Do you have Paddington Bear in Aus?

Only on telly for kids to watch.

...because you could put tags on them in that style.....

but if you don't that will mean nothing to you.

If you raise a smile, people are more likely to take notice, is what I'm thinking here.....

Actually, I think my brother and his wife are secretly stockpiling my preserves for when I'm dead so that they can then sell them as world famous first edition items and make millions of dollars.

I might do a black ops mission and go steal all my stuff back!

Or send Max with a sign around his neck....

Ali - hit the op shops!!! I bought heaps of beautiful old jars for 50c each and I just bought new seals.

Mum does tomato sauce every year and we know if we don't give her the bottles, we don't get any sauce!


Me.. Something bit me when I was in the garden. Single puncture wound not sore on the surface, but deep tissue pain. Addison is coming and checking on me every 10 mins because he wants to call 000, Tyler thinks I might die.

Stupid dog dug through again and let BOTH mine out, I got home at 11pm and had to go find them. I nearly ran that black fuck down, i did biff him with a brick i picked up and hurled (pure arse that i hit him)...today i laid down mesh and burried it, pegged it, filled the hole with dog shit and will lock my dogs in the shef again tonite.

I hope you can keep that mutt out from now on Ducky. I might try the op shops next time.

Ali, hook up with Ducks.
You both live in the same place after all (snicker)

Ducks with a half-brick will convince your brother and wife that perhaps returning jars is a good option. Or her in denim shorts and workboots will, anyway.

lol...I think we'll probably try and get together some time soon anyway. I'll be in Gympie a fair bit of Christmas break, so maybe some time then.

i can't sleep. it has been a miserable time for me. i spent thanksgiving alone and ended up eating a subway sandwich. friday was the 6th anniversary of tull being killed at camp hit, he was decapitated by an ied blast while serving as a gunner on the bn commander's veh. he was scheduled to go home in about 2 weeks. i'll never forget the blood in that veh and the body pieces. 4 of the 5 occupants were wounded. i still have my boots and iba carrier with their blood on it.

In so many ways i'm so alone and haunted by things in my past. sometimes i think i see tull in the corner of my eye. just a glimpse at times. for some reason it gives me comfort. if only i could sleep and forgive myself. will i ever find peace and happiness? will i ever get well or they ever figure out what is really wrong with me. I'm so f-ing tired of getting a different diagnosis and another tumor evry few months.

I'm so sorry you're alone right now Sarge. I wish I weren't so far away or I'd come over and give you a big hug and keep you company for a while. xxx

I'm so sorry you're alone right now Sarge. I wish I weren't so far away or I'd come over and give you a big hug and keep you company for a while. xxx

Ditto what Ali said, Sarge.

:hugs:

If my arms were long enough .... I do hope you can feel teh Cellar lurve, Sarge. Here's hoping you start to feel less alone real soon x

Wss^

With you in spirit mate.

Be calm, Sarge.
Tull would not want you to suffer this way.
He chose his life the same way you did.

I'm sorry you're alone, but you won't be for long.
You have wonderful children, by birth and by choice.

Cyber hugs until you are with them again.

And sorry for all the shit you have to go through with your health.
All the Cellar ladies would try to massage you better if they could.
Although there might be a longer list for some parts than others!

Hang in there Sarge. Remember the good things in your life. You are a good man, we can all see that.

Ball and Kerr are the names of two of the most popular mason (canning) jar manufacturers in the US. They both have been bought up by a parent company.

I know what you mean about getting the jars back. Between breakage, misappropriation and non-returns, I drop about 40-50 bucks a year on jars. It hurts when you do it all at once, but you don't notice it 50 cents at a time.

"A penny for a spool of thread, a penny for the needle, that's the way the money goes, POP goes the weasel..."

Sarge,
I'm sorry to hear about your pain and wish I could offer you something to lessen it or make it more bearable.

You are in my thoughts.

Sorry for whining again. I'm making the switch from Celexa to Prozac and it is a tough transition. BTW, I do have enough sense to realize the glimpses I see of Tull are not real. I'm not that far gone yet. Anyway, here's a link to Tull's info

http://militarytimes.com/valor/army-...l-tull/1380543

You have my deepest sympathies, Sarge. My Dad was career Army - fought in WWII, Korea, and two tours in Vietnam. After Vietnam, he'd get the worst nightmares - wake up my Mom and me with his screams. The VA sucked back then just like it does now. This country should be ashamed at the low quality of care it bestows upon our vets. Hang in there. We're all sending you good thoughts.

