Grandies to stay.

Last Friday, my grandson, Lachlan, came to stay for a couple of nights. It is always lovely to have him here, as he really enjoys himself. Neville went to Penola, which is about an hour's drive south east of here, towards Mt. Gambier, to a clearing sale. He was interested in buying a slasher, as we have large varigated Cabbage thistles on the farm, and if he doesn't cut them down soon, they will take over and there will be no feed for the sheep. He did not buy it, as it was too old and drecrepit.
Lachlan did some drawing, then he played games on the computer, and watched a Bob The Builder video. I had cooked a chicken earlier and we had that and veges for lunch. I also made a fruit salad.
On Saterday morning, Neville and Lachlan walked to the shops and bought a news paper. Neville reckons it was a slow trip. He has to remember, Lachlan has only got little legs, and can't take great strides, like he can.After breakfast, we went to the shops and I bought some beef stir fry strips and some other things, then we let Lachlan play in the park for a while. I then remembered I needed to pick up my photos, so we drove up to the shop and got those, plus some more films. I cooked the stir fry for lunch.
Lachlan played outside for a while, as Neville was working in the yard. After lunch, we drove to Mundulla, as I had won a gift voucher from the store, in a raffle before Christmas. I had 'spent' some of it when I collected it. I wanted to redeem the rest, and it was something different for Lachlan to see and do. We showed him the school, as I had attended it when I was slightly older than he is now. Then we drove around looking at all the flash houses that are being built.
Neville and Lachlan had left over stir fry for tea. Neville watched the news, and then Lachlan watched The Simpsons. He watched about an hour of Ghostbusters 111, but said it was too spooky. I read him a story each night, of his choosing, when he got into bed.
Yesterday morning, I did the washing, or most of it, and cooked fish and chips for lunch. Lachlan was looking for 'treasures' in the yard. Old nuts and bolts, stones etc, to take home. When we took him home, THAT did not go down at all well with his father! Altogether, he had a good time, but it was ruined by his father's reaction to his 'treasures'.

Neville's Birthday Lunch. Nearly a Non Event!

I started to write this posting last night, but before I had finished it, we had a power outage. I was slightly panic stricken, as I am not sure what to expect under those curcumstanses. I was assured by my son and daughter, that it should be alright. It has not been in past occurances. Thankfully, it is this time.
Now, back to my scribblings. Monday was my husband's birthday, and I had promised to take him out for lunch. As he goes to our small farm every Monday and Tuesday, it suited my plans to have to wait until Wednesday, as that is the day one of the hotels here has a $10.00 two course menu, for the over fifties. It was 40 degrees celcius yesterday, and not the type of day I like to venture out in, but, a promise is a promise, so off we went.
We arrived at the hotel at noon, and I was very surprised to note, there were very few cars. My immediate thought was, maybe the town's folk had more sense than we, and had stayed indoors.
When we got to the door, we discovered two notices on blackboards, to the effect that there would be no meals served that day, as the power was off, because the management were installing new air conditioners. Neville was all for calling it quits and going home. Not this little black duck! As I had planned this outing, I had not prepared anything for lunch, so we had no choice but to go to the other hotel. There are several cafes in town, but he does not like that sort of place or food. There is nothing wrong with it, it is very good food, but not his taste.
We arrived at the other establishment, and placed our orders. Schnitzels, chicken for me, beef for him, sans gravy. We bought soft drinks and sat down. 35 to 40 mins later, our meals finally arrived. They were NOT busy, in spite of the other hotel being closed for meals, so I was puzzled as to why it took so long for them to cook a couple of schnitzels. The 'salad' consisted of a couple of lettuce leaves, some tomato wedges and some slices of unpeeled cucumber and some raw onion, served on the plate. I said to Neville, if I were running the place, the so called cook would not get a job working for me. There were very few patrons for lunch. They were mostly locals, but there was one family passing through. Not exactly what I had planned, but such is life.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I wish you all, a Happy New Year. May you and yours be safe and well and not lacking in the essentials.
Last night, we had electrical storms, with much lightning and thunder, but bugger all rain. I was able to watch the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, with some trepidation as to whether the power would go off, or the transmission would be clear enough. The transmission on the ABC is not good here, and sometimes it is totally unwatchable. It was barely so last night. I did enjoy what I could see.
Today, we have been blanketed in DUST! There was not enough rain to wet the ground, and it has been blowing all day, all over the town, and the house, and everything in it is covered in fine black silt.
We have more thunder rumbling now, so this will be a short posting, as I will not run the computer in a storm.
Good bye, and good luck.

