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November 30, 2006
Oma en Opa in Australie
Oma and Opa are here.
Much excitement.
Posted by Faith at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)
November 29, 2006
From the ground up
I have duck feet. Short and wide. I knew I was also a little pigeon-toed but apparently I underestimated the extent of it. Driven by the refusal of my self-diagnosed sore ligament to heal I decided to talk to someone who knows something about feet. You know it's not good when a professional looks at your feet and says "You have very interesting feet". I've worked in enough professions to know that 'interesting' is a don't-upset-the-client-euphenism for deformed/stuffed/rooted/dead/can-I-write-a-paper-about-this?.
"Interesting website" means its horrible. "Interesting Brand" means no one knows it. "Interesting application" means it doesn't work. "Interesting project" means it will never get off the ground. "Interesting concept" means it sucks.
In my case "interesting feet" means they have 15 degrees less movement than normal feet and my pigeon toedness is pronounced, not "a little". This explains a lot of things. Why I've never been able to jog, no matter how fit I was, without getting agonizing shin splints. Why I catch my toes constantly on things and have broken nearly all of them at some stage. And, perversely, why high-heels feel more comfortable than flat shoes.
And my sore ligament? Well, it's not a sore ligament at all but two inflamed meta-thingies. Two of those long bones in your feet are badly inflamed at the front. The only cure is rest. I laughed so hard I almost fell of the couch.
For someone who managed to avoid going to the doctor for almost forty years this year is turning into a landmark year for physical degeneration. Seven fillings and NOW, orthotics! Could I get any older?
DON'T answer that.
Posted by Faith at 05:44 AM | Comments (0)
November 27, 2006
Failings
Citizenship, as we all know is a grave responsibility, and so it is with some embrassment that I realized on the weekend that my failings as a citizen have only been doubled by globalization and the aquisition of dual citizenship.
Not only did I fail to get organized and back onto the Australian electoral enrolment in time to vote in the election on the weekend I also allowed the Dutch election to slip through my burgerlijke grasp the weekend before.
I'm blaming the chooks.
Posted by Faith at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)
November 26, 2006
Four more sleeps
Only four more sleeps until Oma and Opa arrive from the Netherlands! In the meantime Jacob had a very sociable weekend with Saturday spent painting and growing dinosaurs with Tante Alix. This allowed Ron and I to do a last minute dash around the shopping strips of the north and buy, amongst other things, a futon for Oma and Opa to sleep on.
Sunday, Jacob spent playing in the local playground at a morning arranged for parents from his creche to meet each other and after that it was over to his new-best-friend Issac's who was celebrating his 4th birthday. It was Jacob's first 'real' birthday party, (aside from those held for relatives and at creche's and his own) and he was introduced to all the wonders of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Pass-the-Parcel, Egg and Spoon Races and penata smashing. Wide-eyed and exhausted he coped with it all quite well and still managed to play sociably with his favourite host.
Other notable events of the day; it was the first time the chooks were let out to free range. Tomato seedlings and basil and lettuce went into the vegetable garden. Very late for tomatoes but then we started late.
Posted by Faith at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)
November 25, 2006
Photo Friday:Immature
Posted by Faith at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2006
GGGood morning
At Jacob's last creche he became best-and-insperable friends with Megan within days of starting. It was only a few weeks later that we discovered that her surname was 'de Boer' and that she was from Sth Africa. Now Jacob has had to change creche and on his second day became best-and-inseperable friends with another Jacob. (Yes, you only have to call them once ......)
This morning I looked down the sign-in list to see what the-other-Jacob's surname was. Unbelievable! 'Guthleben'! The boy's germanic gene's are seeking out others at some sub-genetic level. Is there a Germanic DNA marker, maybe he is zeroing in on a hard-G, or is it just the scent of potatoes?
Posted by Faith at 07:29 AM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2006
Healthier than thou.
For breakfast this morning I had ruhbarb, mulberries and raspberries from the garden. Leaving the house I felt sooo unbearably smug; as smug as only a woman brim full of home-grown anti-oxidants can feel.
Posted by Faith at 02:52 AM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2006
The chook has landed.
On the weekend we went to Book-a-Chook and chose our chooks and bought them home. We have four chooks; Olive (the silver/grey one), Floortje (white), Willemin (black) and Bluey (red). They are six week old bantam Pekins so won't be laying for several months yet. They are all settling in well and we are scurrying around chook-proofing the vegie garden and backyard so that they can free range. Jacob seems to be coping well with the disapointment of not being able to get a green chook.
