The Eagle...

has landed ... Oh joy!

Tracking

Niki´s flight path on 27-28 May 2011, click to enlarge

It´s amazing what you can ´follow´ these days on the Internet, You can follow people on Facebook, follow Twitterers and people on other social networking sites, but you can also follow, erm, planes. The airline does say, ´Look, mate, once we´re out of Europe, you´re on your own´... Cute, nevertheless. Fly to me, babay, fly to me...

World view of the sweetest journey ever made...

No words...

Going...

Your bags are packed. You´re ready to go. You´re leaving on a jet plane. Well, a few jet planes... 30 hours of jet plane, to be exact. It´s one way to get home ... 

Have a safe and pleasant journey, my love: we will be awaiting you to welcome you home and embrace your return with a passion!

Here´s a poem, by e e cummings, to accompany you on her journey. 

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                    i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant 
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Just that spot

Now, Mr Malouf just had to select that spot, and not the one next to it; just exactly on that magazine that was lying on that huge sofa ... to establish that special feline equilibrium that only cats understand. Aren´t they adorable?

No more cloudy days...

Would you believe it! Where my travel plans were hampered last year by Icelandic volcanic eruptions, Iceland could yet again have been throwing a spanner in the works as the Grimsvotn volcano erupted once more earlier this week and spread another ash cloud over parts of Europe. In fact the eruption was worse than last year but favourable wind and weather conditions have made it less disruptive. The latest news is that it is clearing and won´t disrupt airline traffic unduly. Let´s hope that this won´t have any effect on my love´s flight to Australia on Friday!

Birthday

I was informed, earlier this morning, after cake and presents in bed with Tess and Yarrow, that I was not to do anything and just had to wait and ´things would be OK´. Well, that sort of told me that something was afoot - and lo, and behold, around 6pm Tess and Yarrow led me up the stairs from the study (with my eyes closed of course) to the kitchen where Ton, Ellen, Bryony, Mieke, John, Tess and Yarrow were waiting with presents, nibblies, food and drinks... I hadn´t even noticed them coming in! We had a very ´gezellige´meal, but we all dearly missed my love and Anjès! As Ton wisely said, ´Well, we´ll just have to do it again.´ Sensible thought. A nice, warm fire, laid by Yarrow added to the convivial atmosphere. And Chicco? Well, she was just being so Mega Cute posing for this photo that I felt she needed a mention and inclusion in the small gallery below...

A simple message

I LOVE thee, as I love the calm
    Of sweet, star-lighted hours!
I love thee, as I love the balm
    Of early jes'mine flow'rs.
I love thee, as I love the last
    Rich smile of fading day,
Which lingereth, like the look we cast,
    On rapture pass'd away.
I love thee as I love the tone
    Of some soft-breathing flute
Whose soul is wak'd for me alone,
    When all beside is mute.

I love thee as I love the first
    Young violet of the spring;
Or the pale lily, April-nurs'd,
    To scented blossoming.
I love thee, as I love the full,
    Clear gushings of the song,
Which lonely--sad--and beautiful--
    At night-fall floats along,
Pour'd by the bul-bul forth to greet
    The hours of rest and dew;
When melody and moonlight meet
    To blend their charm, and hue.
I love thee, as the glad bird loves
    The freedom of its wing,
On which delightedly it moves
    In wildest wandering.

I love thee as I love the swell,
    And hush, of some low strain,
Which bringeth, by its gentle spell,
    The past to life again.
Such is the feeling which from thee
    Nought earthly can allure:
'Tis ever link'd to all I see
    Of gifted--high--and pure!
  
Eliza Acton (1799–1859)

Picnic in the park

On Sunday, Niki had organised a picnic in the park for her friends - an occasion to say celebrate her going (from Portugal) and coming back (to Australia). On her Facebook site there´s a photo album with lovely photos of good cheer, friendship and sunshine! (Some of the photos are from a few dinners my love had with some of the people who couldn´t be there on the day).

And ... what do you think of the cake somebody baked ...!

Happy Birthday

End of the world

Seeing as the end of the world was nigh over the weekend, I thought this clip from The 1979 Secret Policeman´s Ball might interest some of you, or at least make you laugh, just in case you were also waiting for said Nigh End...

Tractor

Yarrow proudly showed me her latest school certificate. It says:

ALSTONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL AGRICULTURE

Tractor Driver´s Licence
This is to certify that

Yarrow Mol

has succesfuly passed his/her driving test.

Valid only on the school farm. Gold licence. Year 2011.

Well-done, Yarrow! Always useful to have!

Anna

We just heard last night that Anna, Mieke´s sister, has had to go in for an operation this (Sunday) morning on her lumbar spine. Apparently she had been unable to move earlier this week and had to be taken to hospital. We wish her all strength, luck and surgeons who know how to solve this predicament! Send good vibes!

