[Jennifer1568]

I Googled chooks and dugite. I have no idea what b****r refers to and I have an extensive expletive vocabulary. It is a wonderful story. We welcome black snakes (not venomous) because they prey on rodents.

[Jane]

I’m not sure how these sizes relate to the American Girl dolls or other 18″ dolls but I think it’s a good jumping off point for doll clothing:

http://www.jessica-tromp.nl/freedollsewingpatternsantiquedolls.htm

Jane Sims

[rastis]

well it’s definitely raining here now 🙂 63mm in the gauge overnight and it’s really raining today… it’s so wonderful to see our tanks full again! i’m not sure if we’ll get a flood but i’m always amazed at how this country of ours can go from one extreme to another! i hope all the aussies also get some rain soon… we all need it after the crazy heatwave!

[Sarvi]

B****r refers both to a physical act of love and to one who performs it, I believe. In the UK, at least?

[Nicole]

It is like saying ”bother” or ‘beggar” with a ”u”.

Not quite the same as what ‘traditionally’ went on in public schools.

[with love Heidi]

Tamara, glad to hear N and Murray (and the chooks) are fine, hope you see a few less in the next couple of months.

[meleliza]

I don’t think it has anything to do with love really. It usually refers to sodomy, forceful at that. Yet somehow, it’s tossed around in British use as a casual swear. Or maybe I just hung with the rough lads in my youth. 🙂

Having been married to a Brit for the last 12 years, I’ve learned quite a lot of interesting expletives. In fact, we speak a lot of British at home. In fact, once i had kids and made an effort to clean up my language, i turned to British swearing. 🙂 Because i just can’t seem to take the British ones seriously. Well except for their tendency to throw around the C-word like it means nothing. That was pretty hard to get used to hearing. Everything else, though, is really just cute. That ones only adorable isn’t it? An Italian friend of mine feels the same about American curse words. They don’t seem nearly as serious to her as the “real” ones of her native language, so she throws the Fbomb around. Lol.

Oh, and said hubby starts a new job on Monday. Good news, of course, but it’s only a 6 month contract, so we’re going to be cautious. Plus, we have to pay all out own taxes and benefits, which is a hassle. But it beats unemployment! And should get us back on out feet. So maybe I can do some virtual window shopping.:)

[rastis]

oh i hate snakes… he didn’t bite any of the chooks did he? 🙁 i found half a brown snake a fortnight ago… he got caught in the mower… every time i see one they make me freak out! we just put in those solar snake repelling things… i have no idea if they work though and they are really annoying… they beep all the time!

[Nicole]

I think they do work,our’s whirrrrr.

I have not seen a snake since we fitted ours.

[Nicole]

PS Good news Melanie!

[Sarvi]

Yeah… I was trying to avoid the more explicit description of the term, given the general G rating around here. I was going to try a Llareggub joke but I guess I’m glad I didn’t.

rastis, I only know about brown snakes from our Aussie ladies here, they give me the chills.

Nicole, SO GLAD you have not seen any more brown snakes. Poisonous pests are nothing you want lurking around.

[lattemama]

Oh I can definitely subscribe to the “American/British swear words aren’t as bad as Swedish. (I may have a bit of a potty mouth when I speak in English. Apologies in advance. )

But then I’m pretty lax about my kids swearing. Or me swearing when they are around. They are much harsher on me if I happen to use one than I am on them.

Glad the snake deterrents seem to be working now Nicole. They sound scary.

[Tamara]

So sorry ladies about the confusing mystery word I wanted to be polite and not pollute the atmosphere with an undesirable word and hurt your ears in the process. Aussie slang is believe it or not, not actually Australian! We have to blame the English, Irish and the Scots for our foul mouthing! I know a few words in German! But I won’t repeat them! Sarvi, the word could be meant with love – through gritted teeth! But I have no love for snakes! And the Brits and Irish are such fun to listen to when they get fired up – like wind up toys ….. And off they go! In my little job last year, the majority of my colleagues were Brits or Irishmen. Every second word was an expletive! I had to remember to keep using correct language for the sake of mini ears catching on. F.bombs were dropped constantly! Thankfully there is now no more to listen to. Unless of course you are in the shed at shearing time. But the team we get are usually pretty good and know I have sensitive ears!

No animals, children or husbands were hurt during the incident involving the criminal snake! Don’t you just love how they put something like that in tiny writing down the bottom of the credits of a program?

I have to find out more about these solar snake repellers! They would certainly be worth getting! How r do you have to place them to get good coverage?

That’s awesome news Melanie! Here’s to a contract renewal in six months time!

[Sarvi]

Moving swiftly on to more savory subjects, my favorite food blog, Smitten Kitchen, posted this recipe lately: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/01/lentil-soup-with-sausage-chard-and-garlic/ and it’s just wonderful. At least, I *think* it’s pretty wonderful — I did not make it exactly as written. I had garlic sausages, not Italian, and yellow split peas, not lentils, and kale, not chard — but I think the general sausage/pulse/dark green combo is a winner in any iteration. It was so good, and so satisfying with the windy, rainy weather we’re having, that I made it again last night, again using slightly different ingredients but preserving the general idea. Love one pot meals, and it was good to be reminded to use the pulses I keep meaning to bring into heavier rotation in our diet.

[rastis]

goodness we’ve had some rain… my rain gauge has overflowed! which means i don’t know how much but it’s definitely more than 200mm in the last 24 hours… our almost empty dam is now overflowing and the flooding they’ve been predicting is looking likely!

it’s crazy that we go from record heat and dry to flooding in a matter of days… i’ll be off to do a river check shortly