This Song has No Title..............................

Friday.


The weekend.


And what's planned?


Nothing much.


HOORAY!!!!!!!!!


We have to get the camping gear out and give the tent a run, as neither has been used in a while while. I can't think of anything much worse than 1 week from now, arriving in Nooriootpa in the dead of night, and having to put the tent up in the dark, with no idea of what we're doing, finding that half of the posts are missing , and then the air beds deflating over night because they've perished from lack of use. Dome tents can be a bit of a mixed blessing....
It's a bit of a bugger, as we have to camp for two of the ten nights that we are there........ it's the busiest time of year in the Barossa Valley, evidently. For some reason, people desire to seal their everlasting love with nuptials in this picturesque area. And there is a large religious conference; evidently another group of people wanting to seal some everlasting life in the picturesque wine-growing area. Also, the Masters' Games are on too. Other people who want to make an everlasting deal with their orthopedic surgeon to keep him in fine wine.......

And then there's all the Mototrials contingent as well....... whatever deals they're making...... it's not with their wives to keep them in fine wine forever, that's for sure......

2 weekends of mototrials.... Nirvana for some. And demonstration schools through the week.

A few trips down to Adelaide for me I think. And I'm in need of a good book or two.

Any ideas????? I've read Harry Potter......


But I digress from my weekend plans.

I think I will go into work for a while, as I have some paperwork that I want to do. The hospital is due for accreditation in November, and I need to generate some type of assessment/evaluation tool for my clients. It's always too busy during the weekdays, and I can get more done on weekends. Of course, my boss knows nothing of this. Because I can only produce a slightly above average quantity of work, of a slightly above average quality.

And because I'm only going to become a good team member with guidance, she has asked me to consider swapping my days so that I can facilitate Pink Ribbon Day on October 22......... otherwise, she may have to do it herself. I told her that I would think about it and see what I could organise. Obviously, I'm learning...... how to play the game...... I hate these type of games..... I'm too old and too tired to be bothered.........

I think a couple of in-house movies might be in order as well, now that Dr Who has finished.

Some girlfriends in Newie had asked me to join them for a girls' night in on Saturday night, but I have decided not to go after my impromptu visit to nanandpops last Sunday night. Did I mention this?

I had some words with my daughter last Sunday...........all via a very frustrating sms conversation.....

I wanted her to meet me at Maitland so she could return the suit that I had loaned her, and I wanted to take her to the movies and dinner as well. She said that she was too busy, and that I should pick it up myself..... and that she would slip me some petrol money.......

So, I drove down to Newie, took Nan to the movies, and then drove home. GG apologised, and reviewed her offer, but I told her that I was already on my way.

Things, they are a changing..................


By the way, "Hairspray" is a very entertaining movie. Lots of fun for mummy and I.

Even as a very large (and not all that attractive) woman, John Travolta can certainly dance!!
I love this man. I don't care what his religious beliefs are, or that he's getting on a bit; I think that he is just sex on a stick. Sorry Lisa, but Bill Paxton just doesn't ring my bells. I think he's attractive, but something is missing for me. Maybe if he said "Off my case, toilet face!" or something similar...........

But I digress... again......

Anyway, I don't know what else is on for the weekend. I think the boys are going to take the newly schmick motorbike up to Tamworth to work out the kinks on Sunday/Monday.

Maybe I should just blog it after it happens. That's the way it usually works, anyway.

I know that EVERYONE is giving me a resounding hiding in "Scrabulous".

Obviously, I'm only slightly above average at that, too. I think that I need sacking.........

Watch out for the men in blue this weekend; double demerits are a very quick way of losing one's licence whilst topping up the governments coffers...............

And because I can; An Elton John/Bernie Taupin collaboration that I love......... Tune me in to the wild side of life I'm an innocent young child sharp as a knife Take me to the garretts where the artists have died Show me the courtrooms where the judges have lied Let me drink deeply from the water and the wine Light coloured candles in dark dreary mines Look in the mirror and stare at myself And wonder if that's really me on the shelf And each day I learn just a little bit more I don't know why but I do know what for If we're all going somewhere let's get there soon Oh this song's got no title just words and a tune Take me down alleys where the murders are done In a vast high powered rocket to the core of the sun Want to read books in the studies of men Born on the breeze and die on the wind If I was an artist who paints with his eyes I'd study my subject and silently cry Cry for the darkness to come down on me For confusion to carry on turning the wheel Have safe and happy weekend!

Wake up Maggie, I think I've got something to say to you.....

Evening All.

