So for dinner tonight we had nice European style sausages and mashed potatoes with other vegetables.
My mother will laugh at this because growing up, I hated mashed potato with a passion possibly only otherwise reserved for that moment when I strike a soccer ball at goal (or other times that shouldn't be mentioned here). I gagged. I nearly vomited; I really really hated that crap. But I was made to eat it, watching my sister across the table and possibly even nearly inducing sympathy gags.
But my tastes have matured and now I enjoy good mash (though I still daren't touch the stuff that's served up in the canteen at work).
And so tonight, as we sat at the table, Michael, Sam and Emily all declared their passionate and possibly genetically inherited distaste for mashed spud. Even the suggestion that they douse it liberally with tomato sauce held no sway. Do you think I felt like just the slightest hypocrite as I insisted they all eat some?
Michael and Sam ate a little (possibly bites the size of sub atomic matter) but Emily not only refused to eat the spud, but calmly trotted her plate over to the bin and dumped the rest of her vegetables in.
Well tonight we decided to give them a couple of pieces of chocolate for dessert. Emily was told that she got none until she ate some of the mash.
Let the battle ensue. We left her to it and she refused to eat, so she got no chocolate. And at the point where she came up to us full of righteous indignation saying, "Michael and Sam and Thomas all got chocolate and I'm last and I didn't get any ... Do you think that's fair?!" we had to try very very hard not to laugh as once again she was denied the reward she sought.
Eventually she ate some carrots ... and a tiny bit of mash.
Jan 24, 2008
Jan 21, 2008
Snip Snip (or Hair today, gone tomorrow)
A little while ago one of the other little Australian girls that’s over here decided to take the scissors to her hair. It’s far from being uncommon, but it was a great opportunity to point out one of life’s little lessons to Emily without her having to learn it for herself.
“You’d never cut your own hair, would you Emily?” And of course the reply is honest and sincere as she assures you that she wouldn’t do that to her beautiful hair.
Roll forward a month or so and Emily comes in to see us as we finally stir for the day over the weekend. As she’s giving Caroline a hug, it becomes apparent that there’s a small clump of neatly severed hair on the quilt. And sure enough, a little further investigation showed that she had managed to sever a little hair on each side of her face, giving herself just enough hair to be unable to do anything useful with it (I’ll have to try and get a photo.
Fortunately it’s not so dramatic as to be devastating, but enough that you can see it and enough that it’s going to take some time to grow out … just when we’re getting to a point where we’re starting to get somewhere with the clump that got ripped out by the mix master.
“You’d never cut your own hair, would you Emily?” And of course the reply is honest and sincere as she assures you that she wouldn’t do that to her beautiful hair.
Roll forward a month or so and Emily comes in to see us as we finally stir for the day over the weekend. As she’s giving Caroline a hug, it becomes apparent that there’s a small clump of neatly severed hair on the quilt. And sure enough, a little further investigation showed that she had managed to sever a little hair on each side of her face, giving herself just enough hair to be unable to do anything useful with it (I’ll have to try and get a photo.
Fortunately it’s not so dramatic as to be devastating, but enough that you can see it and enough that it’s going to take some time to grow out … just when we’re getting to a point where we’re starting to get somewhere with the clump that got ripped out by the mix master.
Snip Snip (or Hair today, gone tomorrow)
A little while ago one of the other little Australian girls that’s over here decided to take the scissors to her hair. It’s far from being uncommon, but it was a great opportunity to point out one of life’s little lessons to Emily without her having to learn it for herself.
“You’d never cut your own hair, would you Emily?” And of course the reply is honest and sincere as she assures you that she wouldn’t do that to her beautiful hair.
Roll forward a month or so and Emily comes in to see us as we finally stir for the day over the weekend. As she’s giving Caroline a hug, it becomes apparent that there’s a small clump of neatly severed hair on the quilt. And sure enough, a little further investigation showed that she had managed to sever a little hair on each side of her face, giving herself just enough hair to be unable to do anything useful with it (I’ll have to try and get a photo.
