Christmas Carols and (No) Snow

I’ve just returned from my first vacation to the US. The plane ride was excruciatingly long, but Qantas makes up for it by treating you really well. The Silly Season kicks off in America with Thanksgiving, with the silly part being the sheer amount of food you consume from the end of November through January First. For a holiday such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, you can literally eat a week’s worth of calories in one day. Put another way: my luggage wasn’t the only thing that was heavier on the return trip. This is why dieting is a mandatory New Year’s resolution.

I spent a busy vacation enjoying the wonderful company of friends and family, and also enjoying the signs of Christmas. Because it is winter in the Far North, Christmas lights are visible from about 4:30 onward, when dusk falls. The temperature varied between 0 and 15 degrees (Celsius) during my stay, and there was even a light dusting of snow – although this happened on the one morning I actually slept in, and so I missed it.

They certainly get festive here in Australia as well. Trees and decorations go up, parties abound, and they shut down for a whole week at the end of December. What a great country! Even Andrew got into the spirit early. To welcome me home at the airport he wore a red Santa hat and a red shirt. Interestingly, many small children suddenly started behaving as this bearded persona walked past them.

There are lots of Christmas events around Melbourne, and tonight we attended our local Carols by Candlelight. The air was filled with lovely music, and the audience in red hats contrasted nicely with the green grass of the sports oval. I am coming to terms with summer in December, although this evening the wind kicked in, requiring everyone to rug up well. With a hot-chocolate type chill in the air and “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” floating over the sound system, one could almost imagine it was winter. At least until the Frisbees and soccer balls flew past...although it could have been very tiny reindeer.

Aussie Rules

We’ve been in Australia for over a year now, and there’s a small possibility we may be assimilating. We’ve picked our Footy team (Carlton), see a Roo hop through the back garden (okay, not so usual, but enjoy the photo anyway!) and I’ve even played my first cricket game today. The wicket was drawn on the brick wall, and the ball was a tennis ball, but I managed to learn how to bowl, and even hit a few balls. Catching them was another story, although my red shirt did make me a good target for the other batters.

We still haven’t made it to a Melbourne Cup event, but maybe next year I’ll have an occasion to wear my fancy dress. I just need to find a matching hat.

Now, I still sound like a Yank, and must admit my Australian geography is still limited to an idea of where Melbourne, Sydney and Ayers Rock are located, but I guessed I was settling in when while watching an Australian television, the guest American judges sounded really odd to me. And while watching American TV show, I momentarily wondered why the car being driven on the wrong side of the road.

Well, time to go and organise some tea (supper) and watch some more telly.

Sunday Activities and Other Explosions

We had a beautiful day here in Melbourne. Having sprung all our clocks forward, we were blessed to be able to enjoy being outdoors for a perfect, albeit slightly shortened, spring day.

The community centre where we normally hold our church service was hosting a watercolour exhibit, so we met for morning tea and sunshine at one of our friends’ homes. One of the highlights of the mornings was taking a look at the kids’ playhouse – the previous own had built something which easily could have housed a small studio or potting shed. It even included a tiny loft, which I promptly investigated by clambering up the ladder.

My friend Cheryl invited along to see the horses again. We decided to go for a short ride, more to re-accustom the horses to being ridden again. Between the winter and moving and some eye operations, they haven’t been able to get there much in the past month or so. We were rapt that the horses behaved well, and there were no bruises to report. A mozzie still found me – I suspect Cheryl likes me to come along as mozzies tend to prefer me to whomever I’m with.

Andrew spent the day enjoying radio wave propagation during the contest that ran this weekend. He managed to speak to places such as Russia, Rhode Island and California. We then spent a quiet evening…at least until the loud bang. I missed the evening’s highlight of one of Andrew’s miniature footy balls exploding and sailing up and over the telly of its own accord, from a stationary position on the bottom curio shelf.

