Giveaway

My gorgeous Crone friend is participating in a Pay it Forward activity. Much as I am tempted to put my name down, I'm actively trying to cut back on commitments for a while so I can get some other things under control, but I'd encourage you to check it out - it looks like fun!

BUT ... I would like to give something away ...

The backstory is - I like cosmetics, and I've found THE makeup brand that I want to stick with - Mirenesse. Lovely lovely stuff that stays where it's supposed to - all day - and washes off with water. I joined their VIP program, which means every two months I receive a surprise box of beautiful things - their amazing mascara, lip gloss, cleansers, foundation, and more.

So ... I've accumulated quite a bit of Mirenesse gorgeousness, and some of it could be yours, absolutely free!



Just leave me a comment telling me your deepest darkest tragic makeup/hair/fashion secret, and one of 3 Mirenesse packs could be yours. Each pack will include at least two full size items, plus sample/travel items. Winners will be randomly drawn.

Gratuitous

Not over my Kai crush yet ;)

Love this city

Love The Whitlams.

The husband took the short people out for the day, and I've cranked up the stereo - a mix of Energia, Pet Shop Boys, The Whitlams, a 2002 hits CD (think the Ketchup Song!) while working my way through a mountain of washing that's accumulated with the rain and cold snap we've had over the long weekend, and baking ham & cheese scrolls for back-to-school lunches (and 'turtles' just for fun).

Love this City (The Whitlams) is about Sydney - the city I spent my high school & university years in, and returned to after a few years outback, before heading to Canberra.

It was busy everywhere he went
There was a crowd over the bay
And a fireworks display
It's all very strange for a Thursday night thought he
Then it dawns on him as a cracker explodes
And who the hell is he going to blame?
It dawns on him - the horror - we got the Olympic Games

You gotta love this city for its body and not its brain

And he screams "My city is a whore, opened herself to the world
Jumped up and down in pastel shirts
And lathered up thinking about designs for T-shirts"

Enlighten me

I like that I'm loved and groovy, but what is MM?

Invasion!

Last night we witnessed a Dalek invasion - at the National Museum of Australia.



It was all part of the International Year of Astronomy and Earth Day, and there were some *serious* star gazing activities as well as the Daleks and craft activities. Not that we visited the Panetarium or star-gazed through the big telescopes outside or heard the universe explained in 20 minutes - I think the organisers seriously underestimated how popular this event would be, and it was a bit chaotic.

I was pretty unimpressed by the kids (and adults!) who mobbed the Daleks - pushing them and grabbing onto their weapons. They actually did a bit of damage, and at least one Dalek left the Hall rapidly when it all got a bit out of hand. I know my children would have been hauled away if they'd even thought about behaving like that - I don't understand what the parents of these kids are thinking (or perhaps not thinking!).

But it was worth going just to see the Daleks ;)

Fire!

I've lived in Canberra for 12 years (how did that happen?!), the husband has been here over 30 years, and yesterday we discovered something we hadn't seen before.



The Canberra Fire Brigade Museum is housed in an old fire station in Forrest. It's open to the public on most Saturdays (except public holidays) from 10am-2pm. We just happened to be passing yesterday when one of the men who work on restoring the vehicles opened the doors and drove one out, saw us watching, and invited us in (my sister and her children, visiting from Sydney, were with us).



While I'm definitely not into cars & trucks, there is something about a lot of shiny red paintwork, brass and copper fixtures, wooden ladders worn smooth with use and lines of uniforms that attracts attention.



I think I heard something about Model A Ford in relation to this one (my eyes kind of glaze over with that sort of info):



The X-man tells me the firemen needed umbrellas if it rained while they were in the vehicle below (the section on top is a spare carriage part - it's an open vehicle):



And this is is a canvas jumping sheet:



It was held by 20 firemen for trapped people to jump down from burning buildings, but only used as a last resort because it was notorious for causing injury to both the jumper and the people holding it.

On the right is a stretcher used to get injured people out of mine shafts, sewers etc. in a vertical position. The scaling ladder on the left could be added to a maximum of four others (because of the tapered design).

There are quite a few more fire engines, hose carts and other pieces of equipment on display,a nd the husband is keen to go back when it's open and the engines are out the front, so he can have a proper look.

Journey

[Nope, not about Kai this time]

The short people of the household are apparently going on a Journey to the Centre of the Earth. We saw the 3D movie a little while back, and Miss Tizz has been (sporadically) reading the Jules Verne novel, while the X-man has been studying the photobook of the movie (his reading skills aren't quite up to the novel yet!).