Fortunately it’s not so dramatic as to be devastating, but enough that you can see it and enough that it’s going to take some time to grow out … just when we’re getting to a point where we’re starting to get somewhere with the clump that got ripped out by the mix master.
“You’d never cut your own hair, would you Emily?” And of course the reply is honest and sincere as she assures you that she wouldn’t do that to her beautiful hair.
Roll forward a month or so and Emily comes in to see us as we finally stir for the day over the weekend. As she’s giving Caroline a hug, it becomes apparent that there’s a small clump of neatly severed hair on the quilt. And sure enough, a little further investigation showed that she had managed to sever a little hair on each side of her face, giving herself just enough hair to be unable to do anything useful with it (I’ll have to try and get a photo.
Fortunately it’s not so dramatic as to be devastating, but enough that you can see it and enough that it’s going to take some time to grow out … just when we’re getting to a point where we’re starting to get somewhere with the clump that got ripped out by the mix master.
Jan 20, 2008
Unseasonable
Back in November, the weather turned really cold. Stupidly cold. Like -32C cold. And everyone was telling us that we were in for what was likely to be the coldest winter in something like 50 years. January and February were going to be hell.
Well it’s January and it’s turned cold again. But cold at the moment is only -15C (yes, it still freaks me out that I refer to it as ONLY -15C) and as recently as last week, we had temperatures that were hovering around the positively balmy ranges of -10 to -4C! It is truly spectacular winter weather, great for skiing and a hell of a lot better on the senses. We did have one day this week that dropped dramatically though, with the wind playing a significant factor. It doesn’t take much of a breeze when it’s this cold to add a -10 wind chill factor to the whole thing.
During this time of unseasonable weather, we have seen another weather related phenomenon that I don’t think I’ve spoken about just yet. Ice fog. It’s when the humidity hits about 100% but the temperature is still well below zero. You get a fog, but it’s more of a dry ice type thing than a wet soupy thing. And during this time, the moisture in the air crystallises on all of the trees. Suddenly these bare-leafed trees that appear nothing more than skeletal remnants of another season become the most gorgeous white fingered, elegant monuments to the beauty that nature has to offer. We were lucky enough to have them looking like that for a couple of weeks, which meant that I even managed to see it in daylight and get to admire the trees on the way up the ski hill as we sat on the lift.
Well it’s January and it’s turned cold again. But cold at the moment is only -15C (yes, it still freaks me out that I refer to it as ONLY -15C) and as recently as last week, we had temperatures that were hovering around the positively balmy ranges of -10 to -4C! It is truly spectacular winter weather, great for skiing and a hell of a lot better on the senses. We did have one day this week that dropped dramatically though, with the wind playing a significant factor. It doesn’t take much of a breeze when it’s this cold to add a -10 wind chill factor to the whole thing.
During this time of unseasonable weather, we have seen another weather related phenomenon that I don’t think I’ve spoken about just yet. Ice fog. It’s when the humidity hits about 100% but the temperature is still well below zero. You get a fog, but it’s more of a dry ice type thing than a wet soupy thing. And during this time, the moisture in the air crystallises on all of the trees. Suddenly these bare-leafed trees that appear nothing more than skeletal remnants of another season become the most gorgeous white fingered, elegant monuments to the beauty that nature has to offer. We were lucky enough to have them looking like that for a couple of weeks, which meant that I even managed to see it in daylight and get to admire the trees on the way up the ski hill as we sat on the lift.
Jan 9, 2008
Christmas is Over
Christmas is Over … or traffic part 927
Ok, first off, I’d like to thank those fine friends that saw fit to involve me in their New Year’s celebration by calling to share in a somewhat massacred rendition of Rolf Harris’ Court of King Caractacus. It was probably one of the highlights of my new year. And of course, had I known there was a tiny little mute switch on the headset that I was using with skype (one that somehow had been switched to mute
I worked through the Christmas period this year in an effort to preserve some leave and be able to travel whilst we’re living over here on the other side of the world.
One of the nice things about having done that was that the commute to and from work was a breeze. I could leave later than normal and get to work earlier than normal and there were no traffic jams to be concerned about.
