Month: January 2010

Have you ever had one of those ‘Oh Dear’ moments.  My most recent one was today.

But I need to go back a bit…………..about 3 years when Dh decided he would buy one of those big TV/monitors.  A television that could be used as a computer monitor.

Moved the resident whopper of a monitor that took up so much room on the desk out to the garage and put the new one in its place. 

He thought it great – as there is a sofa bed/couch there he could watch tv or dvds in the back bedroom (laughing called the office ‘cose thats where the computer is) in comfort.  Meant he didn’t have to sit on the bed in our bedroom trying to see the tiny portable one on the other side of the room – my usual hidy hole when he watches soccer or a crime series. 

Then early last year he was down at ‘his man’s place’ and for some reason came home with a flat screen monitor which was put in place where the tv/monitor was – so that was moved to the bedroom and the tiny portable found its way into the garage – to join all the other surplus electronic stuff out there.

Last week he decides he’s fed up having to sit at the desk to watch all the series he downloads on the lcd monitor – ‘cose he can’t see the screen from the couch – so the tv/monitor comes out of the bedroom and moves back down the hall to the ‘office’.

Recently neither of us have been sleeping well so I knew it was time for the bed routine – strip it all off and vacuum – then turn over and redress – the mattress that is. 

With having the windows open a lot of the time everything gets dusty and needs a deep clean so with fine warm weather forecast thats what happened on Saturday, with sheets blankets and underblanket on the line I took the nets down and washed them and cleaned the windows as well.

Both of us slept like a baby that night, woke feeling great so attacked the kitchen and laundry windows yesterday and did the same to the lounge room ones today.  Our windows don’t really get dirty but my goodness it certainly made a difference when they were sparkly clean – I’ve always used mum’s old recipe of hot water plus a splash of vinegar and a drop of liquid detergent to wash windows using newspaper to dry and it always works for me. Luckily we have a single story house so I can easily (with the help of a small ladder) manage the outside as well as the inside.

Late this afternoon I decided to bring the portable TV in from the garage and place it back in our bedroom.  I was eager to see whether the picture would be any better as we had a new digital rooftop aerial put up last year with points in most rooms and it would mean there wouldn’t be any need the rabbits ears sticking out the top – plugged the aerial in the hole in the back, plugged the power cord into the socket in the wall and then looked for the remote control.

Not in the box in the garage with all the other miscellaneous cords and other stuff that doesn’t have a home or a gadget to turn on.  Looked on all the shelves and rummaged through Dh tools and jars of nails and screws and then stopped – in my minds eye I replayed a scene from after we got home last September and gave the garage a clean up.

Whats this remote for?
Don’t know – is there brand name on it?
No
Must be for something we’ve got rid of  – chuck it then

And into the bin it went.

OH DEAR – deary deary me what ever did I do

It won’t be of any use up at the landfill in Coldstream but it certainly could be of some use in my bedroom if I’m watching TV on a cold night and have to get out of bed as in days of old to turn the b……….thing off lol

After awhile, one looks at the other and says, ‘I can’t help but think, from listening to you, that you’re from Ireland ‘

The other responds proudly, ‘Yes, that I am!’

The first one says, ‘so am I!

And where about from Ireland might you be’?

The other answers, ‘I’m from Dublin, I am.’

The first one responds, ‘So am I!’

‘Sure and begorrah. And what street did you live on in Dublin?

The other says, ‘A lovely little area it was. I lived on McCleary Street in the old central part of town.’

The first one says, ‘Faith and it’s a small world. So did I! So did I!

And to what school would you have been going’?

The other answers, ‘Well now, I went to St. Mary’s, of course.’

The first one gets really excited and says, ‘and so did I. Tell me, what year did you graduate’?

The other answers, ‘Well, now, let’s see. I graduated in 1964.’

The first one exclaims, ‘The Good Lord must be smiling down upon us! I can hardly believe our good luck at winding up in the same bar tonight.

Can you believe it? I graduated from St. Mary’s in 1964 my own self!’

About this time, Vicky walks into the bar, sits down and orders a beer.

Brian, the bartender, walks over to Vicky, shaking his head and mutters; ‘It’s going to be a long night tonight.’

Vicky asks, ‘Why do you say that, Brian’?
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‘The Murphy twins are p………..again.’

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It looks like the page 56, 5th sentence meme is still alive and well. 

I had a go last year when I was reading Pride and Prejudice and now this machine is back in business I’ve been having a look around other bloggers blog lists and found it popping up all over the place.
It seems to have found its way on to Facebook and theres one version you must see, click over to Stonehead’s blog and see his different take on it.  

Actually his blog is one of my must reads when he posts – life on a croft (small farm) in rural Scotland rearing specialised breeds of pigs can be tough. 
Have a look and see the fun time he had recently with the winter weather and how he coped in his own special way.
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But back to the business in hand – the page 56, 5th sentence meme – this is how the usual method goes:

• Pick up the nearest book to you – beside the bed or computer – wherever
• Turn to page 56
• Post the text of the 5th sentence
• Then pass this on to who ever you like. 
• But if you like you could blog and leave a comment so others can come over and see

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For some reason I haven’t done a lot of reading this summer, haven’t been able to settle so found it easier to knit ‘cose I could pick it up and put it down at will without ‘losing my place’

However there is a book beside the bed at the moment that I’ve just started reading …

I like a mystery/thriller now and again and this was on Dd’s shelf  (well not this version but a Readers Digest condensed version – but I’m sure most of the storyline will be there) when I slept over the other night so gave up my knitting for a look see. 

