With restraint and on the road again :)

It has been a hectic few weeks as per usual.  I began last month with a four day course which involved learning how to do restraints in a crisis situation.  We learnt how to deflect someone coming at you to hit you - very easy when in practice when the person goes through their movements slowly thus allowing you to respond in kind, lol.  Then there were the two person restraints where you had a co worker who would assist in the restraint.  The upshot is that shortly, my ID card will reflect that I am licensed to do a standing two person restraint and a restraint on my own.  We had to pass a practical and written test for this. I am licensed to level two as I did not attempt a floor restraint - I would not have the strength or the ability to kneel while attempting this move but I am ok with where I got to.  The trainers were brilliant and kept me engaged for the whole four days and it was a nice break from actually being on the floor.  

Last week I had the extreme good luck to be able to get to Perth for four days, woohoo.  Gerard, the WMH, had several Macca's meetings that coincided with my days off so I tagged a ride down and back with him.  At the end of  three night shifts - two 12 hour ones and then a 10 hour one finishing at 0715, I was home and  ready to go by 8.00am.  Gerard had put a travelling selection of music on his ipod and away we went.  I thought I would get some shut eye on the way down, but between chatting and having the music at nose bleed levels we pretty much rocked our way to Perth before I knew it.  We had one stop on the way down for a toilet break and a quick grab of something to eat and drink and we were on the road again.  We reached Midland around 12.30 which is a major bus/train station north of Perth city, where I got out and then caught a train down to Warnbro just south of Freemantle and Rockingham  to catch up with friends Shelly and Maurice for the night.  

I have decided I love travelling by train over here and it is a shame you can not travel from Geraldton down by rail.  I had no idea what I was doing initially but most of the bigger stations have customer service people and in each instance that I needed help, they were brilliant.  I played the slightly bewildered tourist, and had someone get my ticket for me and all bar putting me on the train, at Midland, lol.  Shelly was there to meet me at the station in Warnbro and within 5 mins we were at hers and wow.  Shelly and Maurice moved over here three years ago and a year ago bought a house after selling theirs back in Hamilton, NZ.  When they first moved over here they lived the first few months with their 12 yr old son( at the time ) at a cousins.  For $390,000 they have got themselves a four bedroom brick home, with three lounge areas, two bathrooms, walk in linen closet, huge kitchen, office, and a swimming pool.  One of the bathrooms had a roman bath with a shower over it (completely tiled bath) and the other bathroom had a shower each side of the bath area - all this plus a walk in closet - be still my beating heart.  The kitchen, two lounge areas  and office have  tiled floors  with carpet in the one lounge and bedrooms. The house is 10 mins away from Joel's school, 15 mins away from Shelly's work and 5 mins away from the shops and is at the bottom of a cul-de-sac   There is also a large area out the back of the house with a covered patio area so indoor outdoor flow is brilliant.  I am thrilled to bits for them and they are still pinching themselves for doing so well.  It had been over a year since I stayed with them last, when they lived in Rockingham,  so we had plenty to catch up on hence it was midnight before I got to bed thus making it 30 hours without sleep.  Needless to say, I slept like a rock.

The following afternoon Shelly dropped me back at the station on her way to work and I caught the train back into Perth and then changed to the Armadale line getting off at Kelmscott where Donna lives.  The next station which is Challis is actually just around the corner from her house but I didn't get that bit of info until after the confusion of us being at two different stations when she came to pick me up.  All good though but she had to walk home from Challis to get the car to pick me up from Kelmscott, lol.  Donna too has just bought a house and is still unpacking so it was exciting to see where she now resides as well.  We decided to go on a mission into Perth and on to Harbour Town the following day.  I was on the hunt for bell pull ends for some embroidery I have completed so before we headed to Harbour town we tried several local embroidery shops first.  We ended up at a place called Pioneer town somewhere in Armadale I think, that used to be set up like a village shopping centre with people in period costume but it has since been sold off for housing and the odd shop still going.  Found a delightful embroidery shop there that I will visit again.  I had no luck with the bell pull ends but did get plenty of ideas for new projects, lol.  

