Sunday 29 November 2009

Time to Get Festive...

Christmas is creeping up on us all and with the 1st December approaching (on Tuesday), there was much excitement in our household when the cupboard under the stairs was opened, many boxes and bags were rummaged through and a very important Hamer ritual took place...the annual decoration of the Christmas Tree.

(I know it's not officially December yet but if we are rounding to the closest weekend, Tuesday is def. closer to this weekend than next!)

So with 26 sleeps to go, I tested the lights, laid out all of the ornaments - an eclectic mix of cheap 'fillers' and gorgeous treats from my travels over the last few years - and spent a couple of joyful hours filling my flat with Christmas...


So so pretty...I'm feeling very pleased with my efforts indeed.  And it does makes me all childishly excited to turn all of the living room lights off and to sit in the lovely glow of Christmas....

But what's that I can hear?  A few rustling sounds and a bear-ish grunt or two...hmmm let's investigate....


Oh it's Alfie Bear - he has stolen Mummy's Christmas hat and is admiring his very first Christmas tree!  

Remember...26 sleeps to go people...time to get festive!

Saturday 28 November 2009

News Flash...Elvis Sighting in New Malden...

I caught up with a friend for dinner on Thursday night and she had booked us a table at a local curry place that neither of us had been to before (Sesame in New Malden if you are absolutely dying to know).

So I arrived a little after my friend and as we embraced and said 'hello, it's good to see you' and all that, she tells me that, unbeknownst to her upon booking, tonight Sesame is trialling a little something new to accompany its traditional Indian & Thai menu...

Elvis....

...yes, we looked at each other like that too!

Anyway, we ordered a drink, made our selections from the evening's menu and had started out on almost a year's worth of catching up when all of a sudden there was a flash, and Elvis had entered the building (albeit via the kitchen).  Surrounded by a number of groups celebrating birthdays, Christmas and anything in between, we looked bemusedly at each other, tucked in to some great food - actually the food was fantastic and I want to make sure that I make that point in the midst of all of the wittering on about Elvis - settled in to watch the show.

And what a cracking show it was!  The voice was excellent and Elvis' charm and swagger had us all Returning to Sender and Viva Las Vegas-ing before we knew it.  Hit after well-known hit followed and after an hour of belting out those tunes, Elvis took a little break - which then resulted in some 'here's the highlights' style catching up for us before his imminent return 30mins later.  Another hour of faves ensued - like Suspicious Minds, Burning Love and Can't Help Falling in Love - and it was 11 o'clock when Elvis took his Final Curtin and left the building (again via the kitchen).

So what was supposed to be a sedate catch up between friends turned into a bit of a riot (in a good way of course) and we left agreeing that it was both completely surreal yet fabulous fun.  The compromise we'd had to make on having a good ol' natter was definitely worth it and we might it even make it the next girl's night out that we have!

'Open Sesame' really did produce a gem of a night...

Sunday 22 November 2009

There's An Elephant On My Chest...

Over the last few days I have had 'an elephant on my chest'...

Truly...I have...

In the nostalgic glow of childhood illnesses, when I had to struggle to find the words to describe whatever the doctor was poking, prodding and pressing that bl**dy cold stethoscope to my childish frame about, the words 'I think I have a chest infection doctor' did not enter my precocious head. 

Instead it was more Dr Suess like - 'there's an elephant on my chest' or another favourite 'I've got swans', a reference to the wheezy honking noise I emitted when breathing out. 

I still think these describe what it feels like far better than any of those high-falutin' descriptions or attempts at self-diagnosis we try on as grown-ups, ostensibly to assure the doctor - that we fought hard to get an appointment with - that we really have it all under control...I mean come on, who are we kidding?

Anyhow, on Friday the nice lady doctor poked and prodded and put the bl**dy cold stethoscope against my not-so-childish frame and suggested that my case of flu had developed into a chest infection.  There were no needles or anything, just a script for me to take away and a reassuring 'if you don't feel any better in a couple of days, come back and we'll reassess' (oh great, another potential 8am scramble for the few 'emergency' appointments held each day...joy!)

So off I went and got my pills and admittedly the elephant feels smaller...but there was one thing missing that I know would have made all the difference to my recovery...and in this era of NHS cost-cutting, I cannot believe they have been forsaken so easily...

