'Smiley' Riley

This darling little boy had his third birthday yesterday. Deb took him to Naracoorte, and we went too, in our own car, as I had a dentist appointment. Deb wanted to put two push bikes on lay-by for the boys for Christmas. She didn't want Riley with her when she did, as he would have told anyone who would listen, and there would have been no surprise for Lachlan. We arranged to meet her at a play ground on the outskirts of town. However, Riley was having none of that, as it looked too much like the Day Care/kindy he attends once a week. It has a fence around it for safety. I suggested I go with Deb and stay with Riley in her car while she did her business. This worked out OK, but Riley didn't utter one word untill he saw his mother coming back! Usually, you can't shut him up.
After tea, we went to Deb & Pete's place, so Riley could have his presents and birthday cake. Deb had made him a lovely green frog cake, as that is what he said he wanted. When we were leaving, he gathered up some of his new books and some of his brother's and put them in a bag, and asked his Pop if he would take them home as he didn't want Lachlan to play with them. Then he asked me if I had any more presents for him! This kid will go far.

Grandma knows how to slice it!

Yesterday, I was home alone, and decided to make myself a toasted cheese sanger. (sandwich to non Aussies) I was slicing the block of cheese with a ver sharp, very finely serrated knife. It is very good for slicing those red things that are passed off as tomatoes, with their skin as tough as leather. As the cheese is hard, and I don't have much strength in my hands because of Athritis, I thought it would be a good knife to cut it with. I was loosely holding the cheese as I sliced it, and quick as a flash, the damn thing slipped and sliced a large chunk of skin off my finger. As you can imagine, it bled pretty well, and I suddenly found I could yodel!
Oh boy, could I!! As Neville was not here, I was unable to get to the hospital for treatment. I rang them and the RN suggested I make an appointment to see the doctor today, which I duly did. When he saw the finger, he said he would have to put some alchohol on it to clean it up. He said it would sting a bit. That was the understatement of the century!! I have taken the full layer of the epidermus off. It is right down to the flesh! He then put a small piece of adhesive weblike
gauze on it, and told me to leave it there as long as possible, as it helps the skin to regrow underneath. He gave me some more to take home. Thankfully I heal quickly.

more of it to take home.

Stop. stop with the soccer, puleese!!!

As I have stated before on this site, I am NOT a sports fan. Once again, I have missed one of my TV programmes, because, the 'powers that be' decided the cricket was more of a vote catcher that the special edition of the game show I watch at 5.30 pm. For the last three days, we have been bombarded with news reports, front page photos, and pages & pages devoted to the Socceroos win. Once would have been too much! There are more pressing things that need to be dealt with. Come on, people. Get over it!! It is not the be all and end all of life.
I would have thought the news of a terrorist threat to our leaders and life style would have rated front page headlines, but no, it was relegated to page three. And this was two days AFTER the Socceroos won. Get a life, people.

Making concessions to one's age.

It appears that Charles has seen sense, and given up polo. It has also been reported, that his papa, gave up at 50, and took up carriage driving, and Charles might follow in his footsteps, once again. It is debateable, which is the more dangerous sport. Prince Philip has 'lost his seat' numerous times, which also had the potential to be just as risky to his bones, and his life in general,as falling off his horse at polo. I hope Camilla can prevail upon him to find something less hazardous to his health, if he wants to 'make old bones', and/or ascend the throne, eventually. It is widely reported, that when Charles was growing up, his father thought he was too soft, and was always trying to toughen him up. I don't think any one could say he is a 'wus' as polo is not a sport for the faint hearted

No fanfare please!

It has been reported on the tv news, that the Warne's have started divorce proceedings. I hope it can be done quietly and without any trumpeting in the papers/magazines. ( Fat chance.) The irony of the news item was that Shane is considering a contract with a phone company. I am not sure what he will be doing, but it was his phone (amongst other things) that got him in to his present predicament! I suppose you have to stick with what you a good at.