Harbour Town is a huge two storied shopping centre that has mainly clothes shops that have lots of bargains where you can get labelled clothing etc very cheaply.  We walked round each floor shop by shop, mostly window shopping but did find some bargains - clothing for the grandchildren, and bits and pieces from a book shop, stationery shop and dribbled through the Royal Doultan shop resisting buying anything thinking I would be lucky to get it back in one piece but OMG there were some bargains in there.  The hit of the day for me was trying something new to eat. There was in the food hall area, a shop selling gozleme - this is Turkish I think, and if you think of something like roti filled with spinach and feta, folded over and cooked pressed flat like a quesadilla and served with a slice of lemon.  Wow is all I can say, it was delicious.  They also do chicken filled and meat filled gozleme but I think I had the best of it with the spinach and feta.  It was very filling and for around $10 - good value for money.  After we had nearly worn our feet to our knee caps we decided to finish off the day with an ice cream from the gelato bar - I had a scoop of pistachio icecream and a scoop of macadamia and white chocolate - tasted divine,  followed with a coffee to give me enough energy to make the trip back, lol. We had walked from the station to the shopping centre however to my astonishment we were able to catch a free bus back to the station.  Apparently there is a free bus service that goes through the city - so note to self for next time I am there.  We had got a day tripper ticket for the train for $11.50 which I thought was hugely reasonable and so much better than trying to find non-existant or very expensive parking if we had driven in.  

The trip back to Donna's was very entertaining as there was a KISS concert on in town that evening and many of the prospective attendees who were travelling in by train had their faces painted in black and white to get into theme for the night.  Still on the hunt for bell pull ends we thought that Spotlight might just have them so out we headed once we got back to Donna's to see if we could find some.  No luck there but OMG, it was twice the size as the one in Geraldton and it was like being in an Aladdin's cave..... needless to say, I did have to purchase a few things that I didn't know I needed before I got there, lol.  Donna scored some new curtains for her lounge on sale so she was a happy customer also.  We were slightly hungry again ( nearly 7.00pm by now) so we ended up at the Gosnalls Railway market in the foodhall area.  The market is a huge covered space,  like going into a large shed,  with an old locomotive sitting in the middle of the foodhall. The rest of the market which has stalls round the corner (we didn't go there) I think is open in the weekends.  I decided on Chinese getting a mixed plate of goodies and was extremely thankful to return back to Donnas for feet up and a coffee at the end of the evening.  

The following morning I packed and we headed back to Midland to meet up with Gerard again.  We decided to catch up at Midland Gate which is a large shopping centre opposite the train station,  and I am just glad we had so little time to go as there was a KMart, book shops, furniture, clothing, you name it,  plus a great food hall with other coffee shops sprinkled around.  I could have done some serious damage there but had to suffice with a small extra bag of goodies from a bookshop and a couple of selections from the old time candy shop to hold body and soul together on the trip back to Geraldton.  

This time we had company travelling on the way back as two others from Macca's had flown down for the day before's meeting.  After a quick bite to eat for them, we were on our way.  Gerard and I had travelled down the Brand highway to Perth and had decided we might try the coast road on the way back - a decision we had no other option of taking in the end as the Brand highway was then closed because of bushfire burning at Bullsbrook and Bindoon which had burned something like 12000 acres over the previous two days. We got directions from Donna but something must have got mixed up in the translation and it wasn't until we were nearly back at Midland we realised we had pretty much done a circle out of town and back again - this when we had a Sat-nav in the car!!!!!!! - What is it about guys asking for directions,lol.  With the sat-nav finally,  we set off again and this time got it right.  I have to say either way the road is fairly boring to travel with miles and miles and miles of scrub land followed by more of the same.  It was interesting at one stage to be on a piece of road that had about two metres on the side till the Indian Ocean - you cannot get much more to the edge of Australia than that!  We had a quick stop at Jurien Bay to grab something to eat for late lunch - I had hoped to score another meal of fish and chips there but as we didn't arrive until 3pm, they had closed for the afternoon, sigh.   It was on 5.30pm as we got back into Geraldton so not a quick trip back, nearly two hours longer than on the way down.  It was a total tonic to get away for a few days and great to catch up with friends as always.

