Sunday, 20 September 2009
Why A Dancing Chicken?
Well, why not? Pak n Save sells 2 for $13, with the most disgusting mush inside them that has ever been given the title "stuffing". So, I get to put my hand up the back end of the chook, pull out the mush, and put in lovely, fragrant garlic, onion and herb stuffing. But then of course there's the temptation to make said chicken do things it was never intended for - and it's much easier to stuff chooky if it's sitting firmly on it's head, with it's butt in the air. And of course, the addition of a metal spike to hold the stuffing in is obligatory.
Another fortnight has raced past. This week began with two separate migraine attacks. Monday, a “classic”, with burr-holes at the right temple and behind the right ear, held together by a tight band, throbbing away merrily. Tuesday, Migraine with Aura. Pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny lights. Two days of photophobia, nausea, grinding tiredness, lack of spatial ability. Took Wednesday off and went to the doctor, who confirmed my self-diagnosis, and gave me more Imigran – hooray! The stresses that caused the migraines have now come to a head, (lol, quite literally), on Monday, so hopefully no more for another 12-18 months. The last attack was early 2008, according to the doc.
The weekend has seen Becca’s headcold take over. Ugh. Tired, achy, sore throat, no voice, brains at half-mast.
Fun Stuff:
Thursday: I bought a packet of Space Wolf Blood Claws figures from Vagabond’s in Takapuna. Couldn’t get any Scouts. Wade at Vagabond’s was quite happy to talk to me, unlike the guys at GW, who don’t see the point talking to a WOMAN – even if she’s the one asking the questions. When I buy some more (like the new Space Wolf pack and a Codex) it will almost certainly be from there. Unless the stock from WarhammerMan on Trademe stays at $38 for the Codex, and $50 for the figures – but he’s put them up as an auction, not a Buynow.
I don’t think I have enough brain-power to actually do much with what I’ve bought – maybe cut them off the sprue’s, and glue some bits together.
FRIDAY: Becca went to the school disco with her friend Noor on Friday night, and agreed that it might be a good idea to dress up. But what’s a boy-girl to wear? Well, scary tho it sounds, mum’s jeans, knickers & t-shirt all fitted – and looked good. And she was pleased she dressed up.
Got accepted into Bryan Gibson’s (graphic artist of a lot of Traveller books) Terran Praesidium IRC game. Rolled a character, and wrote up a background for Kerangi Ataahua. Sent him and Matt the documents, including the Spica Publications’ “Careers Book 2” Companion pages, which some of her background comes from. Of course, a rewrite is required (about 30%) to make the background fit his universe, which is not surprising – a work of my imagination will need those changes made to fit his work of imagination.
SATURDAY: David and I took the dogs for a walk in Henderson Park, and got a photo of the amazing macrocarpa stump. I want to see if I can turn it into a fabric art piece. Even though I was feeling far from well, it was a nice walk. Talked about maybe going for a paddle on Sunday ...
Spinward Traveller on IRC. Dancing at the Harrington, jeep chases, and shooting baddies out of trees and off roof-tops! Lots and lots of fun!
Pirate Party. Spent quality time while role-playing doing repairs to a lovely lacy shirt for David. Buttons, hooks and eyes, button loops. Wore my wench dress with a red bustier underneath, and a Turkish Entari (long sleeved coat) on top. There were pirate games. Had a sword fight with the other “wench” – aim was to hit the parrot held on an outstretched hand, while blind-folded. I WON I WON I WON! Other games included bad pirate puns, jokes, and saying Arrrrrrr till you ran out of breath. We stayed a lot later than I expected, but eventually the cold won out, and we were home about 2330.
SUNDAY: Hmmm – not much fun – more like the living dead. Must have been breathing thru my mouth during the night. My voice is a bad joke – well, maybe a bad croak. Yes, very funny. Did a shunt, picked up paper rubbish the wind has blown in from rubbish day on Thursday. Drilled holes in an Activac case that came with a broken hinge. More challenging than the big Infovac case I successfully repaired last weekend. So, no. Not fixed. But, 2 catches, and I can still use the base, for the next lid that gets broken. Got David to cut a piece of threaded rod to length, so now I can cut the other three pieces to length too. Putting a slightly larger nut on the end, then cutting, certainly makes a difference to being able to thread the proper nut on.