I had my interview to work in The Community Aged Day Centre this morning. Bright and early, I was. And it went well. It certainly could have gone a lot worse. The only sticking point was when the panel could contact my manager for a reference if they needed to. They are aware that I had not informed her of this possible change of department (I'm a scaredy cat), but are aware that my boss is a bit of a hard nut. It was agreed that I would let her know by Friday, and that would be the day that they would phone her if it is necessary. I have no idea what her response will be. As I said before, she and I just haven't gelled over the last 20 months. I told her this afternoon, and her response was very controlled. And cool. But I am pretty sure that she was seething inside.

"If that's what you have to do...." was her response. And we went on to discuss other things.

She has the ability top make me feel terribly inadequate and less than successful at my job. Why do I want to work somewhere else, you ask..........

She gave me the (Unfortunately) necessary written work reference for the Enrolled Nursing Traineeship today, as she promised. Here is an abridged version of her responses to the questions;

• The quality and quantity of my work is.... AVERAGE +

• My major achievement/contributions are;

ORGANISATION OF FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES
ENCOURAGES SOCIAL INTERACTION BETWEEN RESIDENTS AND STAFF
ALWAYS WILLING TO ASSIST IF STAFFING ISSUES

• What areas require improvement?........... DISCUSSION OF PROGRAMMING WITH SUPERVISOR

• Attendance?........ GOOD

• Further comments?..... WITH GUIDANCE WILL BECOME GOOD "TEAM" MEMBER

Hmmmmm..........

I don't sound like much of a catch, do I??????????

I think she needs to read my job description. And actually hold the meetings that she keeps on saying that we must have; if she has specific ideas, then she only has to ask/suggest. I will gratefully accept and try to implement all ideas.
And realise that diversional therapy in a high care nursing home is not about the volume of craft works that can be produced....... It's often more about a friendly and timely ear, and hand to hold...... And to know that, more often than not, I am providing nursing care for my lovely residents, rather than playing games with them, as this is the more immediate need. I cover for the nursing staff for usually 3-4 hours of my 6 hour day.... and my breaks are dependent upon whether or not there will be a nurse on the floor.... And I actually spend more time with the families/carers of our residents than any other person at work. These people confide in me and information is passed onto the nursing team if it will improve the level of care and outcome for our residents.

No other Activity Co-Ordinator that I know does this.

And the "Team" member comment........ Phish!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I find this a little insulting....... Her comment in regard to staffing, which is actually quite positive, is in direct opposition to this statement.........


It won't do me any favours with the selection panel, will it????????????

But I have to lodge it. Unless I can get a new manager in the next week.

Oh well.........................................

All will become clear..........

Have a good one!



"Cos I'm movin' in on up; Time to break free"

It's only words....

It's bloody cold up here in Walnut Grove this evening.

I've been inhaling the very heady fumes of petrol all night, since Beloved has emptied out SB's petrol tank in the last couple of hours. He has the bike pulled down into what seems to be a million pieces polishing, buffing and cleaning it. He has part of the engine at a mates place at the moment, trying to re-weld the area that has cracked again. It's the same spot as before the trip to Cowra. Maybe this time it will work. Then it, the frame, and all the nuts and bolts will be re-painted. The Sponsor treated SB to a new sticker kit to make his bike look really schmick; and it certainly will the way that it's going. I would like to post a piccy when it's finished, but the camera is still on the fritz. The only one that can upload at the moment is GG onto her laptop, directly off the memory card. The man's been very busy because I reminded him on Thursday that it's 2 weeks before we leave for South Australia, not 3 weeks.......

And just to make life interesting (as usual), we won't be able to leave in the wee small hours of Thursday morning and have a leisurely 2 day drive over ..oh no......
I put in an on-line application to Big W on SB's behalf... and he has a 2hr interview at 4pm that Thursday...........................................

And I applied for a position in the Community Aged Day Care in Muswellbrook while I was at it, for myself. I have been filling in for them on Mondays for a few weeks now. I have an interview this Wednesday morning..... Beloved has convinced me to apply for the next to rounds of the Enrolled Nurse Traineeships as well. They close on October 12. The application is almost done, but I am waiting for a referree report from my Boss. We don't really gel, she and I, and I haven't told her yet about the Day Care interview, as I think that it may colour her referree report..... She has promised to have it for me by Wednesday or Thursday this week. The daycare manager(Charlie) and her manager (the head Occupational Therapist whom I have known and worked for for over 5yrs as a social support worker 1 day each fortnight) know about my difficulties with The Boss, and that I am applying for a traineeship, but have said that they are not too worried. The manager wants me to work with her, but there's more to the interview than just Charlie and me getting along like a house on fire.......

