The Fogs Of War

We have been very busy because it is The School Holidays and perhaps that is why I had a migraine last night. I have to be truly bedridden before we miss a walk and Gilly and Hedy had a lovely walk with Rafa this morning. The mornings are quite foggy, and the fog is so thick you need to use your windscreen wipers.

Hedy Lamarr and Rafa conduct a series of games. There is a lot of facing off, running and then engaging.

Gilly and Hedy love the cooler weather. Gilly is especially happy and wags her tail and even “plays” with Rafa for micro-bursts. Gilly is so good, but she waits until she sees the prize before she asks with her paw. Hedy is already asking non-stop because she believes I have a treat!!

MrsDrWho took me on a short road trip to visit Auntie and Uncle Dutch and Lo, The Young Dutches and Kinder Zoe came for lunch. There are no photos of them, because, privacy, but here are Poppy, Auntie and Uncle’s dog, and new puppy for Zoe: Daisy-Belle. Daisy-Belle slept in MrsDrWho’s arms. She is such a cute puppy. 

I sewed two more tiny Hold It bins by Made by Dana. The yellow for Kinder Zoe and the Bunny outer fabric for The Dutches. 

 

I also made some Honeycomb Malteser Fudge. Auntie Dutch loves honeycomb but I thought it would just dissolve into the fudge, but the chocolate covered Maltesers might just be OK. And they were. It is such an easy recipe: melt together one tin of sweetened condensed milk and 440g of whatever chocolate you like (I chose half milk and half dark) and stir until smooth. I let it cool a little and then made layers of fudge, Maltesers, fudge and then pressed the remaining lollies into the top. I chilled it in the freezer and we were good to go. This fudge needs to be kept in the fridge, and in theory if you use a 20cm (8 inch) tin, you can cut 64 pieces.

I fixed my Star Wars dress, after Hedy’s paw ripped the neck. I unpicked the lining at the waistband and then laid the dress so that the lining matched the lining and the Star Wars the Star Wars, and then sewed a fish eye dart really. The seam is there if you know to look for it, but because the fabric is so busy, I think it works.

I finally knitted Mr HouseOf’s birthday hat. I was seduced by a Caron Cupcake, but the pattern on the label was for a child’s hat, so I worried if there would be enough meterage for an adult hat. I used some lovely black Merino Magic for a double width band, and in the end there was plenty left. I shall use it to make a striped hat. Hedy may have stolen the pom-pom from the bedside table. I am not sure if Mr HouseOf wants it, or not?

When I talk to The Nextdoor Neighbors at the fence, Hedy Lamarr likes to dig the hole she is working on. It is fine, that is the dedicated hole digging area. However, if you are in range, she will shower you with dirt. Poor Lorelai Gilmore was standing there very innocently, when she came within range:

Hedy could not care, and poor Gilly needs to have her head wipes and be cuddled. She is very patient with Hedy.

I feel so much better now the weather is cooler, even though I had a migraine. I am lucky that mine only last two days and I am allowed to tailor my hospital-at-home drugs to suit the pain level. I am even happier that I have worked out how to blog using The TypePad mobile platform. I emailed myself a video from my phone to the iPad, then I saved the video and used the YouTube app to upload it and then copied the URL. I feel very technologically competent.

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day and I plan to bake some kind of ANZAC caramel slice. I never feel very included with all the emphasis on mateship and men. I do remember those who have served in any capacity, at home or abroad, in the Forces or not. I am very cross right now that Brendan Nelson wants to spend Half A Billion Dollars on an underground hall for the War Memorial. If that much money is there to be spent, we should be spending it on people, the people who have been negatively affected by their service. If you’re willing to put your life on the line, I think we should be willing to give you all the money you need to help you transition back to civilian life. Another display won’t help anyone. They could just squoosh everything together a bit more.

I need to get my act together and sew a dress before the month ends. I have six days.......

PS When I preview this post it looks weird, so please excuse any weirdness. I don’t know how to fix it.

Some Like It Not Hot

We saw Bonnie the Labrador @randomknits had a new toy. I decided Gilly should have a new squeaky toy. Hedy wants it, Gilly has it, and so it begins.......

Oh so many things have happened. The heat is somewhat less, 27*C instead of 37*C, and the nights are often cool enough to sleep. I did have a little crisis. I heard a beeping sound in the middle the night and thought it was coming from the fuse box. I worried all night and I could feel my heart beating fast and my stomach swirling and I could not think properly. I rang The Lifeline people at about 6am because I didn't want to wake up anyone I knew!! The woman on the phone listened, and suggested I ring an electrician and ask their advice. I did. He answered the phone at 7am, and was so kind and understanding. He asked for a photo of the fuse box and I emailed one to him. He said it all looked absolutely fine and there was no sparking or fizzing or other weird things happening. I left a little gift of thanks for him, and for his dog, at his office.

