We, like most in Brisbane, have a family of possums living around the house. At night they rampage across the tin roof and they sound like a herd of elephants.
In the evenings, Mr Pickle and I (or daddy) go on possum patrol down the road. It is very exciting for a three year old and it gives him a bit of exercise before bed. The last few patrols have not been very successful so we have taken matters into our own hands.
Mr Pickle likes to eat apples and pears and we have started chopping the cores into pieces and saving them in one if my many Tupperware tubs in the fridge. Tonight we placed the fruit leftovers out on the fence and we had a little visitor for our viewing pleasure.
I have pics to share but I can't work out how to suck them off the iPad onto the blog.
Saturday 15 October 2011
Monday 10 October 2011
The female of the species is more deadly than the male......
I sincerely hope that mum doesn't see this before she boards the plane.
Today Mr Pickle and I decided to play with a box of toys that had previously been put away in the storage area under the house. We pulled the box from under the chair in the lounge and onto the rug. Mr pickle was very excited as he pulled the lid off and started to rummage around.
We both saw the furry body and many eyes looking at us at the same time. At the bottom of the box was the biggest and hairiest spider I have ever been in the same room as. Mr Pickle looked at me expectantly and then reacted to the look of horror on my face. He grabbed his plastic bubble sword from the floor, pushed it into my hands and whilst running away shouted "hit it mummy, with my sword, my sword, hit it". So I did and it continued to stare at me.
I ran into the kitchen for the insect spray and and squirted it at point blank range. This time I swear I could hear an evil laugh echo around the toy box. Mr Pickle is now in the middle of the king size bed shouting "is it dead yet". At this point I am shouting to him to get his grabber and he refused to move from his safe haven.
I ran to his bedroom and was thankful that I knew exactly where the grabber was. Luckily the spider was so brazen by now that it felt it could mince about in the toy box and not try and escape somewhere. I caught it in the nippers of the grabber and it was waggling it's legs around madly. I took it out on the deck and whacked it with the barbecue tongs.
The spider's body was about an inch long from head to tail and four inches from toe to toe. I sent a picture if the splatted beastie to Jeremy and the gang in his office identified it as a huntsman and judging from the size, a female. I may have overeacted slightly as it turns out they are mostly just scary big and bites hurt but aren't deadly!
Today Mr Pickle and I decided to play with a box of toys that had previously been put away in the storage area under the house. We pulled the box from under the chair in the lounge and onto the rug. Mr pickle was very excited as he pulled the lid off and started to rummage around.
We both saw the furry body and many eyes looking at us at the same time. At the bottom of the box was the biggest and hairiest spider I have ever been in the same room as. Mr Pickle looked at me expectantly and then reacted to the look of horror on my face. He grabbed his plastic bubble sword from the floor, pushed it into my hands and whilst running away shouted "hit it mummy, with my sword, my sword, hit it". So I did and it continued to stare at me.
I ran into the kitchen for the insect spray and and squirted it at point blank range. This time I swear I could hear an evil laugh echo around the toy box. Mr Pickle is now in the middle of the king size bed shouting "is it dead yet". At this point I am shouting to him to get his grabber and he refused to move from his safe haven.
I ran to his bedroom and was thankful that I knew exactly where the grabber was. Luckily the spider was so brazen by now that it felt it could mince about in the toy box and not try and escape somewhere. I caught it in the nippers of the grabber and it was waggling it's legs around madly. I took it out on the deck and whacked it with the barbecue tongs.
The spider's body was about an inch long from head to tail and four inches from toe to toe. I sent a picture if the splatted beastie to Jeremy and the gang in his office identified it as a huntsman and judging from the size, a female. I may have overeacted slightly as it turns out they are mostly just scary big and bites hurt but aren't deadly!
Friday 2 September 2011
Where Are My Shipping Boxes 3 - The Box Room
Having been very concerned about the fact that the ship carrying our cargo from the UK to Australia (according to the tracking pages on the shipping company's website) was bouncing between Egypt and Italy, I needn't have been worried because they were actually aboard a completely different ship and arrived safely in Brisbane port last week.
We were given a timeslot of between 9 am and 10 am for delivery and I thought I was safe showering at 8.30. Wrong! I got out of the shower to be greeted by Mr Pickle saying "Mummy, your phone was making a lot of noises". The delivery man was early and was trying to get hold of me? Unheard of! I rang the number that had been left on the voicemail and heard a ringtone outside of the house. I looked up and saw a face in the window of the front door. Thankfully, I wasn't in the nip!
