See youse all in a week

The last holiday Firegazer and I took together, alone, was in June 1997. It was, I admit, a fabulous holiday to Southern Africa to celebrate the end of his MBA. Aaaah, the gin and tonics sipped by the poolside watching the Elephants come to drink at the waterhole. Aaaah, being stampeded by Elephants a few days later and taking refuge on a large termite mound while our guide clapped loudly. Yes, clapped.

Today Firegazer and I leave for our first holiday together since that time. It is an early celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary. We hope it will be uneventful, in a good way; that lots of books get read and that we are not stampeded by anything.

We are off to Faaaar North Queensland to check out the reef and rainforest while my parents stay at our house to look after the kidlets.

I'm taking the following books:

The Botany of Desire: a plant's-eye view of the world by Michael Pollan
The Gathering by Anne Enright
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

See you in a week.

Froth & Bubble: hair gel and diamantes at 10am

The Australian Ballet School, which is based in Victoria, does an annual tour of most capital cities at which time they conduct auditions and open.to.anyone masterclasses. Blossom went along to a masterclass for 10 year old girls and boys this week. I wanted her to see what was happening in ballet outside the confines of her own ballet school. She attends a ballet school in an area where by and large there are few 'stage mothers' and the girls and boys are friendly and, well, normal.

After the masterclass Blossom was full of smiles. It was fun, she said. Our teacher was really nice, she said. Phew, because when we first arrived and saw the other girls she was about to share a class with Blossom had a small anxiety attack:

Blossom: I'm not going in
Mum: Why?
Blossom: I'm the only one not wearing hair gel and diamantes
Mum: No, you are wearing a practise bun. Hair gel and diamantes aren't required at 10am in the morning.
Blossom: The girls look mean.
Mum: They can't help it, their faces are contorted by a too-tight bun and hair gel [seriously, you can give yourself a face lift with that stuff].

Now, I can do a fair job with ballet hair and I think that neat hair for ballet shows respect for the art. I help out with hair during ballet exam week and for the end of year concert. I am a dab hand with hair gel and all manner of hair accessories. But at 10am in the morning that stuff is just not required.

To calm Blossom down we looked around to see if we could find any girls that looked friendly. After counting four or five near us she relaxed. The friendly-looking ones, incidentally, wore their hair in a practise bun and they didn't prance around pirouetting or doing the splits.

Blossom is going to encounter the over-gelled Lolitas at every ballet event she attends from now on. I'm glad she's getting a handle on it and I hope she realises that the froth and bubble doesn't equal performance.

Mmmm, winter vegies

I bought a Veggie Bed. Firegazer's not convinced. He thinks I'll forget about it and then we'll have a large corrugated iron thingy hanging around the yard with dying plants in it. Who knows, but I want to give this Vegie-growing-caper a go.

My brother was visiting from the Wild West today. He put the whole thing together, layered the soil and took me shopping for vegies. He's a farmer and really handy with this stuff. Padawan Learner was a keen apprentice vegie planter after school.

Here it is. We've (ie Farmboy and PL) planted cauli, broccoli, sugar snap peas, carrots, leeks and spinach. In another pot we've also planted a range of herbs.

Firegazer and I are heading off on a week's holiday to FNQ on Sunday (our first holiday together for over 10 years...). Grandma and Grandpa arrive tomorrow to look after the kidlets. I hope they can encourage my vegies along while I'm away.

I think I could get used to this remote gardening caper.

More things about Me Meme: I can be scary too.

I've been tagged by Fairlie because I'm sure she wants me to share that I too can be scary about knowing EXACTLY what I was doing 10 years ago because I also had a detailed diary of my first child's life. Yes, I am a fully-fledged graduate of The Failed Mother's Club and could not settle my first born. See below for further gory details.

So you know the drill. I'll answer a few questions and you'll try to figure out if I'm a crackpot/axe murderer/yummy mummy/drill sergeant. If you're not interested you can leave now but before you go here's a pretty picture of Tuesday night's sunset:

Six Places I have lived

1. On a farm, in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, 50km from the nearest town. Population of the Shire was 2500. Bus ride to school took about 1 1/2 hours depending on how many kids needed to be collected
2. Boarding school in posh suburb of Perth. Was third generation to attend the school. My history teacher also taught my Mum! (she promised she'd resign if my daughter started there). Poor Blossom, if she ends up there they'll probably install a plaque.
   
3. At a residential college affiliated with the University of WA (with Fairlie and Firegazer).
   
4. In Shenton Park, WA (post Uni. Firegazer and I lived next door to The Poolboy, and then later, The Poolboy and Fairlie...are you picking up the connections now?)
   
