December 2008 Archives

Well, as addictions go, it's not too bad...but a while back, I bought an iPod Touch, and I have had a lot of fun working out how it works, and downloading lots of stuff, including some good free stuff. There are, ahem, a few games, which are worth sharing, which are not hideously expensive, but the downside is that they are just a bit addictive.

Then when you add the competitive streak, fighting to keep on top of the ladder of achievement in Bejewelled 2, or Trism does need a bit of time to be devoted to it. Especially when there are holidays, and you are not expected to be doing too much of anything. I have tried field runner, Enigmo and a couple of others but I haven't found them to be as addictive as the first two I mentioned.

The activities have included organising the music collection on iTunes, too.

I have had to think about what day of the week it is, and other than watching the Aussies lose their first test series in cricket in 17 years, on home soil, it's been very enjoyable being at home.  And getting on top of the ladder...(on this iPod anyway)

Welcome to the new member of our household! She is Siamese, born in the middle of October, and is very cute and cuddly, and very pleased to meet new people. At the moment, Coco is not impressed, so it is not likely that we will get a photo of the two of them in the same space for a little while.

She is the daughter of the late Eugene and Tatiana, who I have written about before,  and while I am contemplating Mischa as a name, we are letting a few days go past before we finally settle on one. Guiness, Sable, Pippin and Mali are also on the list. It's always difficult to choose a name, but we usually find that the passing of a few days will settle the matter for once and for all.

Wishing you and yours a happy New Year.

Our guests left this morning, the weather is warm, and it was a good thing that the cricket is on the TV (the Boxing Day Test), so I could sit in a recliner chair, and watch the final exciting two hours of Australia's first innings, as I am knackered. Three days of fine food, and I have had enough, and a simple toasted sandwich for lunch was enough. An inspection of supplies indicated that another trip to Vic Market was not necessary, and that we have enough chocolate and sweets on hand to last us for months. Especially as I am continuing the healthy eating regime! Still, a taste of this and that, with any luck will do no harm.

The cricket continued after lunch, with the South Africans on the back foot, and three more days' play provides an excuse for some more lazy afternoons...

Christmas Eve was one of those busy days, a trip to Queen Victoria Market, to pick up supplies for the Christmas Day Feast, a visit to the supermarket for some last minute things, finishing wrapping the gifts, the arrival of visitors, then out to friends for Christmas Eve dinner. A relaxing evening, and fun to see the excitement of small children opening their presents, then putting them aside, for the next package. Good food, and excellent company, and as I am still on a diet without wine, a sober one! 11 pm service at the chapel at my old school, then home by 12:45 am.

Yesterday, with a guest list of 17 for lunch, I had planned for a later sit down than normal at 2 pm, and a roast turkey buffet was cooked to perfection with the aid 250g of butter, seasoned with thyme and lemon rind, pressed into the space between the breast meat and the skin. A leg of lamb, two roast chickens, several kilos of prawns, some schnicken (chicken schnitzels), roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese and salads completed the main course, very happily. An icecream later for those who wanted one, was the dessert of preference, although I had plum pudding on hand.

Then a very long session of Skype on a call from France. It was such fun to see the members of our extended family on the screen, albeit blurry, and with the occasional delays as the screen was refreshed, and lags as voices caught up with the pictures. Fun to see KylieMac, too, and it would be such fun for all of us to gather once again. Maybe in August. I do feel sad that we can't be together for special days, but when you can take part in a hilarious group conversation over that distance for nothing, then it does make up for it in part.

Boxing Day (26th December) is always a quiet one. I felt no need to hit the post Christmas Sales, instead, a sleep in, leftovers for lunch and a visit to the chickens and PU and Y and we have returned home this evening ready for a light meal and quiet evening before the weekend starts.

And I can contemplate another week off work before heading back on the fifth. Yaaaay!

Post script: I cannot believe I made a typo- with 17 for lunch being entered as one!

As usual, by keeping an eye on the Twitter side bar on Aussie Lass we can keep up to date on the latest events, even if the postings need to be interpreted, as they are often in a kind of shorthand. Today, I noted with interest some evidence of partying, and a few beverages, and later confirmation via email, in more detail than I write here,  that all was not well with the gastro-intestinal system of Ms AL.

All we can hope for is that the recovery is swift, and that she is well enough to enjoy the usual fine fare on offer down South.

Get well soon!

post script: the cause of the g/i problem was not the alcohol, but some sort of nasty virus...

We have had several wet days the previous weekend, and followed then by overcast coolish days, and then today into the thirties again. It is what we should expect, given that it is summer, but it's just a little hard to get used to...

