Whew

So Monday was Moose's last day with us. As Boss was overseas I had to work the full day, so she opted to take herself off to the zoo followed by ice skating.

But even that couldn't go right in my house, could it?

Six fifteen I was standing in the kitchen making myself breakfast when I got a call from Fluffy. He'd forgotten his security pass into work and could I meet him halfway to drop it off? Mind you, he's been working there for 4 years, but the stupid security officer wouldn't even let anyone vouch for him, nor for some reason could they find his file in the computer system. They all have photo IDs so it should have been there.

So I don my cardigan over my pajamas and head out to the car. Darn it. It has been taking a little to fire up this last week, and this morning I didn't think it was going to start at all. Finally it caught but there was an engine warning light on the dash. Great!

I raced out to meet Fluffy at the appointed rendezvous spot, arriving just as he did. He told me to see if I could get it into Mitsubishi to get it looked at. I had to wait until eight before I could call, but they said to bring it down. That meant I was unable to get Moose into the city. I had to wait at Mitsubishi and get their courtesy bus into work.

Great start to the week. As the car is still under warranty I wasn't too worried. But, of course, it's the battery, and for them to install another and reset all the computers, there went $230. Plus, I booked it in for a service as we were going away for the long weekend. Service is this monday. And we are not going away afterall... but that's another story.

So, Monday I toddle off to work, and Moose gets a taxi to the zoo. Fluffy worked Monday because it's an overtime shift and worth some money. After work he came all the way over to my side of town and picked me up from work, taking me to pick up the car. Lovely boy, isn't he?

Then, I picked up Moose from ice skating. Home at last. She had some packing to do so had an early night after dinner.

Tuesday I thought I would sleep in a bit but Moose still came in at her usual time. No problem, I got up as I was awake anyway, playing with the cat on the bed.

So we got Dobby off to school, taking the dog for a much needed walk, then I drove Moose to the airport, where she still had a 2 hour wait for her plane. Sadly, it was the start of an epic 13 hour trip home for her! The Gladstone air port was closed, so not only did she have a stopover in Melbourne from Adelaide to Brisbane, but she was then diverted to Rockhampton and had to take a bus back to Gladstone. I got a text from her after ten pm saying she was finally home. And she had to work the next day!

Anyway, for us it was a quiet night. A quick tidy up and early night. Dobby was supposed to start guitar this week after having her cast off but as she is a member of the Student Council she was given the job of door person (stamping hands) at the school disco so she got another week off.

I brought home pies for dinner (slack I know) and she toddled off to that. We walked her down, stopping to chat to Myrtle's mum for a bit before coming home. That night I started to be aware of a strange dizzy sensation. Where when you lean down you feel like you want to keep moving. I believe it's called Vergito? Anyway, as I had had Labrynthitis some years ago, and was confined to bed, naturally I got a bit worried. I found the symptoms stayed around the rest of the week, only abating on Sunday morning slightly. Scary!

So, anyway, Dobby had fun at the disco, and Fluffy picked her up at nine afterwards. On the way home he told her we would not be going away with the caravan club for the long weekend as he opted to take up some overtime which was on offer. She spat. Of course. Seeing only that we "should consider other people for a change" and think of what she wanted. Blah Blah. I just ignored it.

Thursday off to work again, very quiet work with Boss away. he phones me each afternoon about half past three, otherwise it's very quiet.

Friday was my birthday. Now, I had already received my present from Dobby and Fluffy so for them, it was just another day. But when Fluffy went to work, I was wide awake so I chose to open my gifts from mum, Tanya and Rat.

Mum gave me these two beautifully boxed serving platters. What do you think? Sorry about the photo quality. It's pretty dark in my bedroom.





Rat gave me ten little carved wooden frogs, and Tanya gave me a rose hand lotion and lavender talcum powder. It was business as normal then, off to work. After work, however, an old school friend and his family were in town and wanted to catch up for dinner.

Dobby finished school early but she didn't phone me. I got worried. I tried to phone her mobile, no answer. I phoned home, no answer. Then I phoned Myrtle's mum and she drove over to check out things. She found Dobby sitting on the front stoop eating noodles. See, I had the house key in my car.... Poor dobby was locked out! Today of all days! She had taken all her dad's tools off his work bench to try to break into the house, then had gone to the van and made noodles in van microwave. Talk about mess! Fluffy was not a happy chappy as he had to clean it all up.

So, after a shaky start we all got ready and went to dinner. I had made a booking for eight at the Fresh Choice restaurant at Marion. We arrived early and were seated at a table for about 12 or more. I didn't actually count.

After a while we looked outside and saw the family arriving. However, they were seated across the other side of the restaurant! Stupid people! I phoned Steve, who had his back to me, and told him to look around. We waved madly and they came to join us. It was great to catch up again. His lovely wife is a facebook friend of mine and we got along just fine. Their youngest daughter is Dobby's age too.

They came back to our place for coffee, which finished the evening off nicely.

Oh, and in the afternoon, before dinner, I found a Facebook message from another old school friend! She found me, and we had been extremely close through school. She said some lovely things, and it was a wonderful reunion. I must spend a few minutes soon and "chat" to her online. We have a long time to catch up on.

So, Saturday, Fluffy went to work, and Dobby and I ran a few errands. I had to go and buy his birthday present first, then we went to Marion to drop an invoice into MediBank Private. Then we went looking for dinnersets. Mine is all in pieces, mismatched and such. I didn't want to spend a lot, so we looked through Big W. Saw a few potentials but didn't rush into anything.

