Ode to my Thermomix

 Fine kitchen god, my Thermomix, 

You sit there on the bench

And cook for me, and clean thyself,

You're worth all the expense!

 

Weigh and chop and grind, O beast,

until the dinner's done -

Prepare for us all a veritable feast,

then a pudding made from plums. 

Of German make, your heart is strong,

your motor guaranteed.

Your metal parts are hospital grade, and

you make us an awesome feed.

Your nickname is TED, you're our Eating Device,

Technical through and through.

Risotto, soup, make cake, grind flour,

there's nothing that you can't do!

Thanks to Robert Gardiner for his excellent guide to writing an ode!

Library porn for bibliophiles

Look at this!

This is the Mortlock Wing at the State Library of South Australia, and honestly one of the most lovely libraries I've ever been in (yes I know there are many other lovelies in the book world, but this one on my doorstep is a favourite).  This wing houses the State Library's South Australiana collection, which began early in the colony's lifetime as one trunk of books brought out from England in 1860, and now takes up 50 kilometres of shelf space in storage.

Yes, I had to read it twice when I saw it, FIFTY LINEAR KILOMETRES OF BOOKS = bookgasm!  You could basically shut me in there with a large box of muesli bars and not see me for 30 years or so.  Heaven.

The wing is named after one of the library's greatest benefactors, John Tennant, who left over $70K to the libraries of South Australia when he died in 1950, a phenomenal sum for the time.  And I'm jolly glad he did, as South Australia's libraries are superb.  Thanks John!

Lego - the world's best thing?

Last year we went to Europe, and one of the very first things we did after arriving in the UK (other than having a large drink to congratulate ourselves on getting two small children halfway across the world in one piece) was go to Legoland at Windsor.

You really can make pretty much anything with Lego, including the Crown Jewels

OMG, it was awesome, fabulous, imaginative, crowded, expensive, inspiring, annoyingly hilly when you're pushing a stroller with jetlagged kids in it, but all round bloody good!!

We saw a giant T-rex made of Lego, cities and attractions of the world in miniature (including Cape Canaveral and a Space Shuttle that launches), Lego vikings, took a Lego driving test, spent hours in the amazing shop (pricey but sooooooo worth it), went on rides, panned for gold and won a medal, got drench on the log flume even with waterproofs on, made and then raced tiny Lego cars on a special track, and many many other things.  Two days was barely enough time, we could have easily stayed for 3.

Safe to say it was one of the highlights of our whirlwind tour.  We had planned to go to the original Legoland at Billund in Denmark but unfortunately ran out of time on our trip.  Oh well, there's always next time!

Haiku for Tabby cat

Dear Tabitha Woo!
Your sweet roundness knows no bounds -
My son adores you.

Our darling Tabs is a giant loving puddle of fluffy smoochiness.  She is honestly the most affectionate cat I think I've ever met - to touch her is to be her friend, and stroking her vast fluffy belly does bring amazing peace to a troubled mind!  She is the perfect mood changer when little kids are grumpy - the suggestion 'go stroke Tabby's belly' is normally enough to cheer them up. 

She mended DS's broken heart when his darling Gemma cat died in 2010 - he has learned to love a cat again because of Tabby.  Good girl, Tabs! 

What a sweet little (*ahem* at 6kg, hardly little) fluffer she is.  Not the sharpest tool in the shed by any means, but totally adorable none the less.

Prettiest cat in Adelaide (tm) - Haiku

Oh Princess Ada,
My fluffy little pusskin:
Grey, white, bony, soft.

Wow, I've never written a haiku to a cat before, that was fun!  Ada is of course totally unimpressed... 

Ada (AKA Pretty Princess Cat, or The Pocket-sized Princess of Perfection, or Trotty Trot Cat) is a grand old lady cat of 11 years, we got her as a tiny tiny stray kitten, and she was my baby until our kids came along.  She's still tiny, just 2.8kg.  My ickle wickle princess licks my feet while I'm sitting on the loo in the morning (TMI maybe?), and sleeps on my feet in bed.  She is named after the first programming language that DH learned at uni (ADA, which is in turn named after Lady Ada Lovelace, the 'first lady' of computers).  Total nerd attack!

My cat is seeing someone else on the side

*sob* What do you do when someone you have lived with and loved for eight years suddenly stops coming home at night? Stops sleeping with you? Treats the house like a hotel, disappears for days on end, and then sneaks in for food at 2am?

This is what is going on between me and my middle cat, Lister! (yes, he's named after a character from Red Dwarf. Google it if you need to)

*wail* The only thing I can think of that set him off on this behaviour is that we went away overnight on Christmas Day. We were only gone for 24 hours, but I think he may still have not forgiven us for going to Europe for 11 weeks earlier this year. Apparently he was veeeeeeeerrrryyy cool towards the cat sitter while we were gone.

*cry* He also may be cross because the hubby has been painting last week too.

*boo hoo*

Who can tell how a puss thinks? He is often a miserable little sod who sprays on things, bites the hand that feeds and gives us the cold shoulder BUT I STILL LOVE HIM ANYWAY!