A Day at the Beach

So much for a lie in yesterday LOL - the girl's stomachs got the better of them so at 7.05am I heard, "miiisss" outside my door "is there any milk?" and thus the day began. Passed the required milk to them as we had cocoa pops and toast already sorted for breakfast and then I proceeded to have a bone warming hot shower. All going well with the girls, I went over to see if the workmate was up and to plan the day. Had thought we might go into Gton shopping initially but decided to go to the beach instead for a picnic lunch (winter is soooo hard over here)- so Dongarra it was, which is 1 1/2hrs south west for those looking on a map at home.

Our estimated time of departure was 9.30am and so by 10.30 we were driving out the gate LOL. We had the school minivan this time so we could fit the 10 of us all in the one vehicle. We took the Tardun-Pindar road which is gravel with a small sand trap for the unwary not much past the initial turnoff. Seemingly in the midst of nowhere (there is a lot of that about out here)we turned left on the road to Mingenew which was about an hours drive. Very little animal life out yesterday. Did see some manky looking sheep with their lambs in a paddock somewhere along the way. Most exciting was one paddock (think probably 100acres LOL) with wheat 8" high, though most paddocks (small counties)that had wheat were about 2" high in growth. It seemed the way to Mingenew was drier than the Gton - Tardun area - lots of red ground and saltbush along the way. We crossed the Urwin river about 5 times from memory - now more creek looking than I imagine it was during the rain. We were driving along one particular part of the road when the workmate and I both said at the same time, it reminded us of the scenery in a Western movie. There were hills in the distance on both sides of us that were plateau in appearance (flat), with us driving through the "valley". We would not have been surprised to see Red Indians hurtling down on their horses (I know it is Native American's now, but it was Red Indians when I watched Bonanza and Rawhide!!)

Mingenew is a blink of the eyelid - the 'town' was left and we turned right and 30 mins later got to Dongarra. First job was to find a bakery after we had done a quick scout out of the lookout overlooking the coast. After some helpful advice from a local as to the location of the bakery we bought fresh poppyseed and sesame seed buns, loaf of bread and a tea cake (Australian for Sally Lun cake). On the walk back to the car we espied an op shop which drew us in like a magnet LOL. I got no further than the book section and bought two, to fill in a gap between library visits. We drove on a bit further to an area alongside the tide in a marina type spot that had picnic tables set out under a roof (for shade), beside a playground and toilets. Again I must say, Aussi beaches are done well with public amenities (WA at least). A veritable feast of salami, luncheon and ham salad buns ensued with teacake and fruit to follow with lashings of orange juice (we take an eski of water/juice on all outings). This was followed by at least 20 mins on various playground equipment and a walk out onto one of the piers, followed by a walk to another one a bit further up that was more of a breakwater. Now I know by now you are thinking - oh my gosh, Lynn and all that walking. Well rest assured, I was not. At the playground they had this hollow ball type thing that you could fit 4 children in and whirl it about at speed. (Which they did, backwards and fwds). Consequently, one of the girls felt ill and said she could not walk. I waited with her while the others walked on. There was nothing for it but to sprawl on the grass and lie in the sun. I say grass, because this is the closest thing to normal (NZ)grass that I have seen. There did not appear to be any teeming insect population about it, and how good was it to be able to wear bare feet and just lie on the ground. What I did notice was this weird fillament thingie amongst the grass. At first I thought some samoyd dog had been scritching and shed multitudinous hairs about the place - but on closer inspection there were these white filament type strands in groups or two or three, coming up out of the grass, with little seed heads at the end of the filaments. Once I had established there seemed to be no danger attendent in any of the above, I just lay and soaked up the warmth - in May, nearly June, (you know, winter time heh, heh)and just enjoyed, whilst the girl beside me had to go and be sick in the tide (finally). When the others eventaully got back, we had a quick ice-block, loaded up the wagon and headed out of Dodge.

Dongarra was reasonably sized, maybe about as big as Waiuku shopping wise and the houses ranged from average to some very nice ones around towards the marina. Beaches (here) are still not unlike say Glenbrook Beach in the 60's/70's where you had people living there all year round in normal type houses mixed in with the odd bach type place. There seems to be little of the sort of housing you find in NZ along beach fronts these days - the million dollar apartments etc of the Mt and Auckland way. You could buy a place at Gton or Dongarra for around the $400,000 mark though they do go up to around $600,000 for the two story, newer built houses.

Got back here in time to make a salad and venture forth with the 'whanau' down to opposite my place and a fellow kiwi's home, for a barbeque dinner for the daughter's 13th birthday. All those on site with kids were there and between kids and at least 6 dogs it was a noisy and fun night. All the kids were on the 'oval' at one stage, playing spotlight in the dark -not a playstation or computer in sight. As well as the gas barbeque, there was a small campfire going so toasted marshemellows were part of the evening fare - (I am practising hard for Christmas camping LOL). AND - only one mosquito bite last night under my right ear lobe!! Drank a bottle of tonic water whilst around the campfire and had minimal repellent on (in the hurry to be ready)and think I got this bite in my sleep. Am almost scratch free today though will take another telfast just to make sure. We are going out on the farm later for another bush barbeque (going to make a damper loaf for lunch to go with the butter and jam LOL). I expect I will have to clean my house and room upstairs (decluttered my back pack on Friday night LOL to cope with the haute cuisine of the weekend). Update on the workmate's arm - still itchy yesterday but redness and swelling had gone down. General consensus seems to be that it may have been a wasp sting as a spider bite would leave a black mark around the puncture wound indicating dead flesh!!! Ointment and pressure bandage seems to be working. By the by - there were HEAPS of wasp nests in the trees on the way to the beach yesterday. They hang like small chinese lanterns in the gumtrees along the side of the road, some trees have up to 5 or more in them!! They also range in size from table-tennis ball to baseball size. Ick!!!

Happy Birthday to No 1 Daughter in Law - Hope you have a great day.

A lot has happened in a few days.

Have lost email in the boarding house again and the workmate has my laptop to do an assignment, so this is the first chance I have had to catch up since Monday. I rang Mum late Tues to see how Clive was - he had a double bypass earlier in the day and it had gone well. Have been joking he has become the $6million dollar man with all the medical treatments he has had over the last twelve months!! Good to know someone is getting something back from their tax dollars. Latest news to hand is that he has been up and is going well.

Tuesday, I got up early, zoomed through some housework and curled up on the verandah to read in the sun to soak up the warmth right into my bones (It was 20o indoors and I was cold). Once feeling toasty, I thought I would curl up back inside again as the flies were starting to be a nuisance, and proceded to fall into a deep sleep for about six hours. Woke up feeling great, and caught up from the weekend. Had my Tuesday dinner with the workmate's family - it is becoming my 'Nana' night. The boys make me coffees, I listen to some homework or catch up on their day and we are now into the semi-finals of Australia you've got Talent, on TV. Their dad and I alternate cooking nights and we had chicken and mushroom stew this week. I am thinking of doing my vegetable tangine next week and garlic chicken.

All the girls went to netball while the workmate was back here finishing her assignment. As she shot over for a drink break, she felt a stinging in her arm and their were two (little) puncture wounds when we looked. Couldn't find any insect upon herself, or my laptop that she had been carrying. She was not a happy camper and we all watched very closely for the next 20 mins - she survived without anymore symptoms other than the stinging, so felt reasonably confident that it wasn't something fatal. A little unnerving for moi who is used to dialing for a taxi for A&E or for an ambulance for anything more than I can fix with a plaster or a panadol LOL. We have an airstrip on the property and did joke about calling the Flying Drs. Apparrently the ambulances are a bit like the fire brigade - its quicker to do it yourself if you are in dire straights which flies in the face of what you are taught in NZ. I feel an Aussi 1st aid course coming on ......... She decided to take an antihistamine and see how things were in the morning and went back to work.

Yesterday was my first time completely solo on the vege run as Bro M is in Perth. Filled up the ute with petrol (am nearly expert now LOL) and was on my way. Called into the store to post some cards and thought I would ask where I went to get my Aussi car license sorted out - lo and behold - the library which also doubles as the Shire's offices. Erica was back behind the desk and what a difference having a real person (as opposed to those corporate persons) to work with. I started filling out the paperwork and found once begun, you cannot take the paperwork away (had to have proof of residency). It involved being measured (approx 173 metric measure) having my eyes tested on a chart on the library door, and for those playing at home, when I hesitated on describing 'body type' Erica responded "solid", as the option to put in!!!! Hmmmm - a common description apparrently for most body types. Didn't think to ask what my other options might have been LOL. If that was not bad enough - I also had to have my photo taken - had not planned on getting that far yesterday on the basis of a mere enquiry so no make up, birch broom in a fit, hair day, thus looking like a candiate for Australia's most wanted - with a smile no less. Over here you are allowed to smile!!! Two separate swipes of the bank card and a small strangling sound from me as the figures totted up, and my new Aussi license, with application for an F endorsement and LR whats it, and I am now able to start learning to drive the bus. There is no theory test, just when I am ready, ring whoever and drive the test!!!! Too easy LOL. I have to have a medical to sit the bus license and that is organised for next Wednesday (it does not involve a blood test, merely questions I understand). Have taken a 5 yr license so am not sure whether that is optimism or forward planning LOL.

