promotion

I got one...after six months of application work.  Now off home to put my feet up.

A record? maybe

Its been two months since my last online appearance.

I moved in, put a security screen on the front, pest controlled for termites in the palms and cut down about 30 trees.  Before you gasp in horror they were palms and trees that were leaning over the gutters rubbing them and I'm in the process of putting 15 different ones in at the moment to make a good hedge that wont grow over the house.  In the longer term I'll replace the trees on the other side as well with citrus.

Putting in the new trees requires I first remove the old concrete edging - 20cm deep.  Pick axes, shovels, crowbars and branch cutters to remove entwining roots have all come into play.  I'm 1/2 way through.

I've also booked someone to come clean the gutters.  I have to get quotes on replacing the back deck (or dodgy deck as it has been described), which I told my younger brother not to walk on in case of collapse.  Then the outdoor toilet will get an extra wall and door to internalise it. 

The next outdoor job is to pull out all the mother in laws tongue in the front bed under the veranda and replace them with sun jewels, and buy a yellow bushy rose for the octagon shaped bed.

I'm also painting the master bedroom (1/2 way through).  It was mocha/kahaki coloured and will now be a yellow cream.  In between I've pulled out the (sort of) in built wardrobe and am fixing the back, which was not put together correctly.    Has to be done before January when the queen bed arrives.

Hmm, also using a special dry rot hardener on the wooden edges under the cladding and then repainting, to avoid damage to the walls.

Long term plans:  remove unnecessary wall between lounge and kitchen which makes the space less usable, refurbish kitchen - perfectly functional at the moment, just old.

You know, maybe theres a reason I haven't blogged.  I haven't even mentioned all the uni work I'm lumped with right now.  I feel tired.

This is a first for me

I've never had a spambot comment before (see previous thread).  I always thought my blog too boring for them to find.  Is this part of the long slow slide towards...shudder...popularity and witty repartee?  Or is it just that no-one is blogging and the bots are getting desperate?

Settling in

My house settles today.

Interesting note:  there are no original house plans.  Apparently there were fires and floods and a chunk of the old ones were lost.

My father has suggested that I don't need to put a cover on the well.  Just put a beehive on top.  Nobody will come close enough to fall down it.  I'm not adverse to having a beehive, I just want to meet the neighbours and make sure none of them are anaphylaxis allergic before I do so.

Vague and uninformative statement 2

settling in 2 weeks.

Today I put a deposit on a house

annnd i think I'll leave it hanging there.  Yep.  Thats enough information.

annnd here are the gingerbread men

I shall actually eat one shortly - I forgot to take them to work today

mmm cookie.

posting due to poking

It was pointed out to me the other day that I had not posted since...hmm..ahem..May 11.  This was because I have been in the busiest time of my year.  The worst is over, I see light at the end of the tunnel.  No wait, its an oncoming train..maybe.  Anyhoo., its a local public holiday today and I only spent mumble 2 mumble hours at work and am now avoiding the marking I brought home.  Procrastination Away!
LAst night I made delicious rasberry and chocolate macarons - a big success - see below.  Today I'm off to make icing to decorate those gingerbread men I bought after Easter and haven't had time to make yet.  Photos of that to follow - if I remember

On another note, I bought myself a lucky dip from avon - always something interesting in it.  This time it was hair extensions...see below. longest hair I've ever had.

Cupcakes into darkness

I made some 18 cupcakes Thursday night and set my alarm early on Friday to ice them...see the glorious creations below (pre the little candy bees and butterflies I put on them).

Then I carefully packed them in my cupcake transporter and took them down to the car to take to work.  At which point one of the latches gave way and 15 of my 18 cupcakes ended up face down on the grass.


KHANNNN!!!!


Sorry, just went to see Star Trek into darkness.  Good movie.  Clever weaving of original story line into reboot.  Good special effects.  No cupcakes.

not trying it out at that price

I've been looking at bluetooth dongles & found one that looks sweet...the AZiO BTD-V400 Micro Bluetooth Adapter.  This is a US company & there's lots of sellers...in the US (from about $14 upwards..who won't sell to Australia.  I even found one on ebay.com.au which said won't sell to Australia.  Then an advanced google search led me to an Australian domain that just sent me back to amazon and the same companies I'd been looking at.  I finally found one who will send it, for $22US, plus $48 for the freight.  I'm just not paying that for a microdongle in a small sleeve of plastic.  You'd think someone would be buying in bulk and on-selling in Aust.  I wonder if theres some setting that aren't approved here.  It did have 80ft reach.  Interferance perhaps?

Back to officeworks to pick up a Targus version for $23.

On a funner note.  I learned to ice cakes fancily the other night

The top design is called Mr Whippy.  The bottom is called garden.  The missing one looked like a big pink rose with a leaf and ladybug on it...you missed it.  I ate it.

interesting weather we're having

Ive just read Germany has just had issues with mycotoxin in cows milk due to contaminated feed from Serbia (milk can't be consumed) and a New Zealand malter is rejecting barley due to the biggest ergot outbreak in New Zealand in over a generation.  In both cases, perfect weather conditions for the respective fungi to grow and produce toxins.  Since they picked it up there's no hallucinogenic beer for the Kiwis.

free time warning...

I downloaded sculptris...thanks Amanda.  My free time has fallen down the black hole of awesome software. 

I just tried to make a dodecahedron with a tail (the start of a phage).  So far (in 20 minutes) I've made something that looked remarkably like a duck head...which has now turned into a brain and spinal cord.  It all looks very, very cool, but not what I was aiming for...yet.

do not call

I put my mobile on the do not call register today.  I got an unknown call a couple of days ago that I missed and didn't bother ringing back, then today it rang, I picked up and missed the call (answer and it hung up).  I thought I might have messed up the answering and found this number had been calling multiple times a day  - ooh maybe its a sessional teacher needing to call me.  I did have one call at work today & he had called last year on my mobile and I'd ignored it as an unknown number.  I'll call back. ...Answering machine with if you are returning a call to "insurance company I will not advertise by naming here" and are interested in ....press 1.  I proceed to hang up as soon as they get to press one. 

I've never contacted these people, so some company that has my mobile has sold the list - bad company.  I did a search on the number and apparently there's a lot of complaints about them multiple calling people who never even contacted them. 

So, my phone won't block them without downloading an app that is allowed to phone out from my mobile and thus spend my money.....what the??  My phone service also does not provide this service.  They recommend getting on the "do not call" list.  So badda bing there I am. I also put them on my contact list labelled SPAM, so if the calls do come through, I will see and ignore them easily.

If do not call doesn't work, my friend, Spam, may end up having a lot of numbers over time.

note to self

Do not download books to kindle when you have jobs you should be doing.  I was going to work on some important paperwork today.  Instead I lazed around all day reading.  It was relatively pleasant in the morning and I could have got things done.  By the afternoon it was just oppressive & I no longer felt like doing anything other than finishing one novel and starting the second.

new games!

I installed guildwars 2 today.  It downloaded 16gig of update.  Seriously!  At least, that's how much I've used and that's all I asked my computer to do.  It may have also been updating windows & checking email on my ipad, which is now set to airplane mode.  Its a good thing my internet kicks over tomorrow to a new month, because I only have 500mb left on my month before shaping now.