I felt so much better, and that night when I heard the sound I called my next door neighbour and she said it sounded like a cricket. And over the next week we had all sorts of cricket noises because of the hot weather. I was just so hot and so tired and unwell that I could not employ any of my usual coping strategies. This year, if there are no medical or major appliance emergencies, we are going to buy an air-conditioner for the bedroom. Being able to sleep and be cool will be so wonderful!!!

I like to talk about my anxiety and/or depression because when I didn't talk about it, things became very terrible. And I don't want things to be terrible again. I also know to ask for help. That helps!!

Lorelai Gilmore and Hedy Lamarr met a new friend. Sandy's dad and mum are respite carers for Guide Dogs and Guide Dogs in training. This last week they looked after Cobie. He has some Golden Retriever in his mix. Cobie is about the same age as Hedy but he is bigger than everyone and has beautiful longer fur.

From the left you can see Hedy, Gilly, Rafa and Cobie.  Lots of happy waggy tails. All the dogs get on very well and play happily together. Cobie is on his lead because he is worth a lot of money and must be kept safe from falling into gorges or over cliffs.

Lorelai Gilmore is feeling better now the weather is cooler. Hedy is always pushing to the front and demanding attention and pats, but Gilly just stands quietly and waits. I asked the other humans to pat her too, and she was as pleased as punch.

Hedy just wants to play with her Billyball. She is more than a little obsessed.

I love back to school time, I love all the stationery and the accoutrements. I have also had a lot of therapy and I no longer feel sad when my friends go back to teach their new classes. I did some lunch and recess prepping for MrsDrWho to make the transition a little easier. In the shops I saw a lot of coffee cups, keep cups, travel cups and on a pamphlet I saw a tea travel cup, which used tea leaves. I emailed the Sistema company, but they said it was discontinued in Australia. To my surprise and joy, Tash offered to send me the showroom Twist'n'Sip tea cup. I am very grateful and it is so lovely. I put tea leaves in and it brews. I can close the top so it doesn't spill and I can click it open to drink. Now I am likely to take this to the back yard, or maybe to a picnic, not in the car. Thank you Sistema, for your unexpected kindness.

MrsDrWho and I went on a  little road trip to Latrobe to visit Reliquaire on the last Thursday of the holidays. Reliquaire was razed to the ground on Christmas Eve 2015, but they relocated and then rebuilt. It is a shop full of lovely bits and bobs, from a $1 badge to a $5500 giant bear and everything in between. We spent a few hours browsing and found lots of hidden things behind secret doors like these dinosaurs.

We had morning tea first, and later on lunch, and stopped at Ashgrove cheese for cheese supplies. I love cheese. I am glad it is chocolate I cannot eat because I could not live without cheese. I bought Harvarti with jalapenos, Double Gloucester and cheddar with cracked pepper. MrsDrWho bought matching Harvarti with bacon. I had cheese for dinner.

Artists and schools have painted the cows which decorate the Ashgrove grounds.  They amuse me.

I am well enough to have knitted a sock, using Opal Fresh & Juicy in the Sweet Chocolate Dream colour. I used my usual pattern which I cobbled together. One sock down, one to go. I love the colours, and Opal does knit up beautifully, my stitches look so nice. None of the colours are really right. maybe the first one but a little less bright than the second?? I mainly watched Altered Carbon on The Netflix while I knitted. I have also sewed a little.....

I bought two T-shirts from The KMart, one on sale for $5 and one for $10. I plan to make this raglan T-shirt in Autumn, with the Star wars picture and logo cut out and used with some green material.

I saw on The Instagram that people made a Make 9 goal. I think I will join in, but instead of nine patterns, I might choose the nine different materials I want to use to sew dresses. I bought this pattern from The Etsy. It is a trend, and I am at the very end of the trend, so far at the end that I couldn't buy it here. I like the low cut front, but even so, I shall raise it a little. I always feel my cleavage can draw the eye from other parts I would rather were not so prominent!!

It is 21*C now, so it feels about 27*C and we shall lie in bed with the cool breeze blowing and hope to sleep. I have chosen something for my Friday Food, and there's a day up my sleeve so I am very hopeful!!

If you left a comment on Lorelai Gilmore's birthday post, expect an email in the next few days!!!

A Week Is A Long Time In Christmas-tics

I have made it through the week. The mind is intact though the body is weak and totally worn out. The days have been packed with activity, one, two or sometimes even three things, for seven days: in spite of all my planning, it just happened.

Also, there is a smudge on my camera lens, I breathed on it just now and gently cleaned it with some soft fabric. This is probably the wrong thing to do, but the smudge went away. I can feel the lens is scratched. I may need a new camera.....

I have had so many Christmas occasions and appointments and my mum came to visit for three days for her birthday: we did so many things and had a wonderful time. I baked lots of things for my mum and sewed her nothing. I did take up her new trousers. We ate curry and toasted sandwiches and a delicious meal at a posh restaurant where I even had a tiny dessert. It was a passionfruit meringue sundae, served in a tiny glass with shortbread crumbs then passionfruit curd, passionfruit ice-cream and a caramelised meringue shard. It was so delicious but I felt far too full!! Mum had the frozen lemon parfait with caramelised mandarin and a scoop of lemon curd icre-cream.

