In our home this week

I thought I'd offer a snapshot of what's been happening in our household recently.

Family/Celebrations: my lovely SIL visited from Indianapolis - she was in Australia for her dad's 80th birthday party, and we were lucky enough to have her stay with us for a while. Leisa joined us for Christmas celebrations with my parents on the 23rd. A wonderful meal as always - I'll be attempting to make the Pearl Couscous with Prawns and Avocado sometime soon.


Bill's 80th birthday was a very special occasion - I particularly enjoyed catching up with family, as I wasn't able to make it to Toowoomba for Christmas this year. Bill's fame is such that the Toowoomba Chronicle paid a visit to the restaurant - another newspaper clipping to add to his extensive file. Garry wrote a poem for his dad, which I'll upload in a separate blog post. Garry's been writing quite a lot of poetry since I bought him a copy of Stephen Fry's "The Ode Less Traveled".


Catherine spent most of this week in Toowoomba, catching up with her cousin Emma. In between social outings, they traded their latest obsessions: Cate made sure Emma saw as many Glee episodes as possible, while Emma taught Catherine to appreciate the humour of Hamish & Andy.


Christopher spent quite a lot of time refining his search for a High Definition video camera, finally deciding to purchase one through Amazon rather than from a local store - the price difference was significant. That took care of all his Christmas cash and leaves him indebted for a couple of months' worth of pocket money. He's also been enjoying the latest iPad app - a car-racing game of some description.


In the Kitchen: my Christmas presents this year were Moroccan-themed - two tagines and a cookbook full of great recipes. I cooked a Lamb Tagine with Dates, Almonds and Pistachios - the first time I've bought red meat in almost ten years. I was taken aback by the price of lean lamb - being largely vegetarian sure helps save money on the grocery bills! The lamb was beautifully tender, although the spicing of this particular recipe was a touch bland.



Off the Bookshelf: Christopher bought me "The Dragonriders of Pern" for Christmas - a trilogy by Anne McCaffrey, who died earlier this year. I'd never actually read any of her work, so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I greatly enjoyed the world of Pern and the dragons she originally created in 1968. I zipped through the three books - finished most of the last one in the car on the trip to and from Toowoomba yesterday.


On the Goban: I'm still playing lots of Go games - mostly via my iPhone. This snapshot is of a smaller game. My favourite board size is 19x19. I love the intricacy of Go. Even now, the best computers in the world cannot beat a professional Go player (unlike chess). Yet the rules are simple and can be learned very quickly. Studies have shown that playing Go reduces mental decline.

Waffle-On's Debut

Waffle-On made a debut at the Maleny Markets today, to resounding compliments by all. Christopher made short work of two supersize syrup waffles.

To work

This isn't exactly what you want to see when arriving at work on a Friday afternoon

My first Bento

Packed this delicious and attractive meal to take to work. The containers stack together to make up a small box known as a bento box, which is the Japanese equivalent of a lunch box.

Logbook

A list of things I did today.

My Hens

Catherine has blogged about the names of our hens, and I've blogged about assembling the chook pen. Finished result:


Today - a week after they arrived - Lethal, Fatal, Snow Leopard and Puma were allowed out for the first time. They run to see me when I go outside, because I am the Bringer Of Goodies. Well, to be perfectly honest, two of them run.... one ambles... and the fourth (Fatal, the brown one) simply flattens herself into the bushes pretending to be dead. Hermione (the cat) has decided to pretend the chooks are invisible, after doing a bizarre sideways "attack! run away!" maneuvre that considerably dented her feline pride.


Anyway. It's good to have chooks again. They are funny to watch and nothing compares to home-collected, poo-coated eggs. Love hearing them cluck softly as they seek out weeds and pests to destroy. Plus I have a great deal worked out with Catherine - she will help me feed and collect eggs. Any eggs she finds are hers to sell back at supermarket prices. Works for me!

Chooks

Tamara: since i'm building a chook pen today, why don't you girls dress up as chickens? There will be a prize for the best costume.

Annika: no wayyyyyy! I am NOT dressing up as a chicken.

Catherine: disappears and is heard in her room with the tape dispenser.

Sanne: yay! let's do it.

Half hour later....

Annika: look. I made this chicken head and beak out of a box.

Catherine: still in room, cutting something with scissors.

Sanne: moping around for unknown reason.

Half hour later....

Annika: I am NOT wearing this so you can take pictures!

Catherine: emerges from room, be-fathered and chicken-toed.

Sanne: prancing around in costume the other two girls made for her.

Tamara: oh shit! Now I have to award a prize.
*delegates task to Christopher*

Christopher: give them ten bucks each.

Hobart

Southbank

Nice photo of recent trip to southbank:

"SAY WHAT??!!"

Coming off the citycat, we see the following:

(click to enlarge)

honey, anyone?

Driving along today, I just had to stop and take a picture of this:


(click photo to enlarge)

There are more sources ideal for honeymaking in Australia than any other country - so we have the widest range of tastes and colours. The best loved Australian honey flavours come from:

Blue gum: A light amber. Choice forest honey from the south.
Karri: An amber honey from the forests of Western Australia.
Leatherwood: A unique honey from the west coast of Tasmania, quick to candy and extra light in colour.
Lucerne: A mild-tasting honey.
Yellow box: Pale and sweet. From New South Wales, Victoria and Oueensland.
Stringy bark: Strong flavoured, medium amber honey from the Great Dividing Range.
Ti-tree: A very strong flavour used mainly in manufacturing.
White clover: An extra white honey that candies smoothly.