So, the boxes were delivered and filled one end of the lounge. A return to box city. You might think that this is why I have named the sequel to the sequel The Box Room. No, duh, duh duh....suspence music....all will be revealed.
These boxes contained (past tense, as I have single handedly emptied them with a little interference from Mr Pickle) our kitchen gadgets, crockery, cutlery, Mr Pickles's toys amongst other treasured items. In our house back in the UK, we had lots of cupboards in our kitchen and utility room. This proved just the right amount of space to hide a multitude of items we seldom use but would be desperate for if you didn't have it, i.e. the egg slicer. We didn't think we had lots of cupboards in the UK until we saw what the average Australian kitchen cupboard quota is. We also have a cupboard/bad boy room (that would be for Jeremy, not Mr Pickle) which is labelled as a Butler room. Hmmm, not sure how much butling you can do in a space that is about 10 cm wider than a shipping box (see where I am leading you in my story) and as long as three. It is actually meant to have the washing machine in there with a wall mounted dryer but the door isn't wide enough to get one through. There are even mounting brackets on the wall for the dryer to hang on.
Jeremy has been in the outback for the last two weeks. It is a dangerous thing to leave me to my own devices with lots of empty cardboard boxes and a space that was just crying out for some makeshift cupboarding. This house has now been improved by the addition of an actual 'box room'. There is one cardboard box cupboard hanging on the wall brackets (that took some measuring for the hanging holes on the back) one below it with a piece of flooring as a a worktop (the bread making station) and on the opposite side of the glory hole there is a tall cupboard (two boxes, stacked one on top of the other) containing Mr Pickle's craft supplies and the Hoover.
It was just like being six again, when I used to make Sindy houses and furniture out of shoe and tissue boxes. I think I may have stumbled on to the next big thing! You heard it here first ladies and gentlemen. Forget Ikea kitchens. PikeaTM kitchens are so the thing of next Tuesday.
We were given a timeslot of between 9 am and 10 am for delivery and I thought I was safe showering at 8.30. Wrong! I got out of the shower to be greeted by Mr Pickle saying "Mummy, your phone was making a lot of noises". The delivery man was early and was trying to get hold of me? Unheard of! I rang the number that had been left on the voicemail and heard a ringtone outside of the house. I looked up and saw a face in the window of the front door. Thankfully, I wasn't in the nip!
So, the boxes were delivered and filled one end of the lounge. A return to box city. You might think that this is why I have named the sequel to the sequel The Box Room. No, duh, duh duh....suspence music....all will be revealed.
These boxes contained (past tense, as I have single handedly emptied them with a little interference from Mr Pickle) our kitchen gadgets, crockery, cutlery, Mr Pickles's toys amongst other treasured items. In our house back in the UK, we had lots of cupboards in our kitchen and utility room. This proved just the right amount of space to hide a multitude of items we seldom use but would be desperate for if you didn't have it, i.e. the egg slicer. We didn't think we had lots of cupboards in the UK until we saw what the average Australian kitchen cupboard quota is. We also have a cupboard/bad boy room (that would be for Jeremy, not Mr Pickle) which is labelled as a Butler room. Hmmm, not sure how much butling you can do in a space that is about 10 cm wider than a shipping box (see where I am leading you in my story) and as long as three. It is actually meant to have the washing machine in there with a wall mounted dryer but the door isn't wide enough to get one through. There are even mounting brackets on the wall for the dryer to hang on.
Jeremy has been in the outback for the last two weeks. It is a dangerous thing to leave me to my own devices with lots of empty cardboard boxes and a space that was just crying out for some makeshift cupboarding. This house has now been improved by the addition of an actual 'box room'. There is one cardboard box cupboard hanging on the wall brackets (that took some measuring for the hanging holes on the back) one below it with a piece of flooring as a a worktop (the bread making station) and on the opposite side of the glory hole there is a tall cupboard (two boxes, stacked one on top of the other) containing Mr Pickle's craft supplies and the Hoover.
It was just like being six again, when I used to make Sindy houses and furniture out of shoe and tissue boxes. I think I may have stumbled on to the next big thing! You heard it here first ladies and gentlemen. Forget Ikea kitchens. PikeaTM kitchens are so the thing of next Tuesday.
Saturday 6 August 2011
Happy Birthday to me
It was my first Australian birthday today. I have decided that you need to take a year off each birthday on this side of the world, not add one on. One of my ancestors did a very similar thing in relation to the Antipodes! If it was good enough for her, it's good enough for me and she got away with it.