The Labradors have felt neglected. They went for a walk with mum and Hedy is in love with her. She wiggled and waggled and carried on a treat. They both ran very fast as they were so excited. It is good to see Lorelai Gilmore running and being well.

Gilly is far more sensible. You can tell she is more sensible because she is poking out her tongue!!! We had a lot of rain after the heatwave broke and Gilly and Hedy took every advantage and were totally wet all the time.

Though they may have felt neglected, they were not and there were games and paddle pool adventures at ten o'clock at night.

I have been sewing for my friends. I sewed some Project Bags by By Annie for our Sewing group. I made the third biggest size, there are four, and they measured 35cm square. The back is quilted and the front has vinyl and a zip. I made them to easily hold layer cakes and our Moda Cake Mix papers.

I made two needle rolls for our Knitting Friend who is going to live overseas. One is for Double Point needles and the other for interchangeable tips, and I left a space for some cables.

I sewed Christmas shopping bags for my friends. I didn't go to our 2017 Christmas because my mum was here, so I sent them all off to good homes!!

And finally I sewed some zippy chip/popcorn bags as well. These are always popular and they are well used. The children wear them out so I am happy to make them a new one every year.

Consequently there was no Friday Food, but I made a gingerbread traybake for Leukaemia Christmas BBQ. It was so easy, and though I didn't taste it, I had so many requests for the recipe I sent it off to our nurses for them to email to the group. I can highly recommend it and I will post the recipe this Friday. I did have tiny gingerbread decorations but I could not for the life of me find them so I used festive M'n'Ms. I forgot to take a picture of the bags I sewed for our fabulous nurses, they look after us all so well.

MrsDrWho has bought an aviary,

and furnished it with love in anticipation of finches. The finches are being re-homed and they arrived this week. I am looking forward to seeing them.

And finally, I managed to take a reasonable photo of The Labradors for our Christmas card. Someone had their eye closed, or was looking away, or would not sit close enough to the other dog!!! This is not the photo, but it is pretty good. I was holding a seaweed rice cracker to entice Hedy Lamarr to look my way. Lorelai Gilmore is a super model, she needs no encouragement.

If you have read this far, well done and would you like a Christmas card from The Labradors?? There is an Email Me button at the bottom of the side bar, or you can leave a comment and we will email and ask for your address. We sent cards last year and it was lots of fun. We can't promise they will be there before Christmas, but that's par for the course in our lives.

This week I am going to try and sew a dress to wear to the Star Wars The Last Jedi at a quarter past midnight on Thursday morning. Wish me luck. I have my back up Star Wars dress, so we shall see. After our walk tomorrow we plan to sleep ALL DAY.

And finally, The Parliament said Yes, and same sex marriage is now law. People can be married from January 9th I think. I do think it rather rich that some politicians smugly congratulated themselves on the passing of the Bill. I say that we did their job for them and they could have saved the $122,000,000 and done their jobs. We did it for them and they should not steal the credit. Happy New Marriage Year!!!

Instant-gram

There was no Friday Food last week because my cold was still too nasty. I baked a cake by Yotam Ottolenghi, and the recipe asked if this was the best ever chocolate cake. I gave the cake to MrsDrWho for her and her dinner guests, so I will tell you the verdict on Friday in my Friday Food post.

Today is the first day I haven't had a residual cold headache. I had an almost four hour nap (not quite sure you can call that amount of sleep a nap?) after my new Exercise Physiologist ran me through some assessment tasks. I can balance on each foot for 45 seconds. If you need a balancer, I'm your woman!!!

If you want mud, then surprisingly, Lorelai Gilmore is your Labrador:

She was in the puddle at the dam with Hedy, but came out the muddier of the two.

And here we have Rafa, Gilly and Hedy at the top of the 'hill' on our walk. It is the place we used to stop to farewell Sandy and his dad as they continued up the hill to their car and we went back down to ours. Hedy is doing a very good job of being a puppy dog!! We have turned Rafa to The Labrador Side and he wants a biscuit now too.

The weather has been Spring-y. We had some more wild, windy, wet weather and when we went to the dam today, there was a tree half across the road. The Ranger must have been there because some of the tree had been trimmed already.

Hedy has been, not very secretly, eating something she shouldn't be eating at home. Well, the plain flour in the shopping bag: the flour on her nose was a dead give away, but she is happily unaware!!

 I have started sewing the Jelly roll quilt as you go baby quilt. Phew, that's a long name...JRQAYGBQ, and the acronym looks like gobbledygook. I used a batik jelly roll MrsDrWho gave me for my birthday and some flannel for the backing. I used spray adhesive to 'baste' the backing and batting together as I am still a bit wary of my injured finger becoming more injured: which is has, which finger do you think The Labradors squashed against the fence and made bleed?? You'd be right if you thought my injured one. It had a bandaid and antiseptic and seems to be healing well.