I'm enjoying some days off (I like to think well earned), and getting a chance to get ready for Christmas at our house. The tree has been decorated, most gifts are wrapped, the food will be purchased tomorrow, but still a little cleaning to be done, yet.

Christmas cheer abounds, despite everything happening in the world. G has been to three separate work functions, the last today, and everything is slowly winding down for the Christmas Break.

Perhaps the world as we know it, has not ended, but the Australian cricket team has just lost their first home test series in 17 years, to South Africa, and the process of rebuilding goes on for it is a difficult thing to replace champions after they have retired.

All will be ready for Christmas Day, to be followed by a relaxing Boxing Day, tuning in to the cricket at the MCG, wondering whether the Aussies can make the series one all.

The night before last was another night of sleepless hours when nothing seemed to work to stop the wakefulness, but eventually morning came, and Plan B: a small sleep in, a later than normal departure for work and some strong coffee help the countdown to two weeks off over the Christmas period.

A musical excerpt on the news yesterday morning, two versions of the same song vying for number one spot on the UK Christmas Music charts, hits a chord and I have to listen to Jeff Buckley's rendition of Hallelujah, over and over again....

I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
Well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah                              Leonard Cohen

Mind you, as I've written about earlier, sometimes it's only when you check the lyrics that you realise that your initial interpretation is off. And after listening carefully, this song is really about King David's fall into temptation a long time ago, death, lust and betrayal of a trusted servant, no matter that it sounds like a contemporary song of love at first hearing. But to get things in context, some of the most beautiful love songs of all time were written in biblical times, and King David was an ancestor of Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. It is to my mind at first an unusual choice for Christmas music, though indeed very beautiful.

Whatever music you're listening to and enjoying, I wish you and yours a safe and happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

 When I was growing up in the North west of Victoria, in my memory, at least, the summer was always hot, Dad was always busy with harvest, and we children were busy in the final weeks running up to the end of the school year, rehearsing for the annual primary school concert, held at a local hall, and the Christmas Eve service at our local church.

In hot weather, if my Mum had been shopping, fresh tomato sandwiches made with white bread, made a quick meal when the house was too hot to cook something.

Dad being persuaded to cut a pine tree branch to serve as a Christmas Tree, a couple of days before Christmas. Not for us a manicured tree in perfect shape, rather a lower hanging branch which was always in an odd shape, which we twisted and turned to find the best looking side for displaying the Christmas tinsel. For some reason, I seem to remember strings of coloured popcorn, which we never ate because after they had hung for a few days they were soft and unpalatable.

Mum baking up a storm, biscuits cut into festive shapes, like stars, bells and angels decorated with coloured icing, hundreds and thousands, silver cachous. Mum's yo-yo recipe, which she used to pipe through a biscuit maker, into beautiful shapes. Loaded with butter, and icing sugar, the dough was so delicious it could be eaten raw.

Vignettes from those concerts stick in my mind, years later, including my school mate R, who having learnt a couple of songs on the ukulele, came on stage, strummed a couple of times, and stopped and paused, saying "Excuse me, Mr W..., this ukulele is out of tune..."

For some reason, the audience erupted with laughter, and the concert continued on after the instrument was tuned, in extremely good humour. Whether the audience thought that the interlude was scripted, which my Dad said he thought it was, or whether it was the idea that surprisingly, an eight year old boy with no obvious musical talent could recognise the instrument was not tuned correctly, I have no idea, but it lives on in my memory, even if no one else remembers it.

The climax of the School concert was the whole school, some 20-25 pupils on stage, singing "Jingle Bells" at the top of their voices, again and again, for what seemed like an eternity, until Santa Claus arrived, on the back of a fire truck, or a motor bike, with a sack of goodies, and a present for every child.

Supper after the concert was always a triumph of country hospitality: sandwiches, sausage rolls, egg and bacon pies, cream puffs, chocolate éclairs, sponge cakes, lemon meringue pies, fairy bread...

All too soon, the evening was over, as all the children piled into family cars for the trip home, barely able to keep our eyes open, as we contemplated being a year older, and a step higher in our school pecking order.

The weekend began inauspiciously, with the drive home from work on Friday night, even after leaving work after 6pm, a slow one,  due to the start of  a wet weekend, when it rained continuously from Friday afternoon through to Sunday morning, and more than 80 mm of rain in some places. The rain on Friday night meant no taxis were available, and I couldn't even get the one who pulled up in our street, dropping a neighbour off, to take me to Flemington, because he already had another fare. If I was more cunning I would have offered him cash on the spot...

