onesie, twosie, buckle my shoesie!

The good old Aussie Macquarie Dictionary - interestingly I can remember the first issue which was pblished in 1981 - has again been working hard to find some more words to add to our already bursting vocabulary. 

Not surprisingly the 'peoples choice award' went to ..... drumroll..... the onesie. Now to those of you who have been on planet Mars for the last few years - let me describe a 'onesie'. Apart from being hideous most of the time (well actually all of the time) - it is what we old timers would call a 'jumpsuit' - but with a hood. So I guess you would call it a hoodie and a jumpsuit rolled into one = a onesie. 'ies' seem to be the fashion of the day. It should never be worn outside the house - or inside - in my opinion - although granted it does look comfy to watch telly and eat your dinner on your lap!

You too can wear a kangaroo for lounging around while shovelling crisp crumbs into your 'pouch'

You donkey you! What is it about the low slung crutch?

Oh and by the way the Committee's Macquarie Dictionary choice for word of the year is infovore. Never heard of it myself but it means and I quote "noun - a person who craves information, especially one who takes advantage of their ready access to it on digital devices." Now I have heard everything! 

What do you think of this new committee choice addition to our vocabulary? Would you ever use it? And would you use it scrolling your digital devices in your .... onesie?!

Good old Superman - well at least he can hop out of it and be Clark Kent in the zip of an eye!

 

The owl and the pussycat

I was reminded recently of this 'ditty' or nonsense poem by Edward Lear, first published during 1871 as part of his book Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets. Click here to read the entire poem

A rather fury pea-green boat

 The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
   In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
   Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
   And sang to a small guitar
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
   What a beautiful Pussy you are,
       You are,
        You are!
   What a beautiful Pussy you are!

I recently received one of the most charming 'animal' videos in an email recently. I really encourage you to click on it here to view. Sometimes nature shows us how 'uncomplicated' life can be and invites us to re-jig our preconceptions of cats and birds - or should I say an owl and a pussycat!

Now I'm rather drawn to owls since a haunting 'experience' I had when staying in a chateau in the south of France a few years ago. The wind came up in the dead of night so I decided to close the shutters. As I moved to the moon-lit window I was stunned to see an owl swoop towards me and hover just out of reach for what seemed like an eternity as we eyeballed each other.  He/she was so close that I thought he was going to come right into my bedroom. And then he swooped off before returning for a second look! And then with a hoot I can still hear he turned and flew towards the moon! Yes really. It was a most unnerving experience. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing upright! I finally closed the shutters and crept back to bed but sleep alluded me. He seemed to be hovering whilst I tried to dream.

This is the watch-bird watching you!! (dzineblog.com)

I think about 'my owl' often and have even begun a small collection of owls as a reminder of that strange and eerie moon-lit night in the beautiful French countryside. All I can wish for is that he was a wise old owl - I just haven't worked out his message yet - although perhaps it was to say - "please don't sleep in the nude - it's a sight to behold"!! But I'd like to think that it had more meaning than that!

A true story

I received some correspondence recently which included this 'story' and thought I would share it with you.

Harvard University

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston and walked timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University president's outer office.

The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge. 

"We'd like to see the president" the man said softly. "He'll be busy all day" the secretary snapped. "We'll wait" the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted.

"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave" she said to him!

He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them and he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office. 

The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple. 

The lady told him, "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was acidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."

The president wasn't touched. He was shocked. "Madam" he said, gruffly, "we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh no" the lady explained quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit and then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard."

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. 

The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don't we start one of our own?"

Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr and Mrs Leland Stanford got up and walked away, travelling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about. 

People will forget what you said.

People will forget what you did. 

But people will never forget how you made them feel. 

A true story by Malcolm Forbes

In memory of....

Mr and Mrs Leland Stanford- what a gentle handsome couple

Have you heard this story before? I hadn't but I'm so glad that I've heard it now! I hope you are too.

I love her far horizons

A 22 year old homesick Dorothea Mackella (1885 - 1968) wrote the iconic poem My Country (click to read the entire poem here) while she was in England. And to this day it still resonates so much with all Australians.

I love a sunburnt country

A land of sweeping plains

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror,

The wide brown land for me!

A friend lives about 2 hours north of Melbourne in a smallish country town. Her home overlooks flat paddocks that we Aussies are so familiar with. Whenever I go to visit we sit out on the deck (another Aussie icon!), drink in hand (another Aussie tradition!), watch the setting sun and marvel at the changing colours of the sky. It really is a wonderful sight. It always brings a tear to my eye. This country of ours is a land of big skies, far horizons, wide plains, ancient rocks and gente low hills. A worn out ancient land. 

