We are busy, lots of interest in the cafe, probably 3 serious lookers, no offers :o(......... yet!
Marisa is keeping us on our toes with Panto rehursals, all three went on a jaunt to Donnybrook for a trek around the area with Cubs and Scouts (my cub came second with his group) even though they broke the egg they were supposed to look after all day, I think Kristian dropped it within 2 minutes of starting out :o) there were rides and bouncy castles laid on and a great day was had by all, it was great to go home after work on Saturday and snooze on the sofa too!
Sunday was a lovely family day out, a beautiful sunny day, great company and the kids all had fun with friends too! just what we all needed after the ups and downs of the last week or so.
Ian and I mooched around the local galleries while the kids cleaned out bunnies which seems like a good deal to me.
On the way home we found a couple of dogs playing chase in the road, a busy road, so we ended up taking them home! 2 boys! we have 2 ladies at home who weren't impressed and the cat was livid!
As we weren't able to reach the owner we had to let the ranger take them to prison :o( funnily enough the cat is VERY friendly today, ratbag!
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Monday, October 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
and then we.....
Whistlestop tour through our week.......Monday 22nd February to Monday 1st March
Marisa was poorly on Monday as were almost all her friends...hmmm not good, I had to work so fortunately a good friend had her for the day, Tuesday still poorly so at home with Mum and couldn't go to Scouts, Wednesday still ill so another day at home. Enough already and back to school please :o) Well enough to go to the pool Friday night though!
Busy morning on Friday for Carolyn, monthly pilgrimage to see the accountant while the children enjoyed games and crash test dummies and kite flying and cooking etc etc for Jubilee Day at school, K had a friend round after school which was fun, nice chap.
Saturday night was WOMUBU a music festival held on a local estate called Broadwater Farm great music and free tickets for us which was fab. The children climbed the local travelling climbing wall and we listened to music till long after dark. Good times.
Late start on Sunday, I wonder why? trip to Bunbury as nothing better to do looking for odds and ends and stuff for Ian, another pair of sunnies to be replaced for our offspring who seem to lose or break sunnies regularly. Fish and Chips on the Marsden Waterfront which wasn't great, have had much tastier one there before.
Monday was a public holiday so like all sensible people we went to the Beach at Meelup, stopped at a coffee shop based at Ngilgi Cave on the way home to drink coffee and read the paper while various kids, not all ours, roamed around eating ice creams.
At home the children watched a film while we sat out front of the house and enjoyed a light breeze as we read till it was too dark, popped some fish in the oven and chilled out. No cubs this week due to public holiday but back again next week.
Marisa was poorly on Monday as were almost all her friends...hmmm not good, I had to work so fortunately a good friend had her for the day, Tuesday still poorly so at home with Mum and couldn't go to Scouts, Wednesday still ill so another day at home. Enough already and back to school please :o) Well enough to go to the pool Friday night though!
Busy morning on Friday for Carolyn, monthly pilgrimage to see the accountant while the children enjoyed games and crash test dummies and kite flying and cooking etc etc for Jubilee Day at school, K had a friend round after school which was fun, nice chap.
Saturday night was WOMUBU a music festival held on a local estate called Broadwater Farm great music and free tickets for us which was fab. The children climbed the local travelling climbing wall and we listened to music till long after dark. Good times.
Late start on Sunday, I wonder why? trip to Bunbury as nothing better to do looking for odds and ends and stuff for Ian, another pair of sunnies to be replaced for our offspring who seem to lose or break sunnies regularly. Fish and Chips on the Marsden Waterfront which wasn't great, have had much tastier one there before.
Monday was a public holiday so like all sensible people we went to the Beach at Meelup, stopped at a coffee shop based at Ngilgi Cave on the way home to drink coffee and read the paper while various kids, not all ours, roamed around eating ice creams.
At home the children watched a film while we sat out front of the house and enjoyed a light breeze as we read till it was too dark, popped some fish in the oven and chilled out. No cubs this week due to public holiday but back again next week.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Merry Christmas and Apologies
Early November to 24th December 2009
Firstly, to anyone out there who is still remotely interested in what we are getting up to, or whether we are still alive and kicking, we apologise for the lack of regular blog over the last six or seven weeks.
The last few weeks have been manic for us with regard to work and play and we just haven’t had the time to sit down and blog on a regular basis, and you know what it’s like, get a few days behind and you’re looking for a gap in your life when you have enough time to blog about those few days in one hit.
Don’t find enough time to blog about a few days for a few days and you are looking for a gap in your life when you can blog a week etc, next thing you know 7 weeks have gone by and it’s time to hold your hands up, apologise, say Merry Christmas, and promise that it won’t happen again.
That is to say, the lapse in blog won’t happen again, not the say Merry Christmas won’t happen again, after all we would hope that we would still be around next year to say it again, the merry xmas bit that is.
We will from now on be eating allbran for breakfast in an effort to get a bit more regular, and if we don’t manage it every day we’ll try to make sure we keep you in touch with our movements at least every couple of days.
The Café has been very busy over the last 7 weeks, this has also coincided with us staying open until about 5’ish Monday to Friday, which invariably means that Ian isn’t home before 6pm and as he starts at about 7am most days and is trying to get fit enough for this bike ride that he wants to do from Busselton to Augusta at the end of the summer, we are not normally in the mood to do anything other than relax after dinner.
The bike ride is the one that he had planned to do at the end of November, but because of the longer hours in the Café and the fact that we are not going to have daylight saving this year, Ian wasn’t getting a chance to practice and he felt that although he was pretty sure that brute force and ignorance would get him through it if required, he wouldn’t enjoy it and he wants to be able to enjoy it, so it has now been put back to the end of the summer.
Over the last few weeks the kids have had loads happening as well, there seemed to be something extra to do with Scouts every week, Bowling, Billy Cart Racing, Garage Sale, Meetings, Camps, Fundraising, getting ready for the Scout Jamboree in January, and all this on top of their usual meetings.
The kids have all done well at school, with Marisa being one of a select few to be in the “One Club”, you only get in it if your results are predominately “1” and definitely have none below a “2” for effort, but then she would wouldn’t she.
Kristian has been taking it easy at school and doing just well enough to keep everybody happy, but he didn’t break into a sweat all year over his class work so we will be pushing him a bit next year to try and get a competitive edge to is work and get him into the “One Club”. He knows he can do it, it’s just that nobody told him that’s what they wanted him to do, so he kept his head below the parapet and had a nice life, in which all his teachers think he is so wonderful.
Fraser has really come along great guns in the second half of the year, after a few misunderstandings between Fraser and his Teachers in the early part of the year, they have worked out how to keep him interested and motivated and he has really come on well, finishing the year top of his class in Science and well graded in Maths, while also working extremely hard to get good results in most of his other subjects.
We are very proud of all three of them.
The school packed up a week before Christmas and we have tried to work it again this year that Carolyn is able to stay at home with the kids, looks after the house, reads the instruction on how the Hoover (Vacuum to you non-English types) works, that sort of thing, while Ian slaves away in the Café, and so far it has worked quite well, the Hoover got switched on on Christmas eve.
The Saturday before Christmas we went round to some friends house for a few drinks in the evening, that is to say Ian went round at 6pm as he didn’t want to go to the Carols by Candlelight service in Busselton, he might have gone if it was going to dark but the thought of Candles in daylight didn’t really do it for him, Carolyn and the kids turned up after the show and the kids played computer games with our friends kids while we had a beer and put the world to rights until about 1am when we caught a taxi home.
