Blog

  • Sunny Day

    It’s that time again! Welcome to my weekly winners

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    Amy

    Amy, hamming it up for the camera.

    Breakfast time

    Vegemite on toast. Amy loves it, but I can’t stand the stuff!

    Love

    Amy’s cat loves her.

    Tank

    I know a few people asked about about my water tank. Here it is, 5000 gallons worth of water tank. It’s probably only a quarter full at the moment.

    Apples

    The apples are getting bigger. I’m starting to wonder if maybe will get to eat them before we move out!

    Blue Skies

    Blue skies today. Thankyou for all the condolances Friday and Saturday, I truly do appreciate it. Today was a much better day. Amy was funny and happy and I have felt more together. I *heart* you all.

    See more Weekly Winners here!

  • One Thing On Top Of Another

    There will be lighthearted humour at the end of this post. I give you full permission to not read my whinging and skip to the funnies.

    Thankyou all for the wonderful thoughts on yesterdays post, it was lovely to read them.

    My period started this morning. So on top of Pop dying, I am not pregnant. Good times abound in this household, good times I tell you.

    *sigh*

    I am a bundle of emotions, but I am so numb that nothing feels right. I sit here and you know, my heart races faster as I write this and I feel sick, but I don’t feel like I am doing this the correct way.

    What is the correct way to grieve?

    I just feel tired. And headachey. And did I mention the tired?

    Funeral will be held on Thursday. Valetines Day.

    I’m not in a good place right now. Send me cyber hugs and chocolate, maybe some good painkillers to kill the period pain. And telling me I look pretty wouldn’t go astray, because this shit sucks. BADLY.

    Oh so badly.

    Now for the funny stuff I promised, because I do love you all. No, really I do.

    Dead Parrot Sketch ~ Monty Python.

    A customer enters a pet shop.

    Mr. Praline: ‘Ello, I wish to register a complaint.

    (The owner does not respond.)

    Mr. Praline: ‘Ello, Miss?

    Owner: What do you mean “miss”?

    Mr. Praline: {pause} I’m sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint!

    Owner: We’re closin’ for lunch.

    Mr. Praline: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.

    Owner: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue…What’s,uh…What’s wrong with it?

    Mr. Praline: I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it, my lad. ‘E’s dead, that’s what’s wrong with it!

    Owner: No, no, ‘e’s uh,…he’s resting.

    Mr. Praline: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now.

    Owner: No no he’s not dead, he’s, he’s restin’! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn’it, ay? Beautiful plumage!

    Mr. Praline: The plumage don’t enter into it. It’s stone dead.

    Owner: Nononono, no, no! ‘E’s resting!

    Mr. Praline: All right then, if he’s restin’, I’ll wake him up! (shouting at the cage) ‘Ello, Mister Polly Parrot! I’ve got a lovely fresh cuttle fish for you if you show…

    (owner hits the cage)

    Owner: There, he moved!

    Mr. Praline: No, he didn’t, that was you hitting the cage!

    Owner: I never!!

    Mr. Praline: Yes, you did!

    Owner: I never, never did anything…

    Mr. Praline: (yelling and hitting the cage repeatedly) ‘ELLO POLLY!!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o’clock alarm call!

    (Takes parrot out of the cage and thumps its head on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.)

    Mr. Praline: Now that’s what I call a dead parrot.

    Owner: No, no…..No, ‘e’s stunned!

    Mr. Praline: STUNNED?!?

    Owner: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was wakin’ up! Norwegian Blues stun easily, major.

    Mr. Praline: Um…now look…now look, mate, I’ve definitely ‘ad enough of this. That parrot is definitely deceased, and when I purchased it not ‘alf an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein’ tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk.

    Owner: Well, he’s…he’s, ah…probably pining for the fjords.

    Mr. Praline: PININ’ for the FJORDS?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?, look, why did he fall flat on his back the moment I got ‘im home?

    Owner: The Norwegian Blue prefers keepin’ on it’s back! Remarkable bird, id’nit, squire? Lovely plumage!

    Mr. Praline: Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there.

    (pause)

    Owner: Well, o’course it was nailed there! If I hadn’t nailed that bird down, it would have nuzzled up to those bars, bent ’em apart with its beak, and VOOM! Feeweeweewee!

    Mr. Praline: “VOOM”?!? Mate, this bird wouldn’t “voom” if you put four million volts through it! ‘E’s bleedin’ demised!

    Owner: No no! ‘E’s pining!

    Mr. Praline: ‘E’s not pinin’! ‘E’s passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! ‘E’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker! ‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life, ‘e rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed ‘im to the perch ‘e’d be pushing up the daisies! ‘Is metabolic processes are now ‘istory! ‘E’s off the twig! ‘E’s kicked the bucket, ‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!

    (pause)

    Owner: Well, I’d better replace it, then. (he takes a quick peek behind the counter) Sorry squire, I’ve had a look ’round the back of the shop, and uh, we’re right out of parrots.

    Mr. Praline: I see. I see, I get the picture.

    Owner: {pause} I got a slug.

    (pause)

    Mr. Praline: (sweet as sugar) Pray, does it talk?

    Owner: Nnnnot really.

    Mr. Praline: WELL IT’S HARDLY A BLOODY REPLACEMENT, IS IT?!!???!!?

    Owner: N-no, I guess not. (gets ashamed, looks at his feet)

    Mr. Praline: Well.

    (pause)

    Owner: (quietly) D’you…. d’you want to come back to my place?

