It's a pup, you bloody idiot!

I had a doctors appointment this morning at 11.10. I was on time and the receptionist told me there were two people in front of me and if I waited, it would be about half an hour. I usually ring about ten minutes before the appointed time, to ascertain how late the doc is, and take it from there. I had a theory that as they book about four people for each appointment, if you ring first, they can tell you anything they want and put someone else in before you. It became academic today, as I had to wait about 65 mins and FIVE people went in before me, and the doctor came out and called each one! I came out at nearly 12.25. I had other things I needed to do, but had to postpone them as we needed to get home for lunch, as it is not a good idea for a diebetic [my spouse] to go too long without food.
When we went back down town, I had to go to two banks for different errands. As I was about to enter the ANZ, I heard a young bloke calling his dog. I looked around, but could not see it. I turned around to walk through the door, and stopped as there was an adorable black Labrador pup sitting in the way, wanting to play. I stood still so as not to make it harder for it's owneer to catch it. He kept calling it, but, as the pup is only about two to three months old,it has not learned to come on command yet. The owner had to come past me to pick it up. As he was leaving I told him he should have it on a lead. That is when he abused me and said, "I'ts a pup, you bloody idiot!' I do not know this person from 'Adam', but there is no excuse for his behaviour.
The young ladies in the bank heard him and agreed there was no excuse for what he said, and one of them said he would be the 'bloody idiot' when he has a squished dog!
I do not konw if the local by-laws pertaining to dogs having to be on a lead if they are in the town precincts, apply to pups, but it makes sense to start training them as soon a possible.

Weight loss firms, what a rip off!

I will no doubt, cop some flak from people who disagree with that statement. I am willing to be proven wrong, if, and only if, it can be itemised and leave no doubt that it is money well spent and not really expensive.
I am still struggling with the excess baggage, and contacted a well known firm, that I have previously joined, to ascertain how much it costs, availability of meals, (they deliver to the country)etc. I had sent them an email last weekend, and they finally contacted me Thursday.I was in the process of buying my L-A-Z Boy recliner. I had gone out to tell #1 spouse I had bought it, and to ascertain when he would be able to bring it home, and my mobile was ringing.I had left my bag in the car for him to mind, as I had not intended to buy anything.
It was a lady from said company. I said I was unable to take the call right then, and would she be able to call me in about an hour and a half, as I would be home then.
She said that would be OK. We were home over two hours when she called back. This company no longer has a branch in Mt. Gambier, they operate from Adelaide.She told me they have an arrangement with IGA/Foodland in some country towns,so that their customers can pick up their weekly/ fortnightly meals.
The cost of the meals, even for a pensioner, are prohibitive at $280.00 pf, and the closest town for me to get them is Penola, which is 160 miles round trip. It would add quite a bit to our fuel consumption too. Not to mention the inconvenience. She said they are looking in to getting this agreement with our local Foodland super market, but even at the reduced cost of $100.00 a week, it is still a no go for me.Guess I will have to battle on by myself.Ho Hum!

Wish I could remember.

Yesterday, as we were about to take the groceries to the car, I bumped into an old school chum. He is a really nice guy, and we do not always see each other. He said hullo and pointed to a very large chap, who was sitting on one of the benches in the mall forecourt. He said to me, "I bet you don't remember this guy." I looked at the man and said, I did not know him. Edward said "No, and he could not place you either untill I told him who you were." Edward said we had all been at Padthaway Primary School together. He told me the other chap's name and I do remember his mum and dad, but not him or his siblings. Funny thing is, absolutely EVERYBODY remembers my elder sister, but they can never recall me. I obviously did not make an impression! I had quite a long chat with Robeert S, and we recalled quite a few other people we had known back in the late 1950's I do not remember much of my school days, as it was not the happiest time for me.When I rang my brother and related this to him, he brought back a lot of people's names I had forgotten.

It's NOT fair!

