Alison's List Challenge

List all the smells you recall from your childhood & the memories they bring back

Isn't it great how our mind makes connections like these.

1. Gum trees in summer, freshly cut grass & hot, wet ashphalt are three things that remind me of my primary school days. They take me back to sitting in the classroom with my bare feet rubbing on the smooth, cork tiles while the smells drift in the open window and door. I look out the window at the shimmering heat ripples above the school field.

2. Early Cheer always reminds me of an elderly friend of ours (now deceased) who would always have these in her flat when they came out in spring. She was like a grandma to me since my real grandparents lived in Australia.

3. Freshly peeled mandarins spark memories of playing outside in the yard on chilly, finger-aching autumn afternoons after school. The neighbour girl had a tree in her yard and she, my sisters and I would play together until it got dark or Mum would call us for tea. I can't understand how we didn't get cold but we must have been so active that it didn't bother us.

4. Musty, dank dirt smell triggers thoughts of our "clubhouse" - a small, cubby hole under the house we used as a playhouse as kids. You know the sort of thing. Secret girl meetings, no boys allowed, feasts, giggling, and other girly stuff. We even had a name for our "club" but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

Weekend Score

Warehouse Stationary are having a sale. I didn't realise until I popped in to get some adhesive. Digging through the bins I discovered a bunch of stamp pads - the Archival Ink range, really useful for distressing and inking edges. The great thing was they were half price! Yay - 3 ink pads for about $6.00 each.

I was checking out their paper too since Lynda mentioned they had Wild Asparagus, but the girl was still putting it onto their racks so I thought I'd better let her get on with it. It wouldn't be a good look to be ratting through it while she was trying to put it out.

The anniversary album is nearly finished. I'm waiting on some journalling info from SIL who has to extract it out of the progenitors without them cottoning on to our little surprise! :-)

Walking in the park

Walking

Snapped this one while we were at the park the other weekend. Love the potential for a layout here. So sweet. The picture doesn't show that those two walk EXACTLY the same way. They definitely share some genes!

This is the park where DH and I used to visit in our lunch hour while we were courting. We'd find a private seat, eat lunch, have a quick snog ;-) Those were the days. Now we go there to feed the ducks... life moves on.







I love it how DH caught the delight on DS's face while he's feeding the ducks.

Tagger at work

I've been tagged... by Ruth!

Four Jobs I’ve Had :
1) Checkout chick (the worst job ever)
2) Stocktaking for an appliance company... can you say counting widgets!?
3) Librarian for a public library
4) Librarian for a small, private training institution; for a very large tertiary institution; for a medium sized polytechnic

Four Movies I Can Watch Over And Over :
dunno - I'm not really into repeating things. Maybe Pride and Prejudice so I can drool over Colin Firth.

Four TV Shows I Love To Watch :
Don't have a TV...

Four Important things to me :
1) My faith
2) My family & friends
3) Integrity
4) Environment

Four Tunes That Play In My Head :
1) Under attack... the ABBA one - not sure if that's the proper title
2) Fire engine song
3) There was a farmer had a dog
4) can't think of anymore

Favorite Food Dishes :
1) Custard Squares
2) Ethnic food like Indian, Thai, Italian....
3) I like food
4) Fruit

Four Websites I Visit Daily :
1) For Better or For Worse comic strip
2) my Pregnancy & Baby message board
3) Bloglines
4) not really a website but I do check my email everyday

Four Scrap company's I like : (only 4!!??)
1) Basic Grey
2) Chatterbox
3) Fancy Pants
4) Sassfras Lass

Hmmm... don't know who to tag really. If you're keen, have a go! :-)

When your friend gives you lemons

Preserve them!

Yes, I know they aren't covered in juice but the recipe claims they will release more as they pickle. As indeed they have over the past 3 days.

I can use them after a month.

Yum yum yum!

Another list challenge

Alison S. has posted another list challenge

List those body parts you would like to change or replace

1. Probably my butt. Need I say more?
2. Sometimes I need a brain transplant. My one gets tired.
3. A metabolism (can that count as a "body part") that allows me to eat whatever I like without fearing for the load bearing capacity of my floor.