5. Parkville and Armadale in Melbourne, Victoria
   
6. Lower North Shore, Sydney.
   

What I was doing 10 years ago:

I was a Corporate Chick living in Melbourne with an unsettled three week old baby, no family in the State and a husband whose job meant he was in Tasmania most of the time. I kept detailed diaries of Blossom's days...

Here is my diary entry from 10 years ago:

"Blossom unsettled. Had visitor and lots of phone calls. Feeling very frazzled today and tired. Maybe getting a cold. 9.30pm Firegazer saw Blossom smile for the first time. She has been smiling on and off for a couple of days but today she had really big smiles."

I could also tell you the exact times I fed her, for how long and the contents of her nappies, but I'll spare you.

Five things on my list to do today

1. Pay Bills (done)
2. Order soil for new Veggie Garden (done)
3. Speak with PL's Occupational Therapist (done)
4. Organise lifts for kids and other matters while Firegazer and I are away next week. (done)
5. Write up functions reports (done) and organise fundraising matters for upcoming Carnival. (half done)

Snacks I like to eat

Cheese platter with Blue cheese, Quince paste, olives

Pistachio nuts

Chocolate

If I was a Billionaire

Billionaires never seem very grounded so I have no desire to be one or to have that much money. If, however, I had a few extra dollars I would renovate my house, take the family skiing overseas, and buy a Brett Whitely, a Jeffrey Smart and convince the National Gallery of Victoria to sell me one of Fred Williams' Pilbara Series. Oh and, sure, I'd give some of it away (the money, not the art). Why not. Want some?

Bloggers I think should spill the beans:

Guera

Frogdancer

Cellobella

Tracey

Rob & Melinda (tandem posts please)

Mary

Unless you don't want to reveal. That's totally okay too.

The Book Tourist's Guide to Australia

I asked and you delivered. Here are your choices for the books that would give a visitor an insight into the social fabric of your Australia.

Sydney Suburbs:

Cronulla beach culture: Puberty Blues by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey
Surry Hills before it was gentrified: The Harp in the South by Ruth Park
Western Suburbs: Ten Things I Hate about Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah (young fiction)
North Sydney, Lane Cove (plus Canberra & Malvern, Vic): Dead Set by Kel Robertson (crime fiction)
Eastern Suburbs, esp. Bondi: The Les Norton books by R G Barrett (popular fiction)
Early Urban Settlers plus a glimpse of boarding school in the Blue Mountains: Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner (written 1894)

Melbourne Suburbs:

Bayside: Sunnyside by Joanna Murray-Smith
Northern: The Murrary Whelan Novels by Shane Maloney (crime fiction)
St Kilda Road, Inner City in the 1920s: The Phryne Fisher Novels by Kerry Greenwood
Brunswick Street in the 90s: The Crocodile Club by Kaz Cooke
Suburban share house (poss. set Carlton, Fitzroy? Williamstown?) 1960s/70s: Monkey Grip by Helen Garner
Acland St, St Kilda: Cafe Sheherazade by Arnold Zable
St Kilda and the seedier side of life: Candy by Luke Davies
Williamstown & Kensington: The Watcher on the Cast Iron Balcony by Hal Porter
Suburban professionals: Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman, Three Dollars by Elliot Perlman

Perth:
1950s suburbia: The Shark Net by Robert Drewe
1960s suburbia: Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
The 'iron ore state' from 1950s-1990s: Floodtide by Judy Nunn

Central and Remote Australia:

Malaya, Alice Springs, Burketown Qld: A Town Like Alice by Nevile Shute (set late 1940s)
An epic of Aboriginal Australia in the Gulf Country: Carpentaria by Alexis Wright

Other Rural Australia:

Rural WA (Narrogin): A Fortunate Life by Albert Facey (memoir set around late WWI)
Rural WA (Albany? Lancelin?): Dirt Music by Tim Winton
Goulburn, NSW: My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin (1901)
Mt Macedon area, Victoria: Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (early 1900s)
Beachside country towns near Melbourne: The Broken Shore by Peter Temple

Queensland:

Apart from Carpentaria above, the recommendations we have are to listen to Jimmy Barnes and Shannon Noll (for Townsville) and to watch Muriel's Wedding. Oh man, did I have to type that?

Although there was also a suggestion to read the Nick Earls novels for a taste of 1980s Brisbane.

One International Entry:

Melinda suggests that Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns gives an insight into small town Georgia.

Thanks for your entries! If you have thought of any more books that give an insight into your local social fabric let me know.

*photos by me from our trip to the amazing red centre in 2007

What is "the book" for your town?

John Berendt's masterpiece of social interpretation "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" is simply known as "the book" in Savannah, Georgia. It is full of descriptions not only of the famous city but of some of the more interesting characters that live, or lived, there. If you haven't read it I recommend you do. If you have any questions I'm sure Melinda, our bloggy-friend and Georgia native, won't mind answering them (isn't that right, Melinda?)

