Category: Trying new things

The jury is in…

/ Renae / 5 Comments

… and cloth nappies it is! I’ve been umming and aaahing over this decision for a few months now, but I  we have decided to go for cloth over disposables. Hubs didn’t really mind either way, saying helpful things like “well you’re going to be the one changing the nappies so it’s up to you. Hee hee.” Yeah right. We’ll see 🙂 A few of my close friends have used cloth nappies from day one, so there were plenty of sources to seek great advice from, whilst not having the pressure of them saying that I had to do it. Thanks guys!! You’ve been a great help.

And cloth nappies aren’t what they used to be. We’re going to invest in some of these types of nappies and have a few disposables on hand if and when needed. I’m actually quite excited about this venture, which just goes to show it is the right decision for us at this time. The most helpful thing that one of my friends said was that if you make it a part of your baby routine from day one, it doesn’t seem like such a big task. And having a summer baby, at least for the first few month we won’t have any trouble getting them dry!

I’m over 7 months pregnant now, and the reality of having a little baby soon is hitting rather close to home. I still feel like there’s so much to do, but I also know that no matter how much or how little we do to prepare, it will be enough and we will manage. Littlefoot has been making some pretty extreme moves lately, getting ready to make his or her grand entrance into the outside world I’m sure. I can’t wait to meet you little one!!

Quite Interesting

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I’m about to go on one of my “you HAVE to do this thing which is so awesome” rants, in this case, watch a particular TV show, where most of you will be thinking “yeah Wifey, I’ve been watching that show since it aired in 2003 and have told you before to watch it, and now that you’ve discovered it, you need to give me some credit for already telling you about it.” Or something along those lines.

I’m talking about QI, or Quite Interesting; a British panel comedy that Hubs and I have fallen head over heals in love with. (Here’s the Wiki link that gives a great run-down on the show.) We’ve been watching it on IView (something ELSE a friend told me about AGES ago that we’ve only just tapped into) the last month or 2 and it really has become one of my favourite shows. I think we’ll have to look at acquiring the earlier seasons as well. We get great belly laughs and Mutley gasps every episode, and no matter what mood I’m in before I watch it, I’m always in a better mood after.

So if you haven’t already checked it out, I can highly recommend it. If you’ve been watching it for years, tell me if the novelty ever wears off!

The Swap Meet

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Ever been to one? Even know what one is? Any interest in attending one? Before Sunday the 12th September 2010, my answers to these 3 questions were “no”, “not really”, “not overly, but Hubs is excited so that’s good enough for me.” Hubs has been working very hard for the last few weeks to get the kombi up and running, and his hard work was rewarded on Thursday night when he had completed all the jobs he thought would fix it, and the beast started. And it hasn’t stopped since!

Over the preceding days we had been talking about buying another car – something a little more “family-friendly”, and one that… you know… was working. But as we were taking the kombi for a test-drive around town on the Thursday night, Hubs with a big grin on his face, I turned to him and said “We’re not going to be getting another car now, are we?…” His response? “HELL NO WOMAN.” And seeing that smile was all the convincing I needed. We were due to head down to Melbourne over the weekend and come back through Shepparton on the Sunday to attend the Annual Goulburn Valley Swap Meet. We still need a few parts for the car (including a centre seat) and thought it might be a fun way to spend a Sunday.

Up until Thursday night, we were thinking we’d have to hire a car, but thankfully I have a brilliant Hubsband who fixes stuff, so we jumped in the kombi on a sunny Friday afternoon and headed down the Hume towards Melbourne. We caught up with friends on Friday night and the Saturday, and loaded up the kombi with all sorts of marvelous baby furniture and paraphernalia, thanks to our wonderful friends the Baileys and the Bakers. We then caught up with Hubs’ uni friends for dinner on Saturday night and watched the end of the Bulldogs vs Swans game – a great night was had by all, and it was so lovely to see all our wonderful friends.

Sunday morning was an early start with the alarm going off at 5:30am. “We” (Hubs) wanted to be at Shep by 8am ish, but ended up getting there closer to 9am. (I slept half the drive.) I was quite intrigued about this whole “swap meet” thing and Hubs was telling me that it was a “Classic Cars Swap Meet” so I was looking forward to seeing lots of restored vehicles and, well you know, Classic Cars!

I was to be frightfully disappointed.