Then we went to K Mart. Nothing much there. I noticed Harris Scarfe was having a sale. 40% off dinner sets. Good place to start. They were expensive but reduced to about $60. A couple took my fancy, one having stripes, another spots, a 3rd was black on the outside and green inside. But the one I chose was 50% off cause it was the last one. Reduced from $110 to $60. It was brown, with cream stripe thing at the top. The bowls were large, and the mugs were quite large too. It was a creamy, chocolaty colour. Very nice. After awhile I decided that was the one I wanted.

A young lad came up and packed it up for me to collect later after we had done some more errand running. As we walked away I heard "chink".... oh dear. Sure enough, he had dropped one of the cups, smashing it. He was so embarrassed, poor bloke. He reduced the price another ten dollars but I pointed out the whole purpose of spending that much on a dinner set was because mine was not complete.

I decided I was quite disheartened and just left it. Dobby and I tried to find a photo frame big enough for her netball photo but couldn't find one so we just went back to Castle Plaza and did some grocery shopping. Fluffy called to say he was on his way home, so we bought him a pie for lunch.

Home to unpack. I bought Dobby Sushi and I had kipper snacks (my family knows what they are) on toast with grilled cheese on top. Very tasty. I also grabbed a bowl of chips, a cup of soft drink and my book, and settled in outside.

Once we felt a bit better, I asked Dobby if she wanted to go back to Marion and I would look again at the other sets. Fluffy had said I could and he made himself comfortable in front of the telly watching the grand final, and promptly fell asleep. I woke him briefly to tell him we were going, then off we went.

After looking again at the sets in Harris Scarfe, I chose this one.



The photo really doesn't do it justice. The red on the plates is a rich red wine colour. They are made of an earthen ware type material, and are surprisingly light. We both agreed that after looking at these sets in Harris Scarfe, the others just looked cheap.

This is a size comparison for the cups - they really are quite large!



With these to offer visitors, you sure wouldn't feel embarrassed to offer them coffee!

I made Fluffy a cuppa in one, and woke him long enough for him to check it out and offer his approval. Then he promptly went back to sleep. He has not been well lately, with work putting him under a lot of stress. He doesn't sleep well, and has been not eating right either. This happened once before and he had a breakdown. I am quite worried about him...

Anyway, I wandered around outside for a while and played with the animals. Do you think someone was posing for the camera?



Dinner was lamb chops baked in the oven, with roast potatoes. Yummy!

Today, Sunday, is a very slow day. As I type this it is after ten am and I am still in my pajamas! I have done nothing more than strip the sheets off the bed and put them into the wash. Time to go take care of the hair (it needs a wash), put the second load of laundry on, then take a walk down to the shop for dog food I forgot yesterday.

After vacuuming the floor, and if I feel like it, mopping the kitchen floor, I will call it quits for the day. This dizzy stuff is almost gone but it sure is draining and I can feel a headache coming on. Don't want to over do it now, do I? *wink*

Extra Terrestrials and ouchies!

What a week it has been. I think Monday was the only normal day in the week. A clean on the weekend, and a quick grocery shop and we were ready for our interstate visitor.

Moose came down from Queensland on Tuesday. I worked the full day, acheived heaps, and after a very fast meal of hot chicken sandwiches for the family it was off to the airport to collect her. I arrived a bit early so parked at the servo so I didn't have to pay. I was also given the work phone to hang on to as Boss is going overseas, so I spent a bit of time playing with that setting up the voice mail etc.

I collected Moose about 6.15 pm, and we came home to relax. It was lovely to see her again, and she came baring gifts. She bought me my birthday presents - an old-style Kermit The Frog telephone (which was supposed to work properly when she bought it but she thinks it only works intermittently now), a Pin The Lips On The Frog party game, two lovely shot glasses with sand in them and frogs on the top, and a frog growth chart. Also a necklace in a frog box.

Wednesday I got to work a half day, and when I finished I raced home to collect Moose. She had played with the dog, gotten the washing off the line and generally relaxed. We had a few errands to run so we went to a couple of local shopping centres and picked up dinner (Maccas) on the way home. Then we raced off to Mitcham Shopping Centre to see The Last Air Bender. I had won tickets from one of my Facebook Friends.

It was a really excellent movie and the effects were fantastic. We saw it in 3D too. I am not sure what all the fuss is about, as this movie would be just as good in 2D.

Thursday I had to work in the morning again. Dobby had an appointment with the Women's and Children's hospital to get her splint removed. As I had to work Moose took her. I got a text at 10.30 to say she was home, Dobby was at school and we could go shopping.

So I finished up quickly at lunch time, then home to collect Moose. We had lunch at Montezuma's followed by a trip to Harbourtown. Now, being the bargain hunter I am, I had lots of fun. I swapped one of the dresses which had a broken zipper for a totally different one. I also picked a $10 summer dress, long with spaghetti straps, for Dobby. Sadly though it turned out to be too small. At JayJays I bought 4 t-shirts for the niece and nephew (2 each) and 2 for Dobby ( 2 for $15) plus another dress reduced to $15. Further along I found a satiny dress for $15 for her. Both of these fit her well.

Moose did better - she bought 3 pairs of jeans and a top for less than $21. Bargain!

After Harbourtown we shopped at the bakery for cream buns and dinner of lamb chops.

Friday I worked another half day. I had managed to do everything I needed before Boss travelled overseas so I was pretty chuffed. I picked up Moose and we drove to the tram stop, and took the tram into the Central Markets.

It was an experience for Moose. Smells, sounds, people. She enjoyed herself and I bought fresh fruit for fruit salad. Home to chop it up and change, then out to dinner. We went to the Tonsley Hotel again, but sadly this time they didn't give us the booth I had specifically requested. However, the food was great and everyone had a good night.

Saturday we decided to head down to Hahndorf for a look. It's been a while since we went there last. We had morning tea at a bakery there, then after more shopping we headed out to Melba's Chocolate Factory. Moose can't each chocolate, but she still found plenty to see. She and Fluffy watched a fellow tossing brittle licorice pieces. Very interesting.

