nostawynnep

I went horse riding on the weekend for the first time ever.
I was on the hugest horse I have ever seen. He was called FirePond. At least he was better behaved than my camel called Michael.

I had a great time but my butt and inner thighs are feeling it today.

So this is Jasper looking thoughtful - he was one of he reasons I went down to Boston. He was really funny and I loved the next book First Among Sequels.

They have "Duck Tours" in Boston, half on land half on water. Funnily I was on a Duck called Penelope.



I took heaps of pictures around Boston. And I worked out that I really love Fire Escapes.




I also love the story of the ducklings who waddled from the river to Boston Common with the Police stopping traffic for them - they are fictional of course. The ducklings names were: Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack, Pack and Quack.

Current Mood: chipper

It took me quite a while to work out that these were not the words to the canadian national anthem. Cause why would you be standing on god. We stand on 'guard' for thee are the real words but I guess with a country singer twang it can be hard to tell.

So the stampede is now winding down. It has been a whirl wind this week. Free pancake breakfasts, lunches. Lots and lots of jeans, hats and cowboy boots. The average height of men in Calgary was raised by 2 inches. All the cowboy boots.

I got chatted up by a Canadian mountie.



Mini chucks, are heaps of fun. Little ponies pull little wagons around a track. There is a full sized version of the chucks that are a huge draw of the stampede.




Saw the rodeo also, I don't know how they stay on the horses and bulls.




Finally - there are lots of products that make me laugh here. This one is for Aussie pies. I love the comment about "koality"

A few weeks ago Leanne came to visit with Little D.
It was Leanne's 31st birthday so we made her a cake.



Little D is getting so big now.

This weekend Shannon and I made Thomas a race car track birthday cake.
You are never to old for a fun birthday cake.




Then we all went for a walk through nature.

Current Mood: chipper

I sit in the lounge room having breakfast and a bunny hops past.
Then another bunny hops past and sits and twitches his nose at me.

At first I though they were really cute and didn't take much notice but then I went to work and there was a bunny there as well. It was then that I got suspicious and I started thinking maybe they were trying to tell me something. Maybe the hopping and stopping was some sort of bunny morse code and if I can crack it the secrets of the work would be mine.(Insert evil laughter here)

But why would the choose me?

Current Mood: thoughtful

I believe there are just some things that don't belong on a pizza. So when Thomas (my Canadian friends Swedish husband whose hospitality I am abusing) put pineapple and curry on the home made pizzas we were making, I was not only surprised but mightily shocked. When he went on to say that all it was missing was a banana I was speechless. Am I wrong, no really am I wrong. Is Pineapple, banana and curry powder not one of, if not the weirdest pizza toppings?

Curry powder and melted cheese does not compute.

Current Mood: surprised

I love Ikea.
This is not a new love this is a long standing relationship. It starts with flipping through the catalogue and trying to picture all the different options for kitchens and compact living options in my imaginary house.
Then there is the wondering through the store and marveling at the nifty options of chairs that turn into storage units that turns into the columbia space shuttle - I know I didn't think the swedes could do that either.

So Shannon and Thomas and I took a trip to Ikea last weekend. Ikea wasn't the main destination but an electrical store to purchase the biggest TV I have ever seen for Shan's parents but that is a different story. So back to ikea.I bought a new doona cover which you can see on my bed in my room:




I bought a water plant in a drink container. Oh and if you look closely at the photo above you can see a tomato plant in a tin. That is my tomato plant a bargan at $1, I hope it survives.




I also bought a fishy laundry basket:




I love Ikea. Plus where else can you get a hot dog for 50 cents!!!!

And I am still in the "I am just on holidays and my family isn't 100000 miles away" faze. That's not to say I don't want to be here I just miss my family sometimes - Oh and I also miss Darrel Lea Chocolate Bullets, chocolate covered liquorice does not seem to exist here. Sadly.
I haven't really tried hard to get work, I know I should after all It is a Work Visa that got me into this here country.

So what have I been doing in the last two weeks I hear you ask. Well Shannon and I had a bit of a craft afternoon where we made baby gifts - Sock flowers. The cats like them too.




Also I spent the weekend with Leanne (housemate from London) and her new baby Dallin. He really likes his fish mobile.



And I really like him.

Current Mood: good

Australia is really a long long way from every thing. It took about 24 hours to get from Sydney to Calgary, via Hona Lulu and Vancouver. but with the whole timer difference thing I ended up arriving a few hour after I left home. Weird.

It did give me quite a long time to contemplate a few things. Like why do I think it will be a better to look for a job in a foreign country than at home? - no conclusion reached. Why have a spent half of the last 7 years out of the country? - no conclusion reached. Why is airline food so bad? Why is the toilet on the plane in a similar state to Indian Train toilets? Why is everything compared to India?

