The Oasis of Australian Television

Say what? When winters are dismally dull, I turn to Australian television. I have seen a lot of criticism for various shows and I am not sure some people are snobby or that they're overthinking it a bit. I'm not saying that all Australian shows are brilliant but I have found a few gems that profoundly alter my mood depending on the show and my mood. I think this all began when I was quite young. In the early 1980's HBO had slim pickings when it came to movie selection and availability. So when they got their hands on a movie they would play it and play it to death. One such example is the movie Dot And The Kangaroo. I constantly watched that movie whenever it was on. About a decade ago I was able to snag it on dvd. Watching the movie again as an adult I could see why I loved it. The movie has action, a little girl as the main character and kangaroos! That movie made me obsessed with kangaroos. I would watch Dot and the Kangaroo over Winnie the Pooh any day when I was a kid. The movie, based on a children's book is a classic just as the book the movie is based on. I love that it has a cartoon drawn over actual footage of the outback. I actually learned a bit about Australian fauna when I watched the movie. To this day, I am still creeped out by the Bunyip scene.
In adulthood, Netflix, Hulu and Tubi became treasure troves for Australian guilty pleasures. The first began with McLeod's Daughters. It was a bit like CBC's Heartland, which I love. I was all about seeing the sunshine on the "Drover's Run" ranch on a bleak winter's day. Then, I discovered Doctor Blake Mysteries on PBS. That show was a mix of Murdoch Mysteries mixed with House. Set in Ballarat, the period show has fantastic costumes and props and that is right up my street. Also, that show rarely featured a rainy day and how could you not love Doctor Blake's relationship with his inherited house manager Jean. Next, I discovered on Netflix the show "Glitch." I think it was recommended to me because I watched the show Les Revenants.  This show was equal to Les Revenants in the way that it was eerie and mysterious. I couldn't stop watching this show, I had to know why the characters dug their way back to life. I loved that with each episode you learned a little more about each character's backstory, again very similar to Les Revenants. What separates this show from the French feature is the lack of subtitles (French is not my first language, though still learning) and the sunshine. Les Revenants was filmed with a bit of blue tone. The show had a lot of mist and fog, which added to the creep factor, but Glitch being located in such a sunny seemingly happy place, it was a stark contrast and created mixed emotions.
I forgot to mention the show Up To The Rafters. I found that on hulu and watched that every day when my husband and I first moved in together before we were married. I watched it while I settled into our rental home and it was a nice silly show that didn't have any mystery about it, just a sort of sitcom that helped me giggle. I thought the parents were great and they had a cute house. It isn't my go-to anymore but it served its purpose. On occasion, I will watch Miss Fischer's Murder Mysteries because I love period mysteries.
Lately, though, I was hooked and I mean HOOKED on the show Puberty Blues. I discovered this one day while searching through shows on Tubi.  The show was set in the 1970's and was based on a book of the same name that I assume was a bit like the Judy Blume book "Forever" which was basically "Lady Chatterley's Lover" for tweens in the 80's. I love the main characters "Sue" and "Debbie." The parents were great, too. I like that the series shows the parents experience juxtaposed with the teens. It proves that being a teen is rough, but being an adult is challenging and once more, being an adult with your own adult world while being a parent of a teen when you were a teen not too long ago can be very complicated. As rough and a cringe-worthy as some scenes were, the setting was in a sunny beach town which lightened the mood. Surfing played a huge role in the show; so did drug use, drinking, and awkwardly bad sex. However, I loved the friendship between Sue and Deb, they were not Anne and Diana, but it was very real. I loved the wardrobe of the show and the mid-century modern houses featured were fantastic. Would you ever be able to pay me to be a teenager again? Heck no, and this show proves why, but I still loved the show.
Between most of these shows were many actors that overlapped between the shows over the years, their recognizable faces made me want to watch the shows even more. Kind of like watching Canadian television. No, I have never been to Australia and due to my paralyzing fear of flying I hardly doubt I will ever go, sadly, but thank goodness for Australian television- it offers a lovely escape. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Mildred Hubble (the Housecat) Is A Mum

Proud Millie with her babies.

When we brought sweet little Millie home last October, she quickly became my cuddle bug. That first weekend she stayed on my lap most of the time while I binge-watched the entire second season of Stranger Things. Mildred was always meant to be my companion but was also intended to be a partner in crime for Paddy Murphy, Murr for short. Once Murr became comfortable around a new ball of fluff in the house, he never left her side. He was so happy to have a friend who was like him, rather than the dogs who seemed to love Murr but played too rough for his liking. Millie proved to be a fantastic companion and she grew up quickly. She is a delightful queen who grew up to be a very beautiful lady cat.

Then, the change came. One Friday night I had begun a frightful binge on the show Glitch I was up into the wee hours of the morning and when I woke up the next day, I turned the show back on and devoured it....my love for this show has little to do with Millie other than the fact that I was so engrossed that I overlooked Millie's insatiable need to breed moment. Now, as I said before, Millie was adopted so that Murr could have a family of his own. He has an appointment to be neutered this week. However, my husband thought that it would be a good experience for me to witness the birth of a cat or two or three in Millie's case. He also thought that it would be good for Millie and Murr to procreate before being fixed, as it would help them be calmer the rest of their lives. For a while, there was a lot of speculation as to whether Millie was "heavy with puppy" or not. As time passed the distinct feeling or furballs in her belly was prominent.
I was a nervous cat mum, to say the least. I had only witness kitten birth in the movies and I had a feeling that it wouldn't be as quick as had been seen in the movie The Adventures of Milo & Otis. I made certain to do my research so that I knew what to do should Millie need assistance. I don't know if there is a "What To Expect When Your Cat Is Expecting" book, but it would have been nice.
When it came closer to her time, I paid close attention to her activities. I didn't want her to give birth in the crawl space or in my closet, so I made a birthing box in my office for her. Having a birthing box/nest for her in my office ensured that she and her kittens would be safe from inquisitive dogs and would put her at ease. One day I observed that she had been going behind my books on the bottom shelf of my bookcase. I saw that as a warning that her time was near. The night before the birth she spent the entire night at my side. It isn't unusual for her to sleep with me, but usually, she would sleep with me for part of the night, get a snack, play downstairs, then up with me again for a sunrise snuggle. This time, however, she slept curled up next to me the whole night, never leaving my side. The next morning I was having my coffee and I noticed that she was once again behind the books and scratching the shelf. I asked her to come out and she refused, so I removed the books, scooped her up and immediately placed her in her birthing nest. I left my coffee and cell phone in the kitchen.

