Find Me A Fridge

Monday 31st January, 2011

Today is HOT!!!   After yesterday's scorcher we have got another one today.  Yesterday was a very lazy day.....just stayed inside and watched a bit of TV.  Too hot to venture too far.

The new school year begins today.   Rang Katie this morning to wish her all the best for today and for the year.   She goes into Year 4.  She sounded excited to be going back and said she couldn't wait to see all her friends from last year.

Had to go to Diannes' place today.  Last week when I saw her I forgot to take the gift for Megans' baby so I had to drop that off.  Took some rolls, ham, cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers to have some lunch with her. 

Can't believe that the first month of the year has gone, but it does seem eons ago that we were celebrating Christmas. 

Todays temperature got to 42.9 Celsius (109F).  I think all the aircons had trouble keeping up today.   Even when we went to have dinner at Cafe Verde, their air conditioning wasn't working too well.

From the Lens............

Pizza At Sunset

Saturday 29th January, 2011

We are in for some scorching hot weather over the next few days!!  Today 39, tomorrow 42 and Monday 41.  I know what I'll be doing, inside with the air conditioning on and doing as little as possible.

Today I did do a bit of housework with Tony's help.  He is so good to me.  Yesterday, while picking the laundry up off the floor to put into the machine, I felt my back go and I have been in agony ever since.  I know I don't bend down correctly and usually I am aware of it, but this time I was careless and I am paying for it now.

This evening we went and had pizza on the beach.  It wasn't much cooler down there.  Lots of people were in the water or just sitting on the beach.  We would've liked to have gone and paddled our feet but my back wouldn't let me.  Oh well, maybe another day!

From the Lens...........pizza at sunset

Birthday Cards

Friday 28th January, 2011

Time to put away my birthday cards.  I usually leave them out for a week after Birthdays, Mothers' Day, Christmas and Fathers' Day.  I love receiving cards, I find that they mean more to me than gifts.

Gifts are too easy to buy, especially if the person has asked what you would like.  A card on the other hand is much more personal.  I like to think that they have read the verse on the inside of the card or cards and then had to decide which one is appropriate for you.

A beautiful card that I received this year was the one from Katie.  Tony took her to the card section of the store and she chose this card herself.  I even shed a tear when I read it.

Hehehe I locked myself out of the house this afternoon.  The problem we have with our house is that when the doors are locked, from the outside you cannot open them, but you can open them from the inside.  I went out the laundry door, not realising that it was locked and it slammed shut behind me.

Thank god it was only about an hour before Tony came home from work and luckily I had unlocked the front screen door for him to get in.  I must get a key for the laundry door and hide it somewhere out the back in case it happens again.

From the Lens.........

Lunch Appointment

Thursday 27th January, 2011

No sleeping in this morning.  I had to be up and ready to leave the house by about 11.00am as I was meeting Dianne and we were going to go out to Elizabeth Shopping Centre to have lunch.  She is treating me to lunch for my birthday.

Had a fun day.  Did some shopping, one of the things I got was some nail polish.  You put it on as one colour indoors and when you go outside it changes colour due to the UV in the sunlight.  They also have hair accessories, necklaces, keyrings, rings, earrings, bracelets and shopping bags that change colour too when worn/taken outside.  In a couple of months they are getting clothes that will do it too.

Tony rang while we were out and asked me to come in and meet him.  We called into the Hampstead Hotel for dinner and then on the way home called into the Village Shopping Centre to get some fruit and veges.  While there he saw a former work colleague, Susie, and so we went and had coffee and caught up on all the news.

From the Lens..........the nail polish goes from this

                       to this.......

Happy Birthday Australia!!!

Wednesday 26th January, 2011

Today is Australia's birthday.  The First Fleet led by Captain Arthur Philip sailed into Botany Bay (NSW) on this day back in 1788.  Many people do not believe that we should celebrate Australia Day today, instead we should celebrate it when Federation was proclaimed which was on the 1st January, 1901.  An Act declared that the colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia would unite and be known as the Commonwealth of Australia.

Anyhow that is up to the government of the day to have a referendum for the people to decide.  So for now, we celebrate it today.

Being a Public Holiday many events are planned around the country.  A lot of immigrants choose today to become citizens of Australia.

Today is also a day for backyard cricket, putting a chop (lamb) on the barbie and just lazing around.

Tony and I went into the city and watched the Australia Day Parade.  Being a country of many nationalities the Parade consisted of some 3000 people, many of these representing their homeland.  It was full of colour and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was our first time watching the Parade but definitely not our last.