    Mr. Praline: (looks around) Yeah, all right, sure.

    Thanks to this site for the transcript.

    Also? Just cos I loves you? (and for everyone who simply scrolled down because they hate Monty Python.)

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    Raptor

  • My Great Grandfather

    My Great Grandfather had a massive heart attack and died this morning, aged 81. He had been married to Nan for 54 years. She was devastated when I spoke to her earlier.

    Honestly? I don’t think it has sunk in yet. I feel a bit numb still, even though I have been processing it for hours.
    We had a brilliant Christmas here. Nan and Pop brought up loads of meat and Pop wouldn’t take no for an answer when he gave me all the leftovers to keep.

    Nan and Pop

    He joined in the cricket game and bowled like a champion. He even had a bat as well. For a man that was blind in one eye, he played a mean game of cricket.

    Cricket

    He would probably hate this photo of himself, but it captured the spirit of the day.

    Thank you Pop for the wonderful memories, for showing me where to find the best raspberries when I was a kid, letting me eat all the black currants off the bush and laughing when I ate the jam cherries.

    Thank you for the black currant bush that you grew especially for me. I plan to take it with me when I move.

    Thank you for everything. You will be horribly missed.

    Love Veronica, Nathan and Amy.

    Pop

  • How To…Cook Spaghetti Bolognaise with a Toddler

    Place Toddler away from you. Lament the lack of childrens DVDs you have all the while getting ingredients together.

    Remove Toddler from your ankles. Remove onion from Toddlers mouth. Wonder how the hell Toddler manages to munch on an onion like that.

    Peel and slice onion. Ignore the chunks that toddler has nibbled out of your (last remaining) onion. Get sick of Toddler trying to bend your knees backwards and pick her up.

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    Race to the bathroom to rinse Toddlers eyes as she screams in pain. She can eat raw onion, but not look at it? Weird kid. Towel Toddler off and place her away from you.

    Sauté off the onion and some bacon. Remove a cling-on from your leg. Give in and open the door so Toddler can harass sit on molest play with the kittens.

    Remove Toddler from the puddles. Place back amongst the kittens. Resume sautéing the onion.

    Race down the path as Toddler disappears from sight. Promise her a nice tasty RIPE apple if she will juse leave the unripe ones on the tree alone.

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    Swear lots and race back to your onions, Toddler on hip. Save them from burning just in time. Remind self to remove pan from stove before chasing Toddler.

    Toss up the odds of the kittens crapping inside vs your Toddler not running away. Decide that it is worth it and bring the kittens inside.

    Remove a smaller, spikier cling-on from your leg. Swear. Lots.

    Add mince to pan and cook. Resist Toddlers attempts to climb your body. Drag yourself, the Toddler and a kitten (all attached to your legs) over to the cupboard. Swear when you realise Toddler has lost the tomato paste. Search for tomato paste in toy box. Recover tomato paste from bookshelf. WTF?

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    Add tomatoes, tomato paste and seasonings to pan. Add water and cook for 45 mins stirring occasionally. Avoid stepping on kittens. Throw them back outside and tickle the Toddler to avoid a tantrum.

    Spend 45 mins entertaining Toddler.

    Sit Toddler in her highchair and dish her up dinner. Realise that you completely forgot to cook pasta.

    Give up.

    Eat the mince without pasta, just add extra cheese.

    Enjoy.

  • Annoyances

    Oh the tired, it has me.

    So do the annoyances.

    Little things are pissing me off more than normal.

    1) I applied for a blogging job a week ago. I haven’t heard anything back from them. Seriously, if you don’t want me to write for you, then just shoot me an email saying ‘Sorry, not what we are after kthxbai’. Limbo annoys me. Not knowing annoys me. I want to know one way or another soI can move on, or write posts. Also? I would really like the job.

    2) I had to pull my spacebar off to remove crumbs from underneath it. When I put it back on, it didn’t feel right. After much fiddling it feels right again, but half my spaces don’t actually show up. Also? I seem to be having a bunch of trouble spelling. I am having to delete every second word and retype it. Can we say annoying?

    3) It is raining. WOOT!!! The bad thing? All my clean clothes are still on the line. Ah well, I don’t suppose an extra rinse will hurt them.

    4) There are swarms of flying ants outside. I am hoping like hell that the rain washes them away, but still! Last time they were about, it was New Years Eve and I ended up with thousands of them in the house. They were mostly dead the next day, but vacumming up an inch of dead bugs off the floor? Not my idea of fun.

    5) The space bar typey thing. STILL!

    6) My period is due on Friday and I am hating the waiting. Am I pregnant? Am I not? Am I thinking about it too much? Am I going to go insane? Will I have BIG issues if it actually shows up? (Uh, yes to nearly all those questions. The ones I know the answers too anyway). We had sex at the right time, I feel ‘funny’ I don’t feel normal. However, I want it so badly I probably reading too much into stuff.

    7) Again. The space bar. It is pissing me off. Why is it funny? Why isn’t it registering if I hit it on the edge where I ALWAYS hit it? (It even has a shiny patch worn from where my fingers hit it!)

    8) Finally? WP has a new update? Seriously, didn’t I just do that? What a hassle.

    But it is raining outside and it sounds fantastic. And my fingers aren’t cramping too badly from having to retype every second word. And Amy went to bed like a dream. And the house is tidy.

    So maybe it isn’t a complete write off.

    Now if only the space bar would work…