Mostly I'm happy with how I am.

New Urban Lily

Oh Yum!

Check out the new Urban Lily stuff.... love it all!

Visited my LSS on Friday and picked up a few things. I'm making an album for my parents-in-law's 40th wedding anniversary of their wedding photos. They are all scanned in now, and I've printed off the first lot to start tonight with my little scrapping group. I'm a little stumped as to how I'm going to do this album. It is hard to decide on the papers because I'm not sure if I should cater to my own tastes or my perception of what my MIL will like - because lets face it, she's the one who is going to appreciate it the most! ;-)

Trouble is, DH has had to stay in Chch unexpectedly so I don't have a baby sitter... so either I scrap by myself or I take DS with me. I've done that before and it was okay, but it is a late night for him. Decisions, decisions. If only my Mum didn't have her scrapping group on the same night.

Did a few other things over the weekend, but won't blog about them until I've uploaded photos!

Weety Layout

Finally got around to making a layout about DS's weedeater obsession.

Baby update

I'm 15 weeks & 3 days now. The belly pic was taken at 14 weeks. I look a bit silly because DH was taking the picture with his new camera and fooling around with settings, so I wasn't sure he was pressing the button!

Getting bigger but still not really big enough for maternity clothes. Which creates a problem in one sense, because my pool of work-clothes-that-fit is decreasing. I also know that I will get so sick of my maternity clothes that I don't want to make the move too soon. They are winter clothes though, and since it is mid-winter I am so tempted.

Baby was doing well at last week's midwife appointment. We heard the heartbeat as soon as the doppler went on which is always reassuring. The problem with an anterior placenta (at the front of the uterus) is that I can't often feel the baby moving at this early stage. I have felt it.. it's like bubbles popping in my lower tummy. So hearing a heartbeat is comforting. I'm measuring on track, my blood pressure is great, and my iron count was "the best I've seen this week" according to my midwife!

I am putting on weight too which I know has to happen but it's hard to see the scales creep up when I was trying to lose it before I conceived. Oh well.

We've been thinking about what we need to get for this new one. Katmandhu was having a sale the other week so we got their baby back pack for half price. I'm pretty stoked about this because our old one (which was given to us) is really too old now. The straps are losing their padding, and furthermore, it is not as adjustable as I would like. For example, it is quite long in the torso which works fine for DH who has a long back, but not for me. The load bearing when I'm wearing it is not optimal. But YAY! the new one is adjustable and has a whole lot more bells and whistles. So... if you're looking for a baby pack, check out Katmandhu.

We hope to get a new baby buggy too (possibly a Mountain Buggy) but think we'll look on TradeMe for it. Also a changing table. Last time I used the top of the chest of drawers and it was good until DS got too long. I like having the height when changing naps- I find the bed is too low.
Ideally, we need another room in our house. But that isn't going to happen.

Odd side effect of reading blogs

I'm not sure what it says about blogs and their affect on people when I start dreaming about the people whose blogs I read.

Last night I dreamt about Cathy Zielske.

I dreamt she came to NZ. Well, she is coming in August to CC2006 which, to my everlasting regret, I cannot afford to attend. But in my dream she came to my house! I seem to spend ages showing her my layouts. She seemed quite positive about them.

Anything is possible in your dreams...

I am the proud owner

Of a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 camera! A birthday present from DH - who is the proud owner of a Canon Eos 5D as of this weekend. I knew he was planning on getting me one sometime. I thought later this year. But, the deal was going down at a local vendor so opportunities had to be grasped.

Lots of great things about my little Lumix. I do like the ability to have it on auto for photography virgins like myself; DH can switch it to manual and take photos in RAW if he wants, though he's too busy fondling his new baby (heh heh). It's dinky but has enought weight to feel significant. You can have a bunch of different ratios and it does a widescreen option too.

I just wish the manual was written for the user, not for the manufacturer. ;-) I shall figure it out with a little help from my friends.