When the Parade concluded we went to Elder Park where thousands of people had gathered to listen to the various bands.  Jessica Mauboy and Kisschasey were the headline acts.  Fireworks ended the night.

From the Lens........some of the crowd at Elder Park

I Slept In

Tuesday 25th January, 2011

Even though I had a good sleep last night I slept in this morning.  I vaguely remember Tony coming in and kissing me as he left for work and then I went back to sleep.  Next thing I remember the clock chiming nine.  OMG it was 9.00am.

Luckily I had nothing planned for the day.  It was supposed to be hot today but I don't think it got to the predicted temperature.  The cloud came in this afternoon and this evening we have been having thunder and lightning......no rain though.

From the Lens.........flowers Jodi got me for my birthday......I took this photo then removed the red carnation as red flowers are not my favourite.

Cycling Through The City

Monday 24th January, 2011


Yesterday saw the final day of the Tour Down Under and the winner was Cameron Meyer, an Australian.  He won the race by just 2 seconds.  Todays stage was cycling around the city streets.  After 6 gruelling days riding through various parts of South Australia the race came down to the last day.  Admittedly we don't have the mountains here but the top teams do send some of their best sprinters.

The race also attracted record crowds, some 772,000 spectators over the 6 days.  Maybe it was because it was Lance Armstrongs' last official race......that's if he doesn't make a comeback. 

Now Victoria wants to pinch the Tour Down Under from us just like when Adelaide had the Grand Prix they came and took that off us.  HANDS OFF Victoria!!!!  Go and find your own Major Event to run.

Last night after dropping Katie off we came home, had dinner and I fell asleep in front of the computer.  I was completely exhausted.  Admittedly I had been up since 6.30 am.

Went and paid some bills, did the grocery shopping, had dinner and went out to Lewiston.  When Jodi called in on Saturday she said that they had signed papers for a property at Lewiston but wouldn't know for sure if they got it until Tuesday.

We thought we would go and check it out.  We couldn't see much because it is surrounded by fences, but looking through the gap in the gate it is set in a bushland setting.  Hope she has gone and checked the property out and hasn't bought it off the net like she did with the place they are living in now.

From the Lens...........

"Tot Siens"...Yes, She's Got It!!!

Sunday 23rd January, 2011

After a busy day yesterday and a great night last night, this morning took us a while to get going.  No-one felt like doing too much and Katie had no ideas as to what she wanted to do for the day.

I suggested going to the movies but she wasn't really interested.  By lunch time she thought that she might like to go and ride her bike.  That was alright with us.

While we were sitting around talking she asked me if I spoke English when I was little or did I speak another language.  I told her that I spoke English.  I said, "Poppa spoke another language."  "No he didn't," she said.  "Yes, he did." I said.

So Tony started talking Dutch to her and the look on her face was priceless.  She was so shocked yet amused at the same time that he could speak another language.  Now she wants to learn the language.

She found it very funny that Tony could speak another language

Katie trying to get that throaty sound

We went and had some lunch then took her to the park to ride her bike.  It was much hotter out than what we had thought and so the bike riding didn't last too long.

Not knowing what else to do, and seeing I wanted to go to Bunning's Hardware to have a look at a couple of things, I suggested to her that she could go on the playground there.  She was happy with that so off we went.

While there she had her face painted......first she was going to be a fairy, then a mermaid but decided to be a princess.

From the Lens.........Princess Katie

Happy Birthday!!!

Saturday 22nd January, 2011

Happy Birthday!!!  Whose birthday is it.....why MINE of course!!  I reached a milestone in years today, let's just say I won't be seeing the 50's again.  It was a bittersweet day as I lost two very close girlfriends in recent years and they both died a couple of months before reaching their 60th birthdays.  So I raised my glass and thought of you both, Jan and Jacqui.

Had an awesome day.  I have never been one to celebrate my birthdays or be made a fuss of, to me it's just another day, but Jodi and Taylor came to visit early in the morning, had several phone calls, went and took Katie to the playground at Virginia after having been to the Nursery where we had lunch, coffee and cake.

Banana and Caramel Gateau

Headed back home to get ready to go to Henley Beach to meet up with Robyn and Bob for dinner.  Ended up having dinner at Evida.  It was a very nice enjoyable meal. We were debating whether to have coffee after our meal or after we went for a walk.  Katie was dying to get down on the beach and she turns to me and said, "Nanna just because it's your birthday you don't have to eat junk food, you've already had one piece of cake today".