Visiting rellies, & meeting new ones.

Last Friday, my nephew Alan and his family, called in here on their way home to Queensland, and had lunch with us. We have not seen him or his two eldest children, for eight years. Isaac is 15, and getting very tall. He has just completed year eleven, and his first year of part time appenticeship, as an Electrician. I am not sure what type of electrician he is training as, but it is not ordinary industrial or domstic.
Alan's daughter, Samantha, is growing into a lovely young lady. She is eleven.
It was the first time we had met Alan's new wife, Dianne, and her six year old son, Kyle. Kyle played Racing Cars on my computer until lunch time. It was lovely having them here, if for a short time. We had Ham salad sangers, (sandwiches) on home made wholemeal bread. Then home made fruit salad and icecream. Isaac was so thrilled to have home made fruit salad, that he had two BIG serves of it. Dianne is very slender, but she can 'put it away' with the best of them.
I hope it is not eight years before we see them again. They all seemed very relaxed and at home with us, which is great.

Christmas 2006

Christmas is over for another year. In some ways, I look forward to this day, and in others, I don't. I look forward to it because it is the commemoration of the birth of the Saviour of the World, Jesus Christ. Everybody knows, if He had not been born, we would not have this day. I don't look forward to it, because it has been taken over in many ways by Mammon. I don't look forward to not having all my family around me at this time. I don't have them all year, but it would be lovely to see them at Christmas. To touch on a sad note, it is also a dreadful time for road accidents, and the fatality count is horrendous every year.I most assuradly do not like that aspect of this time of year.
We had a very enjoyable Christmas Day this year. We spent it with our daughter and her family. They had a couple of male friends there as well. We had cold meat and salad, and I made a Trifle for dessert. It is the only dessert my son-in-law likes, and he reckons mine is the best.Chrismas pud,blah!
On the down side of it, the guys were smoking all day, and me being an asthmatic, it was a wonder I didn't succumb and have an attack. It was only yesterday that I nearly did.

I'm losin' it, I'm losin' it, I'm losin'it!

In a previous posting, I said I was losing it. Not my marbles or the plot, but the weight I have gained over the last 14 years. I am still doing just that. Two weeks ago when I was weighed at the doctor's, I had inexplicably regained half a kilo. I was devastated. I felt as though I had had Christmas taken away from me. I thought it was the same old story. Previously when I have tried to lose weight, I would do very well for a few weeks, and, even though I was sticking to the diet, I would start to gain it all back. This fortnight, I have relost that half kilo, and more. I have lost a total of 3.7kgs, for this fortnight. I have lost a grand total of 8.2kgs!! That is 19.125 pounds, nearly one and a half stone in the old scale. I can hardly believe it. I thought the reason my skirt was slipping off me, was because it is old and the elastic had given up the ghost. Not so it would seem. I have stacks of fabric I have to make up, but, I will wait untill I have reached my goal weight, and then make some new clothes. Speed the day.

How lucky am I?