He’d re-pumped both balls yesterday, as they’d gone flat. From the kitchen, it sounded like a champagne cork popping. Apparently it sounded much louder than that in the lounge. Poor Andrew’s ears hurt quite a bit, but I couldn’t stop laughing. At least until I remembered there is still a second, re-inflated ball on the shelf in the entryway. I think I'll put earplugs in tonight.

Blogs, Blobs and Balls

A good friend of mine read the “Blob” the other day. I’m pretty sure this was a typo on her part, but I loved the description, because some weeks seem like blobs – or blurs. I’m often going flat out, so if anything ever gets planned, organised or generally thought through, it is a miracle. More often, however, things tend to blob along.

One successful blob was Andrew’s surprise birthday party. He was almost surprised. Those of you who know him will recognise that he is very observant, and therefore hard to fool. I think the guests were more surprised. I’d ended up inviting them all over Saturday and Sunday, and the party was Monday night. It’s not that I hadn’t thought about planning it – it’s just that every time I did think about it, a week’s worth of work got in the way. It was a great party, and a nice birthday week for Andrew. Spontaneity has its rewards.

On other subjects, this weekend is the AFL Grand Final. That’s Australian Football League – and Australian football – not Gridiron. Think of a big punch-up in a round playing field, and you get the idea. Oh yes, and there’s a ball that gets kicked, punted, thrown and punched around as well. And no padding – ouch. Someday I’ll understand the rules enough to be able to properly cheer for my team. Maybe by then I’ll even know their team song (yes, they all have team songs). Until then, I’ll simply enjoy the fact that Australia hunkers down for the game in much the same way the U.S. does for the SuperBowl. Those of us who don’t understand the sport can at least enjoy the party – or go shopping!

No Snail is Safe

Spring started officially in Melbourne on the first of September. I generally held the belief that Australians were merely living up to the pioneering spirit, and held the attitude of “equinox, solstice, who needs it?”. But they obviously got it right, when you consider the fact that during the coldest part of winter (when we actually got down to freezing once or twice) the fruit tree started blooming. The winter flowers have been blooming all along, but don’t let that confuse the issue.

The trees have been budding, the bees have been appearing on window sills out of nowhere, and the occasional fly and mosquito buzz us to make sure we realise that they will be the dominant life form soon. The trio of magpies that sit expectantly outside our window seem to go their separate ways occasionally. Perhaps momma bird is about to tell her teenage children it’s time to go find their own bread crusts.

I’m not sure what the snails are up to. They didn’t show their shells much during the winter, but are once again using our front porch as a thoroughfare to go wherever it is that snails go. We have two shallow steps down, then a sort of moat which directs water away from the door in heavy rains, then two shallow steps up. This moat makes an ideal snail freeway. The problem is that a snail high speed are much slower than human speeds, and the snails are invariably overtaken – especially at night when you can’t them. It’s unfortunate, but I can differentiate between the crunch of a thin snail shell and that of leaf quite easily now.

Escargot, anyone?

The Rainy Season

I see my posts have fallen off quite a bit. It comes from just really needing a good, refreshing vacation, and not really having too much extra energy right now. Unfortunately, in Victoria, work holidays tend to all clump together during one half of the year, and the other half is fairly barren. The good half starts with the Melbourne Cup in November and goes until the Queen’s Birthday in June. After that, you slog away, hoping you get sick enough to take off work, but not sick enough that you can’t enjoy it. Unfortunately, it never seems to work that way. During winter, anything you catch is likely to keep you firmly tucked away under the covers, hoping for enough unconscious moments to recover your health.

Along with winter comes the “rainy season.” They really do have one here in Victoria, but apparently they haven’t had a really good one in while. This year is different. We are wondering if it is due to Dad’s visit, but it has rained (almost) every single day for the three weeks he was here. On the Sunday he arrived, we even had snow. While the higher elevations get snow (hence the ski resorts), in most areas it is so unusual that the last time they had snow was 20 years ago. Here in Park Orchards we experienced some of the wet, heavy, almost-melting flakes – for about 10 minutes. Dad says this has happened to him before while visiting snow-deprived regions.

