Photos, photos

I am having some trouble showing you photos from our trip without uploading them all.

The Amsterdam/Delft photos are on Flickr (I can't get a link to work, dammit, but they are on my FB photos if you can be bothered). However these are a few of my favourites. There is a story to each one of course....they reflect my interests which transcend international boundaries and may bore you all to tears e.g. this one was taken because I found a lighthouse picture in a shop display. (sigh)

This is the quilting fabric shop I found in the Albert Cuypermarkt, so I had to bring 2 pieces home. I was restrained.

The markt sold all many of things, from peonies (tulips were now out of season) to seeds for plants that it is, um, not legal to grow in most countries. I wasn't tempted.

There were beautiful canal walks, with luscious trees and stately and really old canal houses to admire, including the old warehouses with big shutters. I was fascinated to learn that many houses have block and tackles attached to the front top of the house for ease of furniture removal. Sometimes the house even leaned a little to facilitate this. On the last day we went by train to Delft, home of the famous painted Delftware. They even made a chair!There were more pretty canals and houses. It was hard to take a terrible photo, everywhere was so picturesque.

I'm especially pleased to have caught this windmill from the train as we zoomed past. There were some impressive churches in Delft, a 'new church' and an 'old church'. This is a Green Man piece of plaster work from the old church that I like because it is so weathered - I believe it is from 1400-ish. Australians really do scratch our heads in wonder at the concept of such old buildings. Unfortunately both the churches were closed for the day and we couldn't go inside...pity, they each looked amazing from the outside.

One of the places that was open was the Johannes Vermeer Museum. It was really lovely, with lifesize reproductions of each of his 36 known works. It was sad to think he had so few works. Many of the works were painted in a setting in his studio with the light coming from teh upper left as seen below in this pic. There was a little setup with a camera holder to recreate the conditions. This is a random woman I asked to pose for me. She did take one of me but it turned out very blurry. Don was museumed out that day and he sat in the town square with a beer while I took in the JV museum. I'm glad I did. We both cried when we saw the original of the Milkmaid in the Rijksmuseum. It was extraordinarily beautiful. The Girl with a Pearl Earring was in The Hague, which we thought of going to see, but it seemed too hard to reach there from the station, so she 'got away'.

I'll post pics from Italy next time.

About that piece of patisserie...

Never boast on your blog that getting to an airport is going to be a piece of patisserie.

I am now at home in my own cluttered study. We walked through our door just before 5am, drooping with weariness after a very long journey home.

We boarded the RER train in plenty of time to hit the airport well ahead of our flight. Then the train stopped before emerging onto the second station. I immediately felt Don's panic rising as we sat in a tunnel, with PA announcements not to open the doors. Eventually we crawled into the station where people were exchanged, then after a short delay we set off again. Approaching the next station this was repeated with additional announcements about a known delay at a stop 2 further along. We sat and waited. And waited. There was another announcement confirming significant delays of unknown duration due to there being a person on the track at Stade de France. Don went from jittery to practically whistling like a newly boiled kettle! I had already offered to get off and get a taxi, which he had declined. Now I just stood up and grabbed the cases. It was no longer an offer but a certainty. The track was blocked. There was no way around the obstacle because there would be no further trains beyond the blockage to pick up.

We emerged onto the street to an empty taxi rank. Don was swearing and hypercrabby about every jolt of the cases over every bump. I ground my teeth and picked up my guide book (that I had nearly packed in the suitcase) and my mobile phone (with the battery failing fast) and called a taxi company. Just as she was promising me a cab in 7 minutes one pulled up (in front of a bus)in response to Don's frantic hailing. We piled in gratefully as the phone battery died. Eighteen minutes later we arrived where I was left as hostage to the taxi driver while Don entered the airport to find an ATM. He emerged after 10 minutes with 60 euros which he thrust at the driver for a 48 euro fare. When you tot up how much our initial tickets had cost as well, it was a very expensive airport ride!