Sarge, sorry bro! keep your chin up and remember the good times!

Thinking of you and hoping things get better. Hang in there.

Up and down the City Road, in and out of The Eagle, that's the way the money goes, POP goes the weasel...

The news about Carmen remains bleak. It sounds as though she suffering from some form of dementia/hallucinations. Her husband called and said that she is fighting everyone, pulling out her IV, refusing to have any tests done, and asking for money (?). So nothing is being done in regard to diagnosing and treating her which I don't understand. But its hard to get good info out of hubby anyway. He seems to understand about half of what's he told in the best of times.

Meanwhile, my cow orker while expressing concern for Carmen, is at the same time in the midst of staging a coup. Cow orker claims Carmen was losing it before she got sick and yelled at cow orker alot for no reason. Frankly, I have lost my temper with cow orker more than once and if Carmen did too, she probably had good reason. Whenever I have worked with Carmen, she was always pleasant to me and if she did get irritated at something I did, it was usually because I had messed up on something.

Cow orker has moved into the motel in Carmen's absence and claims that if Carmen comes back, cow orker will lock her in the back bedroom. :eyebrow: Cow orker also talked the owner who is out of town, into giving her the lion's share of the extra hours, meaning extra pay. She informed me of this this morning, and I'm so mad I could spit.

Between having cow orker suddenly take it upon herself to become the new manager/tyrant and my concern for Carmen, I am very upset today - apparently along with several other people here. What is this? A bad conjunction of the planets or what? :(

It's okay, you weren't so keen on having to cover all those extra shifts for Carmen anyway, right? Even if the other coworker is officially promoted to manager in her place, you've gotta figure it's not going to come with a raise. You don't want to be "moving up" the career ladder in a place like that anyway, you want to be looking for ways to get out of there as soon as you can.

You're right, Clod. I guess more than anything I am upset about having cow orker as my new manager, since cow orker is far from being my "nbff". Carmen was the one bright spot on that job and if she's gone...

I came very close to quitting on the spot this morning, but I need the money. And who knows? Maybe Carmen will come back and lock cow orker in the back room!

What kind of idiot thinks it's a good idea to use live fish in tiny vases as table decorations at a swim banquet? :(

I know, I know, they're just feeder goldfish, but we -and 45 teenage girls, sat there and watched them expire whilst celebrating swimming achievements. :(

How did they taste?

Don't be silly, dead fish can't taste anything.

Minifobette woke up mean this morning, partly my fault because I forgot one of her meds last night and partly because it's overcast and raining and that fucks with her head somehow, either because there are pressure changes giving her a headache or she just doesn't like the sky being different, who the fuck knows. Couldn't get her morning routine done in the standard hour-and-fifteen-minutes, so she missed the bus, thus I got to park a block and a half away and walk her in the pouring rain, meanwhile she's still whining about the fact that she's not carrying both umbrellas, and she doesn't like me wearing my jacket, and then she got mad that I lifted her over the giant puddle so instead she went back and dropped to her knees in it, then she was pissed because she was all wet, and then the stupid crossing guard nagged me about jaywalking instead of going all the way down to use the crosswalk, and helpfully suggested that I leave younger siblings at home when taking my children to school, because apparently my other children got the invisible gene from their dad's side, and the visible one wears this giant school backpack for fun, didn't you know? Oh and also, Minifob woke up blowing green snot everywhere, so his blood test next week is probably going to show that his WBC count has not recovered into normal ranges yet. And tomorrow I have to attend a PPCD Christmas party, then a Kindergarten Christmas party, then a therapy clinic Christmas party, all of which require me to make single servings of various holiday-themed snacks so my kids will have something to consume like the other kids, and real Christmas is coming and we have to drive 7 hours to see the in-laws and pack all the necessary food for the 3-day trip and my stupid car needs $2000 in repairs and yesterday I tore a hole in the knee of my last pair of jeans.

Okay, I think I'm done now.

Wow ! Some Moms are supreme beings.

