Thursday 28 May 2009

RIP Wally



So Wally came home today. I don't know how else to phrase that. My sister, Moose, said that about her cat Phantom just last week, but she know's I am not copying. He's home and I feel better now he is where he belongs.

I still miss him, and my heart does that horrible hollow flutter sometimes, when I see something that reminds me of him. Like his empty chair by the window where his bed used to be. I mean, I have this wonderful little bloke named Roger to play with and brighten our lives. And that's great. But my heart breaks for this lovely old man Wally. I wish I was there for him when he needed me.

Not that I could have done anything, and I know he didn't suffer. But if I had known when I said goodbye on my way out the door, that it would be my last goodbye, I probably wouldn't have gone.

So now he is home, in his little blue urn on the filing cabinet, where he can see out the window and I can say good night, just as I have for the last 7 years.

Miss ya little man. How I wish you were lying on my arms as I typed this, or taunting the dog through the office window. He still looks for you.

Rest in peace, my beautiful boy. I love you. xxx

Tuesday 26 May 2009

Roger that...

So I know some of you may think we acted too hasty, but my house without a feline is a cold, lonely place.

And it's not like I am replacing Wally, just trying to fill the gap he left...

Anyway, being the cat lover I am, I couldn't stay kitty free for long. Him had said whenever I was up to it I could fill that gap at my leisure. I thought about it for a couple of days and on the weekend, asked him to take me to the RSPCA. A friend's aunt also has a few desexed cats she was trying to find homes for, so we thought we would look at those too.

I wanted a boy, and the more I thought about it, the more I would have liked a black one. Well, at RSPCA there were heaps of lovely kittens, all a bit older (about 12-16 weeks), and they looked so cute! But sadly all but one had white collars meaning they were on hold. The one that didn't was black...

In the general population, there was one little kitten and a heck of a lot of older cats. So many purry kitties to choose from. I checked out the little kitten, who was black and fluffy, and 4 months old, and we took him into a private room for a play. Funny enough, all the surrounding cats wanted to be patted but this little bloke didn't.

Anyway, as we wanted a boy, and a black one, we chose him, not worrying about looking at the black short hair kitten we had seen earlier. And as it turned out, all my friend's aunt's cats were girls...

We paid our fortune (worth every cent) and brought Roger home. His kennel name was Nugget but we had decided at a family discussion earlier in the week our next cat would be Roger.

Well, as you can see, he is a pure delight! Very playful, loves his cuddles (especially at night) and is a real valuable member of the house.

Check him out...






Thursday 21 May 2009

Sydney Trip

So, because we were gone for 12 days, I won't give you a day by day account, or we could be here for pages.

To cut a long story short, we arrived Saturday morning, and were driven to the hotel by my boss's cab company Silver Service, chauffeured by Harry. I have spoken to Harry on numerous occasions so it was lovely to meet him in person.

It was too early to check in so we dumped our bags and wandered down Pyrmont Bridge Road to Darling Harbour and Cockle Wharf. We delighted in some of the sights, found a place that served big meals for under $10, (the nicest wedges I have ever eaten!) and had lunch, then wandered back to the room. Which turned out to be a block of 15 units. Not a hotel at all.

Our room was on the second floor, one of 3, and we had our own private balcony. Our room was up one end, with the lounge and kitchen between, and Sam's room and bathroom at the far end overlooked Pyrmont Bridge Road. It was a lovely room, quite spacious and fully equipped with kitchen, laundry, lounge, DVD player and stereo.

Him had a cat nap that afternoon and Jr Her and I walked down the street to the overpriced 7-11 and did a basic grocery shop. Turns out we didn't use half of it anyway.

For dinner that night I made toasted sandwiches. One of only two meals I cooked the whole time. Apart from breakfast...

Sunday was Mother's Day, and I phoned my mum, then opened my gifts. My previous blog outlines the early presents I received, and then on the plane Jr Her gave me a folded piece of paper with hand written cut out vouchers inside, saying "you don't have to wash today", and "you don't have to cook dinner today" etc. Perfect!

Anyway, on Sunday I received the most wonderful digital photo frame, with a difference. It also has an LED display of the time, temperature, and humidity levels. It takes a memory card and has a small screen to display my photos as well. I also received an expensive diamond and sapphire necklace. It is a choker style, with small sapphires separated by twists of gold with a heart at the end of the twist. Inside the heart is a tiny diamond. It is stunning and very beautiful. Who's a lucky mum then?