On Christmas Eve we invited a few friends and neighbours round for drinky-poos and nibbles, including the kids there were 19 of us and it turned out to be a very relaxed, pleasant evening.
It was the first time that we have had people round for drinks since we have been here, quite sad really, but it is something that goes back to our days in the pubs back in England.
As a landlord of a pub, everybody wants to know everything about you, you don’t know everybody in the town, but everybody in the town knows you and it is quite unnerving at times, you just don’t have a private life except when you are locked away in your own little flat with the curtains drawn, so we have always tried to keep ourselves to ourselves and it has been hard to get out of the habit.
We are only a couple of months short of being in Busselton for 2 years now and up until these last couple of weeks we have still been using the pub as our place to unwind at the end of the week, as we would have done in England.
As in England, a night in the pub over here can be expensive, whereas a few drinks with a few friends sitting under the patio over here can be just as much fun at a fraction of the cost, you just have to drop your guard a little bit and let people get to know you, it’s taken us nearly 2 years to work that out, positively frightening really, but we’re confident we’ll get better at it from now on.
We hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy and Prosperous New Year
Firstly, to anyone out there who is still remotely interested in what we are getting up to, or whether we are still alive and kicking, we apologise for the lack of regular blog over the last six or seven weeks.
The last few weeks have been manic for us with regard to work and play and we just haven’t had the time to sit down and blog on a regular basis, and you know what it’s like, get a few days behind and you’re looking for a gap in your life when you have enough time to blog about those few days in one hit.
Don’t find enough time to blog about a few days for a few days and you are looking for a gap in your life when you can blog a week etc, next thing you know 7 weeks have gone by and it’s time to hold your hands up, apologise, say Merry Christmas, and promise that it won’t happen again.
That is to say, the lapse in blog won’t happen again, not the say Merry Christmas won’t happen again, after all we would hope that we would still be around next year to say it again, the merry xmas bit that is.
We will from now on be eating allbran for breakfast in an effort to get a bit more regular, and if we don’t manage it every day we’ll try to make sure we keep you in touch with our movements at least every couple of days.
The Café has been very busy over the last 7 weeks, this has also coincided with us staying open until about 5’ish Monday to Friday, which invariably means that Ian isn’t home before 6pm and as he starts at about 7am most days and is trying to get fit enough for this bike ride that he wants to do from Busselton to Augusta at the end of the summer, we are not normally in the mood to do anything other than relax after dinner.
The bike ride is the one that he had planned to do at the end of November, but because of the longer hours in the Café and the fact that we are not going to have daylight saving this year, Ian wasn’t getting a chance to practice and he felt that although he was pretty sure that brute force and ignorance would get him through it if required, he wouldn’t enjoy it and he wants to be able to enjoy it, so it has now been put back to the end of the summer.
Over the last few weeks the kids have had loads happening as well, there seemed to be something extra to do with Scouts every week, Bowling, Billy Cart Racing, Garage Sale, Meetings, Camps, Fundraising, getting ready for the Scout Jamboree in January, and all this on top of their usual meetings.
The kids have all done well at school, with Marisa being one of a select few to be in the “One Club”, you only get in it if your results are predominately “1” and definitely have none below a “2” for effort, but then she would wouldn’t she.
Kristian has been taking it easy at school and doing just well enough to keep everybody happy, but he didn’t break into a sweat all year over his class work so we will be pushing him a bit next year to try and get a competitive edge to is work and get him into the “One Club”. He knows he can do it, it’s just that nobody told him that’s what they wanted him to do, so he kept his head below the parapet and had a nice life, in which all his teachers think he is so wonderful.
Fraser has really come along great guns in the second half of the year, after a few misunderstandings between Fraser and his Teachers in the early part of the year, they have worked out how to keep him interested and motivated and he has really come on well, finishing the year top of his class in Science and well graded in Maths, while also working extremely hard to get good results in most of his other subjects.
We are very proud of all three of them.
The school packed up a week before Christmas and we have tried to work it again this year that Carolyn is able to stay at home with the kids, looks after the house, reads the instruction on how the Hoover (Vacuum to you non-English types) works, that sort of thing, while Ian slaves away in the Café, and so far it has worked quite well, the Hoover got switched on on Christmas eve.
The Saturday before Christmas we went round to some friends house for a few drinks in the evening, that is to say Ian went round at 6pm as he didn’t want to go to the Carols by Candlelight service in Busselton, he might have gone if it was going to dark but the thought of Candles in daylight didn’t really do it for him, Carolyn and the kids turned up after the show and the kids played computer games with our friends kids while we had a beer and put the world to rights until about 1am when we caught a taxi home.
On Christmas Eve we invited a few friends and neighbours round for drinky-poos and nibbles, including the kids there were 19 of us and it turned out to be a very relaxed, pleasant evening.
It was the first time that we have had people round for drinks since we have been here, quite sad really, but it is something that goes back to our days in the pubs back in England.
As a landlord of a pub, everybody wants to know everything about you, you don’t know everybody in the town, but everybody in the town knows you and it is quite unnerving at times, you just don’t have a private life except when you are locked away in your own little flat with the curtains drawn, so we have always tried to keep ourselves to ourselves and it has been hard to get out of the habit.
We are only a couple of months short of being in Busselton for 2 years now and up until these last couple of weeks we have still been using the pub as our place to unwind at the end of the week, as we would have done in England.
As in England, a night in the pub over here can be expensive, whereas a few drinks with a few friends sitting under the patio over here can be just as much fun at a fraction of the cost, you just have to drop your guard a little bit and let people get to know you, it’s taken us nearly 2 years to work that out, positively frightening really, but we’re confident we’ll get better at it from now on.
We hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy and Prosperous New Year
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Even More Baby Bunnies
Sunday 9th August 2009
We moved the rabbits around today, the two girl bunnies who had been living in the large rabbit run while mummy bunny looks after her new babies started making funny noises, similar to those of their mother when she was about to give birth.
We had just swapped them over into daddy bunny’s hutch and were ready to go out, when Marisa noticed that there were two baby bunnies in the girls new hutch, we don’t know which one is mummy though.
The kids were invited to Marisas friend who is a boys house for the day, they had a great time and were treated to McDonalds if you could call that a treat.
We went to the market, had a sausage sizzle and very nearly bought a Blue Heeler (Aussie Dog), but resisted temptation.
After the market we went down to the foreshore for a coffee before going home to swap the boys beds over, Fraser is too big for his one and Kristian is big enough to want Frasers bed, so they agreed to swap.
In the evening we watched the film Bad Boys with Will Smith and someone Lawrence whose name we can’t remember, it was quite good fun to watch while tucking into a plate of Chinese.
We moved the rabbits around today, the two girl bunnies who had been living in the large rabbit run while mummy bunny looks after her new babies started making funny noises, similar to those of their mother when she was about to give birth.
We had just swapped them over into daddy bunny’s hutch and were ready to go out, when Marisa noticed that there were two baby bunnies in the girls new hutch, we don’t know which one is mummy though.
The kids were invited to Marisas friend who is a boys house for the day, they had a great time and were treated to McDonalds if you could call that a treat.
We went to the market, had a sausage sizzle and very nearly bought a Blue Heeler (Aussie Dog), but resisted temptation.
After the market we went down to the foreshore for a coffee before going home to swap the boys beds over, Fraser is too big for his one and Kristian is big enough to want Frasers bed, so they agreed to swap.