The dugong song

I'm a reference librarian at heart even though my current job doesn't allow me to do much in this area anymore. I especially love random facts that are mostly useless to anybody but spark my imagination. I'm sure I drive my colleagues nuts with these.

Such as... I once found out that NZ Customs don't have a tariff on bringing in a dugong into the country. Sure - you'd have a bit of an effort to get it past the MAF people. Not to mention trying to wrestle the tank off the luggage conveyor belt. But at least you wouldn't have to pay any customs dues.

I like dugongs. Like geckos, they fascinate me. A hangover from my BSc days I would say. So discovering this little tidbit excited me :-) My sister kindly obliged me with a song to celebrate the occasion with apologies to the original writers. (The Crystals wasn't it?)

I saw it on a Monday, bought it instantly
A dugong gong gong, a dugong gong
Somebody told me it was tariff-free
A dugong gong gong, a dugong gong
Bought it instantly
It was tariff-free
Aaaaand then I shipped it home
A dugong gong gong, a dugong gong!

Knew what it was doing when it caught my eye
A dugong gong gong, a dugong gong
It looked so quiet, but my-oh-my!
A dugong gong gong, a dugong gong
Yes, it caught my eye
Yes, my-oh-my!
Aaaaand then I shipped it home
A dugong gong gong, a dugong gong!

Picked it up at seven and it looked so fine
A dugong gong gong, a dugong gong
At last I’ve got a dugong that I can call mine
A dugong gong gong, a dugong gong
Yes, it looked so fine
Yes, I call it mine
Aaaaand then I took it home
A dugong gong gong, a dugong gong!

P.S, Plus extra verse to explain about the name:

I found a name to suit him, so I call him Bob
A dugong gong gong, a dugong gong
I have a sneaky feeling he's a lazy slob
A dugong gong gong, a dungong gong
Yes, I call him Bob
He's a lazy slob
Aaaaand then I took him home
A dugong gong gong,a dugong gong!

(c) 2005

Glammed up

You've got to love the ability of photoshop to make yourself look good! ;-)

DH has been playing with portraits and did one of me. He's removed the bags/wrinkles from under my eyes, smoothed out my skin, removed zits.....

Before












After (heh heh, if only this was really what I looked like!)


















Moral: This is why you should never believe those photos of models in fancy magazines. ;-)

Number 2 Baby

I'm "outing" myself and announcing that number 2 is on the way. Here it is at 13 weeks. :-)

Which wife are you?

Here's one of those cheesy personality quizzes you get sent now and again.

I found it via Rosina Lippi's blog - she writes as Sara Donati (the Wilderness series) as well. I enjoy her books. She's just brought out a new one called Tied to the tracks.

It is surprisingly accurate for me ! LOL!





Which of Henry VIII's wives are you?


this quiz was made by Lori Fury


Actually I don't press flowers... but I used to make pot pourri. Still do now and again. ;)

Heart-melting words

My baby has learnt to say it at last!

"My loves you Mummy." [usually accompanied by a hug]

Excuse me while I swoon with love...

It makes up for the times when he's less than good:

• Throwing toilet rolls in the toilet bowl
• Smearing arnica cream all over himself and everything else
• Undoing the zip on the beanbag so all the beans come out
• Having meltdowns in the supermarket

Speaking of supermarkets - I was in the local Kaitaone yesterday and trying to locate some gruyere cheese (ended up having to get an expensive Swiss one because their selection there is hopeless - I like to buy local NZ ones) when I see DS crawling along the floor beside the freezer. What on earth! You see - he has this "thing" about fans. And the freezers all have fan vents in their bases. So he was crawling along looking at each one and confirming to himself that they were working.

Does this mean I have a future ventilation engineer?

I am enjoying...

this book: The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater ( available at Amazon of course).

My sister got it as a gift and I have borrowed it for a little while. I know I'm kind of obsessed when it comes to food, but this is the type of book you could read like a novel. But then, I read cookbooks like novels too so I'm probably not the best person to make that statement!