Granted, it isn’t as much fun for Dad to have a rain-filled holiday, but those of us who live here hope it continues. If we get enough rain – in the catchment areas – we could see a turn-around in the drought. Maybe we can convince Dad to vacation here more often.

Birthdays and Other Surprises

I’ve experienced my first Australian birthday. The birthday itself wasn’t a surprise – I haven’t become that forgetful – but the party was. My sister-in-law, Linda, is amazingly good at these things. She surprised me with a last-minute Thanksgiving celebration this past November, to help me feel less homesick. Well, apparently it was put together last-minute, but you would have not known it. It came complete with home-made pumpkin pie.

One of my birthday gifts this year is that my father is visiting us for a few weeks, and my birthday happens to fall in the middle of that (tomorrow, really – or in two days depending on which side of the dateline you are on). Today was one of the few days I can actually get out and about, so Dad and I were going to go the shopping mall. He told me he was much too tired after a week of sightseeing with our friends and family to do any running around. As I deliberated going on my own, Andrew suggested I really ought to take a nap while he worked on the car. Since I was nearly dropping onto the floor from exhaustion, I reluctantly agreed. I awoke to a houseful of really nice people in a well-orchestrated and lovely array of finger-foods and chocolate “mudcake.”

It’s really odd having my birthday in the winter. No hanging out on the porch, going swimming or other summer-related activities. Of course, one of the surprises about being in Melbourne is that, despite the cold, various flowers and trees bloom all winter. Others are just coming into bloom. So, as long as I don’t stick my nose out the door, it at least looks like summer through the window. Well, that’s Melbourne for you. But they really do know how to throw good parties here.

Showers of Blessing

We had our showerhead fixed yesterday. As you may (or, most likely, may not) remember, our shower produced this tiny gravity-fed trickle of hot water which theoretically should have any Victorian staying well within the water restrictions. Once I figured out how much time it takes to actually wash anything (especially long hair) with a low-pressure, coin-sized drip, these saving benefits are gone. I also had a glimpse into living in the "olden days", as the antartic winter winds whip through the vent window in what I affectionately think of as the Attached Outbuildings. That little trickle of water had no hope of staving off the cold blasts.

Today was different. While the hot water is still low-pressure, the plumber took the restrictor out of the system and installed showerhead with a larger surface area. What a difference! It's what I remember showers at my sister-in-law's house to be like - even though they have a low-flow showerhead, they have normal water pressure. The shower was nice and steamy, and I stayed warm. I had to force myself to move on.

It actually made me very thankful for having even just our Outbuilding with a coin-sized drip. I think of people who live with much less, whether voluntary or involuntary, and am glad we have a roof over our heads.

On the lighter side, it is also probably a good thing that I've gotten used to a bit more shower flow again, otherwise I may well have been blasted through the bathroom wall when I visit the States!

Teaching Old(er) Dogs New Tricks

They say it's never too late to learn. A woman I work with is taking computer courses to learn how to use the programs. Another chap does this regularly as well, moving from one course to the next, simply to keep himself learning.

I learned something new today, thanks to an email my buddy Heidi fowarded. Did you know that all those aluminium foil and plastic wrap cartons have a little tab on the end of the box to lock the roll into place? I never knew this. I'm sure I've had a roll of plastic wrap jump out of the box more than once.

I've had to learn new spellings (check out "aluminium"), new driving techniques (the other side of the road), and new units of measure (Celsius, Litres). Well, I haven't really learned Celsius yet, but at least I can pronouce it. According to the Weatherzone.com.au, 16 degrees is colour-coded "mild", 12 degrees is "cool", and 6 degrees is "cold." But to figure out how cold it is I still have to convert to Fahrenheit. Or go outside.