A bit gobsmacked that it all happened so easily, (rang work to get them to fax my proof of residency) I headed off again to Gton. First stop the tractor bits, fix it place that I have become a frequent visitor to during seeding season. Found it first time, negotiated from there into town and finished all the rest of the jobs for school, and completed some chores of my own. Decided to treat myself to lunch so tried the local Hans Cafe - I think it is a Thai food franchise. Had a very friendly young chap take my order and 4 small spring rolls with dipping sauce and a plate of pepper squid and rice I was replete. The pepper was capsicum and the squid delicious. I asked the waiter if they used real woks (I have a yen to cook chinese again LOL and cannot find a real wok for love nor money in Gton) and if so where did they get them from. It would seem Perth is the place. Very wierd after NZ with Asian shops abounding, not so Gton and surrounds. I have only seen electric woks so far and that is not what I am after.

To continue with the interesting food theme, one of the girls scrambled an emu egg last night after blowing it out of the shell (family had dropped it off to her earlier in the week) and I got to have a mouthful once it was cooked. I am told an emu egg is the equivalent of about 10 chook eggs.... It did make up a huge bowl of scrambled egg. It looked very smooth and velvety, hard to explain the texture, maybe a little more dense than an ordinary egg but very tasty - I would definitely try it again.

Up at 5am this morning to get the first lot of girls away on the bus to Gton at 5.45am to catch the bus to Perth. The rest went on the bus at 10am to Gton to be picked up from there. The girls from Yalgoo and Mt Magnet went yesterday afternoon. The workmate came over about 9.30am to show me her arm which had swollen around the bitten area and was hot and pink looking. She had made an apt at the Dr's so the three girls left and I took her in the ute to Mullewa. I now know, if it had been a mouse spider, she could be dead, if it was a wolf spider she would be dead, and if it was a redback, the wound would be sweating. There is a possibilty that it might have been a white tail spider - oh good I replied, necretising flesh to look forward to (why didnt we call the flying Dr's after all!!) . As she has been taking antihistamine all along, the Dr said to continue, gave her some ointment and covered it with a plaster and arm bandage to prevent her from scratching it. If it gets worse, we are to take her to the hospital - all good, 1 1/2 hrs away, though there is a hospital at Mullewa open during the day.... Of course I am feeling extremely itchy in sympathy and leaping out of my skin with anything that brushes against me, flies at me etc. I have not taken to walking with a can of flyspray, spraying a circle about me - yet - but the thought is crossing my mind. Before I forget - my hunt for the great mega death to midges and mossie elixer has now come to quinine!!!!! I have been told that those who take quinine do not get bitten. Shot into the chemist on Wednesday only to be told, they are now a prescription drug in Australia - arrhhhhh, wouldn't you know it. Not to be thwarted, the next best thing - tonic water (usually only associated with gin and lime and gin and gin LOL) so bought several bottles of that at the IGA on the way home. Will let you know how the experiment goes. Not sure how much you have to drink each day to get the effect I want. May have to add the gin - perhaps enough of that, and the bites will not matter. I can totally sympathise with all Summerset Maughm's characters who lived in the tropics drinking themselves silly (maybe there was more than mosquitos to blame but it works for me).

Speaking of the IGA - The Durlacher St smaller one (there is a bigger one on the same street) was my last stop before the vegie pick up for school. I was after some ingredients for my tangine and specifically kaffir lime leaves. This IGA's speciality is Asian products, Home brew and bread baking products amongst the usual spread. I asked one of the shop assistants where to find them,and she said she had the lime leaves on order for several weeks. As I saw my hopes of the tangine slipping away, a woman in the next aisle said over the counter, "kaffir lime leaves, I have a kaffir lime tree growing in my garden, I live at ...... Shenton St, go and help yourself to some leaves"!!!!!!!! How does that happen anymore?? I love that Gton and surrounds are so country (although, this is something my mum would do if she heard someone talk about fuschias, red hats .... etc LOL). Well, I thought, nothing ventured - so drove to said place which was about 10 houses up the road and a big thank you to Lesley for the leaves picked from her lime tree. She has told me to pop back anytime I need more, and she works in the local chemist. People truely amaze me over here how friendly and do anything for you they are. (apart from the b..........d corporates - I know, I am going to have to let it go and move on, LOL)

Am up in the library while typing this and we have Home and Away on the big screen tv. Bones is on tonight and the girls are going to sleep on the floor out in the lounge so will move back down there once I have finished some more emails. May go into Gton tomorrow, will wait and see how we feel tomorrow. Catch you later.








I am looking for a wok - you cannot buy one for love nor money in Gton unless you want an electric one.

More Cooking in the great outdoors!

Yesterday after a sleep in till 7am (had to get up for soccer girls,the rest of the girls got up for breakfast at 9am as our token lazy day for the week LOL. Breakfast done followed by the weekly clean, wardrobe check etc etc I was told there was no water!!!! I went forthwith to the taps and yes, the girls were right. Arrrgh. Rang and left a msg with one of the Bros, then rang the DP to spread the joy. Had a locked block with showers and toilets opened and was going to access the laundry as well to get all our washing done looking at worse case scenario not trusting anything to be fixed in a hurry. I am not sure what happened but about an hour later we had water again, albeit with very little pressure and quite yellowy (is that a word? LOL). Ah well, at least we could flush loos and continue with the washing. By then it was lunchtime so a quick round of sandwhiches were had and then on to the bus to go back into Gton.

Took the girls to Aquarina again and they got an hours swim in before the pool was closed for the day. We then headed for a little beach (Gton is not unlike the Mt, only in that the beach is right there all alongside the town) just up/down (not sure of the directions) from the shopping centre we usually go to. Can you believe it - the council has installed at the park/playground two separate stainless steel topped, gas run barbeques that start with the push of a button - be still my beating heart. One of the barbeques is a double one and the other a single with more 'bench' top. They were both spotlessly clean so we were very impressed. One other thing that I have noticed at the two beach areas I have been to, is that they both have water taps to wash your hands/feet etc along side the carpark areas.

We had taken our usual Sunday barbeque packs of one chop, 2 sausages and piece of steak (think weiner schnitzel for thickness and about 1/2 the size), bread, onions, butter and tomato sauce. Got the chops sizzling, then the sausages going on the double bbq and the steak and onions on the other one. Meanwhile, some of the girls walked up the beach looking for clams and crabs (and they found them) or just lay about in the sun - yes I said sun as it was a warm day yesterday - in the 30's I would guess and this was at 4pm!!!
We ate lashings of meat - it is a carnivore's dream on Sunday night - I underestimated the tom sauce and onions but better luck next time. Four loaves of bread were inhaled and we had the least left overs ever. It was magic cooking with the sound of surf and then the equally magnificent sun set (Sun set, sun rise and the moon are all brilliant here - lots of red hues). I will need to do a heap of decluttering this week to make up for the weekend indulgences LOL. Girls were very relaxed and very appreciative of the whole weekend so it made it worth all the effort.

Although there were toilets at a small park type place across the road, we were thirsty and chose to do a Macca's stop on the way home. I grabbed a much needed coffee and could not believe it when I saw that some of the girls got hamburgers etc on top of what they had just put away. It was dark by the time we left which was just after six, getting back to school just on 8pm. There was not a murmer from the girls at the juniors being in bed at 8.30pm and everyone else by 9pm. The computer upstairs was on the blink so did a few loads of washing in between playing some solitaire on my laptop (very little thinking involved). I know I was exceptionally tired several times over the weekend. I thought I had lost my glasses again - I remembered taking them off to put a jumper on at my house - the workmate found them in her car the next morning as I had driven her car from my place back up here (can not remember why I needed to drive there and back though LOL) and yesterday, I walked out of the loo at Maccas leaving my wallet on top of the toilet roll holder. Luckily the workmate was in there after me and asked me if I had lost anything????

Carrying on with the lovely weather theme - I got my jeans on the line at 1pm today and hopped into them to go to work at 3pm - Brill!!!! In fact got three loads of washing done and dried in that time. If this is winter - rock on. I will be sleeping at home tonight and notice the temp has dropped as the sun has gone down so will be piling the blankets on tonight.

