*eco* May 8, 2009

Ok I am a bit of a plastic bag hater when it comes to supermarket shopping – I say bit in that the only thing I like them for is when I am buying milk (which frequently leaks) and meat products (especially mince). So If I do have to get a plastic bag, I also reuse it as a bin liner. But apart from the one plastic bag I usually come away with for those items in particular, the rest of my stuff goes into those reusable shoppers, or will be going into some lovely new string bags my mum is going to get me (they take up less room, and apparently are a bit more sturdy than those reusable ones – I find the handles seem to tear easily).

But one thing I disagree withis talk of banning plastic bags all together (including for supermarkets) as has been done in South Australia. I think supermarkets & butchers/delis/fishmongers should be able to have them because I really have issues along the hygiene lines at those places. I also think you could be able to get plastic bags if you request them/pay a charge for them at the supermarket – it is a problem if you are away from your local area (ie travelling through or for work) and you need to buy stuff and don’t have a reusable with you (I have had that happen to me and trying to get an armful of bits out of the shop when there was NO option for a plastic bag was a freaking nightmare).  I wouldn’t mind paying a bit extra if I used more than one plastic bag at the supermarket (I think one plastic bag per person per transaction free is not to much to ask) and lets face it there are other times they are just handy – like wet clothes or muddy shoes that need to be carried in a bag with other items.

I would think that the govt could make it legislated that all plastic bags need to be biodegradable – I would think this should not be that hard given the corn starch etc options that are out there – this might help solve the problem too.

But one form of plastic bag that totally absolutely annoys the living shit out of me is the little ones you get when bagging up fruit & veg – they are really only one hit wonders (not big enough to line bins with), and are completely wasteful.

So I did a search for an aussie company that makes reusable fruit & veg bags and found THESE – http://www.freshmesh.com.au/

They arrived yesterday, I used them yesterday, and they ARE FABULOUS!! SO easy to bag up bits, the weigh next to nothing (so the extra calc on the register would be negligible) and did the job perfectly. And for a reasonably small outlay (which included free postage – even better), I have something that I can use again and again.

The smallest bag (orange) is quite tiny though, so if I ordered again I would probably get a few extra of the yellow and red. The blue is really big.

The site also says they are made by a group of women living in one of the areas affected by the tsunami which helps support their families etc, so that is another good benefit of purchasing them is that they contribute to the livelihood of people in those affected areas.

Anyway, there you go, a good alternative to those crappy fruit & veggie bags.

end of eco rant.

*the annual mothers day gift tirade* May 1, 2009

OK I was in the big town over today, and came away SEETHING at the shitty mothers day marketing. I know I seem to launch into a tirade every year, but BLOODY HELL can marketers of crap not get it into their heads that just becasue someone is a freaking MOTHER they don’t necessarily wish to be given a display of familial gratitude in the form of a GOD DAMN VACUUM CLEANER OR OTHER DOMESTIC CHORE RELATED ITEM.

And by the way, this blog post is directly aimed at older teenagers or young guys and recalcitrant FATHERS of young kiddies who seem to think it is not their duty to guide their small progeny in the ways of giving mum something she’ll actually REALLY LOVE instead of something she bloody well has to fake delight over. And believe me the FAKING DOES HAPPEN!

Lets go back to the basics first.

Why it is that when Father’s day rolls around, there is suddenly advertising for all sorts of great stuff like sports equipment and power tools and things you can do fun stuff with. And all the mothers wrack their brains about what caring/thoughtful gift the “father” would just love, then hustle their youngsters (generally well in advance of fathers day) along to guide their kiddies to pick out a nice thing that daddy could actually use AND like  – along the lines that new golf club or ski rack for the vehicle or a great spanking new BBQ or flatscreen TV or the boxed set Indianna Jones DVD collection, while the older kiddies/teens/adults can manage just as suitably fun gifts like a sidchrome tools to add to dad’s set, tickets to the AFL grandfinal, a trip around the Bathurst race track, or a quality bottle of bourbon.

