Definitely a better day

I slept well and Two dropped middle child over while eldest had her swimming lesson. We (she) had milo and a couple of biscuits that come with the room. I still get a kick out of individually wrapped biscuits - I guess it's a kid thing that never grows old! She ate the milo that floated on top of the milk with a spoon (a very Aussie thing) and then left the milk that had turned brown - as it does when mixed with milo. 

Two returned and we all (apart from Mrs Two who was working) went to the Australian Reptile Park.

I'm not sure what I expected but was most impressed with most of it. (I have an issue with animals in captivity but these all seemed well cared for).

We started in the reptile house ...

 

You can buy special food for the kangaroos and the kids were happy to feed them and have a pat. The roos were very laid back. We did find a group of them behind an exhibit later on - I think they were having a break from the tourists!!

Meet Sparkles ( the snake, not the handler). She is a viper. I have a pathological fear of things without legs (including worms but that's another story for another day) and today I hitched up my big girl pants and stroked her (the snake, not the handler).

This is a cassowary. It's hard to get a good shot as it is kept well away from people with good reason as they can be quite aggressive and can kill a man if provoked (to be fair they avoid us at all costs).

A dingo ...

Wombat poo - yes, it IS a cube (we did see the wombat but it was fast asleep and just looked like a furry blob) ...

We saw lots of other animals and birds and spiders and snakes. The girls had their photo taken with a koala. I was very impressed with the facility where they milk snakes for the venom. The park is the sole Australian provider of funnel web spider and terrestrial snake venom for antivenom production and yes, funnel web spiders are one of, if not the most, venomous spiders in the world. 

As the late, great Spike Milligan said

"Ah, Australian animals... if it isn't venomous, carnivorous, or has vicious claws, it's probably a tourist." 

After we had finished at the park we headed to Woy Woy for lunch and a bit of play for the kids. 

Home for a bit of quiet time (for me in my motel room) and I am about to head back to their place for dinner and some grown up talk time.

Knackered

I don't know where Minnie thought she was going but it wasn't with me!!

There was a lot of roadworks on the way from Cann River to Cooma and I spent a LOT of time either doing 40 in a 100 zone or just sitting waiting for the lights/traffic controller to say go. On the plus side I didn't hit any potholes this time so I guess the roadworks have fixed that problem.

Just a couple of trees as I crawled by!!

Once I got to the other side of Cooma the rain started and it bucketed down until I was on the other side of Canberra. Not pleasant driving conditions at all.

I stopped for petrol and the dude ahead of me at the pump must have decided to get his lunch while he was in there as I sat there for 10 minutes waiting for him to come and move his car. In the end the bloke in front of him eventually moved so I nipped around only to find a passenger in the car in front of me. You'd think they could have gone and paid and bought food and dude could have moved the car into a parking space (you're not meant to move your car until you've paid for the petrol).

My mood was not particularly good after the very stressful drive over the mountains so I was not feeling very gracious at this point.

The last hour and a half of this drive is always a bit tiring as I hit Sydney traffic and NSW drivers are completely different from Victorians. Speed limits seem to be suggestions only.

Anyway, I made it. I've caught up briefly with Two and the kids and will spend quality time with them all tomorrow. I microwaved a dinner I brought with me and have had a couple of glasses of wine to wind down. I am now going to bed and I think I will sleep very well - especially as I never sleep well before a big drive.

I have just read this back and yes, I am as cranky as I sound!! I'll be better tomorrow.

Same old same old

Not much happening in my neck of the woods. Just the usual U3A stuff, knitting, housework (don't know why I bother as as soon as I vacuum there is dog hair everywhere again!).

Tomorrow I am up at sparrow's fart to drive to NSW to see Two and his lot. Today I have been packing and washing and faffing around. I'll take a sandwich to eat on the way and some dried fruit and nuts for snacking. If the weather is good I might stop outside Canberra for lunch otherwise I'll just push through stopping for petrol and piddles. Mrs Two will be working over the weekend a bit (something to do with the World Cup broadcasts) so Two and I shall take the kids out on Saturday which should give them the opportunity to run off some energy and I might get a chance to chat with Two. Doesn't happen often. Because Mrs Two will have to have a very early night before an obscenely early start on Saturday I don't expect to see them tomorrow for dinner (maybe a quick catch up if I get up there early enough) so I have bought a butter chicken from Aldi to microwave. I'll just have to hide the packaging as the motel I stay in has an Indian restaurant and I don't want to be rude! The food is lovely but too much for one person so taking my own small serve makes sense. 

It's winter and hydrangeas are meant to be dormant and ready for a hard prune but this beauty keeps on keeping on! Next week I will be brutal and cut her back.

I shall take my laptop with me so I might manage a check in while I am away. Depends on how much kid time I get and how frazzled I am after having kid time!

A good weekend.

