SINKS MUMMY

Still laughing

2011-10-27T20:00:00.001-07:00

I remember some years ago when Anika obviously got a mis-directed SMS which went along the lines of, "I love you my darling cup cake." Anika replied to the effect that she was not their cup cake and they must have the wrong number.

Today the postie dropped a very directed postcard to Lloyd. The postcard is of a beautiful beach scene from somewhere in Europe. What amused me was the contents, posted below, for your amusement (with Lloyd's permission):

Dearest CoCo (3 hearts drawn next to this),

I know that we are young, but deep in my heart I know that our love is pure and strong. I never want to be anywhere else but in your arms. I know your parents don't approve*, but we have to take this chance. Elope with me my dear, my darling, my soulmate. You are my forever beloved.

Yours always, with love
(name withheld to protect the identify of the sender)

*said parents have never been consulted

My sides hurt. (I think this is called trolling)

He's right

2011-10-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday Matt was studying the book of Judges and was asked in his school study what Australia would be like if there was no government. I started suggesting the usual - no law and order etc etc but Matt summed up the day's events nicely:

"No Carbon Tax!"

Same name, different person

2011-09-14T02:34:00.000-07:00

I had this conversation with Mike at the shops on Monday:

Mike: I just saw someone I know go into Big W.

Me: Who?

Mike: Noah....*then adds*...from Boys Brigade....*pauses*...not the one from years and years ago.

Still here

2011-08-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging for a while, but we're still here. Here's a few snaps of what we've been up to. After many years, I finally finished the crocheted blanket for Mike who is doing a very good job modelling its use (he's the lump underneath):

I've also been doing a lot of cooking and blogging on my food blog under my real name. Meanwhile, Matt is cooking up a storm. It's still quite cold here, but he has this craving for granita using frozen raspeberries and Qing family oranges that are home grown:

My Mum has returned from the other side of the world and has given us this fantastic 'Kings and Queens of England' chart that she obtained from the visitor centre at Sherwood Forest. The timing is excellent. Mike has just been covering the Wars of the Roses and we're both thinking that it was a risky business being heir to the throne in those days:

Interesting choices

2011-07-15T23:28:00.001-07:00

Last week Lloyd went off for his annual freeze-to-death-in-the-Australian-bush with the Boys Brigade. This year he got to do a 'duo' campout with another of his age. Apparently they were given a certain amount of money, taken to Woollies and then they had to buy the food that they would cook for the few days they were out as well as being given some staples from the camp kitchen.

I guess I expected the usual two-minute noodles and so forth but Lloyd told me that they didn't 'cook anything' and that breakfast for one day and dinner for one night consisted of chocolate only!

I wondered if it was just a gap in his education that led to such an appalling diet since, unlike Matt, Lloyd has never shown much interest in cooking. Then Lloyd tells me that his duo partner is an apprentice chef!

The mind boggles. *Note to self* :When this apprentice starts his own restaurant, only visit if I need a severe chocolate fix.

Not really comprehending

2011-06-28T02:20:00.000-07:00

I guess it's because Mike is still only 7. We're on winter break now and Mike is attending a kids' club (US = VBS) at a local church. They are using a pre-packaged deal and it involves Answers in Genesis material. Mike and I had the following conversation this afternoon after the morning's fun:

Mike: Mum, do we have a family tree?

Me: Of course we do.

Mike: What is it?

Me: Well, I'm your Mummy and Daddy is your Daddy and then...

Mike: No, I don't mean that. Do we have a family tree?

Thus followed more patient attempts to explain what a family tree is with no success. Sometime later:

Mike: Do we have a family tree?

Me (*exasperated*): We have a Jacaranda tree in our backyard. Is that what you are thinking of?

Mike: *Yes*

Me: I don't think that's what the kids' club means.

Mike (*sings*): There's no monkey in our family tree.

I wonder if we should remind him about the possum. I'm just wondering what the leaders would think tomorrow morning when Mike rolls up and tells them there's a possum in our family tree.

Rats

2011-06-10T19:09:00.001-07:00

I guess it was inevitable. Apparently there is a rat plague in areas of Brisbane which were flood-affected in January. These rats are reported to be the size of possums and are fearless. Eek! I'm no fan of wild rats.

It reminds me of my laboratory days many years ago. At that time we worked in the semi-basement of a rather old building that was rather desperate for refurbishment. My supervisor, many years my senior, pointed out to me once the stain on the wall from when an experiment had exploded when he was an honours student back in the sixties.

As the building was not exactly state-of-the-art there were many places for wildlife to get in. There was certainly a lot around. I remember sitting on a low brick wall to eat lunch one day and noticing a possum in the garden behind me. Possums I can handle but wild rats .... a different story.

One night when I was slaving away in the lab I went into the next lab to use some equipment and there, on the lab bench, was the most enormous grey-black, wild rat I have ever seen. I was certainly possum-sized (a very large possum-sized). I told our lab manager and he didn't believe me until he brought in a large rat trap and caught not one, but two of these very large rats.

For a while there we seemed to be rat free until it seemed that some white lab rats had escaped and were breeding in the dark areas of the building. One of my fellow PhD students was working with soybeans and she had a stash in a bucket for experiments. She was off on holiday and didn't bother to put the lid on. I didn't see the rats but just saw their evidence one morning on my bench. The lid was put on!

In each lab we had a trolley with a large bucket of water on it. When we had finished with our glassware we put it in the water to soak until the lab ladies came to wash it up so that we could then sterilise or wash it in chromic acid ready for our experiments. One morning I came into the lab and in one of these buckets was a rat. I had no intention of touching the object so I called for our trusty lab manager. As he lifted the body out of the water he exclaimed, "You look like a drowned rat."

Thankfully, our rodent adventures since my lab days have been limited to mice.

The End

2011-05-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

Today is the day we're supposed to be raptured. May 21. I've got a few questions:

(1) Is it supposed to be midnight on May 21 or midnight on May 20? If the latter, I'm sunk along with my family.
(2) Maybe it's when it's May 21 in America seeing as he-who-knows lives there?
(3) What time zone in America?

I'm not sure that 'Jesus' and 'Mary Magdalene', who apparently live in Wilkesdale (near Kingaroy), Queenland, know about this.

I'm confused. If I'm still to be raptured, I hope I get to eat the cake that's cooking first.

The Next Generation

2011-05-17T04:38:00.001-07:00

My baby is 8 later this year. In some ways I miss having pre-schoolers around. The next generation keep me amused though. On Facebook my niece has been telling us about her 3 year old son's conversations:

Great-nephew: You know something Mum?

Niece: No, what?

Great-nephew: Horses don't run.

Niece: Really?

Great-nephew: No, they giddy up.

The latest offering:

Niece *pointing at the bee on the honey label*: Where do we get honey from?

Great-nephew: Woolworths.

I guess he's right.

Puffle Cake

2011-04-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks here have been school holidays but it hasn't been a lot of fun as we've had a fair share of sickness. I think I've had three different cold viruses over the last two weeks. I feel as if I haven't been much of a fun Mum for the holiday. On Saturday, when at last I felt better, Mike asked if we could make a puffle cake so I decided to go for it.

The cake mix made two small round cakes so I opted to do the brown puffle and the blue puffle. Please ignore the not-quite-mixed blue icing. I was still a bit rough so the cooking was too.

For those that have no idea what a puffle is here's the link. And here's the pics:

.

The 'Lucky' Find

2011-04-15T00:49:00.000-07:00

Many blog posts ago I wrote about the wonderful 'Engrish' that came with a small teapot that we bought years ago. I also lamented that the same teapot was broken.

I was hunting in the cheap shop the other day for something else and came upon the very same 'Lucky Pot' - a little teapot with its own infuser. It was a $2 clearance special so I snapped it up to use with some tea we were given for Christmas.

The new pot came with a whole new lot of Engrish which amuses us:

'Multi-function teapot' - We wonder what else it is used for?

'Drinking tea enabies you joyful' - I guess we feel happy with a nice cup of tea.

'You can put it into the refrigetator for storage. It can also be a container as the green tea and drinks.' - Iced tea I guess?

But the one that takes the cake is this:

'Crearting a hypnotic ambience through a combination of semi-translucent colours and complimenting chrome stand.' - Maybe there was something other than regular tea in that present from my sister-in-law that the teapot manufacturer knew about. I just can't see the 'complimenting chrome stand' after being hypnotised by the 'colours'.

That said, I am 'enabied joyful' at my find.

A Different Language

2011-04-10T03:39:00.000-07:00

The conversation at our place yesterday: Mike: Mum, do you know what Americans call the bank? Me: No, what do Americans call the bank? Mike: The bairnk. When watching an episode of an American series recently I noticed that the female character talked about getting a "lairmp". From watching what she bought I assume she meant lamp. Apparently, so I'm told, the actors tone down their American accents for filming. Maybe this is so that we can understand them. I think I'd need an interpreter if I went there. Many years ago, when my parents were in LA, the 'bairnk' teller couldn't understand my father. He spoke with a mild English accent even though he'd lived in Australia for 20 years at that point. I also remember when Anika was about 3 or 4 and we were watching "The Importance of Being Earnest" (the good old version with Michael Redgrave). After watching a little while Anika commented, "What language are they speaking Daddy?" Even in Britain the different 'dialects' make for a lot of mistranslation. My Scottish friend asked me one night if I remembered to take my 'chocs'. I had no idea what she was talking about. I couldn't remember her giving me any chocolate so it was a complete mystery until I realised she was talking about craft chalks that I had bought from her craft company. Maybe I should just take pen and paper around for clarification.

List

2011-03-21T00:53:00.001-07:00

Matt is 13 tomorrow so I will have three teenagers in the house, at least until Anika's 20th birthday in March next year.

I found this 'to do' list on a note on the desktop of his laptop and it is reproduced here (with permission and with the author's spelling):

Each day:

read bible
clean teeth
exersise
eat all of food given
go outside
write book (164 words)

I don't think that he has any problem with item 4 on the list at the moment. It is very hard keeping a gluten-free son fed when they are *growing* and consequently *very* hungry. I do wonder about the preciseness of the 164 words but, knowing Matt, I don't think I'll ask.

Verse for Today (and everyday)

2011-03-11T02:41:00.000-08:00

Australia has certainly had its fair share of disasters in the past couple of months. New Zealand has had a nasty time and now Japan is suffering too. Thankfully my friend Wendy is safe and well although she experienced the earthquake in Tokyo.

I'm thinking of one of my favourite verses which comes from Romans 8: 38-39:

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Phantom Pumpkin Leaver Mystery

2011-03-05T02:34:00.001-08:00

On Friday afternoon I was backing out of my driveway to go to the shops. I noticed the mail sticking out of the letterbox and stopped to get it. As I opened the car door I was greeted by a terrible smell. *Note to self: There really is not much worse than the smell of a dead cane toad in your driveway...except two dead toads.*

Extinguished toads aside, as I was approaching the letterbox I noticed a small pumpkin at the foot of the gate. It is a very cute little pumpkin and now sits on my kitchen bench. My camera is on the blink or I would have posted a cute picture.

The problem is, I have no idea who left it there and why. My mother proclaims that it was not her so it is still a mystery.

I'm wondering if the dead toads have anything to do with it and whether midnight will reveal anything???

Why bother?

2011-03-03T19:23:00.001-08:00

Whilst doing maths this morning we came across this item in Matt's current text* which went along these (paraphrased) lines:

"Maid Marion saw Robin Hood coming from 100 metres away riding at a speed of 2 m/s (metres per second). The drawbridge is 10 m high and takes 60 seconds to lower. Will Robin make it into the castle?"

Matt looked at it with a strange look on his face and said, "Wouldn't he just stop if it wasn't down? Honestly, he isn't stupid."

I can tell you that if I was Maid Marion I'd be wanting Robin to be smart, or his horse to be an excellent jumper ... lest he end up very wet.

