Hello World. I’m not updating this any more, because frankly, I don’t really enjoy writing and I don’t like the diary format. I’d much rather just do pictures, so I will. Visit shaninthepilbara.tumblr.com The pics there at the moment are mostly oldies, but I’ll get my act together soon.
Shan
Posted in Uncategorized
I am incredibly amused by this Twitter set up in the name of the escaped Bronx Zoo Cobra. It’s so clever!
I also really love this Japanese blog about a kitten. I wonder if the Best Cats would let me do similar? And whether my captions would be as cute, given that they would not be translated from Japanese?
I am also thrilled by the news that I still have Shaneaster presents incoming from L and J (LH’s parents). Shaneaster is like the holiday that doesn’t end! 
Speaking of holidays, we might be going to Broome for JesusEaster, if we can get accommodation. It will be my first real Pilbara/Kimberley Road Trip!
I love this Lego stained glass window. I wish I had enough Lego to do similar. Maybe for Shaneaster 2012?
I am also super thrilled by the customer service people at hervia.com. I emailed them to ask whether they had a certain dress in my size, and they emailed back straight away (go go UK time) saying that they had one, and they would put it on the website for me to purchase. Sure beats the woman who served me at an unnamed Karratha shop the other day – she was on the phone the whole time, grunted at me, and then apologised to her friend on the phone for interrupting the conversation while she served me. Some people shouldn’t work in retail.
Since LH is back from Perth, Sunday night is once again Outdoor ‘Indoor’ Cricket night. I hate to brag and everything, but LH did really well this week.
The Outdoor ‘Indoor’ Cricket nets.
C. and LH went in to bat first for their team, and ended up being the top scorers. They only went out *once*, and scored 32. Some other people scored in the negative (you lose I think 6 runs, for going out?), so 32 is quite an achievement.
LH also did some super epic bowling. He took two wickets in a row, and was very unlucky not to get the third. It was caught off the net, which is ordinarily out, but because it was the back net it was a ’6′ instead. Personally I think this is rubbish, it should have been a hat trick for LH. This is what I will tell everyone, anyway.
In other news, look how much petrol is going for at the Roebourne BP.
Normally my Premium Jeep would get Premium Petrol, but since it was at $1.86 a litre, I decided that the $1.77 unleaded would just have to do. I estimate that I could take a pay cut of about $8,000 per year, for a job in Karratha instead of Roebourne, and still be ahead just based on how much I spend on petrol every week. It is seriously mental. I miss my scooter that used to get by on $10 a week!
Vegan Cat Food? Well yes. Read about it here and here. Our cats have been eating specially formulated vegan cat food since we first got Best Cat, which is four years ago now. Each time we got a new cat we were prepared to have her reject the food, but all three have liked it so it’s what we keep buying (despite the massive shipping fees now that we are over here in the Barrens). Anyway, Sandy finally formulated some wet food, so we got a few tins for the Best Cats to try.
I should point out that while the vegan kibble is nutritionally complete and has all the vitamins and minerals happy cats need, the wet food isn’t complete, so it should not be your cat’s sole food source. The ingredients of this wet food are (and I copy from the website here) -
“Water Potato Carrots Peas Avocado Pumpkin powder Natural Gelling Agents Vitamins & Minerals Corn powder Brown Rice Calcium Carbonate Taurine Jumbo Oats Sunflower oil Flaxseed oil Molasses Rosemary Thyme Parsley Sage Soy Protein Extra Virgin Olive oil Flaxseed Barley Grass powder Blueberries Cranberries Tomato powder Apple”
This sounded like a winner to me. Best Cat loves avocado, Second Best loves pumpkin, and all three enjoy corn, so how could this be wrong? Well, it just kind of is wrong. While no wet cat food ever looks appetising, this one reminded me of a weird vegan pie filling, and LH commented that it looked like something he was once served at Whole Foods. Whole Foods is Monash Uni’s vegetarian co-op cafe, and his comment is not a compliment.
All three cats tried the food, though. Second Best only gave it a lick before she walked away, Third Best had a couple of mouthfuls, and Best Cat hoed right in. But then, both Best and Third Best Cats started scratching at the ground, the way they do in a litter box. The wet food apparently reminds them of cat poo, and it does sort of look like what Best Cat does when she eats a lot very quickly. So we’ll be sticking with the excellent dry kibble (buy it here), and sharing our vegies with the Best Cats when they demand that we do so.
I leave you with an amusing picture of Second Best’s attempt to get the taste out of her mouth. She is such a drama queen.
LH came back from Perth today! Here are photos of the stained glass window at the Karratha Airport. (‘What stained glass window?’, LH asked when he saw these. When you enter the terminal from the plane, it’s on your left. If you get to the corridor with the art works, you’ve gone too far).
Typical Pilbara scenes – gas flare tower and kangaroo, helicopter and red dirt.
I like the turtle and the desert peas the best.
LH brought me presents back from Perth, *and* the gift his parents sent me finally arrived. The candle thingy is from LH, and the cute tree is from my in laws.
LH also got me these pajamas. White is not a very good Pilbara colour – the bottoms of your jammies get all dirty when you walk out to the clothes line in the morning – but most of my jammies are white. Why is that?
Tonight we were also visited by this cute baby ta-ta lizard, who was hanging out on our clothes airer. She was really brave and didn’t even flinch when I used the camera flash. I was going to try for a pat but was scared of being bitten.