In the evening we watched the film Bad Boys with Will Smith and someone Lawrence whose name we can’t remember, it was quite good fun to watch while tucking into a plate of Chinese.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Knitting Homework
Friday 17th July 2009
Fraser is still ill and is very droopy, so Carolyn had to stay at home and look after the kids, who today seem to be the most popular people in Busselton.
All day kids were ringing up or turning up at the door asking if they could come round to play, but because we don’t have a clue as to whether Fraser is contagious or not they were all turned away.
The kids spent the day indoors watching films and playing on the Wii, accompanied by Carolyn on more than one occasion.
In the evening, Marisa and Kristian went to Freaky Friday, Fraser went to bed, Ian worked on the computer and Carolyn did (quite) a few rows of Marisa’s knitting homework.
Fraser is still ill and is very droopy, so Carolyn had to stay at home and look after the kids, who today seem to be the most popular people in Busselton.
All day kids were ringing up or turning up at the door asking if they could come round to play, but because we don’t have a clue as to whether Fraser is contagious or not they were all turned away.
The kids spent the day indoors watching films and playing on the Wii, accompanied by Carolyn on more than one occasion.
In the evening, Marisa and Kristian went to Freaky Friday, Fraser went to bed, Ian worked on the computer and Carolyn did (quite) a few rows of Marisa’s knitting homework.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tremors
Tuesday 7th July 2009
It was another busy day at the café today, the whole town is full of tourists, we reckon that the economic climate is keeping all the holiday makers a bit closer to home this year.
Marisas friend who happens to be a boy came round to the house for lunch and spent the afternoon here playing with Marisa and the boys.
This evening we watched what has got to go down as one of the worst films ever made, it starred Kevin Bacon but we bet you won’t find it in his greatest hits, it was called Tremors.
The film, for those lucky enough not to have seen it but with an interest in finding out a bit about it, is about WORMS, not just any old worms, but carnivorous ones that have been around for thousands of years and have grown to be about the size of a train carriage.
The female seismologist student who happens to be pretty and working on seismic tests in the area, and who also manages to get her jeans ripped off by a carnivorous worm, turns out to be the leading authority in the field when she announces that nobody has ever seen anything like them before and that it is a great scientific breakthrough.
Firstly, she’s only a student not a professor, so how does she know that nobody has ever seen one before and as they are rather partial to a bit of human flesh and are built like a train carriage, it stands to reason that they have been getting lunch somewhere, presumably the people who were going to let everyone know about them if only they hadn’t been eaten first.
Secondly, in view of their size and appetite, why would they pick on a small town with a population of about thirteen right out in the middle of nowhere, when they could have gone to the city and dined in style.
It’s absolute garbage, the sort of thing you could get glued to at two o’clock in the morning after coming in from the pub having drunk fifteen pints, eaten the worst kebab on the planet, thrown it up in the taxi on the way home, had to walk the last two miles and tripped over the cat as you walk through the door.
Apparently they made a Tremors II as well which is going to be shown on Foxtel soon, if we can’t avoid seeing it, we’ll record it and one night when we get home at two o’clock in the morning after coming in from the pub having drunk fifteen pints, eaten the worst kebab on the planet, thrown it up in the taxi on the way home, had to walk the last two miles and tripped over the cat as you walk through the door, we’ll give it a review, or was that a rear view.
It was another busy day at the café today, the whole town is full of tourists, we reckon that the economic climate is keeping all the holiday makers a bit closer to home this year.
Marisas friend who happens to be a boy came round to the house for lunch and spent the afternoon here playing with Marisa and the boys.
This evening we watched what has got to go down as one of the worst films ever made, it starred Kevin Bacon but we bet you won’t find it in his greatest hits, it was called Tremors.
The film, for those lucky enough not to have seen it but with an interest in finding out a bit about it, is about WORMS, not just any old worms, but carnivorous ones that have been around for thousands of years and have grown to be about the size of a train carriage.
The female seismologist student who happens to be pretty and working on seismic tests in the area, and who also manages to get her jeans ripped off by a carnivorous worm, turns out to be the leading authority in the field when she announces that nobody has ever seen anything like them before and that it is a great scientific breakthrough.
Firstly, she’s only a student not a professor, so how does she know that nobody has ever seen one before and as they are rather partial to a bit of human flesh and are built like a train carriage, it stands to reason that they have been getting lunch somewhere, presumably the people who were going to let everyone know about them if only they hadn’t been eaten first.
Secondly, in view of their size and appetite, why would they pick on a small town with a population of about thirteen right out in the middle of nowhere, when they could have gone to the city and dined in style.
It’s absolute garbage, the sort of thing you could get glued to at two o’clock in the morning after coming in from the pub having drunk fifteen pints, eaten the worst kebab on the planet, thrown it up in the taxi on the way home, had to walk the last two miles and tripped over the cat as you walk through the door.
Apparently they made a Tremors II as well which is going to be shown on Foxtel soon, if we can’t avoid seeing it, we’ll record it and one night when we get home at two o’clock in the morning after coming in from the pub having drunk fifteen pints, eaten the worst kebab on the planet, thrown it up in the taxi on the way home, had to walk the last two miles and tripped over the cat as you walk through the door, we’ll give it a review, or was that a rear view.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Hermit Crabs
Saturday 4th July 2009
It was fairly quiet at the Café today, we managed to get loads of cleaning done and finished early which was good.
Kristian went round his mates house to play this morning, he had a great time and came back with a Hermit Crab tank and two Hermit Crabs, he is going to look after his mates crabs while they are on holiday.
Marisa and Fraser went to Jungle Bungle to play this morning, they didn’t stay there long though because a large group of rowdy kids came in and spoilt their game.
This afternoon/evening, Carolyn and the kids watched Back to the Future I + II while Ian watched the third of his Alien trilogy in four parts, nobody else will watch them with him.
We then had an early night.
It was fairly quiet at the Café today, we managed to get loads of cleaning done and finished early which was good.
Kristian went round his mates house to play this morning, he had a great time and came back with a Hermit Crab tank and two Hermit Crabs, he is going to look after his mates crabs while they are on holiday.
Marisa and Fraser went to Jungle Bungle to play this morning, they didn’t stay there long though because a large group of rowdy kids came in and spoilt their game.
This afternoon/evening, Carolyn and the kids watched Back to the Future I + II while Ian watched the third of his Alien trilogy in four parts, nobody else will watch them with him.
We then had an early night.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Quadruple Pneumonia + One
Saturday 27th June 2009
Ian was awake most of the night coughing and spluttering after contracting Quadruple Pneumonia + One, a very rare form of Pneumonia but one that Ian was not going to let get the better of him.
He went to work as usual after dosing himself up with everything he could lay his hands on, he’s got to set an example otherwise all the staff will be taking time off for something as trivial as girlie flu.
We were one member of staff short today after they cried of with girlie flu and just like last week today turned out to be the busiest day of the week, which was good in a way because the Saturday staff have not really come under pressure on a regular basis and they coped admirably.
Marisa spent the day with her friend who happens to be a boy, he was going for his grading in Tai Kwando and had invited her to go along and watch, and needless to say she wanted to go, probably because it involved people getting hurt.
The weather at the moment is atrocious and the Scout Garage Sale due for tomorrow has been cancelled, they were supposed to be holding it in big army tent, that is to say it is a big tent that belongs to the army rather than any old tent that belongs to a big army and the guy who was going to put it up with the help of guys, now that is a coincidence, a guy having to use guys to put a tent up, bet he must get some stick.