*Maths Quest 1 for Queensland, Lyn Elms, Jacaranda Press

Thank You Hubby

2011-02-26T22:47:00.000-08:00

I was browsing through some card making blogs and came across this handy device which is a peg bow maker. After looking at the YouTube video the author kindly made to show us 'all thumbs' people how to make bows I did indeed drag dear Hubby to the computer and asked if he could make me one. Off Hubby went to the hardware shop and he came back and started sawing and drilling and behold here it is:

If you compare with the original idea you'll notice that the ribbon holder is not so fancy. That's because the corbels are rather expensive here ($13 each) so we settled for something cheaper. And here is a card I made after using my super-duper peg bow maker:

Thanks Hubby! And thanks to Becca for sharing her ideas.

Fuzzy vision

2011-02-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

I've been having difficulties for some time. When at my sister-in-law's house for the Q family's get together at Christmas time I admitted I needed reading glasses. Just getting older I guess. While there I happened to notice a book: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. I also admitted to having never read any of Douglas Adams' books, but said that I had always wanted to. My lovely sister-in-law not only loaned me the book, but the means of reading it:

I've since had my eyes checked thoroughly and now own two pairs of slightly less interesting looking glasses. My flower power ones were great whilst reading Dirk though, and I've since read Hitchikers as well. Off to check the library for more of the same.

Painted lines and pot holes

2011-02-21T02:34:00.000-08:00

As I drove out the other night I noticed that the lines on our street had been repainted recently. Today as I was driving around our suburb I noticed that the line painting people seem to have had a field day in our area. Someone somewhere has obviously decided that it's line painting time here. I really didn't think the lines needed doing. What does need fixing though is the large number of potholes in the road which are due to the recent heavy rains. It's a pity that line painters can't be pothole fixers instead.

I was thinking of it as a bit of an object lesson. With two children finished schooling I'm finding that I get contacted a lot by people who want to know all about the different ways of home education. One of the comments I make is that no system of home schooling is perfect. Even after 15 years of it we prayerfully decided to change the curriculum and learning style for Matt this year. Last year he and I were getting frustrated by the line painting in the curriculum - the endless revision of concepts already mastered - whilst the pot holes (weak areas) were being left alone. With the new system I have a lot more control over what he does and the line painting has stopped and the pot hole filling has started. Already we're having a smoother drive.

Thus endeth the object lesson for today.

Eat the Couch Day

2011-02-15T22:41:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day seems to be celebrated differently in other parts of the world. In Australia, one usually only sends a Valentine's card or gift to one's sweetheart - girl/boyfriend or wife/husband.

Many years ago on the 14th of February we just happened to sell an old couch that we no longer wanted. The second hand shop gave us $40 for it. It wasn't a great deal of money but we didn't have a lot of ready cash in those days and decided to splurge on a take-away dinner.

Thereafter in the Qing family the 14th February became "Eat the Couch Day".

We celebrated this year's "Eat the Couch Day" with some yummy chocolate truffles that Hubby brought home.

Review

2011-02-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

The school year is all fired up now and we're finding it easier to work today with the rain rather than the impossible heat and humidity last week.

Mike is reviewing his grammar. Last year we did nouns, proper and common, and pronouns. We also covered action verbs. This year we're starting on state-of-being verbs. I've made up a little jingle to remember them.

To review action verbs though I asked Mike to give me an example of an action verb. I was expecting the usual run-of-the-mill action verb. You know.... run, jump, skip etc.

Not my son. His choice? "Assassinate"

I guess he's right. It is an action verb.

Update

2011-02-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

It was ginormous big. It's still not little even now but the worst has past.

First, the good news:

No reports of fatalities, injuries or missing persons although it is a little early still. Praise God.
It crossed a little later than expected which meant it didn't quite come with the high tide and thus flooding isn't to be what was expected.
The centre crossed between the two major cities rather than through the most populated city.

Second, the not-so-good news:

Where it passed there is a trail of destruction with an estimated 90% of buildings being affected as well as crops.
One of the towns that the centre did pass through was devastated 4 years ago by Cyclone Larry and has been hard hit again.
The above means that bananas are going to go on the rare items list again. Hubby will have to forego his usual banana a day for work at the prices they are likely to become. After Cyclone Larry I remember $12 per kilogram (that's roughly about $6 per pound). This is a minor inconvenience for us. We are very thankful to have escaped floods and cyclones here and continue to pray for those who have lost so much.

It's coming

2011-02-02T00:43:00.001-08:00

It's big. Really, really big. Did I say big? I mean ginormous big. 4 hours until it hits.

Praying for North Queensland for wisdom and safety.

SMS messages

2011-01-14T22:48:00.000-08:00

It's a bit of a worry when you get an SMS from Lloyd (on camp in Tasmania) saying "all safe don't panic" and then another "evacuating". It seems that Tassie also has experienced a lot of rain and the camp had the risk of flooding if a dam was to burst. It was a precautionary measure. Lloyd was out in a community centre for 2 hours then it was considered safe to return to camp. He's now safely back home near Brisbane where we are high and dry.

I've got two loads of 10-day-old smelly washing to do - yuk - but can't complain. Many in Brisbane have huge amounts of Brisbane River mud to clean out of their homes.

Praise God for the thousands of volunteers who are helping.

Floods close to home

2011-01-12T21:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple of pics of 'our' park (it's okay, we're up a good many metres from here):

Our turn

2011-01-11T03:03:00.001-08:00

Today was spent in flood preparation as the flood is due to hit Brisbane fully on Wednesday and Thursday. We're high and dry here but I still checked that we had flood insurance to be sure. I also stocked up on non-perishable food and the car was filled with petrol. It's unlikely we'd be affected or isolated here but the petrol supply may be dicey and when there are floods the trucks can't supply the supermarkets. At Coles this afternoon the checkout lady told me they are running out of milk as the supplier is under water. Also, the electricity may be cut off.

Hubby was sent home from work on an enforced break since normally he works in Brisbane where the floods are expected to hit higher than 1974 levels.

I'm praying that everyone will be safe and the dam will hold.

The floods get closer

2011-01-10T03:23:00.000-08:00

I've just been watching a video of the mini-tsunami that just went through Toowoomba this afternoon and it's something else watching cars get swept away, upside down and knocking down trees. Bridges have been washed away and a building in the main part of the town has collapsed. Apparently at Esk the water rose 3 metres in 10 minutes and a house was swept away downstream. With no warning many were caught standing on rooftops and had to be rescued by helicopter.

I'm concerned for a friend who has a house on the Brisbane River bank. One more day of heavy rain is predicted before it will ease a little on Wednesday, but the rest of January is expected to be solid rain. I'm just praying the forecasters are wrong.

More added on Tuesday: Our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost loved ones in the terrible tragedy at Toowoomba.

Nuclear physics after dinner anyone?

2011-01-06T17:37:00.000-08:00

Matt is growing at an amazing rate at the moment which is a challenge for me since he seems to have inherited my coeliac problems (buying cheap, gluten-free snacks is somewhat expensive if I don't have time to cook). At dinner last night I piled his plate up in the hope that he would not be asking me for snacks within at least an hour after dinner. I must have overdone it because there were a few mouthfuls left when he asked if he could be excused from the table.

As he left the table he was in a terrible hurry on his way to surf the internet explaining, "I just *must* find out about applying heat to plutonium."

The scientist inside of me was asking, "Why?" and "What for?" but the tired mother who got up at 5 am to take Lloyd to the airport for his trip 'overseas' to Tasmania just thought, "Whatever" and kept quiet.

Not Flooded

2011-01-03T23:51:00.000-08:00

The awful floods here in Queensland seem to be making the world news as we've had people ask if we've been affected. The question is not surprising since the floods cover an area the size of New South Wales, or the size of France and Germany put together.

No, we're not flooded here close to Brisbane, but have had the wettest December on record. We've had so much rain that, in our area, the recorded rainfall was twice that of the previous wettest December. There's still 3 months of rain to come and the possbility of a few cyclones so we're not ruling out flooding in Brisbane. After all, with full dams the water has to go somewhere. I think we'd be safe where we are - there would have to be enormous flooding in the rest of our town before it got anywhere near us who are a bit higher up.

I have a couple of friends in the flooded towns. Both are safe and dry but know people who have lost everything with no hope of insurance. They were insured, but the insurance company wouldn't give them flood insurance.

Nine years ago I remember going to the park near us in bright sunshine. Then huge clouds came over and dumped 16 inches of rain in 4-5 hours. It was a once-in-a-century event. At one point I wondered if we were going to be on the news after standing on the roof of the picnic area. Before it got to that point we waded through knee-high water (me carrying Matt) to get home. I never underestimate the speed at which water rises.

I'm praying for a drier start to 2011 without the predicted cyclones.

This time of year

2010-12-20T04:02:00.000-08:00

At this time of year I find myself walking around in the heat and humidity singing, "Walking in a Winter Wonderland." I think it's because the carols play in the shops and the Wonderland one just sticks in my head. This year though, some in Australia will be able to do just that.

It must be all that global warming that's doing it.

Meanwhile I'm asking if anyone has a spare houseboat due to the rain. And there's more to come...

In a good mood

2010-12-18T21:47:00.001-08:00

Maybe it's the holidays or the thought that I have just completed 50% of my homeschool journey with Lloyd graduating but I'm finding that I am easily amused at the moment. Hubby showed me this and I had to post it here. The line about the Parthenon really got me, especially after covering the ancients with Mike this year. Warning: there's a couple of not-so-nice words in there. Enjoy.

Can you eat a.....?

2010-12-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

Mike has had this fascination with the ingestion of non-food items just recently and has given me a barrage of questions asking, "Can you eat .....

1. a hat?
2. rope?
3. string?
4. paper?
5. wood?"
and about a dozen other things I can't recall at the moment.

I'm not sure why he's so interested in this. Maybe it's because Matt (fast approaching 13) is always asking for something to eat.

In the past the Q family has had its moments with ingesting things. One day I spilt a little washing powder on the laundry floor and before I could grab a cloth to clean it up Anika crawled onto it and put her hands straight into her mouth. I think I've already mentioned Lloyd's attempt at dead spider ingestion. I probably set the scene years ago in England when, bored with waiting for my older brother to use the little room before going to the shop, I put two sixpences in my mouth and swallowed them both.

On New Years Day, 1998, Lloyd swallowed a marble. I remember thinking that he was four and ought to have been past that. All of those labels on toys say 3+ because they contain small parts. Hubby's brother was rung up to ask if it was okay. He assured us that things should take their course (as the sixpences did) but if Lloyd complained of a huge stomach ache in a week or so then we should go to the hospital emergency. The stomach ache didn't eventuate and he's still ingesting things at a huge rate, but thankfully they are edible. I remember once my brother and sister-in-law saying you wouldn't believe what children manage to stuff up their nostrils. Joy.

We've just had breakfast so I'd better get to some Christmas cooking before the inevitable..."What can I eat Mum?"

A Few More Days

2010-11-17T18:17:00.000-08:00

There's a few more days of school left for Mike and Matt and we are all feeling rather jaded. It's becoming increasingly difficult to extract anything meaningful from those dark places that are called children's minds. There were a couple of comments during school this morning that had me smiling though:

Mike (looking at the metre ruler marked as 100 centimeters): I am taller than 100 kilometres!

I wonder if the rarified air up there is causing some of the tiredness?

Matt (watching me take the sheets from his bed): But you just changed them *last* week!

His brain has obviously not observed the fact that sheets are changed every week. He needs a holiday.

A Driving Test

2010-11-14T20:15:00.000-08:00

Today Lloyd had a driving test. I was really hoping that he would pass. After all, those lessons get pretty expensive after a while and the test itself isn't that cheap. I always understood that most boys don't pass first time around because the testing officers don't like 17-year-old boys driving around unsupervised. So I wasn't expecting him to pass. He came back about 10 minutes ago and.....

HE PASSED!!!!!!

Wow, that's so cool. No more expensive driving lessons. No more finding time to supervise hours of learner driving for Lloyd (just have Anika now to get 35 more hours).

But wait..... this means that he can legally drive a car. Solo. Unsupervised. Out there in the mad, mad world of driving. Without me. No one to say, "Just watch out for that truck," "You need the inside lane before the roundabout," and, very importantly, "Just ease off the speed a little here."

Am I mad? Did I really want him to pass?

