Burning Popcorn

The house smells of acrid smoke. Every room I go into,
smells of burnt butter, a reminder of the drama that took place here last night.
DD (senior) was making popcorn in one of those 'microwave in the bag ready to go
type of popcorn', and even though she set the timer correctly, the popcorn burnt
to a black crisp inside the bag. I didn't think it was even possible to burn
popcorn? Oh well, its now a proven fact!

When we realised what was happening, we quickly put the
smoking bag into the sink to douse down with water, it was already kind of on
fire, and huge black clouds swirled in the kitchen. The smoke alarm didn't go
off - both thankfully and not. The noise it makes is enough to deafen -
but I suppose its meant to do that. I would expect it to do that in a real
emergency. Last night does not qualify as an emergency. Just a nuisance!

Luckily, the sky is blue today, its the perfect day
for throwing open all the windows to let some fresh air in! Its fairly cool, so
I am going to pretend very hard thats its autumn and not spring, to put me in
the right mood for putting up my Halloween display. No one officially 'does'
Halloween here, there are a few token costumes in a few shops, but thats about
all.

Halloween usually evokes an almost hysterical
response over here, judging by the calls to the local talk back station.
The DJ who hosts the late nite show usually joins in the bagging of the custom,
branding it as a very un-Australian tradition. Blah to him! I can't see
anything wrong with a bit of fun and a colourful display - albeit in the wrong
season here!

Last night I also burnt my stomach, with a burger I haven't
tried before. I am still feeling queasy today - and the smell in the house is a
reminder of it as well. DD junior was on orchestra tour yesterday and when she
arrived home on the coach - she didn't feel like eating a big supper, so all she
wanted was a snack from the golden arches. I thought it would be expedient to
join her, that way it would save time getting stuff ready at home. I decided to
try a Vegie burger - thinking it would be a healthy alternative to the usual
burger meal. WRONG! I didn't know that the burger would be covered in a layer of
sweet chilli sauce, that it would burn my tongue like acid and later move onto
burn the lining of my stomach. Its still burning today. I'm mad that it didnt
say anything about the chilli in the burger description blurb. I wish my stomach
had a window - I need to air it out, to get rid of the smoke from there
too!

Just thinking of a fitting title tune for today's entry - how about
'burning down the house'? or 'burning, burning,'? any others?

All about the dog
I wanted to post in the story of Station Jim, as he was a big feature on the station platform in the home town I grew up in. Whenever I took the train to London, lots of people used to go up to the glass and peer inside to see Jim, standing there, a proud reminder of his times.


A friend and I were talking about the station the other day, and this prompted the photo and story. Hope you enjoy it.

Station Jim

STATION JIM



Dog Jim was first brought to Slough station when he was about three months old.
He was like a ball of wool then, and could be carried about in an overcoat
pocket. The first trick taught him was to get over the stairs of the footbridge,
and he learnt it so well that he never once crossed the metals from the time he
was brought here to the time of his death.

He started his duties as Canine Collector for the Great Western Railway
Widows? and Orphans? Fund when he was about four months old but, because he
was in bad health, he was only actually collecting about two years or so. Yet he
managed to place about #40 to the account of the Fund. He only once had a piece
of gold put in his box - a half sovereign. On several occasions half crowns were
found, but the majority of the coins he collected were pennies and halfpennies.
After a time he was taught to bark whenever he received a coin, which caused a
great deal of amusement to his numerous patrons. One Sunday during the summer of
1896, a hospital parade was organised at Southall, and his trainer was asked to
take him up there to collect. The result was that when his boxes were opened by
the Treasurer 265 coins were in them. There were

only about five pieces of silver, but when it is remembered that he barked for
each coin given him, this must be regarded as a good afternoon?s work.

His railway journeys were few in number. On
one occasion he went to Leamington; that was his longest ride. Another time he
got into a train and went to Paddington, but was seen by one of the guards and
promptly sent back again. Another day he got into a train and was taken into
Windsor. The officials saw him, and wanted to put him in the next train home,
but he would not agree to that, and walked back through Eton.

He knew a great many amusing tricks. He would sit up and beg, or lie down and
?die?; he could make a bow when asked, or stand up on his hind legs. He
would get up and sit in a chair and look quite at home with a pipe in his mouth
and cap on his head. He would express his feelings in a very noisy manner when
he heard any music. If anyone threw a lighted match or a piece of lighted paper
on the ground he would extinguish it with a growl. If a ladder was placed
against the wall he would climb it. He would play leap frog with the boys; he
would escort them off the station if told to do so, but would never bite them.
At a St. John?s Ambulance Examination held at this station he laid down on one
of the stretchers and allowed himself to be bandaged up with the rest of the
?injured?. He was a splendid swimmer and a very good house dog.

He died suddenly in his harness on the platform on the evening of November 19th
1896, and was afterwards placed here by voluntary contributions from a number of
the residents in Slough and the staff at the station.

