Photography: Renewal of a Hobby

Just a quick reminder that I have an online Flickr album and also another at Fotki, if you want to catch up with my photos.
Personally I quite like the Fotki album, but it doesn't really have a nice and easy link into Wordpress, so for the sidebar widget you will only be getting a taste of Flickr.

Please note that all my photographs are "raw". No touch-ups or fiddle-arounds (except maybe the odd rotation). This is predominantly because I haven't managed to get off my backside and find a good piece of editing software to use.
Suggestions for this are welcome.

The reason I am mentioning the albums is that my other half has reminded me that now I am to be a "lady of leisure", I can start to take some time out for old, not really pursued to their fullest, hobbies. Photography being one of these "one day I'll make an effort to get better at this" hobby.

He also made the valid point that we have very few decent family photographs - dogs, us, etc. So perhaps I could look at doing something about that too?

That means I am going to revisit my role as family photographer. This will entail working a bit harder at taking good photographs. i.e. Actually do some reading about how digital cameras work, try stuff out, take random photographs, maybe even invest in editing software.

Hmm. At least there will be a new arrival to practice on.

I know some of you who are reading this are pretty darn good at photography, so no laughing if I start to post the odd one or two images here, okay?! And, of course, constructive criticism is always welcome. I have a big hanky ready just for the purpose. ;)

The Baby: Insomnia

Ouch, here's a statistic to give you nightmares.

78% of women suffer from some form of insomnia while pregnant.
Personally I have had issues with all four versions of insomnia listed in this article, but the main one for me has been number two on the list:

• Waking up frequently during the night

As you would expect, insomnia was much harder to deal with while I was still at work. The three o'clock blood sugar plunge became a large chasm to fall down that had little or nothing to do with my daily diet. It was becoming a little ridiculous towards the end. I took at least one day off mid-week, just to catch up on the lack of sleep that had been taking its toll for the previous seven days. Boy, did I feel better for it and my ability to do a full day of work returned too.

As I have finished work now it has become less of an issue for me. If I don't manage to sleep through the night it doesn't matter, as I can sleep as late into the morning as my body wants to. No alarms to wait for, and even the other half getting up for work is only a minor blip in my otherwise warm morning oblivion of sleep.

I have tried, and still use, the relaxing routine idea that is often recommended for settling young babies. I run a warm bath, have a hot milky drink, sit in bed and read for a while (actually this usually includes doing at least one crossword to completion) and then, when I am feeling appropriately sleepy, turning the light off and drifting off to sleep.

To a greater or lesser extent this works for nodding off.
Around midnight or 1 a.m. and all the routine in the world makes no difference. I'm awake, and I'm taking a trip to the bathroom. If I'm really lucky and it is a good night, this will only be a 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. ritual. If I'm not, then this could go on the hour, every hour for four hours in a row.

Good nights, at the moment, involve a final trip between 2 and 3 a.m., followed by a glorious three to four hour sleep.

That three to four hour stretch seems to be enough to keep me sane most days. Any less than that and I am the archetypal haggard pregnant woman. Jobs around the house get ignored, small tasks are magnified into the proverbial mountains, and the general impression you would get if you visited me would be one of a walking zombie.
I now completely understand how it is possible to end up suffering as one of the 10 - 15% of women with post-natal depression. As this article indicates, it can be tough to see the wood for the trees:

"A lot of the early symptoms of depression can be very similar to those of sleep deprivation, which we know is very normal in early mothering, in early parenting," says parenting expert Jane Barry.

I'm fairly certain that if I end up living on four or five hours sleep a day I could see myself heading down this path too. Scary thought, possum.

The Dragonvarld Series - Margaret Weis

This series includes the following books:

1. Mistress of Dragons


2. The Dragon's Son


3. Master of Dragons

I was looking for something light and adventurous, along the lines of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's previous series.
I have to say I was disappointed.
I made it through the entire series, simply because I wanted to see where the author went with the story. But the entire plot line was pretty weak and not backed up in any great way with a "grab-you-by-the-throat" writing style.

