Tinkerblue

It's December Already

I'm running late. I forgot to buy an advent calendar.

What's been happening lately?

In my world...
I'm working part time at the Vancouver Christmas Market. Because everyone works during their vacation.
Tate and I spent three days in Disneyland for US Thanksgiving.
I've been able to catch up with several friends during this vacation.
Back to work on another ship at the end of this week.

Stupid Things I've Done in the Last 2 Weeks

Last week before I had my hair cut and the 7 months worth of grey roots coloured.

 

Wasted 10 minutes looking for my name tag before I remembered I don't have to wear it.

Not long after remembering I don't have to wear a name tag anymore I put my lanyard on before I left the house!  Seriously it was the same day. Luckily I realised I was wearing it before I actually left the house.

Tried to pay for a beer at the pub with my sail and sign card. Not sure why it was even still in my wallet.

Spent 15 minutes and a lot of swearing looking for my BC care card only to finally realize I don't have one anymore. It's incorporated into my drivers license that I renewed in May 2013.

When the barista at the airport Starbucks asked my name I answered Raquel.

Went to make a phone call and dialed 58 first. (On the ship we had to dial 58 before entering our phone card # to make an outside call).

Greeted an English speaking Canadian friend with Hola, como estas? And wondered why she looked at me weird.

Tried to use my debit card to open the door to my bedroom which doesn't even have a lock on it.

Waking up early, about 630am and thinking there was no point in getting up  yet because breakfast didn't start until 7am.  Ummm yeah, I'm the only person making and serving my breakfast, I can have breakfast anytime I like.  Besides, why was I awake at 630am.

Having a whole double bed to myself, I could sleep spreadeagled across the whole damn thing. But no I continue to sleep in a space about the width of a crew bunk bed. 

 

At a Mexican restaurant in Kansas City they had a beware of Tasmanian Devil sign. How odd!

Banana Boats

 

 

Remember those? I haven't had a banana boat since I was in Guides some 30+ years ago. Maybe as a Ranger, but I think it was way back in Guides.

 

Andrea and Sean are in Sechelt this weekend, camping on the inlet. Yesterday we were talking about smores, hot dogs, marshmallows, all that fun stuff you eat when you're camping and banana boats came up. Sean had never had one. So tonight I met them at their campsite and we had banana boats. Gourment banana boats.

 

Ingredients:

• Bananas (1 per person)
• Chocolate squares - Andrea had fancy Taj Masala chocolate from Mink, hence the gourmet
• Mini marshmallows (we only had regular size ones, but mini work better

 

 

Method:

• Slit banana (with peel still on) lengthwise
• Stuff chocolate squares and mini marshmallows between banana and banana peel and down the middle of the banana
• Close peel up and wrap in tinfoil
• Place in coals of campfire and cook until chocolate and marshmallows are all melted and gooey
• Eat with a spoon

 

1902 Canoes and Kayaks

Visions of Earth is a monthly feature by National Geographic Magazine that highlights amazing photographs. 

 

<a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/visions-of-earth/visions-earth-2012#/0412-largest-raft-kayaks-adirondacks-714.jpg" _mce_href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/visions-of-earth/visions-earth-2012#/0412-largest-raft-kayaks-adirondacks-714.jpg" target="_blank">Image by Nancie Battaglia for National Geographic</a>

 

The image for April 2012 was taken by Nancie Battaglia at the One Square Mile of Hope event to raise money for breast cancer research. At the some time they broke the record for the largest rafting of canoes and kayaks.

 

 

<a href="http://www.onesquaremileofhope.org/" _mce_href="http://www.onesquaremileofhope.org/" target="_blank">Image by Nancie Battaglia for One Square Mile of Hope</a>

1/2 of me thinks it would be cool to be part of something like this. The other 1/2 of me thinks I'd be terrified that I'd flip my kayak, get stuck under all those boats and drown. Cheerful, huh?

 

Chirp, Chirp, My New Pet Birds

Recently I received a parcel. From Jo. It's my birthday present. My belated birthday present. I love when my May birthday carries into July.

Jo always sends great gifts. So what did she send? Series 1 of Phryne Fisher on DVD, I've read the books and am looking forward to the TV series. Coconut ice and rocky road treats both of which are long gone.

And? And two pet birds. Not real ones. That would be too much work.

Pets - need watering
Garden - needs weeding
Guests - need feeding

My new pet birds? Need none of the above. Also, they don't argue with you.

They sit in their little myrtle tree on my bedside table and make me smile. I think they need names.

They are designed and made in Tasmania by Otekah. www.otekah.com.au

 

My To Do List

In the process of cleaning up the house, I found an old piece of paper that had been folded many many times, it had holes in the fold, and the ink was almost worn away.  

It was a To Do List that I started way back when. Given some of the items on it, it was started when I was a cute little kid at Lindisfarne North Primary School.  

I have added to it over the years, but not recently. It hasn't seen the light of day for years, I didn't even know I still had it. It was stashed inside a book, that I was about to giveway.

I think at one point it was going to be 100 things to do, but I never added anything past 59.