Tired legs and Mars bars.
I can't feel my legs....honestly they've gone kind of numb from all the driving I 've done today. I drive a 'stick' as known in the US and over here its a manual. More like manual labour, my legs don't stop moving and working when I drive - its in with the clutch, out with it, over and over,stopping and starting, weaving in and out of the traffic.
DH is working unusual hours all day so that means that I get to be mum and dad and taxi driver all day! Yay! arent I lucky, I must drawn the short straw.
This morning the driving commenced shortly after 8 am, with taking DD junior to orchestra prac., dropping her off, and going straight to teaching my class. Somewhere along the way I forgot to sit down, and stood to teach my students. Raced back to pick DD up, home for a quick lunch and then across to the other side of town for DD's music lesson. Sat and waited in the car, ate a mars bar, wanted to see if their slogan is true to its word - ' a mars a day helps you work rest and play'. They don't say anything about driving though?
Home again. Then off to the Mc'd's Drive though, and home. Drove car into garage, switched off the engine and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
My legs are throbbing, maybe another mars bar will help to ease the pain. Do you think?

Chugging along

Still chugging away

* Spent ALL day on the computer 'desk top publishing' stuff for Christmas

* Put together a 2005 calendar for parents - using collection of recent
photos - feeling pleased with the results.

* Had calamari - ok - squid rings for dinner with the best fish and chips
ever

* Shopped with Dh for a large container to fit all his beer bottles
in ( new hubby/hobby here lol!)

* Dh is brewing his first batch of home brew beer - EVER! He is incredibly
excited. This was a birthday gift from moi!

* Dh is now checking his 'brew' every five mins or so - he just goes and watches
the container, and then checks the temperature umpteen times - oh well!

* Got upset in the shops - can't seem to read labels
anymore like I used to. My normal glasses are too strong, so have to take them
off, or peer over the top of them each time I want to read a price label.
Grrrr... I am in bifocal denial mode!

* DH is off at work - (nuff
said!) So, off to read other blogs and catch up on emails
which I have been neglecting lately due to all the other stuff I've had to do. See you all tomorrow.

Busy is the best way to be

I used to have a porcelain plate with the motto - "Busy is the best way to be" printed on it, I think it was a strawberry shortcake plate. It got smashed by DD when she was little as she attempted to do a backflip on the couch next to the shelf it was displayed on. The plate is gone, but the message lives on.
Over the last two days I have been living up to that motto, and the hours have flown by. Here is one of the reasons why:

Its my Xmas parcel corner. I should say was, as this morning all the parcels were posted. Stefani - the big envelope is for you! So look our for it in your mailbox.

DH's hands putting on the finishing touches to the parcels.

The queue in the post office was tiny today, but the posting process is now almost painful to conduct. After filling in customs forms at home to save time later, I had to produce ID papers to prove that it was really 'me' posting off the packages, then we went though the weighing process, form filling, stamp sticking and labelling, and finally after deciding if I wanted insurance or not, deciding on the tariff preferred, I handed over the boxes. Apparently its all in name of security! With much tutting from the lady behind the counter about living 'in these uncertain times' and I was outta there!
Met up with DH who was in the beauty salon having his massage' - the gift he received from the DD's for Fathers Day. He came out floated out with a silly grin on his face looking more relaxed than he has been for ages. I manged to whip that smile off in less than 5 minutes with my agenda for the rest of the day. (sorry - not!) Between you me, I'll be glad to have a day at home tomorrow, so look out for an update later.

The most brilliant idea I've ever seen!!
Food for every taste...

Jane had a system for labeling homemade freezer meals.

She would carefully note in large clear letters, "Meatloaf" or "Pot Roast" or "Steak and Vegetables" or "Chicken and Dumplings" or "Beef Pot Pie."

Everyday when she asked her husband what he wanted for dinner, he never asked for any of those meals. She decided to stock the freezer with his various requests. What he really likes.

In Jane's freezer now you'll see a whole new set of labels. You'll find dinners with neat little tags that say: "Whatever," "Anything," "I Don't Know," "I Don't Care," "Something Good," or "Food."

No more frustration for Jane because no matter what her husband replies when she asks him what he wants for dinner, it's there waiting.

Thats what friends are for.

Off to do the quiz and see if I have enough frfriends. More on friendships later.

Time to blossom - its almost summer
Strange isn't it - that here in sunny OZ, flowers are blossoming, bees are a buzzin, things are happening in the garden, while on the other side of the world friends in UK and USA report that fall is almost upon them. Strange or wonderful? Believe it or not? Make up your own mind on this one.
With the first signs of summer and better weather, taking an evening walk and you may be nasally assulted by the 'smells' of summer - aka the barbeque out in full force. I love the smell of a bbq-ing food, as it wafts in the breeze, conjuring up happy meals - no, not the Mc'donalds variety, but of families bbq-ing together or having a party. Its nice.



We had our first summer bbq friday just gone. 5 chefs hats to the cook, alias - DH. In Oz, its almost the mandatory role of the male - to do the cooking on the BBQ for his family. Dh did us proud - with flaming sausages, crispy golden burgers, makes your mouth water just reading this. We had three different types of salad combo's, but as usual we over catered, and now we have been eating it 3 days in a row - guess who gets out of cooking for while -so I ain't complaing!

97 days till Christmas
Now Playing: Its starting to look a lot like Christmas
With teeth chattering from excitment - I have to ask - will YOU be ready in time??