Goulburn, NSW: a Grammar Nerd Strikes Back

Seen at a rest stop enroute to Sydney - a gammar nerd just couldn't take it anymore and applied his or her bestest black pen.

Lily of the Valley Scarf

Thanks to Stacey's directions I am now the proud owner of 400 Knitting Stitches: Great Stitch Patterns.

My first project from this book is the lovely-looking Lily of the Valley pattern

which I produced in the Jo Sharp yarn 'Alpaca Lustre', an alpaca, kid mohair, merino mix. The colour? I can't decide. It's a sort of Sage-y, Avocado-y colour. General opinion at our ski lodge last week was that it would be super with white and denim.

For a couple of weeks I knat knat knat*, blocked and then...

Voila! a scarf for a young Tween in Melbourne. Will deliver to her parents on the weekend when I visit the Great Southern City and they can hide it until her birthday in September.


*hee hee

Sydney: Balmoral Beach: 26 August 9am

The mummy exercise scene is very big at Balmoral at 9am. Mums with dogs, mums with personal trainers, mums in Boot Camp groups. According to the friend I was with these groups are organised by school - mums from one school over there, mums from another over there.

I just had no idea. It made me giggle. Not that I could talk given that I too was there for a walk with a friend. But giggle we did as we agreed that we were much more into accidental exercise rather than Boot Camp.

Lovely morning for it 'though, if you're into that sort of thing.

Skiing Part II: Oopsie-Daisy

I would have to declare 2008 the best year for snow since 2004. We had lovely sunny days and lovely snowy days and everyone had a great time.

That is, except for Domestic Goddess's 8 yo son ...

who broke his leg on the very first day, and one of the parents ...

who broke a bone in her hand on the third day, and Domestic Goddess's 5 yo son ...

who had an altercation with a window ledge in the lodge on the fifth day and has the coolest looking black eye to show the kids back at school.

They say things happen in threes, but Firegazer also has a suspected cracked rib.

I wouldn't want to put anyone off skiing. We are normally injury-free.

It seems churlish with all these injuries to then want to brag a little... but after six years of skiing at Thredbo I finally got up the courage to ski my nemesis black run Funnelweb. And then I skied it again.

Skiing Part I: Snow Angels

Last year I blogged about skiing with kids. We go to Thredbo for a week each August with a few other families and a total of seven children. The deal is we have a family ski day on the first day (a Sunday) and on the last day (a Saturday) and the kids go to full-day ski school Monday - Friday. We have done this for six years and it has now paid off in spades.

Yesterday we had the best family ski day ever. With the exception of the youngest skier the kids now ski pretty much anywhere on the mountain and give the adults a run (ski) for their money. But family ski day is not all ski, ski, ski. There is plenty of time for climbing rocks, building snow sculptures, having 'light sabre' fights and making snow angels.

If you are paying attention you will notice that there are only five children represented in the photos above. My next post will explain why the other two are not there...

Gone Skiing

Gone Skiing.

Back soon. Hopefully with lots of fun pics to show you.

Lets talk about bathrooms...

Stacey has been talking about bathrooms. During said discussion she mentioned bathrooms with carpeted floors. I thought it only right to own up to having one of those...

Here is the floor of our powder room. Hmmm lovely threadbare carpet with equally delicious carpeted mat.

Tasteful 'Crystal' taps contribute to the overall effect.

Oh, and I should mention that the previous owner of our house ran a shoe importing business so the walls of our powder room are wallpapered in red suede. Peeling red suede. So bordello of us.

I've become so used to this look that if/when we ever renovate I'm going to go to town in this room. But perhaps a little less Texas Whorehouse and a little more Florence Broadhurst.

If you had not already run from our house at the horror of it all I would then direct you to our kitchen where the walls are wallpapered in beige patent leather. See the telltale shine?

By Blossom's command: a new hot water bottle cover

Blossom was the recipient, last year, of my first ever hot water bottle cover. Being the first, it was somewhat of an experiment, and it performs somewhat like an experiment (a bit floppy here and there). She asked, if I was ever to consider making another one, could she please have one like Padawan Learner's.

So here I present Blossom's new cover, just in time to take away for our ski week. I had this silver-grey yarn in my stash and think it makes for a lovely cosy looking cover complete with a hand-twisted cord made from a combination of silver-grey and pale blue yarn.

Sydney, 7.55am

View of South Head and North Head from Tania Park, Balgowlah Heights.

Taken while we stood in the 7 degree early morning chill waiting for Blossom's soccer match to start. They lost 4-0.

Yesterday Padawan Learner's team won 13-0; with PL scoring 3 of the goals (which brings his life-time goal scoring record to 4). In typical Under-8s style our team turned up without the kit bag, couldn't supply a ref and had no whistle - so the coach from the other team offered to ref, used his own ball, shouted STOP instead of using a whistle and timed the game on his mobile phone...

08.08.08 was Eisteddfod Day in our house

While the Beijing Olympics may have been on your mind yesterday, the Sydney Eisteddfod was on Blossom's.

After six months of preparation Blossom finally performed her classical routine yesterday afternoon, along with forty other 10 year olds.