So today they each packed a bag for the journey. They decided they needed a spellbook (to slow down the dinosaur), a stuffed toy (to cuddle when things got scary), wool and a crochet hook (they've resumed interest in the craft), and the X-man had something extra. A duster. Why? In case the centre of the earth is dusty.

Duh! Why didn't I think of that?

The dead guy

I've been giving Kai some more thought (as you do), and perhaps the attraction is that he goes into cold storage when you've finished with him, and stays there until needed. A very attractive quality ;)




And he's steady - no emotional outbursts, matter-of-fact and black-and-white. You know exactly where you stand with Kai - he has no agenda.

[I'm sure I'll get over this little obsession soon, and we can get back to normal random posts ...]

Is it wrong?

Wrong or geeky? To have a totally age-inappropriate crush on a dead Divine Assassin with a really bad hairdo?



Perhaps it's his maturity (he's been dead for over 2000 years), the fact that he's unique (the last of the Brunnen-G), or perhaps it's his battle song ...

Purple - 4.5 weeks on

Seeing as quite a few people seem to lob into the Wild backyard via hair colour searches, I thought I'd do an update of the Joico bleeding purple 4 and half weeks on. Still bleeding! Aaargh! But it's now produced a rather interesting effect ...



I am now stripey!

I'll probably go back to pink, as it holds better, especially with a red base, unless my hairdresser comes up with any bright ideas to stabilise the purple better. Which may not happen for a while as she's just about to/in the middle of/just had a baby. Methinks she may be a little distracted for a while ...

Chocolate!

We had a family Good Friday lunch yesterday with the mother-in-law, brother-in-law & sister-in-law and their two offspring. None of them are religious, but for some reason that they can't explain (except that MIL promised her mother, and her sons promised her) they don't eat meat on Good Friday. I'm happy to go along with it - I won't knock back a big slab of barbecued salmon for lunch :)

I did desserts, and in keeping with the Easter theme of the weekend, I made white chocolate and passionfruit mousse, served in chocolate Easter eggs.

White chocolate & passionfruit mousse

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 cup passionfruit pulp
• 150g white chocolate
• 300ml thickened cream
• 3 egg whites
• 6 medium Easter eggs

Method

1. Use an electric beater to beat 3 egg yolks and 1/4 cup caster sugar until pale and creamy. Fold in 1/2 cup passionfruit pulp alternately with 150g white chocolate, melted, and cooled slightly. If the chocolate is too hot, the mixture will seize.
2. Beat 300ml thickened cream until soft peaks form, and in a separate bowl beat 3 egg whites until firm peaks form. Fold into the passionfruit mixture.
3. Break tops from 6 medium Easter eggs and sit eggs in serving glasses. Fill with mousse and refrigerate for 3-4 hrs or overnight until set. Serve with chocolate shards for dipping.

Source

Fresh Living - March 2005, Page 36

Recipe by Michelle Southan

The disappearing lake

This is a lake not too far from Canberra - Lake George.



Not your average lake, it can completely vanish, leaving a broad grassed plain (like in the photo above) which is mainly used for grazing sheep. At other times it can be one of the largest freshwater lakes in Australia. There have been numerous theories about how it works, but apparently the consensus these days is that because it's very shallow, even when full (ranging from 0.8m in depth to a maximum of 7.5m), the large surface area combined with the windy nature of the region means that evaporation rates are very high - it simply dries up very quickly under drought conditions. The lake has currently been dry for quite a few years.

On the far side of the lake the turbines of the controversial Capital Wind Farm can be seen.



Every time we make the trip to Sydney we drive past this lake, and on our most recent trip we decided to stop at a lookout that we normally shoot straight past. We discovered a memorial plaque - the tragic story of a local family who perished in a boating accident:

This memorial is dedicated to the memory of
the Lynch Family
Christine Agnes Lynch Aged 5 years
Brenda Ann Lynch Aged 12 years
Ethel Hope Lynch Aged 33 years
John Leslie Lynch Aged 38 years
and
Raylee Monica Koppman Aged 12 years
Lost in a boating accident on Lake George
12th January 1958
"Now safe in God's care"

The Queanbeyan Age published this article about the family 50 years later:

A son remembers

TRUDY TAYLOR

11/01/2008 7:52:59 AM

FIFTY years ago a 13-year-old Queanbeyan boy's world fell apart when he lost his entire family in an accident at mysterious Lake George.

This weekend he will return to Queanbeyan to commemorate his family's tragedy.

