late update #1

Two weeks today since we got here and we have hardly stopped.

Highlights (so far)

15/12 DestructoBoy sleeping for 17 hours after arrival 1 pm to the following 6 am! Princess C-W got 14!


16-20/12 I'm not sure. I think we slept. And maybe ate ;-)


21/12 Granma's 'ahemtieth' birthday going well.


Completing my speech before the threatened tears actually fell.


DestructoBoy and Princess Curly-Wurly both being gainfully employed and stayed out of mischief for the duration of the party.


22/12 Foreign visitors and her son-in-law offering to take Sylv out for lunch for her actual birthday b/c her lousy children had all buggered off to do shopping!


The professional we booked for the family photo should (I think) look for another trade.


We made my mum cry - a lot! (This was good crying - not because we all buggered off.)


23/12 A night spent in Melbourne saw us travel from one end to the other (Lygon Street to ST. Kilda Beach for any with local knowledge) and my boy having to wear home my jumper over his undies as he had had a discussion with the ocean!


24/12 Christmas Eve was spent wrapping and wrapping and wrapping - but if my kids are reading this it happened by magic!


25/12 Christmas morning after opening presents we went to the beach for a few hours. With towels and hats and sunscreen and everything!


Christmas evening/night I watched my boy play cricket with two of his uncles and all of his boy cousins. And then I might have just a little bit 'set the cat among the pigeons' with my mother's in laws. Is it bad if someone hangs up on you?


26/12 Boxing Day my lovely sister, Giovanna and her husband, Paolo took the terences to the surf beach to try out the new wetsuits they had given the kids for Christmas. Depending on who is telling the story the waves D/boy jumped were at least a metre high!


27/12 The next day CK and I took them back to the surf beach (these kids really were meant to live in a hot climate!) and watched as Princess C-W ran through the shallows, boogie board under her arm and paddled into the waves. Occasionally she even caught one in a little way! D/boy mooched in the shalllows but he had fun.


All four of us piled into a very grungey rental tank and head inland to rendevous with my sister before heading to her inlaws' farm. All good and well and there was still sufficient memory for me to find my way around my old hometown. I even waved at Ric-Rac's door (I think it was hers) as we drove past.


28/12 I say 'all well and good with the rental tank' except for the bit where 20 kms outside Ballarat it began to make a very weird knocking/clanky sound! So CK and I sat by the side of a v. busy road for over two hours in the midday sun waiting for rescue by the dodgey hire car people.


Having provided us with a replacement tank we legged it off towards the Grampians to try and catch Giovanna before the sun went down. Not very far up the road the throaty roar of the engine in the replacement vehicle sounded suspicioulsy like the knocking of a very ropey exhaust! Every dip and rough patch we hit for the next three days made us cringe and check the mirrors to see what might be left in the road behind us. Nothing has obviously fallen off yet but wait until I get in to see them tomorrow.


29/12 We played in Warnambool (or Warnambod as it says on my UK driver's licence) and I bought some posh new frocks (two skirts and a couple of shirts but you know - I take glamour where I can find it;-) then back to the farm for a walk to the creek, a ride on the quad bike, feeding the race horses, jumping across mahoosive haybales, tasting the lucerne, the kids riding in the tractor with my b-i-l's dad while he shifted the bales and then DestructoBoy got some further skill sessions in the art of Australian Rules football - poor thing, there is only so much his mother can teach him!


30/12 Despite gale force winds we braved the Great Ocean Road although I politely declined CK's offer of an helicopter flight to view the cliffs from the air on this particular day.


After having to hold on the the terences to stop them flying away at one veiwing spot (12 Apostles I think) we decided to head inland and found ourselves at the Otway Fly. Not a nasty airborne creature but a fabulous tree top walk which at its highest is some 45 metres up!


Princess C-W was running bravely along the gantries while poor old Babyman had really regressed and was clinging to the rail for dear life. I feel certain his evil mother making said paths sway was irrelevant to him


My girl abseiled down a 35 metre height this afternoon - I remain in awe of her bravery. Do you know I swear her general pinkness is washed with the red badge of courage in many situations? She really rocks.


Then we drove the collapso-mobile all the way back up here to the beach.


When Picasa and Google are friends again I shall upload pics until then let me say to you all - I hope your Christmas was fabulous and may your New Year be joy-filled and as fabulous as the last 12 months have been

ANOTHER reason to love the guy who invented the innernest!

Here I stand in Changi Airport, Singapore typing to all y'all out there in Innernetsland. How cool is that ?!?!?

Of course I say stand but in reality I am a withered and beaten wreck of the woman who lived through the massive fire alert evacuation fiasco of Heathrow T3 December 2008. I am a diminshed version of the mother who freed the increasingly frantic 10 y.o. from the confines of the soft play areoplane in the boarding lounge. And yes, I am a lesser person than the one who nearly got thrown out at 30,000 feet for mentioning to a steward my concerns about the people in front of me using nail polish!!