What with one thing and another I haven’t made much progress, I’ve read some of the Jack Reacher books before so its not a hard read,  I just don’t seem to be able to concentrate.

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In the RD version page 56 is part of Chapter 4 and the plot is becoming even more interesting.

5th sentence is very short so I’m bending the rules and giving you 4th, 5th and 6th lol

‘Duration isn’t significant.  He doesn’t live at home.  And who is to say he’s missing?’

So there you make what you will of that – I won’t know till I read a bit further on

Hope to hear from you, it would be good if you played along

Oh the joys of a tempermental computer – we are finally online again.
Meant a trip to ‘his man’ and an open wallet – also involved purchasing a new modem as well ‘sigh’
Will be back another day
Cathy
ps this time last week we were sweltering, today has been quite cold with torrential rain.  Only reached 19c/66f with hail mixed in with the pouring rain.  Melbourne is renowned for its ability to have four seasons in one day – today I think it forgot which season it actually is lol

With the hot weather recently I’ve been doing some extra washing – winter blankets and clothing that may have seemed clean when put away but so I know it IS clean if I need it in a hurry have been given another wash.

Hanging it all out reminded me of a post I wrote a couple of years ago about washing

Hope you don’t mins if I repost it today – the first three comments are from the original posting
Cathy

Washing over the years

Not sure what made me think about it but bringing in the clothes this afternoon I thought of all the different places I’d hung our washing.

As a child we had the long line from one end of the garden to the other.

Before Mum got a machine the clothes were wrung by hand and weighed a ton so there was the big pole with a bit cut out to hold up the line and stop it sagging.

My granny in Belfast as well as other relations had long lines but also had one of these fabulous contraptions to help take most of the water out of the clothing.

When we visited I would watch them put sheets through and hope the cousin who had to feed them in didn’t get their fingers caught. Scared the daylights out of me and I couldn’t wait to go home as I thought I’d be asked to do it as well. Of course being a visitor that never happened lol

She also had one of these lovely things hanging up on the ceiling of her kitchen. Mum thought they were common and said we’d never have one in our house lol

I did get one for a house we had in England and it was marvellous in the winter. I’d hang children’s clothes there overnight and most would be dry in the morning. Really economical as the heating would do all the work. I believe they are making a come back as people ar turning away from tumble driers.

I’ve had long lines in a lots of houses and have walked the length of many a garden.

I love it when we visit rellies in Nova Scotia as they have their long lines attached to a pulley system so that they don’t even have to leave the comfort of the house to hang their washing out.

One cousin has a window opening that the line goes through and just opens it, hangs the washing on the line moving it along as she needs more space and then closes the window when its all hung. sorry no picture but how neat is that!!

But to me the most novel way I have had to hang my washing out was when we lived in Singapore.

This was about 1964 and we lived in a block of flats and like everyone else there our washing hung on long bamboo poles out over the street just like these.

Don’t believe me – then look at this photo.

On the Amah’s day off – with 3 young children it was me who threaded the washing on to the pole and leant over the edge to poke it in the hole on the other side of those iron bars :))

Nowadays I have a rotary clothes line, but we did have a metal Hills Hoist strong enough for the kids to hang on and pull each other round, unfortunately it came to grief when a tree fell on to it in a storm so we put up a newer version.

These photos were taken a few years ago when I was rearranging some of the garden beds.

As well as washing other things like to perch on the wires – heres a couple of visitors we had one day.

Yes the infamous Kookaburra came to visit ……………….they stayed there for ages and I managed to get right underneath them to take pictures:))

Its been raining again this evening but not very heavy, we live in hope. At least the washings up to date so it can rain as much as it likes :)))

Things are going strange here
Hope the bug gets moving soon

In South Australia, catastrophic warnings are in place for the Eastern Eyre Peninsula, Lower Eyre Peninsula, West Coast, Mid North, Yorke Peninsula, Murraylands, Upper South East, Lower South East, Kangaroo Island and the Mount Lofty Ranges.’

You know how words and music of songs can go round and round inside your head –  just appear out of nowhere and stay for a while and can be annoying, well sometimes for me there have been times when they arrive ‘cose of something I’ve heard or read.

So many of the Northern Hemisphere blogs are making mention of the harsh cold winter being experienced up there and each time I read of that awful weather, I find these words and the music make an appearance inside my head.  I’ve never heard it sung with the Christmas carols down here in Australia but it certainly was on the hymn board in England.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
worshiped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
yet what I can I give him: give my heart.

Christina G. Rossetti, 1830-1894

This is a link to Wikipedia entry on the carol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Bleak_Midwinter

They have a third verse which I don’t ever remember hearing/singing but maybe the memory isn’t that good and I’ve forgotten.  I do remember the very mournful haunting tune we used to sing it too tho’

Do any of you know it?

We have a fabulous crafter here in Melbourne name of Kirsty who has a blog called Kootoyoo 
This is where she always has lots of interesting things to say and where she shows off all the clever interesting things she makes.  I usually leave there green eyed with envy lol

Anyway I had to laugh at her post today ‘cose I’m sure she must have taken a walk down our street sometime recently and looked into our front garden

This is what she wrote today that I found so funny
‘I love Melbourne in January.
There’s nobody around.
Lawns are long & littered with dandelions.
No place to be at no particular time.’

Now if you look at this photo you’ll understand why I had to laugh.

click and get a better view

One suburban grassy area (note I didn’t say lawn) inside my fenceline on January 2nd complete with Dandelions – not there any more tho – ‘cose Dh finally gave it a haircut.

Thanks Kirsty you put into words my thoughts from the past couple of weeks