Yesterday, Neville and I travelled to Adelaide so I could visit my mother, who has been very ill in hospital for over a month. I had not seen her for a month, and it has been a very worrying time, me being so far away and unable to drive, I was very relieved to find her almost back to her old self, and ready to go home, once more.
Earlier in the week, my friend, Sue, had asked me if I would like to go to Naracoorte with her, as she had to pick up a couple of standard electric fans she had ordered last week. I toyed with the idea, then decided to visit mum instead, as it was going to be a cool day, and alright for travelling. I am so thankful I did not go with her, as she rolled the car 20kms from here, and wrote it off! She had her daughter and granddaughter with her, but they were both asleep. This fact would have saved them from serious injury. The little girl is only 18 months old. They were not badly hurt, and Deborah had to crawl out of the window as the door was jammed shut by the impact with the trees Sue hit. Sue has no spinal injuries and apparently no internal injuries. She has a broken arm and a gash on her head. She was flown by air ambulance at 12.45 am today, to hospital in Adelaide. The ambulance got bogged, when they went to meet the plane and collect an air pressure device to put Sue in, incase she had spinal injuries. They took 45 mins and should have taken 10 Her family got bogged too, when they went out to the air strip to say goodbye. As her husband said, it was just as well it was not a life and death matter.

I do hate, being patronised!

All my life I have had to suffer people who think, because I am nearly blind, I am also dumb, dumb, dumb!!! They think it is OK to treat me as if I am a lower life form than they are.
Yesterday, I went into the gift shop to purchase, if they had something that I liked and could afford, a gift for some friends who have a new baby daughter. This shop has some lovely things, but the prices are usually prohibitive for me. I asked where I could find items for the occasion, and chose a really lovely silver wreath picture frame. It has a circle of alternating teddy bears and hearts, and was not, surprisingly, out of my price range. There was another lady being served, and I was told I could go out to the back of the shop, where the fabrics and craft items are, and the lass' mother would serve me. Now, there is no love lost between us, but I am always polite to Heather. I have no idea why Heather dislikes me, but it matters not. I handed her the picture frame, and she very patroninsingly, said , would I like one that was already boxed. I don't remember what exactly I said, but it was along the lines of, I thought what was on display was all she had. She looked at me with a pained expression, and said, as to indicate I should have known,there were others in a cupboard somewhere, and she would get me one of those.
I put that one back on the shelf while she rummaged around and brought another one of the same brand to the counter. For some unknown reason, she opened the box and took the frame out. It was just as well that she did, as it was nothing like the one I had chosen. She then had to go a get the one I had chosen. I managed to contain myself and not say, I told you so. Poetic justice for her unfriendly manner,eh?

Once again, I'm a winner!

Many years ago, when I was about eight, I spent a year and a half at Mundulla Primary School. I was there for year three and half of year four. Then I moved to another school. Mundulla is a small town six miles from here. It has the school, a general store, drapery shop, and sundry churches and houses. There is an old pub, which is heritage listed, and serves as a pub/restaurant.
A couple of weeks ago, I bought some tickets in the school concert raffle. There were twelve prizes, of various commodities. eg.a wheelbarrow full of goods, and vouchers for various things. I put the tickets in a drawer and promptly forgot about them. I never expected to win anything, anyway.
This afternoon, I was very pleasantly surprised, when a young man ( his name is Greg Young. no pun intended) rang me to inform me, I had won the 5th prize. Namely, a $75.00 voucher from the Mundulla General store.
I had to take my cat to the vet this afternoon for her booster vaccination. After I put her back inside, we drove out to the store so I could collect my voucher. I met an old school chum, Tom, and told him of my good fortune. He was very pleased for me, which was nice.
The young woman who owns the store gave me the voucher, which was in an envelope. I asked her how long I had to redeem it. She said she had no idea. She was therefore, very surprised to learn, it was her store's voucher. I curcumnavigated the store several times, it is not very big, and put a few items in my trolley. One of which was some bananas. Since there was a cyclone earlier this year in Queensland, where the banannas are mainly grown, we have not been able to afford them, as they have been over $AUD13.00 a kg. They are starting to come down in price a bit. As I was not paying for them, I thought I would buy some, as my husband loves them. I was not able to find goods tho the value of $75.00, so will have to return to redeem the remainder on the voucher.
This has made my day!

Not happy. Not happy at all!

