Our Red House

Our Street Koala

2009-12-10T20:19:00.005+10:30

I received a very excited phone call the other day.

"Mum, you'll never believe it. Guess what was walking down the middle of the road when we got home from school. Can you guess?"

It was a koala.

We don't know how a koala came to be ambling down our street less than five kilometres from the centre of Adelaide, a city of over a million people.

Where did he come from? There is not much bushland nearby.

Anyhow, a dog began to bark and Mr Koala skedaddled up a tree. Unfortunately it was a lillipilli and not a eucalypt, so Mr Koala had nothing to eat.

He was still there an hour later when I got home from work, although I understand one of the neighbours had called a vet to find out what to do with him.

He was a big, fat grey fellow.

The next morning we went to see if he was still there but he had gone under cover of darkness. I hope he (or she) is safe and well somewhere, eating gum leaves and telling all the other koalas about his adventures in suburbia.

image is borrowed from www.allposters.com

Rosy Little Christmas Balls

2009-12-07T19:37:00.001+10:30

Like many Aussies, I know that Christmas and summer are finally here when local cherries are on the greengrocer's shelves.

These glowing, glistening, rosy fruits truly are Christmas balls.

Bah Humbug!

2009-12-06T16:33:00.004+10:30

This year I have felt no Christmas spirit whatsoever.

Being busy at work and managing a very active household has made Christmas something to dread rather than enjoy. The thought of how much I have to achieve at work and at home in the two meagre weeks until we go to Sydney for Christmas left me feeling stressed and anxious. Added to this I had a nasty tummy bug last week that has left me feeling depleted and in no mood to celebrate.

Friday (my day off work) was spent Christmas shopping and cleaning the house in anticipation of our real estate agent's inspection. Saturday brought a list of tasks an arm long which left me with no time to sit down except when I was driving from one commitment to another.

Then last night we had our Christmas tree raising ceremony.

I saw the delight in my six year old son's face as he helped his older siblings decorate the tree. As we read about Jesus birth in Luke, I was reminded of deeper truths and mysteries that indeed bring joy and peace.

I am reminded that Christmas is about giving and sharing, and thanks to God's grace we have an abundance to share.

Today my daughter and I, with the help of Master Six, wrapped the presents for our extended family and put them under the newly-decorated tree.

Now it's Sunday afternoon and I feel truly Christmassy.

I know I still have much to do before Christmas but I no longer feel quite so overwhelmed.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:14 (KJV)

Christmas Boxes

2009-12-05T22:28:00.007+10:30

On the first Saturday in December each year we hold our Christmas tree decorating ceremony.

We begin by reading from Luke in the Bible about Jesus' birth, then I give each of my children a new ornament for their Christmas boxes.

The idea is that these ornaments will decorate our tree for now, but when the children leave home they will each have a box of decorations, one from each year, with which to decorate their own Christmas trees. This is the eighth year we have had Christmas boxes.

Some years I have made decorations but mostly I buy them. This year, with the pressures of work and too many other commitments, buying the decorations was really my only choice.

I try to pick different kinds of decorations each year; sometimes papier mache balls, other times glass or metal decorations. Some I have embroidered on felt, others have been cross-stitched.

Each decoration holds memories for my children of Christmases past.

I love developing new traditions for my family.

What Christmas traditions do you have at your house?

Chantilly Cream and How to Make It

2009-11-28T06:53:00.003+10:30

In yesterday's post I said that a put chantilly cream on my meringues, but I didn't explain how to make it. Today, I'm going to show you how.

It sounds difficult but it's not; I was making chantilly cream for years before I knew what it was.

Chantilly Cream

1 C thickened or whipping cream

1 Tbsp pure icing or confectioner's sugar (for gluten-free; ordinary icing sugar mixture is fine otherwise)

1 tsp vanilla extract.

Whip all ingredients together until your desired level of stiffness is reached. Keep a close eye as cream turns to butter very quickly.

Note: Ensure that you use pure vanilla, not the horrible synthetic vanilla that is available. To make your own vanilla use my recipe here.

Meringues with Strawberries and Cream

2009-11-27T22:19:00.004+10:30

At a recent gathering a young guest with coeliac disease made my usual cupcakes an impossibility - coeliacs can't have gluten in any form.