You'd think I'd learn to put a jacket on by now.

To Coordinate or Not to Coordinate...

We were very blessed during our move into our rental home. Wonderful people donated gifts of furniture, manchester (linens), plates and other sundry items that we had left behind in the U.S.A. Amazingly, many of these items coordinated with each other, and with the colour scheme of the house. I still call it a miracle.

The house has a muted tan and green colour scheme. The walls are textured, and the floors are hardwood in the lounge, tiled in the toilet and bathroom areas, carpeted in the bedrooms, and covered in linoleum in the kitchen and laundry. The linoleum is especially good at disguising dirt, owing to its pattern of cream, green-grey, and shiny gold flecks.

While that dirt-disguising linoleum is often a blessing, I am seriously considering the concept a floor that is contrasting to my dinnerware in our next house. As I was washing the dishes earlier this week, two of my lovely, coordinated Corelle plates relocated straight onto the floor. As Corelle is wont to do, the first plate bounced; the second plate exploded. This was no namby-pamby shatter either. This was a "Mythbusters" giant concrete mixer half-full-of-cement/half-full-of-enough-explosives-to-blow-up-a-mountain vaporisation style explosion. Tiny pieces of glinting tan-and-grey Corelle plate were just about everywhere they could be across the entire tan-and-grey glinting kitchen floor. I now had to find approximately 2,376 glass needles on a flat haystack.

I swept the entire surface twice just to be sure I'd gotten it all up. So, I'm thinking a nice dark grey floor next time. On the other hand, do they make rubber plates?

Woman (Re-)Discovers Electricity

We've evolved. Once we discovered fire (in the fireplace), we rediscovered the electric stove. Or, in this case, cooktop/griller/roaster/warmer/oven...

I've used ovens before, and electric stoves, but this thing is amazing. It's a ceramic cooking surface, which is great because you can take your pan out of the oven and set it anywhere without tipping it. Cleaning the stove is SO easy. (The oven is still as annoying to clean). It has a billion settings - fan forced, fan bake, defrost, grill, ecogrill, fan grill, and I vaguely remember some settings about bake and classic bake. The fan does amazing things. It turns your Classic Sunday Pork Roast (complete with rind) into Grandma's Pork Roast That She Cooked in the Wood Stove.

As wonderful as this is, I've still managed some bloopers. Switching from gas to electric can be unnerving. There's no such thing as bringing something to a boil then quickly reducing it to a simmer. Attempting this has had interesting results.

If you're an average cook, a fan-forced oven can make you seem like a world-class chef. This thing has settings I haven't explored yet. There may even be a setting to boil water...

Chilling Out

It's been rather cold here lately. It's been hovering in the mid-40's to 50's Fahrenheit during the day. As long as you have a jacket on and are in the sun, it's actually quite lovely outside, but the nights get very cold. Overnight tonight will reach freezing. We've been having morning fog for the past few days, and I'm expecting frost when the sun comes up.

I've turned into a bit of a wimp when it comes to cold, mostly because the houses here aren't built for it. I've lived in New York, I lived in Minnesota, but there you dealt with the cold by dressing for it and keeping the heat going inside double-glazed, insulated buildings. Here the houses and buildings can be draughty, especially the older ones. That is great in summer when you need a breeze, but challenging in winter.

The use of the fireplace has helped quite a bit. We only use it once or twice a week, but it's a nice luxury which adds warmth and coziness to dark winter evenings. I must say, it sure beats the little electric heater at my feet!

A Week in Renew

Autumn is in full force in Melbourne. It's much like autumn in the Northeast United States, with the addition of gum trees. And kangaroos and koalas lurking in the bush. In New Jersey, the lilacs and forsythia have been blooming, and friends have sent us lovely pictures of the flowers in their gardens.