Sunday was an early start as we did the 6km walk leg of the City to Bay Fun Run. That was the reason Moose was here.

Unfortunately we got off to a bad start. We must have left it a bit late because Fluffy headed down toward Glenelg to meet me at a particular place, and I dropped the girls off near the shopping centre we leave from. However, all the entrances to Anzac Highway were closed. I drove round and round trying to figure how to get to the spot I was supposed to meet Fluffy. He didn't have his phone so I was quite upset at how to let him know I couldn't get there. I was so distressed I was even crying. Disappointing, I know!

Eventually I raced back to the start line. I had the numbers you pin on your shirt in the car with me so the other two couldn't even start the walk. Luckily, they were delayed and I made it back in time. But although we waited there was no sign of Fluffy.

We started the walk, not in a hurry, and just around the 3km mark we spotted Fluffy waiting beside the road. As I was carrying his number he joined us for the rest of the walk. He had managed to park along side Anzac Highway and walked up and down trying to see us.

After the race (we finished together, in one hour 13 mins) we went back to KFC while Fluffy walked back to his car. He then drove back to collect my car from close to the shopping centre, and came back to pick us up.

My friend Leanne was supposed to meet us after the race but she had to go home, so we moseyed on home. A quick change of clothes, and we just dagged about for a bit. Fluffy and I were in the carport, looking at my scooter, when I asked him if it would start. We have been having trouble starting it, which is why I hadn't ridden it for some time.

He got it going and I had no excuse. I jumped on and took it around the block. I was terribly nervous. But then I decided to go for a second lap. Mistake. I panicked when I went around the corner, and lost control. I hit the gutter and went sprawling in the gravel. The bike was still running so I dusted myself off, picked up the bike, and got back on it. Very slowly and shakily I made it home. Then promptly panicked again and lost it in the front yard! I really wasn't very good at this.

Time to review the damage. The side of the bike is all scratched, but not too bad.






I have skinned my palm quite badly, grazed my knee, grazed my elbow and have a graze on my butt cheek which will bruise. The hand one is quite nasty and is extremely painful. But, that's life.

After my lovely husband patched me up very gently, I had to change yet again (cause my other change of clothes were now somewhat dusty) and we headed off to Dobby's netball club awards ceremony.

They called up each of the clubs, and a player was awarded an award from one of their benefactors, and a Coach's award. Dobby's team got up and their coach said some lovely words. He explained how they finished fourth, made it to the semifinals, and drew the game. Then, in overtime the other team won. It was that team that won the Grand Final, so they sure gave them a run for their money.

Then the awards. The first award from the benefactor went to a very worthy young lady who was always in the middle of the play. The Coach's Award went to....



Dobby! I should have done what I always did when she scored a goal and yelled out "That's my boy!" But I didn't. I was very proud of her, winning the award in her first season. The coach said he awarded it to the girl who struggled at first with adjusting to the way he wanted her to play but in the end she adapted very well and played very well. Nice!

Then, take a drive back to pick up Fluffy's car, and home. As I have a sore hand they decided to buy dinner. Barnacle Bills'. I sure won't whinge about that!

Now, pain killers and a hot shower, then early night I think. Big week....

Leave me alone, I'm ill!

Well, I am. Last week Boss flew to Sydney Tuesday evening. On Tuesday I had a slight cough. I seemed to have a bit more mucous in my throat and had to keep clearing it. I have noticed over the last few years I generate a lot of either saliva or mucous. Something wet anyway. I always seem to be choking on my own spit or clearing my throat a lot.

Anyway, Tuesday it turned into a light niggly cough. By Wednesday I had a headache and sore throat, but not where it traditionally gets sore. Further down. Toward my chest. By Thursday it had turned into a rattly cough. Terribly annoying. Friday the nose started running. I took a couple of doses of medication but it just ran and ran, and by Friday afternoon it was blocked. Sigh.

Friday night I just couldn't sleep. Every half hour to hour I woke up coughing. And the headache! I don't remember having felt so bad for years. I had to go to work all week, as Boss was away, but it was difficult. Thursday I felt so bad I just wanted to lay down on the couch and rest for a bit. I felt better after my soup, but it got scary for a bit.

As you can tell, I don't get sick often. This last year or so has been the worst for my health. But this was different. I feel lethargic, light headed and this chest thing.

Fortunately as the weekend wears on it seems to be getting better. I am still coughing more but it doesn't hurt now, and the headache is gone. Finally the cough is wet, too, not just thick. It is moving stuff around now, so good news is it's not a chest infection as it's clearing up as it should.

What this does mean, however, is that I am going to be in a fine state for the 6km fun walk, as part of the City to Bay Fun Run on the weekend. Yesterday I didn't have much energy so I didn't do much. Dobby and I did the grocery shopping and she was a great help. I put it all away, made us lunch, and did a bit of washing and tidying, but not much else. Dobby had a party to go to in the evening, to the movies then back to the birthday girl's for cake, so Fluffy and I had a little time to ourselves. We had dinner at the Tonsley Hotel, and by the way, Moose, I booked us a table for Friday night.

Then we picked up Dobby at 9. She was upset because she and a friend Myrtle were the only two not sleeping over, and wanted Myrtle to sleep at our place. This is at 9pm... Fluffy said it was too late to make these plans, and I said I was sick and didn't want to pass it onto Myrtle. Equals one cranky teen. Nothing new there.

This morning all seemed to be forgiven. I felt better after a pretty good sleep last night. I stripped the bed, swept and mopped the dining room floor, and attacked the bathroom. If you saw my shower, you would understand my trouble I have cleaning it. If I tried to touch my toes in there I would hit my butt on the wall and fall face first into the other wall. So, I don't get to clean it as much. I attacked it today with the steam cleaner. Didn't do anything at all. But at least it got some attention and the floor got cleaned somewhat.

