Author: Susan

Good morning….

/ Susan / Leave a comment

Good Wednesday morning, Australia and Good Tuesday afternoon, America!

As some of you know, my family has slept with a “sound machine” since MBD was a baby. In fact, our original STILL WORKING 11 year old Conair Sound Machine is at my parents’ home in TX as I grudgingly write this post. Why did we leave such a classic piece of machinery, you ask????

Welcome to my world of 240V electronics. You would be amazed at what is and is not usable with 240V. Some of the 120V items we left in the states include hairdryer, expensive flat iron, all clock radios, small kitchen appliances (think toaster, hand mixer, etc,) my beloved Vornado fan (bought in Chicago BEFORE I was married,) and practically anything else that plugs into an electrical outlet. Computers, cell phone, iPads, iPhones and such, you ask? All will work here with a $12.78 adapter. But hold on there buddy, you DON’T HAVE CELL SERVICE HERE!!!! Cellphones are called a mobiles here, pronounced mo-BILE.

I especially miss my favorite coffee maker….AND they don’t make American coffee makers in 240V!! This instant coffee thing is for the birds. I can’t gripe too much about the coffee tho since I haven’t explored other avenues. Anyone have any comments on a coffee press? How does the dang thing work? It looks to me like you end up with coffee grounds in every cup.

What DOES work here, you wonder? Outside of computers, cell phones and iPads, the only electric appliance I brought that works is a tiny (think 2 inches here) cheap flat iron I bought at TJ Max for MBD’s bangs. Go figure. It has become such a “joy” to flat iron her entire head of long to the middle of her back hair with a 2 inch iron. Lovely.

So as you move about your afternoon today, stop and take a look at each electrical item you use to see if you can bring it with you when you come to visit us. (hint, hint) Converters you ask? Absolutely, we have them here and they will convert your 120V appliance to 240V for the low bargain price of more than $700 AUD. It makes you put things into perspective – I KNOW that is our favorite and most beloved sound machine but I think I paid $29.99 US for it back in 2000.

I do believe I have found a solution tho. Last night MBD slept for almost 12 hours! There are TONS of “white noise” apps on the iPad and iPhone. I downloaded an app called Sleep Pillow onto the iPad, plugged it in (with the adapter no doubt) and turned on some rain for the night. Worked like a charm….just like when she was a baby!

Have a fabulous afternoon!

Toodles!

5 Days In

/ Susan / 2 Comments

Hello world!

I moved our blog to this new domain because some of my computer challenged family and friends were having trouble with the Google Blogspot. I want to make this simple and very easy to use. Let me know what you think……I think????

It is Tuesday morning, 6 December here in Sydney. It is also day 3 of rain, cold and overcast skies. This makes it difficult to get the transplanted 11 year old out the door. Sunday we stayed indoors and saw My Wonderful Husband (MWH) off to Melbourne for the week. Yesterday I got My Beautiful Daughter (MBD) out on a short walk to see if we could spot the harbour bridge. It was a great walk through parks, neighborhoods and alongside a shipyard. We eventually crested the hill to spot the bridge through houses and trees. MBD took a picture which I will post later once she agrees to send it to me. Needless to say on the way back, we were rained upon! Oh well, cold rain never hurt anyone….right?

On the walk we decided we might start a list titled: You Won’t See That in the States! I think I’ll make it part of this blog so we can update it on a regular basis. Look for it soon.

This Friday we will begin the search for our permanent home here in Sydney. We will concentrate on the Northern Beaches and specifically in Manly. It is a great family oriented suburb with a fabulous beach and great schools! We quickly decided that Balmain was not for us. It’s a great artsy place but very expensive and very isolated from the city. Hense it lacks greatly in public transportation (PT.) When you don’t have a car, PT becomes very important.

It was a $60 AUD taxi ride to get to and from the mall last Friday. We needed to go back on Saturday so I researched how to get there via PT. Two walks and three bus rides later, I was no longer interested in going back to the mall. Luckily one of the items we needed (MBD’s new iPhone) was available on the main street in Balmain. Also happening in Balmain on Saturday (every Saturday for that matter,) is the Balmain Market. Tons and tons of booths set up by local people to sell their wares. I assumed it would be a big fresh produce market but it was not. We did explore each booth and ended up in this lovely church at the end. It is the St. Andrew’s Congregational Church.

St. Andrew’s (http://www.ohta.org.au/confs/Sydney/STANDREWSCONGREGATIONAL.html) was opened in 1855. The food section of the market was located in what is probably the community hall of the church. We enjoyed homemade Thai Chicken and Vegetable Dumplings and a wonderful dish called Gozleme. It is a Turkish meal. It was fabulous to watch two traditional Turkish women roll the dough, add ingredients, oil the griddle, flip the pastry, cut it and serve it with a lemon. Definitely NO extras laying around!

                                         

Gözleme is a savory traditional Turkish hand made and hand rolled pastry. Fresh pastry is rolled out, filled and sealed, then cooked over a griddle. The name derives from the Turkish word göz meaning eye. Traditionally, this is done on a large flat griddle. Gözleme varieties include:

  • Spinach and Feta Cheese
  • Spinach and Feta and Minced meat

MBD chose the spinach and fetta cheese one and ate almost 3/4 of the foot long by 1/2 foot wide meal. Yes, you heard me….she ATE GREEN VEGETABLES!!!! I do believe Australia suits her.

Toodles!

December 1st: WE ARE HERE!

/ Susan / 4 Comments

After months of planning, tons of packing, frantic cleaning for open houses, three garage sales, and tearful goodbyes, we are finally settled into our temporary apartment in Balmain, New South Wales. The apartment is OK and will be fine for us as we look for more long term housing. This photo is from our balcony and the view is of the Anzac Bridge. Our location is directly west of the Sydney Opera House (although there are a couple of harbors between the two points.)

We were able to walk the 1/2 mile to Woolworth’s for grocery items, but it appears that other stores will require a car to access. The silver lining to that is the peace and quiet that surrounds out little neighborhood. The master bedroom looks out directly at a palm tree! Mads is enjoying the unusual bird calls that we hear outside, and a little bird with a yellow beak even tried to hop into the apartment yesterday to visit us!

I am off to Melbourne Monday morning to start working with a new client down there. Life goes on!