Three more sleeps till Boarders - yay. Have been thinking what to do and have decided not to go to Perth this time but will stay here instead and do a couple of day trips and some exploring of the farm, some cooking, some reading, some DVD watching, some needle work - are there enough days off I ask myself. We are thinking of going up to Kilbarry on the Sunday which is about 2 hours north of here. Two other staff are going to be there for the weekend and there is a cray festival on. That was an easy decision to make LOL. I could really get into a good feed of seafood and this may be the perfect chance. Watch this space!!

Have fallen from grace today and I blame Kay. I think she sent me a picture of something I might like on trade me or ebay contacted me and I have found myself looking at things on the site again over the last few days. Because everything is so slow out here, have not spent eons of time on but whilst looking for one DVD I am after - lo and behold I spotted a Ben 10 DVD (the latest super hero for all those playing at home. If you have grandchildren, great grandchildren or have small people in your life - Ben 10 and his assorted bunch of greeblies are the new market driven toy, schoolbag, blanket etc etc to have). I actually enjoyed watching the couple of programs I watched with the 5yr (and a half LOL) grandson in the holidays.

Dinner bell has just rung so had better go. Hasta la vista (In support of the Camp Kay, Viv and Bobby are on)

Home, home on the range....

No dear or antelope but have had a "great outdoors" evening tonight. I am reeking of wood smoke but to back track... am sitting here like a stunned mullet after being awake since 5am. Had girls being picked up for sport at 6pm!!and 6.30pm. The earlier ones were quiet, then three girls decided to chatter and have a shower right next to my room - AGAIN - (Old mother flipper, flopper jumped out of bed breathing smoke and fire )so I gave up, woke up properly and finished my book whilst other girls got started for the day. Was meant to be my day off, and it was kind of. I did get home for a 10 min shower and change before going to Gton with the workmate's family while she drove the bus in to town with the girls for the first time (with an extra staff member we have for a short period of time). Passed bits of two dead kangaroos on the way in - one remains had a very large, black, bird sitting on it and we were passed it before realising it was an eagle - in the same spot that we saw the eagle (flying)last time so maybe it is the same bird and that area is its territory.

Just as we got to Gton it rained a bit but all good as the wheat is shooting up everywhere on the way in - all very exciting indeed. We headed to Bunnings as a couple of the staff and three of our girls were doing a sausage sizzle as fundraising for the school. They were going great guns and so by way of a donation, we all had one on the spot (as you do). To be fair to the Sallies who were also collecting just inside the door, found some change in my wallet for them too.

Of course, if one arrives at Bunnings, one has to look through the place. Managed to escape with only 5 herbs: 2x basil, parsley, coriander and chives - the beginners guide to a small herb garden LOL and a can of something similar to CRC which was on sale to put on squeaky doors and such like. I then drove the workmate's beast of a car to Spotlight just further up the road (could there be a more perfect placing of shops heh, heh) and bought cottons, needles, x stitch fabric, wool and embroidery hoops to stock pile for the girls to begin their craft bits and pieces with.

We met up with the bus at a local park and for a treathad bought pizzas for the girls for lunch so it was a nice change from taking stuff to make our own sandwhiches. It had fined up by then so spent about an hour at the park with the girls throwing a football around and generally mucking about in the playground. Left there for a sorti into Harvey Normans as there was a sale on! Finally got myself a new blow wave to replace the one that burst into flames in my hand the night before I left for NZ last hols. Got that for half price and also bought a slow cooker type crockpot type thing that will hold 6L. I plan to use this for soup etc so I can have things cooking on my days off when I go into town or on the weekends (I live in hope). I was looking at getting a TV so I can return the one being lent to me but there is actually a spare one going in the boarding house so may swap things around a bit. That being sorted, I only need to work on getting a sound system.... I bought a DVD/CD/Video over with me so looked at tuners and speakers briefly today without any luck. I was over shopping by then ( I know, very scarey) so got all the brochures from each shop to compare notes and left to come back to school. Again I was meant to have the night off but we had a campfire so could not pass that up. Hence the reference to Home on the Range.

The workmate had collected wood earlier in the evening and made a fire down the back of the girls boarding area and past the last staff accomodation. I went down with a long sleeved jumper on and only my wrists and chin upwards uncovered (that was taken care of by a slathering of insect repellent) so I could actually tackle the 'great outdoors' at night. Once the fire had burnt down to coals, we got some very long sticks off some dead trees lying about the place and toasted marshmellows off the end of them. OMG, melted marshmellows with a hint of caramalising and wood smoke - devine. But wait there is more. The workmate also made up this HUGE mixture of damper and once the fire had burnt down even more - we wodged (hope you like my word) damper in a ball down over the thick end of the stick until it resembled a sausage and then held the stick over the coals rotating it slowly until the damper cooked. You knock it and when it is cooked it has a distinct sound. When you take the stick out of the middle, you fill the hole with butter and golden syrup or butter and jam or butter LOL. Managed to cook two for myself and had damper with butter, warm (and with butter)and a little bit of jam with the second one (Laura, I hope you are reading this LOL) and was in hog heaven. The perfect end to an over indulgent day.

The heat from the fire was just right, and the night was still, not so cold tonight and no bugs (yay) except a gazillion small ants that I disturbed by moving a rock to sit on (they were living underneath it)- decided to stand after that LOL. The workmates dog managed to wolf a few mouthfulls of damper mix out of the bowl that we had resting just out of range of the fire so spent the rest of the time holding that until someone else took pity on me and I got to cook mine unimpeded. I remarked that, at home, a fire like this would usually result in a singalong so started it off with a rendition of Pokarekare ana which they all liked and then we had a nursery rhyme sing off with the workmate and half the girls trying to over sing myself and the rest of the girls. I rather think we did the best with I'm a little teapot, short and stout... - (with actions). All the girls joined in with Bob the Builder, can we do it - yes we can. All very silly but lots of laughs and it would appear not something that these girls are used to - singing that is. (They had lots of opinions about the correct way to build and light a fire and how to cook damper - various grandmother's ways were quoted). So, even though I wasn't working, I was there and had a great day. It was also great tonight as different girls asked me about NZ and were telling me about their families, how they camp (go bush) and the different things they would eat. It is quite special as girls who do not often say a lot opened up a little bit and talked about where they come from and about their families. All agreed we should do it again after Boarders Weekend (the equivalent of our Exeats or Leave weekends).

The Dvd has just finished and the place is silent - I think everyone crashed before the end of it tonight so will dive for bed myself. Another day tomorrow.

Nine Rabbits, one ferral cat and a kangaroo!

All the above, I managed to miss on the drive home from Gton last night. It was a long day and I did try to write something last night, but not enough hamsters in the wheel on the home computer. I have never seen so many rabbits at one time - the largest group was three that I saw. Bro had just remarked that we had missed the kangaroos when not 5 mins later I saw one leaping along on the left hand side of the ute. Luckily it veered away back to the side of the road. The ferral cat just ran across the road and last but not least I also avoided a clump of grass and the hind legs of what was left of a kangaroo - I know, all in a nights driving LOL.

Re the home computer: spent 2 hours on the phone with Big Pond on Tuesday getting reconnected because when Telstra cut the phone off they cut the dial up as well, but neglected to re-connect or mention that I had to go through the laborious process myself. Tis done now and things are working again in a fashion. Not to be outdone, the Commonwealth Bank are now on my list of challenging corporates to deal with. I went in to see about net banking, got a password and all ready to go and then when I went to transfer some money last week to NZ, the process wouldn't work. Rang the help line to be told that I had to be sighted by the local bank (did this not happen when I first arranged it?) to have my limit increase for international transfers,(they set transfers at $0 as a default figure) or they could fax the papers out, I could provide three copies of identification, post it back ....... meanwhile back in the jungle!!!!!! Anyhoo, presented myself in person yesterday AGAIN to said branch and mentioned the fact I had stood in front of the last teller as she had showed me how to access international transfers at her own computer and how was it I left without the next part in place!!!! I had a very helpful young thing walk me soothingly through the process and who rang the equivalent of the vault and had it all sorted by the time I walked out of the door. As my phone conversations with the various corporates have 'been taped for training purposes' I feel I have done my bit for 101: dealing with difficult customers dealing with cloth eared corporate bints LOL.

