Saturday 25 April 2009

Wild weather


So the last few days have actually been Adelaide weather. If you live in Adelaide, and I know one of you does, you will know what I mean.

We chose to move to Adelaide because you actually experience 4 seasons here. Summer is hot, Autumn is cool and windy with lovely tree colour changes, Winter is wet, cold and dark, and spring is the renewing of life.

Lately, the Winters have been getting warmer and dryer. Not warm yes, like Queensland, but certainly not as cold as they used to be when we first got here. I think the first year here it was as low as 1 degree. Now, it only gets that cold for a week then sits about 8-9 degrees.

But this week we have experienced some very cold, wet, windy weather typical of Autumn. The sun tries to poke through, and manages briefly for a few minutes, but then the rain starts. And the wind blows a gale! It's currently 17 degrees as I type this, and in the office here it's actually 18 degrees, but that's because the window is open so we can yell at the dog when he barks at the neighbour, as he did at 5.00 this morning when she and her fellow decided to have a session in the kitchen!

Now, having a dog, and a lovely back patio, one would think he would be okay. But, the winds are northerly, and everything under the patio is wet. We turned the dog house around sideways so he had shelter. One would think that's where he would be.

But no, not Ozzie. I went outside before and he is in his day bed beside the patio furniture, which was just getting the spray from the wind.

Then, when we had the last blast of heavy rain, I looked out and he is sitting here under the office window, which was copping quite a bit of rain. The wind was so strong the side of his house is wet, and indeed the lino in front of the doorway has pools of water on it. Poor bloke. I am very glad we turned it around for him, as I didn't realise quite how far the water came in!

And where do you think Jr Her has chosen to spend the afternoon with a friend? At the snow dome, ice skating....

Thursday 23 April 2009

Party Night! Woot!



So last night was the Triple M "Cook-off" and it was great! Held at the Highway Hotel, not far from home, where the Chef is a genius.

They took 4 audience recipes, the 3 radio stars' recipes, and a special one from Wes Carr as well for good measure. We were greeted at the door by waiters with tiny take out containers with a sample of a lovely bacon noodle dish, which as it turned out, was the only one I sampled, stupid me!

We wandered in, got the first of our free drinks, and found a spot in a similar position to last time, near the stage. After a little while Chris Dzelde from the breakfast show wandered past. As he did I said "Hi Chris". He stopped, looked back at me, and said "Colleen! What are you doing here, again!" Nice, hey? I got a kiss and a hug too. We chatted for a bit, then he wandered off in search of another host.

Through the night we were offered Kym Dillon's mum's tuna mornay, Chris Dzelde's mum's stuffed peppers, Ali Carle's mum's beef stroganoff, another listener's mum's doodydaks (don't ask) which was a meatball wrapped in puff pastry, apple crumble, and Wes Carr's choice of strawberry cheesecake. I am not sure why I didn't sample more, although I wasn't really hungry. I think it was just that I found it was too difficult to try to eat it the way it was presented.


Through the night we got to chat to Kym Dillon, and Him suggestede they next do a listener list of favourite holiday destinations. Great idea, and Kym liked the sound of it.



Ali remembered Him from last time when he suggested he take Vanessa Amorosi home, and Ali said she'd come too! Haha. That was funny!


All in all, it was a very fun evening, and we were told we would each receive a printed copy of the online recipe book. Excellent. As it was winding up, we were standing talking to Kym and later Chris, and I asked Kym how, if we received our books on the way out, would we be able to get them autographed? He grabbed the copy that was on the table they were using and got the others to sign it for me!


Wes Carr finished off the evening, singing his two hits, as well as a pretty good impression of Michael Jackson's Black or White. He is very talented, and was even playing the guitar behind his head. Not too many real musos can do that.



At the end of the night Chris and Kym were in the foyer signing the books for the others, but I had the first! **feels special**

We also met Kym's partner Emma and she was just lovely. So, great night, sore feet, and Him found out that he really shouldn't mix red wine with the medication he is on...

Monday 20 April 2009

12 Already




So Jr Her was 12 this weekend. She has been looking forward to this for a whole year. Always trying to figure out what to do for her birthday, how to spend the day (and our money), make a big thing of it.

