Keep your pets away from me

The house we're renting/housesitting has one of those ponds-in-a-pot in the backyard. It's kinda cool... a lovely big wide pot filled with water and some reeds and lily pads and three goldfish/koi. The filter creates a constant bubbling and it must be lovely on a hot summers day to have that splashing away under the trees. As it's the middle of winter and rather cold we don't spend much time outside though...

A few weeks ago Milord and I decided that the pond needed a clean because the filter kept clogging and we couldn't see the fish through the murk. That was easier said than done! We caught the fish and put them into a salad bowl filled with stinky pond water. Then we hoiked out the plant pots and tipped the filthy water and heaps of pebbles out onto the floor. By this point I was wet and cold and smelly - whose idea was this anyway? We scrubbed and hosed and rinsed pebbles by hand under freezing water to get the decaying leaves off (did I mention the pond is under trees?). Then we put everything except the fish back in and filled the pot with tap water. We had to leave the water standing for at least a day to dechlorinate or something - Milord knows more about these things than I do!

The following day we floated the salad bowl in the pond to acclimatise the fish to the temperature of the water, eventually releasing them into their pristine pond. It all looked great! For a few weeks anyway, and now it's gone slimy again (oh yeah, turns out you shouldn't feed pond fish in winter because they're not eating and the food rots and it all goes slimy. Who knew?).

Ok, slimy, now what? Snails maybe?

On Sunday Milord and I popped into an aquarium shop and spoke to the strange men there about snails. "Nah" says one, "You need catfish instead." Ok, fine, whatever you say. We bought 4 cute little catfish, all nicely bagged (I kept thinking of Nemo and had to resist shaking the bag shouting "Fishy wake up!")

"How do I go about putting them in my pond?" I asked... "Just float the bag in the water for 20 minutes first" says the man. Easy, I can do that. So we took our lovely little new catfish-in-a-bag from the hot and steamy shop and plonked the bag into our bloody freezing pond. Zap! Four dead catfish. "Maybe they're just playing dead?"

Milord went straight back to the shop to complain and they blamed us! A bit rude - I don't know anything about keeping fish and I just did what the idiotic man told me to do... To add insult to injury they wouldn't sell us any more fish either!

Huh.

Pretty Feet?

I read somewhere* that most women don't like their feet. Isn't that strange? Why wouldn't you like your feet? Is there an "ideal foot" equivalent to a J-Lo bum or Angelina's lips?

*(If you google "women don't like their feet" you don't half get some strange hits. Seems there are a lot of foot-fetishists out there!)

World Youth Day

Next Thursday 17th July will be World Youth Day held in Sydney. As far as I can make out this is "come and see the pope in another country with 250000 like-minded young catholics". So we have a crazy number of "pilgrims" making their way to my town in the middle of winter (did I mention it's freezing here?) to see the pope and - um - hang out with each other I guess. Sounds like fun - I'd totally have been up for that when I was a teen (apart from having to be a catholic I suppose).

Sydney-siders are not impressed. It's costing us a fortune, disrupting the city, and they've passed special laws against being "inconvenient" or "annoying" that I bet don't get dissolved once this event is over. We've only just had APEC, which was annoying (pun unintended) enough - that event actually forced businesses to close for a day - as a contractor that's a good way to get up my nose!

Why not hold these things in the capital city, Canberra? Or the city that tries to be Sydney's "rival" (in their dreams), Melbourne? Yeah, right. The outside world only wants to come to Sydney. Before I moved here I honestly thought Sydney was the capital city! I asked Milord and apart from Uluru we can't think of any cultural icons that aren't in Sydney that a foreigner would know.

Apart from the possible disruption to my commute the only other downside to WYD seems to be the amount of religion in the news: victims of priestly abuse coming forward after 20 years; something about women bishops; half an hour of some cardinal on tv last night defending priestly abuse; pope this; condoms that; ugh.

One more week and we'll go back to normal...

Running...

This time last year I was a bit broken. I'd overtrained for the 14km City to Surf fun run and it turns out I was using the wrong shoes too so my right ankle gave up on me. Every time it seemed to clear up I'd run on it again because I was desperate to train, and I'd make it worse. Then I did the fun run anyway and walked it, and discovered that it was fine to walk the thing, most people do anyway, and it is so busy that I would struggle to run much regardless.