Mist rising and nature presenting herself perfectly

 

Heavenly

 

An ever-changing vista - how could you tire of it!

But even in downtown Melbourne the evening sunset can bring a tear to the eye.  Chatting on the terrace one evening (drink in hand) I had to rush in to grab my camera. The colour of the sky blew me away.

Inner urban Melbourne - sooooo beautiful

As Dorothea said "The wide brown land for me!" Are you a skywatcher - particularly with a drink in hand?

Windows Downunder

I don't know why it is that the design of our homes and in particular our windows rarely take into consideration this hot and arid country.

My flat tin roof, no overhang and north-facing windows (and a parking sign!!)

I live in an architect designed 15 year old house which I love but which should never have been designed as it is! Well not in this country. And I know this house is not a 'one-off'. They are sprouting like mushrooms all over the place. Not only does the house have a flat tin roof with no eaves for shading my biggest beef is the windows! Now everyone knows that once the sun hits glass it doesn't matter how you try to foil the heat it is pretty much too late. My double casement windows firstly have no protection on the outside but they also open outwards so there is absolutely no chance of putting charming 'European shutters' on the outside to protect the glass. 

The entrance to my home - shutters on the INSIDE!

I've invested inordinate amounts of time trying to find a way to rectify the problem and I've invested a large amount of money on a mildly successful window coating treatment and inner shutters. Both of these have certainly made a difference but oh how I dream of windows opening inwards so that a Middle Eastern or European window treatment could be applied! Here are some of the windows I would love to have had the option to choose and those I considered. Enjoy the ride!

Build an 'outside' Mashrabbya - wouldn't the Council love that application!

Yemeni children peeping through their 'blind protectors'

Matching outside shutters (widows open IN) and baby blue Citroen - France - surprise surprise!

Outside shutters in St Paul de Vence - so typical and so suitable for the Australian climate!

I even considered this 'addition' seen at the wonderful Alhambra Palace in Granada

A temporary addition in Cordoba - impossible to put on the outside when the window is open!! Great (!!) colour

Pretty rush blinds in Cordoba (impossible with out-opening windows!)

Flowers covering the windows in Cordoba (heaven but....)

Roll-down blinds with windows opening - IN - Cordoba

Blinds in Seville

I even considered something along these lines - built out to take the windows opening OUT - Sitges, Spain

And finally the slide-across option in Sitges

As you will see I did a lot of homework! I did a lot of thinking! I did a lot of discussing! I took a lot of advice! All to no avail. I even looked at replacing all the windows (well reversing them..... ha ha - so that they opened IN - I am still recovering from the shock of the quote!) And I'm only talking about my casement windows. I haven't even broached the subject of sheets of glass - facing north and west particularly - with no double-glazing, no overhangs, no verandahs. No wonder people fled their hot-boxes for hotel-living during the recent hot spell. The only winners - the electricity supply companies!

Does anyone know why our windows are made to open out? Is this a hangover from British Colonial Design!?!

Oh Oh Mr Palladio

The Veneto region of Italy includes the World Heritage listed city of Vicenza - renowned for Palladian villas. Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) was the architect for the Republic of Venice and is widely acclaimed as the most influential architect of western architecture. The region is peppered with his buildings. Born in Padua (where Galileo Galili was once a lecturer at the 800 year old University and where Shakespeare based his Taming of the Shrew) Palladio moved to Vicenza when he was 16.  As you will see below he was profoundly influenced by his study of the surviving monuments of classical Rome.

Andrea Palladio in the main Vicenza square - admiring his designs

The Palladian style can be seen throughout the city. No wonder it's a World Heritage site. Many of us would perhaps be more familiar with his style of buildings in Britain as both Indigo Jones and Christophen Wren amongst others were influenced by his work. And what work.

The view from our hotel window - old Vicenza is a walking city

He was prodigious. In Vicenza alone there are 26 buildings attributed to him. And here are just a few to wet your appetite.

The main square - the Loggia del Capitaniato

Vicenza from the room of the Loggia

More Palladio from the Loggia

We loved the 'formality' of the designs

The Palladio Museum gives a wonderful overview as many of his designs are exact minature models of his buildings. There was a hush in the 'model room' - everyone was in awe of his work . 

A room of models - just imagine a dolls house in this design!

The old town is wonderfully 'Palladio' signposted making it easy just to wander and enjoy. 

Here a Palladio

There a Palladio

Everywhere a Palladio Palladio!

You should have the 'picture' now!

So if you haven't been to the Veneto region which includes the World Heritage sites of Venice (naturally!) Verona (Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet) and of course Palladio's Vicenza then you may want to consider it on your next trip to Italy. I highly recommend it!