I had hoped to be heading back to NZ this month for the No 1 son's 40th birthday and the double 90th birthday's of my extended family (wave to Lorne and Noel,) over Easter but I have not been able to get the time off, even though I asked to have it off without pay ,grrrrrrr.  It seems that with being sick last year, and my two trips home, I have used up all my leave. Am not impressed needless to say.  The irony is that I have days off over both occasions but it is the bit in the middle that tripped me up and it is a long way to go for a weekend.   It has made me think that maybe my time in Geraldton is nearly over - will have to put some thought into it as my lease finishes in November and the house has a contract on it at the moment as of last week, so possibly time for a change all round.  Perth could be an option too so will just have to wait and see.  Which ever, I will need to find work which could be the deciding factor where.  Have typed this at work - am on the last of three nights in a row and now I get the weekend off and what is left of today that I do not need to sleep. I had hoped to post some photos but my computer does not have enough oooomph when I am not am home hooked into wireless or whatever makes it faster lol.  Will try for next time instead :):):)

Enter the Fairy tripping lightly, Happy Birthday to Me and Happy Valentines

It is near the witching hour so thought I would recount the day as I cycle through another year on life's clock.  Had set the alarm for 5.45am as I had work today and it was not a pretty sight that greeted me in the mirror 15 mins later as I dragged myself off the bed to get ready for the day.  I had not got to sleep much before 1.30am,  so the years fully showed in the bags under my eyes, lol.  It has been so hot at night, I now have a fan at the foot of my bed and the ceiling one going all night and I merely flop on top of the bed as it is too hot to even have a sheet over me. My air con has broken down and the repair man said yesterday that it is not worth fixing and will need to be replaced ,,,,,,, great except the house is under contract to be sold so cannot see the current owners racing in to spend money, so meanwhile, I gasp about the place like a fish out of water and feel like I lose my body weight in moisture each day.

I had received a parcel in the  post from home and kept it on the mantle piece during the week so once I was dressed I hastened to open it to find several packets, all containing jewellery from family and friends in NZ - all bits that I love and the beginnings of a new collection since nearly all my jewellery was stolen last year.  All came with notes to explain the different sets.  I did not make a fuss at work this year with the kids as it was a school day and one of our lads was having an off day, though a couple of staff wished me well  and then I received txts from several friends which was lovely.  

How does one know one is aging??? In my case today I had more than one reminder :).  I was just biting into a nectarine for breakfast when part of a upper left  hand side tooth parted company from my gum at the roots and I was lucky to spit it out without swallowing it.  Great I thought.  Fortunately no pain was involved so although a nuisance, I finished the nectarine and carried on with no one the wiser.  Not so my next act, lol.

I had to go back to the school to pick up one of the children for an appointment when as I came back to the van from the office, I negotiated the first drop in level from the footpath to the parking bay tucked in beside the footpath, and instead of looking where I was going, I was concentrating on said child getting in the van safely, missed the drop from the parking bay curb to the road, ricked my left ankle and dropped like a sack of potatoes into the road which lots of ouch, ouch, ouch at the pain in my ankle, a scrape down the front of the other leg, a bang on my left knee and then my  wrist where I had put my hand out to save myself plus  a general feeling of being shaken up.  I managed to get up off the road, and drive the van into town and back - thankfully,  it is an automatic and managed another trip into town and back only to jar my ankle as I got out of the van and tried to walk up a step.  I finally got to put my leg up and ice the ankle four hours after I injured it as it was beginning to hurt a lot and I was having difficulty weight bearing - the irony being I had to fill out an incident form and then do a report on the report in my role of OSH person at work. 

While I was typing up my report, I got a call from the WMH to see how my day was going, and to invite me to a birthday dinner he was cooking for me.  He wanted to know how I had fallen .........  I tell you, the jungle drums in Waiuku have nothing on the Geraldton ones.   My supervisor had been into Maccas after work and as her daughter works there she knows the WMH too so no secret too safe, lol.  I finished work and drove home which was an exercise in fine torture, - who knew there were so many gear changes required between work and home and for the first time in my life, an automatic car started to look good as a future option.  