I have joined in the fun(?), and have devoted way too much time to facebook over the last couple of days. There is certainly a lot of things to do. I really suck at scrabble though; I might have to give this up as a bad joke....... it's really denting my self -confidence......
I am much better at TV trivia...... I guess that it just shows how I mis-spent my youth... still can't workout how to play 2 player games though. There just doesn't seem to be much of a challenge setting a word, then guessing it yourself......


I think that facebook has been good for the Marys this week. They can interact and enjoy each others company without having to talk..... And a lot of that has been done this week. Things have certainly slowed down on the blogging front. And if there's a take-home message from this week, it might be that when blogging we should;

• write our post or comment
• sit back and breathe
• re-read what we've written
• breathe
• and think.......
• and do it all again before we press "publish" or "post"
  
  
  So, enjoy what's left of your weekend all!
  
  
  
  
  
  • See you on the 'Book or the Blog!

Smile an everlasting smile, a smile can bring you
Near to me.
Don't ever let me find you down, cause that would
Bring a tear to me.
This world has lost its glory, lets start a brand
New story now, my love.
Right now, there'll be no other time and I can show
You how, my love.

Talk in everlasting words, and dedicate them all to
Me.
And I will give you all my life, I'm here if you
Should call to me.
You think that I don't even mean a single word i
Say.
Its only words, and words are all I have, to take
Your heart away

• 
  

I know it sounds absurd...........................

G'Day All!

After Sunday's pity-party of a post, I think that I need to clear a few things up.

Ahem.

We do have water in the shed. We have town water in the garden taps, and we use this to fill a 25litre drum camping drum with a tap in the bottom, which supplies our water each day for cooking and washing up. You don't drink the town water here in Wattle Grove: no-one does. It's treated bore water, and it tastes disgusting! It's lousy for washing clothes as well. It's a bit of a lottery when you wash white clothes; often it can be brown and turbid. You end up with "beige wash" in no time. And for those who are confused, "Wattle Grove" is the pseudonym concocted by the lovely Lisa. I like to use it because it's much more interesting sounding than "Denman"... and maybe a little more romantic, as well.

Anyway..... the kitchen.
One of the first things we had to do here was pull out the old kitchen, as this room was the one that was the most desired by the termites that were dining at our house.

Yep... that's right... we bought a timber house, complete with non-rent paying occupants.

We fixed them, though...muhwhaahahahaha (that's an evil laugh, in case you didn't notice).

I painted up the old kitchen, which consists of 2 bench cupboards and a sink cupboard, glued floor vinyl over the top of the old laminate top and we put them into the shed. The sink is plumbed into the drainage, so that even if I don't have running water, at least the grotty water drains away. This is preferable to having to empty a bucket from under the sink all time..... I know.

And yes, I do have a stove that a friend gave me, but no, it isn't wired in. I cook on the barbeque (it has a hood and a side burner, (thank heavens friends of ours won a BBQ in a raffle, and sold us their old one quite cheaply), in the microwave, electric frypan and wok. In a very rash move, a few weeks ago, I bought a $39 toaster oven from Golo. It is most cute, and is my favourite household appliance. Grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches were added to our menu again!

And muffins... scones....... mmmmmmmmmmm

We have lights that you can turn on with wall switches in the shed, too.

And 2 double power points to run things from. Ah, the luxury of it all.

Now.... The Bathroom.

We are fortunate that we can still use the old bathroom on the old back verandah of the house. Even if it doesn't have a door, just a curtain.

It has a toilet. You fill it manually with a pair of multigrip pliers, but it does flush. The handbasin has a single tap, but that's ok; it works. The old bath is in pretty good condition. In fact, I'm going to re-surface and re-use the bath in the new bathroom. It has a shower, and you can take a bath, too. Just not a deep one. You see, the hotwater service is very small, about 80litres, I think, and you turn it on at the power point to heat it up. The other thing about the water in this town is that it is very hard, and crusty. We've replaced the pressure release valve on the hot water service twice in the 2 years that we've been here, at $96 each time. I don't think the the hot water unit is worth that much.........

But the side effect of all this is that our water usage is very low; you can't use what you don't have access to, and you won't keep showering in a frosty shower, will you?

I have an automatic washing machine under a lean-to on the back of the house. It is this beast that uses the most water around here. It will be connected up in the carport of the shed when the water is connected. We're just waiting for the plumber. The dryer will be too.