Happy Shaneaster Friday!
Posted in birthday, presents, wildlife, win
Tagged karratha airport, lizard, presents, shaneaster
Yay, Shaneaster is here! Lindt bunnies have been consumed, hot cross buns devoured, and a few of us (OK mostly me) made room for cake. I love that all my workmates played along and brought yummy Shaneaster foods and lovely Shaneaster gifts to work for me today. K made her excellent vegan lasagne (it is the only form in which I eat tofu) and and D made an awesome rice salad. J brought me my favourite coloured popcorn.
And, look at these super cute things:
I love birthday cards, especially ones with glittery bits inside.
Here is a lovely key ring and candle:
J is new to my team at work, but she got right into the swing of Shaneaster -
Despite having already gifted me some Georg awesomeness earlier in the month, LH (in Perth for training) e-gifted me a new pet for World of Warcraft.
I hear that there is also a Kosta Boda candle thingy on its way, but I have to wait until LH returns from Perth on Friday. (This gives me time to work out where, during this move, I managed to lose the gas lighter thingy). And L, the Karratha Postie seems to be working on Pilbara Time, and has not yet delivered me the parcel you sent last week. Luckily, Shaneaster also runs on Pilbara Time (or if you prefer, we observe a Retail Shaneaster), and goes for several months longer than it really should, so there is still plenty of birthday left.
I remember when I moved here, saying I would not turn 30 in Karratha. With only one year to go, I wonder whether I will make good on this promise?
I’m back at work for my birthday tomorrow, and I’m all set for my birthday lunch. I have made a chocolate cake (my first time using real dark chocolate instead of cocoa, as both Karratha supermarkets were out of cocoa), bought 16 hot cross buns, and I have a veritable army of dark choc Lindt bunnies for my workmates.
Even though I am home alone, and not having a birthday party, I’m still excited!
So I went for a walk hoping to find cute things to photograph, but this is Karratha so there were only ugly things. Here’s an abandoned mini bus with smashed in windows and seats removed, dumped at the end of our street.
A broken tree.
A rusty lock on the chain fence that prevents people driving their cars onto the oval. Some of the fence posts are bent and the chain is on the ground in places, suggesting that the fence is not really much of a deterrent.
Another broken window, this time on a digger.
This sign is comforting.
Work left half-done.
Aha! Finally, something cute. The oval from a distance.
And a street light.
The Karratha Tav is certainly not like any venue I have been to before. The room in which British India played was a tiny little concrete box with low ceilings, sticky carpet, and walls covered in signed sporting jerseys and photos of V8 cars.
The sign on the fridge reads ”RAFFLE Tickets $2 each or 3 for $5, For Private Show with Tilla and Honey”. Ahem. Yeah. OK.
The opening act was Covers Guy, who seems to be the only musician in town, and plays at any event or venue that will let him. He’s not half bad, even if he did forget some words. He played one original song, which was actually pretty good – I enjoyed it more than his Bon Jovi and Green Day covers. By the time he came on at 9:00, the crowd were really really drunk, and they went absolutely nuts cheering and singing along. I guess Karratha is so starved for entertainment that the people here will go for pretty much anything. A crew of drunk women at the front were asking him for photos and buying him drinks. It’s a nice change from the support act being booed off stage, anyway.
The crowd went crazy once British India came on at 10:00. We were standing at the side of the stage by then, out of the way of the afore-mentioned group of women, who by then were so drunk that they were getting around barefoot, and who looked ready to be sick at any moment. (Keep it classy, Karratha). I regret not bringing the good camera, because I was in a great spot for photos.
As you can see, I was standing thisclose to the guitarist. People (not me) kept grabbing him on the bum, which seemed to both amuse and annoy him. A few people also threw their shoes at the stage, and one super drunk guy at the front kept trying to touch the singer. The band were really friendly, passing out beers to people in the front row and generally playing up to the crowd. I think in Karratha, you either get a crowd that is super enthusiastic, or one that is angry and going to glass you, and British India seemed very relieved to get the former. As well as their originals, they did a cover of a Beastie Boys song, as well as one by Nirvana and then RATM’s ‘Killing in the Name’ for an encore. Two girls got up on the stage at the end, the bouncer tried to move them but the band let them stay.
I think the girl on the left is one of the band members’ girlfriends, but then LH said he saw her waitressing at the Icon the other night, so who knows? I suppose it could be both, Karratha does have a really transient workforce!
Tonight LH and I are going to see these guys:
I am wearing this top I got for Benmas (it’s OK, he got a new computer for Shaneaster), and the neck ring and bangle I got for Shaneaster. Is this too matchy-matchy? Would the Karratha Tav patrons notice if it was?
In the spirit of my current birthday-induced mid-life crisis, I am doing what 19 year old me would have done, and borrowing LH’s trousers. Why are men’s pants so comfy, and women’s pants are all stupid cuts and funny scratchy material? (Yes, I am wearing them rolled up, LH is 10 inches taller than me).
Meanwhile, my army of Shaneaster Bunnies are plotting birthday awesomeness.
I have Monday and Tuesday off work, giving me heaps of time to prep some awesome Shaneaster desserts for Wednesday. We are having a special Shaneaster lunch at work, K is making yummy vegan lasagne (thanks for all the trial runs I got to eat this week, K!) and I am being very spoiled.
Posted in barrens, birthday, fashion, music
Tagged british india, karratha, karratha tavern, shaneaster
