Catherine’s Blog

205/365 On the fence

Originally uploaded by LPM

The last week has been getting my head together. Last weekend there was lots of moping and cake. Saturday I farewelled Dexter and Nancy as they are moving their family to Spain. Then it was cake with Fergus who turned seven. His Darth Vader cake was just yummy, Natalie had spent a lot of time preparing it.
The week has been at home, there was a visit from Natasha. Who has turned out to be a find of a friend and unfortunately is heading off to Brisbane for a new job. Damn fine reason for a visit I think.
The rest of the week has been work at the LRC and coming home to a happy cat. Ever since Tudor has had her teeth clean she seems a happier cat. I am getting a little concerned that she has pain her joints though.
This weekend my social plans feel through so I just pottered around here. Saturday I did not get much done but today I washed floors, rugs cleaned and shaken. Tidied my bedroom and generally sorted out stuff.
I am miss Rikard though, we have chatted on skype but a side effect of his visit is that skype is not enough. I really am finding it hard. Hence the moping I suppose. The depth of my feelings have caught me off balance. I did not expect it. I suspect the reason for the introspection is that my marriage began to breakdown around this weekend. No wonder I am feeling a bit meh.

194/365 clink

Originally uploaded by LPM

Road trips, love them. The last great one I did was with Anthony in South Africa. I wanted to show Rikard Australia and I thought that a road trip was a good way to show off the country. The Great Ocean Road seemed to be a good choice.
Saturday morning we packed and headed off to Melton to drop stuff off to Natalie and then over land to the Geelong Hwy.
Once again they go and build something whilst I am away and that is the Geelong by-pass. It is a very nice piece of road and makes the trip much better, thanks to Arnie for letting me know of the new road lay out. We headed through Torquay and then checking out Bells Beach. We walked down and strolled along the beach. The sand is black and yellow and the swell was low. There was a photo shoot at the other end of the beach, it was beach and summer wear. The models were looking very chilly.
It was back in the car and off to Anglesea and as far as I concerned the start of the Great Ocean Road. I had not really told Rikard about the road and as we climbed he grew more excited. For those who don’t know, The Great Ocean Road runs along the coast line, literally, because there are mountains going into the sea and the road has been cut into the edge of the mountain. You have this amazing view of the Southern Ocean as you drive through the forest and beach houses. We stopped number of times to take photos.
The self portrait was taken at one of the look outs using the newest piece of photo equipment, the bean bag! It is fantastic bit of kit, helps on uneven surfaces and stopping the lens pulling the camera forward. Genius.
We stopped in Lorne for a coffee, well Rikard had a coffee. Then more hairpin turns and sweeping vistas before arriving in Apollo bar. The hotel was straight of the 1970’s but it was cheap so I can not complain too much. The mink animal print blanket did cause a large amount of merriment.
For dinner we went to the Apollo Bay hotel. The food was pretty good but the pork belly stuffing was very dry. Rikard’s smoked chicken pasta was very good but we ate too much for sweets. We went into the public bar and Rikard was astounded to find two games of football playing on the televisions.
Sunday morning we were up and the sun was shining brightly as we set to Lavers Hill. We drove into the Forest with glimpses of very green paddocks. We stopped to check out the forest before emerging again out onto the coast. We stopped at Castle cove for another photo. It is hard to believe this is taken in winter but it was pretty cold and blustery.
We stopped in Lavers Hill for a late breakfast of a date scone for Rikard and astounding fruit toast with lashings of butter for me. Good food for the next part of the journey to Port Campbell to met with the parental units who felt it very important to give Rikard a taste of Australia. In the form of a BBQ. Arnie did have enough meat for a small army, this is traditional, he also cooked the most wonderful crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside potatoes. Nom nom.
We all went to see the 12 Apostles of which there are only nine standing. We intermingled with many tourists and generally gawped and Rikard grinned, a lot. Joyce and Arnie headed home and we checked Loch Ard Gorge.
Then it was a slightly hair raising trip in the dark to Warrnambool as it was dark and the sun had just set, prime time for collecting a hood ornament. (Kangaroo) We found our hotel but were disappointed to discover the pool was not in use. It was a Monday night so we quickly realised there was going to be an issue with finding a place to eat. We found a late opening restaurant but after the huge BBQ we only had starters and sweets. We also had a lot of the lovely Spikey Moses beer.
Monday was very relaxed, we slept in, we went into a time warp for breakfast. It was a very old fashioned cafe and we had steak sandwiches with the lot for breakfast. It was really quite nice, a real blast from the past that was tasty. The only down side was the instant coffee and Rikard suffered through it. It was a gentle exit, go lost and then wandered to see if there were any whales, I found that the waves produced rainbows so it was a photography moment. No whales though. We waited and then headed to Port Fairy.
We trundled in and parked the car and wandered around the main street on the hunt for a real coffee for Rikard. We found a lovely cafe and ate a real homemade lemon slice along with coffee and hot chocolate. We walked around the town some more before coming up to the Caledonian Hotel, the longest licensed hotel in Victoria. We thought that is could be closed until the bar keep beckoned us into the very country pub. There were two blokes at the bar and one behind the bar. We had a pot each and the bar keep told some truly terrible jokes and the locals watched the horse racing. It was really fun and the bar keep explained the raffles including the meat tray. They have a number of different fund raising events and very old school feel.
We wandered to Griffiths island and took into the views and watched the fisherman. Then back to Warrnambool to see if the whales had turned up. No.
We ate at the Warrnambool hotel where we amused the wait staff with Rikard translating the menu into Swedish, so now I know the important words, chocolate and pie! We had a lovely meal and adjourned to the bar until they kicked us out.
Tuesday we began the drive back but overland this time, stopping in at Timboon for brunch and picking up local whiskey.
We arrived back in Melbourne to be greeted by a happy cat and quickly got changed to head in to see the Tim Burton Exhibition. This is an astounding display into Tim’s mind with a huge amount of things from his own archives. Very cool.
The next section was surprise for Rikard, I have booked us on to the tram car restaurant. Old fashioned trams decked out into moving restaurants. Rikard was very surprised! It was a lovely time trundling around the tram tracks in south Melbourne!

