Crashes, rats, and spare change

I feel like saying it's been a shit week, but I guess that's not fully representative.

You want the low-down? Well today I was rushing to go and found our resident [wild] rat which refuses to be trapped had eaten through yet another one of my hangbags. And then when I was on the bus to work I realised that I hadn't brought enough money to get home again.

Yesterday coming home I dinged up the front of Em's car because the cars in front all braked and I couldn't stop fast enough.. guess I was too close hey? It could have been much worse, but it'll still cost enough :P. And I just feel dumb and awful. Then I was running late to soccer and forgot my shorts! That was more funny than inconvenient, as Rissole ended up having a pair I could borrow. They were entertainingly baggy.

The day before I was stuck waiting for the bus home for like an age, and it was stinking hot and I was tired so I went over to the servo and got a paddle pop to cheer myself up and pass the time. Then this tall scraggly old dude with pale watery eyes accosted me outside and followed me to the bus stop asking for money, because he 'wants to be a poet and is down on his luck and needs money for food.'I never know whether to trust these people, but I thought 'well a bit of change couldn't hurt I guess even if he does just want it for grog'.
But then I couldn't bring myself to reach into my bag and bring out my wallet. I don't know whether it's a habit from travelling where you never ever pull out your wallet in public.. or the simple fact of being alone at a bus stop with a stranger.. And I couldn't offer to go back to the servo and buy him food because I didn't want to miss the bus when it finally came. So I ended up saying I needed my money for the bus and offering him my paddlepop (which I still hadn't opened but was fast beginning to melt. He got offended and stormed off (thank goodness!) and the bus -at long last- arrived.
But I was left so tangled up - mad at him and mad at myself - should I be scared? should I care? should I have just given him money? How awful. Ugh.

So yeah, that's my week.

But it was also great, now I think about it - I had fun at prac (except for in-between groups when I was stressing about how much there is left to be done!), and hanging with the housies, and having lovely people over, and playing soccer.. So it's far from all bad.

However, speaking of prac, and all that work, I'd best be going!!

Buy Nothing New Month - how I went.

Buy nothing new month finished about a week ago. To tell the truth, most of the time I sort of forgot that it was happening.. until I was tempted, and then a some little remembering part of my mind would give me a prod. But that wasn't often. I think I only bought one thing new (apart from the first day when I went to Spotlight :P), which were dowel rods for lanterns we were making.. cos I couldn't think of where to scrounge anything else that would work as well!
So I've proved to myself that I don't actually buy much new stuff.. however I think it did also show that buying nothing new doesn't mean not indulging! I could still buy edible items and shop in op-shops, which are probably my main weaknesses!!
I think it was good just to take a step back, think about how I spend and what I spend on, etc. I think the best guide for me in general though is the old 'don't buy things you don't need'. So I'll try to stick with that.

:)

Midnight Mystery Bikeride!

Once upon a friday night, about a moon ago.. 12 intrepid night-bike-riders set off on their mystery excursion. The only thing we knew was where it started!
One of the 12 was a random rider who bumped into us at our rendezvous spot outside the Stag in Mayfield and spontaneously agreed to come along!
Needless to say, we were all very excited:

 We wove to and fro, through Mayfield, on and off the highway, down dark spooky laneways and and unexpected gravelly hills - where one or two of our members came to grief. But they bravely picked themselves up and struggled on like the bold bikeriders they are.

Here is a fantastic old building we found - can't remember what it used to be, but it sure looks awesome at night!

We stopped for a drinks break at a suprise location in Tighes Hill. The dear people there had set up a mini bar there with a whole range of home-brewed beer, cider and spirits!! There was also non-alcoholic drinks, for the dehydrated among us.

Then off again, over the Carrington bridge:

Along the sleepily glowing foreshore, boats clustered together snug in their moorings..

Crazy lights!

And the final mystery location: the Lass O'Gowrie!
These are all our bikes waiting patiently outside:

The funny thing was though that none of the girls had brought ID, so as it was after 10 or 11 or something we all got locked out and waited dismally on the pavement until we got told off for looking untidy and decided to ride home. Somewhat of a downer, but it was still an awesome night!


p.s. thanks to Skye for the awesome phone pics!

and may the procrastination [not] continue...

Hello and welcome to my epic evening of procrastination! I have an essay due at 9am on Wednesday morning, have prac all day tomorrow, and really didn't want to pull an all-nighter tomorrow night. Oh yeah, and I'm not even near half way :P. But still, I'm procrastinating.

Right now I'm thinking about all the fun things I want to do when I finish uni and prac for the year.

