A friend became a mother recently. Yeah, yeah, lovely for her, I'm so happy for her & all that. It's been amazing to watch her change into supermum. I do love her approach with the pram - ram it in to anyone you like then reprove them for not watching where they're going. Yep, that's been fun, but I've made excuses for her, thinking that she just needed to get used to the idea that people won't magically know where she wants to go & part themselves into a clear path for her.
The latest - we've just received an invitation from her to a christmas get-together. She suggests either their flat or a restaurant for the party, but notes that any restaurant selected must be child friendly.
WTF!!! Not only do you not need to worry about child friendly restaurants with a two month old, because they stay quite happily in their sling, their pram or your lap, but given her complete refusal over the past 7 or 8 years to listen to any of my comments on suitable party locations when guests have small children, I'm feeling pretty pissed off with her sudden demands.
Where were the child friendly requirements when I dared to suggest that an open park with no fences next to a major road was not our preferred picnic location??? Or that the pool area around her apartment block, opening on to the driveway & garages, with a tiny patch of 'grass' (aka bindii) and no shade was not an ideal party location to take a 6 year old, a 3 year old & a new born??? That was a really great one - I suggested an alternative location, still fairly close to her home, at a lovely child friendly park that my children could have happily & safely played in for hours. But she wouldn't change locations for that party because it was more than a block from her home. conveniently forgetting that I would have to drive over an hour to get to either her home or the park. Strangely we didn't go to that party. Or most of the other ones she's organised over the past few years.
I won't even start on her idea of what a suitable restaurant for children has been when we've raised it as a selection criteria.
She hasn't bothered about any needs of other parents in the past, so why should we suddenly start accommodating her now. Oh that's right - her baby is obviously so much more special than any of my babies have been.
Monday, 9 November 2009
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Snails!
I hate snails!!! I've planted a packet of sunflowers & don't have any living plants to show for it. Everyday I see new seedlings popping up, but the plant vanishes within a few days.
There's another one coming up now, what's the betting that it will fair any better than its older siblings?
There's another one coming up now, what's the betting that it will fair any better than its older siblings?
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Something that makes me smile
This mailbox is on the street near the school. It always gets a smile from me when I see it.
Sunday, 1 November 2009
November already
Just where has the year gone?
I escaped from my family yesterday & spent the afternoon with friends at a stitch n bitch. But instead of my usual cross stitch, this time I took my knitting & finished another square for Connor's rug. I have enough squares finished now for a basic sized rug, so I'm just trying to finish up the remaining wool to make a slightly larger rug. And to be honest, I'm putting off stitching up all of those squares!
Today has just been catching up on things around the house. I made a batch of soap and did a huge pile of ironing/folding/sorting the clothes. And next I'm going to plant out my tomato seedlings.
Nothing very exciting, just a peaceful day at home.
The kidlets were a little excited about halloween last night. They've picked up the idea of trick or treating from somewhere (probably school), and were keen to try it. I really didn't want them to, because it's not a big thing here & I expected that very few houses would have anything ready for them.
I usually buy a few multi packs of chocolate to have ready, ever since years ago when some neighbourhood boys knocked on my door & had nothing for them. Since then I've tried to always have something ready, but it only gets called into use about every second year.
Anyway, our next door neighbour told M. earlier in the day that she would have something available if the kidlets came over after 6pm. So we cobbled together some costumes (thank you dress-up box!) & I let them go over to the neighbour's house.
I just stayed at the front of our house, and could hear the excited little squeals when they actually got some yummy treats. Anyway, they told their friends next door to come & knock on our door, because I had chocolate. I had to hurriedly get back inside & fish the chocolates out of the safe place I'd stashed them before they arrived. All 6 of them were so excited by then that J. (next door's mum) & I let them go around our neighbourhood & try their luck.
Only two other houses actually opened up their doors to them - one gave them some lollies, at the other house, the lovely lady took them into her backyard & let them pick fresh strawberries. There were lights on in the other houses they went to, but nobody answered the door.
They all had fun, and I can see the appeal of trick or treating. J. & I decided we would try to organise something next year so that they could get more out of it. Not sure what yet, but we have a year to think up what to do. We also decided that we need costumes as well :-)
I escaped from my family yesterday & spent the afternoon with friends at a stitch n bitch. But instead of my usual cross stitch, this time I took my knitting & finished another square for Connor's rug. I have enough squares finished now for a basic sized rug, so I'm just trying to finish up the remaining wool to make a slightly larger rug. And to be honest, I'm putting off stitching up all of those squares!
Today has just been catching up on things around the house. I made a batch of soap and did a huge pile of ironing/folding/sorting the clothes. And next I'm going to plant out my tomato seedlings.