We checked in easily, in plenty of time and headed to the gate where our seats would be allocated. The girl at the counter assured me we would have good seats but the flight was full. We queued dutifully and passed through all the security checks and got on to our bulkhead seats the centre two of four, with no-one on our outsides. Until ... 5 minutes prior to closing the doors a man with a cute baby appeared on one side, with many bags and trying to hold the kid while he stuffed things into overhead lockers. I beckoned for the baby who flirted very appealingly with me. As I was mid-flirt, a young woman appeared from the other side, looking curiously at me and frowning at the man across us. I then noticed that she had put down a baby carrier at the exit row. As she dumped more bags in the seat next to me it was quite clear that the baby had a Mama. And a sister. And that Don and I were somehow seated between parents of 8-month old twins. Two babies! Yes, I'm so lucky to be on a long flight with two babies, Mama moaned. We offered to move so they could sit together. Our offer was rejected irritably. It seemed she was just quite irritated. Full stop.

Papa had retrieved his little guy from me and was struggling to get him double seat-belted in place for take-off. Mama had settled the sleeping little girl to her chest under many floaty drapes without noticing the need for a double seat-belt. She turned her head and tried to feign sleep, while sniffing away tears. Okay.....

As we taxiied she leaned forward and saw the extra seat-belt stuffed into the seat pocket. She clucked her tongue and curled her lip as I offered to help. It would have been nice to know of this earlier she snarled. I applied my soothing never mind, it won't take a minute voice as she lifted the draped sleeping baby from her chest and I groped for her seatbelt, unfastened it, added the baby bit and reclipped it onto her, then clicked it around the baby. There, there. We took off to the loud wailing of baby boy, dummyless (it was in one of the many bags). Sigh.

It didn't get much better from there, in fact it descended into some level of hell for the first 8 hours of the 12 hour flight which left at midnight. As soon as the seatbelt sign was switched off the flight staff assembled the bulkhead bassinets for the babies, but only after they put up our screens on stalks from the armrests of our seats, effectively trapping us in our extremely hard seats for the duration of the flight.

(edited to add:If it sounds like I am hard and unsympathetic to families flying with two babies across the world...um....I don't mean to be. My heart did sink for them, a bit, as soon as I saw them. But it sank for us a trifle more, especially when I realised that the bassinets meant we would be trapped in our seats. They themselves had asked to be seated in that configuration. They did refuse to be sat together, and frankly it would not have made much difference. Someone had to sit next to them. Besides, my ass wouldn't fit into one of the aisle seats anyway. And I do like babies, so ... I suspect I was somewhat reluctant partly because I had a cold-sore healing on my face, and I couldn't snuggle and drool on them as I would ordinarily like. I looked like a leper. It was a drawback.)


Am I painting an effective picture? A bulkhead seat never gives quite enough legroom anyway with the seatpockets blocking full knee extension. The seats were rock-hard from the moment we sat down. They didn't tilt back much, and we couldn't extend our legs anyway. The aircon was set to inferno. The seats were so narrow my hips were cemented in the forward facing position. The couple tutted at each other across us, each dealing with their own baby. And Don and I tried to get some sleep (who am I kidding) It. was. not. good. Because of the bassinet barriers we had to climb up onto the seats and walk over the armrests to get out to go to the toilet. I managed it twice on my side and had to wake Mama up from her deep sleep (in those 5 mins) to get back in.

After 8 hours we possibly lost all sensation to our backs and lower limbs, because it seemed we were marginally less uncomfortable, but it could have been that our spines were now permanently remoulded. I'll let you know about that.

Breakfast was served about 1.5 hours prior to landing and both parents had their hands full. After we finished Papa was struggling to get a mouthful with a wriggling little guy who was yelling his head off so he came to sit on my lap again for a while and I fed him a breadroll which kept him very amused for 20 minutes as he gummed and sucked it to death and rained crumbs down the two of us. Mama had disappeared for a while but when she came back her little girl decided that she wanted some of the roll too so we passed it around and all got crumby together. It was a fun way to end the flight.

They live in Singapore so were not coming on to Perth (shame) but we landed to the news that the homeward flight was delayed by 2.5 hours, so we had 4 hours in Singapore. That left us with time to scour the terminals looking for a replacement hat for a fantastic little number that Steff had lost in Melbourne after only 2 weeks last year. It was such a good hat that it needed to be replaced. We found it in the last terminal we searched. It was so worth it.

Finally our flight boarded and we had a row of four to ourselves. There is a God. A bit of sleep then an hour of immigration, baggage waiting, customs and taxi queues.