We're waiting for the electrician to come back and finish here. That's why we've no ceiling lights in the house, only power points. Mates Rates. We waited 9 months for the electrician while we were living in the caravans. I complained to Beloved at the time, that we could have paid someone to do the job with the rent that we paid while we were waiting.

Anyway.

We are not uncomfortable here. Just not as luxuriously appointed as others are. And I guess that our kids are becoming resilient. But they've got their electronic games, computer, tv, music... bikes, motorbikes.... sport to play. Places to go. It will be interesting to see the choices that they make as adults.

So it all works. It's just a little more primitive than most people are used to.

And that's the trade-off. There's always a trade-off. Making priorities. Finding the balance is hard.

Granted, motorbikes are not my priority. But they are Beloved's. And he can share this with the boys. They have always been his passion. He has tunnel-vision where they are concerned. He always has. I knew this when I married him. And after 20years, I can't expect to change him.

If I really wanted to, I could have shelled out the money and done all the things that I have wanted to over the years. But I'm a basically(Wiggleword) lazy person, who doesn't like to stress and strain of conflict. I have found that it generally goes nowhere in our relationship.

That's not to say that there haven't been any been any "discussions" over the years... there have been. Numerous times. Not all of them pleasant, either. That was how we ended up in this house. I said that we would be more able to have money for the things that we loved....... so, Beloved picked out a near-new bike each for Vegeboy and himself... Scorpaboy already had his... I made him wait three months before I to signed the personal loan agreement to buy SB's bike though... He could have done this in his own name, but he didn't.... And the rest is history.

At least Beloved knows what his passions are. I don't. And that is his argument. It's a bit of a bully-boy argument, and I know that. But we all have our little self-destructive habits, don't we? And I think that deep-down inside, maybe I like to be a martyr, just a little bit.

There are lots of things that I love about this life, even is motorbikes aren't one of them. Some times I absolutely despise them ..... but I always try to think of things in perspective...... the Big Picture and all......

And I have poisoned my Gorgeous Girl's mind in regard to motorbikes.................... I will laugh at the karma of life if she falls in love with a passionate motorcycle man...... She would hate to re-live my life......

But..... It is odd.... I'm re-living many aspects of my mothers' life.......

Anyway.

I'm off to work.

Have a lovely day.<3>


Acceptable, respectable presentable, vegetable.................

Welcome to my Nightmare................................

Hello Bloggers.

It's a bit of an over-dramatic title, I think........................

Once again, it's been a while.

Life is constant...... a nagging, insistent constant. But at least we're still here, right???

Working, cooking, cleaning......... Well, I've done a bit of that lately. It is spring and all. It's a bit hard to get enthused when there's not really anything in the way of inner wall linings to keep the dust and dirt out. Except in the boys' bedrooms that is. They're finished. And the outer linings....well, let's just say that the ventilation and natural lighting is more than adequate. You know how pretty it is when you catch a glimpse of sparkling dust in a ray of light that peeks through...... there's lots of that here...... it can be blinding at times.
Well... it could be........ if the dust didn't reduce the glare significantly.

I've done a bit of gap-filling, painting, yard cleaning... nagging, whinging, whining.

The reno plans are in council. Beloved wants me to arrange the finance now. I'm not too sure that the bank will think that the house is worth enough. I just don't think that we have finished enough for the valuation to be what we need. Actually, nothing is finished. And we go to South Australia in just over 2 weeks...... I think we need to finish lining the hallway, and actually have some lighting in the bedrooms. I don't think the bank will go for the ambient bedside lamps whilst there is the wiring hanging down from the ceiling, just waiting for someone to connect the ceiling fan lights that I bought 2 years ago... with the wiring that is hanging out of the eventual wall switches. I can see that the money that I have so carefully guarded over the last few weeks will just be spent on the S.A. expedition....... and we'll come home, and things will be just the same. Except that Christmas will be looming.... Beloved just doesn't want to get it; we have to spend money on the house to get it done; he's talking with Scorpaboy about the new bike that they'll need to buy before the end of the year.. which is way too close for me....

This is the way it started; I could see it beckoning, luring me in, everytime I walked into the backyard of the "dream home"..."I"m cheap, I'm cheap" it would say..."and oh so cute..." ...yeah, right.......