But when push came to shove this year, she decided on a sleepover with two friends. I think it had something to do with the fact another classmate had his party the same weekend (she didn't get invited to that one for some reason). Not that she was worried anyway. So, a sleepover with two friends I will happily accommodate, being the mega bitch from hell and all.

Him had accumulated a heap of movie passes from an incentive scheme at work, so we decided to take her and her friends to the movies. She chose which movie she wanted to see, one which Him and I did NOT want to see, but I sent him off to buy tickets all the same.

Friday he wandered down to Marion to book the tickets in case the movie was booked out Saturday. He phoned me to tell me what he had done. He had enough vouchers to purchase 3 kids movies to see 17 Again, and two adult tickets to see Watchmen GOLD CLASS!!! plus, by adding $10 he was able to get the girls popcorn and a drink each. I bought us a seafood platter for $40 in Gold Class.

So, the day of the party arrives. Jr Her finds out she is going with me to the doctor early. I had to get the last of my test results (they weren't in yet, but basically I am either peri-menopausal or just stressed) and Jr Her was got her first cervical cancer shot. She actually had herself quite worried about the needle, being like her father and having a healthy respect for them.

When the doctor gave her the jab, she was quite worried, eyes screwed shut, teeth gritted... he jabbed it in and she exclaimed "is that it?" my little brave child.

Anyway, because we had been waiting for an hour to get into the doctor, we then had to rush down to the shopping centre for party food. I hadn't had time to get any earlier in the week. It's now almost 12 and the guests were due at 1.00. While we were driving to the shop we heard our good friend Tess on the radio. Go Tess!

So, we grabbed a few party things and raced home. Got the stuff put away and the friends arrived on time. As we didn't want to arrive right on time we headed off early, about 1.30, to the movies. Turns out the other party was going to see the same movie. We briefly caught up with a friend we hadn't seen since the wedding reception a year ago. On the way in I had seen a sign advertising "Nothing over $10!" As the girls all had money for the arcade (their movie finished half an hour before ours) I asked if they wanted to waste it on games or go to this shop for a look. They opted for the shop.

So, while Him bought the popcorn and chatted to the aforementioned parents, I took the girls back to the shop. One bought a pair of shorts that ended up being way too big, Jr Her scored two pairs of shorts, a lovely cream suit type vest, and a red and black checked dress that was too small, so her little cousin will inherit that for her birthday later in the year! The other little lass didn't have any money so I bought her a lovely red and black tartan top that fitted perfectly and she loved it. Yay for $10 sales! Mind you, the fine print did read "sale items only" which was just a few racks at the front...

Anyway, we all trudged back to the theatre and we took them to their cinema, right next to gold class, and we went to ours. The movie was fantastic, the food, while being expensive, was worth it, and all in all, it was great to spend the afternoon alone with my man.

After the movies we gathered up the girls and took them home. We let them play and make noise for awhile then gave them the party food. When they were almost stuffed we brought out the cake. Jr Her loved it because she had asked for a Mango ice cream cake, and being the mega bitch from hell, I gave her just that. She was very happy.

They all settled into the beds we had made up in the lounge, and watched TV for awhile. Well, actually they all played their DS's. At about half ten I couldn't stay awake anymore and asked them to down toys and go to sleep. Three times. But after the last apparently they did. The dog started barking then so I put him on the chain.

Next morning the had to wake up early because one was being picked up before nine. I had her up and dressed, and as always, had them clean up their mess before breakfast. They did. The early leaver said she wasn't hungry so I cooked up scrambled eggs, bacon, fried Fritz, and toast, and the non hungry child ate 3 pieces of toast... leaving the littlest with none... but, just as she buttered her 3rd mum arrived so she took it with her. The kids didn't want the bacon so Him and I made short work of that. My favourite breakfast treat. Bacon. Mmmm.

After the other lass had left we decided to go for a walk to take the videos back. It's quite a walk, although doesn't sound it when I say it was about a 4km round trip. We decided to push it a little further and go to the news agent further up so Him could buy himself a magazine to read. The dog enjoyed the walk too I think.

The rest of the day was spent lazing around and just relaxing. Very nice to do that now and then. Apart from the washing and cleaning up, I didn't do any other housework.