We decided to leave coffee for later and so we went on the beach where Katie had a paddle in the water.  I said she could go in as far as her knees, as we had no other clothes for her.  That paddle ended up being a swim in the ocean, but it was the waves fault because "they got me wet all over."

Took her back to the car where the only thing we had to dry her off with was a blanket, lol.  Luckily I had a cami on underneath the top I was wearing, so I took that off and got her to put that on, tying the shoulder straps at the back to make it fit.  Robyn, luckily had a small fleece blanket so we used that as a wrap around.

We then wandered along the jetty.  There were lots of people on the jetty fishing and crabbing.  Lots of crabs were being caught and Katie decided she now wants to go crab fishing.  Robyn and Bob are going over to the Yorke Peninsula later in March and so they asked us to come and stay a night as well, so Katie is very much looking forward to that.

We went and had coffee and cake to end the evening.  Thanks to Tony, Robyn, Bob and Katie for a great night.

On the way home Katie was talking about how she got to touch a crab and hold a fish when we were on the jetty.  "Oh," I said, "did you get to hold a crab?"  "No." she replied, "anyway I only trust Uncle Bob to get me to hold one and when we go crab fishing he will find me a safe beach to swim in". 

From the Lens.........Lime Swirl Cheesecake

I got to have my second piece of cake......it was my birthday after all. 

 

Grrrrr......Angry Birds!!!

Friday 21st January 2011

Grrrrrrr Angry Birds!!!  I have heard so much about this game that I eventually had to have it.  Apparently it is THE game to play for those who have an IPhone.  I don't have an IPhone but I do have an IPod Touch and it works just as good on that.  I heard on the radio this morning that our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has it on her phone as well.

I am stuck on Game 1 Level 15.  I have been playing this level the last day and a half and I can't get it.  Tony has breezed through to Level 19 and he only plays it for a little while each night and I've only had it since Tuesday.

I get to pick up Katie later on this afternoon and she will show me how to get out of level 15......hehehe.  Gotta love these modern day kids.

In her short 9 years 3 months technology has come a long way.  We have seen the digital camera become so popular that it has caused the demise of a lot of photo processing centres.  All mobile phones purchased these days are also cameras, along with being MP3 players, and mini computers with internet access.  There has been a continual growth in the internet where it's hard not to know anyone who hasn't got it at home. 

There has been the IPod, IPod Touch, IPad and IPhone, digital TV and with the advent of that, more free to air TV channels, 3D TV, Blue Ray DVD movies, Blue Ray DVD recorders with inbuilt hard drives, more and more 3D movies in the cinemas, home theatre entertainment systems, MP3 players, purchasing your music online, portable GPS for the car, Nintendo DS and the DSi, game consoles like XBox, Playstation, Wii gaming system which is interactive and now the new one, XBox Kinect, also interactive but without the use of controllers.

Technology sure moves fast and it will be interesting to see what evolves in the future.

From the Lens..........Help!!!

More Of The Same

Thursday 20th January, 2011

Today is a bit like yesterday though the temperature has risen more.  Had my haircut yesterday and I think I have found a hairdresser who knows what I want.  Admittedly my hair is nowhere near how I want it at the moment, as she had to cut and restyle it, but at least she has cut it into some style that when it grows it won't look too bad.  Hopefully....lol.

Katie rang me this morning, twice.  Firstly she rang to tell me that her cousin Maddie was staying for two nights and that they were playing with their babies.  Later, they were going to make some cookies and fairy cakes.  I asked her to save some for Tony and me.   

She rang again a couple of hours later wanting to know what was the name of my favourite perfume.  They had been talking about it, she knew the name Jacob was in there, so I told her it was Lola by Mark Jacobs.  I think she is going to be a girl after my own heart..........a love of perfume.

The Tour Down Under went into Stage 3 today.......beginning at Unley and ending at Stirling.  This cycle race takes the long way to get there.  They raced down along the Southern Expressway, through McLaren Vale and finally into the hills to Stirling.  Normally Unley to Stirling would take about 20 minutes, straight up the freeway, but the cyclists take around 3 and a half hours.

From the Lens..........map of Stage 3

map courtesy SBS website

Not Much To Tell

Wednesday 19th January, 2011

Nothing much happening here today.  All is well in my little world.  The sun is shining, birds are singing and it is getting warm.

Stage 2 today of the Tour Down Under.  Today they ride from Tailem Bend to Mannum and all places in between.  Late in the stage there were a couple of awful crashes where a few of the riders were injured.  I think the worst injury was a broken collarbone.