We crept into the house and put the kettle on (its been 2 weeks since we've seen a kettle) while I jumped into the shower. Then I got out hurriedly to let Don in to cool off a burn to his groin from a hot cuppa he had slopped straight from the kettle. Bugger. It was not too bad but it stopped him from sleeping in bed as he needed a cold compress to stop it blistering. Luckily it missed all the interesting bits of anatomy, but it made him think twice about sleepily getting naked in anticipation of a shower while manoevering boiling water! Its OK today, although for a minute there I could see myself heading straight to the hospital at 5.30am before we'd even slept.


The house was in good shape. Presents have been given and well received. I'm heading out to the shops to get a roast for dinner. I've seen both of the kids only now- Steff went to work while I was crashed this morning and Don only saw her briefly before he fell back asleep on the couch, and she has just arrived home. Mum is blogging...what else is new - in my defense I had hoped to be finished with it but got interrupted with a phonecall I couldn't get out of. Our reunion was very happy nonetheless.

I haven't downloaded any photos yet. You'll see them when I do.

Bonjour and Bonsoir from Paris

We are homeless in Paris.

After a very busy 46 hours we checked out of our hotel 6 hours ago and have been wandering the hot and humid streets of Paris while waiting for our flight from CDG2. We can get there easily from our area on one of the RER lines, so the journey there should be a piece of patisserie.

Paris is truly gorgeous. We are staying in the 4th between the Pantheon and the Luxembourg gardens, so breakfast and the afternoon nap were spent under the chestnut trees - in the afternoon the park was teeming with folk (Don says 'frogs') escaping the heat with a glace from the van outside the gates. They were doing a roaring trade! We have been jumping on and off the metro across lines to visit or revisit our favourite bits-The Eiffel Tower this morning, and Saint Chappelle without all the scaffolding. Then across to St Germain des Pres, and lunch from a great boulangerie by the Seine with aching feet watching the tourist boats, to Saint Sulpice and gasping for water to catch our strength again then back to Luxembourg

Our hotel has one of the smallest bathroom in the known universe. I kid you not. I can't stand side-on to the basin with the door shut and dry myself without scraping and thumping bones and causing much swearing. Sitting on the toilet is a particular art - luckily I am good at bellydancing cos there's a moment when you have to swivel in a half-circle as you sit to avoid the basin without hip-bumping the door. Of course this may more about the diameter of my hips than the decor....However...when in Rome. - I'm sure there are many Parisiennes with permanent facilities just as cramped, and the location for the price!


Last night we had dinner with a colleague of Don's from Perth in a little neighbourhood wine bar/restaurant in the ?14th i think. It was delightful. Very limited menu - which is usually a sign of good cooking we always think. We even had a couple of fragrant soft cheeses and I had an orange creme brulee which was really, really good and well worth the wait. The staff were run off their feet and you could see their minds going at a million miles per hour but boy do they know their stuff. Its fascinating to see the really professional and slick french waiters in their uniforms of one sort or another, black vests, sometimes a cap with tailored pants in a traditional style. We were in Monmartre yesterday and it was quite a side-show to watch them as they coped with all the tourists flagging in the heat, efficiently seating them and reviving their spirits with beer, or in my case tea.


The flights home are a slightly daunting prospect. I have my oh-so-sexy white TED stocking to avoid swelling up to my thighs and I plan to indulge in a movie or two as we have been a bit limited in access to English language stuff for a few weeks, but hey - it IS Europe and it has been fabulous to see a bit more of it. I am a lucky, lucky duck.

I suspect my time may be up soon so I had better post this and move on.

Au revoir!

You should see the view!

I am going to try and be really clever now and take a photo with my mobile and email it to myself here at the cafe right now, hang on....talk among yourselves.......waiting for them to arrive so you can see the photos.

I am on the shores of Lago Maggiore at Stresa. It is seriously gorgeous. I feel like I'm on the Riviera. The Isola Bella is almost touching distance away. The little water taxis cruise in and out (in fact I may catch one to go along the waterfront to the town square which is about a 2km walk).

The hotels along the lakefront are stunning. The Hotel Regina Palace which is the venue for my husband's conference is just that. Palatial. Lush, tasteful furnishing with a neutral and gold theme and each room is accented in a different colour. Red for one room, pale blue for another, green for a third. All with really high ceilings and enormous windows that overlook cascading gardens. Heavenly.

