Fussy Eaters

My husband is a fussy eater, there are so many foods he won't eat or even try. He won't eat foods mixed together so no casseroles, stirfries, he eats everything in order starting with the carrots and ending with the meat. If I want to make something different, I either have to cook seperately for him or wait til he is out. When asked what he wants for dinner his standard reply is "I'm Easy, whatever you want". I always tell him he isn't easy.

My main frustration is that we also have a cat who is a fussy eater. Husband does most of the grocery shopping so when he buys cat food he always buys the cat what she doesn't like, she prefers fish and chicken but not red meat. I constantly ask him to only buy fish or chicken but he constantly comes home with cans of meat cat food, he tells me "she's a cat, she'll eat what we give her".

If I can't talk him into trying new foods, what chance have I got of talking a cat into eating what she is given?

I suppose I have to console myself with a son who will try anything and a daughter who will try some things.

Time off work

YAY! Yesterday was my last shift for over 2 weeks, not going back until the 18th. My plans are to treat myself to some quality vacation time, trips to the beach etc. I was trying to talk my parents into a trip to my Aunt's but it's not happening. They already have a coach trip booked. It won't be all play I want to clear out my sewing room with a major decluttering session so I can actually get in there to craft and not feel overwhelmed or depressed with the mess.

Yesterday I started on a detox regime but today have decided the timing isn't right. The regime is the Lemonade Diet, where only a special lemon drink is allowed for at least a week. It's just like the Lemon Detox Diet but without the major cost. Did well on it yesterday and most of today, the scales even showed a reduction from 2 days ago. But like I said the timing isn't right, we are BBQing this week and I coveted the broccoli I bought for tonight's dinner.

Speaking of dinner, usually on Friday we have takeout, DH goes to soccer so I usually don't cook. But forgetting it was Friday I pulled steaks from the freezer. To go with those I am baking potatoes and carrots - something new for the kids to try, they've never had baked carrots, I don't think I've had them either. We just had dinner and the carrots were a success, especially for me. I don't like boiled carrots, I have to eat them with potato but these were delicious. A definite addition to future baked dinners. As well as that we had the steak, mushrooms and the broccoli. Much nicer than takeout.

Bean Bags and a Movie - a great combo

Went to the movies today for the first time in ages, I don't go very often if we do go it's usually to the drive in. I don't really enjoy sitting in a movie theatre but today was different. Seeing as it was a birthday treat for me I insisted on going to the Half Pipe, only because I'd never been there. Instead of seats they have big bean bags. I've never been so comfortable in a movie theatre, Thomas and I shared a bean bag but David thought them uncomfortable so sat in the few seats available. Thomas kept checking to make sure I wasn't asleep, but I was too interested in watching Robert Downey Jnr. *sigh* in Sherlock Holmes - a little darker than I expected. When the movie was over I noticed the man next to us was asleep. We had 2 free adult tickets so only had to pay for the boy's ticket.

Oh the bean bags weren't filled with the usual beans they had a firmish stuffing in them.

It's my Birthday.

Today was my birthday, for the next 4 or so minutes it still is. Unluckily for me I had to work, second thoughts I should say luckily, I got to spend the day in Air conditioning instead of mind meltingly heat. I was so tired after barely sleeping in the heat last night, we really have to get the AC repaired.

David tried telling me I am very hard to buy for but I think he finally has gotten it right. I got a great haul this year, take a look


David gave me 2 topsy turvy planters and Don Burke's Organic book, Cassie gave me the music cds, Thomas gave me the gardening and organizing books (David bought them and then gave them to the kids for me). The cute little campervan tin was filled with lollies and had $50 taped to it, that came from Mum and Dad. Last but not least is the Garfield calender, I got that from the cat. David said while he was looking for cards he saw one that had a cat on it, the cat looks just like ours so he had to buy it and then sign the cat's name.

Bees

I've been blogging quite a lot lately, this is a rare twice in a day post.

I've been enjoying these last couple of days, have got 3 days off work, worked over the weekend and I don't go back til Thursday afternoon. This week I work Thursday evening, then Friday, have the weekend off, back Monday and then off on Tuesday. Tuesday is Australia Day and I requested not to work that day. After that I don't know about yet, but starting the 30th I have 2 weeks vacation, so looking forward to that. I'm hoping to talk Mum and Dad into visiting his sister in the country and tagging along for a few days, I so need to get to the country.