Anyway I made it to Canada without my brain exploding and have been welcomed with open arms. My good friends Shannon (Canadian) & Thomas (Swedish) ( Shannon was one of my flatmates in London and Thomas is married to Shannon) picked me up at the airport and are kindly sharing their house with me.

Next step will be looking for a job but I have to be able to get out of bed before 10am (2am Australian time) before I can do that so I think it can wait till next week.

Weather report: quite chilly - jacket required outside. (11 degrees Celsius)

Current Mood: Jetlagged

So another birthday has been and gone. Where does the year go I ask you. This time last year I was trying to get back into Kathmandu after a coup left the city
block-aided.

25years ago, when I was 4, my family and I walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for its 50th birthday(the bridge is a pisces like me - actually we share he same birth date, it is just a bit older than me.)




So this year when the bridge was 75 my family and I walked across again.

Current Mood: cheerful

you can't be unhappy when you are wearing purple under pants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I gave notice at work this week. The 23rd is officially my last day. It is such a relief to know that the stress and the tension wil soon be over. To be replace when I start working again I am sure.

I want to let go of all the anger I am holding onto. I want to embrace this life that I am leading instead of watching it pass me by.

I was listening to Powdwerfinger and thinking of London. It sometimes feels like that was someone else.

I had Indian food for the first time since India last night. I am not sure if it was all my head but my stomach really didn't like it and it wasn't even that hot. (Don't worry Beth I am not going to say how I wished I was back in India) It is a bit bazare to think of all the things we accepted as normal. Cockraoches, black snot, baths on the pavement, chickens on bikes, Nuns, death, pain, puss, rice with bits in, bananas for every meal, feelin unsafe, standing out, rickshaws playing chicken with trams.....

Current Mood: nostalgic

This site made me happy today.
I think everyone needs a giant bee to daydream about.

http://www.rathergood.com/giantbee/

Current Mood: ditzy

it was not until about lunch time when I went to the ladies that I realised I had my undies on inside out.

Look at the lovely Dice sisters all grown up!




Hurrah for camels!!!!!!!!



Oh Sumitra, so beautiful!

Current Mood: amused

Australians can once again use the term Ugh Boot.HURRAH
For a while there a big bad American Corporation called Deckers swooped in with corporate guns ablazing demanding that no one but they could use the term Ugh. They had the trade mark for their company 'Ugg Australia' and it was theirs and theirs alone. Ironically 'Ugg Australia' does not even have a connection with Australia apart from trying to steal a word from the local language and declaring it its own.
Well Ugg I say and again I say Ugg. Cause I can and Deckers and all who think like can got and "root a boot". That's australian for get stuffed.

3 big Australians died recently, Steve Irwin, Peter Brock and the author of Storm Boy Clin Theile . All great Asutralians who gave back so much to this country. My thoughts are with their families.

The most exciting thing for me for the last couple of weeks was the arrival in Australia of my favorite alive author Jasper Fforde. My sister, my friend Jeannine and I went and saw him and it is satisfying to know that he is as funny in real life as he is in his books. His love of literature is so deep and he doesn't seem to have a huge ego. That may be because his books aren't that well known but his first book 'The Eyre affair' did make on the Australian top 100 most read books. He stayed for ages signing books, below is him signing mine.




Finally another picture. This is a message on a plant in a can. Well mostly it is just a picture of a can at the moment but I am assured that as time wears on a plant will grow.


And to finish with a quote I saw recently and really quite liked.
"if the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur"

Current Mood: jubilant

I start a new job tomorrow. I am soooo nervous.
I think it is strange that something I have done a few times before, ie start a new job, still freaks me out. What if I cannot do the job I am hired for, what if they do not like me, what if I cannot find the ladies toilets.

Current Mood: nervous

I feel lost.
In my head are all these competing emotions and I don't know what is going to win.
Some days it is happiness.
Some days anger, at me and the world at large.
I don't want to feel lonely but I know that I want to be alone - how can that work without your head exploding?

I have been walking down memory lane and found this picture of my sister and I when we were little.


I love that we are still the best of friends, she keeps me sane and I love her for it.

Current Mood: melancholy

Ever the foolish one I decided to do some yoga in Varanassi.




A beautifully carved building called a Haveli.




My good friend Bethie with a cow




Me and my camel - he liked to walk through prickly bushes

Current Mood: Excited to be home

Camp is finally over.
We waved goodbye to the girls as they were driven away in a Missionary of Charity truck. I don't think we could transport 60 or so girls this way at home. It is a very bumpy way to travel.

Each group of girls was very different. The final group, Bengali, would not let me leave until I could write my name in Bengali. I kept doing one of the letters backward (not on purpose) and they thought it was hilarious.


Tomorrow I head back to Prem Dan for my last few days. It seems like forever since I have been there.

Current Mood: restless