Friday, November 20, 2009

My New Friends of the Bug Kind




I was bringing in my washing this afternoon and spotted a large praying mantis. She was very cute and very interested in my camera and was very pleased when I put her into our bottlebrush tree.

I also spied a large grasshopper who took the liberty of jumping on me and making me scream, so I then put him into the bouganvillea.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Using Public Transport ~Hints and Tips!

As a non-driver I use public transport to get around a lot of the time and there are certainly things you pick up when using public tranny often.

My first post about public tranny is going to focus on Taxi's. My sister caught a taxi home yesterday afternoon and the driver "forgot" to turn the metre on! She has actually caught a taxi home with him before and he has done the same thing. He then charged her about $2-3 more than it actually costs to get home!

Tip One... Check that the metre is on. If it isnt tell the driver or tell him to pull over and let you out. Dont let him or her drive you home as then they will know where you live! make sure you make a complaint about this.

Tip Two... Direct the driver if you know where to go. They will try to take you the longest route and the one with more traffic lights. If you direct the driver they cant take you a route you dont like. If the driver keeps making mistakes tell him to pull over and get out. Again make sure you make a complaint.

Tip Three... make sure the driver isnt The Bone Collector!

Tip Four... Trust your instincts, if the driver looks off dont get in, just pretend you dont need a cab and give it to the old lady behind you. Check the papers the following day for missing old ladies.

Tip Five... Some drivers are really nice and honest and drop off so many people in your family they take you home without you even telling them anything more than your street name! If you catch a cab home from the same rank, same time, same day its likely the same set of drivers are on and you will recognise one you like who wont try to jip you, wont drive you home the long way, & wont kill you and dispose of the body under old railway tracks.

Any more tips on taxis, leave me a comment!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Self-Serve

My sister came home complaining about how hard to use those new self-serve checkouts are. I have been using them most visits to the local Coles and find it quite easy after having the lady stand there and guide me through it the first time I used them.

last time I was at Coles I didnt want to use them though...In fact I am now having a kind of ethical aversion to them.

These are my reasons

1. Isnt the point of Aldi being cheaper that Coles etc does things for you...eg pack your bag, check you out. When Aldi first started this was the idea-no choice, pack your own stuff and they dont supply a bag. So these days Coles are about to make you pay for a bag, make you check yourself out, and they are removing half of their products too so we have to buy that You'll Love Coles shit.

2. No human interaction. I am already loner enough, take away my shopping interactions and I may as well start talking to myself in the shops!

3. Will Coles kids lose their jobs? Even though most check out operators are as useless as a fart in the breeze they still are doing a job that so far needs doing.

4. Those machines screw up and leave customers swearing at them and acting like little children having a tanty at the checkout. I dont really like swearing or adults acting like pathetic little weiners when something wont work and having a go at the service person trying to help.

So despite the convienience and the time saved (I am way more efficient than the real check out peoples) I choose to now avoid using the self service checkouts. And Coles will have me complaining at them if the 12 items of less checkouts are left unmanned (as they were when I was last there).

Monday, October 12, 2009

Aldi Finds


My partner started the Aldi obsession. He is constantly at Aldi checking out the current special buys and buying most of his groceries there, the catalogues are always in his car and he is always report different purchases to me.

I think their sausages are the best, other than that I dont really go there enough to keep on top of what the real bargains are; the special buys that dont sell that aldi mark down.

To know these I have to rely on what Andrew is telling me..."there are so many of X left, and they are $20 off" etc.

My first purchase at Aldi was a Rowing Machine, and boy do I love it. When I had a back injury and couldnt use it I was really down...

I didnt buy anything at Aldi for ages after that, then recently I need a postal and pigeon scale and Andrew suggest their nutrition scales...They work a treat (as long as they are on a level surface!), they are p to 5kg too, so my post and pigeon (he needs weighing once a week) are all taken care of.

My latest buy is the cat scratching post that I bought as a Bird climbing thingy! it was just $20 compared to about $50-$80 in the pet stores. The birds so far are afraid of it but they will get used to it, probably need to hang a stack of treats off of it!

Monday, October 5, 2009

So Much Time, So Little To Do! Strike that, reverse it!


I imagine at this time of the year almost all of us are having this same dilemma- So much to do and so little time. October is here, its nearly Christmas and I'm having all these great ideas for new things to make but just not getting anywhere as there are the normal things to keep on top of and designing takes a hell of a long time.