Dumb drivers.
Today my daughter, her younger son and I, went to Naracoorte to do the fortnightly shopping.
We usually have Red Rooster for lunch. As we drove around to go through the drive through, we were unable to, as there were three big wheelie bins across the driveway. This was somewhat puzzling and frustrating, so she drove round the block and parked in the car park of the pub across the street and walked over to get our lunches. She was soon back, and said the bins were there because some dimwit with a too large vehicle had driven or tried to drive through and had bent the steel pole that indicates the maximum height allowed. I would have thought any 4WD would have been able to drive through. He must have been in a truck!! We decided, unwisely as it turned out, to have fish and chips instead. My piece of fish had been reheated at least three times by the look and taste of it. Yuk! The chips were'nt much better. It was somewhat better than the thought of having chicken fron the take away in Keith. The young woman DEEP FRIES them. She has a rotisserie, but won't use it.

Rain, rain everywhere, and not an Ark in sight!

Where I live, in the Upper South East of the state of South Australia, 2 hours north o f Mount Gambier, our average rainfall, is 19/20 inches in the old imperial scale. That is 76 or more Mils.This area has been a grain crop and sheep and cattle prodicing area for nearly 200 years. It has been getting less certain every year, as to whether we would have enough rain for a good harvast. This year, it did not start raining in a manner that gave the farmers hope for a good year untill July. Then, it was only dribs and drabs, but in September we had good rains and also October. Untill then, we needed at least 10 inches to reach our average. In the last two or three days it has poured! Mainly in Adelaide, our capital. They have had major flooding and homes have been inundated. In one part of Adelaide, Waterfall Gully, there was major flooding which could have been avoided if a dam wall had been erected. Because it is part of four council areas, all four needed to sign the agreement to build it. Two refused to sign, consequntly, they now have a BIG clean up bill. The rate payers are no doubt outraged that their rates money has been 'wasted'.
We have a 5,000 gal rain water tank connected to the house. We only use town water for the loo and washing machine. It has been some years since we have had the tank full at this time of the year, but it is overflowing!!! Praise God! A couple of weeks ago, hubby and I were at our small farm in a nerby town. The feed has grown so high, when we had to round up the sheep, Neville said he would have to go over to the nearby small airport and hire a plane. I fell for it again, and asked what he was talking about. He said the grass was so high he would need to be airborne to see the sheep! Never was a truer word spoken in jest! We did lose sight of them several times.

Grandkids

Talking with my daughter last night, and she was telling me that she has been having trouble getting Lachlan to do his reading home work after tea. He just flatly refuses to, so in absolute frustration, she made him do it as soon as he got home from school. Voila, no worries! Kids! Lachlan had two days away from school last week, and was given the usual five word spelling test, and got his usual 100%.
This is a short posting, as there is thunder in the air.

Kedgaree!

I am partially 'laid up', and am still finding it very difficult to get around. Consequently, the meals are pretty haphazzard around here. I can only stand for about a minute, then I have to sit down. #1 husband came inside this evening around 5pm, and said he was going to cook some rice. I had forgotten to put a loaf of bread on to cook in the bread maker, and there is no meat cooked. There was nothing for tea. When Neville said he was going to cook rice, I said in that case, I would make kedgaree, if he took me to the supermarket so I could buy a tin of canned beef. He said, 'What the heck is kedgaree? It sounds like dog food. ' I said it is similar to risotto. He remained unimpressed., so when I got to the supermarket, I bought shaved ham and a small tub of coleslaw and a loaf of bread. Yawn!! Later, after we had our sangers, I was feeling a bit warm, as my chair is next to the window, and it has been a warm day. I asked him to turn the fan on to the lowest speed. He said, 'That is the lowest button, right?' I said it was. He pressed it and nothing happened. I said that it may not be plugged in far enough. He checked all connections and tried again. Still nothing. It was then I looked around to find him vainly pressing the 'off' button!!! When I remonstrated with him, he said, 'You said the bottom button'. I said, 'Yes, the bottom one, up from the off button, surely you can read?' Mere Male page look out!

Car repeirs.

Father has been working on our daughter's car for two months or more. He has had the motor out twice, as he discovered when he put it back the first time, it would not turn over because our son-in -law thrashes it, and two of the pistons were too tight.It is hoped that when he tries to start it next time, it will go. It will be nice to get it out of the yard, and Deb will be glad to have it back. At first, she was complaining of having to walk, but now she does not seem to mind as she is losing weight, on purpose, and the walking is helping.
Minor fire!
Last night, I was cooking fish and chips for tea. I had an old carving fork that I was stirring the chips with, and put it down on the top of the stove. With my lousy eyesight, I failed to see that the handle was touching the hot plate. It was a bone handle and soon ignited, and burned on top of the stove. I grabbed the chip pan, as I have had two fires because the oil caught alight, and didn't want a repeat performance. I yelled for #1 hubby, who put it out. Boy, do those old bone handles pong when they burn! I burned the bottom of my brand new frypan, too. Bugger.

