved, flitting back and forth through the spray. Thank goodness the prediction is for a cool change tonight, and a pleasant top of 24 deg. tomorrow.

It looks like it is going to be a quiet night around here. The neighbours on one side are rarely home after Xmas, and I haven't seen any sign of them today. The families across the road are all new and haven't spoken to anyone else yet, in spite of me putting a Happy Xmas/welcome card in their letterboxes a month ago :-( We used to have great neighbours when we first moved in here 30 years ago, but in recent years, people just don't seem to be as friendly as they used to be. I spoke to one of the girls on the other side of us and she said she is going to a party, and her Mum and sister are going to a bar in Melbourne and won't be home until about 5 am. Makes me feel old. I remember the days when I spent NY Eve in town with my friends, not getting home until dawn!

Ken and I haven't done much in recent years - just watched the fireworks on t.v. then gone to bed. Sometimes we've had some friends around, or gone to somebody's home, but more and more of our age group seem content to just stay put on NY Eve. Pity. I used to look forward to a bit of fun and music with friends. Our next 'do' will be our Australia Day Party on Jan. 26th, but the success of that depends on who is able to come. We usually have about a dozen people, which is a nice number, although I would be happy if more turned up.

Not a good start to 2011.

2010-12-30T22:59:00.003+11:00

I've just been reading the news on the internet, and I feel so helpless when reading about the floods in Queensland. My own problems with Telstra pale into insignificance after reading about the thousands of people that are or will be homeless in the coming weeks and months. Farmers, business people and families in rural towns have lost just about everything. Crops are ruined, after growing so well for the first time in 10 or more years, with the end of the drought. End of a drought is one thing, but why does the weather have to swing from one extreme to the other?

Predictions for tomorrow's weather is frightening for most of our country - record heat for South Australia and Victoria, with warnings of possible bushfires. Flood damage worsening in Qld. and another cyclone is heading our way up north somewhere.

Of course most people know that we Aussies are not the only ones suffering from weather extremes. A friend in New Zealand posted a comment on her blog that they had more earthquakes in Christchurch on Boxing Day. The snow in parts of America has brought their airports to a standstill, and I saw some shocking footage of a multiple car pile-up where cars coming down a hill got out of control on the icy road, and just continued to ram into each other. God only knows if anyone was killed. It looked like someone in a house nearby was videotaping it, and had posted it on You Tube.

Whoever you are, and where ever you are, reading this blog, I hope you haven't been affected by severe weather, and my warmest wishes for a happy and safe New Year.

Boxing Day here, and I've cooled down.

2010-12-26T14:38:00.004+11:00

Me and the weather have both cooled down; we've got our internet back, and the weather in Melbourne on Xmas Day was just about perfect, considering the extreme cold in other parts of the world, and the extreme heat we have had here in past years. Yesterday was mild, about 24 deg. and cloudy. Not warm enough to make use of Ken's Xmas gift to me - a lovely comfortable sun lounger!

But no rain, which was good for those who had to drive any distance to be with family and friends. We drove nearly 100 kilometres - from Eltham to Heidelberg to collect Ken's Mum from her Home, then to Ken's niece's house in Frankston South. The Eastlink tollway makes it a lot quicker, and Ken's GPS saved us time and tempers by doing the navigating for us! They really are a super invention. I told Ken I might put it in my car during the week while he is at work, and go driving all over Victoria, now that I know I won't get lost!

Ken and I had lunch on our own at home for the first time in 30 years, so I made the most of the opportunity, and lashed out on two fresh crayfish/lobster - $80 but worth every cent.

I set the kitchen table with a fresh white cloth, a single rose in a small vase, and a simple salad - nothing to overpower the exquisite flavour of the crays...mmm!

We collected MIL at 2 pm and arrived in Frankston at 3 pm, just in time to join the rest of their family for dessert - pavlova, plum pudding, choc. mousse, and all kinds of other delicious foods. Within minutes of our arrival, Ken's niece hustled me out to the laundry to show me this:

Ken immediately fell in love and asked M. if we could have one, and she said yes, but I said no. Not today anyway, as we didn't have the correct food or a bed for it, and with no shops open on Xmas Day, we wouldn't have been able to buy anything. When we got home, Topsy was cross because she'd been left on her own all afternoon, and didn't want to be cuddled or patted. We should have brought one of those kitties home...I would have found something to feed it until today when the shops open. It would be so nice to have a LOVING little kitty instead of a bad tempered one. Topsy must take after me with her bad temper...LOL

I'M BACK!!!!!!!!