I think I am ready to start knitting again. I have some normal feeling in my fingertip, still pins and needles, touch-the-freezer-in-the-supermarket at the sides, but I am going to give it a go. I have some lovely wool, Katia Darling, from the wool shop. MrsDrWho picked it out. They had some new sparkly Opal, but I had just knitted her a glittery pair, which I realise I have no photo of: ahhh, maybe they don't exist??

I have joined The Instagram. I have resisted The Twitter and The Facebook, but it suddenly struck me that people whose blogs I used to follow, now have The Instagram. I can keep up with them through a new medium. And so I joined and then before I knew it I was on The Instagram. I am not sure how to properly drive The Instagram, but I had a quick lesson from the lovely WoolShopDesigner, and she said I am doing OK! I am not at all sure about Instagram Etiquette. When I searched it was all about following and then un-following or some such strategy. I don't want to gain followers, that's not my goal. I just want to keep up. Trying something new makes my brain work hard and keeps it on its toes.

And have I shared my birthday shoes? My sister sent me money to buy a specific pair, or two, of green shoes she had found, but they didn't come in my size. Bah humbug. So I ordered some shoes from The Homyped people. I have to wear sensible shoes because I have a sore knee and it seems silly to endure pain for a high heel. Well I think so. I bought two pairs of shoes, one is a mineral metallic which goes with everything and the other a darker olive than the photo, which I am very pleased with. My sister is very kind!!

 

 

Our Council has instigated a Food and Garden Organics kerbside collection: FOGO. Our bin arrived in the wrong place, but our kind neighbour pulled it all the way around the corner and up the back of our house. We have three bins now: the ordinary Monte Carlo biscuit filling colour regular bin, the yellow lid for recycling and this new bin has a green lid, so we are chuffed. There is also a little FOGO caddy to keep in the kitchen and carry up to the big bin. We don't have a lot of FOGO waste, but I have already put some lettuce core scraps and banana peel into the caddy. It is not a big change, but it might help make a difference.

I'd Like To Buy A Towel Please.

Labradors eat anything. Literally anything. And The Labradors at our house have eaten pretty much everything they shouldn't. Last week Hedy ate most of a tea-towel. I absent-mindedly hung the tea-towel over the baby gate to the kitchen, instead of on the oven handle. There must have been biscuit on it, because I had used it to take the giant biscuits' tray out of the oven.

When I came home, I wondered what on earth was lying in the mud near the fence. Yes, it's the end of the tea-towel as we know it. I kept an eye on Hedy for the next day or so, but it didn't seem to have any ill effects. Thank goodness.

We had such very good news today at The Vet. Dr Gary gave Lorelai Gilmore her blood test and she has a platelet score of 50. Which is excellent. I think it has been 35, then 38 the last twice. She still has to take her Imuran, but we don't have to go back for three months. We are ever so grateful to all the doctors and nurses for taking such wonderful care of Gilly. She has a blue bandage because her leg bled a little, it stayed on for just an hour when we came home. She is very happy.

I am extra absent-minded because my mum came to stay and we did so much over the three days that I have spent a week in bed recovering. It was so lovely to see her and we spent time shopping, chatting about knitting, doing crosswords and practising her Ipad skills and dining in and out!! Mum came for a walk one frosty morning and Hedy was so excited she almost turned inside out. Gilly was sure Mum had a treat in her hand (she didn't) and spent the first half of the walk trying to inveigle the treat away.

One of our neighbours has chickens and we benefit from the eggs every now and then. Last week I looked over the road and at Not-The-Chicken-House, there was a chicken on the front patio!!!

There has been very little crafting. Poor MrsDrWho is once again waiting for birthday presents because my life has ups and downs. I am making a Star Wars Character wall hanging. It is meant to be paper pieced and quilted. Instead, I used Heat & Bond Lite to stick the pieces in place and then puffy paint to seal the edges. Also, it has some muddy paw appliqué from guess who? Hedy.

Today I sewed finally sewed the pieces together and basted the wadding to the back.  Not much farther to go now.

I bought MrsDrWho some Star Wars earrings from BooKittyBootique on The Etsy. All the earrings are lovely, I bought some aqua ones for me and an excellent R2D2 pair for MrsDrWho. As I was wrapping them up I somehow hit the end of the cutting board and one pinged its way across the room into oblivion. I sent a message to BooKitty and not only did she offer to replace the earring, but she sent another pair and they were hand delivered!! I can recommend her Etsy shop.It was so kind of her and I very much appreciate the extra effort and thoughtfulness. MrsDrWho loves her earrings and earring story.