I got home to find another parcel on the door mat and bless it was from the former Principal of the boarding school we both worked at back in NZ.  She sent me a tee shirt depicting a NZ scene and some NZ shortbread so wore the tee shirt to dinner tonight and will save the shortbread for later.  I managed to drive to Bron and Gerard's  ( down the road and around the corner ) and on arriving was settled on the couch, another ice pack on my ankle and laptop set up for skype and emails.  Bless all those who sent a quick email or put a mention on face book - it was all much appreciated indeed.  By luck I was able to chat to Mum on skype though I missed sister Kay.  

Dinner was brilliant - very crispy pork chops, lamb chops, roast veg and stuffed homegrown capscicums for main course and a grand marnier torte for dessert from the cheesecake shop that was enormous.  This was followed by coffee, a tim tam and a glass of Frangelica liquor.  Bliss in the food and drinks department - was back on the couch with more ice on my ankle while having dessert and coffee.

my birthday cake 

We were  relaxing on various couches watching American Idol,  when Gerard got a phone call from daughter No 1 to say she was just in an accident - another car had gone through a stop sign without stopping hitting her and spinning her car around before the other car also spun out and went through a fence.  I waited on at the house while Bron and Gerard went to pick her up and she is one lucky girl looking at the photos of her car which is completely written off.  She had some cuts on her feet from broken glass and some marks from her seat belt but as the air bags deployed on impact she was saved from any major damage.  The people in the other car - a 4WD with bull bars - ended up in hospital.  I waited until they all got back and then got driven home as my foot although feeling better was still too sore to drive and I didn't want to undo all the good works. 

Once home I hied myself off to bed and then started to check through emails and facebook again.  Am very humbled from all the good wishes from everyone - many facebook people I only  know through playing various games so blown away by so many good wishes - and then there were friends and family msgs from NZ, Oz, and England so felt very spoilt by the time I had finished reading them.

And now for a total winge - something has happened to my hotmail account and I cannot retrieve it in its usual form - I managed to get into it off my phone once and Gerard's tablet once and then pffffffffft, I cannot access it again for love nor money. I put my email address in and password and it takes me to windows somewhere else and then will not let me access anything.  Am just about ready to hurl the laptop to the wall in frustration.  I do NOT want the new, improved version with so many bells and whistles - I want my old version back, I do not like the outlook version, nor the live version  (I feel a burst of I do not like them Sam I am coming on here, lol) so am bewildered what to do next.  I may have to head to Telstra to see if they have any bright ideas or maybe a computer shop - much annoyance full stop.

Friday 15.

I started to fall asleep while typing so will give a quick update now.  I am about to head off to the Dr for a Dr's 1st certificate as I am not going into work this afternoon.  This makes it about workers compo instead of a sick day off apparently - I think workers comp is the equivalent of accident compensation at home .....  My ankle is much better but I have not tried driving yet as my car is still at B &  G's,  and I am not wanting to take the risk of carrying small people up and down steps at work.  I have the weekend off and not due back at work until Monday pm so all should be good then. 

Since writing the paragraph above, my face has swollen up with possible abscess on gum where tooth came away so on antibiotics from the Dr.  Ankle is much better, very little pain and swelling right down.  Gerard dropped me off at the Dr's and then I caught up with him at the shopping centre across the road after getting my prescription filled and found him checking up on the insurance for No 1 daughter's car.  We then went to where it had been towed to find it looked even worse in the daylight - and the car is a total write off.  Have done little for the rest of the day, dozed and read a book in between taking pain killers and the antibiotics.  Hopefully I will be restored by tomorrow as my concentration is not great at the moment.  As a friend of mine tells me frequently - aging is not for sissies, lol - I can tell you the outside of me might be clapping out but the inside does not feel changed at all :):):)  And by now, Belated Happy Valentine's to one and all  (have put the apostrophe in for Kay - the teacher, lol)

Life's a Coastline LOL

I was going to title this post," Life's a Beach" but on reflection, why be so stingy when in fact I live and work and sometimes play on a goodly chunk of the Western Australian coastline,  and why be small when you can be grand, lol.