This year I'm taking my training far less seriously and I'm having rather good results. All I'm trying to do is run 5km in 30 minutes - I reckon that will get me fit enough to handle the walk-jog-walk I expect the City to Surf to be. If you're a real runner (Hi Dad!) you'll know that this is actually a very slow pace. Not for me it isn't! Today I did the 5km in 32 minutes, my best so far and 1min off last week. My average heart rate was 170bpm. (Yes way. Apparently some of us just have a nutty exertion bpm. My resting rate is normal, thanks)

Last year I remember bewailing the fact that I wasn't losing weight or size in spite of gaining fitness. Don't give me the "muscle weighs more than fat" argument, I don't buy it. The real reason I don't lose weight is because I reward myself for doing well on the treadmill! I did it a minute ago when I got back to the office: "I'll just add feta cheese to this tuna salad because I'll have run off lots of calories".

Sure tasted good though! Now I'm trying to resist the siren call of milo with hot full cream milk... aargh

When I am old

It's freezing here this week!

Ok, it's not actually freezing - I am in Sydney after all - but it's jolly cold. It got below 10C at night this week and isn't quite getting to 20C during the day. The wind goes right through me and my really warm clothes are. still. in. storage! Aaargh! We should have our hands on our stored gear in a just a few weeks so I refuse to go and buy a new wool coat, but it sure is tempting.

This morning I layered up with a vest, woolly polo neck and fleece jacket for my walk to work. It was a clear breezy morning and I was enjoying the sunshine as I climbed the long rise onto the Anzac Bridge. As I got to the middle of the bridge I noticed an old man walking on the wrong side of the path (bikes and pedestrians use the keep-left rule). "Bloody tourists" I thought.

As I got closer I realised that he wasn't walking as much as, well, staggering. And his shirt was unbuttoned and flapping in the breeze so that his substantial torso was bare (remember it's freezing). The walkers and cyclists passing the man were all glancing back at him in consternation and I was terrified that not only his shirt was going to be unbuttoned when I reached him! I drew level, carefully looking straight ahead, and when I was past I looked back - luckily his pants appeared to be in place but the man really wasn't looking well. He looked confused, distressed, and on the point of collapse.

What to do? I didn't want to go near him - he scared me. What if he attacked me or abused me or collapsed and I had to - ew - resuscitate him? What if he made me late for work? Everyone else seemed to be thinking the same thing... but then I saw one of my fellow walkers pull out his phone and make a call while keeping an eye on the old man. I could hear him talking to the emergency services which was a relief, although it troubled me that even the man calling for help didn't stop walking.

I don't know what happened to the old man because I walked away. We all walked away. We left him half dressed and in distress in the middle of a high bridge with 6 lanes of traffic roaring past.

I feel bad. What if it had been my Dad? I should have stopped.

When I am old and I'm in trouble I hope the young suits on their way to work will stop and talk to me. And in return I'll try to remember not to attack them!

House

It looks like we may be in our house before the end of the month! Squee!

The (pale gum) wood flooring goes in tomorrow! Next week we can get the interior walls and ceilings painted (cream) and the skirting boards (white) put on; then we can get the floor sanded and lacquered; and then we can start moving our stuff out of storage into the house. The plumber is there today trying to finish stuff before the floor goes down (after which he'll have to wriggle under the floor, heh). Our bathroom is still a couple of weeks away because we're waiting for the dratted tiles, but the moment that's finished we will move in. Electrical sockets and light fittings (halogen downlights) will be finished in between the rest of it. It's all go go go!

Then we'll be camping in our new house. We will be borrowing old curtains from friends to cover the bedroom windows until we can afford plantation shutters. We're going to set up a kitchen sink in an old table against the wall and have a rented stove just free standing until we can afford the new kitchen. It'll be fine. Provided it is warm and clean I can handle just about anything!

Milord is totally stressed as he's project managing the thing. I wonder if I was this cranky when I was planning the wedding? Hmmm. Don't answer that!

Weight Update

So yah. I've was a bit uninspired last month. I suppose I'm lucky I didn't gain much, but I sure didn't lose much either!

Weight Graph June:


Weight Graph to Date:


I've started doing sit-ups and push-ups before work in the mornings after my shower, as I just don't seem to make it to the gym lately. I can now do 5 full push-ups, followed by 20 from my knees. My goal is 20 full ones. I do a variety of sit-ups: crunches, obliques, leg-lifts and back extensions. This takes about 15 minutes while Milord has a lie-in. Lazy bugger - what is it with men and sit-ups? They'll jog, cycle, do weights, but rein in the belleh? Pffft.