Oh, and the reason Him needed a magazine? He ran out of smokes on Jr Her's birthday and decided not to buy anymore. He hasn't had a smoke since. I am very, very proud of him. How he progresses, well, I'll keep you posted...


Friday 10 April 2009

Hey, SOL, We're Famous!

So the local radio station is running an Online Family Cookbook promotion, where listeners are invited to submit their family recipes. The best ones are going to be put up against each other at a Cookoff later this month. People are contacted by the station and if you are lucky enough to get contacted, you get invited to the cookoff party.

SOL gave me a cheesecake recipe many years ago, which was for a grated chocolate cheesecake. I have changed it a little, and come up with a creamy lemon cheesecake. Many of you will remember my cheesecake. It's legendary in some parts... lol.

Anyway, this week I was contacted by the station. On Thursday they played the grab of my chat with the DJ, and lo and behold, look what appeared on the website...

http://www.triplem.com.au/adelaide/shows/kymalianddzelde/highlights/family-cookbook/thursdays-recipes-week-2

When you first go onto the website, there are two recipe pictures, taken by the station of the product they made I guess, and ONE OF THEM IS MINE! So, thanks SOL, we are famous! xx

Thursday 9 April 2009

How time flies when you're having fun

So I know I don't blog enough. I'm sorry for that. It's just that nothing exciting happens here. My life is totally boring. Or is it that life is just too bloody fast to stop and find something to write about?

I mean, my life consists of an endless round of:

Wake up at 6.15am
Make Jr Her's lunch
Find something for my lunch
Make breakfast
Eat breakfast
Start the washing
Wash my hair
Wake up Jr Her
Say good morning to the dog
Dry my hair
Get dressed
Apply make up
Get Jr Her breakfast cause she's too lazy to make her own
Hang the washing out
Kiss Him good morning as we cross paths, he on his way home to bed, me off to work
Drive 45 minutes to work
Go to the post office on the way to work
Work for 7.5 hours
Most days I take a half hour walk with a girlfriend, when we have time!
Drive 30 minutes home
Drop off the car and pick up the dog for the 10 minute walk to the school to collect Jr Her from After School Care
Walk home
Get the washing off the line
If Him is awake, spend a few moments saying hello
Start dinner
Fight with Jr Her to get her to do homework/get a shower
Eat dinner
Spend some time with Him
Get Him off to work
At 9.30pm, when he goes, I can sit and have ME time. By then it's a quick shower and lay in bed to watch maybe an hour of TV if I can stay awake.

Only to do it all again the next day. Weekends usually mean getting the house tidy and the washing started before Jr Her's tutor comes. Then, doing some menial chores around the house before we get into whatever it may be that we have on - grocery shopping, errands, projects around the house.

By Monday I have had a busy weekend and my week starts all over again. Man, sometimes I wish I had a life worth writing about! It's no wonder that I am getting tired and irritable, and not to mention forgetful! Like this morning, when I realised I didn't have the correct EFTPOS card in my wallet, and in front of Him, forgot to put the car in gear before going to collect the card. The car started rolling but luckily it was on a flat surface. Those of you who know Him and his love of his cars (rightly so, too), will know what a misnomer this was!

Or when I was making Jr Her's sandwich and I went to get lettuce and instead got another slice of bread....

We could have gone away this weekend, but I requested 4 days of just staying home. I don't want to move, I don't want to do anything. Except the grocery shopping on Saturday, the ironing, cleaning up the lounge, tackling the mess beside my bed, trying to get rid of some of the extra stuff I have accumulated over the last 42 years....

Monday 6 April 2009

Update for Ozzie fans

Thank you for your lovely comments! Just to put your minds at rest, Ozzie was handed into the RSPCA because his previous owner became pregnant and couldn't look after him properly. He has never been mistreated or not looked after properly (although his coat is a bit matted because he can't be brushed every day at the shelter, but we are working on that).

He does require coat maintenance, and as he has hip displacia he will require ongoing treatment as he gets older. Perhaps his previous owners, with a new baby on the way, felt they couldn't give him the time and care he will need.

So, no hidden problems, nothing they weren't telling us, and no issues with him at all. But he is a lovely natured fellow with no hang ups at all, and we were very lucky to get him. We consider ourselves very blessed!

