THINGS TO DO IN MY TOWN FOR (ALMOST) FREE MEME (from Ariane)
Here are the rules (because it wouldn't be a meme without rules):
1. List (at least) five things to do for free in your city or town, not just well publicised touristy things, but things YOU might do too!
2. Write it with a visitor in mind.
3. Tag three people* - extra fun if they live somewhere you'd like to know better or you're going to sometime soon.
4. If you're anonymous/coy about where you live, choose another town or city that you know.
I think it is a bit enthusiastic to call my village a town. And everything is for free as there are no attractions to pay for.
1. Go for a bike ride. Through the forest. You may see deer, pheasants, hares while hearing cuckoos, woodpeckers, wild pigs, hunters shooting their guns. When you come out one side you head up to the dam along the Danube where you can watch the ships gliding by. Down the hill and past the disappearing village. This village is in a flood zone and was brought up by the Government. Each time you ride by another house goes. And the grass grows so quickly that it is soon difficult to see where the houses were. Below the whispering trees which reach down to tickle you. Alone the road and back home again.
2. You can visit the church which is always open during the day. An old woman will shuffle over each night to lock it. There is Roman font there which dates back to 1200AD which is where all children are christened.
3. If you take a metal dectector you can seach the fields for old Roman coins. This was the area that the Romans first settled in when they came to Austria before they realised that it was a flood zone and a bit useless.
4. Pick wildflowers or look for mushrooms or wild berries in the forest.
5. Sit in my backyard under the apple trees and watch the children play.
I will send this meme to Linsey Woolsey, Dreaming of Daisies and biglittlesister.
Sunday, August 17
Thursday, August 14
How to easily part with your money
Living in my little village with two small children I have become a big fan of internet shopping.
No more darting around trying to look at clothes I most probably wouldn´t fit into anyway while simultaneously trying to catch my darlings when they decide that it would be so much fun to play chasings - pulling the clothes off the racks, scaring little ones who have just started toddling, losing themselves among the massess. Or the time when I needed shoes and turned away for 2 minutes to find that they had taken every sample off the shelves to try on for themselves - all laces undone and zippers unzipped (and where were the attendants when they needed to be stopped? They turned up quick enough to berate me!). Or food shopping where my 18 month old had manage to climb into one of those long freezer compartments and was throwing out the bags of fish. I was only around the corner running to catch her again and the cabinet was nearly empty already. Or when they decide it would be so fun to run around and put things into people´s trolleys without them knowing about it. Or the time at IKEA when they played hide and seek with me and crawled into a cupboard waiting for me to find them (nearly an hour). Or on the same day when they climbed into every made beds to see if they could sleep like Cinderella. Yes, I love shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The other problem I find is that when I physically go out to shop I can never find what I need. In the first place I have to go to the city which is 30 mins away, then find a car park, which is about an hours work, then empty my wallet to pay for the car park, then finally go to the shop. And then when I get there, I can search and search and search but never find what I want.
I don´t know if it because Austria is a small country that the markets are smaller or if my expectations are unreasonable. The things I want are based on the groovy shopping I used to do at Paddington and Balmain markets, Newtown, Glebe, Oxford Streets and the one that ran off it (what is it called), the back streets around Sydney, Nicholson St, St Kilda, Brunswick, South Yarra, that groovy shop in Braddon and the ooddles of op shops where you can always find wonderful gems.
So I have turned to the internet. You can buy anything on the internet. I buy my books from Germany and England. Wool from Iceland and America. My coffee machine is from France and grinder from Italy. I brought half the fittings in my house from e-bay. I buy my children toys that you can´t get here. I search for original items from ETSY. It´s amazing. Most places I don´t even pay with cash or notice I am spending money. You don´t even have to do anything with the bank as most places just charge it to Visa and we have a deal that Visa is paid directly from our account. It is like when I play shopping with my children. It´s not real. I noticed more what I was spending when I had to give money out of my wallet. Now, the numbers are arbitary. It has become a dangerous hobby. Thank goodness that I have the gumption to check my account regularly to keep an eye on things........