Reading this book made me wonder what book/s give an insight into the social fabric of the town I live in. I came up with the following:

For southern suburbs beach culture: Puberty Blues by Kathy Lette & Gabrielle Carey

For an insight into the history of the once slum, but now gentrified, Surry Hills: The Harp in the South by Ruth Park* (actually, anything by Ruth Park)

Actually, I'm struggling here. Perhaps longer-term Sydney-siders would have a better insight.

What book says the most about the social fabric of your town, city or suburb?

(Leave your suggestions in the comments below or email me at doyouspeakamylanguage[at]gmail[dot]com and I'll post a list in a few days, you know, as a service to prospective visitors to your place.)

*pic from here

It's been 13 days since my last Dryer usage. Poll Results.

Well it seems half of you are saints when it comes to line-drying your clothes, some of you swing with the seasons and the remainder have shares in your local electricity provider.

Here are the results of my "How do you Dry?" poll:

• Always, or 90%, on the clothesline: 50%

  
  

  I like to think I use the clothesline, but if I'm totally honest, the dryer: 19%

  
  

  Aways, or 90% use the dryer: 15%

  
  

  A bit of both, depending on the weather: 15%

No-one sends their clothes to a commercial laundry (although this can be a good idea sometimes, check out this article), and thankfully everyone says they do actually wash their clothes (obviously no uni share house people read this blog).

So, how am I going on my challenge NOT to use the dryer? Fine. Really.

Despite raining for the first 8 days of the challenge I've managed to dry all our clothes, including sheets, towels and after one incident, a woollen blanket, with little fuss. The clothes were hung on hangers and clotheshorses and placed near heating vents, or in sunny rooms near a window. I did not use additional electricity nor did I put the heating on for any longer than normal (our system is on a timer to come on for part of the evening).

The EasternMax Residence's most excellent non-electrical drying method

Drying took no longer than it would've to line up the clothes for the dryer and I found that fewer items needed ironing as the wrinkles 'hung' out. I am definitely more aware of how much laundry this family has and have taken steps to reduce it.

I'm told that it takes 21 days to change a habit. So I will continue this challenge for 21 days and see how it goes.

It's official, I'm special (collections, that is)

On Tuesday I went on a little excursion to here,

which has its less fabulous official entrance around the corner here.

I went to pick up this. A special GOLD library card.

Anyone can have a BLUE library card but at the desk I mentioned that I had heard there was a GOLD card, and how could I get one please? What would you be needing it for? asked the clerk. Research, I said. Research? oh, well that's different. Here, have a GOLD card, it's for special people, oops, collections.

Then I took the weekly tour of the library. I was the only one on it. So special.

Sydney, Tuesday, early afternoon

View from Philip St, 1.40pm

Approaching Circular Quay, 1.45pm.

There is talk of pulling down the Cahill Expressway because it cuts the city off from The Quay. True, it does, but I'd miss the fabulous view of the The Bridge and the Opera House while driving home from the airport.

Home by Ferry, 2pm

To GPS, or to UBD, that is the question

Earlier this year I gave Firegazer a GPS for his birthday. An inspired choice which has provided me with hours of entertainment.

It's a little like having a bossy aunt in the front seat telling you to turn left, right or to take the second exit from the roundabout. Occasionally you feel like throttling the bossy aunt as she calmly tells you to 'keep left...then take the right exit'. And yet, like a bossy aunt, it has more lifelong knowledge than you and knows that by taking one exit of the freeway further than you think you should will actually get you to the Homebush carpark faster; and when you misunderstand her instructions she calmly asks you to perform a u-turn or recalculates to get you back on track.

But is she better than the Sydney UBD (paper directory)? With the UBD I spend five minutes plotting my journey taking note of landmarks on the way. I know that the road I want is the third left after the traffic lights and that if I go past the swimming pool I've gone too far. By the time I reach my destination I have committed the whole journey to memory. I could retrace my steps, and I could go there again. With the GPS I am so busy being told by the bossy aunt to keep left, turn right and keep going straight that I don't look out for the little details that help me memorise the route.

Something tells me the UBD might be better for me but I'm too scared to break it to the GPS, I'm scared she might tell me off.

All Buttons Great and Small

My neighbour gave birth to a little girl on Tuesday. Her third child; her first and second are boys. I had knitted her baby a little jumper and now needed some girly buttons to finish it off. What better place than All Buttons Great and Small.

It's at the 'dodgy end' of King St, Newtown and is just so completely fabulous I could hardly breathe while I was in there. Look at the 1930s cabinetry. Look at the tube upon tube of buttons stacked impossibly high. I didn't even know I loved buttons until I walked into the shop. It's that sort of place.

