take me home country roads January 30, 2010

tomtom

garmin

navman

 

opinions anyone?

because i've been researching and people just seem to like what they have.

lets assume i'm someone who has no idea where they are or where they're going

ok, lets just say that I am that someone

i can travel to the same place for twenty years but still not be able to find my way without clear instructions and a map. and a mobile phone to ring daz when i get lost. because he can give you crazy directions like – ok, turn left now and you'll drive past this old house with a red roof on the corner on your right, next to a post box. hey, is that takeaway shop still on the left there?

but i'm planning on doing some exploring this year. mainly of cafes and restaurants with my daughter on her mondays off work. because i didn't see enough of her last year. but we won't be going far without a gps. its on my birthday list.

i don't need bells and whistles. i don't need celebrity voices or huge screens. i'll be listening, not watching. i'll be watching the road. i just want something reliable that will get me there.

the difference doesn't seem to be so much  the cost of the units but the cost of updating the maps

so, anyone have a favourite?

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bored January 29, 2010

I have to say that I have found season 4 of Dexter to be really boring.

Its been disappointing because I was a fan of season one and two.

It was always going to be tough though to beat the ice truck killer and Doakes and Lila.

Last season was bla. This season has been bla bla.

And I hate to say so but I thought season 2 of True Blood just went on a bit too long. I was really getting sick of the whole Maryann thing and thought they could've killed her off a lot earlier. And something really weird has happened to Bills hair. He's starting to look like Ralph from The Simpsons.

And I'm pretty disappointed that The Biggest Loser is couples again. Boring, already did that.

I just hope Lost doesn't let me down. I've put up with a lot of late nights to watch every episode so far. I think everyone else in Australia stopped watching it so they started airing it at 11pm which is way past my bed time.

And while I'm at it – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was the most boring book I've read in a long time. At least a few weeks anyway. I will not be bothering with the rest of the series.

At least Australias Next Top Model is starting again soon. Thats always good for a laugh. We're not doing short girls here though.

Does anyone watch or did anyone watch Bored To Death? I saw it advertised last night and thought it looked ok.

 

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betty January 28, 2010

Betty has two beds.

A day bed and a night bed.

Her day bed stays out side all the time.

She has a night bed because she sleeps inside, and I don't want to have to haul the stinky day bed in and out all the time.

So through the day, I put the night bed out on the back table. Idea being that it will stay cleaner.

Here is the day bed today.

 

Day-bed

 

And here is the night bed today.

 

Night-bed

 

She's a special little fool.

 

Betty

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easter bunny is confused January 26, 2010

Give us a break woolworths.

Easter eggs and hot cross buns on the shelves already.

I seem to be unreasonably pissed off about this.

Or unseasonably.

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wishing January 25, 2010

This is something daz did while we were in Thailand.

Not make a video clip with Powderfinger unfortunately.

But he bought one of these lanterns and lit it and set it free.

Every night we'd sit at this outdoor bar and see these lights floating away into the sky. They'd go miles up and away. Lots of them. They'd end up just looking like stars.  And we'd wonder what they were.

So one night when we were all asleep, Daz went for a walk down to the beach and found that there you could buy one of these huge lanterns, light it, then release it. You make a wish as you release it and they are believed to bring you good luck. Its like you're sending your bad luck away with them. So that was something special he got to do on his own. I didn't ask what he wished for. Probably that I wouldn't make him go for any more hour long speedboat rides anytime soon.

They're made of some sort of rice paper and are apparently pretty heavy. Bigger than I was expecting. I believe Bernards wife was ill with a heart condition and thats why he was doing the wish/good luck thing.

If you don't want to listen to him going on about it just skip in about 2 minutes 30 seconds and you'll see them being released – pretty spectacular. There weren't this many where we were because this was filmed at a festival. But we definitely had the crazy fireworks going off every night. People just let them go in the street all the time.

And if you don't know who Powderfinger are, they're an aussie group, been around for years now.

 

lanterns

 

 

 

 

 

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bagels January 23, 2010

So lets talk about bagels.

Because I don't think we do bagels here in Australia. I myself have never had a bagel, and I've only ever seen a couple of bags of them right down on the bottom row of the bread section at woolies.

However, I have bought a bag. A pack of six plain bagels. They are sitting in the freezer.

So now what do I do with them?

Do you eat them cold, like a sandwich, do you toast them or heat them up in the oven. Do I spread something on it or put ham and salad on it.

Favourite things to do with a bagel please?

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modified

Most thai people we saw get around on bikes or scooters. Sometimes three to a bike. Kids, babies, they can fit the whole family on.

Saw a couple set up like this with the little cane chair attached to the bike for the kids to sit in. It was tied on, wasn't just sitting there.