Quick! Somebody! Change the law! *Now* To this....

"A person may not drive unsupervised until they are at least 30 years of age (or until their mother is over it)."

Is it just me?

2010-10-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Hubby emailed home a media release from the Hon. Mr Robertson who is Queensland's minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy. My understanding of the statemtent was that it was put out to justify the electricity prices in Queensland.

The question I'm asking is that is it just me who finds these sorts of figures misleading and incredibly frustrating? Here is part of the media release:

"Mr Robertson said household electricity prices as set by the independent Queensland Competition Authority are less than charges in NSW, South Australia and Tasmania.

The increase in prices as determined by the QCA this year were similar to increases in Victoria and NSW and five percent cheaper than the increase in Western Australia.

The average household bill in Queensland ($1781) is cheaper than the average bills in South Australia ($1989), NSW ($1954) , Tasmania ($1910) and Victoria ($1782). Mr Robertson said."

Perhaps it's just my scientific nature but there's two relevant points here:

(1) Considering that Queensland has a mostly sub-tropical to tropical climate and states closer to the Antarctic would have homes that would need heating for a longer part of the year then umm..wouldn't the other states be using more electricity in the first place?

(2) Considering (1) wouldn't it be more appropriate to quote the charges per kilowatt-hour than the average bill?

I remember when a survey was done about grocery prices when the Howard (conservative) government was in power. The comparison was made between the cost of various items from one year to the next to point out the supposed incredible inflation in prices. Problem was that they chose to put bananas in their comparison. Considering that a cyclone had just completely devastated the north Queensland town that produced bananas (putting them into an exorbitant price range) I hardly think it was a reasonable reflection on inflation.

Who teaches these people science in schools!!!

The wrong one

2010-10-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

Last night Anika and I were on our way to an induction into a new charge of a minister who is a good friend of ours. It was supposed to be Hubby and Anika going whilst I did the Boys Brigade routine but, to cut a long story short, a last hour change was made.

I'd never been to this particular church building before and it was about 40 minutes drive away. We had some interesting moments following the directions as it was pouring with rain. Four years ago we had a severe drought in our neck of the woods. This year we've had record breaking rain and the dams are full and they are letting out water. Still the rain falls. We haven't seen much sunshine this spring yet.

We finally came to B street where the building was and we were hunting around for it when I saw a large, church building like substance and pulled into the car park. There were not many cars which made me wonder if we had the right night. Anika went to investigate while I checked the directions again.

Anika came back in hysterics. It seemed that she walked through the entrance and saw a sign indicating that the meeting was, "A celebration of the canonisation of Australia's Saint Mary MacKillop."

Given that we were supposed to be attending a Presbyterian service, I think we were just a little bit in the wrong place.

PS Our night was correct and we found the building a little further up the street.

Signs there is a teenage boy in the house

2010-10-02T01:58:00.000-07:00

1. You look at the small amount of meat for dinner and think it can't possibly be 1 kilogram. You weigh it and realise it is.

2. You take a medium saucepan out of the saucepan cupboard and then go back to look for the large saucepan. You realise that you are already holding the large saucepan.

3. Your 17-year-old son asks you what he can have for a snack while you are making dinner. You direct him to a packet of biscuits in the pantry. 10 minutes later you notice the empty packet in the bin.

Wobbly Vision

2010-09-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting on a bench waiting for Hubby outside a shop in our local mall and I just happened to glance over at the butcher's shop where I saw this sign:

Australian Crocodile

$20 a PAT

For a while I was confused because every Australian knows that:

(a) you do not pat an Australian crocodile, whether it be saltwater or fresh and

(b) you would not be silly enough to pay $20 for this privelege.

Then my slightly short-sighted eyes slowly focussed on the sign and I realised that it really was:

Australian Crocodile

$20 a PKT (packet)

I wonder if I stare at Mike's comic book cover long enough the title will focus enough to become "Secret Agent"? Here it is:

Winter Haiku

2010-08-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

It's the last day of spring and I thought I'd post Matt's winter Haiku:

Jacaranda Tree

Jacaranda Tree

Yellow leaves disappearing

Brown branches left bare

Here's some of my azaleas:

Subject Line

2010-08-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine recently sent me an email with the subject line, "not ignoring you, just frozen". She lives in rural Victoria, near to where the bushfires went through on Black Saturday. I think it's a bit nippy down there.

I'm thinking of sending an email back with the subject line, "not ignoring you, just busy". Having two learner drivers who need to get their 100 hours of supervised driving time logged really adds to the jobs of the week.

I think every mother needs a mother's day. I don't mean the once a year thing. I mean every week needs to have a day in there somewhere where everyone else floats off into a parallel universe for 24 hours and mum gets to just catch up on life. Unfinished (or unstarted) cleaning jobs, school recording, school planning...that sort of thing. And of course some blogging and quiet times.

Seeing as that's not going to happen, I guess I'd better just make better use of the time I have.

Happy 100th post to me. 18 hours to go for Lloyd.

How to take 10 years off your mother's life in a week

2010-07-11T03:59:00.000-07:00

1. Have a nasty, never-before-this-bad asthma attack while on camp when you are miles and miles from the nearest hospital and ambulance.
2. Be kind to your mother - stay calm while the ambulance (which must have had wings) gets there in 20 minutes.
3. Two days later (after your return to camp from hospital) get crash tackled and hurt your ankle.
4. The next day insist you are okay and go for a 6 kilometre trek.
5. The next day (today) have someone else drop a brick on the same foot.
6. When your parents turn up to pick you up from camp tell them you are okay to drive almost 2 hours home even though you are finding it hard to walk.
7. Once you've driven home and had a shower show your mother the swollen-up-like-a-balloon ankle.
8. During going to night church casually mention about the red-bellied black snake in the brick. Apparently the brick-dropper had no malicious intentions but just decided that he didn't want to be that close to a red-bellied black when he was aware of its presence.

Somehow I think the doctor's appointment tomorrow for follow up after asthma attack will involve x-rays. Maybe I need an appointment too....

Should I worry?

2010-06-28T04:22:00.000-07:00

This post was going to be some random things about painting. Anika has flown off south for the winter (well, just for a week of uni holiday) and we figured we should paint her room next while she's not in it. As it turns out the painting went fairly smoothly today and her room is now in a state of sparkling paint-ness. This means Hubby and I get to play holiday tomorrow.

I'm wondering if Anika's trip is going as smoothly though. I got an email late today saying this in reply to my enquiring how things were:

'Thank you. The trip so far has involved many things...such as reading Dostoyevsky's The Underground and flooding out a fast food restaurant (the water reached the first row of chairs in the eating area) when I went to wash my hands and accidentally removed the top of the tap in the ladies' bathroom. On a less positive note, I may have lost my mp3 player. We'll see. How's painting?'

I'm wondering if I should worry about this? My reply started, 'Dear Mr Frumble....'

I'm asking myself why?

2010-06-07T01:11:00.000-07:00

As the title suggests I'm asking myself why oh why did I want to change internet/phone provider back to the one I had a few years ago? I should have reminded myself of the constant problem I had of having to ring them every month to sort out billing problems. That was the reason why I changed from them in the first place. I guess it was because we were offered cable internet for no installation cost and wireless connections.

But now of course come the billing problems. At first we were charged for installation and I had to ring to sort that out, then to sort out the wrong plan bill and so on. In the last couple of months I've had a welcome credit added twice so my phone bill has arrived with heaps of credit on it. Then I rang to work out why I haven't got a bill for the internet and they told me not to bother about the double credit. They also said they would put the internet bill on hold until they could work out how to bill me with the 'new' system. Now they've sent me a bill for the new internet month saying that I've paid the last month (I haven't - because they couldn't send me a bill).

If this keeps going they'll be sending me a cheque each month for using their phone/internet service.

I'm wondering at the logic

2010-05-26T01:54:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my last post, today is a rather momentous day - our 20th wedding anniversary. Thank you, Lord, for happy days!

I sometimes think that Matt takes me far too literally. At lunch the other day I cooked rice pasta and leftover bolognaise sauce for Matt and me. I spooned it into two bowls and Matt complained that his was very hot. I suggested that he put it into the fridge for a while to cool down. He did this and left it for a few minutes but still complained it was too hot. I was pre-occupied with eating my own lunch and listening to Mike and the conversation went like this:

Me: Put it on a plate and put it in the fridge for a few minutes.

Matt: How will that help?

Me: It increases the surface area so the heat escapes.

Matt: Okay

After a few more minutes Matt removed his lunch from the fridge and still complained it was too hot. Then I realised why. This is what he had done with his hot lunch:

Chemistry in a few years time is going to be fun.

Ratios

2010-05-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

For only the second time in almost 20 years (next Wednesday) of married life my Hubby did not eat all of his dinner. I figured that he must be ill. Especially when the doctor said his lungs sounded like a smoker's when he has never smoked in his life.

This means he has lost a little weight and is now about 80 kg. Despite my stomach ills I've managed to gain a little and am almost 50 kg.

My brain just knew that there was some relationship between 5 and 8 and I figured it out and said to Hubby, "If you are a mile then I am a kilometre."

Such a romantic comment after 20 years of marriage.

Constructions

2010-05-04T03:51:00.000-07:00

Matt and Mike have been busy with the Lego just lately. I am reminding myself that one day the house will not have Lego everywhere. They both managed a rather impressive looking castle and here's just one section of it. I am thinking that I would not like to be a stablehand doing the mucking out at this particular castle:
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A little earlier this year I suggested Mike make a pyramid with Lego when we were studying the pyramids of Egypt. I had intended that it would be a fairly small pyramid just to get the idea. I didn't bank on Matt's obsessions. Here is the pyramid:

Matt told me that it took exactly 1193 pieces of Lego to build it. The top part looks a little odd due to some improvisation with blocks to get it finished. I did not point that out to Matt. He would not sleep at night.

The latest Q son construction involves making the Empire State Building. Mike told me today that it was 54 centimetres high so far. At least while all the blocks are in the building they are not scattered all over the floor.

I remember once picking up some toys in our family room and Mike asked, "Are you vacuuming the floors today?"

My response was, "No, Mike, I just want to be able to see the floor."

Mike's Birthday Advice

2010-04-28T04:21:00.001-07:00

My Mum had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. Just last Monday Mike offered his advice:

"Grandma, don't have too many birthdays because if you do you get to be ninety and then you die and go like this."

Mike then gets down on the floor, legs together, arms crossed on his chest and eyes closed (Egyptian mummy style).

I wonder if he can tell me how not to have birthdays?

Tagging things again

2010-04-26T02:10:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged again and this time I'm supposed to list five things in my wardrobe that I can't do without. I'm a little stuck with this one so I've decided to list five things that I don't have in my wardrobe:

1. Dresses (the one exception being my 'matron of honour' dress that was made for me for my friend's wedding) The reason for this is that it is impossible for me to find a dress to fit. I am almost 5 ft 2 in tall with long legs for my height. This means I'm short-waisted. Therefore dresses usually have a neckline that sits too low and it's impossible to adjust the shoulder part of the dress to allow for this. So I have skirts/shorts/slacks/jeans and tops instead.

2. Very high-heeled shoes. I have flat feet and those high heels just kill me. I don't know how some women manage to wear them day in and day out. I tolerate very small heels on shoes but am most comfortable with flat shoes.

3. Pink things. Pink just doesn't suit me. I love blues (especially navy blue), dark greens, purple and even red, but not pink.

4. Immodest tops and very short skirts/shorts. Enough said.

5. Polar fleece. I hate the feel of it.

Archaeology

2010-04-20T03:27:00.000-07:00

Mike has decided that he wants to be an archaeologist when he grows up. I'm sure he doesn't realise yet that being an archaeologist doesn't always involve wearing a brown hat, carrying a satchel and whip, surviving the most ridiculously impossible scenarios and riding off into the sunset on a horse at the end of each adventure.