It’s 1400. What am I gonna do now? Post this. I type it in word, then copy/paste across – but sometimes blogspot doesn’t like the formatting, so I have to copy it to word, save as txt, copy and paste ... Put the photos up. See if I can get the damn things where I want them.
Finish off some t-shirts I’m taking from a size 16 down to size 12. Look at Space Wolf figures. Read some of Bryan Gibson’s Terran Praesidium. Walk the dogs. Have a nap. OMG - and then it's bedtime!
Another fortnight has raced past. This week began with two separate migraine attacks. Monday, a “classic”, with burr-holes at the right temple and behind the right ear, held together by a tight band, throbbing away merrily. Tuesday, Migraine with Aura. Pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny lights. Two days of photophobia, nausea, grinding tiredness, lack of spatial ability. Took Wednesday off and went to the doctor, who confirmed my self-diagnosis, and gave me more Imigran – hooray! The stresses that caused the migraines have now come to a head, (lol, quite literally), on Monday, so hopefully no more for another 12-18 months. The last attack was early 2008, according to the doc.
The weekend has seen Becca’s headcold take over. Ugh. Tired, achy, sore throat, no voice, brains at half-mast.
Fun Stuff:
Thursday: I bought a packet of Space Wolf Blood Claws figures from Vagabond’s in Takapuna. Couldn’t get any Scouts. Wade at Vagabond’s was quite happy to talk to me, unlike the guys at GW, who don’t see the point talking to a WOMAN – even if she’s the one asking the questions. When I buy some more (like the new Space Wolf pack and a Codex) it will almost certainly be from there. Unless the stock from WarhammerMan on Trademe stays at $38 for the Codex, and $50 for the figures – but he’s put them up as an auction, not a Buynow.
I don’t think I have enough brain-power to actually do much with what I’ve bought – maybe cut them off the sprue’s, and glue some bits together.
FRIDAY: Becca went to the school disco with her friend Noor on Friday night, and agreed that it might be a good idea to dress up. But what’s a boy-girl to wear? Well, scary tho it sounds, mum’s jeans, knickers & t-shirt all fitted – and looked good. And she was pleased she dressed up.
Got accepted into Bryan Gibson’s (graphic artist of a lot of Traveller books) Terran Praesidium IRC game. Rolled a character, and wrote up a background for Kerangi Ataahua. Sent him and Matt the documents, including the Spica Publications’ “Careers Book 2” Companion pages, which some of her background comes from. Of course, a rewrite is required (about 30%) to make the background fit his universe, which is not surprising – a work of my imagination will need those changes made to fit his work of imagination.
SATURDAY: David and I took the dogs for a walk in Henderson Park, and got a photo of the amazing macrocarpa stump. I want to see if I can turn it into a fabric art piece. Even though I was feeling far from well, it was a nice walk. Talked about maybe going for a paddle on Sunday ...
Spinward Traveller on IRC. Dancing at the Harrington, jeep chases, and shooting baddies out of trees and off roof-tops! Lots and lots of fun!
Pirate Party. Spent quality time while role-playing doing repairs to a lovely lacy shirt for David. Buttons, hooks and eyes, button loops. Wore my wench dress with a red bustier underneath, and a Turkish Entari (long sleeved coat) on top. There were pirate games. Had a sword fight with the other “wench” – aim was to hit the parrot held on an outstretched hand, while blind-folded. I WON I WON I WON! Other games included bad pirate puns, jokes, and saying Arrrrrrr till you ran out of breath. We stayed a lot later than I expected, but eventually the cold won out, and we were home about 2330.
SUNDAY: Hmmm – not much fun – more like the living dead. Must have been breathing thru my mouth during the night. My voice is a bad joke – well, maybe a bad croak. Yes, very funny. Did a shunt, picked up paper rubbish the wind has blown in from rubbish day on Thursday. Drilled holes in an Activac case that came with a broken hinge. More challenging than the big Infovac case I successfully repaired last weekend. So, no. Not fixed. But, 2 catches, and I can still use the base, for the next lid that gets broken. Got David to cut a piece of threaded rod to length, so now I can cut the other three pieces to length too. Putting a slightly larger nut on the end, then cutting, certainly makes a difference to being able to thread the proper nut on.
It’s 1400. What am I gonna do now? Post this. I type it in word, then copy/paste across – but sometimes blogspot doesn’t like the formatting, so I have to copy it to word, save as txt, copy and paste ... Put the photos up. See if I can get the damn things where I want them.