Anyway, the guy who was going to put the tent up, rang to say that he wasn’t going to put the tent up because the wind was going to be so strong tonight and he didn’t relish the idea of having to invade another nation tomorrow to get his tent back.
This evening we sat down as a family and watched the Magnificent 7 with lots of famous people, the kids loved it, they are really getting into their westerns although the ones they are really looking forward to watching are the ones involving Indians, but the haven’t had any of those on Foxtel lately.
After the film, Carolyn read while Ian watched the British and Irish Lions get beaten by South Africa with the last kick of the game.
Ian was awake most of the night coughing and spluttering after contracting Quadruple Pneumonia + One, a very rare form of Pneumonia but one that Ian was not going to let get the better of him.
He went to work as usual after dosing himself up with everything he could lay his hands on, he’s got to set an example otherwise all the staff will be taking time off for something as trivial as girlie flu.
We were one member of staff short today after they cried of with girlie flu and just like last week today turned out to be the busiest day of the week, which was good in a way because the Saturday staff have not really come under pressure on a regular basis and they coped admirably.
Marisa spent the day with her friend who happens to be a boy, he was going for his grading in Tai Kwando and had invited her to go along and watch, and needless to say she wanted to go, probably because it involved people getting hurt.
The weather at the moment is atrocious and the Scout Garage Sale due for tomorrow has been cancelled, they were supposed to be holding it in big army tent, that is to say it is a big tent that belongs to the army rather than any old tent that belongs to a big army and the guy who was going to put it up with the help of guys, now that is a coincidence, a guy having to use guys to put a tent up, bet he must get some stick.
Anyway, the guy who was going to put the tent up, rang to say that he wasn’t going to put the tent up because the wind was going to be so strong tonight and he didn’t relish the idea of having to invade another nation tomorrow to get his tent back.
This evening we sat down as a family and watched the Magnificent 7 with lots of famous people, the kids loved it, they are really getting into their westerns although the ones they are really looking forward to watching are the ones involving Indians, but the haven’t had any of those on Foxtel lately.
After the film, Carolyn read while Ian watched the British and Irish Lions get beaten by South Africa with the last kick of the game.
Monday, June 29, 2009
More Badges
Tuesday 23rd June 2009
Today was a really bad day at the Café, it looked to be starting well with loads of coffee sales early on, but then never developed from that, bit of an anticlimax really.
Kristians best mate came round after school and they had a good time.
Fraser and Marisa went to Scouts and Marisa came home with some more badges, all ones that Fraser has already got, she just throws them on the side with the others she hasn’t sewn on yet, and shows absolutely no interest in sewing them on in the future, we can see a battle of wills between her and her mum over whose job it is to sew them on, developing soon.
Today was a really bad day at the Café, it looked to be starting well with loads of coffee sales early on, but then never developed from that, bit of an anticlimax really.
Kristians best mate came round after school and they had a good time.
Fraser and Marisa went to Scouts and Marisa came home with some more badges, all ones that Fraser has already got, she just throws them on the side with the others she hasn’t sewn on yet, and shows absolutely no interest in sewing them on in the future, we can see a battle of wills between her and her mum over whose job it is to sew them on, developing soon.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Leaking Light Fittings
Tuesday 16th June 2009
Ian didn’t sleep well last night and was up early this morning, so rather than toss and turn for hours he got up and went to work early.
It is so much less stressful starting work early, Ian can get so much done before opening without any interruptions, if only it didn’t involve having to wake and get up early in the morning it would be a great thing to do every day.
It was a very slow start to the day, but by about 10am when the weather had started to take a turn for the worse, the people were starting to come out to play.
We have another water leak at the Café, at about 4.30pm Ian noticed that rainwater was coming through one of the light fittings, it is the same light fitting as last time.
Ian had let the owners of the centre know about it last week when it happened for the first time, and when the centre manager came round last Friday he pointed it out to him again.
So when it happened again this afternoon, Carolyn rang the centre manager to let him know and he just said I’m going to see someone about it later in the week. Better hope we haven’t drowned by then, then.
Kristian went round his best friends house after school again today, he must have had a good time because he came home he couldn’t wait to tell us in true Kristian gibberish about this new game that he and his mate have made up.
The game appeared to consist mainly of talking nonsense, making funny shapes with their hands and bouncing off walls, the other boys mum must have been glad to bring him home.
This evening Fraser and Marisa went to Scouts, they were going for a walk by torchlight through the reserve in the hope of seeing some wildlife, alas all the wildlife were tucked up in the warm out of the wind and rain wondering what these idiots were doing wandering around in the dark, getting soaked by the rain, when they had a perfectly good, warm, dry hut that they could have been sheltering in.
Carolyn went to a Scout Parent meeting this evening, they only meet for an hour every month and it is not long enough to get as much as they want to get done.
Ian fired off an email this evening to Toby’s Restaurant at Wyndham Resort Dunsborough, letting them know that we weren’t happy with the way we were treated when we turned up there on Sunday for Ians birthday breakfast.
Ian didn’t sleep well last night and was up early this morning, so rather than toss and turn for hours he got up and went to work early.
It is so much less stressful starting work early, Ian can get so much done before opening without any interruptions, if only it didn’t involve having to wake and get up early in the morning it would be a great thing to do every day.
It was a very slow start to the day, but by about 10am when the weather had started to take a turn for the worse, the people were starting to come out to play.
We have another water leak at the Café, at about 4.30pm Ian noticed that rainwater was coming through one of the light fittings, it is the same light fitting as last time.
Ian had let the owners of the centre know about it last week when it happened for the first time, and when the centre manager came round last Friday he pointed it out to him again.
So when it happened again this afternoon, Carolyn rang the centre manager to let him know and he just said I’m going to see someone about it later in the week. Better hope we haven’t drowned by then, then.
Kristian went round his best friends house after school again today, he must have had a good time because he came home he couldn’t wait to tell us in true Kristian gibberish about this new game that he and his mate have made up.
The game appeared to consist mainly of talking nonsense, making funny shapes with their hands and bouncing off walls, the other boys mum must have been glad to bring him home.
This evening Fraser and Marisa went to Scouts, they were going for a walk by torchlight through the reserve in the hope of seeing some wildlife, alas all the wildlife were tucked up in the warm out of the wind and rain wondering what these idiots were doing wandering around in the dark, getting soaked by the rain, when they had a perfectly good, warm, dry hut that they could have been sheltering in.
Carolyn went to a Scout Parent meeting this evening, they only meet for an hour every month and it is not long enough to get as much as they want to get done.
Ian fired off an email this evening to Toby’s Restaurant at Wyndham Resort Dunsborough, letting them know that we weren’t happy with the way we were treated when we turned up there on Sunday for Ians birthday breakfast.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Sliding Doors
Tuesday 9th June 2009
It was a very quiet day at the Café again today, there still doesn’t seem to be any reason for it, although when we were in the UK we used to find that when Autumn turned to Winter, it would go quiet for a couple of weeks until people had acclimatised to the change and then back to normal.
One of our microwaves at work broke today, we brought one in from home for the time being but no doubt we will have to part with another couple of hundred dollars later in the week to replace it, the kids couldn’t cope without a microwave to warm their milk.
Kristian had his best mate round again after school this afternoon, they play computer games against each other on line all week, so what do they do when their together? They play computer games.
Fraser and Marisa had to go to Scouts a couple of hours early today so that they could help clean the tents and equipment from their camp at the weekend and put it away before tonights meeting, it was bring a friend night tonight and they didn’t want to have the whole evening tied up with cleaning, it probably wouldn’t give off a good image to any on their first visit.