I think it's in the blood. Hubby could not resist buying from a work throw out (for the grand sum of $2) a digital camera that is so old that it takes 3.5 inch diskettes. Hubby said that the original price of the camera was in the region of $1200. Somewhere in our shed is a boat anchor that actually takes these relics but Hubby was enquiring at the shop on Saturday about the price of an A drive to put into one of our more recent computers. Not surprisingly the shop attendants gave him strange looks and assured him that no such beast exists nowdays. I decided to ask Hubby why he wanted to spend a stack of money to ensure that he could use a camera that I'm sure was probably used by Noah to take snapshots of the receding floods. After all, you can get a digital camera that takes far better pictures for less than what he'd want to spend. Both Hubby and Anika looked at me in shock and Anika said, "But Mum, it's archaeology!"

And speaking of technological things...we were also shopping for a DVD player. We've discovered two things about computerised equipment just lately:

1. Dishwashers' computer brains are addled when plumbed to hot water and therefore explode into flames after 7 years of use. This was one plumber's opinion anyway. Our new dishwasher is now plumbed to cold water.

2. DVD players object strongly when a six-year-old asks them to play two DVDs at the same time. After having the cover taken off to retrieve the first DVD they go on permanent strike.

I'm Dreaming of a White March....

2010-03-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

Here's how to have a White Christmas when:

a. it is March and

b. you live in the sub-tropics

1. Load dishes into the dishwasher and start it.

2. Start hand washing the baking dishes.

3. Hear awful noise from dishwasher then hear worse noise.

4. Press the power off button.

5. Make sure you stand back while there is an enormous explosion, followed by flames exiting the front handle of the dishwasher.

6. Yell, "Fire, Fire!!"

7. Help Hubby locate fire extinguisher.

8. Watch as fire extinguisher puts out fire but then flames re-emerge.

9. Grab mobile phone, oldest son home sick from Brigade and budgie and exit house.

10. Call fire brigade whilst Hubby continues the battle.

11. Allow fire brigade to enter house and disconnect dishwasher from electricity and water after ensuring Hubby had put the fire out.

12. Watch from the front patio as the fire fans blow all of the smoke out of the window.

13. Return to kitchen that is covered in white fire extinguisher powder.

14. Decide that a White Christmas is not all it's cracked up to be and start cleaning kitchen benches, stove, floor, baking trays, entire contents of dishwasher and white firemen's footprints.

15. 3 hours later look wistfully at the book that was intended for a quiet Friday night.

16. The next day start looking for a new dishwasher. Criteria Number One: Must not explode into flames frightening the life out of the owner.
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Snippets

2010-03-22T23:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how busy I've been in our first term of school (for us Southern Hemisphere dwellers). I think of things to blog about then don't have time and forget them. Before I forget here's one amusement we had recently:

Anika babysat for friends of ours and after the younger ones were organised for bed she sat reading "The Penguin History of Europe". Mr Ten-Years-Old was reading also then looked up at what Anika was reading and commented, "I didn't think there were any penguins in Europe." I have never thought about a title that way.

Then one day we came across an outline of what Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are expected of students in Queensland's schools. Anika found this: By the end of year 9 the student, "Considers and applies ICT to enhance interpersonal relationships in order to develop social and cultural understandings." If that just sounded like teacher gobbledygook to you then we're on the same page. Not to worry though. The example given said it all: for example, "uses 'emoticons' to enhance a message by indicating emotion'"

Honestly!! :D :) :D ;)

Red Letter Days

2010-03-05T23:20:00.000-08:00

Some days with home education nothing seems to go right so when those red letter days arrive it's so nice. We had several red letter days this week.

On Thursday I finally figured a way of explaining to Matt about a problem he was having with multiplying decimal fractions. Matt is good at maths but he's like me. He has to understand it thoroughly not do it mechanically. It was music to my ears to hear such words as, "Oh I get it now. Ah, I really understand it now. That makes sense."

On Tuesday Anika had her first day at uni. Off she went full of excitement and came home saying how much she enjoyed it. Then Friday we celebrated her 18th birthday.

Also on Tuesday I made a discovery. Last year I had started to write a science outline that I could use with Mike (age 6) this year. I figured with my training I ought to be able to do a good job. The training wasn't the problem. Problem number one was lack of time. I started the year using a book but it really wasn't working out for us. Some of what I could find on the internet looked great for older children (9 and up) but there wasn't anything for younger children. So I decided to go and have a look at some homeschool forums and found this classic science curriculum designed for home school families. Not only does it have material suitable for Mike's age but it also has everything there set out on a day by day basis, covers all the great basic stuff and explains all those first principles of testing etc in a parent guide. A bonus is that the first year is a free download. I downloaded the first unit and started straightaway. Mike thinks the cartoons are hilarious. We'll be back next year to buy the second level. Meanwhile I donated to the cup of coffee account of the creator.

Something told me before I looked too far that it had to be good. The author goes by the name of Mr Q (no relation). How's that for a co-incidence?

Busy Days

2010-02-10T02:23:00.000-08:00

Now that school and TAFE have started it seems like the days fly by. Once Anika gets going on uni in a couple of weeks it will really speed along.

My brain seems to be switching onto maths at any opportunity lately. Whilst Aussifying a recipe for the other blog I was wondering about how much a 'square' of US chocolate weighed. I've seen recipes that call for 3 squares of chocolate and have often wondered how much this was. I was thinking that in Australia chocolate comes in squares, rectangles and circles but the size depends on the brand. Then I realised that to talk in squares, rectangles and circles is mathematically unsound. After all, they are rectangular prisms or cubes or cylinders of chocolate. I'm teaching 3 dimensional shapes to Mike so I'd better not confuse the issue. At least chocolate tastes the same no matter how it is shaped :)

Meanwhile Mike is demonstrating his new knowledge of the ancient world. When asked by his grandmother if the cunieform writing on the clay tablet he had made was Egyptian writing Mike took on a superior air and said, "Grandma, the Egyptians wrote in heiroglyphics." I guess he's been listening.

Teeth and Words

2010-01-25T16:20:00.000-08:00

Matt and Mike seem to be doing things together at the moment. On Sunday afternoon Matt lost a tooth and on Sunday night Mike responded by losing his top tooth. With no second tooth to be seen yet Mike has that cute holey smile. It's a good job we don't believe in the tooth fairy here or I'd be going broke as both of them have more wobbly teeth.

Both of them also seem to be adding to their vocabulary at the moment:

Me: How is your eye now Matt? (after Matt was hit earlier by accident by a stray foam dart of Lloyd's)

Matt: It hurts immensely but it's okay. Hmm...immensely...I like that word...immensely *seems to be making mental note to add it to his vocabulary for future use*

Mike: *points to bite on his leg* Mum, is it a mosquito bite or a mozzie bite?

Me: both

I'm not sure if Mike realised it was the same thing or whether he thought that there are two different insects, one called a mozzie and the other a mosquito.

Being in good old Oz and it being Australia Day, I guess we'll call it a mozzie bite.

Announcing....

2010-01-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

A new blog! If you need gluten and egg free recipes here's the place to go:

Mrs Q's Gluten and Egg-Free Recipes

Only two posts so far, but more to come.

A New Year

2010-01-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I remember watching a TV program about Rolf Harris painting the Queen for one of her annual portraits. It is always interesting for me, a non-artist, to watch how a real artist works. He seemed to start by splogging purple paint onto the canvas and then went from there. Of course by the end of the painting he had produced something amazing. I have very vague memories from when I was quite young of watching Rolf painting on a wall during his TV shows and the same thing happened. You had no idea what he was doing but he always managed to produce something very clever.

I often imagine God as a master painter. I have to admit though, that when he paints the black parts of the painting it can be tough going. Last October we had all sorts of bad news. Lloyd, after coughing like crazy for some months, tested positive to whooping cough (despite a booster immunisation last January). He struggled all through the last half of the school year after being kept awake most nights with the coughing. Matt then had some terrible coughing virus. Although he tested negative for whooping cough he was quite sick and also struggled to get schoolwork done. All of this paled into insignificance when we had the news that a friend, who only a few years ago lost her teenaged son, was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have a double mastectomy. There was other news about a family I know that I cannot blog here but it is very sad news. And just before Christmas our friends from the states sent news about how the recession is causing financial hardship for them.

When waiting for Anika to do a music exam early in December I was praying and watching the people who were walking by and just wondered how life was for them. I started thinking about how meaningless life was without the Lord and was thankful that he is sovereign. I don't know what the Lord has planned for 2010 but I know he's working on a masterpiece.

There's a busy year coming up for the Q family: Anika's first year of uni, Lloyd's last year of school, Matt's last year of primary school and Mike's first official year of school. My friend starts chemo soon and we keep praying for her. Lloyd still coughs but nowhere near as much.

I feel a bit like I'm in the purple part of the painting now rather than the black part, but, after all, purple is my favourite colour.

A cheery Christmas thought

2009-12-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

We were listening to the radio on the way to the busy shops yesterday and I was thinking about how much the way the carols are sung has changed. The style sounded more like: We wish you a Mary Christmas and a Heppy New Year.

In between the carols one pest control company had an advertisement. They delighted in telling us that, in an average lifetime, each person swallows 10 spiders when asleep. They also reassured us that if we used their company they could reduce that to 3. How's that for a cheery Christmas thought?

When Lloyd was about 10 months old I found him chewing on something and pulled out the article with my finger. It was a dead spider. Thereafter my friend's children called him 'Spider Man'. I just looked at his bedroom earlier and I can tell you he makes a very messy web.

Mary ... oops I mean Merry Christmas to all.

My children are weird

2009-12-17T14:45:00.000-08:00

When going down to the shops for some Christmas shopping last Saturday Anika, Hubby and I were discussing how you can get gift vouchers for almost anything for Christmas. At this point we happened to pass a funeral director and Anika said, "You could even get a gift voucher for a funeral. How about that for a back-handed present?"

Meanwhile Lloyd has been busy putting his mechanical skills to work. During the renovation he decided that he'd like to get our grandson clock ticking again since it has spent the last few years tick-tockless on the wall after something didn't seem to work in it. Being one for noise he's set it up in his room.
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He got it going in a nice state of tick-tockness and was pleased when he got the bongs going too. The problem was it was bonging 11 at 8:30 am in the morning and 5 at 11:50 am. After investigating the various types of spanners and screwdrivers we have he's got the bongs right now but I noticed yesterday that it's four minutes slow. Maybe he should use that watch his uncle and aunt gave him last Christmas.

Matt has been growing at a very fast rate at the moment but it doesn't seem to affect his co-ordination. A couple of nights ago he was drying a plastic cup and dropped it. It fell onto the bench, bounced then went over the side. He caught it deftly and exclaimed, "Wow, I've got great refluxes Mum!"

It's amazing the difference one vowel makes.

Live Blog of the Renovation (start reading from the bottom)

2009-12-07T15:22:00.001-08:00

9:30 Collapse into bed exhausted and wake at 6 am to do it all again tomorrow with the next two rooms.
2:30 Recommence cleaning and moving stuff. Decide that dinner is going to be at least partly take-away.
2:15 pm Pick up Anika from work.
1:36 Having a slight breather after lunch and moving stuff. Piano moving soon to come. Maybe not quite so thankful for the hot day - can't put the air-con on in Anika's room until the furniture is in and the doors on.
11:46 Find out that Anika's room is finished so start cleaning there.
11:45 Oops, forgot the curtains still in the washing machine. Will hang curtains first and eat afterwards.
11:44 Is happy that it seems it will be finished by lunchtime. Is wondering if Lloyd and I should have an early lunch so as to be ready to hit it with the cleaning and moving once it's done? Going to investigate the fridge.
10:29 Am happy that he did not have to grind the slab of concrete after the carpet left. Just in case, am glad that the plastic drop sheet still covers the piano wedged in the hallway. Look at the wonderful new floor being put down.
10:28 See to the fourth (or is it the fifth?) load of washing of quilts, sheets, curtains, matress protectors etc. Am thankful for a very hot day to get it all dry.
9:30 Leave to take Anika to work.
8:00 I am reminded of Dr Zeuss: "This mess is so big and so deep and so tall, We cannot pick it up, we cannot do it all." Apologies for a (most likely) mis-quote. 'The Cat in the Hat' is somewhere around here but it's hard to get to around the dismembered pieces of beds.
7:57 Floor man arrives
7:55 Grandma arrives
7:50 am Australian Eastern Standard: Waiting for the floor person to arrive. Getting Mike and Matt ready to go to Grandma's house for the day.