My daughter and her family came here today as it is there shopping day. The boys were with them, and I was a bit surprised as it is a school day. It is school sports day too. and as the eldest was away sick last week and could not participate in the trials for sports day events, he was not included in any. I am not sure why the younger one was not picked, but he was here too.
Both boys and their sister wanted to stay with us while mum and dad did the grocery shopping.
Li'l sis was NOT impressed when I said I had a hair appointment, and she would not be able to come this time. I explained we do not have a booster seat in our car, and mum and I tried to make her understand why she could not come with me this time. She was told to get in the car but she folded her arms, stamped her foot and said, "It's not fair!" She is not quite three.
I know how she felt, but it is part of growing up. In the end, only the younger boy stayed and we went down town a bit eairlier so I could buy some nuts.
Nuts to that! I took one look at the prices and dropped them pronto! Mum and dad were just going through the checkout, so R stayed with them and I scooted off to my hair appointment.

Been a bit extravagant, I 'as.

We have been on our fortnightly shopping excursion, and as I have been wanting to purchase a rocker recliner for some time, I went to one of the furniture shops just to browse. I was unaware they are having a sale on these chairs, and it only has a couple of days to run. The deal is to buy two recliners and you pay much less. I only wanted one, as #1 spouse does not like them. As it turned out, the only one that was suitable for my particular needs, was the last one in this colour. It is seude, kind of burgundy. The actual name is Merlot. That is a type of red wine. It is really lovely and I will be very happy when #1 spouse brings it home next week. It was priced at $1,100 or $1,300 and I paid $899.00.

Cain't stop laffin'

It is just as well I have a very finely honed sense of the ridiculous,weird sense of humour to the uninitiated.
Yesterday,after church, I was having a coffee and talking to one of my friends,when another lady came over and spoke to us. She then procceeded to lift the hem of my skirt, ever so slightly, and addressed her remarks to the other lady.
Conversation went something like this,
first lady," Isn't this a nice shade of green? I have been admiring it all morning" ( why was she not paying attention to the pastor????)
Second lady, "Yes,it is. Not too dark or too pale.Very nice indeed."
First lady,"Hmmm, yes.Very nice. Nice fabric too." It is not a new skirt I have had it for about four years and worn it many times to church.
Neither of them addressed one word to me and it made me feel like a store Manniquin!!
I have been laughing about it ever since.My friends at Bible study this morning laughed heartily too.

Pet peeve #6

I do not know about you, dear reader, but I get pretty ticked off when the TV chanels advertise a pregramme and then, on the day put someting totally different on.
Why go to the trouble of advertising it, writing up the blurb and then not sticking to the programme?
There may be a legitimate reason for the change, Maybe the programme did not arrive in time, so they had to use a sbstitute. I know there is also a disclaimer to the effect that they reserve the right to change programmes without notice to us, the viewing public. All the same, it is very annoying.
A similar thing occurred the weekend before last, when a totally new series was advertised, and it did not eventuate. They broardcast The Biggest Loser instead, for TWO HOURS!!!
Said series is supposed to air this week. Time will tell.
The other reason I get annoyed is because I set the VCR to record only to find when I sit down to warch what I thought I had taped, some hideous programme instead.
If we are not meant to tape/record these things, why do they sell us the devices so we can?