See how many flavours and types of honey you can find. Taste as many as you can, for honey keeps you healthy. It can be used with many foods and in many ways. When you know all the flavours, not only will you be able to use it to its best advantage, but you’ll be a honey connoisseur as well!

Text quoted from http://www.honeybee.org.au/pdf/wonderfull01.pdf
I wonder how they'd describe the flavours and uses of Chook Poo Honey?

How to fly to Cairns for $12.50 per person

STEP ONE: book a trip on the Tilt Train using your pension concession card and companion card. Total cost for caree and carer: $25.00.

STEP TWO: arrange for the Tilt Train to breakdown somewhere just north of Bundaberg. It's a nice touch if the train is no longer able to move in a forward direction, but is still able to move backwards. Gratefully accept the free breakfast offered by Queensland Rail.


STEP THREE: convince Queensland Rail that you can't very well travel to Cairns on the buses they have provided for your fellow passengers. Tips to achieve this include (a) having a wheelchair; (b) needing enough floor space to change a teenager (c) needing regular meals and snacks due to said teenager also having insulin-dependent diabetes (d) having a connecting flight booked, which happens to leave before the buses are due to arrive in Cairns.

STEP FOUR: gratefully accept the tickets to fly to Cairns instead! Two thumbs up to Q Rail and particularly Mark in the Bundaberg office, who worked very hard to make all the arrangements - right down to a wheelchair-accessible taxi to the airport.


STEP FIVE: HUSTLE!!!
Important Tip: make sure you know how to fold up your teenager's wheelchair so that you can do so gracefully under pressure. Wear suitable clothes.

STEP SIX: Fly from Bundaberg back south to Brisbane. Wave to family as you fly past.


STEP SEVEN: Now fly from Brisbane back past the Sunshine Coast (wave to family), over Bundaberg (wave to Tilt Train)... all the way up to Cairns! YAY. Congratulate each other for getting to Cairns a full four hours before the train was due to get there.


STEP EIGHT: choose movie, choose room service, settle back and enjoy!

Tilt train troubles

After four hours sitting still on the train track between Bundaberg and Gladstone, we are now back in Bundy. It's now 5:37am and we're waiting for buses to be arranged. This is going to be far from ideal. We shall see how the rest of the adventure unfolds.

Cairns, here we come!

Christopher and I are heading up to Cairns on the Tilt Train together. Packing has been a challenge, as I will only have two hands to carry everything we need PLUS push the wheelchair. I've tried to keep things to a bare minimum - astute readers may note the extent of that when looking at the pictures of our gear.

My contribution (see photo above) is quite modest, I feel. Christopher's needs are more complex, so his share of the luggage is suitably greater than mine (see photo below). Unfortunately a critical part on the wheelchair broke last week, and the welding is only a temporary fix. I'm taking along a spare harness strap and some tools *just in case*.

Picnic Area Project

The boys are working on a new project this weekend... here are a few photos and a snippet of video to set the scene. The idea is to create a timber platform that's at a comfortable height for feeding Christopher in the wheelchair. The setting is a shady area under a few well-established mango trees, with a beautiful view towards the rain forest. No doubt Garry will describe the project in more detail on his own blog.

Woodford Folk Festival

Catherine and I spent a day at Woodford Folk Festival this week - something I've been meaning to do ever since we moved to the Sunshine Coast. We had a fabulous day, with the added bonus of catching up with some great friends who were there from Toowoomba. We slogged through mud, listened to a variety of excellent music (John Butler Trio, Freshwater, Leah Flanagan Band to name a few) and laughed through various shows (magician, circus act, burlesque and macedonian dance workshops). Street performers and a plethora of food, craft, clothing and other stalls added to the carnival atmosphere. Here are a few images of the day:

Circus Performance

Dot icecream was a novelty

Yes, I am in there somewhere!

Catherine's tattoo

Making balloon animals

Street performers

UV Wonderland

A friendly seagull

Part of the crowd @ John Butler Trio concert

Growing up fast!

Christopher was right....

... I love my iPhone!

Seriously. It is a brilliant little piece of technology.

I looked at prices of iPhones a while ago, when Christopher was first extolling their virtues. When I saw the cost I wrote off the whole idea at once.

A couple of weeks ago I decided we'd need another mobile for when I'm at work, and went shopping for a suitable plan - at which point I realised that I could afford an iPhone after all - if I bought it as part of a plan!

Yay!!! Christopher and I set off at once and came home with my delightful, sleek, sexy new phone. I'm considering this my graduation gift to myself :)

The picture is a screenshot of some of the applications (apps) that were on my home screen. I've tweaked it considerably since then. The more I use it, the more I am smitten. The first morning I checked my email in bed I knew I was a dedicated fan!

About time, too

Small Basic

Christopher said last night, "If someone thinks I have an intellectual disability, tell them I write computer code". Yes, he has been engrossed for hours this week learning how to write computer programs using Small Basic.

Benefit #1 - he is reading the entire instruction manual by himself - and getting him to read has been a struggle for many reasons;
Benefit #2 - the program uses intellisense, so it speeds up his typing and reduces errors - making the process much less frustrating than it would be otherwise;
Benefit #3 - he enjoys it immensely, as the instruction manual is designed to give the learner quick results;
Benefit #4 - it is computer-based, and if you know Christopher at all, you will know his obsession with computers and technology.

sample of instruction manual for Small Basic (click to enlarge)

Don't forget, he's doing all this using a head switch and onscreen keyboards!

Parrot Day

Today, I spotted all these birds:

sulphur-crested cockatoo

rainbow lorikeets

galahs

and yellow-tailed black cockatoos

it must be Parrot Day in Mooloolah Valley!