Sunday 5 April 2009

Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie!




So Jr Her's friend Tiny owns a dog. This dog had puppies two weeks ago, and that got me thinking. I wonder if the landlord would reconsider his negative answer toward us having a dog. I mean, we have been here almost 7 years and all.

So I made the call. Because it was us, and because we were good tenants, he was prepared to let us if we were prepared to sign a special lease declaring us responsible for any damage to the carpet. I took that bit of info to Him to get his opinion. A dog, he says. Hmmm.

Anyway, we discussed it for a week and decided that we didn't want a puppy. He suggested an older dog from the RSPCA or Animal Welfare League. As luck would have it we found ourselves child free last weekend and decided to look around the dog pounds. I found a lovely greyhound named Marco but when I mentioned him to Jr Her and Him they both laughed at me. No class those two.

We decided we wanted an older dog (at least 5 months, but no older than 2-3), who was an outside dog. Preferrably house trained too. We ran this by the landlord on Monday night, and he was quite okay with that, and even suggested we forget about the special lease too. It was a very satisfactory discussion and everyone was happy with the outcome.

Anyway, last weekend after we collected Jr Her, we took her to see a little dog for sale. He was a Maltese cross, and unfortunately he was very timid and actually bit Jr Her. Much to his owner's embarrassment!

So we found the websites for the RSPCA and Animal Welfare and keep looking each day at what dogs were available. We found several likely suspects, but a couple of those were taken before the week was out.

We also went to see on Friday night a lovely little chap names Charlie, who, like the previous Charlie who had bitten Jr Her, was a Maltese cross. He was delightful. He was affordable, friendly, and came with is kennel, leash, collar, food etc. Bargain really. Him was quite taken and so was Jr Her. Until he humped her leg. Instant turn off I think.

I think we had our heart set on him. We had been watching a fellow from RSPCA but on that Friday night he was on hold, meaning a family wanted to take him but something was holding it up.

Jr Her was devastated because he looked just right. Never mind. We decided on the Saturday to have a look anyway in case another dog took her fancy. Would you believe she actually liked Marco the greyhound! I was very happy until the keeper said he was an inside dog. Apparently greyhounds loose their heat very quickly so must be kept inside. Not what we agreed on.

We noticed a family spending time with the dog we had our heart set on. But then the family left without him. I found the keeper and asked if he was still on hold. No, he wasn't! Great, can we sit with him? We spent quite some time with him on Saturday. We noticed he was timid around Jr Her, but she was able to get a game out of him, and he responded to simple commands with rewards. He was very intelligent looking, and a lovely nature.

Great, we'll take him. We have a cat already, so the keeper checked with the office to see if he passed the cat test. He did! Yippee! BUT (and there is always a but!) we had to get a letter from the landlord stating we could have a dog. Wouldn't you believe it, I didn't have his phone number, just his mobile and it was turned off.

So we had to leave our new friend behind and go home. On the way we stopped and bought him toys, harness, leash, kennel.... the bill was huge! We phoned the landlord when we got home and he agreed to do us a letter.

Clutching this we arrived at the RSPCA on opening time today, only to discover they had to phone him to verify it and he wasn't answering his mobile. Did I know his home number? Of course not. Luckily for us they let us do the transaction provided I gave them the number when I got home. So, we bought our new friend home.

In the car he travelled like an old pro. He lay beside Jr Her until we were almost home then sat up and looked out the window. He never made a peep. When he got home he raced around the big back yard like a madman! It was histerical! He was in doggy heaven! He is such a lovely fellow, and sticks right beside Him. When it came time for the cat to meet him, he just sat beside Him's chair, and didn't move a muscle when the cat bravely (for him anyway) ventured out for a closer look. A little later, when he was feeling more frisky, he stared the cat down, and I suspect if I was not sitting between them, would have tried to round him up.

But he has been on his best behavour all afternoon, considering he is a border collie cross, desexed (which now days seems to mean they keep their boy bits but get an internal snip by the look of it), microchipped and vaccinated. He does have hip displacia, which will mean long term problems but we are okay with that. He is so much fun and Jr Her loves him (and I suspect so does Him!). He is a natural to take for a walk, and doesn't try to pull at his lead.

So, let me introduce to you, Ozzie!