I have met some wonderful service and working dogs lately. I went for lunch with Auntie Dutch and we found ourselves next to a Guide Dogs In Training outing. The dogs were all so happy to see each other and they (mostly) waited patiently. The lovely golden Labrador next to me wriggled closer until she was secretly touching my foot. I resisted patting her as she was working. I went to the Council Chambers and met a newly trained Hearing Assistance dog. I've seen him out working as well. His humans were waiting for approval to come through so he would have the same rights as a Guide dog. His humans were happy to be in the photo!!

I met Alice the Army Reserve recruiting dog in the Mall. The recruiters hoped that if people stopped to pat her they might be interested in joining the Reserve. MrsDrWho and I assured them we would not be signing up!!

Rafa The Border Collie is away and so Hedy has decided she will play with Sandy. Sandy is almost thirteen, but he plays like a puppy. Lorelai Gilmore will only put up with so many shenanigans, and she makes sure everyone is playing sensible.

Hedy loves to play with her Billy Ball. On Monday we accidentally left the ball at home. It was a very traumatic walk for Hedy. I made a special effort to remember Billy Ball on Tuesday and much joy ensued. And when Hedy Lamarr wants to play, she wants to play now.

I have a new Winter coat. It is not new, it is from the posh St Vinnies' shop in town. My next door neighbour was walking past with me and insisted we go in. I protested I could never find anything in there. She proved me wrong. It is a Junior Look green coat, 80% wool, 20% nylon, fully lined, with pockets and it cost the grand total of $18. Of course it won't do up over my upper nether regions. I was experimenting with a kilt pin here, but I just wear it open and if it is deathly cold (as it has been, it was -5*C overnight twice) I wear a scarf.

When it is -5*C, the water on top of the buckets outside freezes and so do all the puddles at the dam and the grass. It is a Labrador Winter wonderland.

Well, not much happening, but we still have lots to tell!! There will be Friday Food, in fact I have two Friday Foods.  I am one ahead now, which is handy.

Don't Go Cake-ing My Heart

Gilly is doing well. Dr David is very pleased with her progress, and my own GP thinks she is doing well too. She has the correct amount of platelets and her Red Blood Cells are below normal, but not terribly much so.  I didn't realise how well she was responding until we again met The Golden Retriever with the same thing. He has been very unwell, can't eat, has lot 3kg and has a large sore on his back. Gilly is doing very well indeed.

There are no blood tests this week, but we are going to visit The Vet and have some lovely pats and tasty treats so Lorelai Gilmore doesn't think going to The Vet is a not-very-nice thing. Still, there are Liver treats and Gilly thoroughly inspects the room to make sure she has them all.

Gilly is enjoying her walks again and can keep pace, more or less, with Hedy Lamarr if she wants to. This is a terrible picture, but it shows how much Gilly has improved: she trots along, tail wagging, interested in what she can find and see.

There are a lot of smells to be smelled.

And her fur is starting to grow back properly at last.

Hedy Lamarr's friend Rafa the Border Collie is not coming for a walk, he's at The Kennels. Hedy loves to play with Rafa and her pretend stick. Rafa pretends to be cross and barks at Hedy, then they swap and he runs with the stick and it is Hedy's turn to be cross.

While Rafa is away, Hedy is playing with Sandy instead. Sandy has had a sore back, but he is well again.

But Lorelai Gilmore and Hedy Lamarr especially love walking together. Hedy has learned not to bark incessantly in a shrill manner in the back of the car, and she is trying to learn not to bite Lorelai Gilmore. The little bottle of watered down Apple Cider Vinegar is a good deterrent, and most of the time I just show her the bottle and there is no need to squirt the vinegar. Hedy Lamarr is almost as big as Lorelai Gilmore, and she is 8 months old!!!

In the afternoon they snuggle up together on one too small cushion that Hedy has begun to eviscerate.

I haven't done very much, other than look after Gilly and try to keep things ticking along: badly. I have almost finished the 2ply Loop de Loop. I have finished my BoHo not BooHoo socks,  which I started on 3rd July. They are lovely, and I have another same-but-different ball of green striped Nako Boho too, and a ball of Kiwi fruit inspired Opal too. I see more socks in my future!!

I should have suspected something when I caught both Gilly and Hedy in the kitchen on Saturday morning. I shooed them out and thought nothing of it. Little did I know they were on a fact finding mission. I baked a delicious chocolate orange fudge cake for MrsDrWho and left it to cool when I went out to dinner on Saturday evening. When I came home at 9pm I realised that I hadn't tied the baby gate shut and that the empty tin just inside the back door meant that they had eaten a whole cake. A cake that had 200g of rich dark chocolate in it. I rang the emergency number for The Vet and Dr Rob was on duty. He said that other than keeping a eagle eye on them, there probably wasn't anything to worry about. If they started vomiting or lost their balance they would need to go straight to The Vet and have a drip. The only drip was me, and now the baby gate into the kitchen is doubly secured with a green occy strap. $2-95 at Woolies, but priceless when it comes to peace of mind.