(L-R) Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee.

When Millie got in the box and didn't jump out of it, but instead curled up into a ball I knew something was up.  I quickly ran to the kitchen and grabbed my coffee and phone as I wanted to document the birth as well as keep my husband up to date on the progress. Then, poor Millie started panting. This was when her "Blue Lagoon moment" began. She didn't know what was happening, but her instinct told her what to do. I turned on some soothing nature sounds on Youtube on my phone to help her relax. With the sounds of a bubbling brook and chirping birds playing I became my kitty's doula. With some serious fidgeting and probably the worst cry that I ever heard come out of Millie, Optimus Prime was born...breach. About half an hour or so later Megatron and a few minutes after that out came Bumblebee. Optimus Prime was the only boy born. He looks a lot like Murr, Megatron is all stripes with a white belly and Bumblebee looks like a perfectly fluffy cow, she is the perfect mesh of Murr and Millie.

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee

The kittens thrived and in a week they will be off to new homes, with the exception of Bumblebee (whom I call "Bumbles". Fear not, all the kitties will be staying with the family. O.P. will be going home with our oldest and his girlfriend. Megatron will be going home with the younger two kids to their Mom's house so I know that the kittens will be loved and well cared for.

Murr had proven to be a very good father. At first, I was very nervous about introducing him to his children. I was afraid that he would eat them after seeing horror stories online and from having my mother tell some gruesome tales. Happily, Murr is very doting on his children. He protects them from the curious nudgings of Rory and he gives them baths. I have found that he is very much back to his old kitten self in terms of having a very loving nature towards his humans and I think that he is much happier now that he has a complete family. Am I a crazy cat lady now? No, I don't have enough cats, turtlenecks or sweater vests for that. I have just enough cats and dogs to make life interesting and less lonely when my husband is away at work. If you follow me on Instagram you've likely seen a dozen posts of my kittens already. If not, check me out to stay up to date. I post on Instagram and Twitter far more often than I do on Facebook or the blog. I want to blog more often, but summer tasks make that more of a challenge. I think I might have found my groove though, so maybe there's hope for me yet? Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Rory snuggles with Optimus Prime

P.S. Megatron is a bit more shy than the other two kittens, but she is healthy, cuddly, and very sweet.

Muggy Morning Musings

Ugh, friends, this summer is moving by so swiftly! June was overtaken by graduations of nephews and friends, which brought on graduation parties and typical teenage melodrama. Also, Mildred gave birth to a small litter of adorable kittens, more on that in another post.  I have been dodging thunderstorms and insane heat waves, trying to work on the house. Since we bought the house nearly two years ago, it seems like we are still settling in. We bought the house in late summer and with all the work that needed to be done to it, we couldn't move in until October, which meant any yard work that needed to be done had to be put off until the following spring. Last year I began working on a vegetable garden, a wildflower garden, and a flower bed. It is still a work in progress. Last year, my father kindly tilled a large patch of the lawn to be our vegetable garden. The yard hadn't been tilled for a garden there before, so the grass eventually grew back and took over the garden, not leaving much space for the vegetables. This year, my dad tilled the spot again and my husband spread weed killer/blocker sheets on top of the soil before we began planting. This has made weeding the garden a breeze and the vegetables are doing great. We have peppers, tomatoes, squash, beans, cucumbers, onions, Swiss chard, beet greens, two types of romaine lettuce, mesclun mix, and buttercrunch lettuce. With all the vegetables, I will have plenty of salads and I will be able to make my own salsa!
I have also been putting a lot of work into the wildflower garden and the flower bed. I have spent a substantial amount of my summertime battling weeds. I have also been doing a lot of pruning, aside from planting new perennial plants. The roses that had been planted by the previous owners needed a lot of tlc. So I am hoping that my hard work will pay off and by next spring my garden will look fantastic!
Aside from gardening, I have also been working on minor home improvements, which is hard to do in this summer weather. Sometimes, it can either be too hot, too humid, or rainy and trying to find a happy medium is tricky. I have scraped and re-painted many of the window sills and I will need to do more at the end of summer when the weather is more forgiving. I also have plans to fix the front doorstep and clean up that door. I also want to put up gutters in September, fix the mudroom to make it cozy for holiday dinners, and get the garage cleaned up in time to store the truck in the winter months. At some point this late summer or early fall, we are putting in a woodstove. Since we are getting a stove, I have been getting wood and I need to get that stacked and stored for the winter too. Some people vacation in the summer this housewife spends her summer preparing for winter. At least I am getting a lot of fresh air and a suntan. Each night I sit down to watch some tv and all I can think is that there are never enough hours in the day! I have my fingers and toes crossed that come October, I can rest up a bit and dive into some more crafts for the holiday season. Heres to hoping! Until next time~ Toodahloo!