Fraser managed to find someone who wanted to go to Scouts to see what it was about, we think he enjoyed it but we’re not sure, Fraser was happy that he could introduce someone to scouting though.
Marisa had a much harder task on her hands trying to find a friend to take to Scouts, it would appear that all her girlie mates are off doing other things on a Tuesday which was a shame.
After the kids went to bed we watched the film Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow, Carolyn likes this sort of film, but Ian being a male has trouble multi-tasking and trying to take in two cleverly done stories at the same time after a long days work is not really his forte.
We both enjoyed it, it’s just that when Ian watches a film he likes to go into a state of vegetation with everything explained and easy to understand.
It was a very quiet day at the Café again today, there still doesn’t seem to be any reason for it, although when we were in the UK we used to find that when Autumn turned to Winter, it would go quiet for a couple of weeks until people had acclimatised to the change and then back to normal.
One of our microwaves at work broke today, we brought one in from home for the time being but no doubt we will have to part with another couple of hundred dollars later in the week to replace it, the kids couldn’t cope without a microwave to warm their milk.
Kristian had his best mate round again after school this afternoon, they play computer games against each other on line all week, so what do they do when their together? They play computer games.
Fraser and Marisa had to go to Scouts a couple of hours early today so that they could help clean the tents and equipment from their camp at the weekend and put it away before tonights meeting, it was bring a friend night tonight and they didn’t want to have the whole evening tied up with cleaning, it probably wouldn’t give off a good image to any on their first visit.
Fraser managed to find someone who wanted to go to Scouts to see what it was about, we think he enjoyed it but we’re not sure, Fraser was happy that he could introduce someone to scouting though.
Marisa had a much harder task on her hands trying to find a friend to take to Scouts, it would appear that all her girlie mates are off doing other things on a Tuesday which was a shame.
After the kids went to bed we watched the film Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow, Carolyn likes this sort of film, but Ian being a male has trouble multi-tasking and trying to take in two cleverly done stories at the same time after a long days work is not really his forte.
We both enjoyed it, it’s just that when Ian watches a film he likes to go into a state of vegetation with everything explained and easy to understand.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Dead as a Dodo
Monday 25th May 2009
The Café was as dead as a Dodo today, there just didn’t seem to be anyone around wanting a cup of coffee, the whole centre suffered apart from Coles supermarket apparently.
Fraser got the result of his latest Science test today and managed to get 71% which we are really impressed with, he works so hard getting ready for these tests, it’s great to see him being rewarded for it.
Marisa seems to be flavour of the month in her class, her teacher told Carolyn that she is an asset to the school and a pleasure to teach in class, always working hard, always happy and keeping out of trouble, she makes turning up for work worthwhile apparently.
Another one of her teachers commented that she is a good footballer and has got a fairly hefty kick on her, let’s hope it’s real football and not Aerial Ping Pong.
Kristian had a friend round after school, it was the same friend that he meets up with on his computer games after school, this time because they were in the same room, the friend was able to show him first hand all the benefits of his parents paying a monthly fee to be in the club, which has renewed Kristians interest in signing up for it.
We are not going to part with money every month so that he can collect a couple of different things on his page that would involve him having to spend even more time on the computer keeping them alive than he already does.
Kristian went to Cubs this evening, the first time he has been for a few weeks for one reason or another, he was really happy when he got home, he is going to be invested in two weeks time.
After the kids had gone to bed we watched Bourne Identity with Matt Damon, we’ve watched it several times now and it is still just as good as it was the first time.
The Café was as dead as a Dodo today, there just didn’t seem to be anyone around wanting a cup of coffee, the whole centre suffered apart from Coles supermarket apparently.
Fraser got the result of his latest Science test today and managed to get 71% which we are really impressed with, he works so hard getting ready for these tests, it’s great to see him being rewarded for it.
Marisa seems to be flavour of the month in her class, her teacher told Carolyn that she is an asset to the school and a pleasure to teach in class, always working hard, always happy and keeping out of trouble, she makes turning up for work worthwhile apparently.
Another one of her teachers commented that she is a good footballer and has got a fairly hefty kick on her, let’s hope it’s real football and not Aerial Ping Pong.
Kristian had a friend round after school, it was the same friend that he meets up with on his computer games after school, this time because they were in the same room, the friend was able to show him first hand all the benefits of his parents paying a monthly fee to be in the club, which has renewed Kristians interest in signing up for it.
We are not going to part with money every month so that he can collect a couple of different things on his page that would involve him having to spend even more time on the computer keeping them alive than he already does.
Kristian went to Cubs this evening, the first time he has been for a few weeks for one reason or another, he was really happy when he got home, he is going to be invested in two weeks time.
After the kids had gone to bed we watched Bourne Identity with Matt Damon, we’ve watched it several times now and it is still just as good as it was the first time.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Working Late
Tuesday 12th May 2009
It was a busy day at the Café today, we have changed the hours of our regular midweek staff because they don’t like working past about 3pm because that’s when it quietens down and apparently they get bored, they then feel the need to clean up, to the point where it looks like we are closed.
As we are trying to build up our afternoon business at the moment, this doesn’t send out the right signals to our potential customers so we are trying to get our Saturday staff to come in after school to help with the cleaning at the end of the day, this will enable our midweek staff to leave early and not get bored.
We have tried this business building thing in the afternoon in the past and it did not really work, now that virtually every shop unit in the centre has been leased out we are going to give it another go in the hope that these new shops will generate extra custom for us.
We will monitor the situation for a few weeks and assess its profitability as we go, before deciding whether to persist with the later opening.
Kristian has got a new mate at school, he has recently been playing games against him online after school. It’s quite sweet really, they both signed up for this computer game thing, told each other what their user names are and arranged a set time each day to sign in so that they would be playing against each other.
Today Kristian went round his house for the first time, he had a great time and can’t wait till his friend comes round here.
Fraser and Marisa went to Scouts this evening and we found out today that we will be manning the Sausage sizzle outside Bunnings next Sunday to raise money for the Scouts, we can’t think of anything we’d rather do on a Sunday, but if it helps them pay for the Scouts jamboree next year then we have to help really. After all we are getting rid of the two of them for ten days, it’s going to be great, and they might enjoy it as well.
It was a busy day at the Café today, we have changed the hours of our regular midweek staff because they don’t like working past about 3pm because that’s when it quietens down and apparently they get bored, they then feel the need to clean up, to the point where it looks like we are closed.
As we are trying to build up our afternoon business at the moment, this doesn’t send out the right signals to our potential customers so we are trying to get our Saturday staff to come in after school to help with the cleaning at the end of the day, this will enable our midweek staff to leave early and not get bored.
We have tried this business building thing in the afternoon in the past and it did not really work, now that virtually every shop unit in the centre has been leased out we are going to give it another go in the hope that these new shops will generate extra custom for us.
We will monitor the situation for a few weeks and assess its profitability as we go, before deciding whether to persist with the later opening.
Kristian has got a new mate at school, he has recently been playing games against him online after school. It’s quite sweet really, they both signed up for this computer game thing, told each other what their user names are and arranged a set time each day to sign in so that they would be playing against each other.
Today Kristian went round his house for the first time, he had a great time and can’t wait till his friend comes round here.