You see when we arrived here for our NINE hour playtime at Changi I found the OSIM (I think) shop filled with gadgets and equipment to promote rest, relaxation and rejuvenation of the body and the soul. And with weirdly swollen calves and feet I was all for anything that would allow me to put my shoes back on. Si I slipped said feet and calves into his weirdy boot machine and a gentle pulsing began on my soles. Mmmmmmmmm.

Not so mmmmmm when it was swiftly joined by a squishing action from my calves downto my toes. The bloody thing contracted and was, I feel sure, trying to surreptiously bind my toes and turn me all Ancient Chinese-y. this torture went on for 15 minutes and was exacerbated by the headgear he forced on me.

So while my head was being pleasantly, if a little robotically, massaged and words of relaxation and calmness being drip-fed into my brain I was having the lower half of my legs squeezed and manipulated with such ferocity that even now three hours later I still bear teh marks!


And this is only 24 hours after leaving home - who knows what the next month will bring!

Read all about it! Superhero tags rubbish blogger.

..... The Caked Crusader, saviour of bakers and those interested in cake, has tagged me for a random facts meme. I haven't done one for a while so here goes.

It is a six facts meme. They have to be random. I hope they are a little interesting. And I am supposed to six more people. I shall hunt down some new faces and tag them I think.


I think I shall make this one themed. Hmmmm .... TGTH starts tomorrow so how about a travel theme? OK, here goes......



1. I hate the white noise that comes with riding in a plane 30,000 feet above the earth's surface. It is like sitting next to a photocopier. (My tame physicist suggests that in fact it may actually be 'pink noise' as it is not completely balanced across the spectrum ;-)


2. I have travelled on a bus from Brisbane all the way to my home town of Ballarat in a 24 hour period. It was a fabulous trip, I sat on the step next to the driver and watched a lightning storm as only happens in Queensland.


3. I have done two Great Victorian Bike Rides (I think that fella heading toward the rails is cheating somewhat). For those not living in Victoria this does not mean everyone rides around on penny farthings while wearing period costumes. It is a seven day extravaganza of bike-riding, touring, camping and hilarity. Even now - 20 years- later I had my kids in stitches last night regaling them with a song from the first trip?


4. I try and buy a cake tin or some other baking equipment/bling from wherever I go. Perhaps this would explain why I have over the 170 biscuit cutters? (no that number isn't a typo -rooly tooly 170+)


5. I get car-sick if I travel in the back of a car or on wind-y roads. This has always made trips down the Great Ocean Road a bit of a bugger.


6. Having run out of randoms points I threw the question out to CK and he said 'don't eat the peanuts on planes!'

Excuse me?

Apparently before his first trip to Australia I sent him a letter that included a warning against eating the peanuts on the plane. Apparently he was terrified of them the whole trip over!

If anyone has any idea why I would say that please do contact me because I am completely clueless!

eyespy - a burst of colour!

This was taken back in September during the Evening Procession of our town's Carnival. Taking pictures without flash meant there was a lot of movement but I was quite pleased with how this came out. Not sure now what this meant to be but I shall call her 'Flame Child'

More jugs!

Given that my jugs were soooooo well received (mmmf, snigger, snigger, snffl, snort. I said 'jugs') last time I thought you might like to see some more.


I bought this at Whittards back in the Summer when showing my-oldest-friend-in-the-whole-wide-world around our very historic, closest major town.

It isn't the favourite from my 'unintentional collection' - there are prettier ones but this makes me smile and it made me think of painting class. Plus it is big (comparatively speaking) and big is always good, right? ;-)

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This is another Burleigh one.

This is a jug of love.

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Does that sound soppy?

CK and I had a day out for my birthday this year, just us, no kids. He saw this in a little shop in Bath and thought I would like it. He was right :-)



During the last halfterm my mob went off to Cardiff to see the Dr. Who exhibition. I had to work and was unable to travel with them (I was so sad not to go ;-) and to make it up to me they bought me a little giftie.

I love the chalkiness of the exterior. I also love the green. This is not the most crisp photo but I left it unedited (unlike the others *ahem*) because it captures the colours so well.

I was very excited at that 'crazy Friday out' (or Country Living Fair as it is alternatively known) to meet the woman who makes these with her own fair hands. She seemed genuinely pleased to meet an owner of one of her pieces (although she may have just been a little slaphappy at the end of a long day on her C.L. stand) and it was lovely to speak with her.

Departure for TGTH draws ever closer and so my days become filled with EVEN more washing, sorting and packing however in the New Year I shall take some more photies of the 'unintentional collection' to share.