Finish off some t-shirts I’m taking from a size 16 down to size 12. Look at Space Wolf figures. Read some of Bryan Gibson’s Terran Praesidium. Walk the dogs. Have a nap. OMG - and then it's bedtime!
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Spring is sprung, and I'm starting to do STUFF
A weekend of busyness.
Saturday: Clipped Kama – black dog has LONG legs! Lots and lots of hair.
David managed to keep the lawnmower going long enough to get the lawns done, and I weed-whacked round the back of the house. Moved the container of freesias round further so we can actually SEE them now – yellows, whites, dark and bright reds, purples. Now the garden looks lovely and tidy. Love power tools!
Quick trip out to look for paving stones, as the dogs have been excavating at the gates again. Found a place selling seconds for only $2 each (17”/43cm square). We got 12, + 2 circles, and a couple of bags of sand. Popped in to the mall, made an appointment for a haircut, grabbed cappuccino to go, and groceries from the Supermarket.
Back for Spinward Salvage IRC RPG. Called it quits 3 hours later, after a great game. Love playing real-time games – you get to talk to real people!
Chicken nibbles, roast veges, cauli and carrots for dinner! Watched Cate Blanchett in “The Gift”, then Pierce Brosnan in “Dante’s Peak”. Late late night. Oooh – and made home-made pina coladas – light rum, coconut cream and fruit juice. LOL – still packed a punch. David got home from work near midnight, and watched the end of the movie with me, and helped me finish off the rum thingy.
Sunday: Sleep in – not used to getting to bed at 0100! Went up to the Waitakere’s to check the Stoat Traps – all empty – no rats, hedgie’s or stoats. Awesome ride down the hill to the dam, then a long, slow walk back up the hill – the dogs were totally pooped!
Sent David off to the Wargames Club Bring & Buy session, and then to work. Collapsed for a while, then decided it was time to fix the darn fold-out-bed couch, as I was sinking further and further down into it. Went to Mitre 10 Mega and got a staple gun and spare staples, a length of architrave timber, panel pins, and sweet pea seeds (oh, how’d they get in there, lol!).
So, the couch is now fixed. Firmly attached the flap of fabric to the timber, then the timber to the couch with panel pins. Put some plywood on top of the bed frame, then sponge rubber on top of that. Higher and firmer. So there!
Sweet pea seeds are planted in another big container out the back – 60cm Bijou Semi Dwarf, Jewels of Colour in the centre, and 22cm Pixie Princess Red & Whites around the edge. 12-14 weeks to flowering.
Mr Piggy is for dinner – but it weighs 3kg! I’ve had to cut it in half, to have any chance of getting it cooked in time (and it went on about 1530!)
NCIS, Criminal Intent, The Children, and a doco on the Titanic. Thank goodness for the VCR!
Oh, and how many RPG’s am I playing?
40k/Hollow Worlds: Space Wolves [space wolf - Hriedmarr Tiefson], Shadows of Ballustrade [male Rogue Trader – Joaquin Balageur], and And With Strange Aeons [female scum – Pania Keredu]. All Play by Email.
Classic Traveller: Reaver’s Deep [male engineer – Patrick Kissilov]. PBEM
Mongoose Traveller: Spinward Salvage [female Salvage Expert – Claire Balfour] IRC – real-time chat.
And I'm trying to join another one! She's mad I tell you, mad!
Saturday: Clipped Kama – black dog has LONG legs! Lots and lots of hair.
David managed to keep the lawnmower going long enough to get the lawns done, and I weed-whacked round the back of the house. Moved the container of freesias round further so we can actually SEE them now – yellows, whites, dark and bright reds, purples. Now the garden looks lovely and tidy. Love power tools!
Quick trip out to look for paving stones, as the dogs have been excavating at the gates again. Found a place selling seconds for only $2 each (17”/43cm square). We got 12, + 2 circles, and a couple of bags of sand. Popped in to the mall, made an appointment for a haircut, grabbed cappuccino to go, and groceries from the Supermarket.
Back for Spinward Salvage IRC RPG. Called it quits 3 hours later, after a great game. Love playing real-time games – you get to talk to real people!
Chicken nibbles, roast veges, cauli and carrots for dinner! Watched Cate Blanchett in “The Gift”, then Pierce Brosnan in “Dante’s Peak”. Late late night. Oooh – and made home-made pina coladas – light rum, coconut cream and fruit juice. LOL – still packed a punch. David got home from work near midnight, and watched the end of the movie with me, and helped me finish off the rum thingy.
