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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.