I am off to the hairdressers.....have got a new one I am going to.  Wish me luck!

From the Lens........nothing would be nicer than cruising the river on a day like this, on this old paddle steamer

Not Sleeping Too Well

Tuesday 18th January, 2011


Went to bed a bit earlier last night as I was feeling tired, but I don't think it was a good idea.  Woke up and soon after I heard the clock chiming 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.........whaaaaaaatttttt 12.  It was only midnight and I felt like I had slept for hours.  Consequently I didn't have a very good night and today I have been feeling so tired.

I did manage to finish off the washing and get the ironing done. 

We are having trouble with our roller door to the garage and so the guy came out this afternoon to fix it.  The wheels at the end are crooked and so it doesn't run on the runner smoothly.  He said that usually they don't cause a problem and didn't have any in his van and so he would have to come back another day to fix it.  I also asked for a quote to have the door converted to electric.

It's not cheap, but talking to Tony we decided to go ahead and get it done when he comes back to fix the wheel.  It has nearly doubled in price since we first enquired about it nearly 6 years ago.  Tony, being an electrician, could do it himself but these days he reckons he's too old to get up and crawl around in ceiling spaces.  Plus they give a 5 year warranty.

Today was the start of the "Tour Down Under".  This is our equivalent of Tour de France but it only goes for 6 days.  We have all the top cycle teams and riders from the world here including Lance Armstrong.  This is going to be his last competitive ride.  Todays ride is from Mawson Lakes to Angaston, in the Barossa Valley.  They go through One Tree Hill, Gawler and all the places in between.

From the Lens...........Tour Down Under

                               pictures courtesy Adelaide Now website

Monday-itis

Monday 17th January, 2011

Today was a "not much of doing anything' day.  I did manage to get a couple of loads of laundry done.

The weather is divine here, temperatures in the mid 20's.....wish we could have days like this everyday.  Later in the week it will warm up into the 30's again.

There are floods still going on in Victoria.  The town of Horsham is now being put on alert.  If you travel to Melbourne by car you pass through Horsham and earlier on they said that the road had been cut by floodwaters and were recommending people who were planning on driving to Melbourne to take an alternate route.

From the Lens.........I want one of these, grasshopper letter box

Shattered

Sunday 16th January, 2011

After enjoying a leisurely Sunday morning, Tony was working on his laptop at the dining room table.  I was in the study working on the computer when I heard a noise.  I called out to him if he was alright as it sounded like the chair had gone back onto the cabinet.

I heard him mutter something and after a minute or so decided to go and check out what the noise was.  He was looking around in the family room and said, "What was that noise?"  Suddenly, he noticed what had caused the noise.  We have 2 DVD cabinets attached to the wall and one of them had the glass shatter in the door.  We could still hear the cracking of the glass.  He said that the noise was pretty loud when it happened.

We had bought these cabinets from Ikea when they first opened in Adelaide some 4 years ago.  After cleaning up the glass we decided to go back to Ikea to see if we could get replacement doors.

Alas no such luck.  Seeing these cabinets are now a discontinued line we were told that there would be no stock of this item anywhere.  When an item is discontinued they sell it out until the item is gone.

Our only option now is to get a glazier replace the glass, which will be a rather difficult job to do without damaging the door.   On the other hand we could get 2 new doors made.

I am now wary of buying anything from Ikea, especially in the furniture line, if you can't buy replacements.  We have other smaller cupboards in the spare bedroom and while they still have the glass doors available for these we have decided to buy a couple and keep them as spares in case they too shatter.  These doors would be harder to replace as they have an etched glass design.

From the Lens..........shattered glass

And It Still Goes On

Saturday 15th January, 2011

And so the floods continue.  This time Victoria is on alert, especially in the north and north west of the state.  Some towns have already been inundated with water but others are still waiting for the flood waters to rise, some not coming until Tuesday of next week.

Today, Tony and I thought we would go up to Murray Bridge and Mannum for a drive to see how the Murray River is faring.  They expect the flood waters from Queensland to come down in about 4-6 weeks time.  There are already signs in Murray Bridge where the water has come onto the plains and they are starting to make a levee to try and protect some of the houses.

It will be very interesting come the end of February, beginning of March.  The river is much higher than when we last saw it.  Many people were out enjoying it though.....boats, jet skis and kids swimming in it.  The current is fast flowing, as we noticed when we crossed the river by ferry both at Wellington and Mannum.