In the northern hemisphere, the earth is renewing in springtime. Oddly enough, it's doing the same here in the Southern hemisphere. It's been raining quite a bit, and the grass is actually growing.

Winter will be here soon -- June 1st. I've never liked the concept of Christmas in July, but I might give in, especially if we can go somewhere snowy. Alternatively, I might just check out one of those Qantas airline deals to Hawaii!

Man Discovers Fire

We finally built a real fire in the fireplace. We've done this properly, calling in a chimney sweep, making sure the screen is in front of the fireplace, and placing the fire extinguisher in plain view where it can be readily accessed. But I still burnt my lip trying to eat a hot dog during our marshmallow/hot dog roast. Twice.

We actually built a grate out of bricks and a piece drainage grate. These grates are serious pieces of metal that form a line over the drainage ditch in the driveway, and there happened to be some extra ones behind the car port. But our other impromtu tools (a piece of wood for a poker, kitchen tongs for toasting marshmallows and moving pieces of coal) simply proved Andrew's credo - that proper tools get the job done properly. Once my burnt lip stopped hurting, I was more than happy to agree.

Andrew came home from the Op Shop with an excellent set of brass fireplace tools for $30. Op Shops are amazing. We haven't found a real grate yet, though -- or a really long marshmallow fork.

Uncollected Canterings

That blurry bit there is in fact a picture of me horseback riding. It was taken by one of our pastors, Cheryl (from horseback) at end point of our outing on Sunday, when I was getting rather tired, and the horse knew it. This is of course not too different from the beginning if the ride, when the horse knew I hadn't been glued to a saddle for about 10 years. I actually did have some collected moments in between the beginning and end...

Our pastors Cheryl & Tristan and their daughters all ride, which is a wonderful discovery, and they are willing to share the enjoyment with others. I had great time, and rediscovered my various leg muscles during the course of the next day or so.

Some people are really fortunate. They go through the day, very collected and organised, from beginning to end. Others of us collect ourselves in between the start and end of the day: planning, organising, leaving the planner in the drawer, forgetting the grocery list, coming home with interesting things in our shopping bags, and then forgetting what recipe we were going to use them in. This can lead to spontaneous behaviour, resulting in combustible dinners or gourmet meals. On the other hand, it's a good idea to have the collected folks around, because that can lead to dusty boots on a Sunday afternoon.

Language Barriers

It's amazing what you take for granted in your own country. Or your neck of the woods for that matter. For instance, in the Northeast United States, everyone talks with a fairly similar accent. People from the South and Southwest speak differently. So do Midwesterners and Westerners. But they sound normal, because we expect them to sound that way. The sounds are part of our culture.

Being from the Northeast, we were cosmopolitan enough to live with a multitude of accents and cultures from around the globe. And while some accents were difficult, everyone was trying to master our colloquialisms and our pronunciations, so differences were quaint and we eventually understood what people were saying.

It's quite an eye-opener (ear-opener?) to be the one with the foreign accent. OK, Andrew's done it before, but it's a first for me. Travelling on holiday doesn't prepare you for this. Suddenly, everyone everywhere speaks in a way that doesn't sound anything like you, even though you both are supposedly speaking the same language. I use funny words that people aren't familiar with ("trash"), and pronounce the ones they know in just as amusing a manner ("mo-bil" instead of "mo-bile").

And you notice this, because you're not with a tour group or heading home in a week. Like the chocolate Easter Bunny sans ears, you find yourself asking people to repeat things and hoping they don't think you a total nonner, because you ask this almost daily. Fortunately, no one's started speaking to me LOUDLY and more S...L...O...W...L...Y.

At least, not yet.

We Need More Power, Mr Scotty!

Well, I can't even compare a power outage in Melbourne to the "load shedding" in South Africa, but since it makes a good starting sentence, I guess it's fair to say I just did. Hmmm...

We had some amazing storms here in Victoria two days ago. A cyclone in Western Australia sent incredibly strong winds through the mountain ranges, with trees, fences, building and boats damaged in various areas of the state. Sadly, there were 3 lives lost.