Where was my jellybean?

Saturday 21 November 2009

XFactor vs Strictly? No it's Vegemite vs Marmite...

The battle is really hotting up over here.  Never mind all of that Saturday night twaddle about whether XFactor or Strictly Come Dancing got the highest ratings - although by my calculation there must be a lot of empty restaurants and Saturday night 'venues' around in these weeks leading up to Christmas. 

No the REAL battle is over a couple of thick, brownish-black gloopy substances, Vegemite and Marmite.


If you click here, you can read more on the latest tactics in this age-old war between the colonials and the Empire but in short, Marmite now has a store in Regent Street, London - only a pop-up one mind suggesting that this is not a long term Marmite strategy - to proclaim the brand's...um...coolness.

Would be un-Australian of me to suggest that this in fact pointed not to coolness but to an inferiority complex?  I mean we don't need to resort to this in Australia for one of our 'own' - every self-respecting Aussie knows the words to 'Happy Little Vegemites' (indoctrinated during hours of childhood telly - click here to see it for yourself) and there is nothing more comforting and nostalgic for us Down Under than hot buttered toast with Vegemite (partic. when the toast is based on the fluffy, nutritionally-bereft bread we loved as kids - when did Granary overtake this in our psyche I wonder?).

But I digress...

I do remember supermarkets making a short-lived effort to stock this supposed British staple - like it or not, they stopped stocking it because NO-ONE BOUGHT IT! And no-one bought it because NO-ONE LIKED IT!

I suspect that Vegemite has had a reasonable showing in British supermarkets (and probably more so in the Greater London ones) because about 400,000 Aussies set up camp here and wanted some home comforts...and were prepared to be impolite enough (we call this being direct) to ask why it wasn't stocked anywhere.  And supermarkets, being what they are and hating to miss a money-making opportunity, put the smallest, most cost-ineffective jars on their shelves.  And we then proceeded to indoctrinate partners, wives, husbands, children and anyone who sat at our breakfast table to the Antipodean delights of Vegemite on toast as the ULTIMATE morning-after-the-night-before cure.  So we all went to the supermarket or the Australia Shop or harangued fellow travellers coming from our great brown land to get us some more so that we could put 'a rose in every cheek' possible.

I don't remember anything like this happening for Marmite in Australia...

I rest my case.

Wednesday 18 November 2009

Sage Advice....

I am at home feeling completely bleeeaaaggghh today (I will spare you the details) and have only just emerged from my sickbed. Slumped at my computer, I was in need of some glimmer of light, a little sparkle if you will to lift me out of my 'sorry-for-myself' malaise so I trawled through the various email funnies sent by family and friends over the last few days.  And I am please to report that thanks to my old schoolmate Jennie, I was not disappointed!

Check out the funniest, laugh-out-loud pearls of wisdom from our erstwhile National Health Service - in public view for all to see...


Oh dear! What will they think of next?

Sunday 15 November 2009

We Have A Monopoly....

I am new to this whole Xbox thing...J has one hooked up to a flat screen tv that pretty much dominates his small living room and while I have developed a rather sporadic affection for A Kingdom for Keflings, my Xbox experience has been more opportunistic rather than particularly focussed...

...until now.

On a late night shopping expedition to Tesco or Asda (I can't remember which) a couple of weeks ago, J invested in Xbox Monopoly and it had its first foray into our world last weekend when we introduced J's son to its capitalistic delights.  (And just so you know, I won...by a long way...aaaah I can hear my family groaning now!)  

But last night, facing a chilly Saturday evening at home and without any pretense of 'oh how nice let's give this a try shall we', we let our most basic and fervent desires loose and submitted ourselves to this, the pinnacle of addictive power games.  And after I had completely opened a serious can of 'whoop-ass' all over J, in our 1.30am rematch (he insisted - I was happy to rest on my laurels), he laughed smugly (I thought) as I managed the rather remarkable feat of landing on Park Lane and Mayfair (with buildings!) not only on successive turns but also on successive laps of the board.  Game Two - Over!

At one game each, I can see that our future Saturday nights may now be dedicated to this bloody and brutal enterprise...

Let the games begin!

Saturday 14 November 2009

A Chilling Tribute...