I find his writing evocative. It is annoying that the seasons are all turned around for us in the southern hemisphere, but I've managed. There are a number of recipes I want to try and I'm pleased to see he uses lamb quite a bit . I do wish we had access to a Farmers Market near me that was open at a time I could go. The ones I know about are a bit of a drive away, and not on days that I'm able to visit.

It's that time of year. The rain is constant. The lawn is a swamp and all we need are some flax and pukekos and we'd have our own wetland out there. We wake up in the dark, and it doesn't get light until about 7.30am. Well okay - that's probably not so bad really. Imagine living closer to the pole - brrrrrr! Reading Nigel and the winter weather inspired me to make a spicy beef and carrot stew last night with apple & boysenberry crumble to follow. Comfort food. I made the stew using a recipe from Cuisine magazine and it was supposed to be for a pie filling, but I felt like having it with potatoes so I modified it slightly! Just as well our power was on unlike the rest of the city. Shocking really.

Spicy Beef & Carrot Stew
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Stewing beef (about 700g), chopped into large chunks
2 carrots, peeled, halved and sliced
1 tsp each of paprika, ground cumin and ground coriander
2 cups beef stock
2 T cornflour

Saute the onions in olive oil, and once the raw smell disappears, add the garlic. Stir a few times and then add the beef. Brown the beef (or at least stir it around so there is no red left). Add the spices and stir to cook them as well as coat the beef. Add the carrots, stir, and then the beef stock. Bring to boil then turn down to a low simmer. Cook, stirring now and again until the meat is soft. Mine took about 1 hr. Thicken with the cornflour and 1/4 cup water, and stir so the cornflour cooks.

Serve with mashed taters or rice. I also served it with cabbage lightly sauted with a few fennel seeds.

As for tonight - I've got some Boerwoers out of the freezer. I got them from a butcher down the way, so I hope they are "real" ones. They looked like it in the shop. Not sure what I'll do with them yet. Maybe Nigel will have a suggestion.

Temptation...

Made these Peanut Brownies in my new oven. I love the fan forced feature - it means I can cook 2 trays of biscuits without having to swap them over halfway so they cook evenly.

More list challenges

Alison S is at it again... setting list challenges!

List 1: List What's Wrong With Men.
Let me count the ways... LOL! No - seriously I love my man tho' he does know how to push my buttons at times [cough... that sounds rude].

1. Why can't they take hints? Why do I have to spell out things like what I want for my birthday. Sometimes it's nice to be surprised by.. I don't know.. flowers or summat.
2. Their awareness of housework that needs to be done is at a different level! [giggle]
3. One thing women do better is network and support each other. Men seem to find this difficult which is a real shame because they need to support each other to be men. The feminisation of our society bothers me at times (especially in our school system), and I think men need to be given permission to be male, to be different to women. To be a man is a glorious thing and nothing to be ashamed of - just like it is a glorious thing to be a women. We will always be different, better at some things than the other and why should that be a problem? Vive la difference! Can you tell I'm the mother of a son? ;)

List 2: List all the Ways the Government Lies to You.
hmmm. Don't know if I can think of anything for this one. It's more like they make grandiose statements which sound grand but the reality is far more in the range of mediocre. For e.g. they make a big deal about working families getting a childcare subsidy which is great... but there is a cap on the maximum you're eligible for, so essentially it works out (for me) to be about 2 weeks free childcare for the whole year. I realise they have to cap it, but it almost isn't worth me applying KWIM?

As for wiping interest off student loans... that made me so mad having spent all but 3 years of my working life paying off my @#$% student loan. Seems unfair that I essentially took a paycut for 7 years. Oh well... whinge whinge. I suppose I did get some parental leave payment out of my taxes during that time.

Enough of that.

All boy...

The other day Stihl had a brochure in the paper. I showed it to DS since he likes looking at mowers and weedeaters - he calls the latter "weetys". He spent hours looking at the brochure - talking about the different attachments displayed there. "Look! Weety!"

He was quiet for so long I went looking and discovered him in my bed reading the "weety book". So cute!