I also decided to wash the pillow top off the bed. Another mistake. Seems it is a tad too big for my machine and now has a few nibble holes in the "fitted" part, where it got caught in the door during the 1400rpm spin cycle. Oh dear. At least it's clean, apart from the patches where it has picked up the dirt that accumulates in the corners of the machine. So I ran an empty cycle through that too for good measure.

Fluffy was busy this afternoon. He has put together our old computer and spent considerable time cleaning it up, deleting old programs and stuff. He was also a little treasure and vacuumed for me. Yesterday he tried out his new Father's Day toy - the blower vac. He has only used the blower part, but did heaps of yard work with that, and clearing out the pile of dead leaves and branches under the fig tree, and weeding some of the front garden. Looks so much better!

Dobby also cleaned her room Friday. Why? Because her bed arrived Thursday. Wanna see?

This was a terrible mess before she cleaned it herself!

Because the room is small it is hard to take a good picture, but this really looks great. White bed, quite high, drawers on the trundle underneath, and a little cabinet at the foot of the bed, not visible here, has her telly on it. The wall beside her bed is covered in posters she pulled from magazines.

I also bathed the dog yesterday. He looks pretty good clean, doesn't he?



I had to go mad at him though Thursday. About 4.15 in the morning there was a loud noise that woke me up. A few seconds later there was a huge flash of lightening and a massive crack of thunder. Bang! Dobby yelled out, the animals scatterd, and Ozzie dashed about the house ending up first in Dobby's room, from which he was shooed, then into ours. Because he helps himself to the couch at night now, he has been banished back to his gated off area in the laundry. But he soon pulled that down and was very difficult to coax back out. Bad dog. This morning he once again came into our room. Don't know why, there was no storm about, and in fact the weather was beautiful all day. But, there went the sleep in anyway.

I also did a bit of ironing tonight, plus did a little in the van (cleaned the fridge, washed the floor). Now, after a hot bath and a hot lemon drink, I am plumb knackered out and ready for bed. I can't believe how tired being unwell makes you. Luckily, I am usually just fine. On the mend so tomorrow will be a better day.

AB6D8AAE-DDBC-04C8-47AB-B25EB1C90FB3

1.03.01

It's Showtime!

So this week, so far as my weeks go, has been relatively slow. It didn't start that way though.

Monday evening saw us at our last appointment with our family counsellor. She has pronounced us "cured" and ready to face the world as a family on our own. Apparently we have made sufficient headway to be able to tackle the next few teen years without too much trouble. And, of course, if we do encounter difficulties, we are always welcome back.

Dobby also had her netball team breakup dinner - across the other side of town. So, immediately after the doctor's at North Adelaide we had to head off to Marion, and we had about 15 minutes to get there! While driving past the Adelaide Oval, on King William street, I even managed to get a speeding ticket for my trouble. For some reason, I forgot it was 50km through there and was, I thought, legally doing 61km. Next thing flash, flash, flash. Sure enough, on Thursday it arrived in the mail. Oh well, live and learn.

We were a bit late for dinner, but we had a wonderful evening. She has had a great team this year, and her coach was magnificent. The girls presented him with a nut hamper and a lovely bottle of wine. Dobby is Facebook friends with most of her team, so hopefully they will stay in touch. Some are doing summer netball, and Dobby wants to too, so I had better find out how before too long...

Tuesday was okay, as was Wednesday and Thursday. Friday, well, the weather turned horrid. It has been raining on and off for so long now we all have webbed feet and mould growing between our toes. But Friday, well, that just took the cake.

We had vicious winds, heavy rain, thunder and the works. Why? Because it was the first day of the Royal Adelaide Show, of course. I think, in the 9 years we have lived here, I can not really remember a year where it hasn't rained on the first day of the show. Aah, the joys of spring.

This year, we went because I had won a family pass from Triple M. Speaking of Triple M, Friday was also the last day of Adelaide's (and my) favourite breakfast show team's 8 year stint on radio. They were such a lovely, funny threesome, I just can't imagine what next week is going to bring. I know it will take ages to get used to something new....

Anyway, I had this pass. We had made arrangements to take Hermione, out of the goodness of our hearts, because she doesn't get to go often. Winning the pass meant we could get in for free. Almost. It was two adults and two children under 15. Hermione has just turned 16... Oh well.

Anyway, we were going to go on the Saturday but when I saw the weather forecast I said no way! I would rather go Sunday. Even up to about Wednesday I wasn't sure, but then I told Fluffy, that although it was Father's Day, I just didn't want to spend Saturday out in the rain.

Hermione was furious and told the world on Facebook how p* o*'d she was at me. That really made me angry. I mean, here we are, taking her to the show, and that's what I get? We certainly didn't have to! I would have been just as happy staying at home! We always seem to waste so much money at the show. She complained that she had planned to do homework all day Sunday and go to the show Saturday.

Anyway, when Nan dropped her off on Friday evening, after a particularly nasty afternoon at work, working late when I was supposed to finish early, I was not in the mood for what I saw on Facebook. So, Fluffy took Bruno outside so he could have a smoke, Dobby went into the bedroom to set up the computer for Hermione, and I sat down with Nan and Hermione and gave Hermione a piece of my mind.

I pointed out that it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was at our house for a certain number of hours over the weekend. The proportion of hours we would be at the show, and she would have to do homework, was irrelevant because she was still there the same amount of time.

I told her that this was my house and I would like to think that I got to make the decisions on where we went and when, and I would not be held to ransom. I also told her that I was offended with her putting that out there on Facebook. I did not want to spend the day in the rain, and it was my right to not spend the day in the rain. Nan made her apologise to me.

