Bunny Love

Last night I had to iron a shirt. Our ironing equipment is in the laundry – so is the rabbit. Now, the relationship between my feet and the rabbit can best be described as akin to that of Peppy Le Pew and the cat he used to chase – i.e. one of unrequited love. It’s very hard to iron when a rabbit is trying to get up close and personal with your feet. It was pretty funny, even if he did try to bite me!

Play fights

Cute.....


.....and not cute!

Some more photos

Citizenship Test - how many can you answer?

Sample questions for Australian citizenship exams in the federal government's draft Becoming An Australian Citizen workbook:

1. In what year did Federation take place?
2. Which day of the year is Australia Day?
3. Who was the first Prime Minister of Australia?
4. What is the first line of Australia's national anthem?
5. What is the floral emblem of Australia?
6. What is the population of Australia?
7. In what city is the Parliament House of the Commonwealth Parliament located?
8. Who is the Queen's representative in Australia?
9. How are Members of Parliament chosen?
10. Who do Members of Parliament represent?
11. After a federal election, who forms the new government?
12. What are the colours on the Australian flag?
13. Who is the head of the Australian Government?
14. What are the three levels of government in Australia?
15. In what year did the European settlement of Australia start?
16. Serving on a jury if required is a responsibility of Australian citizenship: true or false?
17. In Australia, everyone is free to practice the religion of their choice, or practice no religion: true of false?
18. To be elected to the Commonwealth Parliament you must be an Australian citizen: true or false?
19. As an Australian citizen, I have the right to register my baby born overseas as an Australian citizen: true or false?
20. Australian citizens aged 18 years or over are required to enrol on the electoral register: true or false?

Saffy the Wonder Dog

The Joy of Digital

I bought a digital camera today. I've gotten by with a camera phone for taking pictures the last few years, but they are not very good quality and I'd like to be able to print decent pictures, so it was time to get a proper camera. Luckily the SMH Guide last week had reviews of a few different cameras so I just picked one that they said was good and went and found the cheapest price I could for that model. Here are some photos I've taken with it this afternoon - with some willing subjects posing!

Dog walking to the max!

I just got back from taking the dogs for a walk. I don't often take both of them by myself but I thought I would this time. About 2/3 of the way along, a lady came running after me and asked if I was a dog walker or trainer - she thought I was a professional because the dogs were behaving so well!! Of course then Ruby barked at her and Saffy jumped up on her (her paws reaching the lady's shoulders!) so any good impression went out the window. But it put a spring in my step all the same.

We went past an oval where a game of soccer was underway, and Saffy nearly broke my hand she was pulling with such enthusiasm towards the game. I'm sure she would have loved to join in.

On tonight's menu....Cat!

Trust a cat to find an inappropriate place to sit. We usually put these placemats away once we've used them, but we forgot this time and it wasn't long before they were taken over by Oscar and Minnie!

"My Jesus, My Boyfriend"

Last night I had a dream that Adam and I were at a church and they sang a song that was biblically unsound (i.e. “Jesus is my boyfriend” sort of stuff), so I got in a huff and left! Lol I don’t think I would do that in real life, although I would think twice about going back somewhere if they had poor song choice. I think singing as a congregation is a great way of reminding each other of God’s word so it’s important for the songs to be biblical. It’s also a good indication of the importance the church places on the bible.

Dangers of Fatigue

There was a really interesting show on Four Corners last night, about insomnia and sleep deprivation. This is a quote from the show:

PROFESSOR DREW DAWSON, DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR SLEEP RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA: If it's not okay to be at work with impairment due to alcohol and we can demonstrate that there's the same level of impairment due to fatigue, why is it that we permit people to be at work under the influence of fatigue and in many cases reward them with over award payments and shift work allowances? I mean it's kind of the old fashion notion of danger money which is actually illegal under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

It makes sense to me. Adam has had many times when he has had to do silly hours at work and it gets a bit ridiculous.

They also discussed how we as a society do not value sleep enough. We think being busy is great and that getting enough sleep a night must mean you aren’t doing enough. I personally think sleep is fantastic (esp. when you have an electric blanket!).

Wide Load!

It was Adam's birthday on Sunday and I got him a beanbag. I went to the shops on Saturday to buy it,and of course you can't have a beanbag without beans, so I also bought three huge bags of beans. The challenge was how to get them home without a car - I wheeled them around the shopping centre in a trolley that wasn't really big enough, so it was stacked high and wide with the bags. I ran into a waist-high pole because I couldn't see it - let's just say it's a good thing no small children got in my way!

I ended up catching a cab home, because there was no way I was going to get on a bus with all the beans!