Life as we know it

I have been endeavouring to attack the problem of accumulated junk. It has been piling up for some years, as I have gotten progressivly less able to keep up with the maintainance of order in this house. I HATE not being able to keep up with things. I have been ruthless in tossing things and papers out. I have filled the wheelie bin once, and will no doubt, do it many times yet. I am being vigilant in making sure none of the papers or documents that are disposed of have any identifing information on them, as I do not want to run the risk of identitiy theft/fraud. Consequently, the indoor wood heater has been put to good use. There is a lot to come, and it will take me quite some time to get the job done. The Salvation Army shop will be the recipient of much of the goods I no longer need.
As it is my husband's birthday on Friday, I need to cease my tidying for the moment, and concentrate on clearing up the kitchen. This is where I have been doing the sorting, as I can sit down to do it. I have a large box that I am using as a bin. I put it next to the wood heater, intending to burn the contents at some stage. Yesterday was my morning coffee day with Sue. I was walking past said box, and almost tripped over it! I managed to prevent myself from falling, by grabbing the door frame, and in the process, severly scraped my leg, drawing blood and knocking some skin off, and I will have a bruise down half the side of my lower leg. I did not think a cardboard box could be so vicious! I was fairly 'shook up'. as I am terrified of falling. With my bad back and legs, and the fact I was home alone, I would find it nigh on impossible to get up if I fell.
Life's little irritations.
We went to Naracoorte today, insted of our usual Thursday, for two reasons, 1. we wanted to sell some wool, and the buyer is only available on Wednesday.2. It is going to be sooo hot tomorrow.As I mentioned, as it is spouse's birthday Friday. I purchased some small pavlova shells and some strawberries to use in them, for tea that night, as our daughter and her family are coming to have tea with us. Yes, it is a 'special' birthday, which is why we are pulling out all the stops. Hubby does not like parties or crowds, so, we decided this was better than not acknowledging it at all.
When I was coming through the checkout, the girl asked if I would like the fruit and veg put into one of my chiller bags in the fridge. I always get them to do a parcel pick up, as we have lunch and do other things before we head for home. I therefore, do not have anywhere to put the groceries, as Neville has the car, and I do not want them to spoil in the heat.
I was appalled to discover when unpacking said bag, that she had put the strawberries on the BOTTOM of the bag, under the heavy watermelon, cabbage, and apples! We joke among ourselves when these dimwitted things occur, 'there is not a lot of it about'. We are referring to common sense! Why, oh why, don't the supervisors teach these kids the basics of sensible grocery packing? Why don't they THINK? Luckily, the strawberries are not too badly damaged, and, as I bought three punnets, I will be able to salvage enough for my desserts. Phew!!

Yoghurt maker for Christmas.

Christmas has come a little early for me this year, as I have already bought my prezzie from #1 son and family with the money they gave me.
I was in Foodland/IGA on Friday, and had seen the pouches of yoghurt culture before and had not thought seriously about making my own.I stopped and took a closer look. I picked up one of the pouches and read the instructions. They seemed simple enough. Something prompted me to look up, and on the next shelf was the unit as pictured on said pouch. I was very surprised to see how reasonably priced it was. I decided there and then to purchase one, as it would be much cheaper to make my own than to buy it. I could not see how, by standing the container in boiling water over night, it would make real yoghurt that was edible. All one has to do is half fill the 1litre shaker/container with cold water, put the pouch of flavoured culture in, shake it, then fill up with more cold water and shake again. Then all that is required is to fill the large outer container to the level indicated, with boiling water put the shaker in and screw on the top.
I was very pleasantly surprised yesterday morning to find a litre of deliciously smooth Cranberry yoghurt. It is creamier and tastes MUCH better than any of the bought stuff.It has hardly any calories as it is made from water, sugar substitute, and culture. I have no idea how much is in a six pack of yoghurt, but I do not think it would be a litre. They retail for over $5.00 I think every yoghurt lover should have one. Thank you very much folks.