I also suggested that when she had homework she stay at home. My weekends are the only time I get to do things as a family, and run errands, and pay bills, and do shopping, and to have to put everything on hold so she could do homework did not fit well with me. As it turned out, the little weed only did about two hours Saturday afternoon. And I think a lot of that was spent playing with Dobby.

Anyway, Saturday, it bucketed down rain all day. It was a truely miserable day. We went into the city first thing, as Fluffy wanted to get my birthday gift. We had originally ordered one from JB HiFi at Marion, but they coudn't get it in, so we chose to go to the Telstra store in the city, as they had them for $50 off.

What am I looking for? The new Telstra THub telephone.

Its a phone, with a small pad, about the size of an address book, which allows you to access some internet sites, organise your contacts, use the phone hands free through the pad, and play radio, and pictures on the pad. It's quite a neat little unit.

Anyway, When we spoke to JB, we told them that the Telstra store had them for $50 off. That's RRP of $299 less $50, is $249. JB had them for $288. The fellow who served us told us he could do it for $50 off, making it $238. Great! Put us down for one!

However, he phoned me (and I really must get back to him this week) saying he was having difficulty and if we wanted we could go to the Telstra shop and get one. So we went for a look.

We were all set to buy one for $249, but had to wait and wait to be served. Stuff this, says Fluffy, so we walked down Rundle Street for a bit, then back up to the mall. We walked up and window shopped a bit, then came upon a JB HiFi store there!

Fluffy wandered over to talk to someone, while the girls and I perused the "Buy 2 get 1 free" bin of DVDs.

Next thing, Fluffy comes back with one! And they gave it to him for $238! Bonus!

Next stop lunch, then home so Hermione could do her homework.

However, about 3.30 the power went off. Luckily, it flickered a few times first so Hermione was able to save her work before the computer went off.

The girls just sat around listening to music, Fluffy went to bed, and I sat around and tried to read. So much for our roast dinner! Eventually, after filling the house with candles, I caved in and ordered pizza. The power came back after seven!

Even so, the wind still blew and the rain, well, rained. This morning, Sunday, it turned up sunny. The forecast was for showers with sunny periods.

We made our way to the show, and Fluffy came too. I am glad he did. We just wandered around and looked at stuff. We usually check out the showbag pavilion, to get an idea of what the girls want then go off and do other stuff. When we are ready to leave to head back to the pavilion.

It's a formula that always works and we used it again today. I bought a few bits and pieces, like a jar of bath salts for me, soap for Dobby and Fluffy, a mug for Fluffy, a dress for Dobby, a Gadget Man number plat for Fluffy. He bought me a jewellery set comprising ring, earrings, necklace and bracelet for $20, and he also got himself a caricature done of him driving along with the van behind. The artist spelled gadget wrong, but we don't care. The pic is great, don't you think? The whole picture was too large to scan, but you get the idea.


Anyway, eventually we had had enough and wandered home. Well, that is, we took Hermione home.

You know that little person sure knows how to push buttons now. She was fine all day, fine all the way home. Then, when she got home, suddenly she is all over Nan, "I've got a headache"...

Then, while we were sitting around having a cuppa, suddenly she is moaning with her head burried in her arms.

I just looked at her and said "why don't you just get a Panadol?". "Yeah, I'll do that". And then made a point of coming over to where I was sitting and getting a glass from the cabinet behind my head. I know for a fact there are cups in the cupboard under the counter she could have used for a drink of water to take her tablet.

Then, "I'm going to lay down" she snorts and stomps off. I called her back "What?" "How about you take your stuff with you?" She had dumped her showbags in a pile on the kitchen floor.

The look she gave me was pure poison "I was going to get those later" she whinged and picked them up and stomped off to her room. Bah, no such thing as thanks for the weekend, never a word from the ungrateful little cow. I wonder why I bother sometimes.

So, anyway, we noticed while in one of the pavilions, that it had been raining. By the time we got to Nan's place, it had started again and it set it. It's been raining again since. Thank you, God, for the lovely weather we had at the show.

Meatloaf in the oven, fries in the oven, and vegetable au gratin in the oven. Yep, that's dinner ready for my man on Father's day. Icecream and custard for dessert. Yummo!

Melbourne Part 2

Before I go any further I must tell you I forgot to add something last time. Wednesday we did not stay home. Dobby sang in the Festival of Music at the Festival Theatre, along with about 150 other kids, and a troupe of dancers. She was in it last year too and it was great!

Anyway, After traipsing all over Melbourne CBD for a Smiggle store, not finding one, making our way back to our room for room service dinner, we looked in the telephone book and found a Smiggle store - right around the corner from us! Typical!

So Saturday we knew exactly what we were doing. I had booked us tickets at the 11.00 viewing of the Titanic exhibition, so we had a little time to spare. Now, in Adelaide, all the shops open at 9.00am on Saturday. We thought Melbourne would be the same. So we went down to the Sky Lounge Bistro for breakfast. This is a pic of it, though not a good one.



If we booked breakfast upon check in it cost $17.95, but if we just wandered down it was over $23. We booked. But it just wasn't worth it. Dobby only had two little (and very tasty) hash browns, a dessertspoon full of scrambled egg, a bowl of cornflakes with yogurt. And a glass of juice. That was it. I didn't eat much more, just added bacon and swapped the cornflakes for tasty muesli. So we cancelled Sunday's breakfast.

After breakfast we set out for the Smiggle store. Down the street, around the corner, and we came across a heck of a lot of noisy road works. On the Friday Swanston Street was a hive of cars and trams. Saturday it was closed off, fenced off, and full of machines digging holes and tearing up the tracks! Huge job in progress.

We saw this couple of buildings along the way.


Quote of the day - Me: "Hey, look at that one!" Dobby: "Yeah, looks like some kind of building...."