It is a really good thing that I am gradually getting better- this allergy testing regime is certainly resulting in an improvement in my health. This meant that I was able to enjoy an extremely busy weekend...with dinner Friday night at an Irish Pub in Flemington, Saturday: Brunch in Croydon for a friend's birthday, and dinner in Ballarat for G's b-i-l's 50^th; Christmas Shopping on Sunday, and our lovely neighbours over for a few drinks and dinner on Sunday evening. Yes, I am a bit tired today, but not exhausted, as I would have been a few weeks ago.

There is good news and bad news on the food intolerance challenge: yeast appears to be another cause of tingling itchiness, and this means that for at least the short to medium term, I am going to have to stay off anything with baker's yeast in: red and white wine, champagne, breads, dried fruits and mushrooms. Yes, there are a lot of items there that I would eat or drink on a very regular basis, so there is some hardship involved, but it could be worse., and at least I now know what to avoid.

There is only one thing to do: get on to the hard liquor...

But the prospect of not being able to eat real baguettes is more than a little disappointing.

After a disturbed night, when music would not soothe, and Coco kept getting up and down, five thirty came around at the usual time, but it sure felt like much earlier. I stayed in bed, resolving to get up an hour later, get dressed, and head straight into work, to enjoy breakfast there, rather than at home.

Before I had a chance to get out of bed, my mobile rang, a colleague alerting me to a road accident on the Monash which was sure to result in delayed travel. I went back to bed to catch some extra shuteye, stirring later, with the idea of leaving around nine, and missing the majority of the traffic jams. A check of the vicroads traffic updates, and radio updates before nine and the decision was made to work from home instead.

This is the third day in a row where there have been major disruptions to peak hour traffic. Usually, I travel early enough to avoid most problems, but not today.

The benefit of working from home is that there are less interruptions, but less interaction with work mates. Result, more work done, but less fun... and some frustration as the wireless connection keeps dropping out.

Lunchtime brings on the next of my food challenges after the elimination diet, as possible food suspects gradually get added. The thought of eating plain baker's yeast does not appeal at all. But, surprisingly, I am able to consume half a packet, mixed with half of a large banana. Not so bad, after all. Just not on the list of preferred foods.

At the weekend, all going well, tomato can be added, then next week citrus fruit, chilli and spices and finally varieties of nuts, one at a time.

Coco is very pleased to have someone from her human family at home, but loses patience after a while with not being able to get on a knee.

The street is not quiet, construction noise from the new build two houses down provides a background hum, as the contracters hurry to finish everything off before Christmas.

A trip to our chiller warehouse in the afternoon to inspect some product in -10 degrees C temperature provides an interesting interlude in an otherwise quiet day.

It is with some excitement that I can announce that prawns, (and other shellfish, too) are back on the menu...

It was with some trepidation that I ate the prawns at lunchtime, yesterday, under strict medical instructions that I could eat them for dinner if there were no reactions from lunch....

No reactions mean I am also going to have the leftovers for lunch today...

The method of cooking them is still pretty simple, at least for a couple of weeks, while I progressively introduce other foodstuffs that are possible causes of the problem...

Mmmmm...yum.

It has been pointed out to me that two months abstinence is hardly a long time...

It is if you're in my shoes...

We went shopping on Saturday afternoon, and spent the princely sum of $38 AUD and bought ourselves a web cam, as we'd been meaning to do it for some time... A little time loading software, and less time configuring, a download of skype and away we went.

And what fun, last night to hear the "incoming call" ring, and have Aussie Lass on line, unexpectedly. After the happenings of the weekend, the first live pod cast, with about a hundred people on site at a pub in Paris, and about 50 more people on line, she was in a bubble of excitement about the whole event when we spoke to her last night, nearly two days later. And, she was pretty happy that she and Muffin Man had had the foresight to book a day off for Monday.

Coco the cat was not terribly impressed at being an Internet star, so she decided not to sit on my knee, preferring to sit, just out of reach, making the occasional comment.

G decided that as it was a formal, albeit unscheduled occasion, he would wear a bow tie. On live video streaming, with a hastily erected lamp to provide additional lighting, he looked like a dork. Which is what he intended to do...

It has been noted, in at least one quarter that I am a little selective when it comes to blogging about sporting results, especially if Australia loses something...

Others might be a little relieved, as they aren't interested in sport at all. I have conveniently omitted to mention one or two things, and the reason could be that it's a nice thing to be on a band wagon, basking in reflected glory, and very easy to pretend disinterest when Australia loses.

For the record, in the last few weeks:

Australia lost the rugby league world cup match to New Zealand, in a riveting, exciting game. Apparently there were a couple of dubious refereeing decisions, but that's the way it goes, and on the night, the Kiwis were the better team, even though a Kiwi colleague of mine thought that the Aussies would win nine out of ten matches that they played. Just not that one...