1. Get Scuba certified
2. Ride a camel (I did this at Ayers Rock and at the Pyramids in Egypt)
3. Pyramids at sunrise or sunset
4. Hot chocolate and croissant in France
5. Drink a pint of Guiness at a pub in Ireland
6. Go on a multi day kayaking trip
7. Hike the overland track
8. Blow bubbles off the Sydney Harbour Bridge
9. Learn to roll a kayak
10. Be conversational in another language. Greek? French? (At one point French, Spanish and Japanese. I wish I had continued to study languages and actually become fluent in a second language)
11. Live in a foreign country for a year (I lived in Japan for a year, England for 3, Mexico for just under a year, and Canada for 15)
12. Set foot on all seven continents
13. Stand on the Great Wall of China
14. Stand in the Taj Mahal
15. Ride the Rails - Trans Siberian Express
16. See the ballet in St Petersberg
17. Give $100 to a busker
18. Live in a house with a view of the ocean
19. Wear a fancy dress and hat to the Melbourne Cup
20. Go parasailing
21. Attend a service at Westminster Abbey or St Pauls Cathedral (Both were Christmas Eve services)
22. Roast a chicken
23. Sleep in a tree house
24. Adopt a wombat or a penguin
25. Run a half marathon (The Victoria 1/2 in 2003, Disney World 1/2 in 2005 and Disneyland 1/2 in 2006)
26. Learn to use my camera
27. Spend a night on the Great Barrier Reef
28. Fly a plane (who knew that one day I would marry a pilot)
29. See a Broadway show in New York
30. See a musical in London
31. Buy a christmas decoration from the Christmas Markets in Germany
32. Sing do rei mi on the Sound of Music steps
33. Eat sushi in Japan
34. Ride on a double decker bus and in a black cab in London
35. Drink a stein of beer and eat a pretzel at Octoberfest in Munich
36. Cheer loudly for Aussies at a Summer or Winter Olympics (live, not on TV) Barcelona 92, Lillehammer 94, Sydney 2000 as a spectator and Vancouver 2010 as an employee
37. Learn to do a flip turn
38. Design a piece of jewelry
39. Dance to a Mariachi Band in Mexico
40. Have champagne and chocolates for breakfast
41. Ride the Matterhorn in Disneyland
42. Buy a house
43. Ride a horse along the beach
44. Write $1000 cheque to charity
45. Go skinny dipping in the ocean
46. Sew an outfit and wear it in public
47. Knit a jumper
48. Use chopsticks on a regular basis
49. Get my driver’s license
50. Swim with stingrays
51. Get my ears pierced
52. Watch fireworks on Sydney Harbour
53. Stand up on a surfboard
54. Step foot in every State and Territory
55. See the Aurora Australis
56. Visit all 4 World Centres - Olave House (London), Sangam (India), Our Chalet (Switzerland),  and Our Cabana (Mexico) Olave House no longer exists but I did visit in 1984, Pax Lodge is now the World Centre in London, and I have also been there. The only World Centre I have not visited is Sangam in India
57. Earn my BP and Queens Guide Award
58. Meet my pen pals in real life. Heather in England, Jenny in US, Scott in Brisbane and David in Goulburn. Heather and David I lost contact with before I finished high school, Jenny is now Jen and I still keep in touch but I have not seen her since she spent a year at primary school with me, I met Scott and his family in 1988 but have since lost touch with.
59. Learn to walk in high heels

 

I can't believe I've never had champagne and chocolate for breakfast.  I know I've had champagne, and I've definately had chocolate for breakfast but not together!

 

Birthday Greeting From Jo

 

I think I've finally worked out how to share the audio greeting that Jo sent me on Whatsapp. Just click on the button thingy below.

 

 

Birthday Greeting from Jo

 

Hopscotch at 5am

 

 

Carlea took this video of me back when we were counting transit.  That's her and her husband Andreas you can hear in the background. We were so cold, we were coming up with stupid things to keep us amused and warm between skytrains.

 

Typically Taurean

I don't really follow astrology or anything like that, but it is fun to see just how true my star sign characteristics are.

I am a Taurus.  Taurus - The Bull.  Taureans typically:

• Dislike change
• Creative
• Practical
• Reliable
• Stubborn
• Clever
• Arrogant
• Hate to be rushed or hassled
• Loyal
• Hard to beat in an argument

See where it says stubborn? Loyal? Hates to be rushed? Practical? Arrogant?  Dislikes Change? Yep, all me. You've heard the saying, "stubborn as a bull"? It's not wrong.

Taurus is an Earth sign. Apparently Earth is the most stable, consistent and rigid of all signs. Once we make up our minds, we cannot be moved without huge efforts. Sound familiar?

Practical, patient, reasonable, and persistent are Earth signs. If you want to make sure a project gets done and gets done "right" call, on an earth person. Earth people are not much one for the limelight. If it can be done, an earth sign will do it without the need for recognition.

 I was born in 1970, which makes me Year of the Dog. People born in the Year of the Dog tend to be:

• Honest
• Friendly and Playful
• Extremely protective of loved one
• Very private, you think you know a lot about them, but really you don’t
• Perceive things in black and white.  No in-betweens.
• Good judges of character
• Loyal
• Intelligent
• Trustworthy
• Stubborn

 See stubborn and loyal are mentioned again? 

 

My name - Rachael Jane

• Rachael means Ewe or Gentle as a Lamb or One with Purity (take your pick)
• It's a Hebrew name
• Rachael was a popular female first name from the 1960’s to the 1980’s (along with Allison, Jennifer, Karen, Melissa and Michelle)
• The more common spelling is Rachel. Try finding all the kids stuff with the Rachael spelling on it.  Almost impossible. 
• Some of the ways friends and even family have spelt my name - Rachel, Rachelle, Raechel, Raychel, Raquel, Rachyl, Raychl, Rachal, Rachele, Rachale and so on.

• Jane means God's Gracious Gift
• It's also a Hebrew name
• Jane is often used as a middle name or as the second element of double barreled names such as Sarah-Jane, Mary-Jane.

I'm not sure that anyone has ever described me as gentle as lamb or one with purity or as God's gracious gift!

Great White Shark = 115 Suitcases

Now you know. Not sure when that piece of information will prove useful.