Posted by Faith at 12:10 AM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2006
Shorn
Jacob hasn't been too keen on having his hair cut of late. This has led to the invention of a game called comb-and-scissors-chasey and haircuts like this. Works of art in themselves to be sure but not always terribly practical.
So this year's award for patience, persistence, and perseverance in the face of grave personal danger has to go to Nabil the Barber, in Lygon St. Nabil hails from Syria and has limited english and even fewer customers and so it was that I selected him for this special assignment, as someone who might have the time to indulge the whims of a three year old. Poor Nabil did an excellent job; for his eight dollars he endured Jacobs contortions, a haircut that took almost an hour, having to give Mama a trim to prove it wouldn't hurt, and being stabbed in the palm of the hand with his own scissors.
There are those who complain constantly about immigrants to this country but Nabil is wounded-proof that most of them are willing to put up with far more than the average Australian in order to make a go of things. The mettle of the man reminded me of nothing more than the old-school shearers whose hard-yakka battler mentality is supposed to encapsulate so much that is 'Australian'.
The suprise bonus at the end of it all is the gentle waft of patchouli everytime I ruffled Jacob's hair for the next few days. Poor Nabil, looks like we'll be returning!
Posted by Faith at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2006
Rainy day Ninja hero
An extraordinarily unseasonably cold day (Snow in November in Melbourne! -it doesn't even snow here in winter, let alone in spring in the middle of a drought!) found Jacob forced to entertain himself with an apron tied on his head and several coloured strips of wool wrapped around his wrists. He described himself as Super-hero-Jacob but I thought the final effect had a touch of the Ninja about it.
Posted by Faith at 01:22 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2006
Almost-free massage
While struggling to run the gamut from Collins St to Flinder's lane without hitting the Credit button on the EFTPOS machine thing too often I came across a wonderful marketing ploy at Australia on Collins. There are two people outside the Sock Shop who give fabulous five minute neck and shoulder massages for "what-you-think-it's-worth". The catch is you will have to weather a wee bit of banter about Australia on Collins and the shopping possibilities within. But it is only a wee bit. The bonus is you leave feeling a good bit taller and lighter despite the extra shopping bags!
Posted by Faith at 08:40 AM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2006
Testing the Weber
An gezellig afternoon was had on the weekend with Judy, Kees, Beatrice, Queenie, Charlie Gen, Simon, Felix and Jasper testing the weber. Jacob declined to wear any pants for the occassion.
Posted by Faith at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2006
Don't tease them, they're sensitive
In Australia we make jokes about New Zealanders and in the Netherlands they make the same jokes about the Belgians. And every now and then it seems there is someone hell bent on proving the worst of these true!
Posted by Faith at 04:27 AM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2006
Football and dirt
They're recruiting for series 2 of Nerds FC.
Ron played his first game of soccer in years the other night and the groans with which he crawled out of bed the next morning combined with his job in IT might just qualify him for a role!
To top it off our long awaited compost and mulch arrived yesterday. I shovelled just over half of the three cubic metres from the footpath to the backyard before collapsing into a jellified heap and ringing Ron to suggest he come home early and loosen up those stiff muscles with some light exercise.
Posted by Faith at 06:34 AM | Comments (0)
Dig
Posted by Faith at 05:17 AM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2006
Little Kids
I saw this in a local second-hand shop and had to buy it for Jacob's room. Besides it's obvious kitsch-appeal it also captures perfectly that certain smugness, the patronising air that goes with being appealed to as one of the big kids.
Smugness and patronising airs are something Jacob can wear with style at the drop of a hat these days. The poster is from a series produced here in the 1950s and is an original. I found that a set was recently sold at auction here in Melbourne. Individually they fectched the same price each as I paid for this one retail so I got a pretty good deal.
Posted by Faith at 01:21 AM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2006
How the other half live
We finally have a dining table! No more sitting around Jacob's IKEA kiddy table to eat meals together. Of course in three and a half weeks it will have to go in the garage as Ron's parent's will be arriving and the dining room will become their bedroom for the duration. But until then we're just going to enjoy the luxury of eating at a table and in a seperate room from the TV.
Posted by Faith at 02:29 AM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2006
I should be so Lucky
On Sunday all Jacob's horse-riding dreams came true while simultaneously fulfilling some of Ron's worst nightmares. Now that's quite a feat for one horse isn't it?