Jeremy took over Pickle duty for the morning and left me lounging in my bed awaiting my birthday phonecall from mum and dad. We have no Internet at the moment and you know what that means. No skype, no facebook and no emails. So I didn't get to see them but it was nice to talk.
I am developing twitches and tics. I keep going to look things up on the Internet and getting as far as loading the browser before I remember. I am like a sniffer dog when it comes to wifi hotspots, I can smell them from 20 paces and I am there armed and ready with my iPad at all times! It is the only way to get through the withdrawal symptoms. I am having to write my blogs offline and then upload it when I find a hotspot. I am an Internet Nomad. No fixed Internet abode.
Anyway, back to my birthday shenanigans. Jeremy made us breakfast on the barbecue and we ate it on the deck. How Australian was that? Even better because it is actually winter here.
Then we went out into Brisbane CBD. Jeremy was going to buy me something shiny in Tiffany but the shop assistants did not Even acknowledge that we were in the shop so we stomped out in high dudgeon, pretty woman stylee. We stomped all the way around the corner to the Pandora shop where I had to take over the shiny shopping for two reasons. 1) Mr Pickle does not like to shop and he had reach critical mass and 2) Jeremy was taking work phone calls (on my birthday of all days and it was a Saturday). So I chose some locking beads and a peridot (birthstone) charm from Jeremy and a tiny Babooshka charm from Gran.
I was then rushed out of the shop and frogmarched to the other side of the river, my attempts to pop into the library thwarted! All the while Jeremy is taking what I thought were work calls (some were) and I am fuming thinking that this is pants on my birthday.
Little did I know that Jeremy had planned a surprise picnic for me in the Southbank parklands with Heidi, Nigel, Nicky, baby Sophie and Ewa. As we were marching to the playground I noticed a baby on the ground and thought, why is Sophie lying on the grass?All of the grownups had looked away so I wouldn't see them and then they all turned and shouted surprise. it was completely unexpected and a lovely surprise that was very well organized by Jeremy and kept secret by Mr Pickle, who for the previous two days had kept telling me that he and daddy had bought me two birthday cards and a small triangle.
Jeremy took over Pickle duty for the morning and left me lounging in my bed awaiting my birthday phonecall from mum and dad. We have no Internet at the moment and you know what that means. No skype, no facebook and no emails. So I didn't get to see them but it was nice to talk.
I am developing twitches and tics. I keep going to look things up on the Internet and getting as far as loading the browser before I remember. I am like a sniffer dog when it comes to wifi hotspots, I can smell them from 20 paces and I am there armed and ready with my iPad at all times! It is the only way to get through the withdrawal symptoms. I am having to write my blogs offline and then upload it when I find a hotspot. I am an Internet Nomad. No fixed Internet abode.
Anyway, back to my birthday shenanigans. Jeremy made us breakfast on the barbecue and we ate it on the deck. How Australian was that? Even better because it is actually winter here.
Then we went out into Brisbane CBD. Jeremy was going to buy me something shiny in Tiffany but the shop assistants did not Even acknowledge that we were in the shop so we stomped out in high dudgeon, pretty woman stylee. We stomped all the way around the corner to the Pandora shop where I had to take over the shiny shopping for two reasons. 1) Mr Pickle does not like to shop and he had reach critical mass and 2) Jeremy was taking work phone calls (on my birthday of all days and it was a Saturday). So I chose some locking beads and a peridot (birthstone) charm from Jeremy and a tiny Babooshka charm from Gran.
I was then rushed out of the shop and frogmarched to the other side of the river, my attempts to pop into the library thwarted! All the while Jeremy is taking what I thought were work calls (some were) and I am fuming thinking that this is pants on my birthday.
Little did I know that Jeremy had planned a surprise picnic for me in the Southbank parklands with Heidi, Nigel, Nicky, baby Sophie and Ewa. As we were marching to the playground I noticed a baby on the ground and thought, why is Sophie lying on the grass?All of the grownups had looked away so I wouldn't see them and then they all turned and shouted surprise. it was completely unexpected and a lovely surprise that was very well organized by Jeremy and kept secret by Mr Pickle, who for the previous two days had kept telling me that he and daddy had bought me two birthday cards and a small triangle.
Monday 1 August 2011
The longer you animals bark, the colder your lunch gets....
Yesterday, Jeremy and I escaped for the evening!
Our friend Heidi kindly offered to babysit Mr Pickle so that we could go and watch The Goonies at the cinema.