But when mum’s day commercialisation hits the ground running, for sure you see it advertised that “mum would LOVE an IRON or a TOASTER or WASHING MACHINE, or CLOTHES DRYER, or electric fucking BLANKET,  etc etc etc***” as a token of your appreciation of her having had a child bloody well withdrawn from her body in a VERY UNPLEASANT MANNER that generally requires lots of stickybeaks peering into her nether-regions, poking and prodding places that should NOT be poked and prodded, insurmountable PAIN PAIN PAIN and stitching and medico’s and/or male partners asking dumb-arse questions like “are you comfortable” or “do you wish to see the head crowing” (and the million dollar answer on BOTH accounts to those questions is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO)…

whoops, distracted there, I just had a nam style flashback…..

Basically my point is this. Dad basically does jack shit when it comes to bringing a baby into the world. So really, it should be that the big ticket LEISURE/FUN/OUTDOOR ACTIVITY/NON-HOUSEHOLD-CHORE-RELATED items are relegated to being the domain of the great goddesses that are mothers (along with the token sweet crappy stuff the kiddies make in school), and DADs should be targeted with the coffee mug/toaster/and stupid USB attachment gadget.

And the male leader of the family household that his wonderful wife so selflessly gave birth to should bloody well know better than to:

A) let the (young) kiddies decide wholers bowlers what mum would like. It is not that hard to guide the offspring. For example:

“No little Johnny, Mummy might not think a new pair of granny slippers is really necessary as her current very lovely Peter Alexander hot pink Uggs are still fine, how about we go look at the new release rock CD selection and grab her the latest Lily Allen or Kings of Leon disc – you an pick between those two…”

or

“Hmmm, ok sweet little Susie, mummy MAY appreciate you thinking of her need for a waffle iron so that she can make you a hot cooked breakfast on Saturdays, but perhaps she would think that an even better idea is that fantastic blu-ray player or the complete boxed set signed edition of the Sookie Stackhouse series of novels OR tickets to see Robbie Willaims – how about you choose between those things…”

You see this is how mums typically get the kids to buy something that dad might actually LIKE while still giving them the deciding power…. NOT.ROCKET.SCIENCE.DAD!!

B) Rush into panic buying mode and succumb to the mass marketing ploy that his young wife in her thirties who has bred him x number of fabulous kiddies would really think that the Celine Dion complete collection and biography would be on the money for something she would love. (this point also applies to the older “present buying aged” children who may individually be sucked in by crap advertising to decide something mum would love).

Really, the only time an appliance is acceptable is when the woman has SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED IT to be given as a gift – and if in doubt, see point 1 below on giving a VOUCHER instead.

SOOOO for any of the male population who have the mother/s of their children to think of on Sunday week OR offspring who are a bit older and needing to choose mum something she would like, here are some good suggestions of things to get for mothers day…

1. VOUCHERS – seriously, it is not hard to go wrong with these IF you can also show you gave some thought into buying a voucher to a place where she could have a bit of an indulge in something for herself – the beauty therapist for a pedi/mani/massage, any larger more quality store where she could choose something great, the great boutique she always likes to go into, the totally rad homewares store she stops and check out the window display of whenever you are in town, the jewellers, the online store she likes to screen-dow shop at, the hobby/activity/sporting store in line with things she likes to do on her downtime,  or the multimedia outlet so she can pick the NOT Celine Dion complete collection and biography.

2. VERY EXPENSIVE NON-CHORE LIKE ELECTRICAL ITEMS*** – yup, we are talking the lcd/plasma screen, new iPod/sound system, wiiFit, recording system, computer/laptop, kick arse coffemaker (if she is into coffee), new DSLR camera, photoshop editing program etc etc.

3. EXPERIENCES - how about thinking if there is something she might like to go and do or see, explaining in a card that you wish to help her do it, and then after she says “YES THAT WOULD BE AWESOME” or “OMG THAT IS SO SWEET, BUT YOU KNOW THAT I WOULD LOVE “X” EVEN BETTER”, you go and make ALL THE ARRANGEMENTS as per her request so she can go and do it…. wether it is a dinner at a restuarant with her friends she hasn’t seen in years/family/couples she loves, tickets to pink or a night at the opera or a weekend at Uluru or a DFO shopping trip to Melbourne – do your best to facilite it to happen so that she doesn’t have to lift a finger!