I am not sure what this building is, but it looks interesting.

A few streets down we found La Trobe Street, and half of this street was blocked off to house the machinery used in the Swanston Street works. Across the road we found the mall.

Remember I mentioned that round, pointed building in my last blog? Well, all the while we had been staring at the biggest shopping centre I've ever seen! It's called Melbourne Central, and it's built around an old prison.



This is inside the building, looking up at the dome. It had areas covered in Ivy, and something different everywhere you looked.





This is part of the old prison building, inside the bigger building.

It's 3 levels high, passes over the road in one area, and you actually cross the street in the middle of the arcade in another level.



It seemed to stretch for miles!

What we found when we got there at 9.20 was that it was closed. Until 10.00. We were only there to look at Smiggle, so we knew that we would be cutting it fine to shop and then make our way to the exhibition by eleven. So we cased the joint, found Smiggle, then killed some time by looking around. We stopped at Diva for a look and found a few bargains.

Then, surprise of surprises, Dobby spent less than I at Smiggle. I wanted a notebook for my handbag. So I bought a pack with a notebook, pen, huge paperclip and eraser and pencil. Then, I thought, I need a sharpener. So I bought one of those. Then figured why not a calculator? Then a pencil case to put them all in. Now I am kitted out properly!



Outside the museum was this lovely Royal Exhibition building, with this fountain outside, which I would have liked to have had time to photograph properly... behind it they were setting up for the food and wine festival.



Our first view of the museum proper, was a stretch of open ground, with signs pointing us to the main attraction.

We had to walk fairly quickly back to the exhibition. It wasn't far, but far enough. And all uphill. We were quite pooped when we got there, with just a few minutes to spare. Well, ages actually, because people were lined up way back out the entrance.

I tied my jacket around my middle, and wouldn't you know, when we got inside they were taking photos. "Don't worry, we are only taking head shots so you're jacket will be fine" says the kid taking the photo. And stupidly I believed him. Dammit.



Still, it's not a totally bad picture I guess... we also bought a black and white one, of us standing in front of the huge propellers.

The exhibition was interesting, but so crowded it was difficult to see some of the displays. Just too many people at once. They were stopped in front of the huge blocks of writing, so you couldn't get past, they were crowded around the display cabinets so you couldn't see what was in them. People everywhere.

But the total effect of the lighting, sound, display set up (complete with a hallway, staterooms, and actual chunks of the side of the ship) was very good. There was a video playing of how they collected some of the artifacts, however it was at the end of a hallway, beside a corner, so you couldn't stand there and watch it because it blocked off the walkway!

Anyway, after spending a small fortune in the gift shop (2 books, a lovely brooch/hair pin for Dobby, tea towel and magnet for mother, badge for father, pen and stubby cooler for dad, plus the photos came to $112...) we headed back toward the city centre.

Dobby wanted to see the Tim Burton exhibition, which was on as well. And were do you think that was? All the way down the other end of the city of course! Back down noisy Swanston Street. By this time we were truly walked out and knackered. When we got there, we were rather saddened to find it was going to cost us heaps to get in, and there was a half hour wait.

Dobby was not terribly impressed when I expressed my reluctance. But we both agreed we needed to sit for a bit, so we just found a little stone wall, and watched the people walking about. There was a huge screen up, with a hidden camera, and we watched with amusement the people stopping to take pictures of themselves on the big screen. Quite funny.

Anyway, eventually we were beaten so we slowly made our way back to the room. A quick stop for Sushi on the way for lunch, even though we had eaten some lovely yogurt earlier.



This church was massive, too big to photograph at once. There are some lovely buildings on this street, and some weird people too. Like the older gentleman, wearing brightly coloured board shorts, with an equally bright, but sadly mismatched shirt, buttoned with only two buttons, rather crookedly, across his huge stomach. I joked that was Dobby's father-in-law, as her dad keeps finding her "husbands".



This chair was just sitting on the sidewalk outside a little cafe (there are hundreds, but mostly Asian food) minding it's own business. I rather like it, don't you?

Back up stairs we decided we would just sit for a while. Alas! No satellite television! That meant we only had 7, 9, 10, ABC and SBS, and we all know what weekend television is like! Dobby found her perch back on the window ledge and stayed there most of the afternoon.

We went to McDonalds for dinner, it was right near the hotel. Actually, Dobby had Maccas, I had the last of my pizza from the night before, and we stopped at a little deli and bought an ice cream each.

Sunday morning we were awake early. After packing up, we decided to go to Maccas for breakfast (hotcakes, hash browns and a drink was far cheaper than the bistro!). As we had to check out at ten, we figured we were all walked/shopped out, so we may as well head to the airport.

When we stepped outside the hotel, a taxi was waiting for us. I don't remember if I told her the taxi on the way in ripped us off, something shocking, and his car was dirty and smelly.

This one, also driven by a middle eastern person, was worse! It rattled to such a degree I didn't think we were going to make it! And his fuel light was flashing!

Anyway, we did make it, and he didn't rip us off at all. Saved ourselves over ten bucks!

At the airport, we dragged our bags around for a while looking for shops. Dobby heard there was a Smiggle shop there (did I mention she's obsesses??) but we didn't find one. That was the only time she got moody and horrid. Otherwise she was great.

We found other shops at which to unburden her wallet of her remaining money (most of it anyway). We stopped for awhile at Krispy Kreme for a snack and I read my ebook while she looked around. Then eventually we moved to the bakery and partook of some very nice baguette and pie. Eventually, with about an hour and a half before our flight we made our way down to the lounge. It was actually quite nice to be not in a hurry, take our time, just hang, you know? We both seemed to enjoy it.