Went to Flower Power today and wandered around looking for plants, wanted plants thing that attract birds and/or bees. Bought 5 plants, Cuphea mexicana compact - Mauve Mad Hatter. I'm using them to border a corner bed out the front. I dug the holes for each of them then set about planting them, as I planted the 3rd one a bee made an appearance. These days bees are a rarity, I noticed the bee paid no attention the plants but went straight to areas I had watered before flying off. A few minutes later it (or another returned), again went for wet areas before flying off. It returned 5 times with the same interval, then on the 6th time 2 turned up, they arrived together and left together. Poor things must have been thirsty.

Wandered through the homewares section and found some gorgeous plates, I've been after a new dinner set and loved these plates. They were 75% off, I bought 8 plates and 2 platters. There were no side plates left so I am on the look out for something that will contrast. All up they cost me $26.50. I liked buying them this way because I don't end up with cups and saucers that don't get used. When I carried them in Thomas wanted to know why I bought "good" plates, even David liked them which is saying a lot.

Drove out to Windsor with the kids yesterday. Windsor is one of our earliest settlements and is full of beautiful historical buildings. Even though we never lived there, Windsor holds a special part in my heart. My father worked at the Railway Station for many years, on occasion he would take us to work with him. Also for several years my parents ran a pet shop in the town, I worked there on Saturdays. It was called The Copperdog Pet Shop and was housed in an old building. The shop was on the ground floor but there was a basement area where a dog grooming service was run, also there was a locked room that contained masses of old furniture, I used to peer through the window just wishing to be let loose in there. Upstairs were 3 rooms that my parents never made use of. Could have been used as a residence but there was no bathroom facilities. These days the building houses a fish and chip shop. That's where I bought my lunch from yesterday, both kids didn't want fish for lunch but it didn't stop them from picking at mine when they realised it tasted so good. The rooms upstairs are now open on the weekends as dining areas and there is a wrought iron clad veranda across the front, the veranda wasn't there in our day. It had been removed sometime in the past but there still was a doorway to it, it's good to see it restored.

We called into a secondhand shop where my son spotted this telephone and asked how it worked. I showed him how the dial worked by dialing my parent's number, then he had a go dialing his dad's number. I've tried to explain the past how they worked but he never quite got it.



On the way out of the shop I spotted these items, they aren't second hand but I thought the price was pretty good, $15 for the sign and $20 for the frog. I love them, now I just have to wait for David to get around to putting them up for me. I bought a bird feeder last week that he needs to do as well. The sign is going on the wall outside the front door, the bird feeder is going on a post outside our bedroom window, haven't decided where the frog will hang yet. The area outside our bedroom is right now a wasteland, full of weeds, broken concrete chunks and junk, it's not nice to look out at. I started on it yesterday, hauled one load of junk to the bin and sprayed the weeds. Am going to plant native bird attracting plants out there to go with the feeder will be nice to wake up to.




I am slowly getting this place into order,

Two Tiny Hummingbirds

Two Tiny Hummingbirds


I saw my first ever Hummingbird -- this morning in my dreams.


Yes in my dreams, it's probably the only place in Australia I'd ever get to see a Hummingbird. In the dream I had moved to another house when I noticed a pair of the tiny birds flitting around a flowering plant (some sort of vine, flowers similar to Morning Glory). We (think I was with my niece) went for a closer look and watched as they flitted around our heads, coming very close to our faces.

To see hummingbirds in your dream, suggest that seemingly small ideas and concepts can possess much potential and power.

Dream Moods

I liked this interpretation but there were other parts that could also relate to me.

Real or not, I love the magical feeling of seeing such beauty, even if it is just in my dreams.

Image found here, well worth a look there is an amazing shot a soaking wet Sloth.

Gingerbeer Disapointment

I was given the Country Women's Association Cook Book for Christmas. So far have only tried 2 of the recipes one was for Onion Rings, a battered deep fried onion ring - very yummy and the Ginger Beer recipe. I don't know what's gone wrong, it's developed mold on top of it. The recipe used fresh ginger, lemon juice, sugar and egg white - no yeast. It's supposed to sit for 4 days before bottling, didn't say whether the pot should have a lid on or not, I didn't have a pot big enough so I put it in the glass bowl of my turbo oven and covered it with a t-towel. Today is the third day and the first time I've noticed mould.

It's too darn hot!

Much too hot to do much. Lately have noticed that I've been using this blog for a lot of venting, really have to change that and my attitude. Got to get on with this new year and make the changes I want to make.

Starting with the house, home is supposed to be a place to relax in but as it is now my home is nowhere near relaxing. Everywhere I look I can see things that need to be done. There are still decorations strewn everywhere, right now I have 3 Santas looking at me, one waving (well holding) a rolling pin. It's a case of waiting for others to do their bit, this year instead of crowding out the garage, we are going to store the decs in the roof space. Bought plastic storage boxes that will fit through the manhole but it's too hot to do anything right now.

My sewing room needs a complete overhaul, think Thomas wants to change rooms back. But don't think we will do that, I worry about his room being right next to his sister's. It's not him I worry about but his friends who are all going through puberty, some have the sense of goats right now. I want his sister to feel safe and not have her privacy invaded.

I really should be up doing things around the house right now, I've been looking at blogs of those with perfect homes and feel guilty about mine - can't even say that mine is messy because I've been doing crafty things - like I said it's too darn hot. BUT I have done 3 loads of washing - well I put the washing in and the machine does the washing and I changed part of Ronon's water - it looks like even he is feeling the heat.

Have watched the entire series of Kingdom Hospital over the last few days, it was a Christmas gift and I hadn't heard of it, when I noticed it was Stephen King I was a little wary. Saw an ad for it on TV and thought I'd give it a try, it's very weird but riveting. Finished knitting the stocking while watching and have started another.

Introducing the newest member to our household

This is Ronon, named after Ronon Dex in Stargate Atlantis. He's darker than the picture, a nice navy blue.

My son received him as a Christmas gift from his cousin, it was a real experience bringing him home in the car, I felt every bump and ended up with a wet lap. David couldn't understand why anyone would get someone a fish as a gift and we joked about buying him a mouse, rat or ferrett next year.

He came in a small plastic aquarium, thought it was too small, even though it was much bigger than the jars or even wine glasses you see these poor fish in. He just sat there doing nothing most of the time, poor thing looked bored. Yesterday we went out and bought a round fish bowl for him.

After setting it up, putting water ager in it and letting it set for a while we put Ronon into his new home. He is a changed fish, before the only way he would move was when someone accidentally (or most probably on purpose) knocked the tank. In the new bowl he has barely stopped moving, though he has taken to coming to side of the bowl to stare at me as I sit here typing.

I've never owned a Betta before, my sister used to have a big aquarium and had one in it, floating around in a tiny plastic container, always felt sorry for that fish. Had no idea how to look after one, so glad we didn't listen to what we told when he was given to us. The advice then was to only feed it every 5 days! When I looked it up on the net all the advice said twice a day, same advice from the pet shop. One of my Brother in laws used to keep Betta and told me that they breathe air so must be able to get to the surface, very sound advice. We change part of his water once or twice a week, have bought a filter but still need a pump. With water changes really don't need to filter but it's nice to have that option.

Update Went looking for a nice ruin to add to the bowl, found nothing suitable. There are 2 pet shops in our closest shopping centre, only one had Betta for sale, all were in tiny display tanks and as Thomas pointed out all looked so depressed. I bought some dried blood worms for Ronon and mentioned to the sales clerk there that I had put ours into a larger bowl. He told me that Betta do not like large bowls that the smaller the better for them, that his friend has kept one in a wine glass for many years. My jaw dropped, told him that ours has gone from being lethargic to happily swimming around the bowl. He's gone from being timid to being quite bold overnight. He also loves the blood worms much better than the pellets, he spits those out and gobbles down the worms.

Have been reading up on breeding Betta, it's a bit hit or miss. I'd have to get him girlfriend but then would need another tank to house them. If we breed them we could give one back to his cousin next Christmas.

Migraine.

Work has been a real pain lately, I was so glad that I have a 3 day weekend, even after having 2 days off mid week. There have been a lot of goings onthat included 3 resignations this week, 2 of them will be sorely missed, the other not so much - she had only been with us for a few weeks, think I worked with her for 3 shifts that she actually turned up for, the other 5 or more we were rostered on together she didn't bother turning up for. My boss knows that I've been sharing in the stress and asked me yesterday not to resign that things are improving. There's something coming up that I have an interest in and had already decided to stick it out til then. After that I will re-evaluate.

Anyway I was so looking forward to these few days with the family, Cassie was sick yesterday, had to leave her to go to work. Don't have the option of being able to stay home, it sucks being a supervisor. With Cassie feeling much better today but taking the option of staying in bed all day, we all had a sleep in. I did wake to the alarm but turned it off.

When I did get up I walked on the treadmill, we got one a couple of days ago. David got it on Ebay and went to pick it up on Thursday afternoon after ringing in the morning to tell them of his intentions. Was assured it was ready to be picked up but when he got there he found that the last 2 treadmills had been sold that day. The manager was very apologetic and offered him the latest version of the treadmill and $30 cash back. When he got home he realised that as well as the $30 back, he had been given a thousand dollar discount on the treadmill.

Later on Thomas and I went shopping for a round fishbowl for his Betta, I had put perfume on before I left and noticed that I could still smell it. I didn't think I put too much on, in fact I had put less on than I usually do. As I parked the car and was walking into one shop I got a sudden headache. It was on the right side of my forehead, my right nostril felt like I had snorted water. I just thought it was sinus, we looked in one shop before heading over the road to another. Thought I'd get a drink and sit down for a while. I noticed the sight in my left eye getting a bit weird it was like there was a cloud on my left, it faded not long afterwards. I bought panadol and then drove home. I tried sleeping but was sick instead, was able to sleep afterwards. I don't get migraines often but this is the first time I was physcially sick. It's left me with a numb feeling down the right side of my face, still evident hours later. I have noticed that smells are very evident, I made David take my sandalwood oil disfuser out of the bedroom and kept noticing a strong frangipani scent in the loungeroom from the open window, have never noticed such a strong scent before. Come to think of it it's the second Saturday in a row where I've had a bad headache, last week I suffered one at work, had to work through it as no one was available to cover for me, I hope it's not going to be a regular occurrence.

I'm hoping that tomorrow will see me back to full health, we are heading to the inlaws tomorrow. David is working on their kitchen and I wanted to shine up a couple of crystal light fittings because MIL isn't up to doing them.

Happy New Year!!!

Welcomed the New Year in with my husband's family. Didn't get too drunk, just had a few glasses of bubbly. Also played poker, betting was with 5 and 10 cent pieces, not gambling as the money belonged to the host. I won several hands and may have even bluffed a few of those, don't think I've played since I was a kid.

Slept in this morning, then had an epsom salt bath to help detox from last night.

This afternoon I went to visit my sister, we didn't see each other over Christmas so I took over their gifts today. For my two nieces, aged 11 and 8 I chose not to buy toys. I bought one a craft book, plus some items for the projects inside. There was a wide range of projects including knitted items, so I added a ball of yarn plus a set of knitting needles. While I was talking to my sister my niece asked if I could show her how to knit, my sister warned me she was left handed. Wondered what I had gotten myself into but soon discovered that it was pretty easy. Showed her the first row then held her hands guiding her for the second, the third row I let her do on her own. I just needed to remind her a few things but she got it pretty well. By the time I left she had over 5 cms done, the beginning of was loose, then the tension improved until it was perfect. She proudly showed her Dad who told her that he would like a jumper.
The 8 year old liked her gift too, it was a recipe book, a tupperware bowl. spatula, pot mitts and a teatowel. She mixed up imaginary icing and proceeded to ice everyone with chocolate icing, very cute. I pointed out a Jam Tart recipe in the book, hinting she should make it for me because they are my favourite sweet.

What a perfect way to start the New Year.

My new years resolution is to declutter, especially in my craft room. I made a start today, have several things put aside to pass on to others.