We sneaked off at five o'clock and caught the train from behind the house. Having the train station two doors up is very handy. We travelled to Roma Street Station and walked to the cinema from there.
After grabbing a subway sandwich each we got to the cinema about 10 minutes before the film was about to start. We bought tickets and went into Screen 1. We were the only people in there.
Sadly, there was no balcony for Jeremy to climb up to and make fake puking noises from! Three minutes before the film was about to start two more people came in, they were very shocked to see us sat there.
At six o'clock the projectionist walked up the stairs to start the film rolling, the lights dimmed and the film began without trailers or adverts. We were very excited as the giant skull was projected onto the screen. It was at that point that we were expecting the flood of late comers, as is the norm in Indonesia. We weren't disappointed. A stream of four people rushed in, doubling the number of the audience!
We sat back and enjoyed the classic that is The Goonies. The truffle shuffle is a sight to behold on the big screen! Jeremy took some sneaky photos of the classic scenes for posterity and my blog. I will post them up when we have found the camera cable.
Our friend Heidi kindly offered to babysit Mr Pickle so that we could go and watch The Goonies at the cinema.
We sneaked off at five o'clock and caught the train from behind the house. Having the train station two doors up is very handy. We travelled to Roma Street Station and walked to the cinema from there.
After grabbing a subway sandwich each we got to the cinema about 10 minutes before the film was about to start. We bought tickets and went into Screen 1. We were the only people in there.
Sadly, there was no balcony for Jeremy to climb up to and make fake puking noises from! Three minutes before the film was about to start two more people came in, they were very shocked to see us sat there.
At six o'clock the projectionist walked up the stairs to start the film rolling, the lights dimmed and the film began without trailers or adverts. We were very excited as the giant skull was projected onto the screen. It was at that point that we were expecting the flood of late comers, as is the norm in Indonesia. We weren't disappointed. A stream of four people rushed in, doubling the number of the audience!
We sat back and enjoyed the classic that is The Goonies. The truffle shuffle is a sight to behold on the big screen! Jeremy took some sneaky photos of the classic scenes for posterity and my blog. I will post them up when we have found the camera cable.
Monday 25 July 2011
Where are my shipping boxes 2, the return of cardboardiness
They're here!
Update: Jeremy has posted pics of the new house on his blog.
Boxes arrived today as promised in a massive container at the arranged time! I was late as the truck I was driving got stuck in reverse gear!! Jeremy thought that I had driven over to the house. My name is not Mater and I am not the world's best backwards driver. I managed to fix it somehow.
Anyway, Mr Pickle and I arrived and we set to work pointing in directions for the boxes to be taken. It got to the 3 seated sofa coming off the van and there was much concern about it's size and the fact that it would not go through the two turns needed to get it inside.
Luckily Jeremy chose that minute to come for a nosey. It took four grown men, one step ladder and a wheelie bin but it came through the front of the porch (one story up). Phew. At one point we thought we were going to have the most comfortable deck furniture in the world!
Mr Pickle is very pleased to have his Thomas Trains back, along with his building site and Lego. The beds are built and the mattresses were supposed to arrive today too. I was very excited and measured the holes for the mattresses to fit into as we weren't 100% sure they would. They will and I dug out the bedding in preparation. At lunch time I rang the bed company to get an idea of delivery time. It was a very sorry person on the other end of the line who discovered that there had been a mix up and there would be no delivery to us today. They will be with us in Thursday instead.
Everything made is through quarantine and customs, even the mankey seed pod and pine cone decoration that actually belonged to the Balikpapan house. Jeremy has already installed my hanging chair and my giant pod seat is under the deck waiting for us to move in and choose the perfect place for it in the garden.
Mr Pickle had a fabulous day reacquainting himself with his toys and Spongebob Squarepants on the telly. He is now tuckered out and we have had to return to the apartment to sleep following a very yummy barbecue, cooked by Jeremy, to say thank you to our helpers who ably assisted me while he was beavering away in work.
I wanted to take pictures of the grand moving in but the camera got covered up in the kitchen and never resurfaced. Will try and take some pics tomorrow when it is dug out of the Tupperware land slide!
Tomorrow Mr Pickle and I are heading down to Ikea. Smaland awaits the invasion.
Update: Jeremy has posted pics of the new house on his blog.
Boxes arrived today as promised in a massive container at the arranged time! I was late as the truck I was driving got stuck in reverse gear!! Jeremy thought that I had driven over to the house. My name is not Mater and I am not the world's best backwards driver. I managed to fix it somehow.