I agree.

damn Clod !!
Ya still got any hair left ???
Stay strong

Oh man, and today even got worse later on. Got Minifobette's allergy panel back from the lab. We had tested for every single food she eats (only about a dozen,) plus the full regional inhalant panel (basically every tree that grows in Texas,) trying to figure out what the hell is giving her the constant allergy symptoms no matter how much Zyrtec and Alavert and Singulair we give her.

Anyway, results are in, and it turns out she is indeed highly allergic to just one thing: butternut squash. Which, you know, she only eats 4 times a day. It's the main ingredient in a "juice" puree I make for her that both provides necessary nutrient content as well as delivers several medicines. So over the next few days we have to gradually switch her over to a new blend using zucchini as the main base and hope she accepts the shift in flavor. That's convenient. :rolleyes: At least we have an answer, even if it's not the answer we wanted.

Um Fob, you made my week look not so bad and it was kind of sucking......

The rest of them are just useless drudges getting by on minimum effort, selling their kids' food coupons to feed their crack habit....

My first actual "shift" at work was good, then really really crap when I picked up my phone and had a missed call from my Mum (babysitting) 3 hours earlier, the stupid voice to text gave me this message "Edita and got a cap to clean his eye. Give us a call"

wtf? call Mum and Addison had stacked off the bed and crack his head open on the bedside table. She thought it might need stitches.

Get home and there is a 2 inch split between his eyebrows, which is still bleeding and gross.

Off to ER at 10pm at nite, home again at 1am with the gaping hole glued together.

sign the papers so she can take them to the hospital in an emergency ,
Boys will be Boys ,
And dont forget those feral Roos !!!

Shes all set and could have taken him Zip, she didnt a good job of patching him up until I got home.

Poor kid! Summer holidays and he cant get his face wet for 10 days....although its raining, and he has a cold, he still wants to play in the rain or swim.

i can dig it , i had a broken arm one summer , couldnt swim and play in the sprinkler

And NOW look at you!

How's the shoulder?

I am feeling calmer and I read Clodfobble's storm of shite up there so now I feel a bit better and can stitch my tale of woe (for it is an Eyore's tale) to the bottom here.

Son number 2 is going to move into his aunt's house to dog-sit for a week and then he will move into his own abode.

I have been literally homicidal and suicidal and even a tad arsonist-y.

It has been a weekus horribalis.

whew. I feel I can finally breathe after two weeks.

How's the shoulder?
funny thing is ,,, its the same arm
and the shoulder is Barometric

I was gonna suggest that you start incorporating seasoning with a pronounced flavor (like pumpkin pie spices) then it occurred to me that those are probably "off list."
If not, then the flavor of the spices will overwhelm any change in squashiness.

Also, do you bake or boil the squash? Caramelization adds a lot to the flavor profile and esp. with butternut which has a lot of sugar. If you do, be sure to caramelize the zucchini and add some sort of sugar (a tiny amount) just to give the zucchini a chance to develop those Maillard reaction flavors.

Or not. Probably not.

:weather:

I'm glad you're feeling better Bri. Missed you.

I know how it is having an unwanted presence in your home, and the horrible stress it causes.

Cheer up girl! You're loved. :)

I know how it WAS, having an unwanted presence in your home, and I know the stress it causes. How it clouds everything. How you feel sick to your stomach either knowing they're there, or wondering when they will be there and how they will act. I know the resignation one feels when one decides to just stay in one's room, to just avoid it all. I know the relief when it's finally over. I know the almost post-traumatic stress as you hear a car door and think they're still coming back. I know how it feels to have your custom jewelry stolen out from under you. I know how it feels to feel like an intruder in your own home. I know how it feels to try to hide food and beverages and all the things you pay for because otherwise you'll never get any of it. I know what it's like to be treated like a piece of shit by the pseudo-intruder in your home. I know what it's like to hear about smack talk from said intruder around town when all you've done is try to help the best you can. I know...

Never mind what I know. I'm just relieved for you, dear.

:)

I just microwave it a bit before blending, because it makes it puree smoother and also gets it out of its bulk frozen state.

Good news is, she totally took it like a champ. Didn't even notice the half-and-half blend, and when I gave her a blend fully substituted with zucchini she stared at it in bewilderment for a moment, then went back to drinking. So now I'm just excited to see what sort of allergy relief she'll finally get to see in the next few days.