Monday of this week was the return to work for many people and so I knew that I wouldn’t quite get the same blissful drive that I’d been enjoying. Having said that, any sane person would have left a little earlier. But Monday is also usually a day of light traffic, so I didn’t panic, thinking that Tuesday would be the day when I’d really have to get moving early.
And to some extent I was right, because I got to the bottom of the hill and onto the highway without too many dramas. It was after that that the fun began, because for a long long time, we never really managed to get over about 20km/hour. I passed a car pulled up facing into the traffic on the verge and from the slide marks on the road, it clearly wasn’t an intentional move.
About half way to work as I drove along I was checking the mirror only to find the whole world quietly skewing. It was an unreal sensation to see the world start to turn in the wing mirror, but fortunately, being at low speed, I was able to look forward and steer out of trouble before it was more than just a minor correction. Which was better than at least one other person managed that morning as I passed another car in the ditch.
Yes, we’ve reached that point in time when driving in a straight line is no guarantee that you’ll stay on the road.
They call it black ice, even though it’s actually clear. A clear sheet of ice through which you see the road surface, but of course is as slippery as, well ice. This morning on the way to work it was again prevalent and as I eased my foot on the accelerator to keep pace with the traffic (moving up from all of 50km/hr) the back end started to go. There’s nothing much you can do other than stop accelerating and steer where you want to go. Made it safe to work which is always a nice result.
If nothing else, it keeps you alert. The first time I encountered it was back before Christmas. I was driving along at about 70km/hr (even the rednecks in their trucks seem smart enough to slow down in poor road conditions – though they’re never entirely successful. I was driving in a straight line, somewhat bored, listening to the radio, probably more relaxed than I needed to be when the back end suddenly shifted sideways. I was perfectly awake for the rest of the drive!
Ok, first off, I’d like to thank those fine friends that saw fit to involve me in their New Year’s celebration by calling to share in a somewhat massacred rendition of Rolf Harris’ Court of King Caractacus. It was probably one of the highlights of my new year. And of course, had I known there was a tiny little mute switch on the headset that I was using with skype (one that somehow had been switched to mute
I worked through the Christmas period this year in an effort to preserve some leave and be able to travel whilst we’re living over here on the other side of the world.
One of the nice things about having done that was that the commute to and from work was a breeze. I could leave later than normal and get to work earlier than normal and there were no traffic jams to be concerned about.
Monday of this week was the return to work for many people and so I knew that I wouldn’t quite get the same blissful drive that I’d been enjoying. Having said that, any sane person would have left a little earlier. But Monday is also usually a day of light traffic, so I didn’t panic, thinking that Tuesday would be the day when I’d really have to get moving early.
And to some extent I was right, because I got to the bottom of the hill and onto the highway without too many dramas. It was after that that the fun began, because for a long long time, we never really managed to get over about 20km/hour. I passed a car pulled up facing into the traffic on the verge and from the slide marks on the road, it clearly wasn’t an intentional move.
About half way to work as I drove along I was checking the mirror only to find the whole world quietly skewing. It was an unreal sensation to see the world start to turn in the wing mirror, but fortunately, being at low speed, I was able to look forward and steer out of trouble before it was more than just a minor correction. Which was better than at least one other person managed that morning as I passed another car in the ditch.
Yes, we’ve reached that point in time when driving in a straight line is no guarantee that you’ll stay on the road.
They call it black ice, even though it’s actually clear. A clear sheet of ice through which you see the road surface, but of course is as slippery as, well ice. This morning on the way to work it was again prevalent and as I eased my foot on the accelerator to keep pace with the traffic (moving up from all of 50km/hr) the back end started to go. There’s nothing much you can do other than stop accelerating and steer where you want to go. Made it safe to work which is always a nice result.
If nothing else, it keeps you alert. The first time I encountered it was back before Christmas. I was driving along at about 70km/hr (even the rednecks in their trucks seem smart enough to slow down in poor road conditions – though they’re never entirely successful. I was driving in a straight line, somewhat bored, listening to the radio, probably more relaxed than I needed to be when the back end suddenly shifted sideways. I was perfectly awake for the rest of the drive!
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