Now aged 63, Barry Lynch became an orphan in 1958 after his parents and sisters - father John Leslie (Barry) Lynch (aged 38), mother Ethel Hope Lynch (33), sisters Brenda Ann Lynch (12) and Christine Agnes Lynch (6) - drowned in the lake when their 12-foot skiff capsized on January 12, 1958.

Mr Lynch's cousin, Rayleigh Monica Koppman (12), also drowned in the accident.

Father Lloyd Reynolds, who was the parish priest at the Catholic presbytery, was the sole survivor.

Mr Lynch said the family was boating on the lake to celebrate Christine's birthday.

He escaped being caught in the tragedy because he was holidaying at Numeralla.

At the time the Lynches lived in Collins Street. Mr Lynch senior worked for the Department of Works, Mrs Lynch was a full-time housewife and all three children were students at St Gregory's.

"When the accident took place, we were battlers," Mr Lynch told The Queanbeyan Age.

"We had no financial reserves, and because of the massive cost Queanbeyan launched an appeal through The Queanbeyan Age.

"I'd now like to thank those people," he said.

After the accident Mr Lynch moved into Furlong House (in Morisset Street) with his grandparents. He also became a ward of Legacy.

"A legatee by the name of Stan Reed was particularly supportive - he was like a father figure to me. I owe that man a lot," Mr Lynch said.

"I think of Stan quite often and how fortunate I was to have him as my guardian."

Mr Lynch attended St Gregory's school from 1950 until 1956.

He then went to Queanbeyan High School in 1957 before enrolling at St Patrick's Boarding College in Goulburn from 1958 until 1961.

On completion of high school he moved to Sydney and worked in the earthmoving and construction industry and now holds certificates in industrial engineering.

Mr Lynch has organised for a memorial service to be held as part of this Sunday's 10am Mass at St Raphael's Catholic Church.

There will be reflection for the family during Mass and lighting of candles in remembrance of the family.

"I would like people to attend the church service on Sunday," Mr Lynch said.

"It will give me some closure and be a celebration of my parents' and sisters' lives.

"Queanbeyan hasn't forgotten about this accident.

"It is time for everybody to put some closure on it.

"It's not a sad thing, but about closure," he said.

Mr Lynch is also trying to arrange for a commemorative plaque.

He wants it to acknowledge his parents and sisters and also thank the people of Queanbeyan for the support shown to him as a child to be placed in the town park.

These are the stories that history is made of.

School's out!

School holidays officially started here at 3pm today :) But before we launch into the next two weeks of routineless mayhem (and I'm determined we are going to do lots of fun things, and I'm not going to work the whole time), I need to tell you about the X-man's acting debut.

This is the X-man's kindergarten year. There are three classes of about 20 children each, two pregnant teachers, and one not, so there'll be some changes and disruption partway through the year. The X-man will cope with this - change doesn't faze him at all.

The school holds assemblies each fortnight, with each year group (Kindergarten, Year 1/2, Year 3/4, Year 5/6) hosting an assembly each term. Last Friday was the first Kindergarten assembly for the year, and I don't envy the teachers one iota having to coordinate 60 small people. It's only half an hour or so, but that's a long time when you're 5 and wriggly, and the attention of the rest of the school, the teachers and the parent audience is focussed on you!



The X-man had a speaking role! Four - count them - FOUR words! And a costume! He was a paramedic, and he was there to help his friend Sara when she hurt herself and called 000 (the emergency number in Australia). "I will help you!". That's him in the middle of the front row, wearing dark green (with reflective tape stripes!).

Ok - let's check the medical kit one more time ...



... and you're on! Woo!



[Sorry about the photo quality - indoors, not enough light, not enough *real zoom*, moving targets]

And that was that :)

Apart from all the Jolly Phonics songs they'd learned so far, a little addition demonstration (3 + 4 = 7), and a rousing rendition of This Old Man, all the way up to 10, which the audience spontaneously joined in, and which got louder and faster as it went on.

Can't wait for next term!

It's a boy!

"Underbelly" was a very polite way of putting it S :)



But it's definitely the back end of the Big Merino in Goulburn, and it's definitely a boy!



According to Miss Tizz, the top picture clearly illustrates the merino's brain. The backstory to that comment is that a few years ago, she and the X-man were in the bath together. Miss Tizz was quiet for a while (highly unusual!), then suddenly burst out with "Why does he have a brain under his willy?". Of course, that was followed by "Where's my willy and my second brain?".

Mystery photo

What is it?