We got home and Fluffy had cleaned the house from top to bottom (which meant we had to be very careful not to misplace a single thing or we would bare the wrath of the cleaning monster!) He had done about 5 loads of laundry over the weekend (it had been wet all week so I couldn't do more than what would fit on the airer in the lounge over night with the heater blowing on it), vacuumed, tidied, cleaned, and cleaned the inside of the car.

I was extremely grateful for everything he did. It was lovely to come home to a clean house. And it's always nice to climb into your own bed, but when that bed also has fresh sheets, it's even better!

Melbourne Part 1

So this week was busy all week! It started with Monday morning. First stop at 8.00am was for blood tests pertaining to her doctor appointment last Friday. First in line meant we made the hospital no problem. I had to take Dobby back to the hospital to get her finger examined to see if it was healing properly. I thought it was just a quick look see. WRONG! I parked around the corner and made our 9.00am appointment with a couple of minutes to spare (like 15 or so).

The nurse took us into a room just before nine and took off the strapping on Dobby's fingers. We waited. And waited. Eventually at 9.30 I heard her name being called, and let the doc know we were in here, not out in the waiting room! She looked at the finger and sent us up for x-rays. Oh dear. Up we go to the next level, then wait for them to get developed, then back down to Pediatrics. Sigh. Another wait. By this time the room is chock-a-block with noisy women and equally noisy children. Finally we went in and the doc said her fracture hadn't moved, which was fantastic, and that that type of fracture (the first bone after the hand of her left index finger, right beside the knuckle) was notoriously unstable.

Then we had to wait for a splint to be made! What? It had only been strapped for ten days! But, we sat and waited another hour for her splint. It's purple with a bright green strap... I'll include a photo later, as I just realised I don't have it downloaded yet.

Anyway, I got to work at 12.30....

Tuesday was a trip to the Repat hospital for an abdominal scan. That was no problem really. Mind you, she forgot she was supposed to fast and ate a handful of nuts! But, fortunately they didn't seem to show up....

Made it to work at 10.30am that day...

Wednesday we actually didn't have anything on...

Thursday I had to duck out after work to find a light weight warm jacket. I looked everywhere, and finally found a fleecy think jacket at Target, that was priced at $39 but scanned at less than $32. Gotta be happy with that. A quick grocery shop, then home with dinner and a last minute pack.

Dobby had an appointment at the doc for the results of her earlier blood tests and scan, and as I had already taken so much time off work, Fluffy graciously agreed to take her. Turns out she is pretty clogged up inside, and her blood sugar is quite high. She has been told she must improve her diet (as we had actually tried to do this week anyway) and take these suppositories to help remove some of the "clogging". I told her she was full of crap....

Friday we were up very early as Fluffy dropped us off at the airport on his way to work (we got there about 5.45am)...

Dobby and I at the airport having fruitsalad for breakfast...

Our plane left just after seven, and we were in Melbourne, checking into the motel by 9.30am. Turns out, when I booked, I booked a studio room, with a note added that I needed two single beds. But what she didn't tell me was there the studio room only has a double (queen) bed. There were no other beds or rooms available so we were stuck with it. The room, otherwise, was lovely! Dobby graciously offered to sleep on the floor but I told her it was okay with me if she didn't want to.


Our room. It's small but lovely. Comfy too.


This is the view from our 11th floor window. Take note of that pointy round building... it will feature in my next blog...

We were lucky enough to be able to check in right there, and once settled, trudged up the road about 50m to the Victoria Markets. I didn't take any photos of the markets because, well, I forgot. We didn't buy much but it took a few hours to go through everything. We couldn't buy much because we didn't have much room (carry on luggage only) and for the most part, it was a lot of stalls of the same thing - shoes, clothes, hoodie jackets and such. There were a few knick knack stalls, and I bought Fluffy a teeshirt that says "I'm busy. You're an Idiot. Have a nice day". I liked it. I also bought him a wooden bead bracelet and necklace. He had bought himself one in New Zealand but the elastic broke so I replaced it.

Dobby bought herself a purple hoodie and not much else. Just a long hairpiece extension thing.


Suits her, don't you think?



This is me clowning around trying it on.

As it was so terribly, bitterly cold, we decided after a bite to eat to head back to the motel. Once inside we turned on the heater and just kicked back. Dobby played with her hair piece (I even tried it on..) and I watched TV. We found Discovery Channel, and it had a couple of crime type shows on to watch.

Eventually about 4.30 or so, we was restless so I asked if she wanted to go explore a little. We rugged up and headed out. I suggested we head in the general direction we would need to take to go to the Titanic display. It was quite a walk but rather interesting.


This is a Theatre Restaurant we passed. The adds for this place look rather interesting.

We walked for ages, turning down Exhibition street. Our mission, apparently, was to find a Smiggle stationary store. No worries, we had nothing better to do.


It was lightly misty raining, and this is a rainbow we spotted between buildings.

We turned down a street randomly, and realised we were headed to China Town. It's an amazing place, Melbourne city, full of little lane ways and alleys. In Collin's Street, in China Town, you are accosted everywhere by people wanting to entice you into their establishment to eat. It's quite competitive. One thing we did notice was that everything was in Asian, and the majority of the people we saw were Asian. And not just in China Town.


This is one of a pair in the centre of the alley that is China Town. I like the structure behind him too, don't you?


This is just looking down Collins Street, at China Town.

We just kept walking around, turning random corners, eventually finding ourselves at the southern most part of the city square. Without finding a Smiggle Store. After a bit Dobby was getting tired (and I could feel a stiff headache coming on) so we turned back. The weather was failing us too, with frequent misty rainfalls. Just enough to make your hair frizzy.

We weren't worried, because I told her when we got back to the motel we would have a look in the phone book for a Smiggle store close to us. She was happy with that.