Update

I've been a bit quiet the last few weeks but hopefully this week will be better. I've organised for Adam and I to go away next weekend, it's a surprise though for his birthday so I can't give away any details yet. I've had fun planning it!

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting
And cometh from afar;
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

W Wordsworth

My friend's baby died last Monday, I've been feeling sad since hearing the news. Mum sent me this poem, which I think is beautiful. It's part of a larger poem, called "Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood".

What Not to do in July....

....is try to buy a diary. I decided I needed one, because I keep forgetting things at the moment (which is unusual for me, but it seems my brain can't quite cope with all the bits of information I ask it to store for later retrieval). So I went looking for a smallish diary. The only things I could find were massive filofaxes that cost $50, not quite within my budget.
I know probably no-one except accountants want diaries halfway through the year, but I was amazed at how many places didn't have even one for sale. I eventually found a small Collins one that goes till next June and bought it. It's not very pretty but I figured I will stick a picture on the front so it looks less boring. So now, hopefully, I won't forget things! Which would be nice.

How to Grow a Malamute in Just 9 Months (Like Sea Monkeys but bigger)

Step 1: Buy a puppy


Step 2: Feed her a lot


Step 3: Lie back and watch your Malamute grow before your very eyes!


Step 4: Live happily and hairily ever after.


5. The End.

High Tea

This is Mr Pig and Cuddles, who live with my Mum and Dad.




This is Chilli, who also lives with Mum and Dad. She is very pretty, and started out very unfriendly but has softened up quite a bit.

Thoughts on Commuting

I’ve been commuting 1.5hrs each way to work for over a year now. That’s 3 hours a day, and 12 hrs a week (I work one day from home). When I lived in Leichhardt and caught the bus to work, it took me half that time each day. So why do I do it? Well, for me it is a combination of a job that I enjoy, and the flexibility I have to work from home. Perhaps I am also unwilling to sever the last tie to my old life living close to the city.

But it is not without cost. Commuting takes a toll - on health, on families and on communities. We see this in our church – people who commute can’t give as much time to joining in and building relationships as those who don’t. They are always on a schedule, tired and in a hurry. There are whole streets on the Central Coast where the lights in every house are out by 9.30pm as people try to get enough sleep before their alarm goes off at 5.30am.

Commuting via train is pot luck. You never know if you’re going to get a window seat, how hot or cold the aircon is going to be, or if someone really annoying is going to sit next to you and invade your limited personal space for the next 90 minutes or so.

It can be enjoyable though – I’ve been able to read lots of good books, and set aside time each day to read the bible and pray. Plus there’s the pleasant feeling of going on a journey, and of settling in for the trip. The view out the window is nice for a large chunk of the trip.

The end of stress

Ruth wrote a post a few weeks ago about how the word “bored” is banned in her family. It got me thinking that perhaps I should ban the word “stress” from my vocabulary. It’s a boring word that I used multiple times each day.

At the moment I often feel worried, tired, drained and sometimes angry. I usually sum this up as “feeling stressed”. This is not very helpful as it is a bit of an airy fairy concept that describes a physical feeling, not the emotion causing the physical symptoms. It deals with the symptom, not the cause.

I can’t change the things that make me feel this way, but I can change how I think about them. I can also make sure I make an effort to relax, so that being stressed is not my normal state and so I get some time out, mentally and physically.

So if you hear me saying I am stressed, you have my permission to hit me! And then maybe offer some camomile tea or a month on a desert island or something....

Ironing the tableclothes?

We had our fancy work lunch on Wednesday, which was lovely. We were there till quite late in the afternoon, and the staff started to get some of the tables ready for dinner while we were still there.

Tto do this, they took off the tablecloth that had been used for lunch, revealing another clean table cloth underneath. They then took out an iron, and ironed the tables. I have never seen anything like it before in my life.

Olga da Polga

This is me with my latest ebay purchase - "The Tales of Olga da Polga". It's written by Michael Bond, the same person who wrote the Paddington Bear stories. I used to read Olga stories when I was a kid. This is the first few paragraphs of the book:

"From the very beginning there was not the slightest doubt that Olga da Polga was the sort of guinea-pig who would go places.
There was a kind of charm about her, something in the set of her whiskers, an extra devil-may-care twirl to the rosettes in her brown and white fur, and a gleam in her eyes, which set her apart.
Even her name had an air of romance. How she had come by it was something of a mystery, and Olga herself told so many fanciful tales about moonlit nights, castles in the air, and fields awash with oats and beautiful princesses - each tale wilder than the one before - that none of the other guinea-pigs in the pet shop knew what to believe."