Feet

I had a phone call from the Community Health Services in Mt. Gambier on Monday.The young lady asked if I would like to take an appointment yesterday, to have my feet seen to. This was quite unexpected and as I did not know if Neville was going to the farm or not that day, as he said he might. I was in a quandry as to wheter to accept. I decided to take it,after I had ascertained how much notice they would need if I could not keep it. I spoke to Sue about it when we were out for coffee on Tuesday, and she said she would take me. I hesitated to ask her, as it was at 12 noon, and she has to get her nearly blind husband his lunch. She assured me it was not a problem.
Sue duly picked me up and dropped me at the Cottage, then returned home and fed her family. The cottage houses our Community Health Services. I think it is government funded.
Another reason I hesitated to take the appointment was, the last time I had attended the Cottage, I was less than pleased with what the young female podiatrist had done, or not as it were.
I knew there was a new podiatrist, but had no experience of him/her.
When I arrived I discovered the podiatrist was a man, and he had a client with him. I was assured he was very nice, and everybody loved him.I told the receptionist I would reserve my judgement.
He duly came to greet me, hand outstretched to shake hands, but in my inimitable style, I caused him to do a 'double take' when I said hullo and 'sorry, but I won't shake hands. It is because I have Arthritis quite badly and it is too painful to shake hands'.After he had regained his equilibrium, he was OK about it.
The expression of his face was a classic, and said to me in a flash,' does she think she will catch something from me?'

No, he is not a blond.

Last month, when we had an early and very uncharacteristic heatwave, I was desperate for some sort of cooler as we did not have our air con installed at that time. We were in Naracoorte and one of the electrical shops was having a sale, and they had portable air cons in the catalogue. They were nearly as expensive as the cost of having the r/c air con installed.
When we got the thing home, we could not make head nor tail of the instructions, and therefore could not get it to work properly. My friend Sue came around, and as she is very cluey about such things, she tried to get it to work. She discovered that we did not have the vents open. Red faces all around. It worked for a while, then just blew warm air out. We tried it again the next day, same result. I went in to the shop next time we were in town, a couple of weeks after I had bought it, and they said to bring it back and they would test it for us. The upshot of that is, we have a replacement unit.
Neville picked the new one up yesterday, and the reason for the title of this post is coming up folks.
Sue's nephew works there and is a very nice, helpful young chap, but he had me in stitches yesterday.
He rang me on my mobile and asked if Neville had one, so he could call him, as they needed the box so they could return the dud. he wanted to catch him before he left the town. I said he was at the farm, and asked if he knew where it was. He was confused and so was I. He then said Neville had just picked the unit up. The penny dropped, and I asked if he was in the shop. He said he was out the back, in the warehouse. I said he had better run and see if he could catch him. He said he would as soon as he got off the phone.
What baffles me is this, why did he waste time ringing me, when it would have made more sense to just dash out the back and see if he could catch Neville? Some people???

Pet peeve #5

This may not seem like much of a problem for a lot of people, but it is for those of us who believe Christmas is not about Santa Claus, but the birth of Jesus, the Son of God and our Saviour.
It is very irksome and baffling, when some people who attend church and know that I do also, and know what the real meaning of the season is.
My beef is this, why do these people send us Christmas cards with the jolly gent on them?
I find it an insult as we are not little kids, and I feel very tempted to send the things back. But that would not be in the spirit of the season, and nor would it be what The Lord would approve of either. Nor is in my character to be that mean spirited I have addressed the matter with one person, and he has aceded to my wish this year. It also says, to me anyway, that not a lot of thought or love and care has gone into the choosing of same.

They call them 'chicken' patties.

This afternoon, we went to visit a friend who had invited us for a cuppa. I had a shopping jeep I had offered her, and she was very pleased to accept it, as she does not drive a car, and still walks to the shops occasionaly. I also had some other items that she will be able to use next week at church, for the Sunday School Christmas breakup party.
Before we went out, I had taken a large tray of these patties out of the freezer, so I could cook them for our tea. We had not expected to be very late, but another friend arrived with some items for our friend as well. She had some news to impart, and as she has 'the gift of the gab' it took some time to tell us all her news. I have not seen her for a long time and therefore did not know what she had been doing of late.
We arrived home about the time Neville likes to have his evening meal. I duly put the patties on to cook. They are quite large and thick through. They were still half frozen, and I thought they would take a while to cook.
Neville kept a close eye on them. It was just as well he did, as the solid hot plates are very tricky to get and keep at a temp that does not burn things.
Neville decided to cut them in half so they would cook quicker. When I had some for tea, my immediate though was, 'the closest any chicken got to these things, was when it ran past the chopping block'!
They are thickly coated in real bread crumbs, and goodness only knows what is in the centre. It does not bear thinking about. Shudder!
However, we can't waste them and Neville will take some to the farm tomorrow. He will probably have to wade through them on his own, as I don't think I could face any more.