How my boys do sick days.

Last week DestructoBoy was hit quite hard by a nasty headcold. Lots of sneezing and drippy nose activity. The only thing for it was to be all snuggled up under blankets on the couch with a steady supply of good books, strong tissues and living hot water bottle.

Even when DB felt sufficently well to get off the couch the hottie stayed in place, keeping very still among the folds of the 'chinchilla' and trusting in the power of camouflage.

This is when he went into 'stealth mode' and hid under the blanket.





Sadly I am not so sure the black dog has quite grapsed the principles of detection evasion. I feel sure you have to obscure more than just your head.

Aren't they pretty?

One of the things I enjoy about my unintentional collection is the memory attached to each jug.



This is a Burleigh Pottery jug and I bought it last year when I took my mother up to Stoke to The Potteries.

Having meandered around a residential area we finally arrived at the Burleigh pottery (right next to the canal) only to find the factory closed. Being the cheery kind we consoled ourselves with a visit to the shop.

Oh! and what a shop. It was like something from a Country Living shoot - old wooden panelled factory building, chalky colours on the walls, tables overflowing with beautiful china in an array of gorgeous colours, shapes and patterns. At one end several wicker chairs were dotted around an open fire while at the other a counter was laid with tea and coffe and homemade cake.

*le sigh* I could have stayed in there for hours.



This one is also from that trip to Stoke and the experience could not have been more different.

The shop was on a corner of a very busy road with a train bridge running overhead. The carpark was full of dog muck and the sign over the front of the squat 1980s box of a building was smashed and broken. The room was crammed with metal shelving containing every pattern Portmerion produce and quite honestly I don't think my mother could have been happier! But do you know I fell for this one as soon as I saw it. The colours and the shape both demanded my attention.



I don't know any history for this one. It came to live here on the hill from my m-i-l's house. There is a fancypants plate that goes with it. Every time I use this I think of her.

I bought myself this one. It felt very decadent!




This is a Susie Watson jug. Beautiful shape, gorgeous pattern, crubbish 'pour' on it. I don't use this very often but I still love it.

I knew I had seen that face before!

One of the things I love about blogging is the perception of those in Blogland. You people must really be eating your Weeties because you are all as smart as whips!




In the comments of the previous post Jan pointed out that Evil Genius Pattern Monkey is in fact a doppelganger

for an international politician of some many years standing.

What? You don't recognise him?



He was an international staesman for over (nearly?) 14 years.



Hmmmm....... still no bells?


Errrr..... he got the post through staying power and determination (makes Gordon Brown look like a beginner).

Really? You still can't put a name to the face? Surely some of you voted for him at each of the 712 elections he stood in.


Well, okay. To lessen the dramatic tension for all those hyped-up, non-Australians reading I'll tell you.

He is Little Johnny Arthur, former nemesis of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. Most recently unelected Australian Prime Minister. And twin to the Evil Genius Pattern Monkey.


Bwahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Also Jan is a brand new blogger so go spread the bloggy love.

The Toy Society

Last week we spent a lot of time at home, off school, feeling quite pathetic and sad for ourselves.

In fact last Monday Princess Curly-Wurly slept until 10'o'clock! This from the girl who is always awake by 7 a.m. While she enjoyed her princess slumber Destructo-Boy and I made valuable use of our time - we blog-surfed :-)

He was very taken with the idea of The Toy Society and was a little perturbed that he couldn't go find one of the drops and take home a new friend. His face brightened a little when I suggested that we might actually get involved. So in his usual fashion he disappeared and began beavering away on 'plans'.

Can you tell what it is yet?



Of course. It's a monkey! A monkey with BIG googly eyes. And a white patch over its eye and one on its tummy. Let me just state (in case anyone else might make the same mistake as the office junior) NOT as its tummy, ON its tummy!



After a 'meeting' (seriously, my kids have meetings, complete with minutes and agendas and actions!) to discuss what form exactly the monkey would take we ended up with a polished first draft of the pattern.

Destructo-Boy was quick to point out that our draft pattern was looking a little evil. So we swiftly used the pattern then buried it in a garlic bedecked coffin, lined with lead and closed with silver bullets.


My senior ideas man sat beside me as I attached the white patches. It was touch and go for a few seconds whether they were in the correct spot but after further review it was agreed that they were in fact perfect. Phew!


This then is the prototype we made. And can I just say I am in love with the white patches. And the face.

I keep trying to imagine being happy making that raggedy-stylee of sewing public, even just a few years ago. That Poppy Treffry has a lot to answer for!!!




Oh no! What is that?!?!

Aaak! Rising from the depths it's, it's..........

The evil pattern monkey and his twisted shadow accomplice!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!