Category: Useful Things I did Today

Since becoming in-valid…. I am really excited by every little thing that I can get done. No dishes yet, but I can stack the dishwasher!

Another version of the house hippo

Here.

Not much to blog about at Merrylands Manor. Housewarming invitations should be out this week, and I am still struggling with trying to get the last of the house unpacked. Two things are impeding me, 1) we’ve run out of storage. Mark has just bought some new bookshelves, so I can finally unpack my books, many of which were put into boxes more than a decade ago. And I have to talk to builders about getting a built in wardrobe put in the bedroom, so we can put away the rest of the linen and clothes.

And 2) my complete lack of any drive whatsoever.

Ampersands blankie is nearly done, I am on the last row of plain before the cast off, but have run out of yarn. I think I can drag myself off to Spotlight this morning, and pick up a final ball.

Conception & Names

We can’t actually know, but we suspect that Ampersands conception occurred on the evening of the Scissor Sisters concert in early February – the same night that Sarah went into labour with Alex.

Lots of things conspired to bring Mark and I together (thanks Richard), and the decision to have a child has had even more twists and turns. We wouldn’t be here if Mark was still teaching, and I’m sure that having a month in Vietnam was also crucial in giving us the time and space to concentrate on our lives together. We’d really like him to have a name that means something to us, and our journey to this point in our lives. Binh means peace in Vietnamese, and if it didn’t mean dumpster in English, we’d have a name by now.

Mark and I are keeping separate lists. Here’s mine.

George
Ford
Algernon – Moustached
Ambrose
Aldous – Old, noble
Aubrey – Ruler of Elves
Harvey
Edward
Mathesar
Hare
Iago
Inego
Finn
Edmond/Edmund
Casper – treasurer
Archimedes/Archibald (Archy)
Argus/Argos
Gomez
Atticus
Orlando
Floyd
Bernard
Tobin
Peregrine

Apparently, Peregrine should only be considered by pretentious nerdy gamer types, Aubrey has become more popular as a name for a girl than a boy, Mathesar is the head alien from Galaxy Quest, and someone will object to it. George (after my beloved grandfather) is excruciatingly popular, Mark hates Harvey, Ambrose would surely have his head crammed in a toilet, Archimedes also has a touch of the pretentious twat, Casper is far too twee, Inego requires a dead father to be amusing, and despite the comic joy of Bernard – the name sucks.

Gomez is far too camp, Atticus too wanky, no-one will be able to pronounce Iago, Ford makes us look like tragic mulleted rev-heads (despite nobler aspirations), and Tobin, Floyd, Orlando and Finn wave the wanker flag, and Edward and Edmund and a trifle boring and common. Argos just looks like a skin complaint.

Hare is a Nettle family middle name, and we like it, but it won’t work as a first name. Apologies if your name appears on this list, no offence intended.

Suggestions welcome, but please bear in mind that I’d like something relatively unusual. Having grown up being the only Lara that I had ever heard of, I liked having an unusual name, and I don’t want anything that appears on this list.

My first funeral

It’s a difficult feeling to express in writing, which is why I haven’t said anything before now, but today was a rather big milestone for me.

Last monday, my friend Miriam’s grandmother died, and she and her family asked me to conduct the funeral ceremony. I never met Helga, so while I was sad for my friend and her family, the pain wasn’t personal, and I was really touched to be trusted with such a special event.

The ceremony was this morning, and while I can’t say that it went off without a hitch, it went far better than I could have hoped for, and I think the family were happy with the ceremony.

And afterwards, I came home to an email from the AG’s department, telling me I am still on the waiting list for accreditation (I had to be re-assessed after the move for some reason). So hopefully this ceremony won’t be my last.

A huge thanks to Miriam and Malle, for trusting me with this important occasion. It’s a day I will never forget.

Domesticity

My three day experiment going drug free is a failure.  I was ok for two days, but this morning it came back to bite me in the arse.  I woke early, before Mark’s alarm, and by the time he was ready to leave for work, I was ready to drive him to the station.  All good, until I got home, and barely made it to the bathroom to lose my morning coffee.

I couldn’t keep anything down till about 11am when, still queasy, I ate some salted pretzels (food I thought I was well and truly over – thank goodness I still had some in the house!).  The rest of the day has been spent limping about feeling sorry for myself, and guilty for not getting more done.

I did finally block my major project for the last few months.  If your name is Christine, stop reading now, and please don’t look past the first two pictures.