Nothing very exciting, just a peaceful day at home.
The kidlets were a little excited about halloween last night. They've picked up the idea of trick or treating from somewhere (probably school), and were keen to try it. I really didn't want them to, because it's not a big thing here & I expected that very few houses would have anything ready for them.
I usually buy a few multi packs of chocolate to have ready, ever since years ago when some neighbourhood boys knocked on my door & had nothing for them. Since then I've tried to always have something ready, but it only gets called into use about every second year.
Anyway, our next door neighbour told M. earlier in the day that she would have something available if the kidlets came over after 6pm. So we cobbled together some costumes (thank you dress-up box!) & I let them go over to the neighbour's house.
some kind of ghoul warrier, a pirate princess & a little mermaid
I just stayed at the front of our house, and could hear the excited little squeals when they actually got some yummy treats. Anyway, they told their friends next door to come & knock on our door, because I had chocolate. I had to hurriedly get back inside & fish the chocolates out of the safe place I'd stashed them before they arrived. All 6 of them were so excited by then that J. (next door's mum) & I let them go around our neighbourhood & try their luck.
Only two other houses actually opened up their doors to them - one gave them some lollies, at the other house, the lovely lady took them into her backyard & let them pick fresh strawberries. There were lights on in the other houses they went to, but nobody answered the door.
They all had fun, and I can see the appeal of trick or treating. J. & I decided we would try to organise something next year so that they could get more out of it. Not sure what yet, but we have a year to think up what to do. We also decided that we need costumes as well :-)
Friday, 30 October 2009
So that's what happened
Disqualified teenage driver leads police on 40-minute chase
I was just past the M4 Cumberland Highway on ramp yesterday afternoon when I heard the sirens & saw the flashing lights rapidly approaching. A total of 13 police cars sped past obviously in a big hurry.
Then just as I was going past Emu Plains at the end of the M4 when I saw 14 police cars speeding back down the M4 in the other direction, lights & sirens still blaring away.
I actually thought that they were all on their way to a major incident somewhere, and that the lead car had got lost & had to turn around to get back to right exit. I just assumed all the other cars where following the lead car, blindly trusting that it was going the right way :-).
(and for anyone not familiar with the M4 - Cumberland Highway is where you would logically join the M4 if coming from Fairfield, and Emu Plains is just before the Lapstone exit that they looped around).
I was just past the M4 Cumberland Highway on ramp yesterday afternoon when I heard the sirens & saw the flashing lights rapidly approaching. A total of 13 police cars sped past obviously in a big hurry.
Then just as I was going past Emu Plains at the end of the M4 when I saw 14 police cars speeding back down the M4 in the other direction, lights & sirens still blaring away.
I actually thought that they were all on their way to a major incident somewhere, and that the lead car had got lost & had to turn around to get back to right exit. I just assumed all the other cars where following the lead car, blindly trusting that it was going the right way :-).
(and for anyone not familiar with the M4 - Cumberland Highway is where you would logically join the M4 if coming from Fairfield, and Emu Plains is just before the Lapstone exit that they looped around).
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
I am sore in parts of my body that I didn't even know I had
Really tough martial arts class tonight - we did a lot of grappling & floor work & I always find that much harder than the kicking or punching focussed classes. And tonight seemed tougher than normal.
I managed to knock myself in the head during our warm up stretches. Don't ask me how, I really don't know. Instead of our normal stretch routine (or even instead of the BJJ stretches we sometimes do), our trainer had a new stretch routine for us to try. We were in pairs, and one of us had to lie on the ground with one leg raised high and the other low. The other person had to go from standing, push the lower leg down lower & duck under the higher leg. Somehow I managed to move my hand (or maybe wrist) back from pushing down my partners leg & hit myself really hard in my forehead. I've got a lovely egg coming up. And that was the easiest of the new stretches!!!
The guy I was paired with for most of the night was really big. We were practicing some holds to block someone who had you in side control, and he was pressing so hard on me I could hardly breathe. My ribs are still feeling crushed from that one. But at least I finally managed to get all of my blocks up to stop him. The take downs from standing were easier, but they still knock you around a bit.
And finally at the end we were wrestling, and I got to fight with probably the two toughest guys in the class - the senior student/assistant trainer and the really large guy I'd been training with most of the night. I think there are parts of my body that might never move again.
I'm really not looking forward to how I'm going feel in the morning. At the moment I'm just hoping that I will still be able to move myself into an upright position & get out of bed.
I did get a laugh from one thing martial arts related today - I saw some lovely looking statues labelled 'karate' in a catalogue, and while I admired the lovely lines in the figurines, all I really think while looking at them was that if they were in my class, they'd be getting told to get their guard back up & stop leaving themselves wide open to attack like that :-).