I make comment on said coastline as last weekend I got to explore just a bit more of it.  Friend Jude and I as some of you know, have this bucket list of places to go, things to do in WA as she is determined I get to experience a goodly amount of the place while I reside here.  Jurien Bay which is about 2 hours down the coastline towards Perth was on the list and has now got the big tick/line through it as being completed.

I came off four nights of night shift at 7am Friday having carefully managed sleep quotients during the week, zooming through my jobs at work and having a wee power nap around 4am,  I shot home for perishables having packed the car the night before and was on my way to Dongara to Jude's arriving not long after 8am.  Woohoo and new inventions,  - several staff have copped speeding tickets in the past week and being a lead foot occasionally  lol I thought I might just finally try the cruise control doohicky in my car.  It was with some trepidation that I had a go as I seem to recall dark stories of people using it and crashing as control was limited in case of emergencies..... I can safely report, not so in my car.  I got to the correct speed in the built up areas (70k heading out of town) then 90k a bit further out and finally 110k on the open road and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to use, being quite confident should I pass any speed camera I could say ya boo hiss and suck, poking out tongue, lol,   to that,  and be quite safe from incurring a fine and/or demerit points.  With my car, once you get to the right speed you press the side of the cruise indicator and push it down and a mere touch of the breaks, accelerator or the side of the cruise control indicator and cruise control comes off and you have total control of the car again. With such excitement of trying something new and singing along to Leonard Cohen loudly, lol I got to Jude's still wide awake and raring to go.  After some fortification of toast and coffee, I changed to Jude's car and we were off.  She drives and I am the DJ on our trips so feeling very much like Thelma and Louise (no Brad Pitt lurking anywhere though), with a Readers Digest hits of the 60's fairly blaring, we were off.

Leeman is a small township on the coastline on the way down followed by (photos beneath the writing  of each place )

 Greenhead where the CD got changed to ABBA - still played loudly, lol. 

 Jurien Bay.  As you can see, the coastline is much of a muchness all the way down.  I thought I had taken more photos but seem to have either lost them or it may have been when the batteries were too flat which is a pity but oh well, another road trip will have to happen, lol.  All the towns between Geraldton and including Jurien are based on fishing and mainly crayfish is what is caught. It is the expanse of the coastline that is impressive and my photos do not do it justice. 

We reached Jurein late afternoon after the side trips to the other townships and went straight to the bakery to purchase some fresh rolls which we then took onto Jude's sisters holiday/ soon to be retirement home in the township.  Jurien Bay has a huge motor camp right in the middle of it and tourism plus fishing would be the main attractions. We had the house to ourselves as Jude's sister and brother in law had left for Perth the day before to farewell family back to Darwin.  The house was awesome - tall ceilings and open plan with an enclosed porch, garden, games shed where there is a pool table, big kitchen,  just perfect for entertainment.  After making ourselves lunch I went to bed to get some sleep before I fell over and Jude watched some of the Australian Open tennis before having a zzzzz herself. 

On waking we decided we would have fish and chips for dinner.  Jude took me for a drive along the foreshore and about the town before we went to order our meal.  OMG, we had the single best fish and chips from Jurien Seafoods, that  I have had since coming to Australia.  We ordered a fisherman's basket - 4 fish pieces (battered, small) 2 crabsticks, 2 crumbed prawns, 2 squid rings, 2 sea scallops, $2 chips, with tartare sauce and a piece of Red Spot Emperor (a fish I had not heard of before, which we shared) with a tub of coleslaw and had a veritable feast.  We had to wait nearly an hour for our order as the place does a roaring trade, but it was well worth the wait.  The fish - all of it - was FRESH, not thawed out under a tap or thawed out at all. It melted in your mouth as you ate each morsel, perfection with each bite.  I wax lyrical but this meal was worth it and I would be severely tempted to do a road trip some other time there and back in a day just for a repeat experience. 

