Tethered Roof Man

Have had a shock today. Looking out of my office window I see a man on the roof next door, complete with bum crack, cleaning the eaves. I'm glad to see he's tethered, not sure of my emergency nursing skills these days although I know the latest CPR drill. More compressions than breaths (30:2 I think) That's hard to keep up isn't it? They've had more changes than Paris Hilton on a night out.

Should I wave? I feel a bit like ferry riders compelled to wave to yachties in Sydney harbour. But I don't want to distract him. Even with the tether he could break a limb. He has a green plastic bag full of detritus. How's he going to get it down? I assume there's a ladder but I can't see it and I don't want to stand up to look. Distraction again.

Another tether. In his ears. He's plugged into an IPod or phone, can't see which. But if he's listening to music he's not moving to the rhythm thank goodness.

As you can see. This has made my day!!!!

It's all about food today

Probably because I did aqua aerobics and I was starving afterwards. I bought bananas, something I have not purchased since I was in NZ in April. Why? Because floods in Queensland ruined the crop and they've been as much as $15.99 a kilo. No banana is worth that much. I would like to see Australia import them like NZ does, those cheap little suckers ($1.99 a kilo) were from Ecuador and the Phillipines and were delicious. But no...we do not import bananas, we have to have home grown ones no matter how much they cost. They're down to $6.99 a kilo. They looked alright so I bought 2...bananas that is not 2kgs.

NZ has been trying to get Australia to purchase their apples. The Aussies claim they have some sort of blight that they don't want here. After 99 years of trying the Kiwis have succeeded. They have to do all sorts of spraying and washing beforehand and label the apples as 'product of New Zealand.' Do you see a pattern here? Isn't it called protectionism? Aren't we supposed to not be doing that?

I left the pool dreaming about the Morrocan lamb dish I made last night from an English Woman's Weekly recipe, very simple, started off on top of the stove and cooked in the oven. Now that I have one of those kinds of pots (thank you Maxine) I love these kinds of recipes. You can use a relatively cheap cut of lamb. I say relatively because lamb has suddenly become the most expensive cut of meat when it used to be the cheapest. What happened? Maybe the sheep got washed away in those Queensland floods, and heaven forbid that we should import any! I have no idea. With a can of tomatoes, tomatoe paste, red lentils, potatoes, onion, garlic and all the spices it makes a tasty one-dish meal.

We often talk about food when we're in the pool, on account of the fact that we exercise at or just before lunch time. My tummy was rumbling most of the exercise hour today although our new instructor distracted us by working us hard. She showed up our regular instructors as somewhat complacent slobs. There was no cruising with this chick. It was great.

At home I turned on the TV to see where Hurricane Irene is and whether it's blasted my niece Krista out of her Brooklyn apartment yet. Her last facebook entry tells me she's okay.

Now after lunch I'm beginning to feel sleepy. I think I deserve a nap today. Bye for now.

And on the 9th day there was light...

Yes, Eddie the electrician arrived at 5pm yesterday. Given that the light was fading fast in the short winter day, he donned headlight to inspect the wiring. Tossed out some shonky looking paper covered wire, declared I was lucky to be alive, (it was so bad up there) cleaned up what was left and went downstairs to put the fuse back in. Woops, still no light! He turned his attention to the dimmer switch which has actually never dimmed down at all. Bingo, we had light. He stil insists it was the shonky wiring though.

I quizzed him closely about why the light didn't come on until he fixed the switch. He blinded me with science so I listened quielty as he told me I should upgrade my switch board from re-wireable fuse to something more modern and safer. He can do it for $1800.00. When can I book you in? Bet he wouldn't be a day late for that appointment. I need time to consult those who know more than I do before committing to something costing  a little more than the two hundred dollars I was expecting.

Mr Popper's Penguins was delightful in spite of Annika slurping her drink in all the wrong places. When did she turn so noisy at the movies? She used to sit in rapt silence staring at the screen, so serious I thought she wasn't enjoying herself. Apparently she was. Now there's no guessing, she's guffawing and commenting, to the extent that I had to tell her to stop talking, I was missing the good bits.That's when the slurping started. I felt like tossing that sickly pink slurpy but would probably have hit some rug rat in front and incurred the wrath of mother. Not a good look.