During our wanderings, we found several of these horse carriages. It was lovely to hear the clap clap of their hooves on the road. Dobby was too chicken to take a ride. I would have loved one though!

About 6.30 we made it back to the warmth of the room, and decided for dinner we would order room service. There is an organisation that delivers to motels in the area, it seems. We had a 9" pizza each (tropicana for her and supreme for me) plus wedges with sour cream and chilli sauce. And a bottle of diet coke. I could only manage one piece of pizza and half the wedges, which, I have to say, were the nicest wedges we had tasted, very close behind, or even possibly equal to, the ones we had at Darling Harbour last year. We both agreed we would have to compare to decide...

Anyway, we watched some more Discovery channel, eventually settling in to watch a ghost hunting show. Sadly we both fell asleep and didn't see much...

Anyway, as it's late now, I'll add part two soon. Not sure if I will get to it tomorrow, as I am going to be very busy from 6.15am until probably about 9.30pm!

Did that week just fly by?

Cause I swear, I musta missed it somewhere. I can't believe how fast time flies now.

This week was certainly interesting. Monday night my friend Leanne popped in to pick up her Tupperware, so as she was coming so far across town, I figured she may as well stay for dinner. I 'm afraid it wasn't anything very flash but she was lovely and polite and ate all her dinner. We also had home made cheesecake for dessert. Yummo!

Wednesday Dobby missed her guitar lesson due to her finger being fractured. She didn't mind too much. She will also miss this next week due to her concert, but I'll blog about that next week. It will be a big one next week!

Tuesday night Dobby and I got our hair done. This is mine...



What do you think? Dobby wouldn't let me take a pic of hers. Fluffy hates it, but Dobby and I like it. Something different!

On Friday Fluffy came home from work saying he had hurt his back again. This time it seemed to be muscular, around the base of his spine. Not as bad as the other issue, and moving certain ways offered some relief this time. Luckily.

About 10.3o Friday morning I got a call from the school. Dobby was in the sick room. She has been complaining all week of pains in the stomach. Apparently for weeks now she has had these pains. Around her right side, but sometimes it seems to move. So, as Boss was still not in yet, I figured I had better wait for him. He finally got to work after eleven, so I met him on the stairs and told him I had to go.

I picked her up, and although her headache had gone she still had the stomach pain. I figured now or never, I had better phone the doc. The only appointment I could get was at 1.15. It was still only 11.30 at this time.

I phoned boss and he gave me the rest of the day off. He already knew I would be late in on Monday because I have to take her up to the Women's and Children's hospital to have her finger looked at for a follow up.

Anyway, I took her to the doc. She prodded around her stomach and found a tender patch. The doc told me that if she were older she would suspect gall stones. There is a huge history of gall stones in our family but she said no, she was too young.

So, this Monday before her trip to the hospital I have to take her up for blood tests. Then, on Tuesday morning I have to take her for an abdominal scan to see if there is anything there. Great!

Anyway, Friday evening she had a sleep over at Hermione's. I love sleepovers! And Nan loves having her. We dropped her off when Fluffy came home and Nan made us fresh scones and gave us the leftovers. Love that lady!

After that Fluffy and I came home and veged in front of the telly. Saturday we wandered down to Marion and in Bunnings I bought his Father's day present - a blower vac. I also bought some plants to replace the ones I lost in the wild weather recently. Then across to the shopping centre to see if we could find cheap dog toys for Oz. We also found a cheap pair of black stretch jeans/tights things for Dobby to wear to her concert Wednesday. We had lunch as well, and put in an order for a Telstra THub. That's my birthday present. Yay!

Back home I planted my new plants. Boy, this arthritis I have is giving me so much trouble. My poor back ached so bad and the pain in my fingers was worse than ever. But I couldn't ask Fluffy to help because of his back. So I just soldiered on.

Then, the lady behind us, who has a little dog Ruby, asked if Ruby could come play with Ozzie for a bit. Sure, we said. Then she went shopping. Ruby and Oz have fun, running around everywhere.

But we were going out for dinner and she still hadn't returned so I had to pin a note to the back fence telling her we had gone out and to come get her when she was ready. We left them here together.

We went to Montezuma's. I really enjoyed it but Fluffy, typicall, forgot his glasses so couldn't read the menu. And I don't think he really wanted to go. He let me order something for him, which I did. We had the 3 dip starter, which was two warm and one cold dip with warm corn chips. Very tasty.

I ordered him a chicken dish, which was half a small chicken with a bean dip and salad (instead of rice) and I had a garlic prawn in tomato sauce dish with rice on the side, which I didn't eat either. The dish itself was covered in melted cheese with two warm tortillas on the side, and it was positively delightful! I will definitely order that again!

We saw some old bowling buddies there as well, which was nice.

Home by nine, then a trip to the local "adult" shop for something to watch. Boy, that shop is expensive. Might have to look somewhere else next time...

Sunday we tried to sleep in the but cat had other ideas. So we watched some more of the election coverage on Sunday on None. Boring as! Interesting the situation, but politics and sport have to be my two least favourite subjects. Ich.

Eventually we got up and did some housework. At lunchtime, I took nachos outside in the sun on the patio, and made a card for a friend who recently lost her father-in-law. Spent a bit of time there before going up to pick up Dobby. She stayed two nights with Hermione as it was her birthday party too. They had a great time apparently.

Back home, Dobby liked the hair bands, skull candle and jeans I bought her. Dinner of chicken pieces and chips, then early bed I think. Fluffy's back is still sore, especially because he had to help a friend of Nan's unload a sofa bed, got it as far as Nan's entry, then it would go no further. Dug a big groove in her new lino too. She is quite upset, understandably, because it won't fit. And she just got rid of the spare bed too! Feel quite bad for her.

Anyway, busy week this next week. I may not get to blog until Monday at work next time! But it will be worth it!