She was, of course, beautiful in her pale pink tutu and borrowed tiara.

I am pleased to say that this year's Eisteddfod was more relaxed than last year's with the girls performing fewer tricks (steps beyond the normal training for a 10yo) and less dramatic make-up being worn.

There was, however, just enough of the over-dressed girls to keep me entertained. What's the fun of an afternoon out if you don't see a 10yo in false eyelashes and lashings of eyeliner at 3pm performing multiple pirouettes?

Bah Hummer-bug

We have a Hummer in our suburb.

Thank goodness there's only one otherwise the rest of us would probably have to instigate some sort of road-sharing roster.

Yesterday I witnessed a truck vs Hummer stand-off.

I was getting back into my car when I noticed that an East-travelling truck and a West-travelling Hummer were stopped in the middle of the (popular and busy) street. Neither could pass while the other was there. After some consideration of the size of the truck and the shiny fresh-minted duco of his Hummer the Hummer driver reversed back into a side street to let the truck pass before continuing on his journey.

Truck: 1 Hummer: 0

As the Hummer passed by me I was not only gobsmacked by the sheer size of this (recreational) vehicle but the fact that it took up almost all of the lane it was in.

The promotional blurb will have you believe that this vehicle will fit in most suburban garages and is not as big as you imagine. However, this suburb is 4WD central and I haven't seen anything quite so WIDE or as physically imposing.

I'd like to see him attempt a crossing of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (which squeezes way more lanes than you would think possible across its deck).

* image from here

Pure Evil

My friend Simone put me onto these. Bad girl.

Oh, they look angelic enough with their simple chocolate coating.

But their heart is revealed to be a Ripe Raspberry*.

These are only for true sinners and are available here.

Resistance is futile.

*not to be confused with real raspberries, these ones are all artificial colours and flavours and guaranteed bad for you.

This Week

Progress in the Vegie Garden

This week I

*arrived home to find that the kids were well cared for and hadn't missed me and that a load of washing had been done.
*still had five loads of washing to do on Monday
*tried to calm down a little girl anxious about the University Maths Competition on Tuesday
*tried to calm down a little girl anxious about the OC test on Wednesday
*did Canteen Duty
*failed to calm down a little girl anxious about the OC test and found myself cleaning vomit out of the car on Wednesday morning
*collected a very happy, not at all anxious, girl after the OC test. "It was fine Mummy" happy happy happy
*was so relieved the OC test was over that I forgot to take PL to tennis the next morning
also forgot to remind Blossom about band practise, or about taking her clarinet to school.
*made chicken stock, because I've been reading all these food books about additives
*pondered what constitutes 'local food' from a Sydney perspective. I think meat from Dubbo is okay. But then who am I to explain to struggling farmers in the far western reaches of NSW that their food isn't 'local'.
*finished one half of Blossom's new hot water bottle cover
*smiled nicely and made pleasant talk at a corporate dinner on Thursday night. Had fun and bought home a goody bag with wine and chocolates in it.
*discussed weighty world issues with my pilates instructor, tennis coach, osteopath, hairdresser and beautician.
*tried to avoid talk about fundraising at school, and failed. Whipped up flyer for film night.
*wished my Pilates instructor well for the NSW heats of Miss Poledance Australia (held on Friday night)
*made 50 cupcakes for PL's birthday
*hosted PL's "birthday non-party" on Friday night. Must book carpet cleaner on Monday.
*made adjustments to Blossom's tutu for next Friday's Eisteddfod.
*checked up on the progress in my vegie garden (see above).

It's felt like a crazy week. And yet, written down, it all seems so insignificant and not at all world-changing.

I have piles of emails to return. Bills to pay. My brain feels like a sieve. I think I might go and lie down.

Becasse they're Beautiful

Becasse, Sydney. Thursday 31 July 2008 11.29pm

Sydney-siders flock to Justin North's CBD restaurant, Becasse, for the excellent food.

But I think the custom-made Swarovski crystal chandeliers make the trip worthwhile in their own right.

Happy 8th Birthday Padawan Leaner!

These cupcakes are being taken to school today to share with PL's classmates.

My little boy is eight!

By request from the birthday boy there will be no official party. Instead PL is having a couple of friends over after school for a play, some pizza and some extra cupcakes.

In the tradition started two months ago with Blossom's birthday I present Padawan Learner's answers to The Birthday Questionnaire:

How old are you? Eight

What is your favourite colour? Yellow

What is your favourite animal? Dog

What is your favourite food? Pizza

What is your favourite drink? Orange Juice

What do you want to be when you grow up? Rugby Player (Wallaby) or Scientist

Where is your favourite place to visit on Holidays? Thredbo

What is your favourite subject at school? Maths

What subject to you like the least at school? Writing

Favourite book? The Spiderwick Chronicles: Book II

Favourite TV show? Ben 10

Favourite Movie? Iron Man

Favourite board game? Monopoly

Favourite music? Pirates of the Carribbean: The Lost Pearl (theme music)

What makes you giggle the most? Daddy tickling me under the arms

What scares you the most? Missing the line for the Annex (extra play area a short walk from the school)

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Tom

Happy Birthday Padawan Learner!!!!!!