The end of year signs

2009-12-07T03:16:00.000-08:00

I can tell that it's the end of the school year. The weather is hot and everyone is tired and just a little 'not with it'. A couple of days ago Matt was sharing his superior understanding of what is done in school by illuminating Mike:

"Next year you get to do English. That's when you learn to write and draw straight lines."

And at this time of year we're either on holidays or doing some sort of renovating. This year it's the renovation and I'm asking, "Why do I do this to myself?"

The carpet is being removed in stages and replaced with hard flooring over the next two days. This meant that today was spent removing the entire contents of two rooms (including piano and thousands of books and toys) and somehow finding space for the contents in the rest of the house. Tomorrow after the floor is in we have the fun of putting it all back and repeating the idea with another two rooms. There's always so much more stuff than you realise and more cleaning and throwing out to do than you realise. As I was clearing up behind the furniture moving I was thinking, "It would be really good to paint while all the furniture is out."

I did not think that for very long. Too hot and too much work. It will get done eventually.

*reminds herself that she's been wanting to get rid of the dusty carpet for years and is thankful even though it's a huge mess now*

Can someone explain?

2009-12-02T15:56:00.001-08:00

At dinner the other night Mike decided to let us in on 6-year-old wisdom:

"My fork can hold more than my spoon and the pen is mightier than the sword."

Can someone explain the (not-so-obvious-to-me) connection?

And speaking of socks...

2009-11-19T00:27:00.001-08:00

It's a tad hot here in Queensland at the moment though not as bad as South Australia. Consequently Mike has not been wearing socks to bed. This afternoon as we went out Mike was thinking about how he puts the socks on before putting on his shoes and said, "I wear socks in the morning but I wear feet to bed."

I wonder what's under those socks he wears in the morning?

Laundry Questions

2009-11-01T16:36:00.000-08:00

For some time now I've been trying to figure out how to get body odour out of clothing. I won't name names here but two of the Q family, despite daily showers and strong deodorant, have a terrible time with odour on clothes. I've tried all sorts of sprays, pre-soaking and odour neutralisers. I finally decided that someone out there must have an answer so I put the question into Google. There were miriads of solutions but a recurring theme seemed to be to put 1 cup of white vinegar in the wash. So, slightly skeptical, I decided to try it....and it works!! Fresh smelling clothes with not a hint of odour.

Speaking of laundry matters reminds me of the question that everyone asks. Why do we always end up with odd socks? Shortly after I was married my Hubby told me the answer. I'm not sure if it's his own theory or he's read it somewhere else but it goes like this:

The Parallel Universe Sock Theorem:

When the centrifugal force generated by the washing machine in the spin cycle is exactly equal and opposite to the force of rotation of the parallel universe then the right sock is projected into the parallel universe.

You know that it is the right sock which disappears because the other one is left.

Imitations

2009-10-27T04:38:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like children to make you aware of your habits. While I was preparing dinner last week Mike asked me if he could do more 'school'. He picked up a book on pyramids and began to sit at his desk and study it intensly. I kept going with the vegetables and then heard him say, "You have to ask me a question." At first I thought he had said that he wanted to ask a question so I told him to ask away. He then said, "No, you have to ask me 'How are you going?'" I guess he's picked that up from me saying that to the older boys when they are doing school. The real interpretation of the question is, "Surely you have finished that page by now!"

I've just finished reading an extremely large biography of Charles Darwin. Apparently he became so interested in barnacles that he studied and wrote about them for 8 years which was during the time that his sons were growing up. It was so normal to them that their father studied barnacles that apparently they asked a neighbour where he (the neighbour) studied his barnacles. After all, doesn't every man study barnacles?

Hats

2009-10-06T03:31:00.000-07:00

It may make sense to someone but not to me. I have these strange conversations with Matt at times. For example, as I came to prepare dinner I noticed that Matt seemed to be constructing something out of scrap paper and lining it with tissues:

Me: What are you making Matt?

Matt: A fur-lined winter hat.

Me: Why are you making a fur-lined winter hat when it's a rather hot spring?

Matt: This is my pretend winter hat.

And I was just wondering, does anyone know why my camera is taking pictures with lines through it?

"Up"s and Downs

2009-09-30T17:36:00.001-07:00

Tuesday was half price movie day and as we're all on holidays we decided to go and see "Up". Being cheap day we all had to sit with no spaces between people in a row and I was on the end sitting next to a teenage boy.

"Up" is a great movie but so not fair. It had Pixar's usual hilarious moments but I spent half of the movie crying. Early on in the movie I tried to hide the fact that I was crying from the lad next to me. I figured in the dark he wouldn't see the tears and they'd dry in time. I didn't want him going home telling his family about how he had to put up with the middle-aged soppy mother he'd sat next to in the movie theatre.

It got harder as the movie went on as the emotional scenes kept coming. But then I heard it: "Sniff" and then I saw out of the corner of my eye: A hand going up to his eyes. At this point I reached for my tissues and didn't care if he saw.

If you want to see it be warned. Take the tissues.

Not there yet

2009-09-24T04:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, this Sinks Mummy has been awfully busy. Here's an idea of what's been happening.

Last week I had a quick trip to Adelaide, city of churches:

A very pretty place it is. When arriving I was amazed at how close the houses are to the airport. I felt as if we were going to land on the roof tops. My travelling companion suggested that maybe the people who live in them are deaf. The stone houses in Adelaide are so cute but I only saw them out of a bus window so I didn't manage a picture.

Thankfully my trip to Adelaide was last week and not this one because a dust storm that swept up the east coast of Australia yesterday caused some havoc with plane trips. Here's a picture of the park behind us around 12 pm yesterday:

It looks like it's raining but it's a strange sort of orange 'rain' due to the iron-rich dust blown all the way from inland South Australia. Dust storms happen very rarely. I only have the vaguest memory of them happening once before and it was not anywhere near as bad as this. Sydney was much worse than Brisbane but Brisbane was bad enough for Lloyd who is our worst asthmatic.

A couple of nights ago Mike returned to the familiar theme of asking what I was going to be when I grew up. I reminded him that I wanted to be a Grandma. He told me that it was not right for me to be a Grandma because I didn't have any 'squiggles' on my face and Grandmas always have squiggles. I must get that boy's eyes checked but then... I don't mind the idea of my children thinking I am younger than I really am. Maybe I won't want to be a Grandma just yet.

Where have they gone?

2009-08-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

As anyone anywhere near Brisbane can tell you we seem to have skipped spring and gone straight on to summer. Last week we had 35 degrees celcius here one day. I had to check the calendar to remind myself that it was still late winter after all. I need to digress here to mention the blogpoll. Unknown to me my blog template disappeared so I had to get a new one but the blogpoll disappeared also. I seem to think though that most agreed with me that spring was the best season closely followed by autumn with just one person voting for winter.

Along with the summer temperatures have come the common house flies. Maybe it's because some of our fly screens need checking for holes. With having the windows open some of the little blighters got in. The problem is that we don't have a fly swat. At the end of autumn I threw our last one out because it was so disgusting to look at - it was beyond the 'put gloves on and wash thoroughly outside' stage even. I figured I'd get a new one ready for spring.

Fly swats are pretty cheap. I remember when we first lived in the country town we had Anika in a little push stroller and were searching the local cheap shop for something. Anika was rather quiet so we didn't pay much attention to her until it came time to leave. She had picked up a fly swat on our travels and was waving it around the air and having a wonderful time. We bought it as we needed one at the time (it was summer). It cost all of 34c and entertained Anika for most of the afternoon until we needed to put it to use.

So why is it that I can't find one in the shops even though I seem to have searched everywhere? The pest control section, the general household section, everywhere! Please don't tell me about those fly catcher containers with the stuff inside. I tried them one year and the stuff inside reeked with a smell of rotten potatoes. *Very* rotten potatoes. I ended up putting it outside and it soon became choked with dead flies. They attract flies all right but they attract *all* the flies in the suburb so you end up with more flies than ever.

At dinner last night we mused about why there are no fly swats. I suggested that perhaps the RSPCA had outlawed them. Anika suggested Amnesty International had something to do with it. Hubby just spent his time trying the hit the flies with a rolled up towel.

Maybe we need to get inventive and make our own somehow? I found this device in Google Images:

The handle looks rather interesting. Maybe it's a fly swat shoe phone?

A Happy Perfect-Square-Plus-One Day

2009-08-23T00:04:00.000-07:00

My little spies* tell me that in blogdom someone is celebrating a rather special day today so here's greetings from Aus to TobyBo:

When making this card a little monkey insisted on being included and the flower plant was turned into a banana plant.

No marks for guessing the monkey's name.

I had to wait until it was tomorrow today in the US before posting. I think I've got it right.

*the 'little' spies are bigger than me and are 17 and 19 years old.

A feeling of deja vu

2009-08-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I took the boys out to a park not too far from here. Hubby is starting to feel miserable with a flu-type thing so he decided to stay home. Matt was sick for a week with a swine flu-like illness but is now better and is on antibiotics and asthma medication just to be sure of no further complications. The doctors are not testing anymore as there's no difference to the treatment.

But back to the park. I was walking along behind Mike on his bike and noticed a man lying flat out on the grass. After checking that he seemed to be breathing I kept walking. When I told this to Hubby later he started laughing at an old joke of our pre-Q children days.

When we were first married we lived in a little unit. When I mean little, I mean little. It may have just been us two but there were also 1500 books and numerous wedding presents plus some furniture we were using whilst my sister-in-law was touring the danger spots of the world. It's true. Every time she landed in a particular country some sort of civil war seemed to break out. In our unit we almost had to take turns breathing to fit it. But I digress again.

One day Hubby told me in a very concerned voice that he'd noticed our rather elderly looking neighbour lying on the grass. Hubby could see him through the fence palings and was worried that he had taken ill. I had a look too but neither of us could see whether he was breathing or not. I'm usually someone who likes to be sure so encouraged Hubby to see if he could get into the back yard. Hubby got in no trouble but still had a problem seeing if he was breathing. He touched the 'body' and the man jumped a mile. He was very much alive. Apparently he had come outside and, enjoying the morning sun, decided he'd stretch out for a nap on the grass. Hubby was very apologetic and the man thanked us for our concern.

Now if I'd stretched out on the grass like that I'm sure some nice big meat ant would come up and have a munch. I do my sunning in a chair instead.

Neologisms (new words)

2009-07-29T04:13:00.000-07:00

Anika seems to be interested in new definitions for a word at her blog but the rest of the Q family have been into neologisms of late. We were discussing at dinner the other night about how a comet the size of the Pacific Ocean has just crashed into Jupiter. We were somewhat relieved that Jupiter was in the way but it's interesting that I always think of the planets all lined up like they are in science books. I keep reminding myself that they orbit the sun so are anywhere in the orbit. Hubby made the comment that the Greek verb from which we get the word planet means basically "to wander or go astray".

We decided then that Anika has always been a "planetor" having disappeared on numerous occasions in the shops, parks and apartment buildings etc. She knows now that when we go out she must do three things:

a. take her mobile phone
b. make sure her mobile phone is charged and with credit and
c. turn the phone on

Matt is very good at 'planeting' when he is supposed to be doing his schoolwork. A heavy page of maths usually means a break but what is meant to be a quick break is interpreted as time to go out into the backyard and play.

Lloyd, however, is physically present on planet Earth and stationary but his brain has 'planeted' to Planet X.

Mike is growing up. His first tooth has 'planeted' and he looks cute with it gone.

I'm off to 'planet' to bed.

Necessity is the Parent of Invention

2009-07-21T03:25:00.001-07:00

(the title being politically correct)

Last Saturday I went to the local marketplace as a special trip for Lloyd. He wanted to buy something particular with his money. Believe it or not my almost 16 year old wanted to buy a waterfall. I started to wonder if he had been converted to some other religion and wanted to have a waterfall to be one with nature or something supposedly deep and meaningful.