Lazy, lazy, and the Chicken and the Cat

It´s a very, very lazy Sunday morning. It´s raining a drizzly but constant kind of rain; not cold, but low-hanging clouds and mist in the valley, and a cold tinge on the edges of the day. (Scattered showers, the weather report said - well, it´s been like this for the past 7 hours ...). The cats cannot be anything else but lazy, either, and are sleeping in various catty spaces on the deck; Chicco has found an old blanket to lie down on. The girls are lounging, lazily, reading, watching movies, showering; I am re-reading John Irving´s A widow for one Year (a book I know, for a fact, I read and admired years ago, until, re-reading it now, I realize I remembered absolutely nothing about, until I got to the part that is set in Amsterdam...) 

One of those days when nothing much happens.

I just realised that Tess and Yarrow are staying tonight as well, on account of tomorrow being my birthday, which is really nice! So tonight will be apple-cake baking time to prepare for the ancient ritual of Cake In Bed On Birthdays.

This morning I observed an unusual scene: I had fed Malouf his breakfast and spilled some of the cat food around his bowl. Darren´s chicken, Luna, who occasionally visits, arrived on the scene and companionably pecked away at some of the food. At some point, Malouf looked sideways, and I wonder whether anything else but the smell and taste of food went through its mind on seeing the chicken there, eating ´with him´.

My love, in the meantime, is ´on´ her last weekend in Lisboã - spending time with her best friends Susie and Rita. Rita helped her make an inventory of the apartment on Saturday. On (her) today, she will have a picnic with friends ahead of her trip Down Under at the end of the week. I hope the weather will be nicer than it is here now!

Easter Photos

During the Easter weekend, and the days before and after, which Niki and I spent in Holland with Anjès (see earlier posts), we took quite a few photos. If you click on this link, you´ll be taken to a photo album on Niki´s Facebook pages.

Photos

(This is Niki...) Sooo, you were promised Easter photos! well, if you have Facebook and you're my friend (!) you can see them there. If not, click here for the photos of Holland and here for some tulip ones!

Music performance

Yarrow is now in the middle of her test week, and it started off with a music performance on Monday, which she had to do with a fellow-student. It brought her the coveted 20 out of 20 result. Well-done, Sparrow Of The Golden Voice.

Time...

Soon, time zones will converge when my love flies her way here to Oz to join us again, as the widget to the right (and the still to the left) silently witness...

Every cloud

They say every cloud has their silver lining, right? Well, this morning brought a golden lining to a cloud at the far side of the valley. Which must be significant... Ah! I know! It is telling me that my love will be flying her way to us pretty soon, as in late next week! You have to admit it and the sentiment are beautiful - both the sunrise, and the thought that we will be reunited again soon, even though we are, of course, never far apart in mind and soul.

Pessimists will hold that ´every lining has a cloud´, but not us optimists, oh no. The glass is half full, not half empty. The phrase comes from a masque (a Frenchified word for ´dramatic entertainment´, by John Milton. Milton's Comus gave rise to the current proverb with the lines

'Was I deceiv'd, or did a sable cloud

Turn forth her silver lining on the night?' 

Charles Dickens, in his novel 'Bleak House' , recalled the lines with 'I turn my silver lining outward like Milton's cloud,' and the American impresario Phineas T. Barnum first recorded the wording of the modern saying in 'Struggles and Triumphs' with 'Every cloud,' says the proverb, 'has a silver lining.'"). (quoted in: The Phrase Finder).

Urban dictionary

In my research for thistthatandtheother, I came across the Urban dictionary, the dictionary that ´tackles words that you'd never hear Grandma saying.´ It´s all a bit of a lark, no doubt a tool of some savvy marketing organisation, but it defines two very important words in the English language, well, in any language: Niki and Hans. Not sure how serious this dictionary is (not), but what I read was rather fun. Corpus examples in italics...

Niki (n)

 

Niki is a term used to describe a certain group of people who excel in all they do. They are admired by many and are referred to as being very "cool". They acquire all positive traits and are very attractive.

Note: The term Niki and Nikki share no similarities.

You wish you were like Niki!

Niki (n) 

This is a nickname or shortened name for "Nicole" as well as for "Nikita". "Nikita" is a Russian name and is masculine. "Nicole" is a French, English, and Dutch name, and is feminine.

 

Sara: Hey Nicole!
Nicole: Stop calling me Nicole! It's Niki! N I K I. Okay?
Sara: Okay, okay...

 

Niki (n)

n: an example of a goddess
n: a word to describe someone as beautiful

 

woah....she's so niki

 

And as for Hans, well ... it could either be:

Hans (n)

A person who is consistently bad ass mo-fo. 