I subscribe to a weekly newsletter from Innocent - for those of you outside the UK, Innocent makes fresh smoothies, juices, snacks and drinks - which is irreverant, fun and always makes me smile somewhere in the reading of it...

Well this week's newsletter came through with a bit of a tribute to MJ's Thriller which I thought was worth a look. I enjoyed it so much that I just wanted to share it with you all so click on the link below to check it out...

Jim Anderson's Chiller

Perhaps not as good as the original but a fair effort I think.

And as with all good films, the best bits are the behind the scenes bits and interviews with the cast and crew...

Meet the Cast

Behind the Scenes...The Making Of

well maybe not...

But what an absolute crack-up...now THIS is my kind of corporate team-building!

For more innocent antics you can check out http://innocentdrinks.typepad.com/innocent_drinks/ 

Sunday 8 November 2009

An Enterprising Young Bear....

I was reading some of my recent blogs and it occurred to me that a) they are all a bit serious of late, especially when you read them one after the other like I did and b) it has been some time since we caught up with the light of my life, young Alfie Bear.

(Yes I know J is the light of my life but shhhh! We mustn't let Alfie hear...it's all about him you know!)

Anyway, Alfie has been mooching around and generally presuming that all of life revolves around him.  He still loves watching the squirrels scurrying about outside from his comfy window position but doesn't get to do this so much now that the blind is closed during the weekdays when I am at work.  He gets bored quickly and likes to keep busy and it would appear that he's been putting this time to some use.  We recently discovered a little project of his...it would appear that he's been quite an enterprising young bear and has joined the ranks of celebrity (or should that be celebratory?) brands with his very own gin & tonic - he told me that I gave him the idea as I always seemed to enjoy a Gin & Tonic with Daddy so much!  

Alfie also loves to 'participate' and he takes great joy in being the centre of attention. During the unwrapping of my 40th birthday presents, he took quite a liking to one of my sister's gifts - a pair of bedsocks with cows heads on them - and took it upon himself to demonstrate how much better they looked on him!  The photo says it all really....

Anyway, that's enough about Alfie for now...too much attention will go to his head, things will just become impossible and I might just have to have a few stern words with him...or give him THE LOOK (you know, the one ALL mother's have that manages to silence ...well...everything really)...but he has such a cute face and how could I possibly stay cross...

Sigh....

What's that you say?  He's not real?

Bite your tongue!

Saturday 7 November 2009

Definitely Not Leaving...

My Indefinite Leave To Remain in the UK has come through.  

The Royal Mail card has been sitting on the table by the door waiting until today when I could get to the Post Office to pick up the Special Delivery Parcel this morning and there was my passport, my documents and the most anticipated letter ever confirming that I am 'no longer subject to immigration restrictions'.

There were a few tears of relief...it hasn't mattered how many times I have logic-ed it all out with 'of course it won't be a problem, I more than meet the criteria and submitted absolutely everything that they have asked for', a tiny voice in my head (you know, THAT voice) kept muttering 'but you haven't been working for most of this year' and 'you don't have a stable income/job' so there has been an internal battle since submitting my application 8 weeks ago which I am so relieved as over...

It's been almost 6 years since I arrived in London and it's been challenging and imperfect and joyful and rewarding to build my life here on terms I didn't know would ever be mine and to make different choices, ones I thought I would never face or even dream I would have to make.  But I feel like I've earned this life - it's mine and being here is not in someone else's hands anymore - and I'm happier than I ever thought was possible.

So for those of you at 'home' (my first one anyway) who still miss me, this news may be a double-edged sword but please know that I'm loved and happy here...and I'm only ever a blog away....

Sunday 1 November 2009

The Last Laugh...

So we bought Halloween treats yesterday in preparation for the onslaught of trick-or-treaters willing to brave walking up the hill that is Windmill Rise - those that know 'the hill' will agree it takes not insignificant fortitude and strong mountain goat tendancies to take it on - so we wanted to be sure that those with these qualities were rewarded at the summit like last year.


But no-one turned up.


No-one.


Not one tiny knock at the door.


Complete silence.


Damn...

...although this does mean that we have a bulk bag of Haribos and 10 mini bags of Maltesers to get through...

Aha!  Who's having the last laugh (and a mild sugar headache) now?