I can't say that I felt any connection with the characters presented, perhaps with the exception of one. But even then, it felt peripheral and when I thought he had been killed off I was not disturbed by it; I simply wondered how the author was going to craft a conclusion without him.

All in all, I would say this was a disappointment in most departments.

My rating: 1 out of 5

The Baby: 36 week update

We met our midwife's practice partner about a fortnight ago, just on the off chance she has the on-duty weekend around the time that our Miss is due to arrive.
It is fair to say that there is a considerable difference in personality and approach.

Our midwife, Sue, is bubbly, perky, positive, funny and chirpy to a point just short of nutty. Her partner, Jocelyn, is subdued, quiet, and softly spoken. She also appears to be more cautious and not averse to using the technology available.

Jocelyn suggested we have a presentation scan this week after she had palpated for the baby. Her words were: "I'm not saying its breech, but..." and a little later..."if the baby is breech, you will be able to have a caesarean courtesy of the New Zealand government."
No. Those are not the words to say to someone just over a month out from the arrival of their first child, who has been diligently trying to encourage not only a head-down arrival, but a baby that takes up the OFP. (See my previous entry regarding this.)

Sue had already, about a month or two earlier, palpated and suggested that Miss OhWaily was already head down in the left-sided anterior position. But that didn't stop me worrying about the possibility that she had sneakily moved herself around and was now head butting my ribcage instead of sticking me with her knees and feet.

We caught up with Sue on Friday for our regular appointment, and she was surprised that we were being sent for a scan. When she palpated, her assessment was "definitely head down, spine on the left and she has begun to descend".
Apparently babies heads have a distinct shape, whereas their bums don't; and that it is not too difficult to tell which is which once they are this big.

Anyway, on Tuesday morning we headed off to the ultrasound people and prepared to see what we would see. Personally I was feeling a lot more heartened after Sue's prediction of her position.

The results were great.

• Head down


• Spine on the left


• Key indicators are right on the average for her gestation

For those who like numbers, here are the important ones:

Approximate weight is 2919 grams (just under 6.5 lbs).
Head diameter was about 9 cm.

Pirates of the Caribbean III: At World's End

We went to see this in the theatre a couple of weekends ago.

It sees the return of all the main characters, and the despatch of two of them.
Although I love to watch Johnny Depp playing Captain Jack Sparrow, I was sorely disappointed with this episode in the series.

Unlike the previous installment, this felt sluggish and bloated.
It felt as though they had run out of ideas and were just doing this as a routine money earner for Disney. Maybe I was feeling a bit out of sorts when I went to see it, but I don't think so. I think that the film makers had lost the earlier "rollicking fun" vision that made both prior pieces a joy to watch. The lighter side was completely overshadowed with the darker aspects; and that lack of balance, in my opinion, made this a less enjoyable experience.

I also like Chow Yun-Fat, but the potential introduction of other pirates just didn't work that well for me even though it probably could have. His talents weren't really used, and there was no light side here either. Even Barbossa has a lighter side, albeit a slyly subtle lighter side.

On the plus side, the costumes and make-up continue to be fantastic and the visual look of the films are still well crafted.

My rating: 2 out of 5.
My advice: If pirates aren't your thing, then don't bother with this. If you want to follow the series, then get this out of your local video store on a rainy Sunday. The special effects probably would look better on a theatre screen, but I'm not sure that I'd want to encourage you to spend that much money on this episode.

What's On The Bookshelf? - VIII

We have reached our final installation of the What's On The Bookshelf? series.

At least until I generate enough new books to fill another shelf. My guess is that I will move on to regaling you with tales of books of my childhood, which I scarily still have in a nice box stashed with all the other renovation boxes.

Either that or the next shelf or two may be filled with multiple Dr Seuss stories, and then what would you think of my literary taste? I guess we'll wait and see if I can come up with a more interesting series than archaic kids books from the 1970s. Suggestions always welcome.