We finished the evening there and then headed off to watch the flame displays at the Crown casino and the cocktails in a lovely bar on exhibition Street.
Thus ends the road trip.
The next day I went to work and we met after work to go see the European masters exhibition at the Gallery after doing the much needed Great Hall roof and the water wall photos.
We had mucked up our reading of the flight and Rikard was leaving 2am instead of 2pm. We said our good byes and there are some tentative plans in place for him to come back for another visit.

A Swede on a stump

Originally uploaded by LPM

Well, it has almost a month and what a month. I am sure the reason is obvious. Rikard.
The weekend in Ballarat was finished off with cake, lots of cake, for breakfast and then a trip up the mist wreathed Mt Buninyong. It was very pretty and a little eerie.

We dropped Joyce off before Arnie drove us out to a spot where the Black Saturday fires had been. There is something joyous and sad about a blackened forest recovering from such a devastating fire. Leaving the area we even managed to see some Eastern Grey kangaroos in the wild!
We drove back to Melbourne and settled in for a week of working. Rikard doing stuff on the computer and me at the LRC. The end of the week was rounded off to a trip to the MCG. We did all the traditional things, had a pot at Young and Jackson’s and a tram ride to the G. Rikard was impressed with the crowds behaviour and the fact the fans sit together and it rarely gets physical. Rikard enjoyed himself and felt he had a better understanding of the game. He lined up for drinks and was surprised by a stranger talking to him in the queue. Rikard managed not to freak out too much!


The next day was filled with party preparation. It was my birthday on the Monday so I was having a party. I made cake and Rikard made Swedish meatballs. We also mulled four types of booze. This proved to be a hit with most people. Mulled wine is quite rare in Australia and it is never done at Christmas, so it was a grand way to celebrate my wintery birthday.