Yet it is not at all posh. There are a range of hotel standards. We're in a little 2 star place that has really nice rooms and a bathroom and balcony just a street back with lake glimpses. The community is nestled into a hillside, with small villages adjoining. I wandered around one yesterday, walking (uphill, gasp) from the internet cafe I am at currently. It ended up being a 5km walk. I felt very virtuous.

I am going to sign off now. The photos haven't come through yet, but a cablecar (won't) awaits me to take me to a mountain top. Such is life.

Caio belle

We're in Milano!

Its lovely to be back in Italy! The language is so familiar, the people and food so comforting.

We spent yesterday on a day-trip to the historic Dutch town of Delft. When we arrived it seemed to be closed :( However we wandered around for a bit, followed a walk in the guide book, sat and had a beer (I had a hot chocolate, it was quite windy and cold) and then bought some souvenirs. There was a free open-air concert at 3pm which we decided to stay for of Tchaikovsky's 5th, Saint Saens and something else. It was very pleasant and by the time it started the (very pretty market) square was packed and the sun was out. I also went to the Vermeer house exhibit and bought an antique Delft tile from 1740. Just one. Its a bit battered but that's the way I like it. We elected not to go to The Hague on the way back, and headed back to Amsterdam and a kebab dinner, packing and planning our Milan experience (only 24 hours).

After a pretty early start and hanging around the airport for. a . long. time. (don't ask) the flight was easy. We arrived about lunchtime and trained into Milan, stopped briefly at our hotel and ventured out to see the Duomo which was really spectacular. Mark Twain described it as breathtaking, with a lightness of body and so we found it so too. It reaches for the sky, and seems impermanent as if made of starched lace. Contrasted with the inside which is dark and almost brooding, but with incredible spaces. It is the second biggest cathedral in the world (apparently) after St Peter's basilica - but its not nearly as impressive as St Peter's. It has nicer candles though....I light candles everywhere we go, especially at a Lady Chapel.

There was also a spectacular Triumphal style arch in honour of Victor Emmanuel II with a beautiful light filled gallery, housing some of the world's spectacular fashion and accessory houses. Louis Vuitton. Prada. And, strangely, a McDonald's. Such a travesty of a beautiful space.

We walked through this area to La Scala which we were unable to enter sadly, but the touts were out offering tickets to 'Aida' for tonight. Pass. Too long, I couldn't face it after a long day of travel.

We ate an inexpensive lunch in the piazza overlooking the Duomo, fed the pigeons a few crumbs then dragged our sore feet home via the backstreets, only getting a little bit lost. However i did have faith that the streets of Milan were present for centuries before we arrived, and they were unlikely to have vanished from a map, even if it did seem they had. We walked one block right, or left, or further and there we were, back at the hotel.

We are now showered and chilling out with a bit of wi-fi internet and email in our room and laughing at Star Trek and An Affair to Remember dubbed into Italian. We plan a nice dinner somewhere tonight after a nap.

I'm looking forward to being in Italy for the rest of the week, then on Saturday we're off to Paris.

Lucky, lucky, lucky ducks. Not rubbing it in, just...appreciating the moment.

Notes from Damrak

Hi y'all from Amsterdam

Our first impressions are very favourable. What a laid-back city! There don't appear to be any Beautiful People in Amsterdam but there are a LOT of people having a good time. A large serve of Patates Frites seem to be de rigeur at 4pm. And shouting as one returns drunkenly to the hotel, or rolling one's suitcase loudly on the cobblestones is the go at 4am. Take it from me.

We are staying at a budget hotel on a very busy street and we have a front room with a street view, which also means street noise. The room is comfortable in itself, and we have trams right outside the door that take us in all directions. We are quite jet-lagged and will be hoping to sleep properly tonight without waking at 3 am, or having too much of a nap and sleeping through until 8pm, which is still in bright light. Earplugs are a distinct advantage. Say no more.