So here we go, the last installment:

• Heretics of Dune - Frank Herbert


• First King of Shannara - Terry Brooks


• Rage of a Demon King - Raymond E. Feist


• Chapter House Dune - Frank Herbert


• Shards of a Broken Crown - Raymond E. Feist


• Rise of a Merchant Prince - Raymond E. Feist


• The Many-Coloured Land - Julian May


• The Golden Torc - Julian May


• The Nonborn King - Julian May


• The Adversary - Julian May


• Games of the Hangman - Victor O'Reilly


• Petersburg - Emily Hanlon


• Damia - Anne McCaffrey


• The Unseen University Challenge - David Langford


• A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking


• Dune - Frank Herbert


• Principle Centered Leadership - Stephen R. Covey


• You Can Do It! - Iris Barrow


• Introducing NLP - Joseph O'Connor & John Seymour


• The MindMap Book - Tony Buzan


• Use Your Head - Tony Buzan


• NLP & Sports - Joseph O'Connor


• Living Wicca - Scott Cunningham


• The Wealth Creators - David Forman


• Penguin Science Fiction - ed. Brian Aldiss


• The Pollinators of Eden - John Boyd


• Starship Traveller - Steve Jackson


• Three Trumps Sounding - Dennis Schmidt


• Cinderblock - Janine Ellen Young


• The Circle and the Cross - Caiseal Mor


• The Song of the Earth - Caiseal Mor


• The Water of Life - Caiseal Mor


• The Small Business Book - A New Zealand Guide - Robert Hamilton & John English


• New Venture Creation - Jeffry A. Timmons


• Pilates on the Ball - Colleen Craig


• Ultimate Bodybuilding - Joe Weider & Bill Reynolds


• The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python


• 1980 Cor!! Comic Annual


• The Beano Book 1979


• Shiver and Shake Annual 1979


• The Dandy Book 1977


• The PreHistory of The Far Side - A 10th Anniversary Exhibit - Gary Larson


• The Horse and His Boy - C.S.Lewis


• Prince Caspian - C.S.Lewis


• Winnie the Pooh - A.A.Milne


• Town Mouse and Country Mouse - Barbara Hayes


• The Read-it-Yourself storybook - ed. Leland Jacobs


• The Prince in Waiting - John Christopher


• Beyond the Burning Lands - John Christopher


• The Sword of the Spirits - John Christopher


• Enid Blyton Library
  
  
  
  • The Adventures of Pip
  
  
  • Tales of Long Ago
  
  
  • The Three Golliwogs
  
  
  • Toyland Tales
  
  
  • Happy Adventure Tales
  
  
  • Little Animal Stories
  
  
  • Fairyland Stories
  
  
  • Sleepyland Stories
  
  
  • Anytime Tales
  
  
  
  

And there ends the remaining shelves.
No, I didn't sneak the kids books in as a taste-test, they just happen to be a few loose books that have lived on the top shelf for a great while now.
Many of the fiction books on this shelf reflects Mr OhWailyWaily's taste and came with his library of books.

Final thoughts on my library?

• Once I like an author, I really like an author.


• I like fantasy, science fiction, and crime/mystery as genre preferences.


• I have kept old textbooks.


• I like to read up on business thought. (Go figure - see what I do for a living here.)


• I like to read up on Buddhism, Taoism and the odd bit of Wicca for variety. (Given some more time I will work my way through the other major world religions and/or philosophies.)

And just for the record my current favourite fiction authors, in case it hasn't been obvious, are:

• Jane Austen


• Terry Pratchett


• Isaac Asimov (this probably wasn't obvious, as I only own a book or two)

Gastronomy: Apple Crepes

We made this for dessert last night, and I just have to share the recipe as it was absolutely delicious.

It comes from Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Meals in Minutes, which I can highly recommend. I borrowed it from the library and we have already had two or three great dishes from it. All simple and easy to do.

It is in two parts, the Basic Crepe Recipe and the Apple Crepes recipe.

Have a look, and do try them, I'm sure you won't regret it.

Take a Step Back in Time

Oooo. Look what I just found...

The Theban Mapping Project.

It came to me via this post at Archaeoastronomy.

I have to admit to having had Archaeoastronomy on my feed list for about a year now, but have not had the time to give it the proper once over. But now that I have time on my hands, I have started to go through my "Reading in Waiting" list. This may take a while since I have collected several blogs of interest over the past year.