Those of us on the edge of the bush lost power for just about 24 hours, and 20,000 people are still without power two days later. There was a dust storm as well. We only got the edge of it, but there are some amazing photos out there. Of course I can't find them now.

It's amazing how well one can manage. Andrew had bought a small generator, which was sufficient to light some lamps, and the television. And yes... the television stations came in loud & clear.

We discovered that small genny doesn't have the capacity to run even a small fan heater, and we also disovered why the it was on sale -- it doesn't work properly. So, we bought a quality (and also quieter) genny from a reputable vendor, and will hopefully be getting a refund from the other store. With the new genny and a small but excellent camp stove, we'll actually have enough power and coffee to keep ourselves illuminated, warm, entertained -- and awake -- during the next outage.

Traditions

Well, Easter Sunday has come and gone. We had a lovely 4-day weekend - Good Friday through Easter Monday. We were delighted to visit a new church just a couple of blocks away, and spent time with Linda & Bernie, Adrian's parents and sister, and even briefly with Heidi as we just managed to catch her heading off for nursing duty. Both Adrian and Michael were away on weekend trips.

Andrew & I discovered that the Easter Bunny, like Santa, travels around the globe. Delightfully, there is also an Easter Bilby -- an endearing little creature, which happens to be on the endangered list (scroll down to see what an actual bilby would look like if it were made of chocolate and covered in foil).

Heidi surpised everyone (including Adrian, good job there) with ostrich-sized chocolate eggs. Andrew even surprised me with chocolate bunny. I suppose we've got some new traditions going -- a chocolate egg large enough to house small chocolate critters.

Old traditions can also prove to be the best, such as the chocolate bunny with hearing problems...if you check with all my siblings, I think you'll find they've adopted some of these hapless creatures as well. I can't remember who in the family actually ate the ears off the bunnies, but Dad has certainly perfected the gag. Thanks to everyone for a lovely Eastertide.

Holidays Around The World

Last week we had Labour Day here in Victoria. There aren't as many states in Australia as in the US, but they seem to have greater autonomy in celebrating various dates, such as the Queen's Birthday (who else gets to have multiple celebrations?), Labour Day, and others. This week, of course, is Good Friday, Easter and Easter Monday. Everyone is looking forward to a 4-day weekend (or in my case 3-plus-one-workday). I'm looking forward to going to church as well, since my schedule usually leaves me too tired on a Sunday morning.

We were surprised at the lack of green on Monday, however. Apparently, St Patrick's Day is not that widely celebrated by Melbournians. There wasn't even an Irish pub close by, so Andrew & I greatly missed Mom's corned beef & cabbage dinner. I did proudly sport my Sullivan pin and Andrew donned a shamrock, as well. Perhaps we can get enough clan members over here to lobby for St. Paddy's Day as a national holiday.

Now, for the most important remembrance -- may each of you have a blessed Easter as we celebrate Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection!

Labourious Spelling

Monday is Labour Day here in Australia. Fortunately, growing up in world where we could get books printed in Britain, I'm familiar with the concept of extra letters in the words. On the other hand, the rest of the English-speaking world wonders why Americans shorten everything by dropping a vowel.

There's a lot of things the U.S. does differently. While everyone else has adopted decimal measurements, the U.S. still uses miles and pounds. Interstingly enough, the currency is decimal-based, and that was introduced in the 17-somethings.

In any case, according to the metric system, I actually walked four and half kilometers the other day. Part of the reason was that I missed my bus, and the trip to work became, well, interesting. I just started walking in the direction of work and figured I'd eventually find enough buses and/or trains to get me there. It worked, and I got a bit of additional exercise as well. Four and a half kilometres sounds impressive, but I don't want to spoil it by checking how many miles that is, in case it the numbers go down.