Anyway, Mr Pickle and I arrived and we set to work pointing in directions for the boxes to be taken. It got to the 3 seated sofa coming off the van and there was much concern about it's size and the fact that it would not go through the two turns needed to get it inside.
Luckily Jeremy chose that minute to come for a nosey. It took four grown men, one step ladder and a wheelie bin but it came through the front of the porch (one story up). Phew. At one point we thought we were going to have the most comfortable deck furniture in the world!
Mr Pickle is very pleased to have his Thomas Trains back, along with his building site and Lego. The beds are built and the mattresses were supposed to arrive today too. I was very excited and measured the holes for the mattresses to fit into as we weren't 100% sure they would. They will and I dug out the bedding in preparation. At lunch time I rang the bed company to get an idea of delivery time. It was a very sorry person on the other end of the line who discovered that there had been a mix up and there would be no delivery to us today. They will be with us in Thursday instead.
Everything made is through quarantine and customs, even the mankey seed pod and pine cone decoration that actually belonged to the Balikpapan house. Jeremy has already installed my hanging chair and my giant pod seat is under the deck waiting for us to move in and choose the perfect place for it in the garden.
Mr Pickle had a fabulous day reacquainting himself with his toys and Spongebob Squarepants on the telly. He is now tuckered out and we have had to return to the apartment to sleep following a very yummy barbecue, cooked by Jeremy, to say thank you to our helpers who ably assisted me while he was beavering away in work.
I wanted to take pictures of the grand moving in but the camera got covered up in the kitchen and never resurfaced. Will try and take some pics tomorrow when it is dug out of the Tupperware land slide!
Tomorrow Mr Pickle and I are heading down to Ikea. Smaland awaits the invasion.
Friday 15 July 2011
We are special
Mr Pickle's classic quote of the day:
"I am very special mummy and so are you." I asked, "what about Daddy?" Mr Pickle's reply, "Daddy isn't special, he is all funny and silly with big eyes."
Ha ha.
We are off to the park again this afternoon. There will be scooting and pictures to follow.
"I am very special mummy and so are you." I asked, "what about Daddy?" Mr Pickle's reply, "Daddy isn't special, he is all funny and silly with big eyes."
Ha ha.
We are off to the park again this afternoon. There will be scooting and pictures to follow.
Thursday 14 July 2011
That cannot be very comfortable!
Now that I know the shipment is imminent, I have been surfing the Internet for new and interesting felt creations. I found a great website:
www.cutoutandkeep.net
There are some very funny things on there with instructions on how to make them.
As with many websites, this one is supported by advertising and sponsorship. This particular website is sponsored by American Apparel and has the most uncomfortable looking banner that I have ever seen. Just two words - Tank Thong! All the girl needs is the leggings and she could be living in the 80s.
Hurry up felt stash.
www.cutoutandkeep.net
There are some very funny things on there with instructions on how to make them.
As with many websites, this one is supported by advertising and sponsorship. This particular website is sponsored by American Apparel and has the most uncomfortable looking banner that I have ever seen. Just two words - Tank Thong! All the girl needs is the leggings and she could be living in the 80s.
Hurry up felt stash.
Wednesday 13 July 2011
We love you Bris-Vegas
So, having taken a hop over to the UK where I spent most of my time surrounded by cardboard tea chests, we are now in Australia!
Mr Pickle and I did manage to spend some quality time with family and friends in between moving boxes between storage units and Mum and Dad's garage. We are missing everyone but our surroundings are definitely making up for the fact that we are so far away.
Mr Pickle and I have been here for two and a half weeks and we have been to the park every day, because we can. We miss the friends we made in Balikpapan but we don't miss the fact that we couldn't take a stroll outside without being eaten alive by mozzies or nearly being knocked over by ankots and motorbikes.
So far we have taken the river cat across to Bulimba to make use of the fabulous playground there, we have been on the Brisbane wheel (a bit like the London Eye but smaller), splashed about in the water features on the South Bank, joined the library, put Mr Pickle's name on a waiting list for a pre prep school and found a Thursday morning playgroup and done some shopping, some more shopping and then a bit more shopping. We have even been to Ikea.
Jeremy found us a fab house and we signed the tenancy agreement while I was still deranged with jet lag. We take over the place on the 19 July but it looks like we won't have any beds on the day. All we need now is our stuff! Hurry up shipments.
Mr Pickle and I did manage to spend some quality time with family and friends in between moving boxes between storage units and Mum and Dad's garage. We are missing everyone but our surroundings are definitely making up for the fact that we are so far away.