Instead, I made little meringues and covered them with a dollop of chantilly cream and a fat strawberry half.

For the fluffiest, most pavlova-like meringues without any stickiness or weeping, ensure that your eggs are at room temperature before you begin.

Meringues

2 egg whites

1 1/2 C castor sugar

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp cornflour (check that it is made from corn not wheat if you need it to be gluten free)

1/2 tsp vanilla

4tbsp boiling water

Preheat oven to moderate. Place all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for around 10 minutes at high speed; mixture will be very thick and satiny. Spoon or pipe into rounds on greased or baking paper lined trays. Put in the oven then reduce the temperature to slow and bake for one hour. Cool before decorating.

Burst

2009-11-18T16:26:00.005+10:30

A burst water main on a hot night.

Children splashing about in pyjamas and gumboots.

Paper boats were made to sail downstream.

Adults left their houses to come and chat.

Strangers introduced themselves.

Everyone said that we should bucket the water for our gardens.

But nobody did anything about it.

Horrible Houses

2009-11-17T17:42:00.003+10:30

As someone who has been house-hunting for the past 12 months I have seen some truly horrible houses.

However, when I was sent the link to the Lovely Listing blog, I realised that I ain't seen nothin' yet.

Too awful. Too funny.

Vintage Cool

2009-11-14T17:17:00.006+10:30

Adelaide is still sweltering in this unseasonal heatwave but I am cool and relaxed in the house.

It is amazing how fast we adjust to rising temperatures. I am sure it must be at least 30 degrees in here but because it is almost 40 outside it feels comparatively 'cool'.

Even more relaxing is that I have the house to myself; my husband has taken the kids to the beach for a late afternoon swim. It's too hot outside for me with my fair, red-headed skin but the rest of the family just love going to the beach.

Having cleaned the house and bought groceries yesterday, I am enjoying a peaceful house and the opportunity for a little web-surfing.

The topic for my web-surfing? I have been looking at vintage commercials for things that are cool; ice cream, cool drinks and refrigerators. I especially like commercials from the 1950s. They display such optimism yet they also anticipate the rampant consumerism of more recent years. All the ads are American as television only came to Australia in 1956.

Here are some examples:

This one is for paper Dixie Cups. Notice that the commercial is addressed to children and they are encouraged to persuade their mothers to buy these 'sanitary' disposable cups and a dispenser.

A very 'cool', glamorous Coca Cola commercial from 1956:

A rather weird ice cream ad with its disembodied heads:

And finally, a General Electric Refrigerator commercial from 1952. I find it amazing that frost-free refrigerators existed in the US in 1952. I don't think they arrived in Australia until the 70s.

Also of interest is the male host's encouragement to buy a fridge on credit; definitely a sign of things to come!

Hot and Grumpy

2009-11-12T15:49:00.004+10:30

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~John Ruskin

Can I just say, here and now, that Mr John Ruskin obviously never lived through an Adelaide heatwave. A week of temperatures over 38 degrees celsius in spring is no joke and is far from delicious. Especially when your car air-conditioner dies after the car has spent 7 hours in the sun. And your house is hot. And your children are fretting, irritable and squabbling. And especially when the adults begin squabbling too because they are so, so hot.

Signed,

Grumpy in Adelaide

Spring Barbecue

2009-11-05T22:03:00.004+10:30

Our friends in the hills invited us for a barbecue and bonfire before the total fireban season began.

There were hot sausages and marshmallows, chickens to chase and a grumpy goat to avoid.

And a night time game of hide-and-seek in the long grass lit only by firelight. Thank goodness it was too cold for snakes.

Too, Too Yummy Halloween Cupcakes

2009-11-03T20:16:00.006+10:30

I made these cupcakes for Halloween and they were oh, so good.

Think home-made chocolate cupcakes covered with orange buttercream made from icing sugar, freshly squeezed orange juice and pure, unsalted butter (and a few drops of food colouring, of course).

Mmmm. I almost wish it were Halloween every day.

(For those who have been asking here is the recipe, from Halloween last year.)

My First Halloween

2009-10-30T21:48:00.003+10:30

Do you remember the first time you celebrated Halloween? I do.

It was October of 1981 and I had just turned 12. Immersed in the world of books, as usual, I had read all about Halloween. I knew what fun American children had trick-or-treating, bobbing for apples and joining in scavenger hunts.