Whilst in the fish and chip shop, as you do, Jude bumped into a woman she knew from when she lived on a station as their respective children were growing up.  It transpired that Cathy's son owns and runs the local (and only from there to Geraldton) crayfish pot making factory and she invited us to come for a look the following morning.  So after a leisurely breakfast of cumberland sausages (yummy), free range eggs on toast with orange and feijoa jelly on toast (my contribution from NZ, lol, and also delicious I might add) we set forth for the day.  As I had gone to charge up my camera batteries earlier that morning, there was a pfffffft sound and small bang and the light went out. The power point still worked  but the charger seemed to have died so first port of call was to buy a new one.  We stopped by the local Better Electrical which we found was closing down and yes they had a charger but it was $47 and only charged two batteries at a time even though it only took 15 mins so I thought I would try somewhere else first as it was not exactly what I wanted.  While Jude was chatting to the manageress (Jude would talk to a post when she is out, lol and strikes up conversations with just about anyone) I wandered round the store which also had some furniture on sale as well.  I happened to go past the shelf with two or three dvd recorders on sale and my eyes lit on a Sony HDD recorder at a huge reduction and I made the decision on the spot to get it.  So saving $47 I spent $315 which was $235 of the price before that and when I got to the till, the manageress said that it had started at $849 originally.  I couldn't get it in the car quick enough, lol,  (this was another tick off my bucket list of things I have wanted for ages).  We then wandered to the hardware shop next door and I was in luck there - a four battery re-charger for $36 so all good and on our way to the crayfish pot factory.

Cathy and her friend Murphy (they have been friends for 57 yrs and reminded me of sister Kay and friend Viv,- same amount of time) showed us around.  I had imagined that crayfish pots were knotted rope type things but no, today's pots are made of wooden slats onto a metal frame that have anodised thingies covering screws to delay rust and other metal bolts welded on to deter seals from helping themselves to the crays that are caught.  Cathy said that fishermen on the whole were extremely superstitious, some only using pine slats, some jarrah, some karri, some were ok with nail gun nails, others would only have a certain type of screw, etc etc.  Who knew.......  She showed us the furnace that they make the anodised thingies (think about 3" square sinker type things) that I wondered  would pass health and safety.  It was surrounded by corrugated tin, seemed pretty open and just in a corner of the shed. She said it gets to temps over 1000o which seemed pretty amazing to me.  

It was nigh on lunch time by now so we decided to go get some things for dinner from the local IGA and instead of driving further down the coastline to another attraction Jude thought I needed to see, we decided to call it a day and headed back for sustenance and an afternoon of tennis. It felt so nice to just relax and just what being at the beach should be like in my opinion.  We both wanted to watch Federer play the Australian Bernard Tomic, a relative new comer, and it was a good game with Federer going on to the next round.

Sunday, again after another of Jude's cooked breakfasts, we cleaned up, repacked the car and were on our way to visit Jude's son who works on a farm in the middle of nowhere half way inland between Jurien Bay and  the Brand highway.  Before we turned off Jude found another place she wanted to show me which was 7k's off the main road over the bumpiest gravel and dirt road I had been on since Tardun.  We got to the end of this road and it wasn't the place she thought so back again and on the way out we passed a place where they mine salt from this lake.  There was not much water left - the lakes fill when it rains and as it is a salt pan, the lakes are salty and as they dry out, the salt left behind is gathered. There were wetlands across the road from this and it was all part of a huge national park.  

 On arrival at the farm we found Jude's son drenching and inoculating 400 head of cattle. He had been up since 4.30 and it was on midday when we got there.  He did the cattle in bunches having purpose built the yards below with gates that slid across the race to block off groups of cattle, with a crusher in the oldest bit to hold each beast's head as he injected them in the neck.  The temperature was in the late 30's so it was hot work.  We stayed at watched for awhile and then had lunch with him when he took a break, before heading back home.  

 The cattle he was working with looked to be yearlings with some older beasts. The had been trucked down from a station at Marble Bar which is in the north west,  to fatten up for buyers such as Woolworth's for example.  I asked about water as the surrounding area was dry as dust and they had artesian wells on the property and plenty of water for stock.  There were feeders out in the paddocks as they are fed pellets to supplement any grazing that is about.  

