Things and Stuff

How is it May?  This year is just flying by. 

At the start of April we took a visiting Kiwi on a road trip.  We went to Echuca to see the paddlesteamers, Deniliquin to see a Ute on a Stick and to Beechworth to do a ghost tour of the old lunatic asylum.  There was a bit too much testosterone for my liking at times, but overall we had a great trip.

Port of Echuca

Deniliquin

Our accomodation in Beechworth

When we arrived home, I got sick, nothing too terrible, just a nasty chest infection, I will live.  I occasionally got off my sick bed to see some stuff at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.  We had to give away some tickets we had pre-booked because we were just too sick, but we did see some of my favourites like Paul McDermott and Cal Wilson.  Also a 'reunion' of the Doug Anthony Allstars.  The highlight for me was Hannah Gadsby, if she comes to a town near you, check her out!

Becuase I've been so sick, I've been watching a lot of bad TV.  The highlight for me lately has been Celebrity Splash.  I love it!  I know it's awful, don't get me wrong, but for me it is lighthearted and shiny fun.  It is the very definition of 'craptastic', and if you've been around these here parts for long you will know that we love ourselves a bit of craptastic fun.  Sometimes I like my TV to make me think, but othertimes I just want to see people do belly flops. 

Also, every episode so far of Celebrity Splash has started with synchronised swimming and that is possibly one of my favourite things in the entire world.  No, seriously, I LOVE it.  When we went to Expo 88 (otherwise known as 'That thing a long way away that cost a fortune where you spent most of your time lining up to see things') they had a synchronised swimming show that I reckon I made my parents sit through at least 6 times.  I loved it.  I like to think I could've been one, but that's not true.  I can barely swim.  And I float too much.  But it doesn't hurt to dream, does it?

I've seen a lot of people bagging out Celebrity Splash and saying it is horrible and should be taken off TV immediately.  I don't think that's very fair.  There are lots of shows on TV that I don't like, for whatever reason, and you know what I do?  I just don't watch them.  I respect that other people enjoy them and I don't demand they be taken off air, I just watch something else.  It's not hard.  Live and let live and all that stuff.

Speaking of TV shows I like.  Why are shows so short these days?  I'm sure years ago that if you made a TV show it was just expected that you would make forty odd episodes whether you liked it or not.   Eight or ten episodes is nowhere near enough of shows like Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones and Call the Midwife, I need more! Even Aussie TV shows are shorter.  Rafters and stuff like that only seem to go part of the year.  I don't like it.  Can someone please fix it?  Thanks.

Do you enjoy craptastic TV?  Do you want more Call the Midwife in your life?  Who is your favourite comedian? 

You can't tell, but my 16 year old self is having kittens in this photo

Wordless Wednesday - The Alpacary

 

 

 

 
 

Trentham Spudfest 2012

One cold Saturday, Chyken took me on a craptastic adventure.

We went to Trentham, to Spudfest 2012!

Trentham is a lovely little town, not too far from the castle.  There were three markets there.  And a man with an assortment of animals in his ute. I wanted to take one home, but Chyken rightly pointed out that we don't have a ute.

However, he couldn't say no when we found a stall selling BEE hats!!!  It even has wings!!!

They had twirly potatoes on sticks.  If you have never had a twirly potato on a stick then the next time you see them for sale you should RUN to the stall and get yourself one!  So great we went back for seconds!

I met Mr Spud.  He was lovely and didn't even try to feel me up, like so many mascots these days do.

We went on a bus tour to see some Spud Huts.  No idea what a spud hut is?  Nah, I didn't either this morning.  Turns out they were huts built in ye olde dayes by the spud farmers for the spud pickers to live in.  There are lots still standing around Trentham.

This one was pretty basic. No power or anything, basically a room with a fireplace and room for a bed.

This is Reg.  He had just come from the paddock where he had been picking potatoes and knows quite a lot about Trantham, pubs and spuds.  He made very good friends with Chyken, sat next to him on the bus and everything.

This is a brick spud hut.  Once again, pretty basic inside, but somewhat less draughty than the wooden ones that weren't sealed up from the weather.  It's very cold in Trentham.  Reg told us a story about a potato picker who took his boots off one cold day and two of his toes stayed in the boot.

We stopped at this pub, I think mainly so Reg could get a drink, but also to hear some tales of spud farming from one of the district's old timers.  Interesting stuff.

The photo doesn't really do these chickens justice, they were HUGE!  Or maybe just very fluffy, either way, they were very cool.

And they live in a very posh looking chook house.  Glass windows!

This was the last spud hut we saw.  There was a man who lived in this hut until he died at 90.  Apparently when the current owners bought the land, he came with it.  They had power put on for him, but he still washed in the creek nearby and had no toilet.

I should mention that he didn't die until 2004.

He lived in these conditions until 2004! Amazing!

After we had another twirly potato it was time to go home.  On the way home we saw the biggest group of alpacas I have ever seen.  Alpacas are Chykens favourite animal.  Do you know what the collective noun for a group of alpacas is?  Nah, me either.  I tried to look it up, but it would appear no one is really sure.  Some say flock, some say herd.  My favourite suggestion was a 'Spittoon of Alpacas'.  I'm gonna go with that!

This was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.  We are so lucky to live where we live!



Do you love craptastic things as much as I do? What's the most craptastic thing you've been to or seen?