Being Newtown, I was served by a 20-something girl with pink hair, multiple body-piercings and dressed top to toe in black. She was so helpful in finding these beautiful buttons for my trench coat (to replace the hideous black ones on there now).

And these delightful little hearts to finish off the jumper (US: sweater) I knitted for my neighbour's, yet un-named, baby girl.

Not open, close

Seen on the door of a local (north shore) noodle restaurant. Love it.

Question is...where on earth did they buy a grammatically incorrect printed sign?

Go See Sex and The City, but beware, it's dangerous for your wallet

I saw Sex and the City at a fundraiser last night, with 800 other forty-something lower north shore mums (a sight, believe me) . Despite not having been a regular watcher of the series (Firegazer watched it more than I did) I thought the movie was surprisingly excellent. It actually had a plot.

However I came out feeling that, really, I need a stylist, an on-call hairdresser and someone to carry my shopping bags. What's a girl to do?

Go shopping, of course.

You know, I really needed a pair of cowboy boots. I don't have anything to wear them with but I figure something will come along.

And a girl can't have too many black peep-toe wedges. Gosh, don't look too closely, it looks like this girl needs a new pedicure.

It helps that they were on sale. A bit.

Please don't tell Firegazer. I want to pretend they've been in my wardrobe for ages.

Happy 10th Birthday Blossom!

Blossom has reached double digits!

The Birthday Questionnaire

Years ago I started to ask Blossom a series of questions on her birthday with the hope that I'd keep them for posterity. However, like many of my ideas, I never followed through and have no idea where the other lists are. Now, at least, I can post this list to cyberspace where it will float for all eternity...

How old are you? Ten

What is your favourite colour? Orange, Light blue, Red and Light green

What is your favourite animal? Cat

What is your favourite food? Roast dinner and spaghetti bolognese

What is your favourite drink? Cold water and Lemon Squash

What do you want to be when you grow up? Swimmer (breastroke) or Ballet Dancer

Where is your favourite place to visit on Holidays? Thredbo

What is your favourite subject at school? Sport and Science

What subject to you like the least at school? Spelling and Maths

Favourite book that you've finished reading? The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and The Spiderwick Chronicles

Favourite TV show? Avatar: the last air bender

Favourite board game? Blokus and Trivial Pursuit

Favourite music? Classical

What makes you giggle the most? Alissa

What scares you the most? Cyclones, Tidal Waves, Big Hairy Spiders and the Sound of Thunder

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? A name that doesn't have a boys version of it.

Happy Birthday Princess!!

PS. Alice, here's your cuppa

Sydney, 7am

Very pretty, but not good drying weather.


PS. it's someone's 10th birthday tomorrow. Watch out for her birthday questionnaire in tomorrow's early edition.

How do you dry?

You know I hate doing laundry, right? You know I think that the whole sordid process should be made easier by larger-sized laundries with plenty of room to hide the mess? Well, my views extend to the methods we use to dry our clothes.

A quick survey among friends in my suburb reveal that many do not own washing lines or just don't use them much. They use the dryer. Granted, some of these friends live in apartments - but most have at least some sort of backyard. Lesley commented recently that, even in sunny San Diego, people use their dryers rather than free solar energy. And an article in today's paper backs this up* and even suggests why this is the case.

Now, I'm no saint. I have a dryer and I use it. But I've decided to make a concerted effort not to, rain hail or shine, for the next few weeks. I think I'm going to have to dig deep to figure out a way to do this without resorting to the Chinese laundry decorating theme. Oh and it's the first day of Winter here.

The truth is, I'd love a traditional hills-hoist to fit all my laundry at once. Husband says no. Party pooper. We have a fab spot right on the top of our garage overlooking the street.

My mother-in-law has the best placed hills hoist I've ever seen. It's in a super-windy exposed position outside their main yard on their farm. By the time you've pegged out the last item the first item is dry. If you think I'm kidding, ask Nana. My mum has the second-best placed line. She's in the city but has placed her fold-out line to catch both the West breeze and the North sun.

So, I'm interested in how you dry your clothes. Check out my poll in the sidebar. Don't be shy, even if you're a lurker (Mum, Nana) vote in the poll today!

*Edited: Tracey and Mary highlight an interesting point in the comments below. If you are committed to drying your clothes using solar energy - how do you do it in places with extremes of temperature? Perhaps you live in a place bound by snow much of the year or a place that has frequent dust storms? Share your experiences.

Edited, again: Great, first day of not using the dryer and it rains on and off all day. I nearly capitulated to the dryer but went out the back shed found a second, slightly rusty, clotheshorse and, voila, four loads of washing hanging indoors.

Picture of rotary clothes line from here. Go to the site to read more about this Aussie invention.