Had a looonnng day in Gton yesterday. Set off with 6 oxygen bottles strapped to the ute tray. Three tall ones and three smaller ones. Had one interesting corner coming into Mullewa when the load shifted and I had a little fish tail (Bro mentioning calmly about the corner at the same time LOL) as I straightend up. Had 18 jobs to do including dropping off a student for the 4.40 bus up north so didn't get much chance to do any browsing and shopping myself. Did happen to espy a second antique shop tucked away in an alley opposite the bank linking the main street we were shopping in. Have taken note for when I get in on my own perchance.

Thanks Mum for the mail you sent over. I have now in my possession my official Certificate of Duty of Care. Yay and ya boo sucks (Fotherington Thomas - Roald Dahl) to that other place that we shall never speak of. (I feel I have made that comment before but it feels worthwhile to reapeat it )LOL.

The workmate is off to sit her bus license this morning so am keeping my fingers crossed for her. I am needing to get the process going to get an F endorsement to drive the mini van, and will work up from there to get my bus license. It is such a rackety old thing I must admit I do not feel entirely confident about having 30 lives in my hands driving such a beast. The mini-van will be no problem however. I got papers to sign up for medicare - (am thinking another corporate here and taking a deep breath) and have to have a medical for both the above licenses. I may also have to get new glasses AGAIN because somewhere between Gton and here last night (two stops on the way back) I have lost my brand new $1000 glasses. I had taken them off to see better LOL to drive. The optometrist said I was fine to drive without glasses and at night, with my new ones, I can see clearer than wearing them to drive - something to do with the graduated lenses I think. Anyway, luckily I have my old ones on the edge of my nose at the moment as I cannot see to read without them anymore, nor to do any needlework - a fate worse than death. The pain of it is I have just gone through to getting adjusted to the new glasses which were considerably stronger than these ones and took some getting used too. The words buggary bollocks come to mind LOL.

Whilst I have been stitching at home (the few times I have been there recently) I have had a bit of a movie fest going on with a couple of REALLY old movies - in honour of it being 100 years since Jimmy Stewart was born (idle piece of information out of the newspaper for those playing at home) I watched Shenandoa the other night. Not one of his greatest I think but worth a watch for a very young Trampus (Doug McClure) ? out of the Virginian?? Mind just went a bit hazy. I have also watched Pillowtalk with Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Tony Randall (the Odd Couple). I can see how Doris Day became and adjective in her own life time - wholesome girl, slightly ditsy and happy ever after works for her.

My quilting has inspired a couple of the girls to want to do some needlework so am getting some things put together today. Plan on starting something simple so watch this space. This will also help with my decluttering of old cottons and should be worth a few grams LOL. With a bit of a fast food day yesterday and the only decluttering managed was to empty the ute - I have remained stable (weightwise heh heh) for the last couple of days. I had oodles of sleep Monday and Tuesday and with some tidying resulted in a kilo from last week - I kid you not. Its nearly time for morning cuppa (am doing this up at school) so will sign off for now. Ciao.

Hello darkness my old friend.

It's Sunday night, childer in bed by 9.15, quick goss with the workmate and I am sitting in the dark at the computer with the sounds of silence (except for the washing machine and dryer LOL) all around. Bliss.

I came to work Thursday afternoon and will go home mid morning tomorrow to work tomorrow afternoon and then will be back Thursday afternoon. Winter sport has played havoc with our working hours on the weekends and the workmate and I are putting our heads together this week to see if we can make it work better for both of us. On a roll, I decluttered our sleeping quarters up here on Saturday. It was a reasonably laid back day after that as everyone was tired from the business of the previous week. Had planned on doing another walk into the great outdoors gathering wood for a camp fire but no one had any enthusiasm which suited me fine. Biggest excitement was the firing up of the old bakery on Saturday. I made a stray comment last term about it being a shame it wasn't used anymore and over the holidays when various people gathered here on site, the topic came up, investigations made, and then an enormous clean up of equipment and plant with some engineering know how carried out on the burner, and yesterday it all came together. Apparently all bread was baked on site up until 5 years ago when the person who baked left through ill health. OMG, you should see the oven, it is the real McCoy and huge with a door in the wall that opens and acres of space inside. The interested few yesterday made three catering sized pizzas (homemade dough)and I got to taste the results which were incredibly yummy. There is even the old wooden shovel with about 2mtr handle to slide under the trays to get them in and out of the oven and you should see the size of the dough making machines. I believe the fire for the oven is oil fired, and they got the heat up to over 800o to start with which helped, I understand, to burn the carbon off the inside of the oven before they put the pizza in. There are going to be more trial runs and they hope to have it up and running perfectly for open day and Tardun under the Stars (the major fundraising event of the year).

I had my own foodie moment on Friday as for the first time in three weeks I made it to a class in the kitchen that someone put me forward to take part in - cooking with the chef and the kids!!!! The idea is that the kids get to make afternoon tea and morning tea for the weekend. Friday was rocky road (white and dark chocolate batches) and then to balance the healthy option (LOL), cut up fruit and a salad for dinner that night. The rocky road was chocolate buttons mixed with copha (kremalta in NZ - you were right Mum) poured over chopped marshmellows and chopped glace cherries (coconut was added to the white choc batch). It was horrendously sickly even in small amounts but almost compulsive to eat at the same time.

Today we headed into Geraldton for soccer. Once again to Macca's for a restorative coffee and then I got dropped off at Aquarina with a few of the girls while the rest went to watch football - not sure who was playing but seemed riveting for those who went. Aquarina, as the name suggests, is the local swimming pool complex and it seems an excellent one at that. Very interestingly laid out, open spaces with toddler pools, a hydroslide and then a big pool inside for serious swimming and an outside pool (large). Managed to read a bit of my book that I took in between chatting to parents who turned up for various reasons and some people who had a child here some time ago. Because the bus has been a bit temperamentle, we walked from the pool complex back to the soccer grounds (all the sports grounds are in a row) and found the original time given for the game was incorrect so had to sit and watch the second half of a game that two of our girls were in. Fortunately, the bus started 1st pop so we got away as soon as the game ended.

Got back to cook the usual Sunday night barbque dinner for the girls. Found an apron to wear out of a cupboard and wouldn't you know it, I still managed to get fat spattered over the front of me (even though the apron had a bib on it!!). I had had the good sense to take off the jumper I was wearing and saved that greasy spots. Got flash tonight and cooked up fried onions as well which was enjoyed by all.

The Robocan seems to be working in our rooms up here. I spotted a fly on the ceiling yesterday and found it legs up on my bed last night - hoo rah. The ceiling has been clear in three rooms of any small dark insects of the biting/(urinating) kind. I have felt safe enough to have my head out from under the bed clothes which is definitely a plus. Have considered buying a burka to wear when in the great outdoors, however, the eyes still show and I have bites on my eyelids so have disregarded that idea for the moment. I also had a mental picture in my head of Brian's mother in the "Life of Brian" (a la Monty Python for those playing at home) and again - not a good look.

Had to sit up for awhile last night because just before I went to bed, one of the girls came to tell me her room mate was being sick - just lovely. After sorting that out (she also has a suspected torn muscle or cracked rib) I decided to wait up to see if she settled and was able to sleep (she was fast asleep in 30 mins) so to while away the time resumed my stitching on the quilt. To keep myself awake, had the MP3 player to hand and as I listened to Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Hendrix whilst stitching around ballerina teddies ..... had to have a small chuckle and thought niece Laura would have liked the juxtaposition of it all (one of her favourite words) LOL.

Have just demolished two bits of the white chocolate rocky road (I cleaned out my wallet and the bus today to be able to eat that LOL)and feel the need to read a few more pages of my latest book. I can't tell you the title or the author (Mrs Sedman, 3rd form English teacher will be turning in her grave) but am enjoying it. It remains unremarkable to date because it is part of the read every book in the library mission I am on so am completely unfamiliar with the author. I read a truely awful book last week and told the librarian I hadn't enjoyed it and thought it poorly written and on the strength of that she said she would send it back to the main library LOL. I mention Mrs Sedman because she drummed into us, that you always remember the title and author of what you read/study - it is a guaranteed two marks in any exam - don't know where that came from, just thought I would throw that in to the mix LOL. So, am off to put one more load into the washing machine and to bed. Nighty night.

I hate those mices to pieces!