It was lightly spitting when we went for a look around. We found, after a bit of a walk, Paddy's Markets, and we bought a back pack for Jr Her, a Dolce and Gabanna (sure it is! lol) handbag for me, hat for Him, and various other rubbish, and made our way back to the room. We went back out I think for dinner that night, but the rest of the holiday we had dinner on the way home.


Him's new hat.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was "working", meeting all our Sydney clients, and really enjoying myself. The rest of the family spent their time walking around the shopping centres, spending all their money. Oh, on Sunday Jr Her bought herself an expensive pair of shoes, $110, with her saved up birthday money. She was happy. On the Monday they found another 3 floors above Paddy's Markets, and the Smiggle Shop. More money spent! Tuesday they bought passes on the Monorail and went into the city.


The new shoes. They now have bright orange laces too...

On Wednesday we were able to activate our See Sydney passes (they were 7 day passes so we had to wait till 7 days before our home date). I was working so they went on two jet boat rides, and visited the Maratime Museum, checking out the Navy boat onsite. They ran out of time to do the Sumbarine.

One of the jet boats they went on

Thursday I was able to rejoin the troops and we visited the Aquarium and Wildlife centre. That was very interesting. We also looked around the shops at Darling Harbour more, and had dinner on a permanant floating restaurant (very nice!).


All of us at the Aquarium

Can I keep him?

We went around the harbour again Friday, with a visit to the Power House museum, taking an afternoon sight seeing cruise around the harbour and under the bridge, past the Opera House, back to Circular Quay, giving me my first ferry ride. We also watched the fireworks for the Darling Harbour 21st birthday celebrations.


Speaks for itself really...


Fireworks Friday night

Saturday was spent on the monorail again, in the city, checking out the shopping (too expensive, although I found two bras for $40 and a jacket for Him, and tights for Jr Her for $2.95 a pair...) We visited the tower and the Oz Trek display (interesting). We treated ourselves to a dinner cruise (it was half price) Saturday evening, and met a couple of American students, one of whom broke a cracker and sent it flying onto our table, which caused much mirth between our tables. Great night!

View from the Tower


Jr Her and Him on the dinner cruise

Sunday we went by ferry to Circular Quay, walking through the Rocks markets (very interesting) but we didn't buy anything because they all wanted Cash and I wasn't carrying any at that time. We had a look through the Opera House, and went for the tour. We also climbed the Harbour Bridge Pylon lookout, which was a fantastic view but very long walk.

Jr Her and I at the Opera House


Him and I at the Pylon Lookout

Monday we went back to Circular Quay, to the Rocks. We went for a Rocks walking tour, taking in the history of the place and a few little out of the way places we didn't know existed. We tried to visit the Police and Justice museum but tragically it was closed. My one regret... lol! We did see the Museum of Sydney, and a few little out of the way places. We finished with a look at the Observatory, getting a chance to peek through the telescope at a few stars as well.


Jr Her and Him at the Observatory. Lovely old building, and included in the Ghost tour...

Tuesday it rained again and we had a slow day closer to home. We took in the Maratime Museum again, this time going right through the displays and onto the sub. Him enjoyed that, as he was able to relate the differences between the older sub and the newer machines. It was very interesting actually.

We walked down the other way to the Fish Market, bought some whiting, scollops and prawns, and I cooked a lovely marinara pasta for dinner (with bolognese sauce).

After dinner we rounded off our holiday with a trip back to the Rocks for a Ghost Tour. Man, what an experience that was! Jr Her was very brave, right up until the last place, which was a dark section of an old cottage under a building. She swears she felt something brush her leg there and said she was overcome by a very negative feeling in the place. She was shaking for a while after that. Capped off a lovely holiday.


The underground area that gave Jr Her the creeps. If you look carefully you may see what I believe are two ghostly orbs...

Except, as most of you know, for the loss of my beloved feline buddy Wally. I am told he had a heart attack on Sunday morning and died within seconds. I am not sure what happened, but I do find it a bit hard to accept, at the young age of 7, he had a heart attack. Anyway, the home sitters were very helpful, putting him into his bed and covering him with a blanket. They arranged for him to be cremated for me (at my request), waiving their usual sitting fee so I could afford to get it done. They took him to the animal hospital for pick up as well, and when we got home, I found all his belongings bagged up in the corner where his litter tray used to be, all packed away nicely. It's amazing how much of an impact he had. The house is cold and dark, and horribly quiet without his little bell ringing. And normally, as I typed this, he would be lying curled up across my arms purring and cuddlng me. I really do miss him so...