Mr Pickle and I have been here for two and a half weeks and we have been to the park every day, because we can. We miss the friends we made in Balikpapan but we don't miss the fact that we couldn't take a stroll outside without being eaten alive by mozzies or nearly being knocked over by ankots and motorbikes.
So far we have taken the river cat across to Bulimba to make use of the fabulous playground there, we have been on the Brisbane wheel (a bit like the London Eye but smaller), splashed about in the water features on the South Bank, joined the library, put Mr Pickle's name on a waiting list for a pre prep school and found a Thursday morning playgroup and done some shopping, some more shopping and then a bit more shopping. We have even been to Ikea.
Jeremy found us a fab house and we signed the tenancy agreement while I was still deranged with jet lag. We take over the place on the 19 July but it looks like we won't have any beds on the day. All we need now is our stuff! Hurry up shipments.
Monday 31 January 2011
Celebrations
So it has been decided that having waited this long to organise a Birthday party for Mr Pickle, we will be having an impromptu pool party on Thursday (Chinese New Year and a Public Holiday).
I am planning the cake. It is going to be a Very Hungry Caterpillar cake, as seen on Facebook when Rachel asked Rudy if she could make her one.
I bought the small round cake tin today and Yuni and I will begin the grand bake off tomorrow afternoon. I am going to be making red fondant icing and two tone green swiss meringe buttercream icing for the cupcakes that will make up the body. It is a great cake for a party as the body is made up of two dozen cupcakes and we won't have to cut the face cake up. The cakes are going to be chocolate cakes, as requested by the birthday boy. Daddy will also be pleased.
Watch this space for pics.
I am planning the cake. It is going to be a Very Hungry Caterpillar cake, as seen on Facebook when Rachel asked Rudy if she could make her one.
I bought the small round cake tin today and Yuni and I will begin the grand bake off tomorrow afternoon. I am going to be making red fondant icing and two tone green swiss meringe buttercream icing for the cupcakes that will make up the body. It is a great cake for a party as the body is made up of two dozen cupcakes and we won't have to cut the face cake up. The cakes are going to be chocolate cakes, as requested by the birthday boy. Daddy will also be pleased.
Watch this space for pics.
Friday 28 January 2011
What's black and blue but thankfully not red all over?
The answer is.........me! Bruises but no sunburn.
I joined the cycle group on Thursday up at the Chevron site, located at the top of Balikpapan. As Angela's car climbed up the steep hill with our bikes on the back I was thinking a) we've got to come back down this and I don't know if the breaks work that well and b) OMG - I've got to cycle back up this!
Five new people joined the group (including me) so I was hoping that the ride wouldn't be quite as crazy as advertised. We cycled around the kampungs and trough the city, up and down pretty steep hills and I only had to get off and push near the top of one of the hills where I ran out of momentum. It was perfect cycling weather, overcast and not too hot.
We were on the home stretch, which happened to be quite flat, when my front wheel went down a hidden deep hole. In the seconds before I completely wiped out lots of thoughts went through my head, including:
1) here we go again (this is not the first flight over the handlebars I have made)
2) this is going to hurt, alot
3) try and do a break roll, try and do a break roll, which I tried.
So, I let go of the handlebars and as the ground came up to meet me I put my hands on the floor, brought my shoulder round, tucked my head in and.........stopped, suddenly. What a shame the hole was so deep that my bike was embedded in the road and my right foot was trapped underneath. I was also wearing Angela's long sleeved cycling shirt.
So the upshot of the accident is that I have a skinned elbow from trying to push myself round, and a bruised leg from the crossbar. Not a mark on my face and I have all of my teeth still in my mouth, not in a jar for the tooth fairy. By all accounts, the fall looked quite spectacular from behind.
Apart from the slight mishap, I enjoyed the ride around the parts of Balikpapan that most ex-pats never see and I will be donning the bright pink shirt again next week and hopefully I won't be told off for pedalling to slowly because I don't think we will be going as easy as we did this week. I will also have to take more water as I drank the whole two litres in my camelbak plus my emergency bottle of water before we reached the finish post.
I joined the cycle group on Thursday up at the Chevron site, located at the top of Balikpapan. As Angela's car climbed up the steep hill with our bikes on the back I was thinking a) we've got to come back down this and I don't know if the breaks work that well and b) OMG - I've got to cycle back up this!