Naively thinking that I could share in such experiences, I invited Tracy and Natalie from school to go trick-or-treating with me.

Big mistake.

We knocked on a few doors but nobody had heard of Halloween. We were told in no uncertain terms to go away.

***

Only in the past few years has Halloween started to take off in Australia. Trick-or-treating has become quite popular if on a much smaller scale than in the States. Halloween parties have become quite common too.

We will be attending one that will involve sausages on the barbie, ice cream cones and plenty of cold beer.

Not exactly spooky, but very, very Australian.

I Got My Job!

2009-10-26T16:13:00.007+10:30

As many of you know, for almost six months I have been working four days a week in a local university. I work in the business side of the university, not as an academic.

Until now I have worked on a casual contract. However, after a certain period of time these kinds of jobs have to be advertised and offered more permanently.

Last week I sent off an application, this morning I was interviewed and this afternoon I was offered the job.

I am going to work from 8 until 5 on Mondays and Tuesdays and 8 until 3 pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I will have every Friday off, which is wonderful.

Gold Against Blue

2009-10-23T20:21:00.002+10:30

No matter how stressful the day has been, the colours of spring bring joy to my heart.

What is your favourite season?

We Love to Read

2009-10-21T18:59:00.009+10:30

After school and on weekends I often come upon scenes like this,

and this.

All my children are avid readers.

And I know where they get their love of books from - I was an extreme bookworm as a child. I carried books with me everywhere, even into the shower (cleanliness wasn't much of a priority when I was 8). I even had a book under my arm when I was drying the dishes. Chances are, if I didn't have a book with me I would be daydreaming about books.

While I am not so obsessive now, I do often read during the half hour I have for lunch at work.

Thanks to the generosity of one of the school mums who loaned it to me, I am currently reading Mao's Last Dancer, and I am loving it. I hope I get the opportunity to see the movie.

My friend will be pleased to know that I no longer take books with me into the shower.

What are you reading at the moment?

On Ironing

2009-10-19T15:38:00.000+10:30

'Yeah, Mum's always wishing we had a house-elf to do the ironing,' said George. 'But all we've got is a lousy old ghoul in the attic and gnomes all over the garden.'

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I think that ironing is one of things that you either love or loathe, and I definitely don't love it.

Because my husband and I both work and our eldest son goes to a school where he has to wear a shirt and trousers each day, we have quite a lot of ironing to do.

The only way I can endure it is by doing in front of the television. This usually happens on a Sunday night.

The problem is that while ironing is fairly rewarding, in that you end up with beautiful, smooth, sweet-smelling clothes, I find the act of ironing unbearably repetitive and tedious.

Do you iron? Do you have any tips to make ironing less dreary? Or less time-consuming?

Please provide me with some inspiration!

No More Training Wheels

2009-10-18T15:19:00.009+10:30

From a parent's point of view there are lots of important milestones in a child's life - learning to walk, those treasured first words; learning to read - to name but a few.

However, from a child's point of view few events are more memorable than the day they first learn to ride a bicycle without training wheels.

Our older children learned to ride a bike at around age five but we have waited longer with our youngest, mostly because we just haven't got around to it. However, this sunny spring weekend seemed the perfect time for this special event.

All four of our children have learned to ride on the same blue bike which is now rather creaky and rusty, but it has been a loyal friend and has served its purpose well.

Here is our little boy getting ready to ride.

Ready...

Steady...

Go!

And off he went ... after a few falls and crashes, of course.

Afterwards he said, "Mum, I am so happy. I am very proud of myself."

I'm very proud of him too.

Going on a Bear Hunt

2009-10-17T15:33:00.012+10:30

I went on a bear hunt and look what I found:

a picnic ground,

some rugged cliffs,

children in a tree,

a waterfall,

and finally, a fat bear looking down at me.

(These pictures were taken at Morialta Conservation Park here in Adelaide.)

A Tangle of Limbs

2009-10-10T08:17:00.001+10:30

This tangle of limbs belongs to two of my children and my three nieces, who are visiting from Sydney with their mother.

As you can see, they are enjoying their time together. We live so far apart that any time spent together is treasured greatly.

Mind you, a minute or two after this shot was taken my littlest niece got squashed and began to cry. Our little love-in didn't last for long!