He does pick his times!

I have been waiting, and waiting for my spouse to complete the job of replacing the old kitchen cupboard doors, so they will match the new cupboards he made two years ago, when he made new cupboards to accomodate the new cook top etc.I even had to threaten to get a quote from a cabinet maker to get some action. I was prepered to carry it through, but would probably have been horrified at the cost.
Hie excuse, for the last few years has been that the steel guide on the circular saw was not straight, and he was unable to cut straight lines. It does not seem to be a problem today.
The reason for the titles is simply, today is the day my domestic help comes, and he would be making a mess while she was trying to clean the place, and also, it is quite warm outside, and he is working in the sun.
Ah, well, i am saying nowt, as I do not want to give him any excuse to stop.
I will keep you posted, so watch this space!

Air con, at last!

About three or four months ago, I asked my husband if he would remove the old air con from the window in the lounge,as it was not coping well with the heat waves we have, and as I had bought a new split system, I wanted my window back. He immediately complied with my request. Shock number one. It usually takes him years or he just 'never gets around to it'. I was not in a hurry, at that stage to get the new one installed, as it was still quite cold, and we were still using the combustion wood heater. Shock number two, was the very early heat wave we had in November. It has not occured that early since 1887! I thought I had better see about getting it installed pronto.
Shock number three, was when I enquired about the cost of installation. I was told it would depend on how far away from the Stobie pole I needed to have the outside unit. It would cost between $700.00 & $ 800.00. I have since been informed that price is quite reasonable, as it costs much more in the cities.
I had waited several weeks for the guys to get back to me about a time and date, so I went around there one day, and one of the bosses came around here the next day to check it out. When I told him about the Stobie pole comment, he just laughed and said it has nothing to do with where the Stobie pole is in relation to the house, as it has to be connected via the roof cavity and inside fuse box. He told me the lass who said that was only young and new, and was trying too hard.
Yesterday was THE day. The guys came just after 7 am, and it took them nearly four hours to put it in. The younger guy who came first, came in to see where the inside unit needed to go, and asked if I wanted it over the vent. I told him I was not fussed, and he said it would be better to put it up as high as possible. The vent had to go. He very carefully chiselled it off, and went to put it on the floor ever so carefully, and dropped it! It broke into three pieces. It did not matter, as It was of no further use. It also meant that he did not need to cut a hole in the wall. Our house is made of Mount Gambier stone. For the uninformed, it is a fairly soft limestone, that is quarried near Mt. Gambier in the south of this state. It consists of compressed, minute shells, as that part of the country was once under sea. It is very easy for workmen to drill etc. It does however, make a lot of fine white dust, which gets into evey crevice, and nook and cranny.
Fairly early in the proceedings, the younger guy, stepped off the ladder outside, and twisted his ankle. I heard him groaning and went to see what waas amiss. He was lying on the groung in a lot of pain. He said he stepped backwards and heard it pop. He thought he had broken it. The boss and I made him come inside, after we had ascertained he did not need to be taken to the hospital, and I gave him some frozen beans wrapped in a cloth bag to put on it, to stop the swelling. He reckoned he was a bit of a sook, and I told him he was nothing of the kind. He managed to complete his work, though he was limping a bit.
Once the work was finished, and they had done a 'test run', and it was 'all systems go', the boss said all I had to do was pray for some hot weather. I told him I would be doing no such thing!