Sat in the park at Mannum just enjoying watching the activities on the river.  One guy was on his jet ski and he knew we were photographing him as he really showed off for the camera. 

We had dinner at the Pretoria Hotel before coming back home.  A really nice pub overlooking the river.

From the Lens..........

It's Time To Get To Work

Friday 14th January, 2011

Now the clean-up begins for the residents of Brisbane.  Most of the water has subsided and oh what a mess it has left behind, soggy furniture, rotting garbage, raw sewerage and damaged cars, not to mention that awful sticky mud.

There are 2 cyclones forming off the coast of Queensland....let's hope they fizzle out to nothing so that the residents of all the coastal towns affected by the floods can get to work and make some headway on getting their properties habitable.  The last thing they want now is more torrential rain.

The funniest story I have heard so far this year is.......
Mike Smithson, a reporter for Channel 7 News and currently doing a radio show told this story.  He was sitting at Channel 7 on Thursday afternoon tuned into the police scanners when a 000 call was received from Clarence Gardens where a woman had reported seeing a crocodile in her backyard.

They got a camera man to go to the address to film this 'crocodile'.  When he arrived there the police and fire brigade were just about ready to leave, so he knocked on the door and asked whether the crocodile was still in the backyard.  "Oh yes," said the woman.  "Can I go and have a look at it?" asked the camera man.

The woman took him into the backyard and the so called crocodile turned out to be a blue tongue lizard about 30cms long.  Too funny!!!

We are too far south to have crocodiles roaming in people's backyards.  To see a crocodile here you have to go to a zoo or wildlife park.

From the Lens.........Does this look like a crocodile?

It's Raining Here

Thursday 13th January, 2011

Awoke this morning to the news that the Brisbane River did not reach the peak of 5.5m, instead it got to 4.5m.  Yaaayyy! that's good news, if you can call it that.  Still, thousands of homes have been flooded.  Some 70 towns and cities throughout Queensland have been flooded in some way.

I have just been sorting my wardrobe to donate some of my clothes and I am also going to get a couple of boxes, shoe box size, and give to the "Shoebox of Love", appeal.  When I go shopping I am going to get some toiletries and fill one with them and the other one I will fill with pencils, books, colouring books and some small toys.

It is raining here at the moment and it feels really weird because I am also watching the floods on TV again.  I know we are not getting the torrential rain like Queensland did, but every now and then I go and check outside.  Call me paranoid.....lol.

From the Lens.............raindrops

Flood Crisis Continues

Wednesday 12th January, 2011

Boy I have never watched as much TV as I have done the last couple of days.  These floods in Queensland have got me  totally absorbed.  At least the river in Ipswich did not peak as high as they were expecting it too, but still some 3000 houses have been flooded.

At 4.ooam  tomorrow morning they are expecting the Brisbane River to peak at 5.5. metres, flooding up to 30,000 homes in Brisbane.

Here at home they have been sending sand bags up to the Riverland, as they are predicting rainfall of between 50-100 mm tomorrow, and some flooding may occur, so they want to be prepared.  Apparently the rain is not going to come from Queensland, but the Northern Territory.  This heavy rain will fall mainly on the eastern side of the ranges, meaning that Adelaide will miss out on the bulk of it.  We are only expecting 5-10 mm.

Even parts of Victoria are now experiencing floods.  Northern New South Wales around Grafton are also in flood.  It has definitely been a very wet and soggy start to 2011 in different parts of all the states of Australia.

From the Lens.........what I have been watching

11/1/11

Tuesday 11th January, 2011


Today is 11.1.11.  It is also the day my friends' daughter Megan, gave birth to her second daughter, Ella.  A beautiful little sister for Phoebe.  Congratulations Megan and Luke!

The flood situation in Queensland does not appear to be abating, instead it is getting worse.  Parts of Brisbane are expected to be flooded on Thursday and Ipswich tomorrow.  Watching the events unfold on the TV it is so hard to comprehend what these people are going through.  We are seeing cars being tossed through the water as if they are toys.  People are on the roofs of houses, tops of cars, clinging to trees all waiting to be rescued.

They are being told to take what they can.  I know during the cyclone back in 1974 we packed a small case with photos, personal papers and other bits and pieces but when we left the house we left it all behind.  That case was never found. 

Over the next couple of days we are expected to get some heavy rain.  Not so much here in Adelaide, but more up in the north eastern part of the state, the Riverland and down in the South East.   Let's see if the forecasters are right.

From the Lens.........Chocolate makes everything better