The reality was more like this: Every August, wives of Goulburn Valley start pestering their husbands to “clean out all the junk in the garage” to which the husbands respond “it’s not junk! This stuff has a lot of value!” The wives say something along the lines of “I don’t care what you do with it, just get rid of it!” So the husbands cleverly think to themselves “I know – the annual swap meet us coming up! I’m sure I’ll be able to sell my junk there.” And that’s 80% of what we saw. Junk from people’s garages. The “classic cars” were few and far between, and it became evident VERY early on that we weren’t going to find what we were looking for.

Add in some soft rock playing on a loop in the background (80s and 90s baby – I was in heaven!), some sausages on bread, the odd mullet or 2, more than enough ugg boots, and 1 lone kombi (a 1977 model – one year younger than ours*) and you’re pretty much looking at 3 hours of Wifey being very good at not complaining but wishing she was lounging around somewhere else. Anywhere else!!

Here are some examples of what we saw:

Now to be fair, there were SOME classic cars. They seemed to be either looking like this:

(believe it or not, this one had a “SOLD” sign on it)

…or this…
…or this! (NOW we’re talking!)

(For more fab photos, visit Hubs’ flickr page here.)

So we arrived with the desire to buy a couple of carburetors, a center seat, and a new engine :-). We left with a “new” saucepan ($10), 5 lemons ($1), 2kg of nuts ($20), 2 cook books ($2) and some snow chains ($5). I was excited with my little treasures, but Hubs was annoyed he didn’t get to buy anything manly. The snow chains were a bit of a “I want to BUY SOMETHING” purchase, but hopefully they’ll come in handy.

Hubs has since heard through the grapevine that there is a VW Only Swap Meet in Melbourne in a couple of weeks time, so we’re heading down for that one too, and will hopefully find what we’re looking for. Although, if the last one was anything to go buy, it might just be a whole lot of non-car-related junk from VW owners’ garages. Only time will tell…

*technically the kombi we drive still belongs to Hubs’ family, but Hubs adopted it 10 years ago and has never left it’s side.

Gone shootin’

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Okay. So this is a post that I started writing on the 2nd of February 2009 (yes, 2009) about an activity that took place on the 2nd of January 2009 (yes, 2009). I know I know. I’ve been busy! So the story goes: Hubs wanted to do some shooting at the rifle range while we were on in Brisbane for Christmas holidays almost 2 years ago, so Dad offered to take us. He owns a few (registered, legal) hunting rifles, so we invited Lsl and NephNath along and headed down to The Queensland Rifle Range at Belmont.

After a (very brief) safety demonstration, we waited for a break in the “traffic” and set our targets up.

Ready Hubs?
Ready Wifey?
Ready Lsl?
Aim NephNath and Dad, and FIRE!
We even managed to hit some targets! I think this was one of mine?
I didn’t like to use the animal-looking ones… That’s so mean!
All the gun shots left me quite on edge and to be honest, I was quite happy to leave. We had a great time though!

Trying new things

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As I mentioned, Hubs and I have been taking Yoga classes since we arrived in Wang. I wanted to learn some relaxation and breathing techniques, and we both wanted to improve our flexibility. I have been mostly enjoying it, except that I seem to be getting worse, not better. Each week I find the class a little harder and feel like I can’t do as much as the week before, as my belly expands. I do feel I’ve benefited from the relaxation techniques, and have learnt some great “labour poses” (pose of the child, cat pose), and hope that I can apply them when the time comes.

I was watching Hubs do some “Dragon” poses last week and marvelled at how far he had come with his Yoga. For someone who could barely sit cross-legged before we started, he really has loosened up and developed a great technique. I was really quite proud! I’ll just keep plugging along and hope that it pays off in November.

I’ve also started riding a bike a bit more frequently. Now, let me tell you, riding a bike isn’t “just like riding a bike” for me. It does not come naturally, nor easily. Don’t get me wrong – I WANT to love bike riding. I WANT to be one of those people who just jumps on her bike to pop to the shops or to church or to a garage sale, but the thought doesn’t really float my boat. And being pregnant really doesn’t help my cause at all. Not only am I my usual amount of uncoordinated, but I’m now unbalanced (be nice) as well! The fact that I have a men’s bike doesn’t help either. Getting on and off that thing (having to swing my leg over the bar) is not easy, and don’t even get me STARTED on the size of the seat!!!

I found a bike at a bike shop the other day and fell in love. It was purple, it had a massive seat, a little basket on the back, it was a hybrid (whatever that means), and it was oh-so-cute (cos that’s important). And it was “only” $600!! I really think if we were going to be in Wang for the next 5 years I would invest in it, but I just can’t see myself riding much once we move back to Queensland. Mainly because of all the hills! I’ve never owned a new bike before, and certainly not one and pretty and fancy as that one. I just don’t know that I can justify the expense. But every time I have to get on my current bike, I am very tempted indeed!!