We were not far from Eneabba when we got to the Brand highway, so stopped for a toilet break and an ice cream before the last leg to Jude's and then for me back to Geraldton.  I got back just after 6pm tired but really pleased to have achieved so much in such a short space of time.  We definitely plan on going back to Jurien Bay, and next time without side trips on the way down, we will try for Cervantes and the Pinnacles then (with my camera fully charged, lol).  The trip home was to Roy Orbison, Elvis and a CD called Summertime with all the songs having something to do with Summer so the time flew in the car.

Yesterday was the dreaded house inspection.  I was here this time and met with the property manager who is lovely.  She was thrilled with everything and said she wished she had more tenants like me.  (Yay).  I have been putting a lot of time into the gardens and back lawns and the place looked great, and inside sparkled, having done all the floors at 11pm the night before when I got home from work.  Hence, I have had nothing to do this morning so am writing this while the weekend is still fresh in my mind.  Have Thurs/Fri off  and working two 12 hour days on the weekend - am hoping the kids want to go to the pools at least one if not both days to keep cool.  Speaking of which, it is time to move for today's shift so will close now and say goodbye :)

When is a snake not a snake ........

Answer:  When it is a legless lizard or skink in WA.  Hello people and Happy 2013 :):).  I mention the aforementioned possible snake as I had one of those uniquely," I must be in Australia" moments on Sunday morning.  In my post Christmas spring (summer) cleaning /pre house inspection mode, I was putting the sliding screen door at the side entrance to the games room/kitchen area back on its runners, and then sweeping up accumulated leaves/flowers etc that had gathered where the screen door had been resting on its side, when, after the second scoop of said leaves onto the side garden ....... a small (4 inch, roundness of a number 12 knitting needle), possible snake,  shot out of the remaining leaves and wriggled snakelike  backwards and forwards on the footpath in front of me (me with bare feet at the time).  I am amazed that after over 50 years of my life without sight nor sign of a live snake as NZ (does not have them), my first thought on seeing the wriggling movement was not eel, but SNAKE.... followed by OMG if this is a baby one, where are the others (they lay multiple eggs don't they).... and where is Mama?  And yet, again it was so small, though I am reliably told that a small snake will kill you just as fast as a large one, hmmmmm.

 As I pondered my dilemma, I heard my as yet unmet neighbours moving and talking outside so after 5 minutes thinking am I going to feel dumb about this, I moved with the possible snake still in sight,  closer to their place (we share a drive) and yelled out,  would somebody mind coming and looking at something for me.  Paul (or call me Bones) immediately came over and I said as a   Kiwi I wasn't sure what I was looking at but was this a snake?  He did not immediately  fall on the ground helpless with laughter but a chuckle did ensue as he said it was not a snake but a skink or legless lizard - if I should see something about a foot long, yellowish with a stripe behind its head - that is a snake (right, I am getting close enough to spot a stripe so to speak,).  Panic over, the skink by now had moved near a crack in the wall and scuttled away, Paul (who hunts pigs and has them strung up under his back porch, slightly screened so not totally confronted by what looks like the killing fields for porcine creatures) went back to his, and I resumed my day, laughing at yet another Australian wild life interaction.

You may wonder why I was on high snake alert.  First of all the temperatures at the moment are prime snake lurking temps. Secondly,  two people in Geraldton  have been bitten by snakes in the last fortnight and last night a work colleague told me of his barking dog yesterday who had found a metre long snake in the back yard, so not wanting to have an up close and personal experience with a snake myself, I am wary about the great outdoors of my back yard, and  the garage, finding myself  looking for tell tale signs of wiggly lines in the sand as I go to the compost bin at the back of my garden  each and every time.

Summer has finally struck with temps in the 40's down to mid 30o Celsius over the last few weeks.  Further up the coast towns were on high alert over the past week for cyclones coming in , that resulted in a spectacular lightening show here the weekend before and finally thunder,lightening and rain on Sunday evening in Geraldton.  The upside to that is I did not have to water the lawn or garden that day, the downside was that immediately post rain, there was an outbreak of flying ants and grasshoppers/locusts (large) are appearing.