Thankfully he hasn't abandoned his Christianity but he had a practical purpose for his waterfall. He told me that he finds it hard to sleep at night because there is no noise in his bedroom. I offered a sometimes snoring 5 year old to be his room mate but Lloyd declined the offer.

We browsed the gift shops. In one of them the shop assistant was determined to sell Lloyd an expensive waterfall and showed him every single variety he had. Lloyd saw the price tags and decided to search elsewhere.

Eventually he found one that had been marked down to a price Lloyd was happy with and he came home carrying his treasure. It was an ex-display model so there were no instructions. It seemed though that all he had to do was fill it up and it started falling nicely.

But there was a problem.....it was almost completely silent. It seemed to be designed to keep the noise to the level of a lone termite chewing on a scrap of wood in the wall of the room furtherest from Lloyd's.

Not to be deterred from his quest for a good night's sleep Lloyd went searching for the perfect Lego piece. Nifty stuff that Lego. We've used it to solve many a problem. A wagon wheel solved the problem perfectly:

Lloyd now hears the trickle of water as it goes through the wagon wheel and has a restful night's sleep. I've got the perfect job for him. A ranger at Niagara Falls. But they'd better not expect him to do any dusting in the shop.

Winter Woes

2009-07-06T03:22:00.000-07:00

It's the winter holidays and last week all of the Q family children were at the holiday kid's club for 5 mornings. Well, almost. Mike didn't go on Friday due to sickness. But, for the first time in 17 years, I had 4 mornings in a row without a child in the house. I spent the first two doing some much needed cleaning up and the second two having some craft fun then on day 5 moped around all day sick with Mike.

Every winter holidays if we haven't had a virus before kid's club we seem to pick one up from kid's club. We all take turns feeling quite miserable instead of really enjoying the holidays.

Anika and Hubby love the winter and a lot of other people tell me how much they like it. I have to be honest and say that winter is my least favourite season because I don't like the winter ills.

Hence, for the first time on the Sinks Mummy blog, there's a blog poll! Please scroll down on the right hand side and let me know what you think. I love spring, followed by autumn, summer then winter last.

I'm off to find a handkerchief (where do they all disappear to in winter?).

On Facebook I have learned...

2009-07-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

1. On the 'What personality are you?' quiz I have a 1950's personality.
2. On the 'What animal are you?' quiz I am a dolphin.
3. On the 'What Disney/Pixar character are you?' quiz I am Dory (and Hubby is Mater...ha ha ha).
4. I have wasted an awful lot of time on quizzes.
5. I have no idea how to do a 'food fling' - but the mud pie chocolate cake looked good.
6. I have managed to have contact with people I haven't seen or heard from in ages - and that has been good.

Silence is Golden sometimes

2009-06-17T04:05:00.001-07:00

At the moment it's quiet. Really quiet. After a typical day here in the Q family household I really appreciate the peace.
.

Every year about this time we have two trees in our front garden which bloom and every year at dawn we're woken by the noise of a huge number of rainbow lorikeets as they come to feast on the nectar. They may be very pretty parrots but they squawk like parrots too. One morning as I was reading my Bible on the patio in the sun they seemed to be having a fight, judging by the noise they were making. I could almost imagine the conversation:
.

Bird 1: Hey you! That's my branch you're sitting on.

Bird 2: You had a turn last year, it's my turn this year.

*birds start chasing after each other, settle on a different branch and resume conversation*

Sometime around 7 am, Anika starts her piano practice and we hear Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Joplin in turn. I don't mind the piano music but Mike sometimes 'helps' by going in and plonking on either end of the keyboard. Around dinner making time Anika plays again, but this time with an accompaniment by Hubby who's just come home from work and is playing a new ukulele tune. The problem is that it's a completely different tune to the one Anika is playing.

Added to the noise of the day is that Mike is in a particularly talkative phase at the moment. Whenever he has the opportunity he likes to talk at length about the entire plot of a recent DVD he may have watched, what he's going to do in two weeks time on the holidays, what Puppy thinks about life in general and so on.

Mike can be incredibly cute though. It's become his responsibility to set the table for dinner. I have a set of cutlery which has flowers on the handles. It's a fairly cheap set that I just bought for cooking. Then I have a set (without flowers) that is the table set. Mike does not know this and if he did he probably wouldn't stand on ceremony anyway so he just puts out whatever comes to hand in the cutlery drawer. A couple of nights ago, whilst setting the table, he dropped a knife on the floor when setting my place. I got a clean one out of the drawer and gave it to him. When he saw it had no flowers he said, "That's not right Mummy. I have to give you the flower one because that means I love you." I washed the flower one and handed it back to him.

Tonight while I was frying fish Mike asked me, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I asked him to clarify and he added, "You know, like a builder or a nurse guy or a cooking person." I was a bit stumped about this so we talked about it over dinner. Hubby suggested that if Lloyd 'grew up' much more we'd need new ceilings. Lloyd then told Mike that he wanted to be a skyscraper when he grew up.

After a bit of thought I've decided on what I want to be when I grow up. I'd like to be a Grandma.

Signs of the Season

2009-06-10T02:11:00.001-07:00

1. The Qing family are always asking, "What can I eat?"
2. The laundry pile is like Mt Everest each day.
3. Mrs Q looks around wistfully at the house and imagines a roaring fire.
4. We all crowd into Anika's room to do schoolwork.

Yes, winter has hit. I know I was born in Britain but I really feel the cold here. Today it was 12 degrees celcius in our lounge room at 8:30 am. In England you'd never have your house that cold - you'd heat it somehow. When we lived in the country we had gas heating which was fabulous.

I can't complain too loud. The main bedroom and Anika's room have reverse cycle air-conditioning so we all cope by spending most of our time in there.

I was aghast yesterday morning when the parcel delivery man arrived. He was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. I opened the door dressed in 5 layers of clothing. I asked him how he could possibly not be cold without a jumper on. His response was, "Yeah, it was a bit nippy first thing this morning."

This reminded me of a time about 6 years ago. Our minister at the time was Canadian (born and raised in Quebec). I never saw him wear a jumper. One Wednesday night he turned up for Bible study and I pretty much asked the same question as I asked the parcel man. He said, "Yes, it is cold, that's why I'm wearing this." *points to acrylic knitted sleeveless vest over a t-shirt and shorts*

I remember one Sunday morning when we'd had frost and he told us that none of the congregation would survive in a blizzard in Quebec. He took his Australian wife back there to visit his mother and decided to teach her some French before he left. One night he told me in French what phrases he was teaching her to say. I knew enough French to translate "Close the eggs" and other such phrases. I quietly told her later not to say any of these sayings in Quebec or she'd be laughed at. Such a spoil sport I am.

Fun and Games

2009-05-26T03:21:00.000-07:00

Last week I was very busy with appointments and preparing for Hubby's 50th party last Saturday but this week things are settling. After Matt had finished a mammoth French session with Anika this afternoon I played some games with Mike and Matt joined in.

We were playing the "Hide the Puppy" game where we take turns to hide Mike's puppy and then the others have to find it. As each finder looks the hider has to say "cold, warm, getting hot" etc depending on how close they are to the hiding place. Mike gets really excited when I say "freezing cold" or "boiling hot". He got so worked up when it was his turn that he said "freezing hot" when I was almost on top of Puppy's hiding place.

Matt had the next turn at hiding Puppy and he must have been thinking about what "freezing hot" would be because guess where Puppy was hidden?

And yes, we do drink a lot of milk. Puppy has a sore paw according to Mike, hence the band-aid.

Food, Glorious Food

2009-05-19T04:23:00.000-07:00

I seem to spend a lot of time in the shops staring at food ingredient labels. Matt and I are the gluten-intolerant type, Anika is allergic to nuts, especially peanuts, in a big way and my Mum is allergic to fish so when she visits I need to keep that in mind too. It can get rather time consuming but if I'm not vigilant Matt and I could be holding our stomachs in pain, Mum's face could swell up like a balloon and Anika could stop breathing.

Our family's intolerances and allergies are a source of interest for our budgie. Before I realised that Matt had inherited my gluten problem our budgie learned to imitate Matt's, "I've got a tummy ache!" The poor budgie confused this saying with, "Hello Rachel" (Anika's friend) and turned it into, "I've got a tummy, Rachel." I'm sure Rachel was delighted to know that.

So it was with great pleasure that I went to the "Irresistable Gluten-Free Show" on Saturday morning. It was so nice to go in and sample all different varieties of plain bread, fruit bread, chocolate cakes, plain cakes, chocolate, muffins, pies, gingerbread biscuits, custard cream biscuits....need I go on. I'm just glad I didn't feel like eating breakfast before I went. And I didn't have to check any labels before I ate anything!! I came away with free sample bags and products that I bought at a good price. I can't wait to use the mix for white chocolate cream biscuits.

While there one company gave away free samples of 'Free Nut Smooth' which is a gluten-free, nut-free alternative to peanut paste. It is made from sunflower seeds and looks, smells and even tastes like peanut paste. The representative assured me that every batch is tested for peanut protein. Anika was interested and asked to have some on bread for lunch. It didn't work for her. Because it smelled, looked and tasted like the real peanut deal she felt funny about eating it. There was no reaction but I guess it's just the psychological element of it. Hubby and I liked it though so Hubby's cravings for peanut paste can perhaps be satisfied without risking Anika reacting to the smell of a sandwich.

Hubby and Lloyd have cast iron stomachs. I often tell them how thankful they should be.

I'm off to have some yummy tea biscuits made by the company who make the pretend peanut paste.

Interesting thoughts

2009-05-14T02:21:00.000-07:00

This week Matt was attaching a story he'd written and printed out to some paper that he'd decorated. As he was cutting the double-sided sticky tape he asked me, "How much double-sided sticky tape would it take to cover an elephant?" I have to say that this question has never occupied my mind. My response was, "Why would you want to cover an elephant in double-sided sticky tape?" Back to Matt who said, "Because if it fell over it would stick to the ground." I could not help the further question, "Why would you want to stick an elephant to the ground?" Matt suggested, "So that you could go into a Ripley's Believe it or Not book."

At dinner tonight Mike was telling us all about the scary book that Matt was reading today. Anika disappeared for a while and returned with the French-English dictionary. She then told us that there is no French word equivalent to the word 'spooky' but that the phrase used is, "that which gives you the skin of a chicken." It makes sense. At least it makes more sense than wondering how many metres of sticky tape it would take to cover an elephant.

And in case you're wondering, the larger font is for a certain person in our family who's about to have a huge birthday next week!

Trifling things

2009-05-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

Anika was just chatting with one of her North American internet friends today over Skype and I jokingly offered her some trifle over the video call. Anika's friend had no idea what trifle was and, to our surprise, neither did any of her friends nearby. It's a great dessert for those of us needing gluten-free food. So, in case anyone is interested, here is a basic recipe:

First you need to make up about 500 ml of jelly. By jelly I don't mean jam, I think Americans call it jello. We like raspberry jelly. When it's set you can make the trifle.

1. You need a largish bowl. At the bottom put some cut up sponge cake (a jam roll works well - perhaps it's called a jelly roll there). Due to Matt and I needing gluten-free we substitute some sweet, no-wheat biscuits called "rice cookies" for the cake if we don't have gluten-free cake. We'd put around 10 biscuits on the bottom.

2. Soak the cake/biscuits in about 1/2 a cup of whatever you like. We use either port or rum but if we have visitors who don't like alcohol we substitute the juice from a can of sliced peaches.

3. Put whatever fruit you have on top of this. Today I used canned, sliced peaches but you can use fresh fruit if you have some available.

4. Cut up the jelly (jello) and place on top of the fruit.

5. On top of this put about 500 ml of custard. I sometimes make my own custard, but just lately I've been buying it ready made as there are a few gluten-free brands available.

6. Top everything with whipped cream (about 400 ml).

7. Grate some chocolate on top. Fresh strawberries go nice on top, but they're not in season here at the moment.

8. It's ready to serve. When we have visitors I use two large bowls and double up the amount of everything.

I should have taken a picture to post here, but the bowl was scraped clean before I had a chance.

