February 2009 Archives

I've been a nanny many times in my life.  I've always said that I couldn't believe God gave me the empathy, love and understanding of kids if he didn't mean me to have any... Well, at age 40 you wonder if the kids thing is going to happen... I haven't ruled it out... but, you have to be a bit realistic... so maybe the having of it was all about the kids I've loved and looked after all these years... Oh, and for the nephews and niece... there's some big love, right there...

In any case, I started real nannying (as opposed to casual babysitting) in 1988 when I lived overseas for 3 years and carried it on back in NZ from 1991 (including 8 months of unemployment and casual babysitting) right through until 1995.  There's no question I'm good at it, but it isn't exactly an intellectually stimulating pastime (no disrespect intended to anyone involved in full-time domestic pursuits).  I thought maybe my life path might meander from nannying into childcare in formal centres but really didn't bond with that at all well...

When I quit NZ to come to Oz I was a full time student and for my 2nd year nannying was the perfect job... I got provided with a car and the hours really suited my study timetable but it wasn't the world's best job and I got to the end of that I decided I could earn more with less stress being a checkout chick... so I decided that I'd done the nannying thing for the last time...

Until 2009.

I know, I couldn't be more surprised either.

It has turned out perfectly that I met Liv when answering a posting on findababysitter. I interviewed for a casual connection, just evenings occasionally... but we hit it off and she offered me a day a week while I was waiting for Uni to start... it turned into 2 days during Feb and I really thought we'd turn it back into casual evening work once I knew my timetable... But the job has been going so well, even after a very difficult first month with the little miss battling stranger danger, that they really wanted to keep me... and truth is, I'm really happy to have the work I'd have had very definite rent payment issues without it!!

The kids are great, Mister, a 4year old boy and and Missy an 8month old girl, Mister summed up is feelings the other day by saying "Dee, you're the best babysitter in the WORLD."

Can't really say much more than that...

So, this extra time on my hands, that could, quite possibly be employed in income generating pursuits has, from time to time, been employed in more Domestic Goddess type undertakings which has caused the occasional raised eyebrow but more often that not resulted in a sharp intake of breath and a "you did what?" type of exclamation.

Actually, as a related aside, making Pad Thai is a terrific culinary secret weapon... with the right ingredients it's well easy and gets a big thumbs up every time.  I think its exotic nature which gives people the impression it's difficult... May I just say, it's handy to live across the road from an Asian grocery...

In any case, more than the Pad Thai it's the bagels that draw the exclamations most often... I mean, who in their right mind makes bagels eh?

Me dammit... and I'm totally in possession of my full faculties...  And when a bag of 4 bagels costs $4.30 and to make 15 of your own costs about the same... well... you do the math... and quite frankly, the homemade taste and texture is infinitely superior to the heavy chewy ones you get in those mass produced bags...

So, given gentle reader, that this blog is all about you I thought I'd share the bounty of my recent foray into bagel bakery and show you how it's done.

First scour the interwebs for a suitable recipe

This one comes from Nigella Lawson's book Domestic Goddess, I believe...  I found it via Google... (oh, and as is always the case, click to embiggen the images)

• 1 kg of white flour, plus more as necessary for kneading.
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 7g of easy yeast or 15g of fresh yeast
• 2 tbsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus more for greasing
• 500mL warm water, plus more as needed
• 2 tbsp of malt or sugar, for poaching the bagels
• 2-3 baking sheets, oiled or greased.

I've had these photos in my camera with a view to writing this post since...oh about Christmas time??  That's just nuts... FINALLY, as it's been about that long since I was working full time I'm starting to get on top of all the fiddly little jobs that mean I've actually got some time/headspace to get on with this!

I am excusing myself from going walking this morning because it's [ahem] p*ssing with rain outside today. Of course I could get on my treadmill instead... but need I tell you how long since I got on that??  I didn't think so... I'm sure when you've cruised with me through the photos of my daily (Ed. cough, cough... daily?  Define daily!) walking route you'll understand why walking in the real world is infinitely more interesting than getting on the treadmill...

So, below is the Google Maps overview... and as with most images around here, if you click on them you can embiggen them... (yay for technology...) so click on this and you'll see what part of the coastal walk between the Spit Bridge and Manly looks like from a Google Satellite (or low flying plane...).  I've marked in red the areas where these pics were taken, and if you look closely you'll see a light coloured line hugging the coast, which is, of course the path I take. (Nicely paved... no bushwhacking required!!).  I actually have no idea how far it is but if I walk at a brisk pace from one end to the other and back it usually takes me between an hour and 15 and an hour and 30 to complete...

Image number one is taken at the beginning of the later end of the North Harbour section of the walk and is looking at boats moored in what I presumed is the North Harbour Marina, but upon consulting the Oracle it appears to be Davis Marina, clearly a private enterprise.

This is a common sight, the path is always quite busy, morning and evening with other people walking either themselves, their kids or their pets (generally dogs) along the foreshore. Lots of regulars and always lots of visitors too. Though not generally at 7am when I'm off down there...

Given that this stretch of water is harbour there are few waves, it's stunning for swimming in and there are often lots of mums and kids out and about in the shallows. This isn't to say of course that it's a millpond, there's enough movement to throw up a plume like this in places.