Ducks, you should post a picture of the boy's gash. Are you already out from school for the holiday break? If it heals too much before he sees his friends again, maybe he'll want to take the picture to show them so he gets full badass credit. :)

So glad to hear the situation's improving, Bri. Christmas miracles all around!

That echoes some of how I felt sharing a house.
The other girls thought it was so funny that I hid away in my room.
Ha ha ha.

Bitches.

Oh, and wondering if they would be really drunk when they came home and use their 100 pound weight advantage added to gender advantage to beat the shit out of me in my own home.

Hence the graves in the basement

Okay. That's rough.

All I had to wonder about was whether they would come home coked-up and clop upstairs in their heels sounding like Ragnarok, then proceed to have noisy sex (aka fake orgasms) at 04.00 when I had to leave for work at 07.30.

I've met people who have tried to casually use earplugs and given up.
I was committed. I broke through the oddness of being surrounded by sounds of my own body and disconnected from the world.
Even on my own I feel safer sleeping in them now.

You remember the Homeless Guy?

It got really bad before he finally left. He didn't hit me, but he got in my face a few times (again, in my own house) and was a real asshole and I was so miserable I didn't know what to do. How mean of me, to let him live there after his house burnt down, rent-free.

So after I finally got up enough guts to contact my attorney (though HG never hit me, he scared the crap out of me, very unstable character there at the end) to start eviction proceedings he left the state with the wife of the guy who ran the bar he hung out in. He got his sugar mama. She's his problem now, thank gawd.

And I've not been able to find all my jewelry (a lot of expensive custom pieces from my marriage...ex's best friend a very artistic jeweler) but I could have hidden it from HIM and forgot where I hid it, but no luck so far.

Sorry, don't know why this poured out now, after all this time. I forget sometimes how much that affected me.

This is your parents you're talking about?

Infi, I found a lot of my issues with my Mum come out on here - and they just come out when and where they do.
I always thought you should kick the bastard in the balls, but I had no idea of the dynamic of your relationship. Thank FSM he absconded. POS.

Nah, HLJ - Dad would like to but Mum isn't interested.
She was, once. Well, three times by the evidence!

And she asked me to buy her a vibrator.
I did.

Fast-forward eight years and I hear her laughing on the phone that she once asked me to buy her one but I got one so fancy she was scared to use it.
It was a Rabbit.
I don't know whether it was her spinning a story for a friend, or the truth. Smacks of the truth to me.
Sad. It came with fucking instructions! [deliberate]

:)

Thanks Sundae. That made me grin.

Caught her lying again today.
No wonder I grew up with a casual regard for the truth.
She didn't realise I heard her on the phone last night, cancelling plans with the daughter of a friend because apparently Dad had such a heavy cold. I thought it odd at the time - he sounded fine to me.

Then this morning she said that they weren't going out today because N had cancelled.
Adding, "You know what she's like!" for verisimilitude.
Hmmmm.

ETA - and far more important.
Diz is all wheezy and huffy again and it terrifies me.
Something he's eaten has gone down or up the wrong way.
This happened a couple of months ago, but I had to go to school so wasn't around to worry about it.

It can only be beebles, so I am assuming it will break down and not be a problem - unlike when he had the chunk of gristle stuck; that was obstructing his airflow, as opposed to just making him cough and sneeze.

Still hate it though - there is nothing I can do :(

Also, went down to the Spar to the cashpoint - it was stuck on "Please remove your card".
I didn't dare force my card in there right before Glasgow!
So I went inside to queue up at the counter behind all the people sending Christmas parcels.
10 minutes later (at least quicker than the main Post Office in town) I walk out past the cashpoint to see it is on the correct Welcome screen. D'oh.

And the traffic was really heavy on the Elmhurst Road, so I walked up on the unsunny side, aiming to cross at the top.
I didn't even see the ptach of ice I slipped on.
Whoosh, my front foot just shot out and I was down on my bum before I knew what was happening.
It was surprisingly painless, although I barked my hand a little.
A young Asian woman with her toddler son rushed to my rescue. She was approx 5'4" and about a third of my weight. Bless her - I think I nearly broke her getting up.

So there you go.
Nothing like Clod's saga, but enough to make me grumpy and sad.