The reason I baked the cake a day early was because the power was off all day Sunday for power pole replacement. My next-door neighbour had the bright idea of taking the ingredients to MrsDrWho's house and baking it there, and so I did. It is an easy recipe (I didn't bother separating the eggs) and you melt and mix and it bakes in 25 minutes.

The Cake Emergency didn't break any hearts, or bank balances, though I may have just put a new pair of green sandals on lay-by today: new green shoes always cheer me up.

And now we will all do what we have been doing an awful lot of: going to bed and sleeping. Lorelai Gilmore is taking fewer blue tablets, so she doesn't need to go outside so many times during the night, but I think the worry just makes me need more sleep. Hedy Lamarr doesn't always want to sleep, so sometimes we have to throw the Squeaky Toy until she's worn out. Hedy is a lovely girl, and we are so lucky to have her. She loves Gilly, and I think Gilly is glad to have a puppy to snuggle up with, but not one that bites her ears, so we are working on that!!

 

 

The Force Asleepens

Gilly is pretty sure that she missed two whole meals somehow. Yesterday everyone went to bed, they got up at 11pm and went out in the car while she stayed home, then everyone went back to bed again at 3am. Finally we woke up and went for a walk at 8am. She is sure that somehow she missed out on a breakfast and dinner!! She has been playing with her rawhide bone. It is dug up, carried about and then reburied again. It is almost 8 weeks old.

MrsDrWho, MrsSingapore, MissSingpore and I went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens (spoilers). It was excellent: on a par with VI, V and VI and streets above I,II and III. The film started at 12-01am and we had assigned seats so there was no frantic queueing. We saw a lot of ardent fans, there was a beeping R2D2 and the ushers were all Stormtroopers. Lightsaber wielding people had their photos taken outside.

The audience was very well behaved and the cinema was air-conditioned, which was so wonderful. We are having a heatwave, it will be 33*C tomorrow. Hopefully a cold front with rain will come through on Sunday. We saw the 3D version and it was not too 3D, you didn't have to duck all the time. I can't wait to see it again. I think Disney can have a Gold Star for their first effort.

I wore my new Star Wars dress. It has a little pocket for keeping the Star Wars music player, but I can't find it, so I just had to hum the music instead. I am very pleased with my dress, I like the green border, I think without it the dress would be all busy print and no focus. The plain border grounds it.

The dress has the bodice I sewed for my Hawaii dress, and a knife pleated skirt. The skirt is almost 4m wide and I made 2.5cm knife pleats. I am exceedingly pleased with the way I inserted the zip. It doesn't interfere with the pleats at all.

I have been sewing Christmas shopping bags. We are a crinkly plastic bag free State, so we all need shopping bags. I have to make one for The GardyGardeners tomorrow.

Last week I went to MrsDrWho's class until recess time. They made Ungingerbread Houses. The houses are hugely OTT. They children were very good at listening,  following instructions and sharing. Teaching for me is like riding a bike, once I am there with a class it just seems right and proper: I made them instantly quiet and sitting up straight when I said: "As soon as everyone is quite I can give out the ziplock bags." Who knew I still has The Power??

Well, that's all. The heat is very wearing. We have the evaporative cooler filled with water and some ice to blow cold air during the night. And this afternoon too. We caught up on sleep. I had been doing well with my Christmas preparation, but the hot weather has put a spanner in the works. I am lucky that my family and friends are so understanding. They say things like:"Oh, how nice to get a present after Christmas!!"

Tomorrow I am baking a Sticky Gingerbread Cake and the last in my new Christmas baking for Friday Food. I have no idea what it will be. I am sure Gilly will be ready to help.

#putoutyouronions

While I have not lost my mother, as a country we have been very careless with our Prime Minister. Again. It was on, and my favourite hashtag on The Twitter was #putoutyouronions. I wish I had The Twitter just so I could have done that!! So it's farewell Tony and hello Malcolm, who at least knows that the PM is decided by the Party with the majority and not by a special vote by electors.

Good to live in a country where this all happens without the Defence Forces driving tanks through the streets, with not a shot fired, or a water cannon aimed. Yay for us. My mum and I talk on the phone on Monday nights and we both said that we couldn't go to sleep until we knew who would be the PM.

I have been Getting Things Done now I am feeling a little more like myself. I have almost finished a pair of socks for MrsDrWho's birthday, which was in June. I am using my usual pattern in some Opal Hundertwasser Kuss im Regen, Kiss in the Rain. I call them The I Just Want Your (Kiss) Socks. I love the colours and the way they merge and play.

Peri is pottering along, she needs help sometimes to jump into the car, but we are developing a routine and try to anticipate each other. Peri is very funny, because when she is exceptionally pleased and joyous, she has what I like to call Happy Hackles. And she likes to be patted on The Hackle area: hard.

Lorelai Gilmore is exceedingly pleased as well, because The Paddle Pool has been broken out for Spring. It has been very hot, 26*C,which I hope is not the shape of things to come. We have to put an extra cover on the bed, because she likes to play in the pool and then go to bed. As you do.