No I do not hate mice at all but it is hard to find something to rhyme with midges and mosquitos LOL. I spake to soon about the lack of biting creatures - just because there were none at the computer last night - they were all lurking in our staff quarters. A haze of midges descended whilst I was cleaning my teeth - I checked, there were no windows open but apparently they are so small they can fit through the screen netting!!! I sprayed myself with insect repellent but somehow this did not seem to deter them or if it did, they kept throwing themselves at me before they realised I was not tasty. Not to be outdone, hopped into the winter winciette nightie - usually a sight to startle most creatures great and small - buttoned it to the throat, and donned the netting over my head that you would usually drape over one's hat (I was sans hat!). I wanted to try and read for awhile but no joy - even though I had the netting thing tight enough around my neck to resemble a noose - and I sprayed the net - they seemed to get through that as well. I gave up the unequal fight, turned the light off, turned the next room light on hoping they would all migrate towards the light (nanoo, nanoo) and put my head under the sheets (finally taking off the net in case I strangled myself in the night!) thinking death by carbon monoxide asphixiation was probably an easier way to go. I found at this morning apparrently midges urinate on your skin which is what causes an itch that you scratch until your draw blood (or plasma)which turns nasty, yada, yada, yada. Have you seen the size of a midge????? Slightly bigger than the size of a pin and if they are dumping urine on ones body, that is what they must be made up of entirely in a little black casing. I have bought out the big guns tonight and bought my Robocan up and have had it squirting away for several hours. Seemed to have acquired more bites during the night so between the antihistamine and soove ointment I am kind of managing. Note to self - cannot travel up north as there are mosquitos up there that carry dengue fever and if the ordinary ones down here can bypass most nuclear potions, I would have no chance being untasty to a serious mosquito!!!

It is cold tonight - I have no idea of what the temperature is but I would say we are below 20o. The days are Ok if you are in the sun but am wearing jeans, woollen sox and a cardigan or polofleece vest all the time when inside. I may need warmer things yet and not sure how they will warm the boarding house.

After giving my niece my easi-yo maker, I found myself buying another one over here - its easier to make it than buy it than transport it home in the heat of summer. My flavour of choice at the moment is the Greek natural yoghurt mix and if you leave it well over night to work it comes out thick and creamy (might have mentioned this before) I have taken to having lashings of it over cereal and then drizzled with liquid honey a la breakfasts that we had in Athens last year and am loving it.

For those playing at home - this morning I weighed 200gms less than yesterday LOL. Looked for more rubbish to throw out as did not get much sleep last night - will keep you updated as my cunning plan unfolds LOL.

The girls are moving after their movie has finished so will do a twirl and start moving people to bed. Have a girl come to me in pain so am about to go into Shortland St mode. Catch you later.

All I shall say is: Muscatels!!!!!!

I have found where to purchase squillions of them - well lashings at least, LOL. For those playing at home - muscatels were an integral part of our Christmas Day feasting when I was a child. They came in an Octagonal box from memory - our Grandmother always bought them with her and they were the afternoon nibbles post lunch and pressie hand out. Last year I tried where to find them on NZ google and came up with recipies and restaurants that served dishes with them but could not find a supplier. My sister Kay and I were only talking about them whilst I was home last and imagine my surprise when walking into an organic store in Gton, there were bags of them. The first lot I saw were in catering size packs but luckily they had smaller ones near the counter. I fell on a pack, managed to get out of the shop just, and then had to sample them immediately - yes, it is still the taste of Christmas so will enjoy this lot and then work on finding where to get them in NZ again. I think because they are a fruit, even if the package was sealed here, I would be up for a photo shoot on Boarder Patrol if I tried to bring some back LOL. Speaking of Boarder Patrol I watched a smidgeon of it last Monday night and how can anyone be so dumb to smuggle drugs and or food into any country these days. The xrays are good enough to show what you had for dinner and the drug dogs!!!! these animals work, you can not get past them!!! I watched three different people look absolutely astounded when they were discovered to have broken the law - 2 guys got over 10 yrs jail for importing cocaine into OZ - how could it possibly be worth it???

The universe has been extra good to me this week - I also have been able to FINALLY purchase a Robocan and spray - yay. Had to go to Bunnings yesterday for school and after perusing the aisle they would be in at home, I finally gave up and asked one of the staff - to which she replied: Yes we do have them, they are in a funny aisle though - try aisle 28 - yes you would think they should be in aisle 23.... (aisle 28 is a 1/2 aisle on the far side of the shop - not an area I have ever been familiar with LOL) Almost a pavement kissing moment when I picked one off the shelf and put it in the trolly!! Of course, the temperature plummeted yesterday evening when I got home (had to put the heater on, I kid you not) and most self respecting bugs have disappeared for the moment but this will kill all the unseen ones as well heh heh heh.

Had a good day yesterday going to town. Put the MP3 player thingie in my ears, hopped in the ute and off I went - my first trip to Gton solo!! Sang to the music most of the way in, so just as well I was on my own. Managed to get into the township but at the other end than I thought I would end up in. My sense of direction is good in parts but its like being in Wellington - its back to front to Auckland if that makes sense. Anyway, I thought I was very clever until I went to find Bro M and ended up on the highway back here with no immediate turnoff. Wasted about 5ks before heading back into town and this time ended up where I thought I should have been in the first place!!!. Following the map was not a lot easier but by the afternoon I was doing better. Before picking up Bro, I managed a dash into Spotlight with just enough time to scope out the aisles and to see what is where - made myself walk away from a spiderman duvet cover (on sale too,- may need counselling LOL)and then across the way to the equivalent of a Noel Leaming type shop. Had a very quick look at TV's, and CD player and got the pamphlet to compare prices at other places and then went to drive back to town when I espied an antique shop - my first chance to see what the aussie's have. Again for those playing at home - Depression glass - bring some in your bags over here - much more expensive than you can pick it up at home (in my experience). No Sylvac and a lot of furniture - mainly big old fashioned kitchen cabinets and then more modern lounge suites etc. Jewellry looked reasonable and china not too bad but will go again and take a closer look when I have more time.

Have been reading in several magazines lately that a good sleep helps you to lose weight and this weeks theory - you will lose weight when you declutter your house/life!!! Hmmmm - well, I stayed in bed until 10.30am again today and put three bags of rubbish out - watch this space LOL. (Did munch through 1/2 bag of jelly sweets through the day on account of sooooo much decluttering - as I also tidied the house LOL, - may be in holding pattern for today!) Have got one more load of washing to do for the girls and hopefully can call it a night and get cracking on the loss of a few more kilos so will sign off for now.

Replies to comments:
K - Have a great time at camp, looking fwd to the stories of this year's trials and triumphs.

Ahhh Luxury, A Day Off

Yes, today is really my first day off in a week and it is bliss. I woke at 7.30am, read for a bit and then went back to sleep till 10.30am only getting up because the phone rang. This was good as it galvanised me not to waste the day. Ablutions completed, a berroca (prevention as there are people with flu, 24 hour bugs etc) and my new best friend and drug of choice - an antihistamine. More bliss. Two days ago I tore a small hole in my ankle after a small scritch turned into a full blown talon tearing scratch because the itching was driving me mad. Back to the chemist yesterday (my fifth trip into Geraldton in 6 days) to mention that their tablets that were to prevent mossi bites were not working and did they have anything post bite. I have the megatron dose that works for 24hrs and after about 10 mins after taking the first one on the spot yesterday, it began to work. I now laugh in the face of midges and mosquitos, ha !!!!! I can now cope again with the not so great outdoors LOL.



Whilst I do not know the road to Gton backwards yet, I have a good sense of where I am in and around town after the umpteen visits over the past week. After the shopping spree on Saturday, off we went on Sunday to take everyone into soccer. First stop was at McDonalds for a survival coffee for the workmate and I and the girls therefore got a bonus stop. We had some time to wait before 10 pin opened and this filled the bill. A great time was hadby everyone at 10 pin, myself included apart from the bit when I dropped the ball on my foot - I kid you not. A picture of Fred Flintstone came to mind and I felt I managed very well just by gritting my teeth and bowling. Luckily, there was no major or lasting damage, more like catching your toe on furniture and no one else was the wiser. We had a picnic lunch in Chapman Park which was a nice interlude and then to the soccer grounds to watch the girls play their game. That was much like watching paint dry for me - I watched out of one eye whilst reading my book and lying in the sun.



Yesterday went to keep the workmate company as she took one of the boys in to the orthadontist. On the way home we spotted a wedge tailed eagle gliding on the currents up above us. I grabbed my camera and as the workmate pulled open the sunvisor of the car, she tried to take a photo while I steered the car. We got two photos of blue sky and the next one with blue sky and a dot, LOL. Fortunately we were on the dirt road on the way back to school so were pretty safe taking photos while driving in the middle of the road.

When I woke up the first time this morning, for a moment I thought I was back in the Waikato - there was FOG!!!!! There must have been rain in the night because there was water on the ute canopy that I noticed when I got the washing in. The last thing I would have expected out here was fog, but indeed it was foggy on the way to Geraldton on Sunday morning too and we had to stop for the first train I have seen since being here as it crossed the main road. There are rain clouds in the sky at the moment and with a bit of luck we may get some showers today or tonight. The tractors are up and at em again and when I spoke to Bro W last night - he said they would be aiming at seeding 400 acres per day over the next few days!