Fraser and Marisa went to Scouts this evening and we found out today that we will be manning the Sausage sizzle outside Bunnings next Sunday to raise money for the Scouts, we can’t think of anything we’d rather do on a Sunday, but if it helps them pay for the Scouts jamboree next year then we have to help really. After all we are getting rid of the two of them for ten days, it’s going to be great, and they might enjoy it as well.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Jungle Bungle
Saturday 9th May 2009
Tomorrow is Mothers Day over here so the town was busy this morning, the problem was, it was all men with kids and men with kids going shopping for a present for mum are not generally in the mood to browse and stop for a coffee while discussing what they are going to buy.
So the Café was pretty quiet today due to the lack of females about, fortunately one of the staff rang in sick so at least we saved a few bob there.
Marisa and some of her friends went to Jungle Bungle this morning for a couple of hours play as part of Marisas week long birthday celebrations, they ran around like lunatics while Carolyn sat outside soaking up the sun, drinking coffee and pretending she was the responsible adult.
After Jungle Bungle they all went to the Chinese for lunch, they had a great time in there with Marisa and her mates sitting on one table while Carolyn and the boys sat on another, we thought they might like to feel like they were young adults dining out together but with the knowledge that Carolyn was watching from a distance.
After the Chinese, where the kids behaved themselves more or less for more or less the duration of the meal, they went to Gelato for in Ice Cream before heading home.
After Ian finished work we drove to the Jetty to have a look at the Jetty Jamboree, a celebration of the fact that they are at last going to start work on rebuilding and making it safe again.
We got there at about a quarter to six and it was due to be going on until 7pm, but we had missed anything that was going on in regard to entertainment.
We did meet the parents of one of Kristians friends and had a chat with them while the kids ran wild, then we had a sausage sizzle and went home, it was a bit of an anti climax for us as far as Jamborees go.
When we got home we put the kids to bed and watched the film Jewel of the Nile with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito, it is a great fun film but no good for the kids and not as good as Romancing the Stone which we saw the other night.
Tomorrow is Mothers Day over here so the town was busy this morning, the problem was, it was all men with kids and men with kids going shopping for a present for mum are not generally in the mood to browse and stop for a coffee while discussing what they are going to buy.
So the Café was pretty quiet today due to the lack of females about, fortunately one of the staff rang in sick so at least we saved a few bob there.
Marisa and some of her friends went to Jungle Bungle this morning for a couple of hours play as part of Marisas week long birthday celebrations, they ran around like lunatics while Carolyn sat outside soaking up the sun, drinking coffee and pretending she was the responsible adult.
After Jungle Bungle they all went to the Chinese for lunch, they had a great time in there with Marisa and her mates sitting on one table while Carolyn and the boys sat on another, we thought they might like to feel like they were young adults dining out together but with the knowledge that Carolyn was watching from a distance.
After the Chinese, where the kids behaved themselves more or less for more or less the duration of the meal, they went to Gelato for in Ice Cream before heading home.
After Ian finished work we drove to the Jetty to have a look at the Jetty Jamboree, a celebration of the fact that they are at last going to start work on rebuilding and making it safe again.
We got there at about a quarter to six and it was due to be going on until 7pm, but we had missed anything that was going on in regard to entertainment.
We did meet the parents of one of Kristians friends and had a chat with them while the kids ran wild, then we had a sausage sizzle and went home, it was a bit of an anti climax for us as far as Jamborees go.
When we got home we put the kids to bed and watched the film Jewel of the Nile with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito, it is a great fun film but no good for the kids and not as good as Romancing the Stone which we saw the other night.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
His and Hers Movies
Sunday 3rd May 2009
Carolyn was still not 100% today so we kept it fairly quiet, we went to the market on the foreshore this morning and then went for coffee while the boys played, Marisa didn’t go with us as she would rather play with her mates round the corner.
After coffee we went into work for a short while just to get things ready for tomorrow, before heading home for lunch.
In the afternoon, Ian worked on the computer while Carolyn did a bit of pruning in the garden, whether the plants will recover or not we shall have to wait and see.
In the evening the kids had an early night, Carolyn watched the film Brokeback Mountain, while Ian watched Aliens, preferring the site of Sigourney Weaver to a couple of bare bummed cowboys.
Carolyn was still not 100% today so we kept it fairly quiet, we went to the market on the foreshore this morning and then went for coffee while the boys played, Marisa didn’t go with us as she would rather play with her mates round the corner.
After coffee we went into work for a short while just to get things ready for tomorrow, before heading home for lunch.
In the afternoon, Ian worked on the computer while Carolyn did a bit of pruning in the garden, whether the plants will recover or not we shall have to wait and see.
In the evening the kids had an early night, Carolyn watched the film Brokeback Mountain, while Ian watched Aliens, preferring the site of Sigourney Weaver to a couple of bare bummed cowboys.
Friday, May 8, 2009
No More Mr Nice Pizza
Saturday 2nd May 2009
It was a quiet day at the Café today, we expected as much, the Eagles were playing this afternoon and got turned over by the Dockers, there was also the Half Iron Man happening down on the foreshore, so there wasn’t a lot happening in our end of town.
The kids went to the Cinema this morning, they went to see Monsters v Aliens which they eventually enjoyed, the film started almost an hour late because they had a power cut to their tills so could not issue tickets.
The kids came back to the Café after the Cinema, they had a bite to eat and then went home with Carolyn who was not feeling at all well, probably women flu, nothing to worry about.
The kids spent the afternoon playing with their mates a couple of streets away, while Carolyn relaxed at home.
In the evening, Ian went to Broadwater to get a Pizza, unfortunately the bloke who owned the Pizza Shop and had started selling good Pizzas, has sold the business.
There are now three sizes of Pizza to choose from now where there used to be only two, Ian ordered the medium, put the phone down and went to pick it up.
When he got to the shop, the woman behind the counter who is presumably the new owner, was waffling on about how wonderful the Pizza smelt and how good it was going to taste, Ian just paid and let her carry on waffling while he was waiting.
When the Pizza came out of the oven, they put it in a large Pizza box which made the Pizza look very small but it looked edible.
When Ian ate it he found that, yes it did have everything he wanted on it, just not enough of it, they had loaded it up with Red Onion and Capsicum to make it look good.
Ian wasn’t impressed and even less so because the new, poor excuse for a medium size Pizza was now the price of the large ones that the previous owner used to make, while the large ones which are no bigger than the old large ones are now about Six Dollars more expensive.
We think the Chinese opposite may fare well while these new owners are in situ.
It was a quiet day at the Café today, we expected as much, the Eagles were playing this afternoon and got turned over by the Dockers, there was also the Half Iron Man happening down on the foreshore, so there wasn’t a lot happening in our end of town.
The kids went to the Cinema this morning, they went to see Monsters v Aliens which they eventually enjoyed, the film started almost an hour late because they had a power cut to their tills so could not issue tickets.
The kids came back to the Café after the Cinema, they had a bite to eat and then went home with Carolyn who was not feeling at all well, probably women flu, nothing to worry about.
The kids spent the afternoon playing with their mates a couple of streets away, while Carolyn relaxed at home.
In the evening, Ian went to Broadwater to get a Pizza, unfortunately the bloke who owned the Pizza Shop and had started selling good Pizzas, has sold the business.
There are now three sizes of Pizza to choose from now where there used to be only two, Ian ordered the medium, put the phone down and went to pick it up.
When he got to the shop, the woman behind the counter who is presumably the new owner, was waffling on about how wonderful the Pizza smelt and how good it was going to taste, Ian just paid and let her carry on waffling while he was waiting.
When the Pizza came out of the oven, they put it in a large Pizza box which made the Pizza look very small but it looked edible.