I managed to knock myself in the head during our warm up stretches. Don't ask me how, I really don't know. Instead of our normal stretch routine (or even instead of the BJJ stretches we sometimes do), our trainer had a new stretch routine for us to try. We were in pairs, and one of us had to lie on the ground with one leg raised high and the other low. The other person had to go from standing, push the lower leg down lower & duck under the higher leg. Somehow I managed to move my hand (or maybe wrist) back from pushing down my partners leg & hit myself really hard in my forehead. I've got a lovely egg coming up. And that was the easiest of the new stretches!!!
The guy I was paired with for most of the night was really big. We were practicing some holds to block someone who had you in side control, and he was pressing so hard on me I could hardly breathe. My ribs are still feeling crushed from that one. But at least I finally managed to get all of my blocks up to stop him. The take downs from standing were easier, but they still knock you around a bit.
And finally at the end we were wrestling, and I got to fight with probably the two toughest guys in the class - the senior student/assistant trainer and the really large guy I'd been training with most of the night. I think there are parts of my body that might never move again.
I'm really not looking forward to how I'm going feel in the morning. At the moment I'm just hoping that I will still be able to move myself into an upright position & get out of bed.
I did get a laugh from one thing martial arts related today - I saw some lovely looking statues labelled 'karate' in a catalogue, and while I admired the lovely lines in the figurines, all I really think while looking at them was that if they were in my class, they'd be getting told to get their guard back up & stop leaving themselves wide open to attack like that :-).
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Results
Tap exam - High Distinction!!! Way to go Niamhling, we're very proud of you.
Martial Arts:
Connor - Orange Belt
Me - Yellow Belt (my first grading!)
And Niamh has now joined our martial arts class, she looks absurdly cute when she wrinkles up nose in concentration as she does her kicks. Completely adorable.
Martial Arts:
Connor - Orange Belt
Me - Yellow Belt (my first grading!)
And Niamh has now joined our martial arts class, she looks absurdly cute when she wrinkles up nose in concentration as she does her kicks. Completely adorable.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Solar panel pics
As promised, more on the solar panels. We have installed 18 panels in total - 12 at the front and 6 at the back. The front panels face north, the back panels are on angled brackets to face west.
The panels are Sunpower SPR-300-WHTI solar panels, these have an efficiency of 18%. We also have a SMA SMC6000 inverter.
The front panels going up:
And the front panels from a different angle:
Back panels are on angled mounts, to better face the sun:
All of the back panels:
It's been fun the watch the meter going backwards! We still need to have our feed-in meter installed, but this won't happen until November (complicated - we have to change back to the 'proper' electricity company for our area, and that can't happen until our next meter read sometime in November).
The panels are Sunpower SPR-300-WHTI solar panels, these have an efficiency of 18%. We also have a SMA SMC6000 inverter.
The front panels going up:
And the front panels from a different angle:
Back panels are on angled mounts, to better face the sun:
All of the back panels:
New box, next to our old meter box:
It's been fun the watch the meter going backwards! We still need to have our feed-in meter installed, but this won't happen until November (complicated - we have to change back to the 'proper' electricity company for our area, and that can't happen until our next meter read sometime in November).
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Camping at Lake Glenbawn
Well, we're back & we survived! My sister, me & my 3 kidlets spent 4 days camping at Lake Glenbawn State Park in the Upper Hunter. Beautiful area, and mid-week at least, very peaceful.
Now, I haven't been camping in years, since before children. And always with experienced camping type people. My sister is also inexperienced, and has not been camping in years. We bought a new tent about a month ago, but due to it consistently raining every weekend since buying it, we didn't get a chance to practise putting up the tent in the backyard, in the company of my practical husband. So the idea that the two of us would be capable of taking 3 children camping & fishing for a few days was greeted with hilarity by everyone we knew. I suspect they thought we'd have to spend the first night in the car & head home defeated the next day :-).
So we packed up everything in my sister's car & a borrowed trailer & set off for Lake Glenbawn. After making it to the park (first time towing a trailer!), we drove around for a while trying to find a good campsite. It was blowing a gale by the time we arrived, so we tried to find a sheltered spot out of the wind.
After finding a pretty good spot, we unpacked the tent, read the instructions & got to work. Putting up a tent in high winds is definitely an interesting experience. Light rain came up a few times, but luckily only after we had got enough of the tent up to take shelter inside.
Eventually the tent was up, camping gear was put away & organised, and we got to relax a little. Boiled the billy & made some coffee. Should I admit that I don't touch instant coffee & always travel with a coffee maker? BTW I did not pay this much for my plunger - they are much cheaper at 75% off sales!