Sunday: Sleep in – not used to getting to bed at 0100! Went up to the Waitakere’s to check the Stoat Traps – all empty – no rats, hedgie’s or stoats. Awesome ride down the hill to the dam, then a long, slow walk back up the hill – the dogs were totally pooped!
Sent David off to the Wargames Club Bring & Buy session, and then to work. Collapsed for a while, then decided it was time to fix the darn fold-out-bed couch, as I was sinking further and further down into it. Went to Mitre 10 Mega and got a staple gun and spare staples, a length of architrave timber, panel pins, and sweet pea seeds (oh, how’d they get in there, lol!).
So, the couch is now fixed. Firmly attached the flap of fabric to the timber, then the timber to the couch with panel pins. Put some plywood on top of the bed frame, then sponge rubber on top of that. Higher and firmer. So there!
Sweet pea seeds are planted in another big container out the back – 60cm Bijou Semi Dwarf, Jewels of Colour in the centre, and 22cm Pixie Princess Red & Whites around the edge. 12-14 weeks to flowering.
Mr Piggy is for dinner – but it weighs 3kg! I’ve had to cut it in half, to have any chance of getting it cooked in time (and it went on about 1530!)
NCIS, Criminal Intent, The Children, and a doco on the Titanic. Thank goodness for the VCR!
Oh, and how many RPG’s am I playing?
40k/Hollow Worlds: Space Wolves [space wolf - Hriedmarr Tiefson], Shadows of Ballustrade [male Rogue Trader – Joaquin Balageur], and And With Strange Aeons [female scum – Pania Keredu]. All Play by Email.
Classic Traveller: Reaver’s Deep [male engineer – Patrick Kissilov]. PBEM
Mongoose Traveller: Spinward Salvage [female Salvage Expert – Claire Balfour] IRC – real-time chat.
And I'm trying to join another one! She's mad I tell you, mad!
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Becca's Soft Toy Cupboard
Hehe - we couldn't get far enough back to get a photo of the drift of soft toys on the floor!
Love Angel
I bought this for David. She is making the "Sign for Love". I wanted something special for him. To show how much I appreciate him, and how much I missed his company.
Thursday - going home day
Son, daughter, father! ScaryMick, Sue, Bill
Mick came home just before midnight. Dad staggered onto his pile of pillows about 0200 - refused to sleep on Mick's bed - didn't want to disturb him. We picked him up bodily around 0300 and put him properly to bed.
Mick and I talked till 0430 in the morning. He's become an interesting man, my American brother. Not a kiwi any more. Staunch Republican. Hand on heart for the American anthem/flag. Anti-gun control. Doesn't like Australians at all. Doesn't like their lack of a work ethic, their attitude.
Says they don't like American's, and Barrie's going to hate being in Aus. Very down on it all. Sleep deprivation and alcohol talking, I hope. Mick is going back to California to help her pack up the house, and they'll both be down here for October.
Barrie has a job waiting for her here, but there's been a lot of politicking, and the Sydney UPS office doesn't want someone coming in from the US telling them what to do.
Bill was up and rattling around at 0700 - aarrgghh. It is so not fair, that after having drunk about half a bottle of gin, he doesn't have a hangover. I don't think he had any idea of the amount of noise he was making. Eventually staggered up about 0900. Had some breakfast, then took dad downstairs about 1000 - when the shops finally decide to open.
Took dad back to the shop I'd got a little resin angel for David from. He got a little resin statue of a boy holding a dog. Very cute.
Got back to the apartment to find Mick fuming - where had we gone. So we went back out for a late brunch. Yum. Mick had the Big All Day Breakfast, Dad a salmon omelette, and I had poached eggs on ham and toast.
Caught the bus at Southern Cross Station at around 1300, at the Airport by 1400. Got fed on the plane. Home again home again. tiddly pom.
So nice to be home. So nice to walk thru the arrivals gate, see the maori carvings, hear the native birds. Lovely to have a cuddle from David. Missed him so much.
So nice to sleep in my own bed, use my own, high-pressure shower.
I love going away, but coming home is nice.
Thursday, 20 August 2009
Advertising on Melbourne's Yarra Trams!
The other ad shows this guy in seriously ugly whitey-tities. My first thought was - "burn, baby burn - save the world, burn a ...."
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