I was asked to bake a slice for the funeral last Friday. I made a cinammon blondie (and a lemon slice but this is about the blondie). My baking powder was a bit out of date. OK. A lot out of date. It still tasted good but I decided to try again with in date ingredients. Oh my. What ia difference it made! This version is moist and chewy and absolute heaven. I was going to freeze most of it but Himself said there was no point as it won't last long! It reminds me of a sticky ginger cake my mother used to make when we were kids. It used dark treacle. This uses brown sugar so similar, I guess. I think next time I might use ginger powder instead of cinammon to see if I can replicate the memory. For now, think cinammon doughnut in a delicious cake.

The reason I have been absent over the weekend is, as I mentioned, One and his lot came down. They were meant to arrive on Friday. Then early Saturday. They got here mid afternoon on Saturday. It was lovely to see them and I think the girls enjoyed themselves. They certainly kept this old Granny on her toes. It always makes me smile when I see kids use playground equipment in new ways. The roundabout became a spinning gymnasium!

We went to the monthly market and Granny was conned into delighted to buy them both a couple of handmade toys. Yes, I could have made them myself (think crocheted stuffed animals) but not really my thing and I was supporting local craft. 

Lunch at the Servo which was delicious. Three loves it there and I was thrilled that One also gave it a big thumbs up. It is, as you can probably guess by the name, an old service station that has been converted to a pub like environment. Good stuff on tap, local wines and great BBQ/smokehouse meat. 

The family left early on Monday morning to beat the traffic and be home in time to get ready for the week ahead. It ended up being another flying visit but hopefully they will come down again and stay a bit longer. They brought their Frenchie and the three dogs got on like a house on fire. The cats were less impressed.

Winter has well and truly arrived. Cold and wet with the occasional glorious sunny days thrown in to tease us. Life trundles along.

A day that didn't seem that much but was

Now it appears that Murphy might be the one leaking although I think it might be more him licking his paws that leaves the damp spot. As anyone who has ever spilt anything will know it doesn't take much for a small amount of liquid to appear enough to fill a small pond so I really don't know what we are dealing with.

Today I helped cater for a funeral with the Lionesses. These women are always good fun and the funeral itself was at a local church so we weren't involved with the sad bits although the deceased had a very long, full life so hopefully there weren't too many sad bits. The mourners came back to the hall for the wake afterwards. We were surprised how many actually braved the cold to come back from the cemetery. We had two varieties of soup, plenty of sandwiches (although I'm not sure about the chicken, cheese and mustard combination someone came up with - the children shouldn't be allowed loose in the kitchen!!), hot savouries and cold sweet things with tea and coffee. It's always hard to know exact numbers for these sort of events and we had a bit left over but better than than running out. 

I find these events quite exhausting. I think it's being "on" for several hours and interacting and doing stuff. I enjoy them but come home knackered and my back always complains. It will be interesting to see if my xrays show anything when I finally see the doctor at the end of the month. 

Himself has made the beds for One and his lot, who arrive tomorrow. The weather forecast is looking good after torrential rain overnight so hopefully we can do lots of lovely things. Heads up ... I will not be posting here over the weekend!

Now to unwind for the evening.

With these two on guard we are well protected.

 I have no doubt that they would bark if they could. I am bloody thrilled that they can't.

My day

Himself managed to get a urine sample from Jinx first thing this morning so we drove the 40 minutes to drop it off into the vet for them to check it for a UTI. I rang them this afternoon and no sign of any bladder infection. So we keep going with the hormone therapy and wait to see if things improve over the next week. I still feel something is not quite right with her but we have to tick the boxes to rule everything out. I wish she could talk.

Home to make a couple of slices for a Lioness thing tomorrow. Lemon slice and a cinnamon blondie. Not the prettiest ones I've made but they taste ok. The lemon icing is a bit runny but should set in the fridge.

 

Then it was time to settle down and start the second fingerless glove. I'm not thrilled with the first but I can't just leave it at one, can I? It's the first time I've used sock yarn for these gloves, I usually use DK (or 8ply). My binding off is too tight and it's my fault for being lazy and not looking for the instructions for a looser technique which are on my PC as opposed to my phone. There will be enough yarn left over to knit another pair so I might give the whole exercise a second chance. Or not. Life is too short to swear at your knitting.

All the while I was in good hands with my trusty companion pretending to keep guard. Jinx is the actual guard dog ... Murphy just sits there looking handsome and majestic and barks at the postie's van. The postie now waves when he drives past.

 

A quick check in so you know I haven't abandoned you again.

Monday saw the first day of winter and, as usual, it was glorious - until it wasn't!! After sunshine and blue skies we got rain and wind and did I mention the wind?

The bug is still hanging around so after my usual U3A activities in the mornings I have been happy to sit on the couch and knit. 

Tomorrow I will be baking a couple of slices for a funeral the Lionesses are catering on Friday. 

Jinx is showing signs of a UTI so Himself has been tasked with trying to get a urine sample from her that I can drop off to the vet. Or he can. Hopefully whatever the issue is will be quickly identified and treatable. My house doesn't smell particularly pleasant at the moment. I won't go into details but you can use your imagination. Or not, if you're eating.

And on that note I will go and think about pouring a glass of wine and getting dinner on the go.

I will try to be a bit more entertaining tomorrow. Or Friday.