I want to..
-cook lots of fun stuff. Like homemade pasta. and real corn tortillas (for enchiladas!). and cookies. and curry.
-make a pretty bag for my friend. and a dress from one of our million and one roadside pick-up clothes patterns.
-finish my embroidery!!!!!!!!!!!
-eat more mulberries.
-go to the beach.
-make a kite.
-hang out & catch up with people when I'm _not_ exhausted and half asleep!
-play one of those musical instruments I'd like to be trying to learn...
-sleep in.
-tidy my room (I don't actually want to do that, I just feel like I should).

Gosh I'm ambitious. But it's nice to dream at least...



Okok, back to the study. byeee

How to make star lanterns!

A friend of ours made star lanterns for a party recently, and inspired us to do the same!

 I hadn't actually seen the lanterns, but had a photo which gave enough of an idea! So we went to the hardware shop and got some lengths of dowel (these were 2400 by 6mm I think).
For the big lantern I cut them into 1m lengths (10 pieces). Taped 5 together into a flat star, then the other 5 into another. Taped the flat stars together. Then, with han and skye on board, taped some struts in the middle to bend the star into 3D. That was the tricky bit!

Then I made some flour & water glue, and we used old patterns (for making clothes with) to cover the stars.

Han pasting away..

We ran out of time to organise proper lighting, so cut a hole and sat them on lampstands! Voila!

Time to party :)

The African at the Bus Stop

On Saturday night I met an African man at the bus stop (or he introduced himself to me, rather).
He was only a little annoyed to hear he'd missed his bus, and soon launched into conversation, asking what I studied and why, and what Social Work had to do with being sociable, and that I should go and be sociable with his family because they needed help learning english! At first I thought he was drunk (speaking slowly and stumbling a little, leaning towards me.. but soon I figured he was just African, and ESL).

I was more than a little skeptical of him at first (what girl is not skeptical of a guy that randomly comes up and starts talking to her. at a bus stop. at night. ?). But he said he had a family, so that was a good start. He went on to say that his family had just come over to Australia from a refugee camp in Africa and been reunited with him - it was more than 10 years since they'd been able to live together! They were Congolese refugees, and he had been living and working in Kenya while trying to get visas for Australia.. and that's just how long it takes. He'd been here for about a year before they were able to follow him.

He told me that it was all written up in an 11-page story in the Newcastle Herald, which I could search for online. He also told me that as well as studying he was working for some group called Alliance for Peace and they are making a trip over to Africa (maybe Kenya?) in January to help communities over there and that I should go with them and help.

He gave me his number and email and told me I should look up the article online and depending on what I thought, to comment on it or email him.. and maybe I would decide to come and visit his family.

Finally he asked me what struck me most about my conversation with him. I was a bit taken aback, but had to admit that the first thing that came to mind was that he didn't ask for my number! And next, thinking about what he and his family had gone through to get here..
He offered his impressions of me, and then he was off!

I still wasn't quite sure what to make of it all, until just now when I pulled out the bus ticket with his details on and looked up the article:

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/news-features/out-of-africa-in-to-newcastle/2271776.aspx?storypage=0

My gosh, it's such a beautiful story I nearly cried.
You should read it.

Maybe I will go and 'be sociable' with them after all..

Buy Nothing New Month. Day 1: Fail.

There's been an event floating around facebook lately publicising Buy Nothing New Month. A month (October) in which, as you will have already gathered, you're not meant to buy anything new (apart from food, and really really essential things). You can buy secondhand stuff. You can beg borrow barter or steal (maybe not the last), but just not. anything. new.

It's all about "taking October to reassess what we really need, think about where the stuff we buy comes from (finite resources), where it goes (landfill), and what our alternatives are." [http://www.buynothingnew.com.au/]

And I thought - sure, that shouldn't be hard. I don't buy much stuff new anyway. And then a few days later I thought "I really must buy some sunnies before the month starts, because I haven't had a functioning pair for ages.." Wait a second. Maybe I do buy more stuff than I think!

Then today was the confirmation. I nearly forgot October began today, but my dear sister reminded me so I'd have no excuse.
First mistake:
Accompanying my mother on her trip to Spotlight.
Second:
Bringing my wallet.
Third:
Well, I ummed and ahhed and dithered and argued with myself...... and finally cracked.

I attempted to rationalise it, as they're all for stuff for other people.. but it's still a fail.

I have decided to begin the month tomorrow. And I am determined to do better than I did today!! I think it'll be really good just to see how many times I do want to buy things, and be a bit more resourceful in how I react to that.

Wish me luck.

p.s. I also feel this is a good opportunity to take up dumpster diving again :)