Blueys tattoo

Harry asked me to write about my tattoo and the significance behind it. I got this tattoo done for my mum. As most of you know I have lost my mum 9 years ago in a car accident that we had in South Africa. I had a lot of trouble getting over the loss, so I decided to get a tattoo in memory of her. Something that I always thought being a wonderful tradition is to put flowers onto the ocean and let the waves carry the flowers away as a last good bye to family members. My favorite flower is the Hibiscus, so I decided to get Hibiscus flowers as a tattoo... so that I symbolized put flowers on the ocean for my mum... just that these stay with me forever. I chose symbolic flowers and not realistic ones, as I liked the style better. It also stands for my new life that I will have in Australia. Certainly not just as stressy as it is here in Germany as the attitude of people overthere is so much more relaxed and friendly. And as I love the ocean and surfing (even thoguh I still have to practise big times when I get there) I thought these flowers would be perfect. Additionally I included the Southern Cross into the flowers, as my mum always loved stars. Whenever we went somewhere on holiday she absolutetly LOVED to see so many stars. Here you can always only see a few, as there is too much light from the big city and because the weather is nearly always shitty lol. Whenever we were on the Southern Hemisphere she looked up into the sky to watch the sky and first of all to look at the Southern Cross... if there is one star combination that I know it is the southern cross. She also always told us to make a wish when there was a shooting star, a believe that I had nearly lost -as I always wished for nothing bad to happen to my family.. which didn'z quite work out :( . I want to show her that I do still believe in the stars... I don't mean starsigns and stuff... just the real stars and their absolute beauty!!! Everyone should take the time and lok into the sky and watch the stars every now and then. Don't forget just how beautiful they are. In addition to this meaning I also had to get the Southern Cross to again stand for my new life in Australia... and especially to show how thankful I am to have Harry! Without Harry I would not be where I am now and not be the person I am. And most certainly I would not be as happy as I am now. I love you Harry. Thank you so very much for everything! SO there you go.. I believe I mentioned everything important about the tattoo. If I forgot anythign I will add it later. Now I will go and upload some photos of the tattoo.

Bluey's a bit nervous (poor darling!)

Today my poor darling is panicing. She is all nervous because today she is getting a tattoo done. She didn't sleep at all last night...my loud snoring probably didn't help much either :-). It will be on her right thigh. Bluey is worrying "Will it be too big? Will it look right? Am I making a mistake? Will I regret it later?" My answers are "No,yes, no, no." I will not go into details about the actual tattoo, but I will post pictures later on so you can admire the art work & explain the significance of her design. She keeps half singing, half saying "I'm so bloody nervous!", but she'll be right. She worries too much. I wish I didn't have to wait so long for my tattoo. Ahhh well!

I wish everyone a happy and safe Easter.

Well it is that time of year yet again. Everybody says time flies and I reccon it was only 9 months since it was easter last year. I hope you all have a happy easter wherever you are & whoever you are with and a safe time for all.
Once again a lot has happened since my last post. My father-in-law (Rolf) & his partner have been to Oman for a holiday and had a good time there (lucky buggers^^), and we had a party again. It is funny how often people say on the spur of the minute that they want a party & voilá...party at Bluey & Harrys. LOL. That is fine with us, however we will probably have withdrawal symptoms when we move back to Oz. Normally we figure out with the guests who brings what, but this time we simply said "Just bring something for the barbie & something to share with everyone else." and it worked out PERFECTLY. We didn't end up with 12 garlic breads, 5 packets of chips & 7 tubs of potato salad...no. They bought with them a number of varied salads, desert nibblies and drinks without anyone bring the same thing as another person. Well done to all involved. There were a few familiar faces that were missing from the party. We missed you & you know who you all are.
Bluey & a friend (Anke) have also been helping some students at uni who have failed tests in the past. They are there for the students to ask them questions they have about what they have been studying & trying to learn for the test that is coming up next week. The problem is that one even asked if it was really necessary to start learning so early (about 2 weeks ago). They failed the test a number of months ago & still didn't want to worry about starting to learn so late. They also seemed to think that Bluey & Anke were there to TEACH them the subjects that they were taught already, when they are there to help them UNDERSTAND. As Bluey said"How do they think we are going to teach them something in two-and-a-half weeks what they were taught in there course that went for months?" The number of students has dropped so much that there was only one there to learn yesterday & one other came a hour late. Pretty bad... however something makes their attitude as slack-arsed-students even worse is that they are studying to be teachers themselves :-O :-O.
That was not really what I was originally going to say. What I was going to say was that we have more baby chinchillas. I was at work and Bluey called me to tell me. We were not surprised because she had noticed for a while that one of the females had been spending a lot of time on the ground and been seemly fat. So our non-human family members grows. They are just soooooo sweet little things.
Well, I'm getting tired and I have to go to work tomorrow (BUGGER...poor little me). So, good night, all the best & a wonderful Easter to all from your mate Harry.