Sunday 3 May 2009

Forgot something!

I just remembered what I was going to tell you all about being spoiled! The previous blog was the start of it!

I needed new work pants as my two black pair were starting to get loose (I should hope so, too, as one was a size 18, if only a small 18!). Anyway, Him had won a $75 voucher for KMart and we gave it to Jr Her for her birthday. We offered to buy it back so she could have spending money for Sydney, she accepted.

So, I had a $75 voucher to go shopping with, and KMart had buy one, get 60% off the second. Him is great to take shopping when the mood strikes. He goes off looking for things for me and seems to get a kick out of me choosing his picks. So, we all wandered around and he was finding all sorts of black and grey trousers for me. He also picked a white pin striped blouse, a little red top and a black silky top with lace insert in the front. I could only take 6 items in with me, so he waited outside with a huge soft cardigan (my old work cardi was a size 24...)

One pair of those pants didn't fit and one top didn't fit. Back we go for another look. He found another two pairs of pants, a red blouse and a purple/slate cotton top with elastic around the bottom.

Back to the change room and one of the pants fitted, as did the red shirt and purple top. So then I had to choose what I was going to buy. No I didn't, Him said I could have the lot!

I ended up with 3 pair of black pants, the silky black top, the purple slate top, the white pin stripe blouse, and the lovely snuggly cardi! How lucky am I??? Jr Her got a white pair of Dunlop Volleys, and I also bought shampoo for everyone. My purchases totalled $225, for which I paid $168, and as it was, 3 of those items were already reduced, like the black top that was $35 was reduced to $23, and it was one of the ones I got 60% off. I think a pair of pants was reduced from $35 to $25 as well. Not a bad day's shopping, I would say... :-)

Now the only problem I have is what to wear to work first? I think one of the pairs of pants, a different top I already had, and my cardi. Yep, that's what it will be tomorrow!

Spoiled I am

So Friday afternoon was cold and wet. Just beautiful to come home Friday afternoon, grab takeout and snuggle up under the blanket. That's what I planned.

Mind you, I had to stop off at the bank on the way home. No biggie. Except when I got out of the car, I took a few steps on the bitumen car park, and promptly fell over. My flat boots have no tread and one foot decided to keep going when I said stop. I came down on my right knee and hand, which was a bit embarrassing, but I don't think anyone saw me....

So, by the time I got home I was feeling a little sore and sorry for myself (plus the wet bitumen put a wet patch on the knee of my trousers and it got cold very quickly...) Upon my arrival I found a box from my mum. Mind you, it was a big box because my Sister had added the Christmas presents for Him and I she hadn't gotten around to posting yet. I scored two beautiful sets of pillar candles, scented too (my favourites) and Him scored a golfing mousepad and mouse shaped like a somewhat flattened golf ball. Cute! Also included were to copies of the local rag, one of which has a photo of a friend and her two kids on the inside page.

Add to that two packs of musk sticks (the fruit flavoured pack was devoured Saturday night while watching the Port v Adelaide footy game, which Jr Her was happy Port won!)

Plus, there was a CD mother had bought me when above mentioned sister bought them tickets to see - David Campbell! Man, that fellow is great. Very funny! Sister even got the CD signed for me (personally addressed to me too!)

So, thinking I was Queen Muck, I gave snuggled up to Him for a cuddle, when I heard rustling behind me. Keep your eyes closed, says Jr Her. After a while the rustling and giggling stops, and I am permitted to turn around. There she stands in a pair of navy blue velvet slippers, and an Easter Egg Purple fluffy soft hooded floor length bath robe! They decided to give me an early Mother's Day gift, because it was too big to take to Sydney next weekend. How lovely! I had said to Him that if he were looking for ideas, my old robe was somewhere between 8 and 10 years old, I can't remember which. I tell you, it is as soft as a plush teddy bear, and very, very warm. Lovely!

Then I took Him's work ute to the shop for fish and chips. Remind me not to do that again at night as I couldn't see diddly squat out the side windows of the canopy! Never mind. It was a great meal, great ending to a lovely evening!

Wonder what's for Mother's day now then? They tell me there's more....

Fashionista Revisted





The latest efforts from Jr Her. Cute, hey?