I note today that we are halfway through January already  as I check my diary.  I had a lovely Christmas with the WM and family.  We all went to midnight mass at the cathedral on Christmas Eve.  Gerard picked me up early as the choir were singing Christmas carols before the service which provided a lovely start to the festivities.  It was 3am before I finished my preparations as I had worked the few days before Christmas, having Christmas and Boxing Days off this time round.  I woke with a start at 7am, flying round loading gifts and food in the car to be round at the WM's place by 7.30am  where gift giving had just begun.  I loaded up all my parcels from NZ as the family have become accustomed to sharing my joy as I open each one.  They were not disappointed as I oohed and ahhed at the undoing of each parcel.

Bronwyn went to make pancakes for breakfast however as they had no golden syrup or maple syrup, Gerard did a Macca's run for hotcakes and hash browns instead so was an easy start to the day  (and what you can do when you run two Macca outlets,lol).   I shot home to skype family mid-morning here as they were sitting down to lunch at sister Kay's and to make some phone calls before returning for our Christmas lunch at 2pm.  We had roast pork, roast chicken and veg with baked ham (mine), crayfish and prawns with several salads to choose from as well and sat outside with trestle tables up under their back porch area.  It was a unanimous decision to save dessert which was in effect dinner later that night. New board games were played in the afternoon followed by watching the dvd "The Sapphires" in the evening. It was a lovely day with Bronwyn's sister's family in attendance (six extra adults) along with me and their six so lots of laughter, sharing of meal preparations etc which is what really makes the day.

Boxing day we collectively decided to go to the movies that evening. Half the group went to see " The Hobbit" and the rest of us went to see "Les Miserables".  What an experience that was!  It would seem I am lacking in the area of big shows as although I knew of " Les Mis, " being a huge show, I neither knew the story line or anything about it.  I went mainly because I wanted to see Hugh Jackman in the role and thought it was time I got a bit of culture at the same time, lol.  WOW, it was brilliant and totally riveting.  The WHOLE movie is SUNG - over two hours long. I found myself on the edge of my seat and totally entranced by the whole experience.  It is not a pretty movie, lots shot in grim surroundings, darkish, with the un-pretty poor.  Russell Crowe does a great job as does Ann Hathaway with some wonderful bit parts with the inn keeper and his wife who provide some comedic relief to the grim story of pre-revolutionary Paris.  I have found myself humming one of the main tunes since as it seems to have lodged into my head.  Gerard has downloaded the music from the film on his ipod so at some stage I will get him to put it on mine.

In between Christmas and New Years of course I have been working.  When not at work, I have had my little lad to stay several times for one or two nights at a time so have been kept fully occupied.  He helped me decorate the place before Christmas and then the week after came with much excitement to receive his gifts from under the tree as Donna had left things behind for both us on her last visit up.  At work I have been spending hours at the local swimming pool, usually tucked up with a book while the children from work and  have been at lessons or just playing for the fun of it.  It means we are out of the house, they are gainfully employed in healthy activity and I am chomping through my library books, lol.

Post Christmas, as I have taken decorations down and put the Christmas tree away, I have been back cleaning and sorting.  I have gone through drawers, cupboards, mopped floors, polished furniture, cleaned windows, weeded gardens and caught up on laundry so am feeling very virtuous with my start for the new year.  I have a you beaut diary that I compose lists of things to do for most days and am enjoying ticking things off as I proceed.  I have to pick my moments of business and tend to have a siesta the afternoons I am not working to cope with the heat - especially the humid heat post the rain.  I am down to sleeping at night just in night attire on top of the bed with the fan on in the ceiling non stop.  For all that I have only had the air con on about half a dozen times at its truely hottest when sitting in a darkened room has you perspiring like a tap.

This weekend I hope to go to Jurien Bay which is down the coast on the way to Perth.  Jude's sister and husband have a place there and though they will be in Perth, they have said Jude and I are welcome to go stay.  This is another place on my bucket list so am looking forwards to it.  I am doing four night shifts in a row this week, so sleeping throughout the day and will hopefully be awake enough to drive to Dongara at then end of shift Friday morning and then Jude and I will set off.

I hope all of you reading this had a great festive season.  My new years was spent watching the fireworks go off in Sydney on the telly before going to bed just after midnight as I had work for 12 hours the following day (which was spent at the pool) so win win for me, lol.  :)