Sorry I've been a bit slack

OK, once again, it has been a while since my last post, but you will get used to that maybe. The main things that have happened is that one of our mates, Torben, has come back from his trip to Antartica. Welcome back mate!
We have also seen the new Johnny Depp film, Sweeney Todd. That was a lot more bloody and graphic than we had expected…too gory for us. Normally after a movie, the people in the toilets talk about what they thought of the film, but after that one, Bluey said that no-one said anything.
Another major thing is that my darling went to the doctor on Tuesday to make a appointment for a operation to have even more glass removed from her arm. They had the time to do it there and then, so they operated. Bluey said that it didn’t hurt this time, that she just felt pressure during the op. The doctor removed two pieces of glass about 4mm cubed that were encased in tough flesh from being in there for so many years. Bluey was laying on her tummy, resting her head on her left arm during the surgery. However she did look up for a while, see the doctors bloody hands lifting a piece of skin and her finger disappearing into her arm as she felt around to make sure there was nothing more to come out. Bluey said that there was blood all over the doctors hands, scalpel and some even splashed onto the wall…(I had a flashback to Sweeney Todd). Needless to say, her arm is still sore…especially if someone bumps it, leans against it or rubs it… not that anyone would be so careless or forget that she just had surgery. I really do love her but.
Another thing that has happened is our computer finally buggered up. Fortunately another mate ran some repair disk and got our computer up and running again so we could save all our documents, photos and stuff. Thank you very much once again Niels. So this weekend we have been getting used to the new system of our new computer. It has a great graphics card which means that we can play games with great detail. As I write this Bluey is playing Lord Of The Rings Online. I have to admit that my computer understanding is very, very basic. She is the computer genius.
Well that is enough for now. I will say more when I have more to say. I hope everyone is going fine, well and happy. All the best to you all and all yours.

Valentines Day

Thursday was the over-commercialised day of romance also known as Valentines Day. Bluey had been planning some things for a few days earlier, while I was going to buy the dinner. We headed off to the shopping center to pick something up that Bluey had organised and to get a 2GB memory card for a action cam that we ordered (A valentines day gift for Bluey from me… I know...romantic hey!)
Anyway, we then had to go by train somewhere. On the way Bluey gave me what she had ordered. A heap of photos printed from our time together. We have heaps of pictures, but all saved on disc & not real photos, so it was great to have something to put into a photo album. When we arrived at the needed trainstop, we had to walk a little bit to get where we were going. I had no idea as to what Bluey had planned til we got near it. She had tickets to 2 shows in the planetarium. It was great. Laying back comfortably in reclining chairs, watching the stars & planets coming, going and moving was just wonderful. I could have stayed there for hours watching..but I would have fallen asleep it was that comfortable. Bluey would tell you that she caught me with my eyes shut, mouth open and starting my heavy-breathing-just –before-snoring phase, but I was just relaxing and thinking about the cosmos^^.
When it was over we were hungry & needed food. Being partial to meat, I decided we should go to a steak house. A good choice I say. I ordered the T-bone steak with baked potato while Bluey ate the turkey with mushroom sauce and baked potato. When our meals arrived I was a little miffed to find out our meals did not come with salad, but as Bluey pointed out, it said on the menu that the salad was extra. I checked the menu again anyway...just to see if the salad was

included in the fine print. (Bluey was right...it wasn't included^^). However, the meat was just SOOOOO GOOD. A 500 gram T-bone that was so tender, flavoursome and cooked perfectly. Mmmmmmm yummm :-P´ :-q.
It was a very good day spent with a wonderful, wonderful person (I am refering to Bluey, not myself.)