Cuppa A Day

There's some things about Melbourne that I really like. Take the Melbourne Cup Day. Any state that shuts down business for a horse event certainly has it's priorities together. The Melbourne Cup is the equivalent of the Kentucky Derby, only it is always held on a Tuesday, and usually turns into a 4-day weekend. Very nice.

And, I hate to admit it, but Melbourne's got the edge on metro NY when it comes to coffee. The cappucino and latte and various styles exist here as well as New York, but here, your "flat white" (coffee with milk) comes frothed! Your latte is frothed! Your cappucino is even more frothed! Being a barista is an intensively trained, highly regarded position. They do a good cuppa here.

The fast food is pretty amazing well. Of course, they've got the usual world-reknowned heart-attacks-on-a-bun brands, as well as a few british heritage foods of their own, such the beloved meat pie, sausage roll and fish & chips. On the other side of the coin, they've got some amazing choices. In food courts everywhere you see souvlaki, indian food, chinese food, vegie wraps, sushi, noodle bars, stews, tappas -- all ready to be served up instantly.

Some things are different from what you expect. The pepperoni is different from Italian pepperoni I know. The greek style yoghurt is not like the yoghurt from Greece that I loved so much. Some things you have to keep hunting for until you find them, other things you do without. I did find Domino's Pizza, and I'm hoping the pepperoni is "normal"!

The Birds and the Bees

Andrew & I have just been watching some of the local birds. The birds in the bush tend to be large, and often colourful. There's a variety of parrot-types -- cockatoos, galas, some bright red ones, and the jewel-green multi-colour birds. I don't know all their names yet, but they are fun to watch. Some visit frequently, some buzz through the yard like fighter pilots, and others visit on what appears to be a seasonal schedule.

We'll sit and enjoy the view, and then suddenly run and grab our cameras. I suppose the locals must think we are bit mad, since they've seen these birds all their lives, and the cockatoos can in fact be a bit pesky. But to us, these birds are exotic.

It's interesting, that term "exotic". Usually it is applied to diseases we'd rather not get, or food we are not quite sure we want to taste, or very expenses artwork that we find rather strange. The more fun exotics include beautiful plants, or animals we don't normally see. Andrew experienced this already: bears, deer, racoons. Odd isn't it? Now we both are seeing exotic flora and fauna -- kangaroos, wallabies, ring-tail possums, gum trees. Then again, we're the ones with accents here. We try to fall into the "fun" category!

Families and Gardens

My sister-in-law, Coleen, reminded me that I hadn't updated the blog in while. It's been "one of those weeks" and of course time travels onward, even if our to do list stalls. I thought I'd better catch up on a few tasks. It's Saturday, which traditionally is the day you work on the garden (or lawn). This is a world-wide phenomenon, started by someone who couldn't leave well-enough alone.

Andrew's mowing a bit of lawn, to make the area around the house presentable. I've just been starting our brand new compost heap. I felt obligated to do this, because the pile of leaves meant to go into it has been sitting at the bottom of driveway for weeks, and friends and family are coming over tomorrow for a barbecue. I guess our instinct is to have our compost together when family visits!

Well, I am very thankful for family and friends, because they help us out by bringing over the extra set of tableware, or subtly push us to remember to keep the garden and the house tidy. Or even remind us to update our blog...

It's a Rainy Drought This Evening

We had a bit of rain tonight. We sat at the dining room table, opened the french doors wide, and watched the rain dance on the porch about 2 metres from where we were sitting. It reminded me of camping. Although, when you're camping, you usually try to close everything up!

We're always thankful when it rains, because it means the flowers will perk up, the trees will soak up some water, the grass will grow, and the car will get a "wash." For the many Australians who have rain barrels or tanks, it means a bit more extra water.

We are fortunate to live in an area of Australia that does get a bit of rain, although the problem is getting enough rain in the cachement areas. So, despite the green and the wet, we are still in drought, and I've entered a world that Andrew's known all his life -- one of using water carefully.