When Ian ate it he found that, yes it did have everything he wanted on it, just not enough of it, they had loaded it up with Red Onion and Capsicum to make it look good.
Ian wasn’t impressed and even less so because the new, poor excuse for a medium size Pizza was now the price of the large ones that the previous owner used to make, while the large ones which are no bigger than the old large ones are now about Six Dollars more expensive.
We think the Chinese opposite may fare well while these new owners are in situ.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Foxtel has Arrived
Friday 24th April 2009
Marisas loverboy arrived at the house this morning, he just turned up unannounced and stayed for a while to play with the kids.
At lunchtime he went home while Carolyn and the kids went to the Café for lunch, Carolyn had told him when they left that they would be out until 3pm, so when they got back at just before 3pm guess who was waiting?
This evening, loverboy went to freaky Friday with Marisa and the boys, Carolyn give him a lift home afterwards.
This afternoon, the Foxtel man returned with the right parts and we now have Satellite TV, Ian is really looking forward to watching the Football this weekend and the kids have already worked out where the kids channels are.
In the evening we watched the film The Sentinel with Michael Douglas and Kim Basinger, it is just a run of the mill secret service protect the president film really, but something that is easy to relax with, but still not suitable for kids.
Marisas loverboy arrived at the house this morning, he just turned up unannounced and stayed for a while to play with the kids.
At lunchtime he went home while Carolyn and the kids went to the Café for lunch, Carolyn had told him when they left that they would be out until 3pm, so when they got back at just before 3pm guess who was waiting?
This evening, loverboy went to freaky Friday with Marisa and the boys, Carolyn give him a lift home afterwards.
This afternoon, the Foxtel man returned with the right parts and we now have Satellite TV, Ian is really looking forward to watching the Football this weekend and the kids have already worked out where the kids channels are.
In the evening we watched the film The Sentinel with Michael Douglas and Kim Basinger, it is just a run of the mill secret service protect the president film really, but something that is easy to relax with, but still not suitable for kids.
Gratuitous Violence
Wednesday 22nd April 2009
Carolyn picked up Marisas loverboy this morning and brought him back to our house, so that the kids had someone to play with. As luck would have it another one of their friends came round as well and between them they made a mess but had a good time doing it.
Carolyn tried to teach Fraser how to Multiply and Divide Fractions, he is having trouble remembering how to work them out and we are trying to find a fool proof way of drumming it into his head, when he knows a formula for getting the answer he flies through them, it’s just that he keeps forgetting the formula.
In the afternoon Carolyn came to the Café to help out while the kids plus loverboy went to Yoganup Park to play.
Winter is almost upon us and Ian has started making Soup for the Café again, so tonight we had Homemade Pumpkin Soup for Tea and it was lovely.
In the evening after the kids went to bed, we watched the film Transporter, it’s ok, a bit over the top gratuitous violence and all that, but ok if you could imagine him beating crap out of someone you don’t like.
That bit wasn’t ok for us, because we like everyone.
Carolyn picked up Marisas loverboy this morning and brought him back to our house, so that the kids had someone to play with. As luck would have it another one of their friends came round as well and between them they made a mess but had a good time doing it.
Carolyn tried to teach Fraser how to Multiply and Divide Fractions, he is having trouble remembering how to work them out and we are trying to find a fool proof way of drumming it into his head, when he knows a formula for getting the answer he flies through them, it’s just that he keeps forgetting the formula.
In the afternoon Carolyn came to the Café to help out while the kids plus loverboy went to Yoganup Park to play.
Winter is almost upon us and Ian has started making Soup for the Café again, so tonight we had Homemade Pumpkin Soup for Tea and it was lovely.
In the evening after the kids went to bed, we watched the film Transporter, it’s ok, a bit over the top gratuitous violence and all that, but ok if you could imagine him beating crap out of someone you don’t like.
That bit wasn’t ok for us, because we like everyone.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Swearing and Gratuitous Sex
Tuesday 21st April 2009
Carolyn took the kids to the Café this morning with the intention of Ian looking after them while she met the accountant to get our BAS Statement done, what she hadn’t planned on was finding Marisas boyfriend skateboarding outside the Café when she arrived.
What a coincidence, him just happening to be skating by as Marisa arrives, what a coincidence that he had just happened to have been skating past the Café for the last hour in the hope that he would see Marisa.
This turn of events added a new dimension to the problem of how to keep the kids happy, if we didn’t find them something to do Marisa would be an absolute pain in the backside, if only to prove to loverboy that she could, Ian would not have tolerated that at work and it would have ended in tears, so we sent them to Jungle Bungle.
When asked what time he had to be home, loverboy said that he had to be home by 3pm, so after they had played at Jungle Bungle for a while and come back to the Café, it was a bit of a surprise when his mum turned up in not the best of moods because she had been worried sick about him in his absence.
Apparently he had told his mum that he was going to skateboard into town and back, so she expected him to do just that and be back before too long, reminding him as he went that they were going out at 3pm.
He only had thoughts for Marisa and took his mums parting comment to mean, you can do what you want as long as you’re back by 3pm, isn’t interpreting the English language a wonderful thing?
In the evening we watched a film called The Day After Tomorrow, it is rated a 15+ but we couldn’t remember anything particularly child unfriendly about it, so we thought we would watch it again just to see if it would be ok for the kids to watch.
It is most definitely not a child friendly film and the kids will have to wait a long time before we let them watch it.
The problem is, we have loads of DVD’s of good films, but because so many film producers seem to feel that you can’t make a good film without loads of swearing and a bit of gratuitous sex, so the kids don’t have many GOOD films that they are allowed to watch.
We are not prudes by any stretch of the imagination, but we do not swear, well not in front of the kids, they hear enough of it outside the house and we would like them to grow being able to hold their own in a discussion without feeling the need to swear.
Carolyn took the kids to the Café this morning with the intention of Ian looking after them while she met the accountant to get our BAS Statement done, what she hadn’t planned on was finding Marisas boyfriend skateboarding outside the Café when she arrived.
What a coincidence, him just happening to be skating by as Marisa arrives, what a coincidence that he had just happened to have been skating past the Café for the last hour in the hope that he would see Marisa.
This turn of events added a new dimension to the problem of how to keep the kids happy, if we didn’t find them something to do Marisa would be an absolute pain in the backside, if only to prove to loverboy that she could, Ian would not have tolerated that at work and it would have ended in tears, so we sent them to Jungle Bungle.
When asked what time he had to be home, loverboy said that he had to be home by 3pm, so after they had played at Jungle Bungle for a while and come back to the Café, it was a bit of a surprise when his mum turned up in not the best of moods because she had been worried sick about him in his absence.
Apparently he had told his mum that he was going to skateboard into town and back, so she expected him to do just that and be back before too long, reminding him as he went that they were going out at 3pm.
He only had thoughts for Marisa and took his mums parting comment to mean, you can do what you want as long as you’re back by 3pm, isn’t interpreting the English language a wonderful thing?
In the evening we watched a film called The Day After Tomorrow, it is rated a 15+ but we couldn’t remember anything particularly child unfriendly about it, so we thought we would watch it again just to see if it would be ok for the kids to watch.
It is most definitely not a child friendly film and the kids will have to wait a long time before we let them watch it.
The problem is, we have loads of DVD’s of good films, but because so many film producers seem to feel that you can’t make a good film without loads of swearing and a bit of gratuitous sex, so the kids don’t have many GOOD films that they are allowed to watch.