The Sunday morning we dragged out sorry bodies out of bed and headed to Melton to pick up a small child. We were going to take both Fergus and Ewan out but Fergus had a cold so it was just Ewan. We went to the Scienceworks and met up with cousin Sandra, Dave and their boys Dillon and Travis. We had a great time. There was a transport section and Rikard help Ewan load a container ship and I was amazed to discover how high the ships are stacked. The cool bit was coming out of Scienceworks to see a ship coming past, loaded high. We stopped to watch is power by and Ewan enamoured a fisherman enough to be taught how to cast a line.
We headed back to Melton to have dinner with all the family as Rikard had missed meeting Michael earlier. There was plenty of food and Natalie produced a lovely pork roast.
Michael educated Rikard about spiders by finding a medium sized huntsman and Rikard trying not run screaming out the house.
We got home late and fell into bed ignoring the dishes from the party.
My birthday was lazy and wonderful. Rikard made me French toast in bed with proper maple syrup. There was reading and napping and vague plan for afternoon tea in the hills but that was a mad when we were only ready to leave the house a 3pm. We drove via citilink and east link to the Mount Dandenong. We drove up, admired the Mountain Ashes and then went to check out Melbourne from on high. You forget how big it is until you see it laid out. We drove over to Monbulk and came back to Olinda for dinner.
We went Kelly’s Kitchen, we thought it could be a little dodgy and were prepared to find somewhere else. We were pleasantly surprised. The service was warm and the food was really very good. There was an open fire and friendly staff. We had a lovely trio of dips, the red capsicum was very red and yummy. Rikard had for types of lamb for main and I had a brie stuffed chicken breast. For sweets I had a warm hot pot of chocolate heaven and Rikard had something that had espresso and ice cream and he seemed to be in heaven. It was a touch expensive but there was interesting beer on tap and the owner was a Gin fiend so we chatted about his new gin! An Australian gin!

The rest of the week was work and going out. Wednesday night we went out Melton and had dinner with Catherine and Kelvin and Rikard got to meet one of my oldest friends. We went to Galli which was very pleasant.
Thursday night was a birthday party, we went on the citilink, through the tunnel and out to Mount Waverly. There we helped Jack celebrate his 11th birthday! ELEVEN. Goodness. Rikard got beaten badly play on the PS2, soccer or something.

The first weekend of July was catching up with the vibe of Melbourne. Rikard found a jazz club and off we went, a small club tucked up at the end of an alley. The music was cool, I am more fond of jazz than blues. We had one drink at the end of the show and we stopped to buy an album and got chatting with the singer. It came out that Rikard was from Sweden and the singer proceeded to speak very good Swedish. We found out that there is a large Swedish church in Toorak and there is a Swedish community here in Melbourne. It was a very pleasant surprise, and we chatted for ages.
After that we went out to the docks to take photos, it was freezing but the results were lovely. Rikard was very informative about what was happening. It took the security guard 30 minutes before telling us to move on, we were cold so did not argue.

Saturday we slept in and then headed out to the Great Britian to join the Melbourne Flickr group. We had a ball and in the end there was only Natasha and us left and we were hungry. So in the interest of giving the tourist another slice of Melbourne life, Victoria St for Vietnamese. Rikard had an enormous omelette, bigger than his head. We caught the train home.

Sunday, hmmmm, I forget besides we tried to chat Rikard’s mother but there was there technical issues. We pottered around, that’s it!
Monday Tudor went to the vet to have her teeth cleaned. She was not at all impressed when I went to pick her up. She had been a little frisky with the staff.

Wednesday we had guests over for dinner, Ruth, Adam and Renee. I have proved I can do a simple dinner party in my tiny house!!!
Thursday was a catch up with Flo and Alex. My god, Flo cooks the most divine Indian food, it was just astounding! Alex and Rikard chatted in German and Flo and I caught up with life in general.
Friday night we were going to go out but instead we stayed in a drank a large amount of white wine! It was very relaxing and good preparation for the long weekend of driving coming up!