You've probably seen the news, or if you follow any Australian Twitterers you've likely heard mention of the Victorian Bushfires (link to Google map of the fires) that are burning up the Victorian landscape in the South East corner of Australia.  Today the toll stands at 108 and it won't end there as parts of the large fire areas still haven't been entered by fire crews.  People have died in their homes, in their cars as the tried to flee, people have died trying to escape. It's utterly unbelievable to see every news item on the tv, every radio announcement, every Australian blog I read, and every online news distributor rail against the callous and ignorant fools who light these fires on purpose.

On.Purpose.

It boggles my mind that people put their impulses for thrills, power, control and sexual excitement well above the sanctity of human life, above the respect for fellow Australian's homes, businesses, land, environment, wildlife.  It beggars belief.

I saw an interview with a woman on the show 'Sunday Night' whose whole home had been destroyed, she showed us around her property, the worst for me was watching her break as she showed us her dog's kennels and runs, lovingly situated in the "best part of the section" and to hear her tell of her helplessness to know her precious animals died helpless as the fire-front rushed over their property.  It's just so heart-breaking.

By the time this is all over I would find it very surprising if there was not one person in Australia who doesn't know someone, or someone's relative or friend who has been touched by the fire. For me, I have a friend whose cousin has lost their home, our Kelley from Magnetoboldtoo actually lives in country Victoria and has friends in affected areas. In a disaster like this everyone knows someone.  And if, as a reader you know us, then you too are touched in a small way by this heinous situation.  I implore you, if you have any means to offer assistance, please do what you can.

• If you can give even a small amount financially please follow this link to the Australian Red Cross in Victoria and make a donation.
  
• If you want to add messages of support to the Twitterstream tag your tweets with #vicfires
• If you're in Australia and are eligible (I am not... WAH) to give blood, please do so.
• If you want to hear from other Australian Bloggers or you're a member on the Aussie bloggers' forums you can check in to see what's happening or to add your messages of support.
• If you're of the praying persuasion, to whomever you pray, please keep in your thoughts, your prayers and hearts all of those in Victoria, particularly those valiant men and women, many of whom are volunteers, who are working day and night to bring an end to this disaster. And for the future, pray that the recovery, physical and emotional, would be gentle and would be swift.

It's been quite some time since I arranged myself a corner of the flat into a office space, one that was suitable for both work and study.  I deemed it necessary because a) it makes a percentage of my home expenses tax deductible and b) because when I'm working on stuff it really is a lot easier to get into the right head-space if I'm actually 'at work' even if it is only 3 steps from the sofa.  It's a bit of a weird psychological thing but I find myself a lot less easily distracted when I'm looking the to do list on the white board and am working with a keyboard and mouse than when I'm sitting on the sofa with a cat and the laptop on my lap and am also easily distracted onto sites like facebook... It also makes a difference when I actually get dressed for 'work' rather than hanging about in my pajamas... (oh, wait... I don't... er... this is awkward.)

So, there it is above, my little office!!!  No, it doesn't really have natural light, but in reality, neither does the flat as a whole, which is a bonus in this heatwave.  The flat's always about 10degC cooler than the outdoors.  The table is actually my dining table around which there used to be 4 chairs... Now I have to dismantle the office when I want to have anyone over to dinner... bummer that, in fact, most of the time we end up eating off our plates on our knees...  (Ed. God, this is boring... haven't you got anything else?) so now you know how to picture me when I'm blogging, as I'm now (Ed. except for the pajamas part, you don't want them picturing that... Me. True enough... er, as you were everyone.)

I twittered during the week about having 2 Macs on the go and whether or not I was in heaven or the other place.  I think, after a whole lot of toing and froing to my serviceman (whom I <3 with all my Mac loving little heart) I can finally say I'm a happy Mac camper again... it was touch and go for a while there...  The new love pictured above is an older version of the old love which was given to me by 'real job' in lieu of certain other entitlements I had been pinning a bit of hope on.  I accepted it, probably slightly less than graciously because the offer was made after I'd spent half an hour talking over the merits of a brand spanking new MacBook Pro with my sales agent and getting all excited about the prospect of this fancy new machine.  So to take on the older one, while clearly saving me going into debt or onto a lease for a new machine was a bit of a downgrade...

In a rather ironic turn of events the new mac (which is an older mac) had been in possession of another staff member who'd just upgraded and actually, its hard-drive DIED the day before she went overseas... so I have been holding onto my old mac (which is a newer mac) until such a time as I could transistion to the other machine.  Well that was the heaven/hell episode last week, I got the new one and it gave me all manner of grief as I tried to get it into some kind of functional order... bah humbug.

Finally, I took it back to my lovely service man and bless his little cotton socks if he didn't actually replace both sticks of RAM in the machine for no cost... zero. <3 <3 <3.  So finally I bought it home and was able to get it into a place where it is barely any different than the old machine (which is newer... you get the idea now, right?!).  So, I'm finally feeling the blessing of the machine.  It still looks good, it works fine with one lingering exception I'm waiting for an answer on from my fabulous service man as to why it's such a noisy beastie and when that is resolved I shall be in fine shape to get my game on for the epic that shall be called 'study09'. 

So, I am blessed. I was given a MacBook Pro and my leaving gift from the office will be some rather expensive software that I'll be needing this year and when all of that is in order the 'real job' era will be completely over.  I cannot tell you, even after the shaky end to it all, how fabulous it feels to be in a whole new chapter of my story! 

So, here's to a new year! Hopefully one that will include more blogging, even if it is tedious drivel like the above...