Australia also lost the test cricket series to India, in India; but, let's wait for it...

ta daaaa...

Australia defeated NZ in a two test series 2-0, despite a valiant effort from Daniel Vettori as usual. (He could be an honorary Aussie if he wanted to be)

I can hear you yawning from here...

I spent more than five hours this morning, going through the motions of testing for allergies. There are limited things to do in a waiting room when you have nurses putting drops of minute quantities of allergens under your tongue, every 15 minutes or so.

In a way, I can't really comprehend that it's me in there, when I have had so many years without apparent problems. But, any thought that it was a waste of time was shown on the very first test, with tongue tingling and numbness, progressing to feeling quite unwell for a higher dose down the track.

I suppose it is good news to know that there is a kind of mould that produces a reaction- I don't know enough about it to know where a mould/ fungus like this might grow. Perhaps it is in the air conditioning, or maybe the bathroom. Time will tell.

As my health was improving, it is worth progressing with the next step of the elimination diet. This means, tomorrow I am going to try prawns for lunch, after going without them for the last two months. If the first meal goes well, I can also have them for dinner....Yaaay!

Then, a progressive testing or challenge over the course of a couple of weeks, and I hope to have most of my favourite foods back on the menu, in time for Christmas.

Later in the morning, the radio in the background announced the death of the Women's Gold Medallist in the Marathon at two Commonwealth Games, at the age of 41, after a brave battle with breast cancer. Even now, I can still recall the dour struggle as she fought back, again and again, finally crossing the finish line at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in first place.

My troubles are minor, when I think about the young family left behind and a life cut short.

When I arrived home yesterday evening, at nearly six pm, I was tired, and I thought I was imagining things when I heard a faint miaow as I closed the boot of the car. I opened the garden gate, laden with groceries, laptop and sundry paraphernalia, key in hand, ready to open the security door. Another plaintive miaow, then two, and two pairs of pleading eyes were looking at me entreatingly from the side step of the porch at the front of the house. The eyes belonged to two small kittens, which were clearly hungry and cold in the chill of the evening wind. My heart sank. It's not often that I am exposed to the sheer cruelty of human behaviour, and we already have a cat, and there isn't any room for another cat on the bed, let alone two...

When G arrived home, we checked the council and the RSPCA, who were both shut for the day. We decided we needed to catch them, because although clearly accustomed to humans, they were frightened, and if they were to be taken to an animal shelter they needed to be caught, rather than just being left to their own devices, with an almost certain destiny of starving without some sort of human intervention.

A few minutes later, some chicken scraps, we had them safe in a cardboard box with some bedding.

A visit from our neighbour later in the evening provided a solution to the problem. He suggested the Lost Dog's Home in North Melbourne, conveniently located near his work, so he offered to take the little refugees with him this morning.

The previous night, Coco had kept on trying to wake me up, and I couldn't work out why. G said that he saw one of the kittens in the garden when he left for work yesterday morning, but had hoped that it would find it's own way home, so the kittens might have already been there the previous night.

I feel really sad, and angry, too, that someone did not have the intestinal fortitude to take these kittens to the animal shelter themselves, and just leaving them where they might have starved to death in the hope that someone would look after them is just cruel.

Post script

The story does not end here, when N came over to take the babies to the animal shelter, they had escaped from the box, and he could not catch them. A call to the council's animal officer resulted in a visit, and a note saying they could not be caught. Next, a series of phone calls and another neighbour has decided to take them in....

We hadn't spoken to Aussie Lass for a couple of weeks, but thanks to the wonders of modern technology we knew, almost as soon as it had happened that she was heading off to the emergency room of a Paris hospital last week. Why? Because she had cut one of her fingers, to the bone in what she swears was a medication influenced kitchen incident  Well, maybe she does inherit a slight tendency to lack of coordination from me.....

In a telephone conversation at the weekend, she recounted the drama, and with the immediacy of SMS, twitter and emails, we knew what was happening in real time, though she is thousands of miles away. Even the advice from another continent to go to ER brings a strange sort of immediacy to our experiences.

Having a real conversation, as good as the other methods are, brings joy to the heart, as we chat about this and that; the upcoming live podcast from Paris and random stuff. The podcast is on at 3 am, Australian Eastern summer time, on Sunday 7^th December. Tune in for a good chuckle!

So what happens when we don't hear? Well, we can be sure if something is in the "need to know" category, then we will be told, even it it is 2am by SMS. At other times, I've had a lot of fun with AL, and others, keeping track of sporting scores in international events across the continents. When, they're worth keeping track of, that is....