stuffing

I made Grandma Goodman's stuffing today, the full whack, 2 loaves of bread, celery, hazelnuts, onions, sage and salt all bound together with a pound of butter, yum!!!! And all done with the thermomix which sure takes the grunt out of all that grinding and chopping. There's enough stuffing for next year's turkey as well.

Just read that Peter Roebuck died. Such a shame, although I'm afraid the circumstances of his death may prove murky. Nevertheless, he was one of the finest writers about the game, obviously well educated and with a wide vocabulary used well. I'll miss his newspaper columns and his commentary.

Dirk just called, I've left my camera at their house. It's becoming a ritual, that after babysitting I leave something behind, often something electronic. Last week it was the phone charger. And he grilled me before leaving on Friday, 'have you got your computer, the charger?' etc... 'Yes' said I confidently. NOT!

Ah well, maybe the rot of dementia is setting in. Don't we all dread it? It's like being one of the living dead, you're there but not there. I shall have to do more exercise and keep on with those puzzles to stave off the beast. When I've finished this I'll download some more NY Times crossword puzzles to keep me going.

mangoes and jacarandas

Ed remarked on all the Jacaranda trees he and Cris saw from the air when they landed in Sydney last Thursday. 'Funny,' say I, 'I've been complaining that I haven't seen any yet.' I've put it down to the cold October.

Of course all the way home in the car Ed pointed out the numerous Jacaranda trees en route, but had the grace to acknowledge they're not very bright and easy to miss. Since then they've appeared all over the place, bright and purple. I love them. When I was working at Uni the appearance of the Jacaranda marked exam time and the end of face to face teaching for three months. A great relief! They only last a couple of weeks but cheer me up every time I see them.

Something else that cheers me is the arrival of mangoes. They've been around for about a month but too expensive to buy unless I win Lotto which I haven't, maybe because I haven't bought tickets??? Now theyr'e reasonably priced and beautifully ripe so I'm tucking in.

Tomorrow is Melbourne Cup Day, a huge day not only on  the racing calendar but all over Australia.  With a bit of luck those punters who're planning to fly to Melbourne via QANTAS might be able to make it. The dispute is over...for 3 weeks at least. I've been off QANTAS lately mainly because of cramped airline seating internationally. For my next trip I'm definitely going to look elsewhere after all this.

After aqua exercise I'm going over the road to the Bowling Club with my aqua pals for a Melbourne Cup lunch. There's a hat competitition. Judging by the monstrosities at Prince William and Kate's wedding, I figure I can't go wrong with a paper plate stuck to the side of my head!

day of days

Am doing a stint of child minding while Ed & Cristina sail the crystal blue waters of the Whitsunday Islands for 4 days.

Day 1: see them off, take the kids to the pool, lunch at Roselands. Mathew falls asleep in the car on the way home. Big mistake, talk about a power nap - too powerful for him to wind down before 10pm! Meanwhile Grandma has been ready for bed since nine.

Day 2: we all sleep in till 7.30am. Then the rush is on, nutella sandwich, fruit twist bar, chips, popper drink and water in Annika's bag. Did I tell you the temperature is going to be 35 degrees today? Change of clothes for Mathew, water and toy aeroplanes for show and tell. He's going to talk about seeing mum and dad off at the airport. I rush to aqau aerobics only to find it's outdoors. Good job I carry a rashie (swimming shirt) and hat in my bag. Had to pinch some of the instructor's sun screen. Being in the water was the best place to be. Sweltered in the heat for the rest of the day.

Day 3: Tuesday, Big Day for Mathew, his first orientation at BIG SCHOOL - he starts early next year.  (By now the temperature has plummeted to the early teens, and it's raining.) The kid didn't miss a beat when I left him there, surrounded by girls from his day care he was off with them without a backward glance.

I thought I'd give him a day off at home for a change afterwards (the poor kid's been in long day care since he was one year old.) All going well then surprise! Cousin Skye showed up. Hadn't dared to tell Mathew beforehand that she was coming since the excitement levels would have ramped up to uncontrollable.

Skye is a blonde, blue eyed angel who is determined and adventurous. Anything Mathew had she wanted and went to get it. Eventually the novelty wore off for Mathew and he started protesting. The room filled with the sound of 'NOs' as they tussled for possession. Bear in mind Skye usually uses the German 'Nein' but she knew right away which one to use with Mathew.

Then the nightmare begins, We go to pick Annika up from school. It's pouring. Skye hates the plastic cover for the pram and starts pulling it away every time I try to put it on. I give up that idea and tuck in one of the raincoats hanging up in the vestibule over her legs. She rips it off three times, face red with screaming. I manage to secure it enough for us to start out although her feet stick out in the rain. I'm balancing a large umbrella, trying to keep an eye on Mathew with his sister's pink umbrella (which he loves) and pushing the pram on a pavement that slopes steeply to the road, to the accompaniement of Skye's objections. Not a good look.

Of course Annika is thrilled to see her baby cousin. Skye is not so thrilled, still complaining about the whole set up. At least Annika can help out with Mathew, and we cross the street to walk on the flatter pavement. Skye gives up crying and I give up the umbrella, better to be wet than put my back out with the balancing act.

By the time Dirk picks up Skye in the early evening the place looks like a bomb site. It still does the next morning as I write this with one of Ed's warm jackets on and a blanket over my knees. Whatever happened to spring?????

I've forgotten how energy sapping it is to look after three little kids. Things I did without turning a hair at age 30 are so much bigger when I'm 70. Much as I love my grandchildren, it sure is nice having some respite of peace and quiet... but those damn toys are still littering the place. I've got to get off my butt and pick them up before the cleaner comes tomorrow.

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.