Snow & Zoo

Well, a lot has happened as it has been a while since I last put a post in…yes I know, I’ve been a bit of a slack-arse.
The most exciting things are that it has snowed, we went to the new tropical house at the zoo & yesterday was Valentines day. The snow was a few weekends ago. It came down in huge flakes. Unfortunatally that was because it was too wet & the ground was too warm for it to last long, but hey, it did snow.
The zoo was great. Bluey & I went last Sunday and Erik & Maria joined us later.We went earlier because we tend to take our time a lot more than the others. We hadn’t heard details about the new tropical house at the zoo, so we were very pleasantly surprised to walk through the entrance door to go into a room where ring-tailed lemurs were interacting with zoo visitors. Bluey & I love them (Bluey more so since her Madagascar trip...but hey, you'll just have to read about that in Blueys blog ;-D). They were adourable. I kept thinking the song line “I want to move it, move it… He wants to move it, move it… she wants to move it, move it…we want to….MOVE IT!” Those of you wondering “What the hell is he going on about?”, watch the movie “Madagascar”, then re-read this & it will all become clear to you as you will have been enlightened. We would come back to them about 4 more times because they were just so cool. I found that carrying the back-pack was not so bad because it provided them a comfortable sitting place and a spot to jump on their way to somewhere else. Later when Erik & Maria were there with us, I felt the backpack was quiet heavy. Later Bluey said I had 6 of them on me at that time. I wish we could have taken a flash photo at that time. Clear photos were not so easy to take either due to the fact that you can take photos only without the flash. When lemurs moved too fast, they became blurry. Also when you have your arm out to take a photo, one may jump on your arm or back & BUMP…blurry photo…LOL. It was great. We thoroughly loved their interactions. After spending a fair amount of time with our little friends we moved on. The rest of the zoo was well designed with lovely, roomy enclosures. I was a bit upset not to see the king cobra, because he chose not to come out of his hide through a hole in the wall. Not the zoos fault that he was not in a very sociable mood on that day :-). I have no idea how big he is, but looking at the shed scales in the enclosure, it is a pretty good size. One point that did bug me was that they had a enclosure with a nice sized reticulated python in it, however the sign said “Green Anaconda”. I know it may be trivial to some people, but I don’t like people getting false information from somewhere they should be learning more about animals. However I liked the tropical house set-up in general. I love reptiles and will always be a devoted reptile lover, but I do have to admit…lemur interaction was probably the highlight of this visit.

Tattoos & Transformations

Yesterday Bluey & I went to the city to arrange a appointment for me to get my tattoo. Erik had told us that our favourite studio was well booked out. When we enquired, we were told the earliest appointment was July. We didn't really get a answer as to how much my desired tattoo would cost, however going by the price of Blueys previous ones, we didn't expect it to be cheap. Hers are great works with fine detail, but shaded in comparison to my somewhat larger, detailed & coloured tat would immediately push the price up. So we went off to ask at another reputable studio. We were relieved that the bloke immediately recognised the subject, said it was a great picture & suggested it be a bit larger & went off to enlarge the image so it would be better sized for my arm. At first I was somewhat concerned that it was an attempt to make it more work & thus more money for them, however when we enquired about the price, we were quoted a very good price much cheaper than we expected. However, once again we were faced with a booking dilemma. This studio had its next appointment sometime in November! What is going on here...why is everyone suddenly getting tattoos? When we first got ours done we had about 1-2 weeks wait, not nearly 1/2 to 1 year! Ahh well, what can we do but wait & hope that there is a cancellation & I can get in earlier. Fortunately Bluey has only 2 months to wait ^^ to get her tattoos refreshed.

Another thing that has happened is a few nights ago we were laying in bed, just about asleep & Bluey asked "What the hell is your praying mantis doing?" It was on the top of the enclosure, hanging lower than normal. "It's shedding I think!" I said as we quickly went to investigate & sure enough, there it was hanging under its old shed skin with tiny wings not yet developing. It's a bugger we missed the actual shedding, but we did manage to get photos of it at different stages of develop-ment throughout the night. Now, I just need to get a orchid praying mantis as well ^^...maybe. We will just have to see what future blogs may bring won't we? :-)

I bought new shoes...exciting stuff hey? ^^

Yesterday was good...I didn't have to go to work! So we decided to go to the city & look for some new shoes for me & see what we could get on sale. We went to the first sports shop & found a good pair of shoes, but I wanted to have a look around in case we found some better ones. We also planned to go to the sneak movie. They are movies that are coming out very soon with one shown every Monday night without anyone knowing what we will see until the film is actually starting. Anyway, we had plenty of time to look around the shops. After looking around for many hours, we went back and bought the shoes I had liked at the very beginning. Bluey says she loves me, but at that time she could have hit me in the back of the head. I know, I know...sometimes I take up woman-like tendancies when I go shopping, but when you are indecisive & with limited money, then you tend to want to know all the options. We also bought 2 hoodies (hooded jackets). Then we had a good Chinese feed & headed off to the movie.
We have been quiet lucky with the sneak preview movies. The last 2 times we saw "The Bourne Ultimatium" & "The Heartbreak Kid" with Ben Stiller. If Ben or Matt happen to read this at any time, I just want to say "I love your work..contact me next time you're in town." This time we saw "We Own The Night" With Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg & Robert Duvall. We didn't really like the movie. Maybe it is a good movie, however we are not big fans of drama. Give us a good comedy or adventure any day.
Today we will probably just relax around the house for once & try to figure out tattoo possibilities. We really need to figure them out because the studio is already so many months booked in advance & we need to make a appointment soon.