Am off to Gton again tomorrow as I am doing the vege run and picking up Bro M from in town to bring back. I am having tea with the workmate's family tonight and watching TV as per last week so my social calander is full LOL. Had a ring from the bank today for some final details about the house - all good. Had an email for Mother's Day from the No 1 son and I hear through the grapevine that No 2 son tried to ring unsuccessfully so both remain in the will for this year LOL. The server was down here so have only been able to get on today - no idea why - possibly because it had been going ok for at least a week LOL. I managed to ring my Mum and it was good to have a quick catch up. I have bought a phone card as was standing by a counter in the stationery shop that had them displayed and am going to have a go using it. For $10 I think I have about 5 hours of calls I can make.

Have more new girls applying to come, three more as of today - am starting to feel like the old lady who lived in a shoe LOL. Am about to head home and do some quick ironing before I come up for tea - capitalising on a small burst of energy and also will set me up for the next few days. Hopefully this coming week will be more settled. It is so much easier with my house in order now - it was lovely going home to a tidy place last night, bed ready to dive into and spaces on the couch available to loll and watch a DVD before bed. Am wearing my new glasses today as I got them fixed at an optometrists in town yesterday. I had bent them out of shape in the first few days I had them and had to go back to wearing my old ones as I could not see out of them clearly at all. Am adjusting to the new lenses and its better toda.
OK must away. Catch you later.

Boy Germs

Am just airing my room out after giving 1st aid to one of the boys who was accompanied by a mate and a staff member up from the boys dorms where the incident requiring 1st aid occurred. Little did they realise, I am not great with icky bits, so it was with trepidation I let them through the door at all. (This happened just on bedtime for the girls and I did well as not one girl realised there were BOYS in the house. It transpired that the boy in question had been playing some game outside in the dark and ran into a clothesline. I had a CSI moment when the staff member told the boy to lift his head so Miss could see the damage. He was extremely lucky and apart from a very nasty grazed area resembling a carpet burn over a good amount of his throat, there was only a small amount of skin missing where the line had cut in. I whipped out the trusty 1st aid box (after having him put a cold pack on his throat for 10 mins) and put betadine on some guaze with two strips of plaster to hold it on over the cut part and dabbed some savlon on the rash. He will live through the night and I will get the workmate to check out my handiwork in the morning.

I have been thinking all the kids here were complete wusses as they want plasters everytime they get the slightest cut or scratch but I forget the flies that haunt you go for cuts etc. The girls seem prone to boils so we are now watching all little lumps and bumps - me more from a distance than the workmate LOL.

A small miracle happened today - I took the girls shopping!!!! - in Geraldton. Our bus driver turned up this morning and offered us his services for the day which was a bolt out of the blue - he usually has Saturday off and drives for us Sunday. The chance was too good to miss and leaving 5 recalcitrants behind with the workmate, I travelled yet again to Geraldton - this time in the back of the bus. The lot I took were threatened with an inch of their lives to behave and not spoil this chance and they came through with flying colours. I have been thanked, blessed and wished sweet dreams tonight LOL. We had planned to go to 10 pin bowling tomorrow while some of the girls (and boys) are playing soccer so both the workmate and I are going in again for our sins. Will not be shopping tomorrow unless we go to Bunnings or Rangers LOL.

Had a lovely thing happen to night - the workmate's family all came upstairs with a card and present for me for Mother's Day so I would not feel left out on the day. I had to open it then and there as the boys leave early for soccer themselves tomorrow and found a very nice chocolate biscuit sampler. Will keep it and share it with them all on Tuesday night as I have been invited for dinner and to watch TV again.

Got a smidgen more done on my quilt this evening while a few of the girls from up North (Broom) sat around and talked to me of their home and I talked about NZ. They have seen 'Whale Rider' and 'Once Were Warriors' and that is about their amount of knowledge of NZ.

Further to the mosquito saga - last night I got bitten on my scalp!!!!!! My head was itching today and when I went to scratch it, I became aware I had several lumps that were bites throughout my scalp!!! I am alternating the repellents and tonight I am wearing the 'Kiwi' insect repellent given to me by my sister which is my most successful one yet.

Did a very quick peruse in Coles today as a recipie for cup cakes I have found had vanilla paste as an ingredient. I actually found some at $11ish for enough to fit in your eye so will look for another recipie. Did buy a batch of food colourings to make different coloured icing should I make some cake cakes as it seems to be the trendy thing to do. Watch this space. We have another birthday coming up on Tuesday so will try and do something different this time whether it is by design of the cake or in the decoration of it.

Have to be up at 6am tomorrow for this outing so am going to get a decent nights sleep tonight. Happy Mother's Day to you Mum - will try and ring tomorrow if I can. Happy Mother's Day to all the rest of you out there - hope the day goes well for all of you.
Good night
Moi.

Bugs and Other beasts

Have just slathered myself in insect repellent and squashed 4 mosquitos on the computer screen with no compunction at all. My wrists, feet,right shoulder blade and neck have all been bitten in the last two days. This is with taking the anti bite vitamin pills recommended by the chemist even after I have doubled the dose. Arrrrrgh!!!! Am not tearing lumps out of myself with scratching so maybe they are working on the itch factor - who knows. (have just killed no 5).

Have noticed that there seems to be more bugs in the (six) air over here judging by the splodges on every windscreen of the cars/utes I have been driving lately. Drove again today - the workmates car back from Geraldton to Mullewa. Got a lift in and managed to find a sewing shop to purchase cotton, pins etc to use with the sewing machine to take up hems on the girls uniform pants and some basic mending. I also got some quilt filler (Iron on = sorry purists!) (seven)plus a hoop. Tonight I ironed on the front of a cot type quilt to the above filling and have begun to stitch the outlines of three ballerina teddy bears. I bought it to do for my niece some years ago and as she is going on 6yrs, thought it was timely to start. (eight)I have had lots of the girls come to sit and chat whilst I have been stitching with the rest watched a movie(nine). Watch this space LOL. It would be nice to think I get it finished before she gets to high school LOL.

Had Mass tonight - red robes for Pentecost if I was paying attention, and thoughts about Mother's Day this Sunday. The service ended with all the mothers present receiving 5 Frere Roche (not sure of the spelling) chocolates tied up with a small card and some bouganvillia attached for a Mother's Day gift. Very nice touch. Have put them aside to take home and enjoy.

Had two girls leave today, one for a week and one for good. We have had three not return from the holidays and more on the waiting list so its all a bit like a moveable feast. Makes it challenging to keep duty lists and roll calls up to date LOL.

On the way back from Gton saw a dead roo on the side of the road - it was very "CSI" or "Bones" as 2 crows flew away from the carcass as we approached and there was a huge hole in the side of the roo where the ?crows had pecked away the flesh, and I could see bones and red flesh inside - drove past too quick to be gruesom but can see why the Ravens in the Tower (of London) did such a good job on the heads of those who had lost them for various reasons that were placed on the pikes around the Tower for the public to observe. Gives a graphic example of the saying - picked clean!!LOL. This particular roo lost its life as it jumped in front of the office lady's car - just after she had had the car fixed - panels etc - from the last roo she hit. Luckily all I saw live on the road today was another blue tongue lizard in much the same place as I saw the last one (Why did the blue tongue lizard cross the road LOL) but was in too much of a hurry back here for work to stop and admire again.(eleven)

Am about to do a final round to see everyone is in bed. Left the Seniors watching "The Notebook" which is quite a weepy - I preferred the book (also a weepy). Will touch base again over the weekend with a bit of luck. Not entirely sure of our plans as it revolves around the availabilty of having a driver and a bus to go off site.
Have a good weekend. Weather here 38o yesterday afternoon - another heatwave LOL though more rain is predicted over the weekend for Gton. Saw tractors working in paddocks sans lights today and with the seeders attached, they are huge. Both the tractors here at school are broken so we are now a week behind where ideally we should be in the scheme of things. The Bro who manages all that was not a happy camper tonight when I spoke to him.
Will sign off for now - Catch you later
Lynn

On the Road again.