I walk to and from work most days, which adds up to about 8km per day several times a week I suppose. I can't wait for the evenings to get a bit lighter though, the walk home is boring in the dark!

And I'm trying to run 5km in 30 minutes on the treadmill - I do this every Thursday lunchtime. Today I did the 5km in 33min - down from 37min 4 weeks ago. If/when I get to 30min I'll work on getting my heart-rate down, and once that's reasonable I'll play with more speed and inclines and stuff. It is 5 weeks to the 14km fun-run, but if it's anything like last year there simply won't be enough space to run around the walkers so I'll be lucky to break into a jog from time to time. My 5km training will probably be enough!

Detox

Before I begin, if you have issues with weight-loss (or just fancy another perspective) go check out 15 Minute Lunch this week. It'll give you a giggle. I wonder if generations to come will look at what we do to ourselves today and go "WTF?"... I just bet they do. I now have "slap that fat!" stuck in my head.

I started this week totally bummed. All weekend I had been lethargic, just wanting to eat junk and drink booze and sleep in spite of the glorious clear crisp weather outside. Everything was too much effort, and after Milord kept me awake most of Sunday night with snoring I didn't even bother to go into work on Monday. I felt like rubbish. I was grumping my way in to town on Tuesday preparing a litany of woes to blog about when I realised I was being stupid. There is nothing wrong with my life. I earn a fortune, I am newlywed to a man who spoils me, I'm about to move into a house shaped to my specification, I am disgustingly healthy, I live in Sydney, it hasn't rained in weeks, and people around the globe care about me.

So why do I feel so rotten? Yes I have a few annoyances but they're hardly biggies. It's not my TOTM. Milord's been cranky but he always is when I am.

So what else? Perhaps it's the garbage I've been pouring into myself lately. The snacks, the wine, the carbs and savouries and sweets... hasn't my weight been creeping insidiously upward? Don't I have a spreading spare tire? Aren't I a bit of an alcoholic?

Time for a detox! Nothing radical, just cut out the bad stuff for a few days. So instead of a sandwich for lunch I have a simple salad, and I snack on lots of fruit. Replace normal tea with chamomile. Drink a litre of fresh fruit juice in addition to the usual litre of water during the day. Stop wine. I still have a slice of seed bread toast with a cup of coffee in the morning, and Milord is on cooking duty all week and has been conjuring with seafood for dinner. Salmon risotto last night and clam pasta tonight... mmm.

It seems to be working. I sleep better, I feel brighter, I've lost a little weight - and as I cheer up so does Milord... funny that! On Friday night we have a date at a steakhouse (3rd month married!) and will fall back off the wagon, but I think my body is enjoying the break for now.

Latest House Update

Original house pics here

Our house is now quite close to being finished, although that's a bit hard to tell at the moment! We still need flooring, painting, hot water and the bathroom installed. Plus a temporary kitchen sink and stove point to tide us over until we can afford the next stage of renovations... mid-summer I hope. Don't worry if the place looks awful to you, you need a lot of imagination to envision the warm, light, airy, modern place it is going to be!

The main living room is going to be raised level with the rest of the house this week, and then we will put in a temporary plywood floor until we extend the back wall by a couple of metres. We will put polished wood floors in the bedrooms and corridor now though and finish them off.

We are waiting for our bathroom tiles to turn up too. Somehow we ordered tiles that have to come from Italy! and they are on a ship... huh. That's our biggest hold-up, as Milord has promised me that we will not move in until the bathroom is finished. The thought of using the disgusting, cold and draughty shower room out the back is quite horrifying!

With no further ado - house pics!

Front:


Bedroom 1:


Bedroom 2:


Corridor:


Bathroom:


Living Room:


Backyard:


While I'm sharing photos, how about I give you an idea of our street? These are the houses over the road - quite cute really.


This is looking up the road towards the high street. That church marks the start of the shopping strip, and a really excellent coffee shop is on the corner.


A little way down the road from our house is sweet little park:


And this is how low the planes overhead get sometimes! Luckily not all the time - the bulk of them pass about a kilometer to the east.

Egg Time

The thermometer spiked this morning. I got to work late. Milord says his bits hurt. heh heh heh

Anyone else get hungry around egg time? Really truely tummy rumbly hungry... most wierd. Having not ovulated for the past 15 years this is a new thing for me.