My current plan is to tackle 1 or 2 things at a time, and write all ideas down! They may seem quite dodgy ideas in a month or 2 anyway!

Meanwhile I did make an awesome 2 headed chicken, see the picture with this post and the etsy listing.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31846396

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Batteries Not Included


When I was working in retail we sold a lot of pieces that ran off batteries. There were clocks, christmas displays, santas on ropes, talking animations...all needing batteries, generally of the AA variety. Most of the time with each sale I would caution on using fresh batteries, and good ones, not those $2 for 10 you get at the bargain shops. Often someone would come back with their item and when I would replace their batteries with our own the item would work fine, "did you use fresh out of the packet batteries?" "I'm not sure, they were in the drawer." Are you kidding me! So you waste your time coming and telling us your item doesn't work and you didn't even use fresh batteries!

My family has a habit of not being able to throw batteries out. Ever. They take the batteries out of a mouse, a camera, the remote, and just leave them lying around, throw them in a drawer (then you get batteries leaking all over the place) or even put them into something else. Is it so hard to let go of batteries? Do they really think they will power other items? Are the secretly stashing them for a Tommyknocker invasion?

I implore all of you secret battery stashers, throw out those old batteries! Dont store them in a drawer, they are not going to magically aquire more energy! (unless you have the powers to do that kind of thing).

Friday, August 28, 2009

Pizza!

I am a Pizza nut these days. I dream about it. But none of that evil Pizza Hut or Dominos, its all about Eagle Boys of the independent pizza restaurants.

My good friend Jo works at Pizza Miltonio at Milton in Brisbane, and she is going to tell us a bit about Pizza!

Tell me a little about Pizza Miltonio?
Jo says:
well...it opened 4 years ago. I am an original employee, the only original left. I feel like part of the furniture.

What do you like about working in a Pizza place?
Jo says:
I like meeting the customers.

Simmone says: At least she isnt eating the customers!

What is your favourite Pizza?
Jo says:
Super Supreme

Simmone says: That is what I had, was really excellent! Next time I need to get olives and extra pineapple!

Do you ever skimp on the topping if a customer is mean?
Jo says:
no, I tend to make a pizza extra good if the customer has complained about their previous pizza.

How many times a week do you have pizza??
Jo says:
everyday! well every weekday!

Simmone says: am now convinced I am in the wrong job!

Any advice for Pizza lovers?
Jo says:
choose wisely and enjoy your pizza!

Simmone says: that sounds almost sinister Jo!
For a menu go to www.pizzamiltonio.com.au

Sunday, August 16, 2009
























When I went to Tokyo with my Nana over 2 years ago she bought an interesting Keyring made of brown leather with some nice little cow fur patches. We went into this little shop near the JR train station in Ueno and there was a keyring, it was kind of expensive (4000 Yen) and she couldnt decide whether to buy it. Well the next day she bought it and it has lasted her well the time since. She has always had these little fold away keyrings where the keys sit in the middle and are folded up to keep them tucked away and safe.


I was inspired by this interesting design to make some little keyrings of my own using some cute fabrics. The keys sit in the middle and are folded up and tucked away...when in use just flop out the keys. The keys are all tucked away when not use so they arent getting tangled up with your other bag goodies and they arent scratching your sunglasses or phone, and they are made from some very cute fabrics!

These little keyfolds can be found at www.madeit.com.au/thelittleorchard


Monday, August 3, 2009

"Well, allow me to introduce myself to you as an advocate of Ornamental Knowledge. You like the mind to be a neat machine, equipped to work efficiently, if narrowly, & with no extra bits or useless parts. I like the mind to be a dustbin of scraps of brilliant fabric, odd gems, worthless but fascinating curiosities, tinsel, quaint bits of carving, and a reasonable amount of healthy dirt. Shake the machine and it goes out of order; shake the dustbin and it adjusts beautifully to its new position." Robert Davies

Let me introduce myself...Simmone is my name. I like birds. in fact my cockatiel just typed that full stop. Good job!

I cant really figure how to introduce myself, so lets just say...I am currently a full time artist/crafter, I have a lot of pets ( I will certainly write about them here), I like sci-fi, I love to read, I often watch crime dramas -and especially like Bones, I am a little messy and unorganised though I wish I wasnt, I love listening to Neko Case, I own the 3 Resident Evil dvds, and I love Totoro.