That guy was a total Hans, not a Poser like you.

or:

 

Hans (n)

The coolest person in the world. He's the kind of person who everyone worships.

Oh my Hans!

 

Tess´ test results

It´s that time of the year again, and Tess has been doing mid-year tests at school for Year 10. (Yarrow has hers, for Year 9 next week!) A few results ... good, or what?!

PE - 90.5%   
French listening - 80%       
an assessment (not sure which subject) - 47 out of 50    
Science - 85%       
History - 94%        

Well-done, Tess!

Would you believe it ...

Snow in Australia!

Home

Just a small detail from Ton and Ellen´s kitchen calendar ... even though it´s not the right date (my love will be arriving on the 29th) it´s nice... In fact, it´s wonderful...

Earlier

We got some happy news yesterday: Anjès will be coming to Australia sooner! We´re trying to re-arrange her traveling plans to the end of June (rather than September). Anjès decided that the work road she was on (working in the clothes shop) was a bit of a dead-end road making her very unhappy, and caught between a rock and a hard place. She turned to those she loved and decided, after much deliberation, that her best bet was to focus on the future. So, she has resigned as per the end of May, and will join us here Down Under by 26 June or so. As always, Anjès, you are most, most welcome! (Oh, and I am in the process of arranging a set of wheels for you ..., thanks to the lovely Kat!)

Sunrise

Sunrise on Sunday 7 May 2011 ... as seen through our study window ... over a period of about 15 minutes or so ... something to get up for ...

Sunrise at Pearces Creek -

Happy birthday

What better place than this blog, in order to save this for posterity, to wish Peter (Niki´s dad) a very Happy Birthday and many happy returns! Not sure how old you are today, Peter, but you don´t look a day over .... erm, now what would be the politically correct number to quote here ... 20? As Ton always says, ´The 20 year-old, and the 30-year-old, and the 45-year-old, and the 63-year-old and ... There are all there, inside, looking out.´ Anyway - I hope you´ve had a wonderful day and are enjoying the fact that your daughter is celebrating it with you. My present to you on this illustrious day is the fact that your daughter makes me incredibly happy! Can´t wrap that with a bow on, though... but I will, metaphorically.

Mist

On my flight home I read another beautiful book, The Prince of Mist, a novella by Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón, also author of the magnificent The Shadow of the Wind, and The Angel's Game. Each of these books is a wonderful read which I can highly recommend.

 

UK

My love will be visiting Peter and An from Thursday. This´ll be a nice opportunity for them to have some quality together before the big trip to Ozland. Niki has told me that she will upload the elusive photos of the Easter weekend which I have been promising, of the tulip fields, Lisse, dinner with friends and my mums 75th. It will happen...

For those

For those avid readers who are wondering where the *** He has gone, and What is happening ..., suffice it to say that I am (un)comfortably ´enjoying´ jet lag Down Under. Day 3 today, so (not) looking forward to a, traditionally, short night. 

Unfortunately, my love is not here with us, but in 3 weeks only she will join us here again! Apparently, since I left, some 6 or 7 weeks ago, to go to Europe, it has been constantly raining here. Add to that the four months that we were in Australia, during which it also incessantly rained, and we´re looking at an easy 6 months of rain ... The grass is muddy, and wet; Red had mowed but couldn´t really do much else because of the water.

The house is rather dusty and grimy, looking a bit tired, so tomorrow Sadie The Cleaning Lady will descend on the house to give it a good Once (or maybe even Twice) over. It´s going to take her at least one day, if not 2, to get everything done, and done properly but then we should be good to keep it in mint condition until my love arrives for inspection ...

Tess and Yarrow are studying for / preparing for / sitting tests this week and the next two, so they are kept pretty busy studying. It is so, so nice to be back with them again, to occupy the same space. I´ve been meeting them after school for an extracurricular end-of-.day cup of tea, at Niki´s and my Alstonville ´haunt´, the Savannah.

The fact that I am refreshing the blog from home must mean that the Internet is working again ... This is true, but it is still quire unreliable and inconsistent so I am working with the phone people for a technician to come out to check out what is happening. A Nice Lady called Andrea contacted me who works for a more regional (i.e. less anonymous, more authentically customer-oriented) part of the phone company and she is going to help me sort the (remaining) mess out. (Would the fact that Andrew, My Man at Hinterland IT, managed to get an MP (yes, Member of Parliament) to ´escalate´ the issue, have helped to kick some proverbial into gear? Who knows. I don´t really care, but I am glad we have returned to a workable situation.)

So, allons-y: on we go with Realtime, China Grammar and Other Bits and Bobs... and counting down the days again ....