Have had an interesting few days. Had just had a nana nap on Tuesday when there was a knock at the door and the Telstra man was there as promised. He tested the line and said that it was connected so it must be the phone at fault and therefore it would cost me a $100 for their time!!!!! I was fit to be tied - he said the fault was the phone had locked up and seeing it was not a rental they had no responsibility to fix it. To be fair, in the face of smoke and flame pouring out of my nostrils and ears, he did look in the van to see if he had an old phone spare that would work. Unfortunately for me, he didn't so back to square one. I stalked up to school after making dinner to get some mail and decided to call into the workmate's home for a coffee. Happened to arrive during something on TV, I think called "Australia, we have Talent", an "Idol" type program with three panelists (the guy who rode the horse in the Man from Snowy River, Danny Minogue and a guy from the band Sky Hooks) who watch people perform and decide whether they came back to perform again - the prize being $250,000. In a traffic smash sort of way, I totally got caught up in it and amongst a few awful performances there was some amazing talent (who'd of thought LOL). Very good family type entertainment. "All Saints" was on after that then "Law and Order" then "New CI" with two coffees in between, I finally decided it was time to go home. It was great to see some TV again. I also saw a little bit of news - the tragedy in Burma and about the boat tragedy in Sydney to which I had been totally oblivious till then. Have not had time to trawl the internet to read the NZ Herald and had seen no papers here.

Yesterday did the vege run to Geraldton. I want a double cab ute LOL. I drove a work one this time and did all the driving while Bro navigated. Left here at 9.15am and got back about 7.30pm to school, then had to unpack the ute and drop off a boy to Wandalgu before I got home. A very long day. Have decided the ute is the right size for me, it is relatively easy to park, has enough herbs on the open road - only have to watch it on the gravel where I do not go over 80k (it fishtails after that speed I'm told LOL). We took one boy in with us as he had a bus to catch up to Broom that afternoon and picked another one up in town to bring back who had been home unwell. I now think I could probably get into Gton on my own and find my way to most places, but have bought a town map to be sure. The next time I will take the time before I leave to locate all the places we need to pick up or drop stuff off and do it logically as yesterday we went backwards and forwards across town at least six times as Bro worked out more things off the list of jobs to do. This will enable me to get more time for shopping myself heh heh. Had drama at the bus stop when we found the boy going home had no ticket 5 mins before the bus was due to go. It took nearly 3/4 hour to sort out with multiple calls to family and back (the ticket had been mistakenly booked for the following day) but what gems the drivers and the information centre people were. The bus waited and left 40 mins late with the boy and everything in order - fantastic service all round.

As per usual, called into the library on our way to town and lo and behold our librarian (Erica) was not there. Gotta love these small places though, at a food wholesalers in Gton, who should we bump into but Erica and her husband. Their daughter is currently living in the south island and engaged to a kiwi - nearly family, I tell you LOL.

The netball season has started and our girls went into Gton for their games on Tuesday and both teams won. The B team which the workmate coaches had girls who have never played netball before so all were extremely happy with that. Lots of girls with aches and pains last night however.

On the way down to Wandalgu last night, I noticed that there were lights in several paddocks that looked like aliens were landing or had landed. Apparently it was farmers out seeding their paddocks with their tractors lit up like Christmas trees (Question - why do they not do it in the day?). I asked Bro yesterday how many acres the school farm would have planted for wheat and he replied about 4000 - 5000acres (what's a 1000acres among friends). Am trying to imagine how much land that would encompass at home to understand what that would look like (Maybe that is why it is a day and night job). There is a noticable lift in spirits when you talk to people with all the rain we have had and a smidgeon of optimism that this might be a good year. Noticed more damage that the flood last week caused on the way into town yesterday. There are segments in the railway line that are hanging in midair having had all the dirt and stones washed away from underneath the rails. Not sure how often the trains run or if it is just in season - no doubt the powers that be are aware of the damage done. On duty tonight and tomorrow and both of us are working over the weekend.

Forgot to mention the upshot of the Telstra saga. The following day as I was tidying the place I noticed that screen was going on the phone and when I picked it up it had dial tone - I did nothing from the time the guy left and it was still as dead as a door nail then so goodness only knows what occurred to get it going again but am not arguing. Cannot connect the lap top though, will not recognise my password so need try and sort that tomorrow - one step at a time!!!

Am in the library again doing supervision after school and it is just about to wind up so will sign off for now.
Cheers
Lynn

Week 2, Term 2

There are parts of this time of the year that I love. It is now dark around 6.30pm which has made such a difference to bedtimes. Its just on 10pm and all is quiet on the western front!!! Bliss indeed. Netball starts tomorrow night which means a trip to Geraldton at about 4pm, three different games to be played and I believe they get back about 10pm. Will make for an interesting week. The workmate is on and it is my day off as is Wednesday this week.

I guess you have been waiting to see what adventures I had on Sunday. In the end I did not go on the bush barbeque as by Sunday I was a little tired and knew that if I spent hours on a bus I would be extremely grumpy as well. The workmate's husband had to take one of their girls back to boarding school in Gton so went to keep him company instead. Found yet another IGA specialising in delli goods - went mad and splurged on 750gms of cashews for $9 which was on special. Finally found some baconised pork ankles as I am still on the soup kick that I began back in NZ. Have yet to find some Kings soup mix anywhere and have bought a home brand pack of lentil/barley/pea mixture to try instead. It was a very small spree after the other day - some spices in small packets for 75c each and some long life milk to go on with. Had a hot chocolate at Maccas and then back here. We were only a short way out when the workmate's husband said I had to have a go at driving the new beast and not to worry if something went wrong it was only a car (only $45,000 of car if something did go wrong!!!). I gingerly crawled up into the drivers seat (there is a running board you launch yourself into the car from) and after adjusting seats and mirrors off I went. (The car is a Toyota something for those playing at home - picture landrover type beast with serious bull bars, square shaped and white) The car is manual with 5 gears and very easy to steer, I just felt I was driving a bus - which is of course good practice for when I finally get to trying to drive one of them. I am happy to say, I drove the car in a straight line no worries but would hate to have to park it or back without practice in a large paddock. I had seen the workmate stick on whistles to the front of the car the week before - said to make kangaroos avoid the car as they whistle as you drive along which is meant to drive them off - so was blythly driving at a reasonable speed through dusk to dark along the country roads when I finally spotted a youngish kangaroo bounding along the side of the road up head just past the Mullewa turnoff. I happened to mention how good it was that the whistles would frighten the beast off only to find out the kangaroo whistles had dropped off during the week when the car went through an amount of water after the floods. Arrrrrgh and very nervous moment with changing of gears down which gave the beast time to leap off in another direction, and a very nervous drive the rest of the way back. Once you hit the gravel at night, I realised there are no side markers at all except for one corner - you drive completely in the middle of the road with lights on full beam and hope like hell you are not going to meet anyone coming the other way - which is a reasonably safe bet but not entirely a surety.

Raced up to school at 8.15 today for a meeting to find it had been cancelled - just in time to find one of the girls had hurt herself on the trampoline so stayed with the workmate for awhile seeing to said child. (All well) I decided not to do anything else this morning but go back home and continue with my sifting and sorting of goods, plus a general clean and tidy up. I mopped floors, did laundry and got four boxes of stuff sorted. I have turned the boxes on their sides to make storage type shelves like you do with crates which will have to suffice for the meantime in the way of furniture. The place is too small to go wild and am sticking with the pioneering mode LOL.

Still no phone on (gritted teeth) - which was remarked on when I turned up for the meeting - "we had no way of letting you know"!!!! and one more day to wait until the alleged repair person turns up! Will keep you updated.

It's still quiet so will head to bed for a reasonably early night myself. I am trying to get some letters written and need to finish off some other mail as well.
Cheers
Lynn

My first bush tucker

Today I was on duty - and amongst a myriad of other chores, I decided to take the girls for a walk this afternoon down to one of the dams on the property. Its about 3/4 to a mile away from the main dorm. It was an easy walk there and back and whilst walking around the side of the dam - got to eat my first 'bush tucker'. One of the girls gave me a piece of flax leaf looking thing and said to eat the bottom pale green bit - I did and it tasted not unlike a baby fresh pea skin (sugar snap). This stuff grows in a clump like flax but is thiner leaved with a similar texture to flax at the end you do not eat. The flies were out in droves but pre-sprayed my face with repellent and slathered my hands and arms so was relatively unscathed and managed not to breath in a single beast. Of course I will probably perish by some galloping bubonic plague type disease from the poison sprayed on my skin, but no fly settled on me there and back!!



Am noticing distinctly colder nights since my return. Have had to break out the unmatching duvet covers to layer underneath current duvet plus use my blanket folded in two and sox! (until I warmed up) - am moving into my 'sight to behold look' for winter LOL. Will be aiming to buy a winciette number or two when I am in Gton next and am thinking of tealeafing a blanket or two from the laundry (they have plenty to spare) as well to be on the safe side. During the day I am putting on my cardigan and taking it off all the time - gotta love autumn.



