My view and thoughts on everything!

"but can inflict severe pain (like a Celine Dion concert methinks)....there were literally hundreds of baby Huntsman spiders running everywhere!" Recently No Worries, the Gals and I moved to a new abode. The move was a typically stressful one even though we only moved a couple of kms up the road! Moving is not fun at the best of times. As I type this tome we still have lots of boxes to unpack! Yes I know, we are lazy!! Anyway, when we moved in we noticed a Huntsman spider in the kitchen at the top of the venetian blinds. For the uninitiated, a Huntsman spider is quite large, hairy and looks like a tarantula! Fortunately they cannot kill a human but can inflict severe pain (like a Celine Dion concert methinks). I tried to kill it but it went into the bracket that was holding up the blinds. No Worries and I decided to leave it be as Huntsman's do kill insects including the much maligned cockroach. So we left it alone to its own devices. It seemed happy enough to hang a...

"So far in life I had gone without seeing Miley Cyrus. In truth I was mentally scarred by her fathers' musical legacy...come on London 2012, drop synchronised swimming for whip cracking!" A couple of months ago I had the privilege of escorting my youngest daughter and her school class on an excursion to the City Zoo in Sydney's west. I was eager to go as I had missed out on my eldest daughters' excursion to the same place the previous year. Two weeks prior to this I had received a letter asking for parent volunteers to accompany the teachers on the excursion. As places were limited it was on a first come,first served basis. Naturally I filled in the attached form and had it back with the relevant teacher before you could say "Wooloomooloo"! I had an agonising seven days wait before I received the news that I wanted to hear. I had been accepted as a parent volunteer! I was very excited. On the day of the excursion we got to the school early. I had pac...

Recently my blog hit the 4,000 mark. Now in the realms of the super blog writers it is not even a blot on a landscape, but to me it's a magical figure. It has taken 2.5 years to reach this figure and I never thought it would ever pass 1,000! So a big thank you to all my readers and occasional visitors. I will increase my blog output in the New Year. For the past 12 months I have been concentrating on a few other things (and not just watching cricket on the television!). So please stay tuned for the next exciting instalments which will be coming soon to an Internet browser near you. In the meantime, have a great New Year's eve and take care.

"I am a lousy singer. In fact I never made the school choir much to the relief of the teachers and parents....This was before Mr Beckham appeared on the world stage. Luckily for him I never got the call to train with England" Recently I wrote my 100th blog and I felt a quiet achievement in breaking my ton. Now I have never set out to write a large number of blogs but ones that I truly wanted to write. As the saying goes 'quality not quantity'. Or maybe not in my case! Anyway, I have been wracking my brain to come up with ideas to commemorate this glorious achievement and I thought there was only one way to do it. No, I am not going to dress up in drag and sing karaoke in a tight fitting dress at a sleazy bar in Sydney, but will reveal some more facts and meaningless trivia about myself. Mind you, a number of women have commented on my legs so maybe after I finish this blog drag might have been the better option! So here goes. A list of things you never knew abo...

"typically the weather can be very up and down (a bit like the stock market, or U2 albums)...your excitement about reainspotting drains from you as your senses get invaded with the smell from Hell!" November in Sydney can be a strange time of year. Not only is it one step closer to Christmas but it signifies, to us in Down Under Land, that summer is just around the corner. Frankly, I am not sure where this elusive 'corner' is but its somewhere close, methinks. Maybe the number 435 bus goes there. Who knows! From a meteorological point of view November signifies the end of coolish weather as the onslaught of the summer heat flexes its muscles. Typically the weather can be very up and down (a bit like the stock market, or U2 albums). For example, a couple of days ago the temperature in Sydney hit 38C. It was very hot and sunny. However, yesterday it was only 22C and overcast. So there is a sort of weather heavyweight boxing match going on at present where there w...

"It becomes an issue mainly in car parks and I am sure that most of you reading this are afflicted too. So what is it? Well it is not something that is easily answered in a few words...As you drive around you pass many cars all with drivers searching for their own piece of exclusive real estate. Every driver you see has been afflicted, like me" Firstly, apologies for not writing many blogs lately. I had my mother and sister visit me from the UK. So for the past few weeks I have been acting as a tour guide, chauffeur, interpreter (?) and helping them to stimulate the Australian economy (with British pounds). Oh yeah, and we had the dust storm of all time! Anyway, back to the topic of this blog. I have noticed recently that I suffer from an affliction. It's not contagious, illegal or damaging to your health. It is an affliction, however, that has infected millions of people worldwide. I have thought about seeking professional help with this matter but I feel it is too la...

"Still there appear to be things missing. No doubt they will turn up before the 2012 Olympics...to say that the singing was dire. In fact it was worse than dire, it was totally bad!" One of the biggest drawbacks of moving to an apartment from a house is that you are really living in a box which is cocooned by all these other boxes. It always reminds me of a beehive without the honey. Now, don't get me wrong, apartments have a lot going for them. They are economical, efficient, generally warmer than a house (especially in winter) and you don't need to worry about any gardening! (much to my relief). Recently we moved into an apartment as a stop gap means as we will be moving to another part of Sydney in early 2010. It is a good sized apartment with a nice balcony and a good sized courtyard for our girls to run around, or ride their bikes. I am hoping that my youngest daughter quickly realises where the brakes are on her bike otherwise she is going to be black and bl...