Gluten Free in Italee

Well there I was off to pasta/pizza-loving Italee only to be diagnosed as a Coeliac just before I left. Anything containing flour was a no no. So there was to be no pasta, pizza, cakes and divine biscuit treats on this trip - unless they were 'gluten free'. Knowing the symptoms of the disease 'intimately' I knew I couldn't risk either ignoring or cheating on the diagnosis. The consequences in an unknown city did not bear thinking about. 

As we were leaving just after this 'wonderful news' I hadn't really come to grips with what I could and couldn't have for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Suffice to say I did what turned out to be the most sensible thing I have ever done - I carried 4 packets of Corn Thins - just in case. Well 'just in case' turned out to be my saviour. I would have starved to death without them! Still I headed off confident that an egg and perhaps some ham and cheese for breakfast would suffice, a salad with ham, proscuitto, chicken, tuna and perhaps a minestrone for lunch (sans the crunchy bread) - the choices would be limited but available. And of course for dinner there would be vegetables, meat, fish etc - all would be well. Well, well it wasn't!

Corn thins, corn thins, corn thins I love you!

On arrival in Venice I asked the the manager of our hotel where we could eat as I couldn't eat pasta - unless it was gluten free. He looked at me as if I had three heads and said "But this is Italy!" Yes I knew we were in Italy - I'd just flown for nearly 30 hours to get there! I just hoped for a different response. And that set the pattern for our two weeks in Italee. 

We struggled through breakfast at the hotel - with me gazing longingly at the pastries. At least in Venice we were provided with a selection of (one) cheese, perhaps some ham and rubbery overcooked scrambled egg. Not a boiled egg in sight. After our Venice sojourn the hotel breakfasts were a disaster. Not an egg, slice of ham or a slice of cheese was sighted. 

Lunch proved just as challenging. Now I must admit that we didn't work hard on long lunches due to the fact that it was dark at 4.30 - 5.00 each evening (in summer a long lunch wouldn't be a problem). We didn't want to waste the day when there was so much to see. Now a 'normal' tourist would stop for a slice of pizza, perhaps a quick pasta, or a panini on the go. No such luck for me. A panini lunch for my friend had me scrambling for a soup (never found one!) or a salad (forget it!). It was really bizarre. Thank heavens for the corn thins. They were diminishing at an alarming rate!

Dinner was another problem. After a day traipsing the sights we were in need of an early dinner. No such luck. On many a night two Aussies could be seen noses pressed to a restaurant window pleading with those inside to let us in before 7.30 - 8.00 pm. We were always greeted with 'ignore those tourists' (I thought we were their bread - well corn thins - and butter!) and never acknowledged. It was extraordinary. So many a night found us having a 'picnic' on our beds. Corn thins and cheese and ham if we happened upon it in our travels.

There's only so much drinking that can be done between sunset at 5.00 and dinner at 7.30. If we'd partaken of a drink or three or four to fill in the hours then dinner would have been a 'write-off'. I felt so sorry for my friend who would loved to have enjoyed a pizza or a pasta and a wine. Instead she gallantly joined in the search for a restaurant serving anything else. Now I'm a risotto fan and had - as it turned out - foolishly thought that it would be my savior. No such luck. Risotto was never served for one - even when I pleaded - it was always a dish for two.

A Venetian bed-picnic - my friend enjoying her slice of pizza while I drool! (sorry Pammy!)

In Bologna we struck gold. But it was gold through good luck and not planned management. We had rented an apartment. On our first night we walked the streets, pressing our noses to closed restaurants (open at 7.30!) until in desperation I espied a mini supermarket. We fell in the door and almost cleared the shelves. Fish, chicken, eggs, wonderful sliced meats, vegetatbles, salad mixes - we thought we were in paradise! (I can assure you this was not a paradise location but who cared). And so we trundled back to our apartment and 'cooked up a storm'. We ate our supplies for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Bologna. 

The Vicenza 'farmers market' - but no sliced salami here - just obscenely large salamis (!) to take away

On our final night in Italy we returned to our favourite Venice restaurant. And there on the menu was risotto - for one - but my heart sank - it was black ink risotto and if there is one thing I can't abide it's black ink! But one of the reasons we loved this restaurant was the owner (yes he was charmingly Italian!) He produced - just for me - gluten free pasta with pippis - a Venetian staple (well not the gluten free bit). I could have kissed him (well I could have anyway - but you know what I mean!) And so our farewell dinner in Italy was just as I had imagined so many Italian meals that I would have savoured in the past. 

Gluten free Pippi Paradise in Venice

So if you need to eat gluten free then be prepared in Italee. Travel in summer when you can enjoy a leisurely restaurant lunch or stop for a salad or alternatively rent an apartment where you can cook up a storm (or even a boiled egg!). 

And so my new gluten free motto is 

"Have corn thins will travel"