PTA Poetry

There are various of these little poetry gems currently adorning our public transport. They are very clever although I resserve my judgement on how effective they are. Humpty himself has been seen running for the bus!

Mary had a little iPod
Mary had her iPod up as loud as it would go.
And every song that Mary played she thought we all did know.
The noise was unrelenting and it made the people frown.
Oh how we wish that Mary would just turn the damn thing down.

Bemused

Today was quite a peaceful day for me, doing the laundry, chasing up lost wedding invitations and brushing up on my Jane Austen.

Still, it is difficult to escape that today is the Grand Final of Australia's favourite sport (at least it is here in WA and Victoria and possibly SA) and I was curious to see that the game has ended in a draw.

I would have thought, given the hype and the leadup to the game, that they would have a mechanism for deciding a winner from a drawn game. It seems anticlimactic for the players and the spectators to lob up in a week to try all over again. Okay, the sponsors and the broadcasters might make money out of it, but how do the players and fans maintain their enthusiasm for watching?! What happens if the result is again a draw?

We shall have to see how this week pans out.

Being a hockey player and umpire, extra time is the most obvious solution to me and after that some sort of penalty system or more extra time with reduced numbers of players on the field. Evenutally you have an outcome.

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Sanding the ceiling

My ghost of a man in renovation mode! We had a new ceiling installed in the ensuite and he sanded it back in preparation to paint.

Urban Orchard

A few weeks ago I was intrigued to discover the Urban Orchard in the Perth Cultural Centre.

An unused area outside the Art Gallery has been transformed into a garden! There are beds with all sorts of edible plants, vegetables and herbs, and many fruit trees as well.

This seems like a great concept, showing people how easy it is to grow their own edible plants and also to provide fresh produce. I hope that it does catch on and that people make use of the facility.

I wish that my office was close by, as this would be a peaceful place to eat lunch during the workday.

Pancakes for one

As a general rule, weekend breakfasts are more leisurely than weekday breakfasts. There is no urgency to get to work and I can take my time to cook something.

This weekend I felt like pancakes made myself a little picnic. Wholemeal pancakes with strawberries, bananas, sugar and fresh lime juice and a pot of english breakfast tea.

What do you make to spoil yourself on the weekends?

The Sleeping Beauty

Last night I went to the ballet with my sisters. Well, sister and soon to be sister-in-law. The performance was The Sleeping Beauty by the West Australian Ballet. I had high expections of the show, being a score by Tchaikovsky and a familiar story.

It was a lovely performance, although to me it seemed to wander around the actual story a bit - lots of padding - and the final act was a puzzle as the King & Queen were joined by characters from all different fairy tales! We played spot the fairy tale and I was hard pressed to try and recognise them all. There was Snow White and Seven Small Bearded Children, Puss-in-Boots and his wife(?), Red Riding Hood and the Wolf and Rapunzel and her rock-climbing prince amongst others.

It was great to see and hear something a bit different from the normal, and attending a classical music concert always prompts me to try to listen more often to my modest collection.

Sunday markets

Last Sunday E and I went to the Perth Upmarket and the Unwrapped Market. Two different markets, and both interesting in their own way! The Perth Upmarket is now held at the University of Western Australia. Whenever I go there I am reminded of how lovely the grounds and the buildings are. I spent a few years at uni and you take it for granted as a student. The only times we went into Winthrop Hall were for exams or graduation so it makes a difference to see it all decked out with stalls and people and happy moments.

The Unwrapped Market is held in conjunction with the Perth Fashion Festival. Every year I say to myself that I am going to attend a fashion event or two, and invariably I never get around to it. Maybe next year!

It was a beautiful day for a market, and the warmth and sunshine of Unwrapped was a lovely contrast to the cold indoors of the Upmarket.

After we had satisfied our thirst for markets we wandered into Northbridge in search of lunch. I realised that I have no idea what this tower is for, and what building it used to belong to. It looks a little lonely standing tall by itself.

All dressed up - again!

I have been with my current employer for a few years now and have been to the company ball every year. It is always a good party, with around 800 guests, and we usually have a great group of people on our table. This year was no exception!

The ball this year was at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre. The food was not too bad and I liked the layout of the venue this year. We had a theme of Carnivale and the entertainment included trapeze artists, strongmen and ribbon twirling and hula hoop lasses.

One thing that I did not understand was what they were doing with the lighting. We struggled to identify our entrees under the blue light, and our main and dessert were decidedly red!

You have to love those ribbons!


PS We left the night early because Chad had a horror cold and I had a hockey preliminary final the next morning. Unfortunately we lost our game so I could have stayed out partying anyway!

Girls Night In!

It is that time of the year again, Girls Night In for the Cancer Council!

It is great to get together with your girlfriends for cake and a cup of tea and a good excuse to raise money for research into women's cancers and support services.

For the last few years I have been hosting an afternoon tea event. Cupcakes, tarts, quiches, finger sandwiches, scones and of course tea! This year I have embraced technology and I have set up a fundraising page. As well as donating online there is a counter to see how close we are to our goal. Last year we raised a modest $600 and I am hoping to beat that this year. Every year the amount raised has been slowly creeping up!

Winners - one down, two to go

My hockey team came third this season. We played in our semi final tonight and won 2-1! We thought that 7.45pm was a fairly unfriendly time to play a game but we managed to make the most of it. Next week we get to do it all over again, for the chance to play in the grand final. Stay tuned.

Photo is not of my team, but our top team playing a game earlier in the season.

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