We finally managed to be at the Collingwood Children's Farm on a Sunday on which they have free pony rides. After queuing up for a good three-quarters of an hour Jacob's dreams were realised and he finally sat proudly astride a reasonably impressive horse. While they're called 'pony rides' the steeds in question are actually full-sized horses. As each child has to be accompanied by a parent, and the height of the horse making my presence pretty much redundant, (I'm only 165cm) Ron had to 'volounteer' to walk beside the horse for the duration of the ride. Ron's enthusiasm for horse-riding has been well documented. From the look on Jacob's face as he sat astride Lucky, he'll be getting plenty of opportunity to develop it even further.
Posted by Faith at 06:18 AM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2006
SuperJacob
SuperJacob set off for creche this morning cleverly disguised as a three year old with what looked suspiciously like a towel on his head. Of course, Jacob was able to spot the transformative powers of the towel, (Hema baby-towel, embroidered giraffe on the corner that sits on your head) immediately and wasn't fooled for an instant. Transformed into SuperJacob he flew from here to creche in nano seconds.
Once at creche he strolled in with the same air of expectant confidence that normally you see only on the likes of a David Beckham-in-Armani-on-a-red-carpet-with-hair-gel, totally confident that the SuperJacob cape would be received with appropriate awe. As the only people there were the grown ups the initial reception did live up to expectations although the subtext may have escaped the attention of the man-of-cute-bendy-steel. As SuperJacob slid smugly into his chair to start jigsaw puzzles still wearing his cream coloured towel with embroidered giraffe on the forehead, sorry, SuperJacob cape, his mother left hoping fervently that the four year olds would be gentle with him.
One thing is apparent though, the lessons we've been trying to instill about having to share any of the toys he chooses to take to creche are obviously working. When I gently suggested that maybe the towel, I mean, Super Jacob cape, wasn't the best thing to take to creche Jacob stood there with it crumpled up in his hands and said, "Maar Mama, Ik gaa het deelen!" (But Mama, I'm going to share it). Those lucky kids!
The SuperJacob cape
Posted by Faith at 01:07 AM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2006
Great uncle Henry
Dus, the beginning of the enormous scan-family-history-project. Young Henry and his tricycle, circa 190?. Look mum, no tyres!
Posted by Faith at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
Can't complain
We're in the middle of a drought here in Australia and even in Melbourne we're starting to feel it. Phase 2 water restrictions have been introduced and the last six fountains in the city were turned off yesterday. The garden is drying up and our water tanks are already getting low, despite the fact that it's spring, supposedly the wettest time of the year. I can't remember the last time we had a good soaking rain.
So I can't possibly complain that the one day I arrange for a truckload of compost and mulch to be delivered it has started pouring and looks set to go on doing so for the rest of the day, now can I? Ron is in Sydney for work and it will be up to me to shovel three cubic metres of mulch from the pavement outside into our garden, before the film crew returns tomorrow. Make that three cubic metres of soaking wet mulch.
Posted by Faith at 12:09 AM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2006
It get's earlier every year
In a frenzy of Christmas-organisation I'll probably never be able to repeat I managed to get all our parcels for the Netherlands wrapped and in the sea parcel post (that's the cheap way) before the Christmas closing date of October 6th. Parcels by sea take 2-3 months. They say.
Unless, apparently, there's some cheap freight going on a plane. Slightly embarassing when all your Christmas parcels arrive at their destination in the last week of September. There's organised and then there's just plain weirdly-over-efficient.
Posted by Faith at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)
Spring cleaning
Yup, its a template. It's spring cleaning time here in the southern hemisphere and that includes the blog! The design that was never-finished has been falling into greater and greater disrepair. Fixing it is now well beyond normal human powers so I'm starting from scratch.
Whats the bet that in a year's time you'll still be looking at the same template? And, shhhhhhhhhh, but I'm turning comments back on just to see what happens.
Posted by Faith at 04:29 AM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2006
United Nations
The film crew refer to each of the houses involved in the series by the nationality of the characters living there. Thus we have the Vietnamese house, the Greek house, the Bollywood house, the Russian empire etc etc. It may seem a tad over the top to have a different nationality in every house but then again if I look from our place to the end of the street what do we have in reality? Dutch/Australian-Lebanese-UK/Australian-Greek-Italian. On the other side of the road, Italian-Greek-Italian-Malaysian-Sudanese-Greek-Sri Lankan and then we get to the ones I don't know so well.
It's only a small cul-de-sac but there are more nationalities living here in reality than in the film. As far as I can tell the only continent not represented is North America. Or maybe they're just keeping quiet about it?
Posted by Faith at 04:11 AM | Comments (0)