I never should have thought of buying this house. It's the silliest thing I've ever done. Stupid to the max. I totally over-estimated Beloved's initial commitment to the task. And his on-going one. Silly me; fancy thinking that Beloved wouldn't be over-committed to having a life with his sons. And, accordingly, I've lost the plot, too.
Initially, I did it for all the right reasons. We had built the dream home and had a reasonable mortgage. Next thing I know, we needed another car, so I agreed to an extension on the mortgage for a nice car, and maybe a pool. We ended up with a brand new 4WD...... And a bigger mortgage than I wanted to manage, even thought the bank said we could afford it (of course...). Because I knew how important that "Having A Life" is, after a few friends fell off the perch at a relatively young age.

This was the dream home; (a bit of a nightmare...it never felt "right")
33 squares; 4 bedrooms, gourmet kitchen, 3 living areas, triple garage, 2 bathrooms & a powder room. And huge to clean......

So, I went into my "let's sell and buy something cheaper" phase. (I'm really big on survival techniques. I think "cut and run" is one of my favourites.......) Which we did. But 2 motorbikes came in to a rented house. And they had to be ridden; there's nowhere around here to do that..... I had a 3 month blitz planned on the house to make it liveable. The builder managed to only work 13 hours in that three months as well as life being stupidly busy with football, soccer, motorbikes, netball.. you know; living. So then, into the caravans we went. More rent. Containers to rent to hold the 33squares of household furniture........ Plan C ..... short term, we decided to build the shed and live in it for a couple of months........ it would have a kitchen and bathroom, it wouldn't be all bad. The concrete slab had to go down twice due a bad mix...... another 4 months gone...... more rent... the renovation nest egg just dwindled..........

Finally, we moved into our glorious shed. Two winters later, we're still here. And another another summer to go....................................

Yup; this is it....... you've seen pictures of the inside in an earlier post..... It doesn't have a bathroom that's finished yet, the stove is in place, but not wired in, and there's no water either..... but it has a nice fire inside, and an air con in the window now........

And here's the biggest rub of all, folks.............

When we finally get done, if the bank agrees to lend us some money, our mortgage will be the same huge mortgage that we sold the dream home for..................................................................

I find that I am wanting to sell up and run again..... and it's not even done yet.......................

This is sort of where we're up to now. The verandah posts have been painted, and our letter box was pulled out by a passing drunk one evening...... This pic was taken about November 2005...... before we actually moved in.... it shows how much we've done... Ahem......

But I have nothing to sell for another year. Because that's how long it will take to get this house done. The builder (a different one) told Beloved that it will only take 2 months or so to finish the house. He says he's pencilled us in first thing in the new year ie 2008. I first spoke to him in January this year......

Bulldust, I say! No way.... If it's finished by Easter, I will be absolutely amazed. But then there will be so much more to do to finish it. Beloved keeps saying; "We just get the builder to do it; he's quicker"... yep, and add another thousand each time, sweetie.

About that life that you want.............

Anyway, enough belly aching.... You make your bed, you've got to lie in it...... If you lie with dogs, you've got to expect to catch fleas.... etc, etc.........

By the way, it was my 1st anniversary since I began blogging on September 13.........

Thanks for reading..... it's not always fun...... but mildly interesting for you at times, I hope....

See you all later,


Love, The Blogmuggle... ;0)


Welcome to My Nightmare...... I hope I didn't scare you.......... It's just the way we are when we come down here.......

Every time you cry......

Hi Bloggers.

Did anybody else watch tonight's special episode of "Enough Rope"?


It was titled "Can I Write the Ending?"

What a special it was!

Andrew Denton showed why he is the premier in his field. Tonight he shared the stories of Annie, Nadeen and Jasmyn, all mums living with cancer. Unfortunately for all, Jasmyn passed away 2 weeks after the interview.

What incredible, strength, resilience and beauty these women possess!!


Tears by the bucket load (and that was just from me...). But so inspirational.


And these women think that they are "Ordinary...."


Amazing......... beautiful, I say.


To Andrew, these incredible women and their wonderful families and friends, I say thank you for sharing .


And "Can I Write the Ending?"......


Well, I'd like to think so...........


Goodnight all. xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

My name is jack

jack is my favourite son

PS this was written by Jack when he butted in.......

Confide in me....................

Hi Bloggers!!!

;0)

It's Monday again!



It's been busy as usual.

I won't bore you with the details, but I'll share some highlights (& lowlights) with you.
Maybe you should grab a drink....... You know what I'm like once I get started........


Hmm.... Where to start??????


How about last Friday night?