As it has been over a decade since I have had anything to do with Anthropology, Archaeology or History in any serious form, I thought I would take some time to see what's on the go out there and maybe even pass on a few places and articles that I find of interest.

The Theban Mapping Project is the first website that I want to pass along to you.
As a lay person (never quite moved from doing the degree to doing the digging for money) and soon to be educator of the young, I think this site is fantastic.

Not only do you get a nice overview of The Valley of the Kings, but you get directed to a range of resources including where you can study to become an Egyptologist.

If that isn't great for kids (and big kids) with a digging ambition, I don't know what is.

For those with a limited interest in Egyptian history, ie you have heard of Tutankhamen's tomb, and you'd like to see what the fuss is about, then this is a website to visit.

It has some really nice information and would make a great resource for a child studying ancient Egypt at school.
A general meander through the tombs also makes great reading.

One proviso. This website has both text driven pages and the interactive maps. The maps are not going to be too user-friendly for those of you who are on dial-up internet (I know you are still out there) or on really expensive or slow broadband. But you can access almost exactly the same information by looking through the Articles, Sites, Search and Resources pages.

So, take a step back in time and wander through a bit of history.

Staying At Home

I am currently on Day Two of my new life.
That is - a life away from the workplace.

It has been on my mind for some time what this was going to be like. Would my mind be turned to mush by the company of two dogs and (eventually) a small baby?

Well so far I have:

• WOF-ed the car;


• Cleaned the car (actually to be fair, I took it to Car-fe and they cleaned it while I had a coffee and magazine read);


• Went to the library (such luxury mid-day) for yet more books about babies and the general back-up moral support of reading material;


• Slept;


• Have done the week's grocery shopping;


• Dropped off a whole load of old clothes to the local Thrift Shop;


• Slept some more;


• Attempted briefly to watch daytime television and managed about a whole two minutes of channel flicking;


• Have done half a week's laundry (in the midst of some nasty wet weather);


• Have begun blogging about this whole process of change.

So, while it may not be high finance or business cut and thrust, it is fair to say that my days are not completely empty and barren of things to do.

In preparation for this transition I have been reading an interesting book I found in the library a few weeks ago. It is The Smart Woman's Guide to Staying at Home.

I am enjoying the read so far. The author has some interesting, and useful, advice for the transition from "working woman" to "housewife".

Yes, I know, I used the H-word. Never in a million years did I picture myself going down this path. However, in saying that, I do find the ego's need to flash up the title a bit ridiculous. After all, domestic engineer, domestic manager, domestic executive all smack a little bit too much of ouch my ego has just been flushed down the dunny and I need a quick fix title to plunger it back up to some level of respectability.

I am also not fond of the interweb's standard shorthand for the H-word, that of SAHM. It seems to suggest that you are hiding stuff from all but those in the internet know. SAHM, for those who aren't in the know = Stay At Home Mom (usually an American idiom in my experience).

What I am finally getting around to is, what do you call yourself in a society that places a fair amount of pressure on its citizens to have an identity linked to their working life?
In some people's estimation I have taken a backward step off the ladder of purpose and meaning (work) in order to revert to pre-feminist days when the wife stayed home and the husband went out to earn the family's income.

I am not even taking the compromise road of having it all, by remaining at work in my guise as Superwoman.
For a while there I did think that I might look good in red lycra pyjamas, with baby in one hand and Palm Pilot in the other. But as I've taken a longer look in the mirror, it seems to me that no one needs to see me in skin-tight lycra and that perhaps there are mists of propaganda surrounding this ideal.
I am now thinking that "have it all" means "knacker yourself trying to be all things to all people with more stress than anyone actually needs in their lives and try to smile politely while having the associated nervous breakdown".

Blow me down, I do appear to be moving into the pre-emancipation role of Housewife without so much as a blink. That, of course, isn't quite true.
Like everyone else, I have vested ego in being a "[insert important job title]", and it takes a bit of wrestling with the part of you that doesn't really want to relinquish the social status that goes with saying "I'm a [very important title]".
However, I am through the other side of this wrestling match and have come to terms with my new title.

Here ends Day Two of life as a Housewife. ;-)