I am trying hard to embrace it a bit more, and over the weekend I DID ride my bike to a garage sale on Saturday and to church on Sunday. And it just makes me want that pretty bike even more…

Sorry Jodi, it’s over

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I’ve read a few of Jodi Piccoult‘s novels in the last 12 months, but I’m afraid I won’t be coming back for any more. I’ve given her a few chances, and I’m afraid she just doesn’t deliver. I gave her a go with Nineteen Minutes and she disappointed me with her inability to get me to relate to the characters. Then I picked up Vanishing Acts in South Africa for ZAR30 and I ended up skipping parts of it that were so boring, but I had to find out what happened in the end. A complete disappointment – I have to say, one of the least appealing books I’ve ever read.

But I was saving the best for last: My Sister’s Keeper. That was supposed to be her best so I had it transferred from the Ballarat Library, and borrowed it from the Wangaratta Library a couple of weeks ago. Now, to give you a bit of background, I actually went to see the movie when it came out last year, and spent around 2 hours being manipulated by Hollywood, and basically blubbering like an idiot. But I quite enjoyed the story, and I could really get in to the plot and characters. Unfortunately on my way out of said movie, I overheard a fellow movie-goer exclaim “in the book, it finishes this way ____________ blah blah blah.” Thanks lady. No really, that was a great piece of information to share. (I’m not going to be a jerk and spoil it for the rest of you.) But as we all know, the book is ALWAYS better than the movie.

Or so I thought.

I finished it up last night, and by that, I mean I forced myself to read the final 80 pages in one go, just so I could get rid of it. And I’m a slow reader, so that took me about 2 hours. Of course it made me cry in the end (damn manipulative writing) but I had no sense of peace or justice. It’s like she drew this story out for over 400 pages and then got bored and thought “I’m just going to wrap this up right here and now.”

BAM. It’s over.

And there is no WAY I’m going to be looking out for her books any more. I understand that there are quite a few JP fans out there, and you’re entitled. I’m not trying to make enemies here. My main criticisms of her books that I have read are as follows:

  • She researches certain topics and just seems to show off with a bunch of information that really isn’t necessary to the story. It’s just distracting and a little obnoxious.
  • She writes in short bursts – paragraphs that you could have taken out of, or could put in to any book. It’s like she comes up with this really powerful paragraph, writes it on a big sticky note and puts in near her computer, waiting to fit it in somewhere.
  • The endings to her books are abrupt and unfulfilling. Everything gets wrapped up in the last chapter and I never feel any sense of resolution.

Good on her for making a great career out of writing – I think it would be a very hard road. I’m just not a fan.

Next on my “to read” list is The Other Boleyn Girl. Let’s hope it’s much more rewarding.

Au Naturel

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I remember when it all began. I was 15 years old and I wanted to dye my hair. Mum was a bit reluctant at first, but I convinced her that a Napro Live Colour, retailing at $4.00 at the time, was a semi-permanent, and might not even make a difference. I’m sure Mum then asked “well if it’s not going to make a difference, then why do it at all” and I’m sure I would have responded with “just becaaaaaauuuuusssse okaaaaaaaay?????” (my negotiation skills were a little light-on when I was 15.) I’m sure the real reason was that all my friends were doing it and I didn’t want to be left behind.

So permission was granted. I’m pretty sure I started with the chestnut colour which made my hair nice and shiny and glossy. And then I was hooked. The thing about Napro semi-permanent dyes, is that they’re actually quite permanent. (Aren’t they Ah-dele!?) I mean, the shine and gloss fades after a week or 2, but the colour certainly stays around. So I was hooked. I moved on to the reds and burgundy colours after that and ever since then, I’ve always had a colour in my hair. Mum actually let me experiment with foils at age 17 and I had some wicked stripes happening for my formal. I looked like a tiger! But mostly, I just went with the all-over-hair dye.

Once I turned 18, the freedom was so overwhelming that I moved on to permanent dyes! Woah! (I also got the top of my ear pierced, got a tattoo, and considered a belly button ring. Oh yeah. It was a big turning point in my life!!)

At 26, and during what I’m sure was a bit of a crisis point in my life, I decided I wanted to go blonde. I had found a hairdresser who worked from home who was happy to oblige (at a good rate too!) and suggested that since I had so much red dye in my hair, caked on over the years, that she would just put a whole lot of foils in. And I didn’t so much go blonde, but ginger. Well, kind of orange. The roots (that didn’t have any dye in them) were a lovely blonde, but the rest, well, not so much.