Journey to Planet Z

2009-05-08T02:46:00.001-07:00

Today Anika and I went on a journey to Planet Z. Anika's journey was pre-booked but mine was a last minute booking. I departed around 7:45 am and Anika at about 8:45 am.

Planet Z is a very peaceful place. Anika doesn't play the piano there when she visits. I generally don't do much when I'm there either. Today though Mike seemed to be transported temporarily to my bed on Planet Z so I could listen to his reading. He does quite well on Planet Z, at least I thought so today.

The most important thing about Planet Z, which is the reason why I go there, is that there is no pain. There's also a rather dizzy feeling from the change of planet.

The method of transport is simple - just take two hefty pain killers and let the 45-50 minute journey happen. Anika's journey was due to having two teeth removed for an upcoming braces fitting (thankfully Hubby drove her there). My journey was due to a stomach pain, which never seems to be predictable.

One rule about Planet Z is that you can only stay for around 4 hours until you are gradually transported back to Planet Earth. You can decide to return, but I don't advise this if there's the usual work to be done. Thankfully on return to Planet Earth there was no pain.

Uncovering the real meaning of the words

2009-05-02T00:08:00.000-07:00

Mike sometimes has us wondering what he's trying to say. Sometimes it's the complete opposite of what we originally think he's saying. Here's an example:

Mike (when eating dinner): I want to have enough.

Most would think this means that he's hungry and wants more dinner but...

Translation: I want it to be thought that I've had enough to eat so I can ask to get down from the table.

He also uses some unusual verbs:

Mike (after a trip to the park): I need a drink because I'm thirsting to death.

We say that we're starving to death but I don't really know how else to put "thirsting to death". I guess we could say, "I'm dehydrating to death?"

In spite of continual correction by me, Lloyd and Matt still talk about "talking with each another" rather than "talking with each other". At least they don't use the word "brang". I remember one of Anika's friends using "brang" and I kept correcting her but Hubby used to chime in and say, "bring, brang, brung" - it makes sense in a way.

The different meanings our English words have sometimes thrown my understanding out too. I was 30 before I really understood why the second hand on the clock was called a second hand and not the 'third' hand. After all, there's a big hand and a little hand so it should be called a 'third hand'. One day I was pondering this anomaly and suddenly my brain stopped thinking about ordinal numbers and started thinking about a second in time.

Where was my brain for 30 years?

10 Random things about me

2009-04-24T03:45:00.000-07:00

I haven't been tagged but I got this idea from a friend's blog so here we go:

1. I was born at home as the town clock struck midnight on June 3. The midwife in attendance gave my parents the option of choosing whether my birthdate was June 3 or 4. My father decided on June 4 because he said it was the anniversary of D-day (during WWII). My father's history was a little amiss as D-day was June 6, 1944 not June 4 but I don't think the midwife knew any different so June 4 it was.

2. I was once an alien but I now have dual British and Australian citizenship.

3. I don't like the feel of polar fleece and velvet so I never buy anything made from it. Perhaps this idea is genetic. Lloyd hates the feel of a wooden ruler so only uses plastic ones and Matt refuses ever to touch hessian.

4. One of my favourite meals is a well done steak with pepper sauce and coffee creams are my favourite chocolate. I don't like mushrooms (except hidden in a casserole) and licorice.

5. I used to own and ride horses when I was a teenager. I have scars all down my right arm and back from when I had a nasty fall off a horse and went through a barbed wire fence.

6. I don't like creative writing but I really like doing problems in maths that involve simultaneous equations. I also love science.

7. I like reading about history but especially about the Russian Revolution. I've only read a few books about it but would really like the time to read more.

8. I need to find time to sit in the sun more.

9. I hide things like special scissors, tweezers and small screwdrivers from my family so that I know where to find them when I need them.

10. I'm not artistic but I like to make cards and have crocheted a bed blanket for each of my children though Mike's is to be finished this winter (DV).

The Daily Grind

2009-04-21T04:21:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day back at school after the Easter holidays and it felt like a bit of a grind. Some of that was because of the work Matt was doing and not enjoying. This morning I started reading the book of Daniel. I always think of Daniel when I think of the daily grind. The book is full of exciting things - being cast into a furnace and coming out alive, interpreting dreams and visions and being cast into a lion's den for a night. But then I remember that, although the book can be read in a fairly short space of time, the events of the book happened over quite a long period of time. Hubby worked out once that Daniel was young at the start of the events but was around 79 at the time of being cast into the lion's den. So what was Daniel doing inbetween all the excitement? I guess he was being faithful, day by day, in a foreign land. There would have been the daily grind there too. So we'll keep plugging away.

Yesterday Anika and Lloyd were at the doctor for their pre-winter flu immunisations. They weren't seeing their regular doctor, just one who happened to work at the same practice. This doctor discovered that we were homeschoolers and gave us the look. You know, the look that makes us wonder if we have two heads. After answering the usual questions (the practice was pretty empty yesterday) he then gave us one we get only occasionally. "You make the decision for them to homeschool when they are too young to make that decision. How will they feel about that when they are old enough to make up their mind about things." I suggested he ask Anika and Lloyd. Anika's response was, "I enjoyed being homeschooled. I really liked it." Lloyd's response was, "I know a lot of day school children who want to homeschool."

When people say "Shouldn't you let them choose to go to day school if they want?" I ask them, "Would you let your day school children choose to homeschool?" From Lloyd's response I guess a lot would find themselves with children asking to homeschool.

Invaders (part two)

2009-04-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

I'm glad to report that the last invaders, after a very gallant battle, finally gave up. A combination of pest control and back up ant baits did a very fine job.

Our second invader battle started many years ago and this is the chronology:

Around March, 2005: Matt and I were in the family room one night after Mike was in bed and the rest of the family were out at fencing. We heard a strange noise on the roof so we poked our heads and the torch out of one of the windows, which didn't have a fly screen at that stage. We saw the face of a possum peering into the torch light over the roof's edge. Cute, we thought, until we realised it was living in our cathedral ceiling (in the empty box area) and chewing it to pieces:

Finally, in November, 2006 (it's a long story), Hubby puts a possum box into our Jacaranda tree but Possum decides there's no place like home and remains in the ceiling (after all, there's free ukulele entertainment every day).

December, 2006: The roof is resealed and one night the repairers seal off the entrance with a fibreglass mesh gutter guard with lots of blocking of the hole underneath. Possum can be seen the next morning poking it's sleepy head outside of the possum box. Over time Possum chews through the gutter guard but cannot get through the other material. We thought it was the end of the fight but not so.

November, 2008: Possum finally manages to chew through the defences and gets back in! More chewing of roof.

April, 2009: Our roof leaks are repaired and one night stainless steel mesh is put over the gutters once Possum is out for the night. I think we might have won this time, but if you see a Possum around our place with an oxy-acetyline torch let us know won't you.

Mr Potato Head and Body

2009-04-09T00:49:00.000-07:00

I was getting the veges ready for dinner tonight and this fellow popped out of the potato basket. I couldn't resist giving him a few extras:

It's holiday time, Hooray! No school, no send ins and lots of chocolate.

Are they serious?

2009-04-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

Like most I sometimes shake my head at the decisions of well-meaning advisory committees. In an age where we are continually crowding the curriculum of our children's education this story explains how toddlers should have career counselling:

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/797522/toddlers-should-get-career-counselling

Honestly! How many two year olds do you know who have their careers mapped out? Hubby says when he was younger he wanted to be a millionaire but the job was never offered. Can you imagine the advertisement in the career pages?:

"Wanted, millionaire, all on the job training provided along with a Rolls Royce, chauffeur and lots of money. No experience necessary. Apply to.."

Our governments (state and federal) seem to be intent on crowding the curriculum with so many subject areas that our children suffer in basic areas such as reading and maths. Mike is pre-compulsory schooling age, so thankfully I can concentrate on teaching reading and other things can take a back seat. To me, reading is so foundational to other learning that I have no problems with this. C. S. Lewis had this to say about crowding the curriculum:

"In those days a boy on the classical side officially did almost nothing but classics. I think this was wise; the greatest service we can do to education to-day is to teach fewer subjects. No one has time to do more than a very few things well before he is twenty, and when we force a boy to be a mediocrity in a dozen subjects we destroy his standards, perhaps for life."*

*C. S. Lewis Surprised by Joy Harper Collins 1998 pg 87

Discoveries

2009-04-03T02:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to the local office shop for one thing and came back with four. I guess you could say I was impulse buying but I was very pleased with the trip. Three of these things I have been wanting for some time, but just couldn't find them anywhere except on the internet for a huge price. I went after seeing an ad for the heavy duty hole punch. After spending years only being able to punch a few sheets of paper at a time it was great to find one that does 40 in one hit. Not only that, but it has this nifty plastic thingy that ensures you always line up the paper in exactly the same place so all your documents sit in the 2 ring binder in exactly the same place. Great for OCD sufferers (at least 2 in the Q family).

I spotted a metre ruler at the same time (US readers might think of a yard stick). I've been so annoyed with the stick together paper metre measures we've had to use in the past. Now I have a wooden metre ruler that's there anytime we need it for those maths measurement units. I also figured I'd check out the staplers too while I thought of it. A long arm stapler is just the ticket when the kids and others want to do up booklets and have them stapled so the pages don't fall out everywhere. It's a pain trying to somehow fold the pages to get the stapler in the middle, especially as it's impossible to fold the pages without leaving a fold mark somewhere.

And while I was there I remembered the black cardboard I needed for Matt's "stained glass window" he was to do for his Medieval unit. I walked out a little poorer but very happy. And here's Matt's attempt at his window:

We've also had another discovery. Just as Lloyd's braces are close to coming off the orthodontist has discovered that Anika needs them too. Anika will be just getting hers off when it will be time for Matt to get his....my brother-in-law calls this "orthodontic tax".

My tummy pain specialist has also made a discovery this week. After yet another round of tests it seems I have a sliding hiatus hernia. Not sure if he'll revise his diagnosis of SOD based on this. I'll have to wait 3 weeks to see whether it's a different diagnosis or just another thing to add to the problems of my insides. Hmm....I think I'll be naughty and go and have some chocolate.

Strange encounters of the munchkin kind

2009-03-22T00:17:00.000-07:00

We were enjoying a lovely outing to the park this afternoon. I was doing my power walking for exercise and I was stopped by a little fellow of about 6-7 who was riding his bike.

Boy: *stops his bike* Excuse me! *gets my attention* There are crocodiles in the water!

Me: *stifled grin* No, there are no crocodiles in the pond.

Boy: *eyes wide open with expression of honesty* I saw one!! It went down to the water.

Me: It was probably a lizard. (*thinking of a bearded dragon*)

Boy: *not conceding* It was a little crocodile.

Me: *obliging while still being honest* There are no big crocodiles here.

Boy: No, no big crocodiles.

I stopped my walking to enlighten Hubby to the conversation and kept going. At the next round of the park Hubby stops to tell me of his encounter with a 4 year old:

Boy: *points to the ukulele* Why do you have that?

Hubby: Well I play the ukulele while my son plays on the swings.

Boy: Can I play it?

Hubby: *looks at father for permission* Yes, sure, but aren't your arms a bit full? (*noticing black Spiderman and Iceman*)

Boy: You can hold them.

*swap happens*

Boy: *strumming tunelessly* How is that?

Hubby: *honestly* "I've heard music just like that on the radio."

Boy's father: I have too.

Hubby: Can I have my uke back now please?

Boy: *matter of fact* No. *looks at father and then hands uke back*

I've just realised - Happy 1st year of blogging to me! And the 50th post!

Birthday time again (or was it Christmas)?

2009-03-19T23:34:00.000-07:00

It's the season of birthdays again. Anika had hers a couple of weeks ago and Matt turns 11 on Sunday. Mike gets very excited about birthdays but I'm not sure that he fully understands the meaning of them. Before Anika's birthday he asked, "Is a birthday when it's only one person's Christmas?"

When Mike was quite young the association of candles and birthdays had him a little fooled at times. During a storm when the electricity was cut we lit a candle to the immediate response of, "Birthday! Birthday!" from Mike. It's just as well we never took him to one of those weddings where the bride and groom light candles. Hubby remembers a two year old girl who, having heard a chorus of "Happy Birthday" at a post-church supper, came running full pelt yelling, "Cake! Cake!"