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Here is Custard, having a nap.  He is not dead, honest.  There is something about loppy eared bunnies, when fully relaxed, they tend to look like roadkill.  Extremely cute, but slightly disturbing nonetheless.

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Here is the gorgeous cockatoo.  Sometimes known as “Cockalicious”, which if it weren’t so pornographic sounding, might be her permanent moniker.

She has decided that Mark is her “Special Friend”, and was following him around the house on the weekend, rubbing her head against his calves in a rather too affectionate manner.  The bird whisperer has decreed that I should henceforth be the bearer of treats (instead of Mark all the time), so that she shares her affections.  Here she is with her afternoon corn cob.  Just prior to this shot she was holding it in one foot and going nuts, but she is a little camera shy, and dropped the treat.

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And here is the big project (iPod included for scale).  It is the first two charts of the Swallowtail Shawl (that has become a bit of a favourite with me), doubled, with a wide moss stitch border.  I did a provisional cast on in the round, and used two “centre” stitches instead of one so that I could knit it on two circs.

The yarn is Patons Jet, a bulky wool/alpaca mix, in a mixture of reds, purples, and a little but of a rusty colour. Pattern modifications are my own, and yes, I do feel a bit clever.

This is to be a blankie for my new neicephew, who is due on the 13th of December, to Mark’s sister Christine, and her husband Matt.  I hope they like it, it was made with much love, and great hopes for a very wanted child.

Gratitude

Daisy moved in last night, so now the whole family has moved in. The chickens moved in the day before, and Liza escaped into the storm-water drain behind the house. If you weren’t me, and were watching me, and you aren’t upset by gratuitous profanity, you might have found the following hour very amusing.

If you are me, and are concerned for the welfare of your errant chickens, to the detriment of your lower back and without regard for your changing shape and shifting centre of gravity, you would have had a pretty horrible time. But the girls are fine (and now have their wings clipped to prevent further escapades), and the passenger is also fine. I am buggered, and am taking a rest day today – despite the mountains of shit that needs putting away. I had the first decent lie in for a week, put on a few loads of washing, am watching Oprah, and have made the internets work.

So now that I have taken the time to stop and breathe a bit, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who was there to help out last weekend, and since – and this weekend too!

Candy tackled the kitchen with her signature style and humour. Mandy brought cake (Mandy, you are developing a reputation!). Leefe and Ginevra brought their very cute baby, as did Adam and Sarah. Mum and Dad were amazing, Ted orchestrated the construction of an all new Palais du Chicken (with Mark and Richard), Jane drove the van which meant that we could actually spend sunday night in our new home. And Sally, Oliver, and little Benjamin did great work at the new house while the deconstruction of Denistone was tackled.

As well as all the practical help, the overwhelming feeling was of gratitude that I have so many people in my life who care about me enough to be there when I really needed the help. It made me feel very loved, and I realise how lucky I am to have such good friends and family. And I am very grateful – for the chance that our parents gave us to build a home for our new family, and for all the practical and emotional support of all you guys. I feel like there is a huge amount of work to be done, but we’ll get there.

I’ve had a plumber install the dishwasher, fix a tap and move the laundry tub so we could fit our huge washing machine into the laundry – and he also fixed the bathroom door as an added bonus! The old house has been cleaned, the lawns have been mowed, and I am currently washing the curtains which will be replaced tonight. Tomorrow I have to be at the old house to let the carpet cleaners in, then I can return the keys to the real estate agent, AND BE RID OF REAL ESTATE AGENTS FOR EVER. As long as there is no hassles getting our bond back of course….

We bought a house!

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And apparently, this is where it all happened.  I arrived at 1:50pm, to find this empty room, looking somewhat like a scene from the movie “Brazil”. 

The credit union person showed up, the vendors solicitors person showed up, we swapped some paperwork, and now we are the proud owners of a 40 year commitment.

And I thought having a baby was a big deal – they only hang around for 20 years…

PS.  Thanks Sally for the promo 🙂  And yes, owning a home was always a goal of mine, far more so than having a baby!

Update

ESB strikes again. Bt this time, we got a compromise.

I’ll pick up a cheque from the Real Estate Agent’s bank tomorrow, and take it with me to the settlement – so at least we have some protection. All ok, but there were a few tense moments this morning.

I picked up the survey at 9am (after waiting for the pub to open so I could get to the ATM), then drove to Rooty Hill to give it to the Credit Union. So far, so good.

Settlement is still set to go ahead at 2pm tomorrow.

Big thanks to Ginevra, Jane and Mijal, who have all offered to help on the weekend 🙂