Five new people joined the group (including me) so I was hoping that the ride wouldn't be quite as crazy as advertised. We cycled around the kampungs and trough the city, up and down pretty steep hills and I only had to get off and push near the top of one of the hills where I ran out of momentum. It was perfect cycling weather, overcast and not too hot.
We were on the home stretch, which happened to be quite flat, when my front wheel went down a hidden deep hole. In the seconds before I completely wiped out lots of thoughts went through my head, including:
1) here we go again (this is not the first flight over the handlebars I have made)
2) this is going to hurt, alot
3) try and do a break roll, try and do a break roll, which I tried.
So, I let go of the handlebars and as the ground came up to meet me I put my hands on the floor, brought my shoulder round, tucked my head in and.........stopped, suddenly. What a shame the hole was so deep that my bike was embedded in the road and my right foot was trapped underneath. I was also wearing Angela's long sleeved cycling shirt.
So the upshot of the accident is that I have a skinned elbow from trying to push myself round, and a bruised leg from the crossbar. Not a mark on my face and I have all of my teeth still in my mouth, not in a jar for the tooth fairy. By all accounts, the fall looked quite spectacular from behind.
Apart from the slight mishap, I enjoyed the ride around the parts of Balikpapan that most ex-pats never see and I will be donning the bright pink shirt again next week and hopefully I won't be told off for pedalling to slowly because I don't think we will be going as easy as we did this week. I will also have to take more water as I drank the whole two litres in my camelbak plus my emergency bottle of water before we reached the finish post.
Wednesday 26 January 2011
Thank goodness for friends
For reasons that I don't want to dwell on, I have lost my laptop. If you would like to read why I have lost my laptop you can read Jeremy's blog. I would like to put an R rated warning here because Jeremy's language is a bit naughty.
http://northseaadventures.blogspot.com/2011/01/thieving-indo-bastards.html
Thankfully, a friend here in Balikpapan has lent me her spare laptop so that I don't feel completely cut off from the modern world. All I need to do now is work out how to get Skype working so that I can see eveyone across the miles. Thank you very much Fiona!
Also, thank you to the expat community here for all the goodwill and support over the last few days.
On saturday Mr Pickle and I went to the cinema for the first time here, to see Yogi Bear. It was a 3D showing and Mr Pickle wore his glasses for the whole time and only tried to escape once.
We were having a great day on Sunday, we went over to Liesbeth and Jos' house where Liesbeth and I made 6 curries with basmati rice while Jeremy and Jos entertained Mr Pickle with a trip to see helicopters,a walk around the BHC compound and a freindly game of football with some other expats.
Anyway, I am going on a crazy bike ride tomorrow. There are quite a few new cyclists joining the ride with me tomorrow so I am not so worried about being the only one puffing away at the back of the pack!
In between looking after Mr Pickle and the daddy, cycling and cooking Indian banquets with Liesbeth, I have crocheted a chibi totoro and am in the process of making some play food for Mr Pickle out of felt.
I have also started crocheting a blue Totoro and found a pattern for a very cute cat called Amineko.
So, for now I am making do with 20th century technology to keep in touch with Nana Mac.
http://northseaadventures.blogspot.com/2011/01/thieving-indo-bastards.html
Thankfully, a friend here in Balikpapan has lent me her spare laptop so that I don't feel completely cut off from the modern world. All I need to do now is work out how to get Skype working so that I can see eveyone across the miles. Thank you very much Fiona!
Also, thank you to the expat community here for all the goodwill and support over the last few days.
On saturday Mr Pickle and I went to the cinema for the first time here, to see Yogi Bear. It was a 3D showing and Mr Pickle wore his glasses for the whole time and only tried to escape once.
We were having a great day on Sunday, we went over to Liesbeth and Jos' house where Liesbeth and I made 6 curries with basmati rice while Jeremy and Jos entertained Mr Pickle with a trip to see helicopters,a walk around the BHC compound and a freindly game of football with some other expats.
Anyway, I am going on a crazy bike ride tomorrow. There are quite a few new cyclists joining the ride with me tomorrow so I am not so worried about being the only one puffing away at the back of the pack!
In between looking after Mr Pickle and the daddy, cycling and cooking Indian banquets with Liesbeth, I have crocheted a chibi totoro and am in the process of making some play food for Mr Pickle out of felt.
I have also started crocheting a blue Totoro and found a pattern for a very cute cat called Amineko.
So, for now I am making do with 20th century technology to keep in touch with Nana Mac.