We are not prudes by any stretch of the imagination, but we do not swear, well not in front of the kids, they hear enough of it outside the house and we would like them to grow being able to hold their own in a discussion without feeling the need to swear.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Fremantle Prison
Sunday 19th April 2009
Today we had to take Carolyns dad back to Perth ready for his flight back to the UK, we decided to make a day of it and went to have a look round the Fremantle Prison.
We left home about twenty minutes later than we had intended but thought nothing of it, there won’t be anyone on the road on a Sunday morning anyway.
Wrong, not only is it still holiday season, but there are quite a few roadworks going on this weekend as well, hence a rather slow drive to Fremantle.
Carolyn had rung the prison yesterday to book a tour for today, but as we were driving up we knew it was going to be touch and go as to whether we would get there on time, so Carolyn rang them again and got our tickets changed to a tour half an hour later. Don’t you love mobile phones? That’s probably the second useful thing it’s done since Carolyn got it for Christmas, the first was ordering a taxi from the pub.
We were right to change our tour time, we arrived about ten minutes after the original tour started, but that gave us a bit of time to look round some of the exhibits and the gift shop
Fremantle Prison must have the worst tourist gift shop on the planet, it didn’t have much to offer in the way of merchandise and what there was would probably appeal to the average punter just a bit less than spending a bit of time in the prison itself, Carolyn did manage to find a fridge magnet.
The Prison tour itself was quite interesting if a bit grim, the Guide was very stern and not impressed with the Japanese tourists that kept wandering off to look at things while he was talking.
The Prison was grim, stark and the rooms were tiny with no facilies, just a bucket with a lid.
We saw the Cells and Exercise yards, the Kitchens and Chapel, the life that the prisoners must have had in there must have been a nightmare, unless of course you are one of the top dogs in which case it would have been a bit more comfortable.
Then we were shown the flogging post where naughty prisoners were tied to it and whipped with the Cat o Nine Tails, apparently when you were on the verge of death they would cut you down and chuck a bucket of salt on your wounds before taking you to the infirmary to recover. After a few weeks recovering, you would then be taken back to the post, tied up and be whipped again until you were on deaths door again or the punishment had been completed.
Apparently the average prisoner could take about 17 lashes before needing to be cut down and taken to the Infirmary, the maximum punishment was 100 lashes and the punishment had to be completed, so a prisoner could go through the cycle of lashes and recovery several times before his punishment was complete if he was a particularly naughty boy.
Corporal Punishment was only abolished in Western Australia in 1993, although the last time it officially took place at the prison was in 1943 and the last Birching was in 1962.
At this point, Kristian was going a bit green round the gills and refused point blank to go into the next exhibit, the Gallows, he is only eight after all.
As we walked into the room that housed the Gallows we were faced with this Noose just hanging from a beam, with a big drop below, it was a bit eerie and probably not the sort of place we’d want to make a habit of visiting, having seen one is enough we think.
Yes, we stood and peered down the trap door, gulp, the noose hasn't been used, it was burned after each use so that someone who had confessed their sins wouldn't be hanged by the same noose as someone who hadn't. Not the done thing apparantly.
The tour lasted about an hour and a half and was informative, although we felt like there was a lot that we hadn’t seen or heard about, but we suppose that’s why they have about three different tours to choose from.
From the prison we drove down to the waterfront and had some Fish and Chips at Cicerello’s, the waterfront was heaving with people as it was a nice day, the businesses down there must make a fortune in good weather.
After dinner we went up to the Market in town before driving to Carolyns dads friends house, the same friend who picked him up from the Airport and drove him down to Busselton when he first arrived.
We had a cup of tea before saying our goodbyes and driving back to Busselton, leaving Carolyns dads friend to give him a lift to the Airport for his flight home tonight.
We got home just after 8pm and put the kids to bed before having an early night ourselves, we have driven just over 500km today and it is virtually all monotonous driving so is very tiring.
Today we had to take Carolyns dad back to Perth ready for his flight back to the UK, we decided to make a day of it and went to have a look round the Fremantle Prison.
We left home about twenty minutes later than we had intended but thought nothing of it, there won’t be anyone on the road on a Sunday morning anyway.
Wrong, not only is it still holiday season, but there are quite a few roadworks going on this weekend as well, hence a rather slow drive to Fremantle.
Carolyn had rung the prison yesterday to book a tour for today, but as we were driving up we knew it was going to be touch and go as to whether we would get there on time, so Carolyn rang them again and got our tickets changed to a tour half an hour later. Don’t you love mobile phones? That’s probably the second useful thing it’s done since Carolyn got it for Christmas, the first was ordering a taxi from the pub.
We were right to change our tour time, we arrived about ten minutes after the original tour started, but that gave us a bit of time to look round some of the exhibits and the gift shop
Fremantle Prison must have the worst tourist gift shop on the planet, it didn’t have much to offer in the way of merchandise and what there was would probably appeal to the average punter just a bit less than spending a bit of time in the prison itself, Carolyn did manage to find a fridge magnet.
The Prison tour itself was quite interesting if a bit grim, the Guide was very stern and not impressed with the Japanese tourists that kept wandering off to look at things while he was talking.
The Prison was grim, stark and the rooms were tiny with no facilies, just a bucket with a lid.
We saw the Cells and Exercise yards, the Kitchens and Chapel, the life that the prisoners must have had in there must have been a nightmare, unless of course you are one of the top dogs in which case it would have been a bit more comfortable.
Then we were shown the flogging post where naughty prisoners were tied to it and whipped with the Cat o Nine Tails, apparently when you were on the verge of death they would cut you down and chuck a bucket of salt on your wounds before taking you to the infirmary to recover. After a few weeks recovering, you would then be taken back to the post, tied up and be whipped again until you were on deaths door again or the punishment had been completed.
Apparently the average prisoner could take about 17 lashes before needing to be cut down and taken to the Infirmary, the maximum punishment was 100 lashes and the punishment had to be completed, so a prisoner could go through the cycle of lashes and recovery several times before his punishment was complete if he was a particularly naughty boy.
Corporal Punishment was only abolished in Western Australia in 1993, although the last time it officially took place at the prison was in 1943 and the last Birching was in 1962.
At this point, Kristian was going a bit green round the gills and refused point blank to go into the next exhibit, the Gallows, he is only eight after all.
As we walked into the room that housed the Gallows we were faced with this Noose just hanging from a beam, with a big drop below, it was a bit eerie and probably not the sort of place we’d want to make a habit of visiting, having seen one is enough we think.
Yes, we stood and peered down the trap door, gulp, the noose hasn't been used, it was burned after each use so that someone who had confessed their sins wouldn't be hanged by the same noose as someone who hadn't. Not the done thing apparantly.
The tour lasted about an hour and a half and was informative, although we felt like there was a lot that we hadn’t seen or heard about, but we suppose that’s why they have about three different tours to choose from.
From the prison we drove down to the waterfront and had some Fish and Chips at Cicerello’s, the waterfront was heaving with people as it was a nice day, the businesses down there must make a fortune in good weather.
After dinner we went up to the Market in town before driving to Carolyns dads friends house, the same friend who picked him up from the Airport and drove him down to Busselton when he first arrived.
We had a cup of tea before saying our goodbyes and driving back to Busselton, leaving Carolyns dads friend to give him a lift to the Airport for his flight home tonight.
We got home just after 8pm and put the kids to bed before having an early night ourselves, we have driven just over 500km today and it is virtually all monotonous driving so is very tiring.
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