169/365 Feeding the wildlife

Originally uploaded by LPM

This weekend we are in Ballarat, spending time with Joyce and Arnie. Yesterday we left sort of early and headed down the western highway.
We got here and then headed out to the Wildlife park to play the family favourite game, let the foreign person pat a kangaroo. Rikard was quite impressed!

It was then home to get bundled up for the Blood on the southern cross experience which is a sound and light show, documenting the Eureka uprising. It was very good but considering it was outside we were thankful that we had our thermals on.
A late roast leg of lamb was for dinner. Then playing on the Wii, tennis and bowling.
Today, we returned to Sovereign Hill and did all the tourist things, panned for gold, went on the mine tour and watched the re-enactment stuff. Rikard was very impressed with the scope and scale of the tourist park. I suspect native Ballarat people do not understand the treasure on their door step!

We had dinner in Joyce and Arnie’s favourite pub, which included drawing on the paper table clothes to explain Australian Rules Football to Rikard with a side note into cricket.
As for tomorrow, no idea but a sleep in will be needed.

152/365 Ten

Originally uploaded by LPM

Dear readers, I have been distracted, I am sorry. there has been a count down with some frantic bits in between.










So, what was I counting down? The arrival of Rikard from the UK. He arrived saturday, a little worse for wear but delighted to be here.

We have spent a lovely couple of days catching up. Today was meet the parents. Joyce and Arnie, Natalie, Fergus and Ewan all came for lunch and chats. The boys played the Wii and Arnie showed he had been practicing bowling.
All in all the weekend has been lovely and the next few weeks look to be interesting.

I have asked Anthony to draw a line under our marriage, as much as this is a sad thing, it needs to be done.

143/365 Home

Originally uploaded by LPM

Cough, cough, sniffle. Blah.
So, I have another cold and feeling like rubbish.
I wish there was more to report than working and trying to get my house in order.
It was mother’s day two weeks ago. Also on the same day was Joyce and Arnie’s fortieth wedding anniversary. We all got together in Ballarat, the immediate family. There had been a private dining room reserved and we fitted in very nicely. We had a lovely meal, the fact we were our own space made it all the more pleasant. The staff at the North Britain Hotel know Joyce and Arnie quite well so that made the meal even more relaxed. We went back to the family home and pottered around, Michael and I tag teaming to fix Arnie’s slowing running PC. I have created a small monster by introducing Dad to skype.
So what do you get the parents who have everything? A wine club but not just any wine club, a wine club that wine’s are selected and delivered by your children. They seemed quite pleased with this present, thankfully because they are difficult to buy for.

The Saturday night of that weekend i went to Steampump, a steampunk expo which was fantastic . I went with Ruth and we had a brilliant night and we networked our little bottoms. We have some grand steampunk ideas and I am going to start a new label.
The week before that saw me work for six days straight. So really nothing to report there.
The following weekend I looked after Fergus and Ewan. They arrived at my place Saturday and we went to the local park before heading off to feed Toby’s cat. Then it was time for a bit Wii before dinner, then a movie. Sunday morning we headed off to watch Jack play football. After a trip to McDonalds and a long time on the play ground it was time to head back to Melton. Dinner and I was a couch potato.
The week at work was very busy with a marketing campaign in full swing. I was tired and a little grumpy with a full blown cold and feeling rotten.

This weekend saw me have the grown up moment of hosting a Tupperware party and my house warming that may have ended at 4am but there was not that many empties. Tudor enjoyed the company and it was a very good night, the small unit is well and truly warmed and can have a party, although not big ones.

Life has been dull as I have been ill, will try to be a little more interesting.

120/365 I can haz internets

Originally uploaded by LPM

There has been a miracle, I have internet at home, this is for the win. It took a lot of carry on to get it on, bloody hell. Iinet would be in worse shape if the speed of the internet was not so fast.