Idiosyncrasies

2009-10-09T16:30:00.005+10:30

Tell me, why can I not go to bed at night unless the bed is made? For example, if my husband has a siesta and the sheets are ruffled, I have to remake the bed before getting in, even though I know I am about to muss it up again.

Also, why do I feel the need to clean the kitchen before I start cooking the dinner? I can't work unless the benches are clear and the dishwasher stacked. However, I never really feel like doing the dishes after dinner.

When I have breakfast in the morning I like to have a clean table. I will wipe up any spilt milk or other messes left by the kids so that I can have an aesthetically pleasing space for my own breakfast -- even though it means having to clean up again after myself.

I'm nuts, I know.

Do you have any idiosyncrasies? Please tell me I am not alone!

The Queen of the Family

2009-10-05T20:02:00.010+10:30

When I arrived home on Friday I was treated like a queen. My husband and the kids had been scheming and planning for days.

There was a balloon and streamer-bedecked throne for me to sit on,

a table beautifully set by my daughter,

an entree of prawn cocktails made with South Australian king prawns,

a roasted rack of spring lamb for the main course,

and a beautiful chocolate and berry cake from a local pattiserie for dessert.

For drinks they had purchased my current faves, lemon ruskis for the adults and Coke Zero for the kids. And after the meal freshly ground coffee and chocolates were served.

Don't you think that was a fabulous effort?

The thoughtfulness and kindness of my sweet family brought me to tears.

I felt deeply honoured. I am so proud of them all.

A Bowl of Flowers...

2009-10-04T20:28:00.001+10:30

... Sent by my brothers and their families in Sydney for my birthday.

Thank you so much guys! I love you all.

Life in Adelaide, One Year On

2009-09-30T17:22:00.005+09:30

John Lennon once wrote that "life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans".

A little over one year after moving to Adelaide life has changed in more ways than I could have dreamed 18 months ago, yet it also feels to be in hiatus.

There is much indeed for which to be thankful: the children are well settled into their schools; I am working outside the home for the first time in many years in a four-day-a-week job; we are attending a church that we like; and my husband's position has proved to be well-chosen. It would be selfish for me to resent the changes that life has wrought.

Why then do I sometimes feel that I am camping, that I am not living my real life, or the life I want to have?

There is still so much uncertainty. We have not bought a home yet. My job is still not permanent after 5 months. My books are still in boxes in the shed.

And some days I simply ache for my old life, the life that I loved so much. I miss my friends intensely. If only I could go back in time, how much would I value what I had!

In the dark of night I often walk through our old, dear, red house in my head. I can see every piece of furniture, I can feel every surface; the texture of the bricks; the bubbly rustiness of the stair rail outside the laundry, the smoothness of the polished banister in the hall. I can remember how the sunlight moved through each room throughout the day. I remember each little fruit tree and rose bush I planted so lovingly and wonder whether the new owners are taking care of them or have ripped them out.

The biggest mistake I made back then was thinking that the life I had built for myself could be permanent. I know better now.

Yet I think it is only human to desire to put down roots, to make plans and bring them to fruition.

How have you coped with major changes in your life?

The Death of a Microwave

2009-09-23T19:42:00.006+09:30

Today my 10 year old microwave oven died.

Yet rather than mourning its loss, I am quite pleased.

We have all heard the horror stories of carcinogenic plastics entering our food when we heat things in the microwave, and while I am not certain of their truth, I am happy to try old ways of heating my food for a while.

I thought my husband would insist that I buy a new one immediately, but he too is happy to try going without. Our goal is to buy a new home fairly soon and it would be silly to buy a new microwave now only to have it not fit in our next kitchen.

I remember when my mother bought her first microwave in the 1980s. She held off for a while because she was concerned about radiation entering her food, but eventually she succumbed and bought one. A teenager at the time, I scorned her fears and was pleased that she was entering the modern era. Mum soon bought a Women's Weekly microwave cookbook and even attended microwave cooking classes at the local high school.

Like most people these days we mostly use our microwave for reheating drinks and warming up meals. I have never baked a cake in the microwave and I rarely even cook vegetables in it.

Yet I wonder how I'll manage without one? I've never been microwaveless before. In a week or two I'll let you know how this experiment is going.