As previously reported in this space, I have been losing it. Not my mind or the plot, but the accumulated weight of many years. I have tried many diets with limited or no success. At the beginning of September, I had a health fright, which galvanised me into action, and I had lost 6.5kgs. I was ecstatic. This was two eeks ago. I went to the clinic today to be weighed and have my BSL checked. BSL is darn near perfect at 5.3. The clinic sister checked my blood pressure, and it is darn near perfect, too. I got on the scales, after removing my skirt and sandals, only to discover to my immense disappointment, I have gained half a kilo in the last two weeks. Just as well I took off my skirt and sandals, or goodness knows what the outcome would have been! I would probably have burst into tears. The clinic nurse and my doctor were not the least bit phased, and said it is only a small hitch, and is probably due to fluid retention due to the hot weather. They were most encouraging, bless 'em, but I remain unconvinced. My doctor told me to keep plodding along.
I had received another shock earlier in the morning. My friend Sue and I were in the butcher's, and we met our computer repair man and his wife. Sue asked if he was on holiday, and he said yes, a permenant one. He did not want to broadcast the details so kept his voice low. He said he is employed somewhere else, but did not give details. This is very sudden and we are in shock.
From what he said, it sounds as though he was under a lot of pressure and got out before he went under,mentally. I hope we get someone just as competant to replace him. I wish him well as he is a very nice man.

Car trouble

We have a very old car. It used to belong to our son, and we bought it second hand for him,when he was 17. He is now 34.Lately it has been running like 'a hairy goat'. My husband has tried to find out what the problem is. (I must say, it has done a power of work, and is probably just looking for a rest!) Neville took the head off last week, and replaced it and the gasket, to no avail. Today, he put a different carburator on, and it is running like a clock. It still has water being forced into one of the pistons, but now, I don't feel as though it is going to conk out, miles from anywhere.
I mentioned in a recent posting, that the council workers were putting kerbing along our street. They laid the kerbing on Tuesday, and it was fascinating to watch. We had to park the car on the front verge for a few days, but now have a new driveway, and can put the car in the yard again.It is a bit 'sudden' when we drive out, and one would not want to drive out too quickly, or you would damage the front end. They have to finish filling in the ditch and leveling the rubble, but it looks quite good.

Strange weather and other stuff.

My friend, Sue and I, thravvelled to Naracoorte on Tuesday, to do some shopping and have a day out. About lunch time, there was a thunder storm approaching, and it did rain, just a bit. There was more lightning and thunder than rain, and the fire siren sounded, just as we were getting lunch. On our way out of town, a CFS (Country Fire Service) unit passed us, and we were surprised to see it was from a neighbouring small town. It was heading the same way we were. They must have been called out because the Naracoorte units were already on their way to the other fire. We could smell burnt grass, and see the smoke, but no fire. There were 90 fires lit by lightning that day, in this state alone. They are still battling fires in other states. We have had a thick pall of smoke over the town most of today. It is drifting in from the west, but we have not heard where the fire was/is. I hope the idiots who light fires for 'fun' , think again, as they put everybody's life at risk, and we are in for a long hot summer.

Haydn's Birthday Lunch.