Back home Annika has been busy compiling her Aussie animal pictures on my netbook. She knows her way around a computer quite well. She made palm cards and practised her narration. We've put her document with the pictures on a CD so the family is in for a performance when she goes back home  on Wednesday.

still waiting

The little lights under the hood over the oven have been working over time as one week later I await the arrival of an electrician, another one. The first one never came, never called. My neighbour thought it might be one of the bulbs. These are four Halogen lights, and I have no clue what they look like when they're dead, neither does he. But obliging soul that he is, he brought down his ladder (home made by his Cabinet-making father 50 years ago) and we tested them one by one using one of the new bulbs I bought just in case. No dice. I need an electrician...hurry up Tony!!!!!

More aqua with the kid today. She's complaining of leg pain which seems to switch from knee to ankle, depending on the mood. So I'm not too worried. She's busy on the netbook compiling her file of  "Australian Animals" at present.

Tomorrow we see Mr. Popper's Penguins. Hopefully, waiting for the second week of school holidays will cut down on the crowds. Nevertheless, we'll go early so Grandma can fortify herself with a large cappuccino before entering the world of silliness and mayhem.

wrong cookie pan

Well I might have bought a bargain cookie pan on Monday but it was not deep enough to allow all the lemon mixture to sit on top. Consequently a batch of half filled lemon bar cookies made their way to Roselands for the qua gals. Fortunately there was just enough lemon flavour and the base is to die for, should be with all that butter!

Annika's day was complete when Caitlin, the granddaughter of one of the aqua gals showed up. They swam together while we star jumped to '60s rock. Annika got the full beauty treatment in the changing room afterwards.

We came home early in anticipation of an electrician showing up. When I turned on the kitchen lights on Monday there was a loud bang. Thus no light in the kitchen except by the stove light. Everything else works and the fuses were okay so called in an electrician. He didn't show, so I'll have to call him again.

Not much on the agenda today except a visit to Big W to find the right cookie pan.

first day of the school hols

Annika and I made an early start today, off to the big smoke in search of chocolate. Our first stop was in Newtown, I've had my eye on some earrings for a long time. Lucky me the sales were on, 10% off.

Next we inspected the New Westfield complex. I'm not too impressed, it's spacious, more classy than what it replaced but is dark. Is this the new fashion? Annika's eyes lit up when she saw the macaroons so had to have a coffee and hot chocolate stop there.

I needed a new cookie pan for the lemon bar cookies I'm going to make tomorrow. Selected a $13.95 model at Myers only to find it cost $8.65 thanks to a promotional offer. Nice!

After a KFC lunch in the food hall we started our trek to the chocolate bar near the Opera House. I remembered that I needed some tea. Now that I've gone herbal, I'm keen to try loose leaves rather than the bags. At the Tea shop, I bought Camomile (already sipped, it's lovely) and green tea mixed with orange peel which I'll try in the morning. I haven't drunk black tea since I returned from NZ in a bid to reduce migraines. There's a slight reduction but I'm not sure if it's due to the change in tea consumption or the little blue pill I take at night which helps me sleep longer.

On the road to the Opera House, we spied what looked like gravestones on a grassy knoll. On inspection, they're just stones of varying shapes and sizes, not bad for a photo op.


At last we reached the Guylian shop, ordered the fruit plate with dipping chocolate There was fresh pineapple, strawberries, kiwi fruit and melon. Very nice.

Finished off by watching  a street performer do his tricks, juggling a chainsaw and knives and finally standing on a bike up a pole juggling knives, and an apple.

Discoveries of the Day

Aldi does not stock all my needs;

When a newly purchased jar of jam falls on the floor of the store it breaks;

Buses replace trains between Lidcombe and Sydenham thereby messing up my plans to meet Barbara in the second carriage tomorrow;

Jean Paul Gaultier is one talented designer (this morning watched a documentary in the series 'The Day Before' about various artists preparing for a show.)

Haute Couture is not such a bad thing. While it is beyond our reach and sort of ridiculous it employs talented embroiderers, crocheters, and beaders, etc thereby ensuring the worth and viability of such crafts.

STVDIO is fast becoming one of my favourite channels on Cable TV.

And it isn't even 10am. Who know's what's around the corner.