The day after & a great concert TAO

With only 4 hours sleep after holding the party, Bluey & I both woke up. WHAT was our bodies doing to us to wake us on a day where we could & should have slept in? Luckily & surprisingly I didn't feel that tired at all. After breakfast we tidied up & relaxed a little. It was a miserable stormy day, however we had to go shopping, so we rushed through that. The reason for rushing was that I wanted to go into the city for dinner before a concert & Erik suggested that we allow extra time in case of delays due to the storm. We got there with plenty of time to spare, so it was good to be able to take our time. We went to a resteraunt called Schweinske & ordered a meat platter for 2. It was wonderful. The meal came with a baked potato with sour cream on a dinnerplate & 6 pieces of roast meat, chips & salad on a large serving plate and a basket with 2 large bread chunks. Along with 2 large spezi drinks (half coke, half fanta) we made our way through our generously large meals leaving just a little of the serve, feeling full, but not uncomfortably so, satisfied & very,very happy.

All through the meal & on the train trip to the city Bluey was trying all she could to figure out where exactly we were going for the concert. She had known for months that I had something planned for Australia Day, but had no idea as to what & I had kept her guessing. It was driving her crazy not knowing.^^ It was not until we were right at the entrance of the performing area that she knew. I had managed to get 5th row center tickets to see TAO the Japanese drummers. We had discussed about going to see them last year, however it was really expensive & not on a convenient night for us to see them. Now there we were, sitting in the 5th row with earplugs to save our hearing. Bluey says I am deaf enough...but I don't always hear her telling me.^^
The show was amazing. The precision, style, & power with which they performed & the fun they were having while they played made it a GREEEEEEAT show. If you have a chance to see them I would highly recommend it.
By the time we got home we were both completely buggered. Actually we were buggered on the train on the way home. At least it was not raining when we had to walk home from the train station. To help forget how tired we were & make time pass faster I was teaching Bluey the lyrics to "Court Of King Caractacus". Once again it was sooooo good to hit the sack & get to sleep. All in all it was a extreemly good weekend. Oh...and I also have next week free...I have a holiiiiiiiidaaaaaay.

G'day and welcome to my spot on the internet.Happy Australia Day

G'day there. Welcome to my blog. This is my first entry & also my very first blog, so now I wonder where the hell do I start? Well, yesterday was Australia Day & as a proud Aussie living abroad I (along with my wife Bluey), did the only thing I could think of. We invited a group of mates to come around for a barbie telling them what day it was for. We actually had the barbie on Friday, but celebrated into Saturday 26th. A late happy Australia Day to all readers & I hope you had a great time wherever you were & didn't feel too crook the next day^^. Our party was to start at 8pm, so we painted our faces with the Aussie flag & had Australian music going. Slim Dusty is a great Aussie musician & I love his songs, but it just isn't party music. The Cat Empire, John Williamson, Rolf Harris & a variety of Australian artists sang the whole night. It also became apparent that I am a 80s music fan because I always found the songs from that era my favourites.
As the songs played the people ate, drank, mixed & mingled well, had a tour of our mini-zoo of pets. A general concensus is that most people really do NOT have a interest in tarantulas, snakes are interesting, but furry creatures are fine ^^. All in all there was a very good atmosphere & I reccon that everyone had a pretty good time. Well, at least I didn't hear anyone saying anything bad & neither did Bluey (who has phenominal hearing...she can hear me muttering under my breath in the next room^^).
The Pavlova went down well. I made one with fruit salad on it & Bluey made the other with rasberries & cream in layers. (I wish at this point to thank my sister Linda for letting me wake her at 2:30am with questions about how to bake it & know if I was preparing them right! THANKS LINDA). We only just had time to grab a slice each for Blueys dad, Rolf & his partner & Blueys brother , Erik & Maria (Erik's partner) before it all went.

Then a few of us went to the basement for a game of pool & a bit more drinking (some drinking more than others :-P) while some preferred to stay upstairs & continue talking. One by one the guests dispersed, with the last ones steadily ^^ heading to the bus stop at around 6:30am. We then found it was not as easy as we thought to get all the face make-up off. It took a few times of face scrubbing to get it all off, but we did & it was sooooooo good to finally lay down. I turned the TV on & a old Bugs Bunny cartoon came on. Bluey & I started to watch it. I think we both only saw about 30 seconds of it if that before........ zzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.