Gilly is very interested in cars and so far has been in Rafa's car, and now Sandy's. You can just see Sandy on the far side.

I picked up the latest John Flanagan book today. I had ordered it a few days ago from Petrarch's and expected it in a fortnight, so it came early. As I was leaving the shop one of the Shop Men was coming back in, I showed him my book and he looked inside the cover and then swapped it for a book signed by the author. I am extra chuffed now.

There is a new way to eat a Golden Gaytime ice-cream: it comes in a tub at the supermarket now. There are new flavours: mint, strawberry and chocolate, but I went for the stock standard toffee and vanilla with biscuit crumbs. It is nice to have an ice cream without chocolate, which I am not supposed to eat.

On Monday I found ALL my Library books and took them back. I also found my proper prescription sunglasses, and I am very happy about that. MrsDrWho and I went shopping and I bought a few Christmas presents. We found some tops in Target with a push-the-button-for-sound feature: they play the Star Wars theme. I had been quite cross that there were no clothes at all for women, apparently Disney feels they have the Princess market for girls and adult women are not a demographic they are interested in. Still, Target does have some pyjamas and a top.This is a children's t-shirt, but I am going to take off the button and sew a little pocket in my soon-to-be Star Wars dress and push it all the time to annoy everyone. And amuse myself.

I 'virtually' attended The Writers' and Readers' Festival, and I notice they avoided any proper punctuation.  I went to Words for Nerds as it streamed for free in our Library. The speakers were Jane Caro, Julian Burnside and Don Watson. It was slightly spoiled by the woman in charge in the room speaking loudly on her phone. Twice. Very enjoyable and I would go again. I have read books authored by all three, and I am very interested in words too. It is a Very Poor photo.

And now we are going to watch Gruen, time shifted, and then go to bed and read the new book. We haven't had a nap today at all. I might not read very much.

Up, Down And Away

When I am not really thinking about what to call my blog posts, my mind wanders. Hot, Cold, Thermometer, Temperature, Up, Down: and there you go. The TAA advertisement from long, long ago. And would you believe it is on The YouTube? Of course it is.

 

I am not sure whether I was, or desperately wanted to be and was not, a member of The TAA Junior Flyer Club. All I remember is that we knew "With Ansett, You chance it". You have to say it to rhyme.

Well, I have a thermometer, hence all the Word Association Football. My GP said I should have one, and if my temperature was high it was an indication of a proper bacterial infection and I should go immediately to see a doctor. I was feeling poorly, so I took my temperature. The thermometer goes under your tongue for 10-15 seconds and then beeps. My temperature is always, always low. 35.6*C , or 36.1*C, never 37*C. Of course, now I wonder why it is so low, but since I feel better I should stop worrying. MrsDrWho suggested two things:

1. I should record and chart my temperature. Yes!!
2. I should take The Labradors' temperatures. No!!

Since I really only want to be at the doggy end with the wet nose and not the tail, and I thought they might chomp down on a thermometer, I decided to give #2 a miss.

Gilly has a new job: Mission Cricket-possible. Her mission, and she chooses to accept it, is to find and dig up all the noisy crickets. And to make them stop cricketing in ten seconds. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one ...

Peri has a new trick: she can open the gate into the bush from the difficult side. This is a terrible picture, but she's so deft and speedy and I am so not capable of operating any machinery quickly. She sticks her nose and/or paw into the tiny opening and pushes and turns and voila, the gate is open. This is not the scary thing. The scary thing is that she has taught Gilly and Rafa to do this too. It's The Dawn of the Planet of the Dogs.

The weather is slowly cooling. Not very much, but enough that we can sleep at night. Yesterday morning it was raining on the way to the dam, it was so dull we had to have the car lights on. This morning it was chilly, but sunny. I like to think of Autumn as a lovely slow decline towards Winter. Peri and Gilly are happy to be going home after an excellent walk. Breakfast awaits.

TinkingBell gave me a Jamie Oliver Greenhouse and I finally assembled it and planted the seeds. It came with a small square of what looked like peat moss, which expanded at a very fast rate once you poured water on it. I crumbled it up to cover the base, which is like a rectangular shoe box lid, but plastic.

Then I planted the seeds: basil, coriander, cress and chives. After just two days the chives (I think) have germinated. I carry the greenhouse carefully in and out of the direct sunlight, so I don't kill all the little seeds. It is Very Exciting, especially for me. I should really have a green thumb.

And here it is on the verandah.

On the way to the Wool Shop this morning, I passed a sale table of sandals and found a pair to fit me for $5. They were only $30 to begin with, but as I don't need any more green Summer sandals, I couldn't really justify it. But $5 was obviously my price point.

I may have knitted another sock. This time some Mini Mochi 105 for MrsDrWho. The worrying thing is that I can only find one ball. So she may just have one sock for the time being. The toe is ready to graft, but I don't trust myself to do it properly the first time when I am tired. Maybe in the morning.