4. CREATIVE STUFF – explain to her you would like to buy her some art or a photography or handmade piece, and then go with her when she picks it out – (word to the wise, do advise what your budget is, but for fucks sake make sure it is at least $50 bucks – you have 12 months at a time to save some bucks to get her something she would like – less than $1 per week people!!)

5. LIQUIDS & FOODSTUFFS – if she digs champane, BUY HER SOME BOLLY or other drop she likes, if she is into chocolate SPLURGE ON THOSE REALLY GOOD HANDMADE ONES. BOOK a restuarant and take her there! Drive her to the wineries so she can have a tasting day. SURPRISE her with a prepared gourmet cheese platter and other delights. CREATE a great hamper filled with her favourite coffee and tea, and include some of those from the gourmet grocer that she may not have tried before. FIND OUT HER FAVOURITE foodie things and give her the BEST OF IT that you can afford!

6. PERFUME/PAMERING – that is the easiest of all – find her favourite scent and BUY HER MORE, or organise a day of pamering.

FINALLY (yes, the tirade is nearing it’s end) -  MAKE IT MEANINGFUL – mums will aways say something along the lines of  “yes, the wonky clay item that was supposed to be a coffee mug but resembles a sad ashtray that little Richard made is just the best and I don’t need anything else” – but really, they are lying,  and inside feeling sad that the more responsible/older members of the household (IE THE DAD) didn’t at least try to figure out something that might actually make mum happy on Mother’s Day.

So put a bit of effort into your gesture – wether it is brekkie in bed and getting out her fave DVD’s for a movie watching day, taking her on her favourite nature hike, or putting together a mixed CD of songs she might like, even if you don’t spend an extra cent on her on mother day, MAKE YOUR GESTURE A THOUGHTFUL ONE.

OK, going now. I am very glad to have gotten that off my chest.

(*** note the inclusion of a new KitchenAid mixer, “quality” coffee maker, and maid service that involves a shirtless hottie male doing the housework is exempt from this appliance diatribe.)

*monsterlolly* April 25, 2009

I want my next birthday cake to be this…

its by Sarah Illenberger (via www.beautifuldecay.com)

it has unwrapped ferrero rochers for eyes people!

*SATURDAY* April 4, 2009

Things that are great about Saturday.

1. A “slight” sleep in till 7.15 when the Destroyer arose – it gives me hope now that when the clocks go back the will be up at 6.15. Which is bearable when put in context that he has been getting up at six freaking 15 this week – I had been shuddering at the thought of this continuing into non-DLS time when it would be a hellish 5.15 in the morning. The worst part of that scenario is that he starts yawning at 8am saying he is still tired. STAY IN BED ASLEEP THEN I say. To which he says. NO. simple. (argh the joys of negotiation with an almost 3 year old).

2. PJ’s till 11.15 (at least – I am still in them now as I type – I daresay a nudge towards 11.30 wouldn’t be pushing it!!)

3. A lovely big fry up brekkie consisting of pancakes (penguin pancakes from the sunbeam waffle maker), grilled bacon (rindless shortcut, cooked but not crispy please), free range eggs fried in just a touch of canola spray so they aren’t greasy (still slightly runny yolks thanks so much), some pine/orange juice (in a tall glass with ice), and having my mum & dad, and the princess’ friend “the Bee” (as the destroyer calls her) all eating with us as they stayed over last night.

4. Going to a little Stampin Up get together this arvo – taking the Princess and The Bee with me, the destroyer has gone to the big town over with his dad to get some new points for air seeder. Which brings me to the next good thing about Saturday…

5. IT RAINED last night so there are still lovely puddles around the place – we lucked out under a storm where we nearly had an inch of rain – when a couple of neighbours barely had any (and another had none at all). But we’ll take it, the Farmer can even get started on the cropping Monday when the water has had a bit of time to sink in. Can everyone please request that this sort of rain continues throughout the year!! PLEASE!

6. We will be having take out chinese for dinner tonight which I shall be brining home with us after going to the SU get together. Yum. My fave is Braised Chicken & Vegetables (no onion or cauliflower, extra broccoli please!).

8. The weather has cooled off nicely after the festy humidity of yesterday – I love warm sunny days and cold nights where you need the doona on.

9. ummmmm. Just being Saturday is freaking great in itself!

10. I’ll think of something later to be 10. The day is nowhere near being done yet!

have a fab weekend kids!