So far we have seen the flower market, been on a canal cruise, wandered around the Dam, booked tickets to Delft for Sunday, eaten cherries and grapes, smoked eel, been to the Rijkmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, eaten lunch in the park, wandered the sidestreets and seen the coffeeshops, and after our sleep-in nap had a very nice Thai meal on the edge of the red-light district. We wandered home through the area, a bit underwhelmed and noting that there were a lot of men in Amsterdam everywhere. It was curious

Today we have been to the AlbertCuyper Markts. It was very long, it went for blocks and blocks, but we only bought fruit and chocolate. The trams are very easy to navigate, and everyone speaks English which is extremely handy. We kid ourselves that we're pronouncing the names of places properly, and every now and then locals will butt in and tell us we're heading in the wrong direction! They've saved our bacon heaps of times! Luckily all the trams come so frequently that we don't have to wait too long for the new one in the other direction.

We are also acclimatising slowly to the traffic direction and the bike lanes - I have nearly been squished a few times stepping onto tram tracks and looking in the wrong direction!

Overall it is an immensely pretty place, interesting and old, easy to get around, with good inexpensive food and friendly people. We are suffering slightly from the affliction known as "Museum Feet" but otherwise having a marvellous time. Naturally, photos of interesting places and sights are being taken...but I forgot the USB cable for the camera so you will have to wait. Sorry. It really is very picturesque. Ooh, but we could try this link and see the video e-card we sent to the kids. Its pretty lame but...authentic.

Whats new in your world?

Packed and outta here!

Well, I'm off again.

Guidebooks? Tick.

Knickers? Tick.

Bras? Ooh, that was a close one, I nearly forgot...Tick.

Favourite husband? Tick.

Lots of books to read on the plane? Tick.

Colour coordinated wardrobe for European early summer? This season Laura will be seen in a versatile wardrobe of black, pink and purple accents. Two pairs of shoes only. Tick.

Camera and batteries, card cleared for lots of vital photos? Tick.

Adult children prepped and briefed and cooked for and groaning under lists? Tick.

Various family members ready and organised to help out with appointments? Tick (thanks so much gang).

Blogs read? not yet....I wish I could suspend Bloglines for 2 weeks, but I may have some downtime while Don is at his conference so I can sit in a cafe somewhere and catch up.

Off to the world of airports, fabulous cities and 3 non-English speaking countries in 2 weeks.

Caio belle!

Blondes have more fun

Well, I've been a busy little bunny.

You may have noticed my photo has changed - this one was taken on Friday when I was out at lunch for a retirement do for one of my husband's oldest colleagues. We had a riotous time at a local restaurant I have been to 3 times in the last 2 months - I had a great prawn dish with garlic prawns, coriander and lime sauce. The waiter was a bright friendly guy who joined in our jokes, and kept us discreetly walled off in a private courtyard, so we didn't disturb other diners with our hoots of laughter and loud stories. It was a really good long lunch, with quite a bit of...um...celebrating.

I finally begged off at 3pm to return home and cook for the afternoon tea we hosted yesterday for my birthday. Excuse the red-eyes in the picture below, but its the only photo I have that shows any of the spread.

We had pumpkin scones, vanilla cupcakes(GF), orange and almond cake(GF), smoked salmon rolls and sandwiches, Greek hazelnut crescents, chocolate biscuits (GF), and a chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream, toasted pistachios and drizzled dark chocolate (yum), all washed down with tea and coffee in nice china cups, just like Ladies. When we'd finished being ladies we got stuck into a nice red wine to finish, but it was ostensibly an afternoon tea and I had a great time. It was marvellous to have an excuse to bake and bake and not to have to eat it all myself.

The girls really got stuck into the afternoon tea as well, and polished off the plates nicely, then sat under the table chatting to each other (6" away) via Facebook. It was hilarious.

It was a lovely excuse to dig out the good china. I especially enjoyed the way all the china connected me to women from my past. I had 3 teacup sets from my late Nanna, one I received for my 21st, 2 from a friend's mother that were gifted to me by my friend, a favourite plate from a late aunt of my husband, another plate from friends in Japan, my lighthouse cups, a set of 4 from my sister's wedding china that she gifted me with a few years ago. A silver fold-up tiered what-not from an elderly connection of the family. A china coffee pot that belonged to my late mother-in-law, whom I never met, and a small plate that was hand-painted by my paternal grandmother. She died when I was 15.

