Finding lemon creams and other stories

It's been a good week for us. I was feeling a little daunted with Phillip going back to work on Monday after being at home with us for two weeks. Now that it's Saturday I can't believe how quickly the week has gone by. I still have another two weeks with the children at home, but we've got quite a few plans so I'm sure that time will go by quickly too.

I left Phillip with the children late on Wednesday and went off to do some grocery shopping at one of our (many) local centres. Popped into a fruit and veggie shop that I hadn't been into before to look at what they had and check out the prices. In addition to the fruit and veggies, they had a long shelf of Asian goodies, and then I went around the corner to find Bakers biscuits -- assorted packs, lemon creams (my favourite), romany creams, and so on. What a find! They also had Simba chips -- the twisty ones in chutney flavour! Holding my lemon creams and chutney chips, the cashier said that I was obviously from South Africa. We chatted a little -- she saying that she absolutely loved the SA accent! And asking about the Aus accent, whether it was similar to the American or NZ etc. Having been here for just a few weeks I said that I wasn't even sure that I could tell the difference between the Aus and NZ accents. She thought that was really funny! She said they usually have other Simba chips and have quite a demand for the SA goods. I can't compare prices to any of the SA shops that are in Brisbane as we haven't been to one of those yet, but the prices were pretty comparable with some of the Aus chips and biscuits so it wasn't too much of an expense to treat ourselves. The cashier mentioned that she regularly gets asked for a certain kind of deodorant -- Pears, she thought it was, that South Africans say they miss. Not sure about that!

On Thursday I had a wonderful day with a fellow South African. Kay was in book club with me, and had moved to Australia in December 2007. They have bought a stunning farm about 45 minutes or so from us. It was so good being with someone who is familiar with South African things, we could talk about some of the people that we both knew, and she has been through the process of moving too. The area is a semi-rural one and it was great to have lots of greenery and space around us. They also have a great patio area and it was a cooler day with some rain so we could sit outside and really enjoy it. They have wallabies that come into the field that you can see from the house, and a koala that lives in their trees.

On Friday we did a few chores, including joining our local library. They have quite a few activities for children at the library during the holiday. There's a pantomine on Monday that the kids have decided they'd like to go and see.

Today has been mostly about getting chores done -- cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming and so on. The housework has been a little neglected during the week with the children at home. I'm hoping to get into a bit of a routine when the children go to school!