Yes, as warned by all the Doomsayers, we have been attacked by Australian bugs and have all been under the weather. To be fair, every Australian I know has been sick as well, so that makes me feel somehow better. Ella had high fevers and fatigue, then got a cold sore which became a bacterial infection and she had sores all over her chin - picture of it at its worst here- I don't suggest clicking to enlarge! James had fever and a sore throat and spent two days in bed, then I got flu and pharyngitis and was in bed for three days (Nick actually had to take time off work to look after the children!!), then Phoebe got infected eyes, and Nick got an infected toe (though that may be more to do with the fact that he keeps walking into the furniture...) And Will? Sick boy? The child who is always ill? Absolutely fine...!!
Have been ordering food online from Coles, and in my ongoing rant about the cost of groceries over here, i thought I would show you all a picture of $330 worth of food. Not much, is it? Now, you would think that in a country with pretty much year-round sunshine in one state or another, the ability to produce all the fresh food it requires and the infrastructure to move it around, prices would be very reasonable, so what's the problem? Only two supermarket chains - Coles and Safeway - both in trouble with the Competition and Consumer Commission for unfair practices in terms of keeping competitors out of large centres, price fixing and driving independent retailers out of business. Now, I'm not going to pretend that the supermarket chains in the UK are whiter than white, but there are at least 4 major chains (Tesco, Asda, Morrison's, Sainsbury's) plus the minors like Somerfield, Co-op, Aldi and the top end of M&S and Waitrose, all of whom are vying for market share . Coles and Safeway here couldn't give a toss - they get about half of the market no matter how bad they are - with Aldi picking up a few scraps here and there.
And as if that wasn't bad enough, a new Coles has just opened around the corner from us with three large signs out the front for 'Customer Trolley's'. I can almost forgive price fixing, but bad grammar is simply inexcusable...!
Went to The Royal Melbourne Show at the weekend - was expecting something even bigger and better than the Highland Show, but actually got the Highland Show's slightly cheesier, tackier cousin. Which doesn' t mean we didn't have a great time, but I don't know that I would rush back. It masquerades as an agricultural show, but I've seen more animlas at East Links Park.... The best way I can describe it is that it reminded me of a big version of 'The Shows' which used to come to Lanark once a year at Lanimer time. Lots of fairground rides, lots of 'try your luck' games you can't win, candyfloss and toffee apples...
Should be said that just after this picture was taken, Ella was running away from Nick and the candyfloss screaming 'no, no it's too fluffy'. Honestly, some children you just can't get to eat their sugar...The major attraction as far as the kids were concerned was 'Showbag Hall'. My friend Lesley has a great description of Showbag Hall here , but I like to think of it as the Tavern of Tat, the Cavern of Covetousness, the Shrine to Sugar and the Palace of Plastic, all rolled into one. So you can imagine how much the kids loved it. Basically, show bags are themed around (usually) cartoon characters or confectionery of some description, and the idea is that the value of what is in the bag exceeds the cost of the bag itself. Not sure who works out the figures, but I feel sure they may have a background in the sub-prime mortgage market as the figures are fanciful to say the least! 
Anyway, I was fortunate enough to have read Lesley's description before going to the show: forewarned, etc... So an SAS sting operation was carried out - Enter through main doors, circle interior once, three single strikes on target, leave by side door! Success - one Ben 10 bag, one Cars bag and one Dora bag. All have proved to be remarkably resilient except the inflatable Dora magic wand ('this item is not to be used as a life preserver' - you don't say?) which has gone the way of most inflatable items in our house.
On the less tacky side, there was a great Food Hall stuffed with local Victorian delicacies - and proper 'produce' showbags, which is apparently how it all started. We bought the obligatory local beer, chutney and chilli-themed condiments. Those of you who know Nick will know that he likes his condiments feisty, and we already have a growing collection in the cupboard with names like Dragon's Blood and Funnelweb Bite. In my opinion, better names would be Gut Stripper and Brutal Bot, but apparently that's because I'm a big girl's blouse. 