So, a fairly quick update because, I really want to get in the habit of blogging every day or so on this site. I am not sure how feasible this is because I am a little hermit like at the moment and my life is not that exciting.

The best thing is that a week ago Tudor arrived from Ballarat. Joyce and Arnie came down and spent the day doing jobs and helping her settle in. She and I have been getting reacquainted with each other. I am now covered in cat hair and love it. I so missed having a cat in my life. So much.

Work has not been as busy as last week and it may slow down next week. All in all it s okay but it is certainly not a long term job, it will drive me nuts.

It is only five weeks until Rikard arrives! Whhhhheeee

Not much else to report besides I think besides a TV the house is done and I am going to through myself into sewing aprons this week.

111/365 London calling

Originally uploaded by LPM

All I can smell is damp earth, it is raining big heavy drops. I am sitting at my desk listening to triple J and typing on a key board that has gone around the world. I have spent most of my time recently either unpacking boxes or working. Last week all my stuff from the Uk arrived. A bitter sweet day. A full wardrobe but many boxes full of memories, a fair number painful. The impact on my life of London and Anthony will never be erased. Some of the darker things have to be dealt with but things like mementos and inflections in my speech will be nice reminders of a time that had some very happy moments. I am faced with the odd experience of being homesick for London as I watch my email tell me of others journeys to Whitby. Man, I really enjoyed my time in Whitby, I really did in some ways wish that I stayed on for the October one last year but no doubt it would not have been that comfortable as Anthony went, staying in the nice cottage that I had found. Sigh.
Sorry, feeling a bit low.
The flat is a mite full but I have got rid of some stuff, there is stuff I am not ready to deal with, packed away for when it is not all so raw. Man, this is a depressing post.
So, yesterday morning a man cam and put the cat door in. Yep, a cat door in the glass, for Tudor appearing on Saturday. I am so looking forward to the company in my tiny kingdom. I have not had her for pretty much six years, she is possibly one of the most precious things I own and the most enduring relationship I have had. She knows me and loves me for all my odd quirks. I can not ask for anything more.
I hope Tudor enjoys the bed as much as I do, with the addition of a cat I may never get out of bed again!
Work at the LRC has carried on as much as before. I am finding it still draining and with setting up the unit and trying to get the internet on, there has not been much else in my life. I am a little stuck without proper internet access, I really have no idea what the others are up to and life is passing me by.
The lack of internet is hard on both Rikard and I, we have been emailing but that is not quite the same as a good Skype chat. Modern technology has spoilt us. The time that he will be here is drawing near, we have passed the two month mark! My nerves kick in every now and again. I found when unpacking the UK stuff I still miss Anthony in an odd way, that may never fade. Rikard has not filled that space, more made a space of his own in my life and that makes me very happy.
So that is a little lighter if not as deep. I sure the slump will life, there is more trips to Ikea to be had and life in general is pretty good, just things have been a little tough.