No more darting around trying to look at clothes I most probably wouldn´t fit into anyway while simultaneously trying to catch my darlings when they decide that it would be so much fun to play chasings - pulling the clothes off the racks, scaring little ones who have just started toddling, losing themselves among the massess. Or the time when I needed shoes and turned away for 2 minutes to find that they had taken every sample off the shelves to try on for themselves - all laces undone and zippers unzipped (and where were the attendants when they needed to be stopped? They turned up quick enough to berate me!). Or food shopping where my 18 month old had manage to climb into one of those long freezer compartments and was throwing out the bags of fish. I was only around the corner running to catch her again and the cabinet was nearly empty already. Or when they decide it would be so fun to run around and put things into people´s trolleys without them knowing about it. Or the time at IKEA when they played hide and seek with me and crawled into a cupboard waiting for me to find them (nearly an hour). Or on the same day when they climbed into every made beds to see if they could sleep like Cinderella. Yes, I love shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The other problem I find is that when I physically go out to shop I can never find what I need. In the first place I have to go to the city which is 30 mins away, then find a car park, which is about an hours work, then empty my wallet to pay for the car park, then finally go to the shop. And then when I get there, I can search and search and search but never find what I want.
I don´t know if it because Austria is a small country that the markets are smaller or if my expectations are unreasonable. The things I want are based on the groovy shopping I used to do at Paddington and Balmain markets, Newtown, Glebe, Oxford Streets and the one that ran off it (what is it called), the back streets around Sydney, Nicholson St, St Kilda, Brunswick, South Yarra, that groovy shop in Braddon and the ooddles of op shops where you can always find wonderful gems.
So I have turned to the internet. You can buy anything on the internet. I buy my books from Germany and England. Wool from Iceland and America. My coffee machine is from France and grinder from Italy. I brought half the fittings in my house from e-bay. I buy my children toys that you can´t get here. I search for original items from ETSY. It´s amazing. Most places I don´t even pay with cash or notice I am spending money. You don´t even have to do anything with the bank as most places just charge it to Visa and we have a deal that Visa is paid directly from our account. It is like when I play shopping with my children. It´s not real. I noticed more what I was spending when I had to give money out of my wallet. Now, the numbers are arbitary. It has become a dangerous hobby. Thank goodness that I have the gumption to check my account regularly to keep an eye on things........
Monday, August 11
my inspiration to write
I write my stories in my head when I am riding my bike. The wind in my hair, the endless fields, the wildlife that abounds. I become inspired. Thoughts that I have had during the day or the week go round in my head and I write it down while cycling.
Usually I take Sweetheart to kindergarten and put Herzie on the back and set off. We usually have a set route which takes us to visit the cows or the chickens and ducks. It´s not uncommen to see deers lazily wandering through fields, hares sprinting away, pheasants clucking importantly along the roadside. Herzie sits back and sings away to herself.
But we now have school holidays. Although we have a trailer where I can ride with both, Sweetheart is now big enough that she takes objection to being shunted off only for my benefit. Sometimes we can go for a ride with Sweetheart riding herself. But this is not the same as I have to go so slow. And when we do ride, both clammer to speak to me...... 'It´s my time', 'listen to me'. My time is spent as an adjudictor most of the time. And my head is no longer clear to think through my stories.
We only have 3 more weeks to go. As much as I enjoy the time together with my girls where we can be lazy and where I don´t have to yell at everyone to get ready in time and not just ignore what I am saying, where I actually get time to see them without having to run off for jazz ballet or aerobics or music or some other after school activity, where Sweetheart actually will come for cuddles and ask me to read stories, where both my girls seem to need me and appreciate me and want to be near me and talk to me constantly and show me everything.......... As much as I love this, I can´t wait until I get a bit of time (however little this is) for me and me alone. I´ve only waited 6 years.
Usually I take Sweetheart to kindergarten and put Herzie on the back and set off. We usually have a set route which takes us to visit the cows or the chickens and ducks. It´s not uncommen to see deers lazily wandering through fields, hares sprinting away, pheasants clucking importantly along the roadside. Herzie sits back and sings away to herself.
But we now have school holidays. Although we have a trailer where I can ride with both, Sweetheart is now big enough that she takes objection to being shunted off only for my benefit. Sometimes we can go for a ride with Sweetheart riding herself. But this is not the same as I have to go so slow. And when we do ride, both clammer to speak to me...... 'It´s my time', 'listen to me'. My time is spent as an adjudictor most of the time. And my head is no longer clear to think through my stories.
We only have 3 more weeks to go. As much as I enjoy the time together with my girls where we can be lazy and where I don´t have to yell at everyone to get ready in time and not just ignore what I am saying, where I actually get time to see them without having to run off for jazz ballet or aerobics or music or some other after school activity, where Sweetheart actually will come for cuddles and ask me to read stories, where both my girls seem to need me and appreciate me and want to be near me and talk to me constantly and show me everything.......... As much as I love this, I can´t wait until I get a bit of time (however little this is) for me and me alone. I´ve only waited 6 years.
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