Our peaceful looking campsite and view over the lake. There were other campers nearby, just not too many & not too close.
We had a lovely view down to the lake.
Sunsets over the lake were spectacular.
Morning view from the tent. There were kangaroos everywhere!
Although the lake is said to be packed with fish, they didn't prove that easy to catch with nets. The children had great fun trying though!
We found a nice spot for fishing away from the lake.
There were definitely fish in there.
But unfortunately, we didn't manage to catch any of them. So we went up to the park kiosk & had fish & chips for lunch.
Friday morning was our last peaceful morning. About mid morning the weekend campers/boaters began arriving and our secluded campsite started to fill up.
By the time we packed up on Saturday, the group above had about doubled in size from this Friday shot. They were enthusiastic boaters (I think they had 3 boats) & started up the outboard motors at about 5.30am Saturday and started water-skiiing. Fun for them, but we preferred the more peaceful starts to the day we'd enjoyed on other mornings :-). There were quite a few of these clusters - either groups of families or friends combining resources for a weekend of camping together. I shouldn't really be too grouchy about them, they looked like they were having a great time together, and really, they weren't too loud.
We arrived back at my sister's late Saturday afternoon, after a fabulous trip. And we're already planning our next trip! Bev & I suggested another camping spot to the kids, but they think we should return to Lake Glenbawn next holidays. They could be right - it is a perfect spot.
Solar panel post coming up soon. After I get some washing done!
Edit: forgot to add earlier that although the DS & ipod were packed, they weren't taken out & played with for the entire trip. My computer/electronic games loving children had a fantastic time playing around the camp without getting anything electronic out at all. They did however learn a new card game :-).
Now, I haven't been camping in years, since before children. And always with experienced camping type people. My sister is also inexperienced, and has not been camping in years. We bought a new tent about a month ago, but due to it consistently raining every weekend since buying it, we didn't get a chance to practise putting up the tent in the backyard, in the company of my practical husband. So the idea that the two of us would be capable of taking 3 children camping & fishing for a few days was greeted with hilarity by everyone we knew. I suspect they thought we'd have to spend the first night in the car & head home defeated the next day :-).
So we packed up everything in my sister's car & a borrowed trailer & set off for Lake Glenbawn. After making it to the park (first time towing a trailer!), we drove around for a while trying to find a good campsite. It was blowing a gale by the time we arrived, so we tried to find a sheltered spot out of the wind.
After finding a pretty good spot, we unpacked the tent, read the instructions & got to work. Putting up a tent in high winds is definitely an interesting experience. Light rain came up a few times, but luckily only after we had got enough of the tent up to take shelter inside.
Eventually the tent was up, camping gear was put away & organised, and we got to relax a little. Boiled the billy & made some coffee. Should I admit that I don't touch instant coffee & always travel with a coffee maker? BTW I did not pay this much for my plunger - they are much cheaper at 75% off sales!
Our peaceful looking campsite and view over the lake. There were other campers nearby, just not too many & not too close.
We had a lovely view down to the lake.
Sunsets over the lake were spectacular.
Morning view from the tent. There were kangaroos everywhere!
Although the lake is said to be packed with fish, they didn't prove that easy to catch with nets. The children had great fun trying though!
We found a nice spot for fishing away from the lake.
There were definitely fish in there.
But unfortunately, we didn't manage to catch any of them. So we went up to the park kiosk & had fish & chips for lunch.
Friday morning was our last peaceful morning. About mid morning the weekend campers/boaters began arriving and our secluded campsite started to fill up.
By the time we packed up on Saturday, the group above had about doubled in size from this Friday shot. They were enthusiastic boaters (I think they had 3 boats) & started up the outboard motors at about 5.30am Saturday and started water-skiiing. Fun for them, but we preferred the more peaceful starts to the day we'd enjoyed on other mornings :-). There were quite a few of these clusters - either groups of families or friends combining resources for a weekend of camping together. I shouldn't really be too grouchy about them, they looked like they were having a great time together, and really, they weren't too loud.
We arrived back at my sister's late Saturday afternoon, after a fabulous trip. And we're already planning our next trip! Bev & I suggested another camping spot to the kids, but they think we should return to Lake Glenbawn next holidays. They could be right - it is a perfect spot.
Solar panel post coming up soon. After I get some washing done!
Edit: forgot to add earlier that although the DS & ipod were packed, they weren't taken out & played with for the entire trip. My computer/electronic games loving children had a fantastic time playing around the camp without getting anything electronic out at all. They did however learn a new card game :-).
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