We did find some animals from time to time - Will and James had a go at milking a cow, but without much success - I think she had been in great demand over the course of the day, and being a cow in demand myself, I felt quite sorry for her. Fortunately I managed to persuade Ella that she didn't need to actually milk the cow when there was free strawberry milk on offer, but the other 40 odd kids in the line didn't look likely to be so easily distracted... Poor cow!!
Apart from that, the children met Ben 10, went on a big wavy slide, jumped on the bouncy castle, went on the roller coaster, saw a great BMX show, played with the huge HotWheels track, petted a lizard, learned about looking after pets and how to approach dogs safely, ate hotdogs and doughnuts and tried their hand at winning soft toys. Quote of the day from Ella - we saw a big, beautiful Neapolitan Mastiff which had been in one of the shows - 'why is he so sad?' she said. At which point the owner grabbed the dog's jowls and pulled them up into a weird canine version of the Joker.... Ella's look was as close to 'what the ....?' as it's possible to get on a child's face. It was hysterical.
They also came on the (very) big Ferris Wheel with me. You'll notice it was dark by this time - yes, we had managed to spend 8 hours there so I think it could be termed a successful day out! Best part of being on the Ferris Wheel was James and Will making silly faces at the teenage couple trying to have a snog in the next car. I think it spoiled the moment for them - but they ended up making faces back!
But I had to save the best for last. There are no words to describe this, so I won't even try. 
Pig Racing and Pig Diving. Really. Honestly. Cue music from Deliverance...
Just a total random catch-up here.... and in no particular order, so bear with me....
JAMES:At the risk of turning this into a blog of infestation, I thought I would share the latest invasion with you. James has had nits... Ewwwww!!! Ewwwwww!!! Ewwwww!!! I hate those little beasties. What purpose could they possibly serve on this earth? Are they on God's team??? I don't think so.... Bought a serious nit comb too which seems to work not so much on the principle of removing nits as just pulling the hair itself out by the roots. Whatever works....
James had his pyjama day at school - here he is before leaving, complete with teddy, storybook and slippers.Still no report from his assessment - the two ladies involved have been somewhat under par, with one of them coming down with pneumonia and the other one in hospital with a neuropathy of some description. I don't think either one was James related... probably!
And he's been in trouble at school again. Usual catalogue of misbehaviours. Interestingly, I had a chat with him about behaviour the other day and he admitted that sometimes he likes to be in trouble as it means he gets to spend time on his own. Methinks the boy needs his own room.
ELLA:
Has been as entertaining as ever recently, so here are a few classics...Whilst being dressed by daddy - 'No, not that one.... you silly man...'
After shopping for father's day pressie with me'Daddy, we got you a tree'
(Me) 'Shhhh ! Ella, it's a secret'
'Daddy, we got you a secret tree'
In the pram, out for a walk, Ella is mum, mum, mum-ing and pointing, and pointing, and pointing...
'Ella, what ARE you pointing at?'
'Nothing mum, snot for you...'
This picture is Ella's own choice of clothing for the day. Temper by Naomi Campbell, style by Oxfam...
WILL:
Started Gymnastics on Monday. Absolutely loved it as it ticked all the right boxes of what gymnastics should be, according to Will, i.e. forward rolls and swinging from rings! Ella did the class too, and they both really loved it. Facilities are excellent and they did everything - jumping in a foam pit, a mini assault course, rope climbing, beam walking, trampolining, rolling, landing.... and the Hokey Cokey - Phoebe and I joined in the latter. She liked her first foray into dodgy music-hall dancing so much, she showed her appreciation by letting me have another look at her breakfast... on my cardi! This is what Gymnastics class did to Will....NICK:
Provider number still not here.... Bureaucracy here in Australia is unbelievable, I will never again complain about speed of action in the UK - it's like lightspeed compared to here... He was in Melbourne for a course three weeks ago and handed in additional documentation to the Victoria Medical Board. Phoned them today and they still have not STARTED processing it.
Still no specific theatre time for him either - he is getting really deskilled and demotivated. It is totally pointless for him to go along and observe an operation he is capable of doing from start to finish himself, and soul destroying to know that some of the recently appointed consultants have less orthopaedic experience than him.
But he does have at least one new skill - Asian food is very big here, and Dim Sims (or Dim Sum as we would call them) are a very popular dish. So Nick made some from scratch and they were YUMMY!!