2010-12-24T23:52:00.004+11:00

Ken came into our computer room tonight about 11 pm, turned off all the power points, waited for a few minutes, and turned them on again. When he turned on his computer, VOILA! He had Internet Explorer back! Called me in immediately, and as soon as I saw the expression on his face, I suspected he'd done something clever.
That is the best Xmas present we could have; it has been a nightmare this week, more so for me because Ken has been at work while I have spent hours on the phone to Telstra begging them to sort it out.

Telstra/Bigpond stuffed up our account by 're-bundling' all our services on to one monthly account when Ken bought his I-Phone. We have a landline, two mobiles, Broadband internet and Foxtel, all of which come under the Telstra umbrella. They do deals for people when they sign you up, promising discounts, upgrades, etc. At first it sounded okay - about $30 a month less than what we were paying before. And they said they would give us a new Broadband modem and a new Foxtel modem - free of charge. They duly arrived, and we suddenly discovered that we had the Platinum Foxtel account, with all channels, instead of the basic package we had before. When I queried this, I was told it's all part of your new deal.

Then I got the first bill. Instead of $230, it was $590. I nearly had a stroke - in fact I felt really sick when I saw it. When Ken came home from work and saw it, he said "We are going straight back to the Telstra shop where we bought the I-Phone, and sort this out". Johnny, the salesman at the shop was very sympathetic. He said the guy who did the original deal for us had been sacked because he had stuffed up nearly every customer he'd sold thing to, and Johnny was still sorting out the mess. He spent an hour with us going through the account, and said he would fix it up with the billing department of Telstra. One of the reasons for the huge bill was that we had been charged for the upgraded version of Foxtel, and Johnny said he would have that cancelled and get the basic package back.

Last Sunday, we noticed that Foxtel had reverted to the basic package, and that was fine with us. But later that night, we found we couldn't get on to the Web. We were able to send and receive emails on Outlook Express, but couldn't get Internet Explorer. That's when the real trouble began. We waited until Tuesday, thinking the recent bad weather could have affected the connection, but nobody else was complaining, so I called Telstra. The girl who answered was all smiles over the phone - "We'll have you back online tomorrow, don't worry!" Wednesday - nothing. No phone call, no connection. So I rang again. And again - speaking to a different person in the call centres everytime I called. I kept a record of the people I spoke to (15 in total) and I had to explain everything all over again with each person, even though they had my account in front of them with notes by the previous 'consultants' I'd spoken to.

Each person had a different reason for our problem - my computer is too old and they can't fix it; the new modem is the wrong one and will have to be replaced; the upgrade plan hasn't been implemented properly at Telstra, but won't take long to fix; Ken's virus protection wasn't working (it is) and both computers were infected by a virus that prevented access to web pages. It went on and on. I got put through to Technical Support in the Phillipines countless times, and had to sit for hours on both computers, changing settings (and crossing my fingers that it wasn't messing up the computers any further) - a process that was extremely slow because of the difficulty trying to understand their accents. I also did what Ken did tonight, and turned things on and off at the power, but it didn't work.

By Friday morning, I was so cheesed off, I emailed A Current Affair and the Herald Sun with my tale of woe, and I also rang the Ombudsman for Telecommunications and told him what had been happening. He promised to contact Telstra the same day, so I can only assume he did, and they fast-tracked fixing our problem. Phew! If I am contacted by the Current Affair producers or the Herald Sun, I'll still talk to them, because we think the staff at Telstra are incompetent and/or not trained well enough to be able to sort these issues out. I know they can't know every single thing, but instead of bluffing their way through a problem it would be better to say "I can't help you, but I'll find out from a supervisor".
End of rant. Nobody will read all this, but I needed to get it off my chest.
Happy Xmas!