Cruising Down the Cultural Highway

We've had some very pleasant evenings entertaining lately. Tonight we enjoyed the company of some wonderful guests who were (for me) fellow northern hemisphere expats. Interestingly enough, we didn't commiserate about lack of snow at Christmas as much as I thought we would. I guess the first shock is over.

There are still cultural bumps. My instinct to flip light switches up for on and down for off is still strong. I still can't get into the office first thing Saturday mornings -- and then I remember that the door opens inward.

Some things are really rather clever. The power points (outlets) have switches on them, so you can turn off appliances at the source, rather than unplug them. It's not strange to Andrew, but I still find this fascinating, unless of course I've forgotten to turn the outlet on...

How Do You Handle a Septic System?

Many of you have seen photos of the lovely home we are renting. After moving in, we discovered some quaint, old-fashioned issues. The first discovery was our gravity-fed hot water system. For those of us accustomed to a warm, therapeutic shower, it was a shock to discover that the tiny trickle of hot water coming from the shower head was "it." Turn on the cold water to get bit of flow going and -- bam -- where'd the hot water go?

Then we thought about the septic system. After a few fragrant evenings, we realized the massive laundry pile that appeared from our overseas shipment had probably stressed the enzymes a bit. Apparently it is important to prevent too much water from entering the system. Andrew has established a greywater recycling program in our own home using hoses, buckets and bins. It's helpful, too -- the drought restrictions don't allow regular watering.

We've also had to find (or make) phosphate-free cleaning products. The home-made fabric softener works...sort of. Now to find toilet paper that doesn't contain bits of trees.

Thankfully, the septic-friendly measures seem to working, and we haven't "noticed" the septic tank in a while. It also is eco-friendly, and since we like our yard, we'll be nice to it.

Updates on a Rainy Evening

I'm trying to sort how to best post things and contact everyone to let you all know about the blog. That's the over-analytical part of my mind. What happens is that it bumps up against the artist in me, then the lazy person in me says, "don't think about it." So I don't. And here it is a week later...

Last night we went and had a lovely dinner at a local "club" restaurant with Linda & Bernie. You have to sign in as a "member," which is how they deal with the gaming laws, as there is gambling on the premises. Anyway, it was Steak Night, and we had a lovely dinner with a glass of wine. Dessert & coffee were extra, but very nice. On the way home we saw some small kangaroos (possibly wallabies) -- our first sighting in this area. There was also a beautiful rainbow as a result of some much needed rain showers.

This morning I actually got up early, as I needed to haul the bins to the top of the drive. When I lifted the lid on the garbage, I nearly spoke in tongues when I discovered a huntsman spider that had taken refuge from the rain, or perhaps was looking for a snack. They're not at all like the little daddy-long-legs. While harmless, they are furry, ugly and big, and give you sudden bursts of energy for running. I found one on the walls of the toilet the other day. Fortunately we had guests that night, and Cliff removed the spider for us. (Andrew is actually quite good at it, but I'd forgotten to tell him about it.) My niece, Heidi, says a good way to spot native Australians is by their reaction finding a huntsman spider sitting on the car visor. A native Ozzie simply flips the visor back up. Non-natives generally have accidents as they try to suddenly exit the car (regardless of speed)...

I'm getting used to them.

Klunder vs Blunder

Welcome to KLogUnder - that's short for Kayton Log Down Under. In true Ozzie fashion, every word and name gets shortened. I originally thought of Blog Down Under, but the resulting domain name, while hilarious, was "Blunder," and I certainly didn't want to imply that about the move! Plus, the domain name was already taken. "Klunder" was not available, either... so it's a "klogunder."

I'll be posting some of my early notes and thoughts upon our arrival in Australia, as well as photos, so you can be assured we are actually here and not hiding somewhere in New York. Check back often, perhaps I'll have updated this!