94/365 It comes together

Originally uploaded by LPM

It is nearing the end of the Easter long weekend and I have realised it has been an age since I reported on life with Catherine. The lack of home internet has played a part. You may be scratching your head dear reader as to why I have no internet. This is because I have moved. I am now in ensconced in Essendon. I have been here over a week after last weekend’s huge move. We started in Linton, loading boxes that had been packed for over five years and currently encumbered in a farm shed. Then to Ballarat to rescue stuff my parents had stored. Then to Michael and Natalie’s, for mainly furniture and kitchen wares before heading to Werribee for my bed and then to Essendon.
The Saturday before Joyce and Arnie had been down and helped with cleaning and general setting up stuff. There was cleaning and shopping to be dealt with whilst we waited on the arrival of the shiny new fridge and washing machine. We also tackled Ikea and survived to tell the tale, we shopping until we almost dropped.
Sunday, the move came and went without mishap and Tracy and Jack were on hand to help with the beginning of unpacking. It was then we discovered what does not eat rat bait, cockroaches. They were not in all the boxes but the ones they were in were gritting with poo and bits of roaches. I have been winning the battle against them and have no long living ones in the flat and have removed the dead ones. Hopefully. I really hate roaches. Tracey and Jack’s presence really helped, to begin on my own would have been a little mental.
Joyce and Arnie again on Monday were troopers, being in the unit for Ikea and my mattress to be delivered. They even managed to put up Ikea furniture without it all ending in divorce. The wall unit looks great, I am pleased although I was not impressed with the fact I only had a choice in white and dark brown, oh well.
The unpacking has progressed slowly, I have changed a lot over the past five years so many of the boxes contain things I no longer feel and attachment to hang onto. That lack of sentimentality is taken for Anthony in some respects, especially after going through all his goods in South Africa.
The amount of bloody glasses I had was astounding. Some books and costumes have gone to, this shows you how serious I am!
I have only a few boxes left, and I am glad of this as the UK boxes may well arrive this week. I think I have left enough room for them!
The most exciting bit of the week was the delivery of my new mattress, springy and supremely comfortable it is just divine. I can not tell you how happy the foam and springs makes me. No one else has slept on it and that just makes me soo happy. I hated sleeping on mattresses on the UK that were not mine. My sleep has been very sound with the new bed installed.
Other wonderful things have happened as well. On Friday night I was sitting at my desk which over looks the driveway come grassy bit and from the dark emerges a shape. It is a fox, an urban Australian fox, quite big and more golden than the British ones. It looked right in the window at me, astounding. I saw foxes a lot in the UK but only a couple here and then mostly road kill.
The other surprise was flowers, a dozen red roses, initially I thought they were from Joyce, which I thought was a little crazy as they had been here on Monday, waiting for deliveries. The red roses were very Joyce. No, they were from Rikard! Cheeky bugger, made me tear up in front of the delivery man! They are on my desk and make me smile to look at them.

Work has been hectic; the LRC had some sales on at the end of the week made for busy time at work. This week i am working six days straight which could be a little mad. Monday is the office with a limited amount of staff answering the phones, it is very odd. The place is like a tomb with some phones ringing.

Catherine is coming over for dinner tonight, taking advantage of Tudor not being in the unit yet.

76/365 Old and new technology

Originally uploaded by LPM

Work is still draining hence not hearing much from me.

Last weekend I spent Friday night catching up with people, notably Ian who I have not seen in about six years. We had cocktails and generally caught up.

I spent Saturday travelling around looking at houses, this was frankly depressing. The $200 per week 2 bed house with an outside bathroom! And the fibro shed… goodness, not a house people. There was a nice place in Newport, a bit tatty and only 12 month lease. The final place was a cute one bedroom unit in Essendon, in need of a paint job.
I headed back to Werribee and relaxed. I decided that PJ bottoms were the clothing of the evening. There was some serious giggling as we shopped me in my PJs and buying hot dogs. We came back, ate hotdogs and Aliz baked divine dumplings.
My wrists really not enjoying the driving though, so cider was employed to help.

Sunday I cut some aprons whilst Aliz constructed chocolate ripple cake. She headed off to a BBQ and I went to Melton. After the visit and feeling silly taking photos on the side of the road, I watched a lot of TV whilst filling out forms.

Monday was work at the LRC after driving in and parking. I then headed out to have dinner with Catherine. On the way there I got an important phone call. I had been accepted to live in the cute unit in Essendon, a place of my own. WIN!!!!
I then spent time with the awesome James and Henry before having dinner with the more awesome Catherine were we entertained the staff as well as ourselves. I love this photo, one of the best I have taken I think.

The rest of the week has been quiet.
Today I ended up at home, the low grade ill biting me on the bum and me feeling like i was swallowing razor blades.
Also today was Rikard’s birthday, he was very pleased with his present of a dressing gown, a warm snuggling one that I made him and customs had the cheek to charge him for!.