I drove down to Newcastle to pick up GG after work and take her along to Arty Farty Mary and Darlin's Fabulous Opening. But she was not well... Hayfever, she said. So she stayed at home (in front of the computer, I suppose) whilst I went to the Fabulous Opening on my own. I have only one thing to say...

IMYGODITWASWONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!

I had seen some of our Arty Farty's work on the blog, but up close and personal, there is so much more to see... she is an amazing artist, that is for sure. And her work is very reasonably priced ( underpriced, really)...... She shouldn't be an "unknown" for long.
And Darlin's glazing on his works is incredibly special.
I sincerely hope that they both sell these divine works, and find it within themselves to create more........

And I couldn't afford to buy one as I had to share $1000 with the Shire Council in the morning so that we can finally get the building approval for our additions...... nice of them wasn't it?????

NOT!!!!!!

Saturday.........

Vegeboy's Mighty Muswellbrook Rams Rugby League team versed Belmont North Sharks in the Under 13's division 2 Grand Final. It was a hard fought game, with tries and goals scored one for one. The Sharks were the better team on the day, with a try by our boys dis-allowed with 15 seconds to the hooter....... It would have equalled the scoreline, and made us joint premiers. But the Sharks called the final pass "forward". The touch judge agreed with them, so the ref called "No try".

Belmont North are the Premiers. As they were leaving the field, the Sharks coach told our coach that his boys convinced the touch judge that the pass was forward, when they all knew that it wasn't. And the ref was heard to mumble that he should have allowed the try.......

Oh well........

It was a great experience for our boys anyway. To have played so well as a team in their first year was a triumph in itself. They are a consolidation of 4 previously rival teams, but all have a passion for football & have become quite a tight unit.

GG came to the game with enthusiasm, but then fell into a sleeping heap in the car afterwards. She didn't have her planned evening out with her friends, either. But we did. A night out at the Buck's is always great fun. But we had an early night as both Beloved and I had to drive to Sydney on Sunday morning.

Sunday......................

For his Fathers' Day, Beloved and his boys went to Pacific Park for a ride day. Great for him! And GG and I went to Star City to see "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"!!!!!!!
one word again........

OHMYGODITWASAWESOME&GGANDIWANTTOGOTOMELBOURNETOSEEIT
AGAIN!!!

Okay..... breathe now......... especially after I paid the parking fee of ...$39.00......... it was $17 for 6 hours...... we were 6 hours, 3 minutes....... because we wandered around Star City while the crowds waiting to get into the carpark thinned out......

Actually, the blog post title is a line from a Kylie song that the character, Felicia Goodfellow, sang in the show.......

A drive back to Nanandpops for the night, and it was weekend over. I went to Spotlight at Rutherford for a looksee on the way home today. It's big. I also had a squizzy at the bamboo flooring at Horimber timber. It looks interesting. Does anybody have any info on bamboo flooring??????

And a little drool at the lovely furniture in "Everyday Living". Noice, very noice.

And home again..........

And for a complete change of subject........

VB has had a science project to complete involving some research and a model of a cell. He chose to do a sperm cell (OK; I chose it, as I thought it would be pretty simple to do).

So while he was researching and typing up his info on Friday night, I set about creating a spermatozoa out of pastry dough. I must have something in common with Jacqui, I think......
It was going really well.
I had fashioned the head and body, with the inclusions of a bright blue nucleus surrounded by plain dough for the cell membrane, lentils to re-create nuclear vacuoles, a sultana as a centriole, green-coloured rice for mitochondria in the body, and a fabulously waved, cooked 2 minute noodle for the flagella. In to the oven it went, and voila: a spermatozoa.
It looked really good, until I looked for it on Sunday morning........

It was supposed to be next to the computer..... a safe place away from the busy places where it could get knocked over.....
And the body, tail and quite a few of the lentil/vacuoles were gone...
Poof! Disappeared!

And this morning, I had to telephone his science teacher and tell him that a mouse (or some other potentially larger rodent) had stolen and theoretically eaten VB's science project.......... He cacked himself laughing...but not without the obligatory jokes about "the dog eating my homework", of course........

Another model has been made, glued to the cardboard, labelled and stored in tupperware, ready for transportation to the science rooms tomorrow.....And the tail is a plastic twist tie this time, as I wasn't about to cook a whole packet of noodles for the sake of one single flagella.... it really stunk when I was baking the thing.... mmm... burning plastic........ VB did more of this one.....

Anyway, as the farmer in "Babe: Pig in the City" says:
(In my best Yorkshire accent)
"That'll do....."

Love to all,

xoxoxox ^_^ xoxoxo