So I decided to start fresh. Wipe the slate clean. It’s been almost a year since I last dyed my hair. And since I’m pregnant, I also decided that I would wait til the bub is born before I embark on anymore dye jobs. So here’s what my hair looks like in it’s natural state:

(Thankfully you can’t see all the greys!!) And another one, in my natural colour, but waved for a 1920s-themed lunch we went to a few weeks ago:

I’m not sure what I’m going to do once I dye again! How about I try blonde again?! Ha ha. Maybe not. Maybe some cute red tips or something. Am I getting to old for such things!?? NEVER!!

Chocolatey goodness

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Last night, I headed out to Blackburn on the east side of town, to my Chocolate Making Workshop. It was SO much fun. It delivered everything it promised, and then some. Our teacher, Sylvia, was fabulous – so knowledgeable and a lot of fun. It really was a jam-packed 4 hours, and I’m SO glad she gave us a booklet at the end with all the info we had learnt. And of course, now I want to be a chocolatier. You know, like Juliette Binoche in Chocolat (hubba hubba). Sorry. Getting side-tracked.

We started out with Sylvia explaining the history of chocolate and the cocoa bean and its composition. Then we learnt about “confectionery” as opposed to chocolate and how chocolate has to contain a certain % of cocoa bean to be classified as chocolate (i.e. Nestle White Melts are actually a confectionery as they contain 0% cocoa bean) so I’ll be keeping my eye out for the “good stuff”. I controlled myself and didn’t purchase any equipment there and then, but you can be sure that I’ll be looking into it once we move to Wang! Here are some photos from the night:

The little chocolate cups we made using oranges and the chocolate leaves (so going to try these again)
These were our little chocolates in the process. We made ones with hazelnut praline, Cointreau liqueur, caramel, lemon lime genache, and another one that I can’t remember! We also filled some truffles which were scrumptious!

This was our little work area, and the other 3 participants with Sylvia (2nd from left) our expert

The attention to detail was lovely!

And oh so very delicious! Hubs had one when I got home and loved it! I really would like to buy some basic equipment and give this a go – just for fun! I’ll add it to my wish list for when we move to Wang. Who knows? You might benefit from it one day!

Thanks for the prezzie guys – it was just brilliant   x x x x x x

I’ve chosen my own adventure!

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As I mentioned previously, my cousins and aunty and uncle gave me a red balloon voucher for my birthday in January, and I’ve finally booked something in! It wasn’t even on the voting list I blogged about! This is what I went with: (Quoted directly from the website)

Chocolate Making Workshop

Chocolate Making Workshop
What is the Experience?
This chocolate-making workshop is all about chocolate-making in a dream setting. You’ll make gorgeous hand-made chocolates in a fully equipped commercial Melbourne kitchen. Under the guidance of a professional chocolatier, you’ll be preparing ganache filling, chocolate curls, and more!
Professional foodies and chocoholics alike will simply love this beginners’ chocolate-making workshop. To begin with, Sylvia, a professional chocolatier, will talk you through the process of turning cocoa beans into a block of chocolate and give you some tasty information on the history of chocolate. Then you’ll be ready to temper the chocolate and turn it into chocolaty delights!

Correct tempering of chocolate is the key to perfectly-made delicacies. During the workshop you will work with only the highest-quality Belgian couverture chocolate, which averages over 64% cocoa. You’ll make ganache filling, choose your own flavouring, and pour into moulds that are the same as those used by the world’s top chocolatiers! You will also get to call on your creative side when making little curls and other decorations for your chocolates.

Throughout the four-hour class you’ll make a variety of chocolates and decorations – all of which you’ll get to take home with you afterwards! Everything is done to the highest professional standard and the atmosphere is all about fun.

One of the best things about this class is the size. With no more than six participants in the group you will all work together and receive all of the attention you need in order to bring out your innermost chocolaty creative flair!

This course is ideal for the chocolate-lover who wants to learn about the intricacies of chocolate appreciation and learn how to make goodies for themselves, or as gifts for others. Any professional cook or patisserie chef who wants to hone their skills in chocolate-making will also benefit greatly from this workshop. Whatever your motivation, you will walk away from this workshop knowing all about the full potential of chocolate and with a box full of chocolaty treats. This is a fun-packed four hours that you won’t forget!

Oh yeah. I’m just a bit excited. The course is in a couple of weeks so I’ll let you know how it goes. I might have to wear my stretchy pants! Tee hee!!