At the dam there is a large hedge of hydrangeas. We had them growing along and high up the side of the garage when I was a little girl. You can do all kinds of clever things to make the flowers different colours. I am not quite sure what is going on here, but we have the whole range, from red, to pink and purple and light and dark blue. Wallabies hide under here. Sometimes Gilly spooks one and it runs out. She never catches them, they hop speedily away. Peri looks on with, I am sure, a superior smile.

Everyone has gone to bed. It starts getting dark around 8pm now. We still have almost a moth of Daylight Saving left, so it will be a big shock when we revert to Real Time. Peri will want to go to bed straight after her tea. She's very funny. Gilly goes too, but she has both ears on alert in case of crinkly paper. I expect I shall go to bed now too, since everyone else has!!!

I See Treats Of Cream, Red Roses Too. I See Them Bloom For Me And For You.

Well, it's official: Last year was hot. Our island's three largest cities, including ours, had the hottest day time temperatures since record keeping started and it was the second hottest year. No wonder we were hot!!! No wonder The Labradors have been in the paddle pool. A Lot.

Poor Gilly, Peri was so eager to get into the pool I think that was a bump. And after all that, Peri was not quite getting all the benefit she could have. Just two wet feet thank you very much. Gilly is mid shake, her ears are very long and flippy.

This week we are looking forward to slightly cooler temperatures and rain. I think the up and down weather set off Peri's newly diagnosed arthritis. She was very hoppy on her right front leg. If I rubbed her shoulder she ran off happily. It was noticeable when she got out of bed, or up off the floor after a nap. As she moved around, the limp went away. We saw Dr Gary, who divined that Gilly was there for moral support, and found arthritis in Peri's right elbow. She has some tablets to take for a fortnight, I think there is a positive difference already. I just didn't want her to be in any pain, and I know Labradors are stoic and brave and just put up with things. Dearest Peri.

I am not cross about things as much now. So today when I spotted these in the supermarket:

I took a picture as a trophy, as if participating in a treasure hunt. First Hot Cross Buns of the year?? Yes, spotted them today. It's like Car Bingo. I think Shell used to give out special bags of puzzles to keep children occupied on long car trips, and there was a sheet of things to cross off whilst looking out the window. So I have ticked off Back to School which started before Christmas, and now Easter. I think Valentine's Day is next on my particular Holiday Bingo card.

I did see some pretty marvellous things at Woolworths. They are selling oddly shaped fruit and vegetables: The Odd Bunch. I bought carrots for The Labradors and I ate some too. I am happy to buy weirdly shaped, too big or too small, fruit and vegetables for a cheaper price.

I bought a new dress pattern from The Etsy. It is a more casual style, less fitted and maybe a little cooler than my usual Princess-style bodice. It is the Jamie dress from Sis Boom. I love that even though it is a PDF pattern, I only needed to print out 10/88 pages. I am very happy to save printer ink. There is a three or four day sew-along, so I think I might try that. I have some old sheets to make a toile.

Forty years ago this morning, my sister woke me up to tell me that the bridge had fallen down. I turned over in bed and told her to go away and not to be so silly. She was, in fact, correct. On January 5th, 1975 the Lake Illawarra collided with several pylons of Tasman Bridge at 9-27pm. Sadly, twelve people died, five driving off the broken bridge and falling into the river. The city was divided for almost two and a half years and in the intervening time people travelled by ferry or an Army Bailey Bridge.

I haven't been knitting, but I have crocheted a Dalek Hanging Towel for a gift. It is a kitchen towel. I am not the world's best crocheter, but I learned how to bobble and carry the cotton and crochet over it too, to cut down on the number of ends to be sewn in. I used 8ply instead of 10ply so I fiddled about with the pattern to make it work. And be a decent size too. I ended up crocheting a round of double crochet, just to finish it off nicely.

The Jan/Feb Donna Hay magazine is out, and once again it is full of delicious icy treats. I am going to make one for taking to MrsDrWho's house tomorrow night. I am not sure which one.

And top to bottom, left to right: (Some are styled popsicles, in Australia we eat ICY POLES)

• cookies and cream icy poles
• choc dipped banana icy poles
• caramel swirl icy poles
• chocolate milkshake icy poles
• cheats' summer sorbet slice
• berry ice cream slice
• passionfruit three milk ice cream cake
• tiramisu ice cream cake
• banoffee ice cream pie
• black forest ice cream cake
• lamington ice cream bars
• coconut lychee raspberry icy poles

I think one of the cakes would be easiest to transport. I shall email MrsDrWho and her family ice cream cake photos and see which one they like the best .

The GardyGardeners are not coming this week and so The Labradors will go for an extra walk. I can't bear their loyal waiting at the gate, softly crying - well woofing really on Gilly's part really, to no avail.

The temperature has dropped and there is a gentle cool breeze. Time for a cup of tea and maybe an early night.