I feel very connected to these woman from all facets of my life. The guests included 3 friends I did midwifery with; 3 friends I have known from Mother's camp (one of whom is also a midwife); Lesley who I know from playgroup 20+ years ago, my daughter, two of my sisters, two nieces, Steff's friend A and my Mum. There were a few men present as well, but it was mostly a lovely gathering of women.

Ah, it did my heart good. What a lucky woman I am.

Not to mention the fact that this time next week I shall be in Amsterdam. Then the north of Italy. Then ... (squee) ... PARIS again! Sigh. I'm almost jealous of myself.

Blonde!!! And Scrappy Katz

This really is the last word on bathroom business. My niece and my daughter in the bath. See how big it is?

My sister dyed my hair again on the weekend..we were aiming for a little darker, but got red-gold instead. Oh My! (excuse all the mess in the background)

I'm shocked to see it so light, and reddish. I think I like it straightish though. I can't remember the last time I had such long hair.

Of course it is way too hard to keep all straight and cute though. I just keep flippin and flickin it around like a teenager! I may darken it a bit more...and keep it in the normal loose curls.

Anyway...Les and I had a lovely playdate yesterday. We made some Scrappy Katz - I saw them in a Cloth Paper Scissors Mag (they were called Gypsy Cats) a few months ago. SO I felt I should cut out a bunch of elements (head, arms, legs, bodies) and we would just play and embellish them, rough and ready, using heavyweight fabrics, uglies and textures.

Les has two more at home...hers are orange and a lovely brown wool tweed.

We had a good time. I can feel I will definitely make more of these.

Back to work today..back to the ward! OMG I'm gonna be tired!!!!!!

The lurgy is lurking, and I don't feel quite bad enough to call off sick, but I really hope I'm not contagious, handling all those women and babies. I hate to call in sick, I'd rather work than be off feeling awful. I am looking forward to seeing all the lovely ward midwives. Its certainly very hustle and bustle on my ward!

Have a good Thursday!

In further news...

Look what's finished, and heading to Victoria tomorrow.

I'm really thrilled with it. Its the first really scrappy quilt I have made. There are more than 55 different fabrics in it.

This is Lesley on the phone to Frogdancer having a phone blogmeet the other night. We'd just put the binding on and Les had started the first stitches to turn the binding.

While we were on the phone to Frogdancer she told us Jaryd went to Canberra this week to meet the Prime Minister and to speak to primary schools in the ACT about the impact of the fires on someone his age. Unfortunately some place callled North Korea decided to explode a bomb somewhere and the PM was unable to meet Jaryd, but he did meet a minister or two. He told them and the schoolchildren about the blogging community and the support he and his family had received, along with the support from the rest of Australia through many appeals etc.

This quilt started back in early February when Victoria in eastern Australia experienced the terrible fires that wiped out whole communities. Frogdancer knew someone, Judy, who had lost everything. She and her son were wiped out. House, clothes, books, homework, guitar...the lot.

Frogdancer asked her readers if they had spare copies of books that a 17 year old avid reader might need to restock his library. Books turned up from all over the country.

I didn't have any books Jaryd was interested in but my stash was certainly good for a quilt. I'm really enjoying sharing my non-perishables lately, and the stash is , ahem, quite substantial, so I can't even see where its been taken from.

Frogdancer had more than 65 fabrics in her quilt bundle I sent her. It turns out Jaryd's Mum has that quilt now...which is really great. Widget has about 20 fabrics in the back of her quilt. See Frogdancer's quilt extravaganza page for photos. I'm tickled to think of them being together. I wonder if the quilts will recognise each other as coming from the same fabric stash stable?

I chose a stash of colours I thought he would like and set to work piecing the top. Les was en-route home after living in USA for 3 years, but was lined up to help with the basting and quilting.

There were a few hiccups along the way, but Les put the borders on it and finished the stars, then we basted it. Then Lesley quilted it. Then it got swore at a lot, and got a new back and basted again. Then it came to stay at my house, where it behaved much better, having learned its lesson in what happens to misbehaving quilts. Meek and mild, it submitted to quilting, then finally binding.

Lesley has just unpacked her Harry Potter complete set, and it is about to head to Jaryd along with the quilt.

Its the first big quilt I've made for ages, and has been a nice refresher for the big quilt I plan to make for next year.

Good little quilt. Your two mummies are very pleased with you now.
Off to Jaryd you go, keep him warm, and share a hug or two from us.