VIC:At the risk of sounding shallow, I will start with a tale of mascara. Men look away now. I have for many years used nothing but Lancome mascara in one form or another. I am aware of the total absurdity of paying £17 for a tiny tube of paint, but it lasts 3 months or more, and gives me happy eyelashes. At only 18p a day it seems a small price to pay to be happy with at least one part of my body... So you can imagine that upon discovering that it costs $55 here ( Good god that's £27.50) I almost needed smelling salts in the middle of Myer department store. So, do I continue with this insanity, knowing that the price of happiness has taken a 40% price hike to 30p a time, or do I buy (and bin) cheap mascara after cheap mascara and in so doing end up spending more than the Lancome in the first place? Ah the wonderful scent of self justification!!!
Have been filling the freezer with purees in varying shades of orange for the Hungry One. As you can see, the plans were mighty, but unfortunately the reality is as follows:
- The freezer is now so full of small bags of ice-cube sized food that there is no room for grown up food.
- Having a freezer full of babyfood does not mean that you ever remember to defrost any.
- That bulb of fennel in the picture is still sitting in my fruit bowl, and now looks much wrinklier. What possessed me to think that fennel, which I have never bought or cooked before, would miraculously turn itself into a tasty baby food without (apparently) any involvement from me?
Mayo - still on the hunt for good mayo - was bemoaning the lack of decent mayo and the sweetness of Aussie mayo to Leanne while over there for Fathers' Day brekkie. 'My mum makes great mayo with condensed milk' she said. I rest my case (sorry Leanne!). This is a picture of Graham and Leanne. She said I wasn't to put it on the blog, so here it is...
Adverts - Nick and I were hooting with laughter the other night. There's a bit of a campaign here at the moment to get people to realise that generic drugs are the same as branded - only cheaper, so when an advert came on for generic paracetamol vs Panadol, that's exactly what we thought it was going to say... Oh no - aparently the generic is Australian and the Panadol is (cue voice of horror) FOREIGN!!! Surely that's racist? Or is it only racist if you hate another country specifically, rather than just the rest of the world...?
I read this back and realise that, in spite of not even being English, I have turned into the proverbial 'whingeing pom', so here are some good things: I am making friends and almost having a social life. My weeks are getting busy, the weather is improving (hence the children outside on the deck) and I love the new house. It's really not all bad at all, and Geelong is growing on me. And talking of Geelong, there is a street in Geelong called Bonza View. I kid you not.
Thought of the day, for the ladies:
If it's got testicles or tyres, you're going to have trouble with it...
Yes, as warned by all the Doomsayers, we have been attacked by Australian bugs and have all been under the weather. To be fair, every Australian I know has been sick as well, so that makes me feel somehow better. Ella had high fevers and fatigue, then got a cold sore which became a bacterial infection and she had sores all over her chin - picture of it at its worst here- I don't suggest clicking to enlarge! James had fever and a sore throat and spent two days in bed, then I got flu and pharyngitis and was in bed for three days (Nick actually had to take time off work to look after the children!!), then Phoebe got infected eyes, and Nick got an infected toe (though that may be more to do with the fact that he keeps walking into the furniture...) And Will? Sick boy? The child who is always ill? Absolutely fine...!!
Have been ordering food online from Coles, and in my ongoing rant about the cost of groceries over here, i thought I would show you all a picture of $330 worth of food. Not much, is it? Now, you would think that in a country with pretty much year-round sunshine in one state or another, the ability to produce all the fresh food it requires and the infrastructure to move it around, prices would be very reasonable, so what's the problem? Only two supermarket chains - Coles and Safeway - both in trouble with the Competition and Consumer Commission for unfair practices in terms of keeping competitors out of large centres, price fixing and driving independent retailers out of business. Now, I'm not going to pretend that the supermarket chains in the UK are whiter than white, but there are at least 4 major chains (Tesco, Asda, Morrison's, Sainsbury's) plus the minors like Somerfield, Co-op, Aldi and the top end of M&S and Waitrose, all of whom are vying for market share . Coles and Safeway here couldn't give a toss - they get about half of the market no matter how bad they are - with Aldi picking up a few scraps here and there.