Hubby has a big one this year in May so the preparations will start soon. When Matt was younger he had trouble with the idea that adult birthdays aren't quite the same as children's ones. On one birthday of Hubby's he asked about when Daddy's friends would arrive to play "pass the parcel"and why the balloons weren't blown up yet.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Significant Sayings

2009-03-15T04:23:00.000-07:00

Well we all had a bit of fun when we read the quotes of George W. Bush such as, "For NASA space is a priority." I'm not sure that our current Prime Minister is not attempting to emulate Mr Bush. In this news story the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Kevin Rudd, had this helpful recommendation of Queensland's current Premier, the Hon. Anna Bligh, who is up for re-election this coming Saturday:

Kevin Rudd said he had known Anna Bligh for 20 years."You get to know somebody after 20 years," Mr Rudd said."That friend is Anna Bligh. A good person, a strong leader with a no-nonsense, practical down to earth approach," he said."Someone who speaks their mind - and in my experience - speaks her mind constantly."

I can imagine Ms Bligh's gratitude at such a high commendation.

I don't normally discuss politics on this blog, but just couldn't help myself.

In the swing of it

2009-02-20T21:44:00.000-08:00

After four weeks of work I think we're finally finding a routine for the new school year. Yesterday I was just contemplating the different levels of maths I seem to be involved in. Mike has been exploring the units, tens and hundreds houses on Decimal Street (à la Math U See) whilst Matt has been doing online maths. One of his tasks this week was working out time problems such as: What is the time 121 hours and 12 minutes after Sunday, 7:55 PM? Just one question like that is time consuming enough for a 10 year old, but 10 questions like that in a row was just too much. Just to add to it all if you don't get 10/10 you don't get a "perfect" rating and have to do 10 questions again if you are an obsessive compulsive person about maths (like Matt). Thankfully Matt had 100% and a 'perfect' first time around.

Maybe that was why Matt objected when I asked him to resume maths after a short break yesterday. "But Mummy, I'm doing something really important at the moment." Apparently rummaging through Lego boxes to find just the right piece for a Lego project is more important than getting one's schoolwork done.

Meanwhile Lloyd has chosen to do pure maths for his senior high school years. Anika only did applied maths. Lloyd is finding the maths a little difficult so each day I'm doing the lesson with him. Yesterday we were looking at hybrid functions and working out taxi driver charges. I did a little pure maths at university but that was in the good old days before them there fancy new-fangled graphics calculators. I've named Lloyd's one "The Beast". It just turns out that the recommended text gives instructions for every calculator except The Beast which was the recommended one. It came with a 3 cm thick manual which claims to give instructions on its use. The manual may as well have been written in ancient Hittite for all the help it is. The free download tutor is little better. Thankfully we have access to a human ancient Hittite interpreter (a maths teacher at our chosen distance school of enrolment) and she is an expert. As each step is mastered I type plain English instructions into a Word document to keep for future reference.

As I looked at my less-than-perfectly clean kitchen this morning (I have a little of Matt's OCD) I reminded myself of the important things that did get done this week and of one of my favourite quotes from G K Chesterton:

When domesticity is called drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning of the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit that the woman drudges in the home, as a man might drudge at the Cathedral at Amiens or drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colourless and of small import to the soul, then as I say, I give it up... To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labours and holidays; to be Whitely within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheets, cakes, and books; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness. (ca.,1910.) Michael Ffinch, G. K. Chesterton: A Biography (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson), 1986 p. 182

Move over Santa

2009-02-15T23:56:00.000-08:00

For some time now Mike has been obsessed with the idea of Lego Indiana Jones. Neither he nor the other children have ever seen the movies and I have only seen the one I got taken to by some friends many years back. I think his obsession is because he's been on the Lego site and played the game where Indy zooms across the screen, sometimes on his cute Lego horse, capturing secrets, gold and Indy hats.

Mike has had to improvise with dressing up our other Lego characters as Indy but when the geniune Lego Indy came up on an auction site I used his pocket money to purchase it. Today it arrived and the "proper" Indy was immediately put to use. When Hubby arrived home an excited Mike showed him Indy. "Did you buy Indiana Jones?" enquired Hubby. "No, the postman gave it to me," was Mike's reply. Mike seems to think that the postie knows about all five year old boys and what they desire. And we never have entertained the idea of Santa - I think I mentioned in a previous post that, in answer to Anika's enquiries about who the red man was, Hubby described Santa as "John Calvin in a party suit".

Anika has been busy reading her latest French novel. She knows I like to hear about French idioms. One of my favourites is the French equivalent of "being on cloud nine" which is, apparently, to "be with the angels." So just after Mike's description of the benevolent postie Anika informed me that "to have difficulty with" something in French goes something like, "to have the sickness of a dog about" something. After seeing Lloyd's maths work today and hearing his comment about how ill he felt I think the French have something there.

If I could move mountains - a prayer request

2009-02-08T03:13:00.000-08:00

If I could move mountains this is what I'd like to do to Australia at the moment. Ingham in North Queensland is suffering with devastating floods, whilst Victoria and New South Wales are suffering with the worst ever bushfire disaster in Australia after Melbourne had it's highest ever recorded temperature in history last Saturday (46C). 85 people have died so far this weekend in the fires and the toll is expected to climb. What is so saddening is that many of the fires were deliberately lit. It's hard to understand how people could do this, it is basically murder.

Here in south-east Queensland it is hot but not uncomfortable. A friend emailed over the weekend to say she'd been busy throwing out unwanted possessions. She made the comment that here we seem to be throwing out things constantly whereas so many have nothing. Many down south have lost all their material possessions.

I can't move mountains but the Lord knows about Australia's disasters. Please pray for the firefighters and the rescue workers and for the people who are suffering.

From one extreme to the other

2009-02-02T22:32:00.000-08:00

Just lately I've been reading blogs and talking on the phone to friends from the USA and Canada and EVERYONE is complaining about the huge amount of snow. I also read a news article today which informed me that Europe and the UK are also experiencing large snowstorms.

Meanwhile Australia seems to be suffering the exact opposite. Last week Melbourne had temps of around 44C and a friend emailed me from rural Adelaide to say they'd had 46C. In Melbourne the trains had to stop because the rails were buckling in the heat. Thankfully south-east Queensland has only had to endure the 30s with a lot of stickiness but we're hoping it doesn't head our way.

Today in an email we got some cute pictures of a little koala who was obviously feeling the heat in the south last week. Apparently it came onto someone's back porch to seek some relief. They filled a bucket with water and this is what happened:

Poor little tyke, I don't blame it for climbing in. It must have been hot as I don't think koalas normally go for a dip.

Since I've posted this it's become a news story.

North by Northwest (or how to clear a doctor's....part 3)

2009-01-30T03:25:00.000-08:00

Do you remember that movie? Cary Grant trying to convince James Mason that he really wasn't who James Mason said he was? I sort of had that experience today. When I received the mail there was a letter addressed to Mike from the Children's hospital where he spent the night in late August last year. It went something like this:

"Dear Mst Mike Q, A appointment has been made for you to attend the Young Adult Diabetes Clinic. Your appointment details are as follows:.....Your doctor has already sent us this referral. etc"

Well I rang the Young Adult Diabetes clinic to say we'd received the letter and that Mike was 5 (I don't think this qualifies as a young adult). They informed me that Mike was therefore too young to attend the Young Adult clinic. I assured them that this wasn't really a problem as Mike had not been diagnosed with diabetes. After a bit of investigation by the receptionist (whilst I listened to some canned music) it was discovered that a Mike Q had been referred to the Young Adult clinic but no one had thought to check that someone with the same first, middle and last name as Mike did not have the same birthday as Mike (2003) and therefore was a completely different person. Hubby and Lloyd thought the part of the letter asking if an interpreter was needed was rather appropriate. At times it is hard to make out what Mike is saying.

It's not the first time this has happened. A person with exactly the same name as Hubby lives just a couple of streets away from us but he's about 20 years older. When I went to the library one day with Hubby's card to get a book on hold for him I was told that the computer said that Hubby had two cards so they wanted one back please. I've come across a mix up with this other Mr Q at the pharmacy also. Likewise the library had not checked that the birthdates were different. When my sister-in-law was in hospital having one of her babies there was a lady with exactly the same name as her in the maternity ward at the same time so across the top of the chart was written in red, "Please check patient's birthdate as we have two patients with the same name."

Then, just this week when we attended a college orientation for Lloyd (where he's doing some part-time study whilst completing his high school), it seemed that there were three students in his sub-group of 13 with the same first name as Lloyd. Hubby commented, "I knew that we should have named him Judas Not Iscariot." I don't think there would be too many people in the world named that.

First day of school for 2009

2009-01-27T02:27:00.000-08:00

It seemed strange today not having to check whether Anika needed tutoring help with maths but with three boys back into the school routine I think I was busy enough. Mike is up to learning to read this year but he seems to want to run ahead a little. On Sunday we had this conversation with Mike:

Mike: What does four mean?

Me: Do you mean the number four?

Mike: No, like, "for dinner"? What does for mean?

Me: (slightly stumped) Er?...

Hubby: It's a dative meaning....

Me: Maybe we should teach Mike to read first before teaching grammar.

Mike also wanted to offer his wisdom on solving one of our weekly puzzles which goes like this:

"A woman sat at her kitchen table with her two sons. She spoke to each of her sons and they replied to her, but the sons never spoke to each other. The boys had not fallen out and did not dislike each other. Although they conversed freely with their mother, they never addessed a word to one another. Why?"*

The Q family were offering their bits and pieces of thought on this when suddenly Mike piped up with, "Maybe they didn't talk because their mouths were full." At least he was thinking of good manners. And here's his first wobbly letter "a"s (I think he was getting tired at the end):

*page 14 "Lateral Thinking Puzzles" Paul Sloane, Illustrated by Myron Miller, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. New York 1991

Showers of money

2009-01-20T19:42:00.000-08:00

This morning a strange thing happened. I had hundreds and thousands of dollars pour down on my head. No, I'm not a gambling person. No, Kevin Rudd's possible economic stimulus package has not been officially approved or handed out yet.

I was literally reeling in shock but perhaps that had to do with the box of very heavy Meccano that also came raining down on my head at the same moment.

There's a few lessons here:

1. Don't overstack the tops of bedroom cupboards.
2. Update the Monopoly game so it has a decent lid - as well as picking up the raining money I also picked up the houses, hotels, chance cards etc.
3. Store the Meccano on a lower shelf - OUCH!!

Chinese New Year

2009-01-15T03:29:00.000-08:00

The other day I decided on a good resolution. I'm too late for Jan 1 so it looks like it will have to be one for Chinese New Year, which Wikapedia tells me is Jan 26 (this is also Australia Day). Mike inspired my resolution on Monday after I got up after a short rest on the bed:

Mike: You look older Mummy.
Me: Why is that Mike?
Mike: Your hair is all messy.

Resolution: Always brush hair ASAP after getting up off the bed.

January specials

2009-01-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

At this time of year I enjoy not having the school routine but there's still some jobs that have to get done inbetween holiday activities:

1. Try to find places to store all those wonderful presents given to the Q kids from family and friends.

2. Organise optometry/orthodontic/dental check ups.

3. Order some books for school so we are ready to start in a month.

4. Check the 'back to school' catalogues for stationery needs and

5. Repair earthquake damage.

There's been three major earthquakes causing damage but none of them in Australia. The first one started in Yukon Territory and extended down in a pretty much straight line to the equator. The second started in the North Pacific Basin and likewise went in a roughly straight line down to the equator, passing through the Hawaiian Islands. The third originated with a huge crater in the North Pole. Considering the time of year we've just had I can imagine the conspiracy theorists are getting excited. The third one then extended down but with a rather huge bend to pass through the International Date Line and then to the equator again. The last quake threatens to put the whole earth off it's axis so it's crisis time.

Mike thinks that everything can be repaired with sticky tape and we've tried but I think it's beyond redemption. What do you think?: