Hmmmm...the other night Christian and I went to see The A Team with Mikey and Scott and due to none of us correcting Christian when he told us the wrong start time, we had about an hour to kill beforehand. We decided to go for dinner at Fast Eddies and were seated next to a large birthday group. Amongst them were a set of twin boys, about ten and dressed identically in jeans and check shirts. It was the outfits that first drew my attention to them as they had obviously gone to great pains to make them as individual as possible without annoying Mother. One of them had untucked his shirt and was looking ruffled while the other had his shirt tucked in and his jeans pulled so high up he surely had some wedgie action going on. I nudged Christian to show him the outfits and he took one look and declared loudly 'Twins Basil!'.
For those of you who don't know, this is a quote from the third Austin Powers movie and we tend to trot it out whenever we can. It has been stuck in my head now ever since and I was going to use it as the title for this post. However...after my last entry I figured that it may be in poor taste and so decided not to use it...
My older sister and my neice flew out to Canada on Tuesday to go and visit my Dad and I must say, I am insanely jealous! I really enjoyed my last trip out there and miss Dad like crazy and so I would have loved to have gone with them. But I'm hoping to get out there next year and it's not like I don't have a trip of my own to loook forward to. Jo and Darcie leaving was actually a bit of a landmark for us since we leave for Scotland before they return and so I knew our trip was really close when they left. Only four weeks to go! Yay! I cannot wait! In many ways it's very similar to Jo's trip in that I'm returning there and it's going to be a really nice feeling to be familar with the area and to re-discover things that I loved last time I was there. Small things won't be such a big shock (Weirdly shaped 2L bottles of Coke, I have you sussed now!) and the best thing is that we're going to visit loved ones too :)
And now a story that I feel is blogworthy but actually happened to Christian, who feels having a blog is pointless and lame...
About a month ago he and his workmate Steven saw on some photo-a-day site (I have no idea which one and he isn't here to ask) a photo of how Subway are supposed to put cheese on their sandwiches. It is cut into triangles and so they should be layed in opposing angles to cover the most amount of bread but as I'm sure you're well aware, they don't generally do this. Then last week another photo popped up, this one of a photocopy of a Subway internal memo documenting the new proceedures for laying cheese. Christian looked at Steven, did a fist pump and then they made plans to have Subway for lunch.
When they got there Steven was in front and when the girl put his cheese on the new way he turned to Christian and gave him a big thumbs up. Then Christian ordered his normal veggie delight and waited with breathless anticipation*. There was a bit of a sandwich backlog and Christian's veggie roll was stuck behind a guy whose sandwich contained a shit load of what looked to be raw bacon. The girl came to do the cheese and laid cheese all over the bacon and then went 'Oh, that's the wrong one' and then took off the cheese from on top of the raw bacon and put it on Christian's Veggie Delight! And to make things even worse, she didn't even lay the slices the right way! Christian apparently stood there glaring at the girl but she didn't even notice, just turned around and put the bacon thingy under the grill. I asked Christian why he didn't make a complaint and his reasoning was that he didn't really care, he just wondered what would have happened if a real vegetarian had been in that situation.
I told him they probably would have blogged about it...
*Or rather, slight anticipation of a small detour from normal routine.
Showing posts with label Sisters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sisters. Show all posts
Friday, June 18, 2010
Sunday, March 07, 2010
A dilemma
Quite a little pickle I've got to share with you today.
(You know who I like? That pickle stork. You know...the one with the pickles...no? *cough* sorry, I thought a little Frisky Dingo early on may lighten this post a little...)
Anyhoo...so, the dilemma...first, some things you should know (if you don't already).
- I was sexually abused as a child.
- My mother was sexually abused as a child.
-My uncle has just been released from prison for sexually abusing a child.
Heavy issues...
Ok, so basically several years ago my uncle was caught molesting a child he was babysitting.
My mother was extremely upset, as you can imagine and basically disowned him. Having being abused as a girl, she was horrified he could do anything like that, especially when he'd seen first hand the lifelong damage it causes.
However, it was left up to my mother to become the executor of his estate so she could ensure that his daughters (late teens) would be cared for. During the course of this time my mother spoke to my uncle regularly and came to understand his remorse for his actions. He had refused bail so he would be removed from temptation and he eagerly attended courses and counselling whilst in prison to learn to cope with the compulsion he felt (one of which actually meant an extension of his sentence so he could attend as it was only held at a regional prison).
When he was released, my mother was there for him and helped him get on his feet again. Both of my sisters have refused to have anything to do with him but apart from a quick glance at the shops, I had yet to have any contact with him that forced that decision upon me.
Then a couple of weeks ago, I received a request via Facebook that was from someone I didn't know with a message attached. It was actually from my uncle, explaining that he was using a different name and just to see how I was.
I was torn. Having been abused, I felt a lot of anger towards him, and I didn't think it was my place to offer forgiveness - it wasn't me he had wronged so I can't grant that.
On the other hand, it must be hard, trying to rehabilitate into society when society isn't allowing you the chance to prove you've reformed.
And so I debated about it for a while and finally decided to accept him on FB.
Of course, I'm not a complete dimwit. I did go and edit all my security settings so he has no access to any of my photos, only very very basic information. At the end of the day I may be trying to help him reform but the well being of my nieces and nephews comes first.
I told my sisters what had happened and what precautions I had taken and they reacted in rather the manner I was expecting. Basically they flipped out. They feel a lot of hate towards him and don't want me to have anything to do with him. I had to assure them of the precautions I had taken to prevent them from de-friending me.
But the way I see it...both my sisters have a lot of friends on Facebook (until a week ago when some glitch went and deleted a heap of Barb's friends, she had over 350! ). Just how well can you know 350 people??? At least with my uncle, we're aware of his past and can take the measures to ensure the safety of not just the kids in my family, but also that of children of our friends (and by this I obviously don't mean physical safety, but the safe use of any photos on FB). But any one of those 350 people could be dodgy, you just never know and they have complete access to Barb's profile and photos. So in this case I really feel it's better the devil you know...
And ultimately I really, honestly hope that the man who abused me has been given this chance by someone out there who has faith in him. Because if he hasn't, that means he's still out there, still a potential threat and for all I know, subjecting other little girls to the same fate as me.
So, what do you think? Have I done the right thing? Or do you agree with my sisters and think I should delete him and have nothing to do with him?
(You know who I like? That pickle stork. You know...the one with the pickles...no? *cough* sorry, I thought a little Frisky Dingo early on may lighten this post a little...)
Anyhoo...so, the dilemma...first, some things you should know (if you don't already).
- I was sexually abused as a child.
- My mother was sexually abused as a child.
-My uncle has just been released from prison for sexually abusing a child.
Heavy issues...
Ok, so basically several years ago my uncle was caught molesting a child he was babysitting.
My mother was extremely upset, as you can imagine and basically disowned him. Having being abused as a girl, she was horrified he could do anything like that, especially when he'd seen first hand the lifelong damage it causes.
However, it was left up to my mother to become the executor of his estate so she could ensure that his daughters (late teens) would be cared for. During the course of this time my mother spoke to my uncle regularly and came to understand his remorse for his actions. He had refused bail so he would be removed from temptation and he eagerly attended courses and counselling whilst in prison to learn to cope with the compulsion he felt (one of which actually meant an extension of his sentence so he could attend as it was only held at a regional prison).
When he was released, my mother was there for him and helped him get on his feet again. Both of my sisters have refused to have anything to do with him but apart from a quick glance at the shops, I had yet to have any contact with him that forced that decision upon me.
Then a couple of weeks ago, I received a request via Facebook that was from someone I didn't know with a message attached. It was actually from my uncle, explaining that he was using a different name and just to see how I was.
I was torn. Having been abused, I felt a lot of anger towards him, and I didn't think it was my place to offer forgiveness - it wasn't me he had wronged so I can't grant that.
On the other hand, it must be hard, trying to rehabilitate into society when society isn't allowing you the chance to prove you've reformed.
And so I debated about it for a while and finally decided to accept him on FB.
Of course, I'm not a complete dimwit. I did go and edit all my security settings so he has no access to any of my photos, only very very basic information. At the end of the day I may be trying to help him reform but the well being of my nieces and nephews comes first.
I told my sisters what had happened and what precautions I had taken and they reacted in rather the manner I was expecting. Basically they flipped out. They feel a lot of hate towards him and don't want me to have anything to do with him. I had to assure them of the precautions I had taken to prevent them from de-friending me.
But the way I see it...both my sisters have a lot of friends on Facebook (until a week ago when some glitch went and deleted a heap of Barb's friends, she had over 350! ). Just how well can you know 350 people??? At least with my uncle, we're aware of his past and can take the measures to ensure the safety of not just the kids in my family, but also that of children of our friends (and by this I obviously don't mean physical safety, but the safe use of any photos on FB). But any one of those 350 people could be dodgy, you just never know and they have complete access to Barb's profile and photos. So in this case I really feel it's better the devil you know...
And ultimately I really, honestly hope that the man who abused me has been given this chance by someone out there who has faith in him. Because if he hasn't, that means he's still out there, still a potential threat and for all I know, subjecting other little girls to the same fate as me.
So, what do you think? Have I done the right thing? Or do you agree with my sisters and think I should delete him and have nothing to do with him?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Scitech, The Saints and cheesecake
Valentine's Day. A day to celebrate young love, old devotion and the clanking of gold coins in the florist's counting room...
When you've been together for as long as Christian and I have been, Valentine's day isn't something that takes priority. However, circumstances are a little different this year and so we made a special effort, not so much to spend a heap of money on cheap trinkets and inflated flowers, but just to spend some time together. What with me working two jobs and just the hours I work, we rarely spend much time together and the times we are both in the house at the same time we always seem to be busy with books/computers/games/paperwork.
Not that there weren't presents! But in true Nettie fashion, I forced Christian's on him a day early ;-)
For the longest time now Christian hasn't had a chain to wear, for various reasons. First it broke, then when I bought him a new one he had lost his pendants when we moved so he wouldn't wear just the chain, then I stole the chain when mine broke and finally I could never find him a suitable blokey pendant to go with a new chain. That has all changed now. I found a tiger charm (yay for the Chinese Year of the Tiger) to go with the new chain I bought him for Valentine's Day and I was so happy with the find. In return I received two jasmine vines to be planted along the fence when we finally re-vamp the grassed area.
I discovered that Perth had so little on offer for Valentine's Day as far as events go. Granted, there were heaps of dinner and accommodation deals for Saturday night but come Sunday, there was very little. I searched for theatre and comedy shows, special events or just anything kind of Valentine's-ey but to no avail. In the end we decided on a movie (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief) in the morning and a trip to the Planetarium in the afternoon.
The movie was ok. It had heaps of well known actors in it and good ones at that but it still didn't really pull off a great show. The main kid was a Zac Effron clone and kept the teenage girls (the majority of the theatre) squealing the whole time and the movie just felt rushed and sloppy but never ending all at the same time. But I guess for what it was, it was ok.
I have wanted to go to the Planetarium at Scitech for the longest time now. Cosmic Collisions was a show on at 3:45 and we headed off in time for that. What I didn't know was that the admission for Scitech includes all Horizons shows and so as well as seeing Cosmic Collisions, we were also able to have a play in Scitech as well. We'd killed a few hours at home by reading and watching the cricket when we could have been shoving kids off displays and playing with static electricity! Dammit!
Cosmic Collisions was awesome and I'd love to take my nephews there some time. I'm always taking the girls out and about but the boys do tend to miss out. It used to be because they were so much younger but now I don't really have that excuse. Sure, they're a handful but I need to start being a more dutiful aunty...
After the show we had about an hour to have a play and we had fun with all the different displays. But there was so much we didn't get to do and I also regret not taking my camera so next time I go, I will endeavour to photo-document the entire adventure.
When we got home we sat down to watch Boondock Saints 2. We love the first movie, it's in both of our Top Three Movies of All Time lists but as always, it just doesn't seem likely the sequel will be released in theatres over here (like with 9 - we waited and waited and it still isn't out yet). And so we've resorted to downloading it and watching a slightly dodgy copy of it. But it was worth it because it was great. Probably not as good as the first but it was left open for a third installment and I've been left enthusiastic about that prospect.
Halfway during the movie, Barb called to invite us around to her place for cheesecake.
This may sound odd, but until you have tried Barb's baked lemon cheesecake, you just haven't lived. The prospect of driving the 20 kms to her place for dessert was very tempting but in the end we decided to give it a miss. It was our night in together after all plus I'm *trying* to be good so we compromised and I made some low fat brownies.
Which were good in their own way...
When you've been together for as long as Christian and I have been, Valentine's day isn't something that takes priority. However, circumstances are a little different this year and so we made a special effort, not so much to spend a heap of money on cheap trinkets and inflated flowers, but just to spend some time together. What with me working two jobs and just the hours I work, we rarely spend much time together and the times we are both in the house at the same time we always seem to be busy with books/computers/games/paperwork.
Not that there weren't presents! But in true Nettie fashion, I forced Christian's on him a day early ;-)
For the longest time now Christian hasn't had a chain to wear, for various reasons. First it broke, then when I bought him a new one he had lost his pendants when we moved so he wouldn't wear just the chain, then I stole the chain when mine broke and finally I could never find him a suitable blokey pendant to go with a new chain. That has all changed now. I found a tiger charm (yay for the Chinese Year of the Tiger) to go with the new chain I bought him for Valentine's Day and I was so happy with the find. In return I received two jasmine vines to be planted along the fence when we finally re-vamp the grassed area.
I discovered that Perth had so little on offer for Valentine's Day as far as events go. Granted, there were heaps of dinner and accommodation deals for Saturday night but come Sunday, there was very little. I searched for theatre and comedy shows, special events or just anything kind of Valentine's-ey but to no avail. In the end we decided on a movie (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief) in the morning and a trip to the Planetarium in the afternoon.
The movie was ok. It had heaps of well known actors in it and good ones at that but it still didn't really pull off a great show. The main kid was a Zac Effron clone and kept the teenage girls (the majority of the theatre) squealing the whole time and the movie just felt rushed and sloppy but never ending all at the same time. But I guess for what it was, it was ok.
I have wanted to go to the Planetarium at Scitech for the longest time now. Cosmic Collisions was a show on at 3:45 and we headed off in time for that. What I didn't know was that the admission for Scitech includes all Horizons shows and so as well as seeing Cosmic Collisions, we were also able to have a play in Scitech as well. We'd killed a few hours at home by reading and watching the cricket when we could have been shoving kids off displays and playing with static electricity! Dammit!
Cosmic Collisions was awesome and I'd love to take my nephews there some time. I'm always taking the girls out and about but the boys do tend to miss out. It used to be because they were so much younger but now I don't really have that excuse. Sure, they're a handful but I need to start being a more dutiful aunty...
After the show we had about an hour to have a play and we had fun with all the different displays. But there was so much we didn't get to do and I also regret not taking my camera so next time I go, I will endeavour to photo-document the entire adventure.
When we got home we sat down to watch Boondock Saints 2. We love the first movie, it's in both of our Top Three Movies of All Time lists but as always, it just doesn't seem likely the sequel will be released in theatres over here (like with 9 - we waited and waited and it still isn't out yet). And so we've resorted to downloading it and watching a slightly dodgy copy of it. But it was worth it because it was great. Probably not as good as the first but it was left open for a third installment and I've been left enthusiastic about that prospect.
Halfway during the movie, Barb called to invite us around to her place for cheesecake.
This may sound odd, but until you have tried Barb's baked lemon cheesecake, you just haven't lived. The prospect of driving the 20 kms to her place for dessert was very tempting but in the end we decided to give it a miss. It was our night in together after all plus I'm *trying* to be good so we compromised and I made some low fat brownies.
Which were good in their own way...
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Back from the dead.
Well, my computer is anyway!
It kind of died a little while back and so Christian had a looksie at it. Even though we keep our anti-virus software pretty much up to date, my poor baby was awash with viruses. For a while there it looked like she wouldn't make it but Doc Christian pulled off a miracle and she lives to tell another tale!
So what's new? Um, let me see. I've started my new hours at work this week, yay! I've dropped down to fifteen hours a week over three days to try and get my stress levels down. I walked into work on Monday after having slept in till half seven, done the dishes, headed to the gym and then gotten across to Medicare to finally cash in my rebates that have been sitting there since Christmas. Considering I only had a measly five hours to work it was no wonder I had a huge grin on my face.
I have already said yes to some extra hours because no matter how much more I relax I can't deny the fact that we won't have nearly as much money coming in now. So I'm doing an extra shift next week and over the school holidays I'll be working everyday. But I can live with that.
I haven't updated my Nettie Challenge blog for a while, I'm so naughty. I'll get an update done on Saturday when I have my weigh in although I'm not expecting any miracles there. The few weeks I didn't have a computer meant no online calorie counter either and I must admit that I was no where near as strict as I should have been. I didn't really put any weight on but I didn't lose any either. I've been very good this past week with lots of exercise and so forth so we'll see how I go.
The only other thing that's really of any interest kind of relates back to the last paragraph anyway. I've been going on some really nice hikes lately and I've found that to be really relaxing as well as strenuous...if that makes any sense! It's hard work and is a great form of exercise but at the same time I really enjoy it and am finding it really relaxing to be in the middle of the bush just enjoying the scenery. There's been two that I'm going to try and do regularly. One of them is an 8km loop trail that goes past the place where we went camping and then comes out above the weir. The last 5kms are very tough, there's a lot of ups and downs but also some great views.
The second hike starts at Rocky Pools at the bottom of 'the hill' (Greenmount) and winds it's way along Jane Brook and you eventually end up at the water fall at John Forrest National Park and then we follow the Heritage Trail back down the hill. It's very bush-walky in that the trail on the way up is almost non existent, very narrow and there's lots of climbing up rock faces and trying not to fall on your arse on the way down but it's cool in the fact that you're climbing up the side of a mountain (albeit not a very big one but they are technically mountain ranges) without really realising it.
Both of these hikes have such gorgeous scenery so I really hope that Boo and Mouse bring their walking shoes with them when they come because I really think that it's a great way to see the natural Aussie bush. In the meantime however I'll try and lug my camera along for the next one and get pics for you all.
It kind of died a little while back and so Christian had a looksie at it. Even though we keep our anti-virus software pretty much up to date, my poor baby was awash with viruses. For a while there it looked like she wouldn't make it but Doc Christian pulled off a miracle and she lives to tell another tale!
So what's new? Um, let me see. I've started my new hours at work this week, yay! I've dropped down to fifteen hours a week over three days to try and get my stress levels down. I walked into work on Monday after having slept in till half seven, done the dishes, headed to the gym and then gotten across to Medicare to finally cash in my rebates that have been sitting there since Christmas. Considering I only had a measly five hours to work it was no wonder I had a huge grin on my face.
I have already said yes to some extra hours because no matter how much more I relax I can't deny the fact that we won't have nearly as much money coming in now. So I'm doing an extra shift next week and over the school holidays I'll be working everyday. But I can live with that.
I haven't updated my Nettie Challenge blog for a while, I'm so naughty. I'll get an update done on Saturday when I have my weigh in although I'm not expecting any miracles there. The few weeks I didn't have a computer meant no online calorie counter either and I must admit that I was no where near as strict as I should have been. I didn't really put any weight on but I didn't lose any either. I've been very good this past week with lots of exercise and so forth so we'll see how I go.
The only other thing that's really of any interest kind of relates back to the last paragraph anyway. I've been going on some really nice hikes lately and I've found that to be really relaxing as well as strenuous...if that makes any sense! It's hard work and is a great form of exercise but at the same time I really enjoy it and am finding it really relaxing to be in the middle of the bush just enjoying the scenery. There's been two that I'm going to try and do regularly. One of them is an 8km loop trail that goes past the place where we went camping and then comes out above the weir. The last 5kms are very tough, there's a lot of ups and downs but also some great views.
The second hike starts at Rocky Pools at the bottom of 'the hill' (Greenmount) and winds it's way along Jane Brook and you eventually end up at the water fall at John Forrest National Park and then we follow the Heritage Trail back down the hill. It's very bush-walky in that the trail on the way up is almost non existent, very narrow and there's lots of climbing up rock faces and trying not to fall on your arse on the way down but it's cool in the fact that you're climbing up the side of a mountain (albeit not a very big one but they are technically mountain ranges) without really realising it.
Both of these hikes have such gorgeous scenery so I really hope that Boo and Mouse bring their walking shoes with them when they come because I really think that it's a great way to see the natural Aussie bush. In the meantime however I'll try and lug my camera along for the next one and get pics for you all.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Cake time
I spent half of this past Sunday helping Barb make another one of her wonderful cake creations. The lucky recipient this time round was Barb's nephew Jacob who was turning four. Jakey is a huge Doctor Who fan so what does Barb do? She decides to make a TARDIS cake!
I arrived just after Barb had finished piecing together the layers of sponge and gave her a bit of a hand with the decorating. Well, when I say 'a hand' it means that for the first part I was just moral support and someone to talk to and then later on as it was almost completed I made the little light for on top, the notice for the front door and helped re-make the windows.
I still have blue fingers from the food colouring.
Apparently the cake was a hit at Jakey's party :)
I thought I'd also throw in photos of some of the other cakes Barb has made too. I know I've posted a few of these before in various posts but here they are in one easy collection for your admiration.
Damn I hate her talent! ;-)
This is Darcie's Bratz cake. It took Barb two hours to make and that included the baking and cooling of the actual cake. Barb said she felt like she cheated Darce slightly as she put in next to no effort. I don't think Darcie cared though since it looked great.
This is Chiara's Fairy Garden. Yet another cake in which Barb put in little effort (and I don't mean this in a bad way - I mean that she didn't spend the entire day on it like she did with the TARDIS).
Caleb's Spiderman cake. It went really well with all the Spiderman cups and plates although everyone had red fingers after eating it.
This was a Stegosaurus for our second cousin Win. It looked much better in real life as it was quite 3D.
Barb had had slightly different plans for this cake if I remember correctly. There was an accident in the fridge involving a stray jar of pickles and this was the hasty clean up job. The kids loved it however and all fought over who would get to eat the toadstools.
This is the doggie cake that Barb made for me many years ago. The pic isn't that great since it was taken on my old camera.
There are a few other cakes that she has made that we just don't have photos of or we can't find the pics for. There was a gorgeous Princess Castle that Barb made for Chiara's 3rd birthday that was held at a play centre and although I distinctly remember taking photos at the time, I cannot for the life of me find them on the computer.
Another cake that was a certified hit was made for Caleb while I was in Edinburgh. It was of the lion from Madagascar and I know Barb has that photo on her puter so as soon as she emails it to me, I'll edit this post.
There was also a swimming pool cake that Caleb had at his 2nd birthday but again, I can't find any photos of it. And back before any of us had a digital camera Barb made Christian a Hanky the Christmas Poo cake. Such a pity there's no photographic evidence.
Next weekend is Caleb's 4th birthday and Barb is planning on going the 'simple' option and making him a Light Sabre cake so I'll be sure to get a photo. And it won't be long until my birthday and we have big plans for my cake since I didn't get one last year. There will be two cakes - one will be a traditional type of cake and the other will be a coffin or headstone cake and so everyone will have the option of having Cake or Death :-)
I arrived just after Barb had finished piecing together the layers of sponge and gave her a bit of a hand with the decorating. Well, when I say 'a hand' it means that for the first part I was just moral support and someone to talk to and then later on as it was almost completed I made the little light for on top, the notice for the front door and helped re-make the windows.
I still have blue fingers from the food colouring.
Apparently the cake was a hit at Jakey's party :)
I thought I'd also throw in photos of some of the other cakes Barb has made too. I know I've posted a few of these before in various posts but here they are in one easy collection for your admiration.
Damn I hate her talent! ;-)
This is Darcie's Bratz cake. It took Barb two hours to make and that included the baking and cooling of the actual cake. Barb said she felt like she cheated Darce slightly as she put in next to no effort. I don't think Darcie cared though since it looked great.
This is Chiara's Fairy Garden. Yet another cake in which Barb put in little effort (and I don't mean this in a bad way - I mean that she didn't spend the entire day on it like she did with the TARDIS).
Caleb's Spiderman cake. It went really well with all the Spiderman cups and plates although everyone had red fingers after eating it.
This was a Stegosaurus for our second cousin Win. It looked much better in real life as it was quite 3D.
Barb had had slightly different plans for this cake if I remember correctly. There was an accident in the fridge involving a stray jar of pickles and this was the hasty clean up job. The kids loved it however and all fought over who would get to eat the toadstools.
This is the doggie cake that Barb made for me many years ago. The pic isn't that great since it was taken on my old camera.
There are a few other cakes that she has made that we just don't have photos of or we can't find the pics for. There was a gorgeous Princess Castle that Barb made for Chiara's 3rd birthday that was held at a play centre and although I distinctly remember taking photos at the time, I cannot for the life of me find them on the computer.
Another cake that was a certified hit was made for Caleb while I was in Edinburgh. It was of the lion from Madagascar and I know Barb has that photo on her puter so as soon as she emails it to me, I'll edit this post.
There was also a swimming pool cake that Caleb had at his 2nd birthday but again, I can't find any photos of it. And back before any of us had a digital camera Barb made Christian a Hanky the Christmas Poo cake. Such a pity there's no photographic evidence.
Next weekend is Caleb's 4th birthday and Barb is planning on going the 'simple' option and making him a Light Sabre cake so I'll be sure to get a photo. And it won't be long until my birthday and we have big plans for my cake since I didn't get one last year. There will be two cakes - one will be a traditional type of cake and the other will be a coffin or headstone cake and so everyone will have the option of having Cake or Death :-)
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Work, work, work
I've been rather busy lately, work has been rather hectic and by the time I get home after going to the gym (I do try and get there but it all depends on how buggered I am), watered my garden, cooked dinner, had a shower, all that jazz, I'm finding it difficult to get online. So no one's really seen much of me over the past couple of weeks.
So what have I been doing?
I went out to dinner with some work friends last Saturday and that was really nice and we have a leaving do for one of the girls this Saturday. We're all going out to an English pub in the city (Laura is British) and to make the night even more special Laura, her partner Leanne, Christian and I are going to catch a limo in.
Yay!
It's ever so exciting.
On the Sunday I took my nieces to Adventure World along with my sister Jo. It was a good day but we didn't stay too long. I was rather surprised at my nieces, especially Chiara. Chiara is the sort who loves rides and she went on the kiddie roller coaster and Bounty's Revenge (a big boat that swings you up to a 75 degree angle) and a dragon ride but refused to go on the paddle boats. I really thought the roller coaster would have been too scary but apparently it's not as scary as a paddle boat. Darcie is a little chicken and doesn't go on anything but she loved the paddle boats and even went on the roller coaster. Of course she screamed the whole way and all you could hear from the ground was 'Mummy, stop it, stop it! Why? Whyyyyyyy? Mummy please make it stop!'. Poor thing, she was sobbing and shaking afterwards and it only did three laps...
The girls seemed to have fun though and didn't want to leave but Jo and I were exhausted after three and a half hours and over-ruled the girls!
I'm going to buy a tent this weekend so I'm thinking of going camping over the Easter long weekend, even if it's just overnight. I'd love to camp at Lake Leschenaultia in Chidlow as it's just gorgeous there and they have great facilities (like showers and toilets). I like camping but I do like my little luxuries too! We go there rather often for barbecues and I think it would be great to spend a longer period of time there. There's heaps to do, canoeing, swimming, bush walks, lounging around on the beach. Should be fun!
Baby making is still in progress and with any luck we'll be pregnant soon. I'm very hopeful for this month - we did everything the doctors asked plus more so fingers crossed people! I am trying not to get my hopes up too much but dammit, I'm sure it's time for luck to look our way!
That's about it really. I'll keep you posted about how this weekend goes and I'll make sure to get photos of us in the limo!
Take care and I'll see you later!
xxxx
So what have I been doing?
I went out to dinner with some work friends last Saturday and that was really nice and we have a leaving do for one of the girls this Saturday. We're all going out to an English pub in the city (Laura is British) and to make the night even more special Laura, her partner Leanne, Christian and I are going to catch a limo in.
Yay!
It's ever so exciting.
On the Sunday I took my nieces to Adventure World along with my sister Jo. It was a good day but we didn't stay too long. I was rather surprised at my nieces, especially Chiara. Chiara is the sort who loves rides and she went on the kiddie roller coaster and Bounty's Revenge (a big boat that swings you up to a 75 degree angle) and a dragon ride but refused to go on the paddle boats. I really thought the roller coaster would have been too scary but apparently it's not as scary as a paddle boat. Darcie is a little chicken and doesn't go on anything but she loved the paddle boats and even went on the roller coaster. Of course she screamed the whole way and all you could hear from the ground was 'Mummy, stop it, stop it! Why? Whyyyyyyy? Mummy please make it stop!'. Poor thing, she was sobbing and shaking afterwards and it only did three laps...
The girls seemed to have fun though and didn't want to leave but Jo and I were exhausted after three and a half hours and over-ruled the girls!
I'm going to buy a tent this weekend so I'm thinking of going camping over the Easter long weekend, even if it's just overnight. I'd love to camp at Lake Leschenaultia in Chidlow as it's just gorgeous there and they have great facilities (like showers and toilets). I like camping but I do like my little luxuries too! We go there rather often for barbecues and I think it would be great to spend a longer period of time there. There's heaps to do, canoeing, swimming, bush walks, lounging around on the beach. Should be fun!
Baby making is still in progress and with any luck we'll be pregnant soon. I'm very hopeful for this month - we did everything the doctors asked plus more so fingers crossed people! I am trying not to get my hopes up too much but dammit, I'm sure it's time for luck to look our way!
That's about it really. I'll keep you posted about how this weekend goes and I'll make sure to get photos of us in the limo!
Take care and I'll see you later!
xxxx
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Trip to Freo
A few weeks back my sister Jo, niece Darcie and I took a little trip into Freo to have lunch for Jo's birthday. I took a few pics and thought I'd post a couple on here just for the sake of doing a post really.
Now I like Freo. I don't spend a lot of time there mainly because the parking is crap and it's not exactly close to where I live (although it's much closer now than to where I used to live). But it has a certain charm about it, a lot of the buildings are the original ones from the settlement, being a port city it has a hustle and bustle about it and there are heaps of little back alleys to explore.
We had lunch at Cicerellos, one of the more famous fish and chip joints in Perth. They're pretty good there although you pay for their fame but it's always worth it when in Freo. They have tables outside on the jetty and so we sat outside to eat although Darcie was a bit freaked out being so close to the water's edge.
After lunch we decided to head over to the Round House and have a looksie. Smerk posted a few pics of the Round House a while back on her blog but I can't find them to link to at the mo so you'll just have to make do with the photos I've taken from the inside and underneath and check out the Wiki link.
Under the Round House is a tunnel that is used now as a mini museum. There's several enclosures that depict various colonial scenes plus displays about how the tunnels were incorporated during war time.
This is the big flag pole that stands at the top of Arthur Head as seen from below (I got very excited learning the name of this hill and made several references to Arthur's Seat much to the annoyance of Jo). When a ship is coming into Port a welcome flag is raised to acknowledge it's arrival, apparently Freo is one of the few remaining Ports in the world who continue with this tradition.
All it really needs is a pirate flag!
There are some stocks inside the Round House and the guide there was going to unlock them to let us have our photo taken. Unfortunately she's misplaced the keys and so Darcie and I settled for just putting our hands through. I guess we're lucky that the guide didn't lose the keys after she'd locked us in!
After we left the Round House we meandered down some little back streets and made our way over to the new Maritime Museum. We were going to go and have a look but didn't really want to spend a heap to get into the museum and then have to pay for the submarine tour as well when we knew Darce would chicken out and we'd be left penniless for no reason. Darce tried to convince us she'd be ok but when we pointed out the submarine (it's at the back of the museum) she realised how small and cramped it would be and admitted she would have freaked.
So we caught the bus up to the prison with the intent to take a tour and show Darce the first prison that Poppy worked in (Dad was a Prison Officer for many, many years working all over the state up until he retired several years back). However when we got there we discovered we'd just missed the last tour and would have to wait an hour and a half till the next one. By that point we were tired and sunburnt and decided to head home.
On the walk back to the car we passed a church near the markets and I really liked this sign out the front. I'm not a religious person but if I was I'd love to attend a church with a sense of humour.
Also I'd been meaning to get a photo of this church for quite some time but have never had a chance. Sorry it's a bit blurry - it was taken from the car while driving past. If you can't read the name of the church on the sign it says 'The Immaculate Conception Parish'.
Freo is a must do place for when Boo and Mouse come to visit in October. It might not be as ancient as their city but it's the oldest man made place we've got here and I'd like to show it off.
Now I like Freo. I don't spend a lot of time there mainly because the parking is crap and it's not exactly close to where I live (although it's much closer now than to where I used to live). But it has a certain charm about it, a lot of the buildings are the original ones from the settlement, being a port city it has a hustle and bustle about it and there are heaps of little back alleys to explore.
We had lunch at Cicerellos, one of the more famous fish and chip joints in Perth. They're pretty good there although you pay for their fame but it's always worth it when in Freo. They have tables outside on the jetty and so we sat outside to eat although Darcie was a bit freaked out being so close to the water's edge.
After lunch we decided to head over to the Round House and have a looksie. Smerk posted a few pics of the Round House a while back on her blog but I can't find them to link to at the mo so you'll just have to make do with the photos I've taken from the inside and underneath and check out the Wiki link.
Under the Round House is a tunnel that is used now as a mini museum. There's several enclosures that depict various colonial scenes plus displays about how the tunnels were incorporated during war time.
This is the big flag pole that stands at the top of Arthur Head as seen from below (I got very excited learning the name of this hill and made several references to Arthur's Seat much to the annoyance of Jo). When a ship is coming into Port a welcome flag is raised to acknowledge it's arrival, apparently Freo is one of the few remaining Ports in the world who continue with this tradition.
All it really needs is a pirate flag!
There are some stocks inside the Round House and the guide there was going to unlock them to let us have our photo taken. Unfortunately she's misplaced the keys and so Darcie and I settled for just putting our hands through. I guess we're lucky that the guide didn't lose the keys after she'd locked us in!
After we left the Round House we meandered down some little back streets and made our way over to the new Maritime Museum. We were going to go and have a look but didn't really want to spend a heap to get into the museum and then have to pay for the submarine tour as well when we knew Darce would chicken out and we'd be left penniless for no reason. Darce tried to convince us she'd be ok but when we pointed out the submarine (it's at the back of the museum) she realised how small and cramped it would be and admitted she would have freaked.
So we caught the bus up to the prison with the intent to take a tour and show Darce the first prison that Poppy worked in (Dad was a Prison Officer for many, many years working all over the state up until he retired several years back). However when we got there we discovered we'd just missed the last tour and would have to wait an hour and a half till the next one. By that point we were tired and sunburnt and decided to head home.
On the walk back to the car we passed a church near the markets and I really liked this sign out the front. I'm not a religious person but if I was I'd love to attend a church with a sense of humour.
Also I'd been meaning to get a photo of this church for quite some time but have never had a chance. Sorry it's a bit blurry - it was taken from the car while driving past. If you can't read the name of the church on the sign it says 'The Immaculate Conception Parish'.
Freo is a must do place for when Boo and Mouse come to visit in October. It might not be as ancient as their city but it's the oldest man made place we've got here and I'd like to show it off.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Like a Japanese Tourist
I've got a rather large photo post for you lot today, mainly due to me playing tourist this weekend. I'd gone up to visit my Mum on Saturday and while I was up the hill Jo and I decided to take a run out to the weir. I took lots and lots of photos, and was so excited by some of the content of these photos that Christian asked me 'Are you a bloody Japanese tourist???'.
Not quite Christian but I do get excited about things that you have obviously become apathetic towards.
Shall we begin?
First of all I've got a few pics that aren't from this weekend but from last weekend. Their purpose is to show you my new hair colour because that's the most important bit, yes? ;-)
This is Jess, Clelie and I from Clelie's leaving do at the Riverbank Winery.
Not the best job of portraying the red in my hair but for some reason Mouse seems to like drunk Nettie photos and this is a very drunk Nettie photo. Taken at Mel and Jann's engagement party last weekend.
Ok, onto more exciting photos.
Jo, Darce and I had parked at the main carpark of the weir and were a bit annoyed to find that the usual crowd of roos weren't hanging about. I've lived in the hills since I was a kid and I never stop getting excited when I see kangaroos. I'm such an unobservant person that I tend to miss a lot of stuff that goes on around me (just ask anyone who has ever tried getting my attention while walking past me in a shopping centre) so when I do actually see wildlife, my excitement levels go through the roof.
Anyway, we'd left the carpark and were walking down the millions of steps to the weir wall when we detoured through some gardens into slightly uncharted territory.
Which is to say that we'd never ventured that way before.
We stumbled upon a toilet block and while Jo took Darce there, I wandered over to a huge granite outcropping and was going to take some photos of South Ledge off in the distance.
I heard a crash in the bush and turned to see this fellow staring warily at me.
Looks a bit shocked, doesn't he?
And there were more!
Jo and Darce came out of the loos and I gestured to them to be quiet and scoot carefully up onto the granite. They crept up and we spent a good ten minutes just watching the roos. After a little while the roos let down their guard slightly but always kept one eye on us. I think they were quite happy when we scooted down off the rocks and left them be.
We walked down onto the weir wall itself and took a stroll out to the middle. The day had started off quite overcast and windy, though still warm and the water was quite choppy.
Darcie made it as far as the pump station in the middle of the wall but then freaked out and wouldn't go any further out. I agree with her sentiments regarding this. The first bit up till the pump station is concrete and very wide. You feel relatively safe. The rest of it is a narrow wooden walkway with gaps through which you can see the huge drop beneath you.
I don't feel safe at all walking across it.
While Jo escorted a panicking Darcie back to the safely of solid ground I noticed these doors on the pump station. I rather liked them so I took this photo.
We started to climb down some more steps to the bottom of the weir wall but halfway down we thought we'd check out a track we'd never followed before. It led around the side of the hill and took us out to the bottom of the granite outcrop we'd seen the roos from. We spotted them again, this time slightly uphill from us and had another peek before carrying on.
After a while we came across these ancient stone steps leading up the hill. They must have been built back in the days when the weir was first built and was a popular picnic spot for the citizens of Perth. Of course back then it was a full day trip to visit the weir as the journey was made by train.
The stairs wound all the way up the hill and for some time followed the pipeline.
After we'd finished at the weir we took a drive up to South Ledge. I have only been to North Ledge before and wanted to see what the views were like from the other side.
At South Ledge they've made a viewing platform they call Golden Views, since water is more precious than gold in these parts.
The view of the weir from the platform.
They have these funny little totem pole things at the entrance to the platform and they have the most wonderful carvings on them.
After we left South Ledge we headed back into Mundaring and got some lunch before heading off to Sculpture Park. I'd been meaning to drop by there and get some pics of some of the sculptures there for The Worst of Perth as many of them are quite hideous and creepy.
These are the weird little clone tourists that have been there for years. I remember when they first went up, you'd drive past thinking that they were real people standing amongst the trees but upon closer inspection you were scarred for life by their creepiness.
They're quite small and Darcie looks huge next to them. I'd asked her to pose beside one and she just stood there, looking a bit worried. When I asked her to put her arm around it, she shrieked and moved away several steps. It took a bit of convincing but she finally snuggled up to it and eventually found it quite funny.
Darcie of course demanded payment for the previous photo and that was to let her take a photo of me with the creepy clone woman. I actually look tall! Yay!
One of the other sculptures there has been made into a bench that you could sit on if you found cement to be soothing to aching joints after a long walk.
A bit weird, but arty yes?
Errr, maybe not from this angle.
This is the angle you see from the road if you look far enough back into the park. My gutter mind makes me laugh at it every single time.
And that's about it for now. I'll have another post for you soon as I've promised Neo I'll get my own list together. Till then, take care :)
Not quite Christian but I do get excited about things that you have obviously become apathetic towards.
Shall we begin?
First of all I've got a few pics that aren't from this weekend but from last weekend. Their purpose is to show you my new hair colour because that's the most important bit, yes? ;-)
This is Jess, Clelie and I from Clelie's leaving do at the Riverbank Winery.
Not the best job of portraying the red in my hair but for some reason Mouse seems to like drunk Nettie photos and this is a very drunk Nettie photo. Taken at Mel and Jann's engagement party last weekend.
Ok, onto more exciting photos.
Jo, Darce and I had parked at the main carpark of the weir and were a bit annoyed to find that the usual crowd of roos weren't hanging about. I've lived in the hills since I was a kid and I never stop getting excited when I see kangaroos. I'm such an unobservant person that I tend to miss a lot of stuff that goes on around me (just ask anyone who has ever tried getting my attention while walking past me in a shopping centre) so when I do actually see wildlife, my excitement levels go through the roof.
Anyway, we'd left the carpark and were walking down the millions of steps to the weir wall when we detoured through some gardens into slightly uncharted territory.
Which is to say that we'd never ventured that way before.
We stumbled upon a toilet block and while Jo took Darce there, I wandered over to a huge granite outcropping and was going to take some photos of South Ledge off in the distance.
I heard a crash in the bush and turned to see this fellow staring warily at me.
Looks a bit shocked, doesn't he?
And there were more!
Jo and Darce came out of the loos and I gestured to them to be quiet and scoot carefully up onto the granite. They crept up and we spent a good ten minutes just watching the roos. After a little while the roos let down their guard slightly but always kept one eye on us. I think they were quite happy when we scooted down off the rocks and left them be.
We walked down onto the weir wall itself and took a stroll out to the middle. The day had started off quite overcast and windy, though still warm and the water was quite choppy.
Darcie made it as far as the pump station in the middle of the wall but then freaked out and wouldn't go any further out. I agree with her sentiments regarding this. The first bit up till the pump station is concrete and very wide. You feel relatively safe. The rest of it is a narrow wooden walkway with gaps through which you can see the huge drop beneath you.
I don't feel safe at all walking across it.
While Jo escorted a panicking Darcie back to the safely of solid ground I noticed these doors on the pump station. I rather liked them so I took this photo.
We started to climb down some more steps to the bottom of the weir wall but halfway down we thought we'd check out a track we'd never followed before. It led around the side of the hill and took us out to the bottom of the granite outcrop we'd seen the roos from. We spotted them again, this time slightly uphill from us and had another peek before carrying on.
After a while we came across these ancient stone steps leading up the hill. They must have been built back in the days when the weir was first built and was a popular picnic spot for the citizens of Perth. Of course back then it was a full day trip to visit the weir as the journey was made by train.
The stairs wound all the way up the hill and for some time followed the pipeline.
After we'd finished at the weir we took a drive up to South Ledge. I have only been to North Ledge before and wanted to see what the views were like from the other side.
At South Ledge they've made a viewing platform they call Golden Views, since water is more precious than gold in these parts.
The view of the weir from the platform.
They have these funny little totem pole things at the entrance to the platform and they have the most wonderful carvings on them.
After we left South Ledge we headed back into Mundaring and got some lunch before heading off to Sculpture Park. I'd been meaning to drop by there and get some pics of some of the sculptures there for The Worst of Perth as many of them are quite hideous and creepy.
These are the weird little clone tourists that have been there for years. I remember when they first went up, you'd drive past thinking that they were real people standing amongst the trees but upon closer inspection you were scarred for life by their creepiness.
They're quite small and Darcie looks huge next to them. I'd asked her to pose beside one and she just stood there, looking a bit worried. When I asked her to put her arm around it, she shrieked and moved away several steps. It took a bit of convincing but she finally snuggled up to it and eventually found it quite funny.
Darcie of course demanded payment for the previous photo and that was to let her take a photo of me with the creepy clone woman. I actually look tall! Yay!
One of the other sculptures there has been made into a bench that you could sit on if you found cement to be soothing to aching joints after a long walk.
A bit weird, but arty yes?
Errr, maybe not from this angle.
This is the angle you see from the road if you look far enough back into the park. My gutter mind makes me laugh at it every single time.
And that's about it for now. I'll have another post for you soon as I've promised Neo I'll get my own list together. Till then, take care :)
Thursday, December 06, 2007
The Pinnacles
Rightio chaps, big post for you today, and I mean BIG. As in so big Acci's computer may have a slight mental breakdown. I have lots of photos and also a video for you, in which you can hear my lovely voice. This should appease my Father as he had a bit of a whinge the other day that none of us brood are uploading many photos lately. So, Dad, this is for you!
Okie, so first of all, I'm on holidays. Yaaaaaaaay! Ever so excited. So far I've done lots of Christmas shopping (although not much posting of pressies so some will get overseas rather late), I've spent time with my sisters, watched several romantic comedies and have probably put on about four kilos since I've been eating junk and not much else.
But hey, that's what holidays are for!
On the first Saturday of my break I attended my final work do of the year which was a day at the races with my old branch. I don't really enjoy the races much although it was more fun this year as we won a bit of money. $170 makes any day more fun :-)
I didn't get a lot of pics of that day but here are the few I got.
My and K-Lee and her rather over-sized hat.
Oh yes, that's better, push it more upwards. Now she can see!!!
K-Lee, myself and my team leader Heather. None of us actually work at my old branch anymore but we all went to the function. I was told I was going and wasn't given a choice, Heather went last year and so was invited again this year and K-Lee just invited herself along. But we all had fun so that's what's important.
My older sister Jo and I have been planning for a while now to go to The Pinnacles. It's a bit of a drive and I hadn't been before so why did we really need any other reason?
We set off early this morning and it wasn't long before Darcie got very, very bored in the car. She had a colouring in book to keep her amused but as per usual with kids, that only kept her occupied for about ten minutes. We hadn't even hit GinGin before she was asking if we were there yet.
Anyway, so we eventually got to the park and Darcie got to have her first adventure of the day. Using 'Hole in the Ground' toilets for the very first time. For those of you not familiar with this contraption, it looks almost identical to a normal public toilet but there's no flush mechanism or toilet bowl, just a metal shoot heading down into a pit. It's pretty standard for loos out in the middle of nowhere with no easy water source nearby but it can be a little unnerving the first time you use them.
Perhaps it's the draught.
Or wondering what's going to crawl up out of the pit.
Or Darcie in the cubicle over wondering out loud how many babies have fallen in.
We were just lucky that it was actually a cool day (not typical for December here) and it didn't smell...
Anyway, so we headed off into the park and started to drive around the track, stopping here and there to take photos.
I apologise now if you don't find rocks very exciting.
Darcie and I in front of one of the Pinnacles. Jo doesn't do photos so she refused to let me take one of her and Darce.
Darcie's photo of me. She loves taking photos and I must remember to give her my old digital camera one of these days.
Umm, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Cos I'm sure you know what I'm thinking...
The Pinnacle Queen waves down upon the serfs.
Oooh, more rocks!
I can't remember who it was who told me this, but someone once said that going to the Pinnacles is a little like being on the moon. I found this to be a really adequate description except that it's yellow...
It's a little like a graveyard actually.
Today was actually very cold, which is very odd for December. When we were planning the trip we were expecting temps in the high 30's, early 40's but we all took jackets and wore them most of the day.
The clouds really added to the atmosphere though.
It's amazing how far the desert stretches. You just wouldn't believe it as you drive into the park, surrounded by scrubland and bushes.
The Pinnacle Queen telling us to hurry back to the car so we can go to the beach.
Darce wasn't actually as sulky as she looks here but she was playing at being the Pinnacle Queen, ordering us to get in the car right this intsant.
We couldn't help but stop at the lookout and take some more photos.
Surprise, surprise, more rocks!
The Queen and the Ninja. I didn't realise I was wearing both my Ask a Ninja hat and t-shirt until half way through the day.
Dammit this little girl is getting heavy. I can hardly pick her up any more.
No matter how big she gets, Darcie hasn't lost her love of the camera.
On our way out, I found the real Pinnacle Queen!
After the Pinnacles we drove down into Cervantes and stopped off at the bay there to have lunch. The photos really don't do the place justice, you just needed to be there to see just how green the water was up close to the shore and how aqua blue it was out deeper.
Nettie warned it would be cold...
Quit saying 'Told you so!'
This is a video I took and even the video doesn't do the place justice. It was at this point that I remembered the video function on my camera and cursed myself for not remembering sooner. I would have loved to have taken one of the actual Pinnacles instead of fifty thousand photos!
Ok, well that's about it for now. Hope all your puters survived the trip to the Pinnacles with me and that you're happy with the post Dad!
Bye for now :)
Okie, so first of all, I'm on holidays. Yaaaaaaaay! Ever so excited. So far I've done lots of Christmas shopping (although not much posting of pressies so some will get overseas rather late), I've spent time with my sisters, watched several romantic comedies and have probably put on about four kilos since I've been eating junk and not much else.
But hey, that's what holidays are for!
On the first Saturday of my break I attended my final work do of the year which was a day at the races with my old branch. I don't really enjoy the races much although it was more fun this year as we won a bit of money. $170 makes any day more fun :-)
I didn't get a lot of pics of that day but here are the few I got.
My and K-Lee and her rather over-sized hat.
Oh yes, that's better, push it more upwards. Now she can see!!!
K-Lee, myself and my team leader Heather. None of us actually work at my old branch anymore but we all went to the function. I was told I was going and wasn't given a choice, Heather went last year and so was invited again this year and K-Lee just invited herself along. But we all had fun so that's what's important.
My older sister Jo and I have been planning for a while now to go to The Pinnacles. It's a bit of a drive and I hadn't been before so why did we really need any other reason?
We set off early this morning and it wasn't long before Darcie got very, very bored in the car. She had a colouring in book to keep her amused but as per usual with kids, that only kept her occupied for about ten minutes. We hadn't even hit GinGin before she was asking if we were there yet.
Anyway, so we eventually got to the park and Darcie got to have her first adventure of the day. Using 'Hole in the Ground' toilets for the very first time. For those of you not familiar with this contraption, it looks almost identical to a normal public toilet but there's no flush mechanism or toilet bowl, just a metal shoot heading down into a pit. It's pretty standard for loos out in the middle of nowhere with no easy water source nearby but it can be a little unnerving the first time you use them.
Perhaps it's the draught.
Or wondering what's going to crawl up out of the pit.
Or Darcie in the cubicle over wondering out loud how many babies have fallen in.
We were just lucky that it was actually a cool day (not typical for December here) and it didn't smell...
Anyway, so we headed off into the park and started to drive around the track, stopping here and there to take photos.
I apologise now if you don't find rocks very exciting.
Darcie and I in front of one of the Pinnacles. Jo doesn't do photos so she refused to let me take one of her and Darce.
Darcie's photo of me. She loves taking photos and I must remember to give her my old digital camera one of these days.
Umm, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Cos I'm sure you know what I'm thinking...
The Pinnacle Queen waves down upon the serfs.
Oooh, more rocks!
I can't remember who it was who told me this, but someone once said that going to the Pinnacles is a little like being on the moon. I found this to be a really adequate description except that it's yellow...
It's a little like a graveyard actually.
Today was actually very cold, which is very odd for December. When we were planning the trip we were expecting temps in the high 30's, early 40's but we all took jackets and wore them most of the day.
The clouds really added to the atmosphere though.
It's amazing how far the desert stretches. You just wouldn't believe it as you drive into the park, surrounded by scrubland and bushes.
The Pinnacle Queen telling us to hurry back to the car so we can go to the beach.
Darce wasn't actually as sulky as she looks here but she was playing at being the Pinnacle Queen, ordering us to get in the car right this intsant.
We couldn't help but stop at the lookout and take some more photos.
Surprise, surprise, more rocks!
The Queen and the Ninja. I didn't realise I was wearing both my Ask a Ninja hat and t-shirt until half way through the day.
Dammit this little girl is getting heavy. I can hardly pick her up any more.
No matter how big she gets, Darcie hasn't lost her love of the camera.
On our way out, I found the real Pinnacle Queen!
After the Pinnacles we drove down into Cervantes and stopped off at the bay there to have lunch. The photos really don't do the place justice, you just needed to be there to see just how green the water was up close to the shore and how aqua blue it was out deeper.
Nettie warned it would be cold...
Quit saying 'Told you so!'
This is a video I took and even the video doesn't do the place justice. It was at this point that I remembered the video function on my camera and cursed myself for not remembering sooner. I would have loved to have taken one of the actual Pinnacles instead of fifty thousand photos!
Ok, well that's about it for now. Hope all your puters survived the trip to the Pinnacles with me and that you're happy with the post Dad!
Bye for now :)
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