I am a week back now from NZ and it seems like a life time ago already! I think Wednesday night was the first night I spent on my own completely for 6 weeks, which was a trifle weird I must say. I felt quite discombobulated and almost didn't know what to do with myself. Solved the problem by watching nearly 6 hrs of videos that I had not the time to see before, ate cheese (casetello) and crackers for tea, with diet coke and then some coffee and monte carlo biscuits for desert and an orange and two easter eggs (left over) for supper!!! In between I sorted through two boxes of stuff and reorganised what was going where. By Thursday night I had the hang of it again and all was well LOL.



Thank you to everyone I managed to catch up with and who put me up for the night or more and fed and watered me. I will catch up individually over the next wee while. I am gutted I did not manage to catch up with everyone but a surprise (upper end GI) endoscopy at Waikato Hospital, getting new glasses and buying a house that I hadn't planned on doing, took out time I had earmarked to see the people I didn't, if that makes sense. It wasn't for the want of trying. Ah yes, I see that some of you are saying WHAT, she bought a house! As you do when you go on holiday!!!. The week after I got home, I had a txt from sister K to say that our old family property was on the market - was I going to look into it? I was in Hamilton at the time and after another prompt when I got back to Waiuku, I rang the land agent to see what the story was and heard all about the Naysmith homestead LOL. I left it at that and on Monday made an apt with the bank for Tuesday to crunch figures. It wasn't till I was driving back to Hamilton for the endoscopy that I rang a friend to see if he would check the place out with the land agent from an objective point of view. It transpired that an offer was going to be placed by another person at 4.30pm that afternoon so whilst I am having my gizinters photo'd from the inside, and under mild sedation, my friend put in an offer that the vendors accepted!! I got to see the property on the Friday for the first time in three years and then it was contact the lawyer, bank etc etc as the process bowled along. I got off the plane from Wellington on the 23rd in the afternoon, did final details with the lawyer on the way home and got the keys about 5.30pm. Spent the next two days cleaning and with the help of family and friends celebrated the purchase with an impromptu lunch in the lounge where everyone who turned up bought food, camping tables and chairs and something to drink so the place was well and truely christened again. By a lightening stroke of good luck,managed to rent the place on the Friday (Anzac day) and 5.30am the next morning, flew back to Oz. All in all a very surreal experience and am still pinching myself.



So, the old house and 1 3/4 acres is back in the family (there was a goat, sheep and steer still there when the sale went through and am not entirely sure they have been picked up yet!). There were mushrooms in the front paddocks and managed to get enough for two feeds in a very hunting and gathering moment. No 2 son and wife came down on the Friday and took a trailer of firewood from the old pinetrees at the gate that had been felled in the last two years so more bounty from the old place. (Forgot to mention by the by that my gizinters are all fine and dandy - it would appear that gallstone type attack that I had at Christmas just may have been caused by stress after all).



I came back here feeling incredibly blessed by the friends that I have and my family (and the extended clan). This holiday more than made up for the upheavals of last year and I was pleased to be able to catch up with a good amount of you who havegiven me much support over the last few months and for my aussi adventure.



Not sure what tomorrow is going to bring. I finish work after breakfast but the workmate is encouraging me to go on an expedition that will culminate with a bush barbeque with all the girls and the senior boys. They are heading back up to the Murchison area and will be on the hunt for live bush tucker so watch out all bungarras up there tomorrow. As per usual will keep you posted. Love to the happy couple celebrating their 64th wedding anniversary (our old/new next door neighbours) and to the birthday folk for tomorrow. Am thinking of you all.

Love Lynn

It rained, it poured .....

Where do I start!! The rain did come and then some LOL. For those playing at home - 60mls in the one night! I read in the paper today that it has been 9 yrs since there has been the same amount fall from Jan - April!!! Of course the server went down - and was only up again today. I did not do the vege run on Wednesday - the road was closed to Geraldton and most roads further up were closed as well. The workmate's husband got back from Geraldton the night before - just - as an hour later, one of our other staff could not get through and had to stay in Mullewa the night and had to swim through water to be picked up from this side the following day. The local school bus could not get through so the the primary school kids had a day off - after only one day at school! In fact we only got the last lot of girls back today. I was told I could go to Geraldton if I really wanted to but would have to go through a pile of back roads and decided to flag that. I went to Mullewa later in the day instead to take one of our girls to the Dr (in the workmate's 4WD) as we could by then, get that far. The road was still blocked to Geraldton by a truck that had fallen into a part of the road that had been washed away - all very dramatic indeed. Managed to get the ph bill paid and stocked up at the library - yay.

Thursday required another trip to the Dr - this time I had to drive the bosses' people mover - an 8 seater VW wagon (I think). It was a bit like driving a sherman tank and took awhile to feel comfortable. Just before we got to Mullewa a car with flashing lights approached - a Police Car!! I slowed and stopped as I figured all the flashing meant just that, as he had plenty of room to pass. A cop with an Irish voice (not very Blue Heelers at all!!) asked if the roads were blocked where we had come from (I did say he was Irish LOL) and I was able to reassure him it was all good at our end. As we were listening to the Pogues (Irish band) on CD at the time it was a little wierd. Managed to do our business and return unscathed when lo and behold just before we got to the turnoff for school, I spotted a blue tongue lizard crossing the road (I had thought it would be too cold to see one any more). As I always carry my camera with me, I stopped the car and one of my colleagues leapt out of the car and caught it for me to take a photo and to touch it. I only touched it body - very scaley with a shoes and handbag feeling. They have a nasty bite so went nowhere near its head and after the photo shoot we sent it on its merry way.

Today I was off site again - it seems mad to be off the property so much. I finally got to drive the red ute!!!!!!! (A subaru, single cab - again for those playing at home). The boss gave me the keys to fill it up ( being the expert that I am now - and this time I did hear the gurgle LOL) and I was on my way to Morewa. The road is nearly dead straight all the way there. It is about as far as going from Waiuku to Papatoetoe. I kept to a mere 80k on the gravel road bit and picked up speed once on tarseal. The entire way, there was no one travelling behind me and only 7 cars came my way - bliss! On the way home even better - three cars my way and still no one behind me - I kid you not. Had a good mooch in the stationers, hardware and bought some food at the IGA and noticed several things on the way back. It did not take as long going home, the only time there was a double lane on the road was around the one curvy bit in the whole road (and there was a double white line painted as well) and another couple of places where there were blind parts as you came to a slight rise in the road. The aussi's are not wasteful when it comes to tarseal and a small narrow road will do for most of the road when you are in the middle of nowhere. It was interesting pulling off the road when the odd car did come towards me - it is quite a knack going from full speed to move to half the car onto gravel keeping the other half on the road. I decided to slow down considerably to do this particular manouver which was relatively easy as you usually see the other person from at least 1/2 a mile away first LOL.

I have saved the best for last! TELSTRA!!!!!!!!!! I despise them with a passion. I rang them this morning from school as I still did not have the phone back on today when they said it would take an hour to be back on after informing them that I had paid the bill, on Wednesday. Some extremely foriegn accented personage told me in fact it had been connected so all should be well now. I waited 10 mins and then tried my own number from where I was still sat in the staff room - nada, zilch, nothing..... I rang Telstra again. After explaining the problem to someone in Melbourne this time (as you do) I was asked if I was ringing from home - nooo, that would be why I am ringing you for the second time this morning from the SCHOOL phone number. Well, (miss perky said) I will just try faults to see if there is a problem on the line because yes you are connected, and yes we have just rung the number and (oh my gosh) yes there does seem to be something wrong - here's Neville. Neville from faults explained (after asking me if the phone was indeed plugged in - yes it bl----y is) that if it was my phone it would cost me $100 for them coming out to fix it and if it was the line, they would fix it for nothing. I replied that as I had bought the phone from Telstra, if it was the problem, I would not be surprised! Neville then said they could transfer my number to another line - did I have a mobile - I replied that one ph with Telstra was enough and the rest were school numbers so hardly worth it (in a somewhat tetchy tone by now). Neville told me that they would have someone out by Tuesday 5pm to which I asked, seeing they were so handy at cutting my phone off perhaps the fact I am unable to access the number I have paid for, perhaps that will be reflected in my next bill. The man had obviously had training on dealing with viperish clients (it must be a daily occurrence for Telstra), and dodged that one by dribbling on about customer services as he was faults at which point I terminated the conversation. Not impressed one single bit. Great entertainment for the office staff who heard my part of the conversation throughout. Grrrrr

Anyhoo, it is now extremely late and I need to get to bed. I have two girls getting up at 5.30am to be water girls at football tomorrow, and another one is going home at 8am and I have a lonngg day ahead.
Catch you later, and goodnight from me.