Since we last 'spoke' our friends, James, Jess and their kids Bella and Livvy have jetted off back home to the UK and they will be greatly missed. We hope we will catch up with them again when we get back to the UK ourselves.
Lara (a founder member of the lady wot lunches) and Marcus had everyone over on the Saturday to say Bon Voyage to Jess et al. All the kids were there and played really nicely together and then they sat down to a meal of home made' fishcakes a la Marcus' which were wolfed down in no time. The kids had decided to decorate the table I think prompted by Leila and Bella, so they collected all the fallen blossoms and the result can be seen below.
Lara then treated us with a wonderful 'cooked from scratch' Thai Green Curry which was excellent.
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| James, Jess, Bella (right) and Livvy |
Using her newly acquired knowledge from her cake decorating course, Rachel made and decorated a farewell cake which was enjoyed by all.
A fitting send off for some great people.
On the baking theme, Rachel was baking another cake (she likes baking cakes!!) with the kids and when she used a rubber spatula to scrape out the bowl Tom exclaimed at the top of his voice "Hey, that's not fair!!!" which made us laugh a lot. I had previously explained to Rachel that when I was growing up, this type of spatula was known by my brother, sisters and I as an 'Unfair to Kids' as it prevented you getting your rightful share of the cake mixture for licking and there was Tom now resurrecting the name for another generation! Nice.
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| An 'Unfair to Kids' |
We went in hunt of Whales with Paddy and Val (my Dad and Mum or Grandpa and Gogs to the kids. Gogs was named by Emma, their first grandchild and the name stuck and has been around for some 25 years!) to Victor Harbour for a few days but although there had been sightings we were not lucky enough to catch a glimpse. I know whales are pretty big but it is still very much 'needle in a haystack' considering that from Victor Harbor (deliberate spelling of Harbor) you are looking straight out across 'The Great Australian Bight' and the next land is Antarctica some 3800 km (2380 miles) away! We still had a lovely time and Mum was especially relieved that the Camel Rides were not running as the kids had insisted that Gogs and Grandpa ride the camels with them. Next time mum!In Victor Harbor I also spotted a Car Wash with an adjoining automatic Dog wash! Now maybe they have these everywhere and I just haven't seen them before. I mentioned it to my neighbour who said they were great and it's much better with those now as it saves you strapping the mutt to the roof rack. I think he was joking but I'm not altogether sure.
I have to make a comment on the absolutely dire construction of most Australian houses. Previously I have mentioned about the idiot comments from the estate agent regarding the electrics well I thought I'd tell you a little more. The other morning it was ONE degree C and there was actually ice on the car windscreen. Outrageous. (Having said that by noon it was 14C sunny and beautiful and still mid winter here). But the house was soooooooooo cold in the morning, absolutely freezing.
There appears to no Australian regulations on insulation, efficiency, thermal properties etc so they seem to build in cardboard, spit, off-cuts of wood and glass that wouldn't be legal in most of the developed world. We have friends who live in newly built houses that have a one inch gap under the front door. This in a country with things that can kill you are only half an inch high. Clever.
The glass in our house is so thin you can flex it just by pushing gently in the centre. It's the sort of glass where you dread the kids getting near it for fear they will go through it. They just don't do double glazing. They heat their houses with expensive electric warm air blowers because they lose so much heat through thin glass and gaps everywhere. It is no surprise that Australia comes in at number eight in the highest carbon foot print per capita behind only the USA and a bunch of Arab states where wealth, opulence and excess are the norm. (UK is No 25!) They need to get a grip and sort it, they already live too close to the biggest hole in the ozone layer.
They also have this bizarre habit of putting tumble dryers up on the walls, upside down! I thought that it might just be the house we live in but I have seen quite a few now. Totally crazy. Let's not put the tumble dryer next to the washing machine and then maybe put a worktop over them, no, no, no, lets select a totally random point on the wall to screw it to. This will ensure that you drop your clean washing all over the floor whilst trying to heave it up in to the dryer. Then as you bend down to pick up said washing, you can then stand up and smash your head into the tumble dryer just to add blood to the already dirty clean washing! Oh yes, and they don't vent their dryers so the utility room drips with water after use. Mental.
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| Must be seen to be believed. |
Today we went to a place called Gumeracha where they have they worlds biggest Rocking Horse. It is 16 meters high and you can actually climb up inside it right to the top of the head where there is a viewing platform. Nice.
You have gotta wonder how it came about.
"Shelia......Shelia.....SHELIAAAAAAAAAAAAA....bring me another beer, I've had a bonza of an idea!"
"Ahhhh Crap Bruce not again"
" Nahh Luv, really, I'm gonna build something really big!"
"Ahhhh Crap"
"A really big ....no wait, a really, really, really big beer bottle, no wait.....a really, really, really big Didgeridoo, no...no...no....I got it, a massive rocking horse, that's it Sheil, that's it, I'll start right now. People will come from everywhere to see it, we'll be rich Sheils, bloody RICH!
And Bruce did, and they came in their thousands, and he was rich and Sheila was happy, Ripper!
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| Build it and they will come! |
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| Generations. |
Good night and love to you all x
Ubi amici, ibi opes