Yesterday, Neville, his brother Peter and I travelled in Peter's car, to Naracoorte, to join his and Neville's elder brother Haydn, for his 70th birthday celebrations. It turned out that Haydn had no idea that we were coming, so was surprised to see us. There were many family and friends there, but some I expected to see were absent. His elder daughter and her family, to mention one. His youngeer daughter was there from Victoria, minus her husband. I did not expect to see her. She had come over the night before, and had to leave immediately after lunch to travel home, as she has to work.
We were asked to pay for our meals, as they had stipulated NO gifts. I ordered roast chicken sans gravy. When it arrived, and I started to eat it, I discovered that it was not cooked properly, as it was still pink in the bones. I said I would not eat it, just fill up on vegetables. Neville said I should take it back, but I could not be bothered. He could have done that for me. He compensated by telling the waitress when she brought more meals to our table. She apologised and took it away, and brought me another meal, this time it was the breast and was properly cooked. She apologised once more.
It was quite warm yesterday, and more so where we were seated, as it was in the atrium at the back of the hotel, which has been enclosed with clear plastic blinds. My sister-in-law, Irene, asked if the blinds could be pulled up, to let the breeze in. This was done, and it was much better.
After lunch, we drove to our farm and Neville and Pete climbed the frnce and walked to the sheds, where they picked the strawberries, and Pete took them home. As we were leving to go to the farm, Haydn said, 'Hey, Sue. Will you tell this young lady what my nickname is. She won't believe me?' I said it was Tom. The girl in question looked sceptical, and I said, pointing to Pete, that he was called Chink, as his father said he looked like a Chinaman. She said, 'Why did he call him that?' I said she would have to ask him, but as he has been dead for 38 years, it would be a bit difficult. Then Haydn told her that Neville was his brother also. She wanted to know what his nickname was, but I refused to divulge that information. She asked me where I fitted in, and I said, "Anywhere I can!" Haydn told her I am Neville's wife.
Wehile we were at the farm, my grandson from Perth rang me on the moblie. He was having a great ime, as my sister and her husband were with him and my son, and they were showing them some of the sights, as they had not been to Perth before.
We went to Haydn and Irene's house for a cuppa before we came home. This young girl was there, and she was very precocious and 'forward for her age'. She informed me she had discovered Neville's nickname, and proceeded to call him by it. It did not cut any ice with Neville, as he ignored her. She misunderstood the meaning of it, and I was nor about to disabuse her. She wanted to know what mine was, and did not believe me when I said I did not have one.
She is sixteen, and I thought she was about 12. When I put atrificial sweetener in my tea, she asked point blank, 'Are you a Diabetic?' "No, I'm not". Then why are you using that stuff?" "Because I can." I was getting just a tad irritated with her inquiitiveness, by the time we left. Her mother was seated next to me, and did not check her at all.
All in all, we had a great day out, though I was exhausted.

Road Works

Monday, local council employees started making lots of noise and dust outside our house. We have a 'no through road' at the end of our street, and they were laying rubble along it. We were curious to know why. It would appear it is so people can walk through. It seems pointless, as we have been able to do that all the time. A few years ago, they made that end of the street a cul-de-sac,when they did the kerbong , so I can't see that they will allow cars to drive through. Now for some clarification on the above. The council employees have been measuring and marking along the street, as they are about to finish doing the kerbing they started about four years ago. They are doing the kerbing on the other side of the street first. They are removing the culvert pipes, and putting new ones under ground. When they did that on our side, all the rain water runoff seeped into the pit in our shed, as it's natural path had been blocked. It will be interesting to see what happens now.
Yesterday, when Sue and I came back from our coffee morning, there were two council employees standing at the stobie pole on the other side of the street. Well, one was standing, the other was digging a hole. I remarked to Sue, that the one standing was a proper employee, as he was leaning on his shovel! He had obviously received the correct 'training'.For all you non aussies, it is a standard joke, that to be employed by the council as outside staff, you must lean of your shovel a lot, as they are not deemed to be very diligent workers.I hope they don't take too long to complete the work.I have enough trouble with allergies and Asthma, without the added dust they will be kicking up.

Guy Fawkes night

When I was young, many, many moons ago, on this night we would light bonfires and burn a 'guy', and let off crackers and rockets, and other fireworks. It has been fazed out, for the most part in this country, as it is at the wrong time of the year. It is essentially an English practice, and much safer over there, as they are coming into Winter. I believe it is still widely practiced in Britain. I just looked at the date on my computer, and realised this fact.
Today, we travelled to Keith, to pick up my single bed, as I had loaned it to Deb for her mother-in-law to sleep on, before she moved into her new house/flat. We were invited to have lunch with them, which made a nice change, and we could spend time with the children. We don't get to do that with Lachlan much.
We had roast chicken and veg, and gravy. I was not quick enough to say not to put gravy on mine, but, hey, it is only one time. I doubt that it will make much difference to my weight loss efforts.
Deb is far from well. She has had a very nasty chest infection, and now she has a sinus infection. As she is 18 weeks pregnant, the doctor is loath to give her Antibiotics. She looks as 'miserable as a Bandicoot'.
We had a pleasant time with them, and came home about 2pm. I am now doing the washing. It doesn't matter if it is not hung out today, I can finish doing that tomorrow.