 

Passenger

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QotD: Wardrobe Malfunction January 22, 2010

What's the most embarrassing outfit you've ever worn? Bonus points if you share a photo!

Hard to pick just one.

But I'd say it happened in the 80's. And I'd say that it had a matching hairstyle.

Like this one. Now I have enormous hair and within the past decade or so if I've ever mentioned perming it to a hairdresser, they've all looked at me with horrified expressions. But not back then baby. Big hair was IN.

Nice side clip thing happening. That would've been one of those combs that were all the rage then. I had them in a range of colours. And I quite liked that shirt, although it had about 500 tiny buttons down the front which weren't really very practical for breastfeeding.

This was Lloyds christening. He already looks resigned to the fact that he has idiots with mullets for parents.

 

 

Scan0165

 

I was pregnant for most of 1987, 1989 and 1991. And when you're pregnant, and have a couple of babies, your brain seems to turn to mush when it comes to style.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I wore a maternity dress that had dalmations on it. Or it could have been scottish terriers. It doesn't really matter which one it was though. I thought it was nice. And now I'm pretty sure it wasn't. Thankfully I don't think there is a photo.

And I don't want to talk about the long socks and sandals stage. That was really wrong.

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there was a crooked man January 20, 2010

This morning I discovered that my toenails are so long that my joggers don't fit.

I've known that they needed cutting for a while now, but its one of those things I only remember needs doing when I almost get one of them ripped off.

Like I knew they needed cutting on Sunday when I went grocery shopping wearing my thongs and my big toenail kept getting caught on the hem of my jeans.

Well they won't be getting cut today because my back siezed up on Tuesday and I wouldn't be able to reach them. I'm like the crooked man at the moment. I'm stuck in what I call the lawnmowing position. Not that I ever mow the lawn mind you. But thats how I'm stuck. Kind of bent over a bit. You could call it pushing the pram as well. And then one hip is bunched up a few inches higher than the other.

Its very annoying. It usually happens about once a year for some reason. When I was 14 I bent over one night to pick up the dogs bowl and that was the first time it happened. Last time it happened I had to use a walking stick.

It was the bloody plane trip that did it. Sitting there for over 8 hours. I could feel it stiffening up.

Towards the end of last year I was running every day and doing some pilates and yoga and my back had never felt better. But then I had the whole suspected heart attack thing so couldn't exercise for a week. Then the plane trip. There and back. And then it decided to just chuck it in.

Walking, slowly, helps when it happens. I have to either be lying down or walking.

Maybe I could just walk on the treadmill all day and watch movies. And lie down for food breaks.

 

 

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aussie lamb January 19, 2010

I cooked a leg of lamb on Sunday night.

Always a slighty disturbing thing for a non meat eater to have to do. Its the smell of meat cooking mainly that bothers me. Its like how after you use the deep fryer the house smells like fat for a day or two.

Lizzies fault. She's turned into a mad carnivore.

When she was 14 she decided she was going to be a vegetarian. No particular reason that I can remember. But for the next three years she didn't eat meat. Not even chicken or fish.

Then when she turned 17 she decided she was over it and went to KFC. And that was it. Meat pies were next on the list. Even though they're not technically meat.

Beef curries, lamb, gravy and mint rolls, chicken schnitzel. She's powering her way through them all.

We'd normally cook a leg of lamb on the bbq but Daz wasn't here and I was too hot to go outside. One time I do use the airconditioner is in the kitchen when I'm cooking.

So I have a new frypan I used. It didn't quite fit and I couldn't get the lid on. And it seemed to be taking hours. As it does. So when it was mostly cooked I hacked it into pieces and let it cook with the potatoes in all that fat and sticky stuff that lamb seems to produce. When I was a kid my favourite part of the lamb roast was that sticky stuff that sticks to the bottom of the pan. And it makes the gravy taste good as well.

I have to say though that I hope all you lamb eaters are running a pretty high internal body heat. To keep that fat liquid and moving along. Because it sure sets into nasty artery hardening stuff when it cools down.

This would be Bettys favourite night – roast night. Because after I take the meat and the potatoes out I fry her some bread in the fat. Then she has it covered in gravy.

Actually I think roast night was everyones favourite night around here. No one was very happy when I went all health on them and stopped making it in the pan.

Its like cutlets. When I was a kid the best part of a cutlet was the big strip of fat down the side that went all crispy when mum grilled it. Now you buy a cutlet and its all been trimmed off. Just a stick with a circle of meat at the top. You'd need to buy about 40 to feed my family.

But I thought I'd give Miss Lizzie a treat seeing as how she hadn't had one for years.

 

Lamb

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