Post script to yesterday's posting.

I was trying to be kind to Camilla, but after having seen some photos of her in evening dress and tiara, I think she should sack her designer, hair stylist, and makeup artist! She needs to lose a few pounds. (Don't we all?) The clothes I have seen her in so far on the tour of the USA, leave a lot to be desired, too. I wouldn't be BURIED in any of them! Charles, by all accounts, thinks she looks fab in everything she wears. I think he needs to stop looking through the eyes of love, and be honest with her. Black is most definitely not her colour! The tiara was lovely, but it didn't suit her. She needs a smaller one, so as not to look overdressed.I just wonder, who chooses the fabrics for her outfits? I think 'blind freddy' could do a better job. I wish she would wear some colours!!!

Camilla is NOT trying to 'be' Diana.

At the risk of sounding like a Camilla fan, I am sticking my neck out again. The aforementioned lady and Prince Charles have started their first official tour as man and wife, in the USA. Before the poor woman even disembarked from the plane, she was being panned in the press. The Yanks believe that anybody in the public eye is fair game, and can be extremely vitriolic in their critisism. Everybody who has read a news paper or magazine etc, knows the story of the doomed marriage of Charles & Diana, and the part Camilla played in that. For some reason, most people seem to think they 'own' these people, and therefore have the right to pass judgement and critisize, even though none of us 'know' the full facts of their lives. While I do not condone that kind of behaviour within a relationship, it is time to move on and not bear grudges. Diana has been dead for eight years when all said and done. Give Cmilla a chance to prove her mettle. She has never tried to replace Diana, as she knows it would be a very foolish thing to do. She knows she does not have the looks or glamour of Diana, nor does she want it. She is very comfortable being herself. One elderly man in Yankee land, said, very unchivalrously, that Camilla looked like Sea Biscuit. My late father used to tell us, 'If you can't say something nice about someone, say nothing'.

Maddest day of the year.

Though today is All Hallows Day, it is also the day of the Melbourne Cup horse race. I think it is a public holiday in Melbourne, but not sure. Anyway, this day brings the whole country to a standstill at 2.30 PM, while the social elite and the wannabees throw their good money away in the hope of winning big , by betting on some poor benighted animals that have been brainwashed into thinking they have to run like the wind for their owners, and anybody silly enough to bet on them, or they will be letting the side down. I wonder how many of the owners, trainers and jockeys really care about the horses. I don't think the punters do. They only care about winning. As someone said in the letters to the editor, if the roles were reversed, what would the horses think of the whole thing?

Can't help lovin' that boy!

I have three gorgeous grandsons. The youngest of them, Riley, is such a happy, cheeky sprite, he is irristable. He reminds me of my son when he was young. Nothing seemed to faze Mark. He was like the proverbial cork. You could never keep him down, he would always pop straight back up. Riley, I am told by his mum, has a 'nose' for chocolate. Deb told me it makes no difference how well you think you have hidden it, Riley will find it. I was therefore somewhat surprised last Saterday when we visited them, that he was so slow in 'sniffing' out the Smarties I had in my bag. I buy a bag of small boxes of Smarties, and give the two boys a box each whenever they visit. When we arrived, Riley was eating a small bag of Cheezels, and as I had copped some flak from his dad last week on my way home from hospital about the Smarties, I decided to play it differently. After we had been there about an hour, Riley sidled up to me, and with his cheeky grin and sparkling eyes, he somewhat shyly asked me, "Nan" "Yes darling." "You wouldn't have any Smarties in your bag, would you?" " Why do you want to know?" "'Cause I'd like some." How do you resist such a request? I said I did, but I had to ask Mum if they could have them. Deb said it was OK. So both of them were happy with their treat. They got covered in the colour off them, as they held them in their hot little hands. I think this boy, like his uncle, will go far.