Friday 21 January 2011
Crazy cyclists
Balikpapan has a group of ex-pats who enjoy punishing themselves at least once a week by heading out on their bicycles and propelling themselves up hills on two wheels for about 40 kilometres. I have also found out that most of them pedal going downhill too. Completely nuts.
I will be putting down my crochet hook and sewing needles and will join them on Thursday. I am sure I won't be able to walk for days afterwards.
I will be putting down my crochet hook and sewing needles and will join them on Thursday. I am sure I won't be able to walk for days afterwards.
Tuesday 11 January 2011
Hummus a-go-go!
I have whipped up a batch of hummus! Yippee!!
It looks and tastes exactly like it should and by tomorrow will be so garlicky it will probably blow ours heads off! I made tahini from scratch to make it too.
I have also sewn the eyes on the white totoro so I just need to finish off his crocheted body and sew his tail and feet on and he is good to go off on an adventure with Mr Pickle. Every time he sees me stitching away on the little creation he asks 'is he ready yet? is he for me?' Still a touch of the Dorys going on in our household.
We hashed tonight. It was quite a long course with the last bit on the main road so Jeremy ran on ahead and rounded up a couple of cars for the smalls to be ferried on to the finish line for their pic-nic tea. Jeremy is now the Grand-poo-ba of the family hash which calls for him to be a bit shouty and boss people about. I think this role was created for him! We need to come up with a hash name for him by next Tuesday so answers on a postcard to Borneo please.
It looks and tastes exactly like it should and by tomorrow will be so garlicky it will probably blow ours heads off! I made tahini from scratch to make it too.
I have also sewn the eyes on the white totoro so I just need to finish off his crocheted body and sew his tail and feet on and he is good to go off on an adventure with Mr Pickle. Every time he sees me stitching away on the little creation he asks 'is he ready yet? is he for me?' Still a touch of the Dorys going on in our household.
We hashed tonight. It was quite a long course with the last bit on the main road so Jeremy ran on ahead and rounded up a couple of cars for the smalls to be ferried on to the finish line for their pic-nic tea. Jeremy is now the Grand-poo-ba of the family hash which calls for him to be a bit shouty and boss people about. I think this role was created for him! We need to come up with a hash name for him by next Tuesday so answers on a postcard to Borneo please.
Monday 10 January 2011
Are there chickens in chick peas?
We were having a bit of a low morning yesterday. With not much to do and a small person to entertain we were very homesick. So we went shopping to CV Central.
To cheer ourselves up we bought a number of items that we have been really missing:
1. waffle iron
2. cheese schumfer
3. corkscrew (to open the only bottle of wine in the house and probably cost more than the wine),
4. egg poacher
5. weighing scale
The potential for waffles cheered me up no end and we had poached eggs for tea, which improved Jeremy's mood. Lush!
Today I was introduced to a new supermarket, by my friend Arlene. It was very local but I liked it because there was such a strange variety of things there, including flannels folded into the shape of roses!
We have been craving hummus for weeks and I thought that I would be able to make it. I could have but a can of chick peas would have set us back about £3. I kid you not! The answer to your question is, no I have not found dried chickpeas here yet. In the new supermarket they had cans of chick peas for about £1.20. Woo Hoo!! Hummus is in sight.
Now I just need a teaspoon of sesame oil to make tahini and we are away.
Mr Pickle went back to pre-school today. He had a fabulous morning and has gone to bed a very tired little man.
Crafting update - I am in the process of making Mr Pickle a crochet Totoro. I will be posting pics of him when he is finished.
To cheer ourselves up we bought a number of items that we have been really missing:
1. waffle iron
2. cheese schumfer
3. corkscrew (to open the only bottle of wine in the house and probably cost more than the wine),
4. egg poacher
5. weighing scale
The potential for waffles cheered me up no end and we had poached eggs for tea, which improved Jeremy's mood. Lush!
Today I was introduced to a new supermarket, by my friend Arlene. It was very local but I liked it because there was such a strange variety of things there, including flannels folded into the shape of roses!
We have been craving hummus for weeks and I thought that I would be able to make it. I could have but a can of chick peas would have set us back about £3. I kid you not! The answer to your question is, no I have not found dried chickpeas here yet. In the new supermarket they had cans of chick peas for about £1.20. Woo Hoo!! Hummus is in sight.
Now I just need a teaspoon of sesame oil to make tahini and we are away.
Mr Pickle went back to pre-school today. He had a fabulous morning and has gone to bed a very tired little man.
Crafting update - I am in the process of making Mr Pickle a crochet Totoro. I will be posting pics of him when he is finished.
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